Triple race weekend in Northern Colorado

Cross of the North keeps growing, and this year was no exception as the race expanded to three races, with the addition of a night race

Ken, Melissa, and Jess braved the cold, muddy evening to notch top-10 finishes, including Melissa's third place result.

"I was looking forward racing under the lights," Jess said. "It was my first time! It was a blast. There were some sections on the course where it was pitch black. You just had to go for it, trust it and follow the line. I truly loved every minute of it. I hope they have racing under the lights next year."

On Saturday, the women's team was out in force, with Melissa finishing fourth, Kate taking eighth, Kristin right behind in ninth, and Jess finishing 11th.

Kate was loving the course. "Saturday's course was tacky and fast — with the exception of one big mud pit from the nearby bike washes!" she said. "I had a blast powering through the goopy mess." And indeed, she was one of the few ladies to ride the entire section.

In the men's race, Spencer was second, Ken was ninth, and recent addition to the Evol team, Michael Burleigh was 13th.

"After a successful road season, there's nothing like 'cross to shrink one's head back to normal and reignite the competitive fire," Michael said. "After a three- or four-lap battle, the 17-year-old Liam Dunn rode away from me in the last lap when I hit a post on one of those downhill 180s. Then I got pipped at the line by Logan Garey. All and all, a thoroughly enjoyable and properly humbling experience. Bring on Valmont, my favorite 'cross venue."

Spencer also came to grief at the hands of a course post, crashing spectacularly as he chased Chris Baddick on the final lap. "I'm glad I'm okay," he said. "I hooked my bars, went flying, and somehow my bike ended up tangled in the tape on the complete opposite side of the course. I was close to getting Chris. I wish I'd had one fewer crash and one more lap to chase."

Ken and Melissa earned the iron-person awards for the weekend, racing all three days and finishing fifth and sixth on Sunday, respectively.

"I loved the variety in the course each day that added new and interesting challenges," said Melissa. "I too loved the practice in trusting my bike through the dark corners on Friday night. "One of my favorite moments was during the last lap on Saturday. I was riding in fifth with half a lap to go; I took some risks to catch the rider in front of me and passed her right in front of the pit to move into into fourth. "On Sunday, it started to rain on lap two and the previously buff course was suddenly like ice. Ladies were wiping out left and right. I felt my tires wiggling out from under me. It only took about a lap for the rain to stop, soak in and for the traction to return."