Cross Crusade 2008: Alpenrose

Alpenrose was the perfect opener for the Cross Crusade season. Over 1200 participants - a new record! The weather was perfect. Just warm enough with intermittent sun (in the forecast, at least) so that everyone would commit to coming out, both participants and spectators. Each year, the Crusade keeps getting bigger and is evolving into a real event, with vendors and exhibitors making it family and spectator-friendly and creating a real festival atmosphere. It was a great day for CycloSportif, too. I sold out of waffles (sorry!) before the women's and men's A races and the new CycloSportif kit was super popular. I didn't realize the demand for non-team skinsuits! I had ordered a few as replacements in case any of the people who had pre-ordered ones accidentally destroyed them while racing. I wound up selling all of them retail (skinsuit picture below - in action!). CycloSportif is about bringing apres-bike style to everyone, and everyone responded - lots of great clothing purchases were made as well. The best part of selling out of waffles is that I could close down and watch the races! It was awesome, although it's hard to cheer when you want to yell everyone's name. Special thanks to everyone on the day who raced in CycloSportif kit!