The Bandit Cross participants were of every skill level and on nearly every kind of bike. There we were all racing our bikes together and at the conclusion of which was a social time for taking on various forms of nourishment and talking with fellow competitors about favorite aspects of the course. Everybody is here for the exact same reasons and without exception, egos were checked at the door.
Post race, participants and spectators alike stood en mass around a hollow in the forest commiserating on the course, life, loves and all topics in between.
Voices echoed through the trees, and the sounds of excited laughter resonated in all directions as the sun set on another successful fiasco.
With a crisp fall bite in the air, Jeff and I walked through the woods together after my inaugural Bandit Cross, clearing course marker tape and traffic cones and he said “I always get stressed out before these go off, but then people come and the race happens, there’s no trail conflicts, and everyone has a fun time. Really, and I know it sounds corny, but these things just give me faith in humanity, you know?”
After having finally seen it for myself, I totally do.