With no Halloween race on the 2017 Wisconsin cyclocross calendar, Cross Fire in Sun Prairie stepped in to fill the essential role in any scene's annual slate of races. Cross Fire returned in 2018, again with the Halloween spirit.
Held at Angell Park, site of the USGP Planet Bike Cup, Cross Fire is hosted by Madison-area cyclocross team L5 Racing. The team embraced the season with two coffins for riders to hop over, a choose your own adventure graveyard and a Crossfire zone to provide the ultimate challenge at the barriers.
You can't have a Cross Fire race without a Crossfire zone. 2018 Cross Fire, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. © Z. Schuster / Cyclocross Magazine
The L5 Racing team also tried to encourage costume-wearing by offering call-ups to everyone in costumes.
Among those who did embrace the Halloween theme, Minions were far and away the most popular alter ego, with no less than five people dressing up in the can't-miss yellow.
The Elite races on Sunday were both good ones. In the Elite Women's race, Emily Nordahl and Holly LaVesser quickly got off the front and battled back and forth for a few laps. LaVesser enentually got a gap and rode home with her fourth Elite victory of October. Nordahl finished second and Kristen Cooper took third.
Emily Nordahl and Holly LaVesser make their way through the grave yard in Lap 2. 2018 Cross Fire, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. © Z. Schuster / Cyclocross Magazine
The Elite Men's race was a replay of last year, with Cole House and Isaac Neff engaged in a cyclocross duel. House got his winning gap when Neff slipped on the third railroad tie at the base of the Hillside Strangler hill. The race marked Neff's best finish of a cyclocross season that has started slowly after a horrific crash at the Snake Alley Criterium in May. Payson Patridge finished third.
Isaac Neff and Cole House battled to the last few hundred meters in the Elite race. 2018 Cross Fire, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. © Z. Schuster / Cyclocross Magazine
Cyclocross returns to Angell Park on Saturday, December 8 for the Midwest Regional Cyclocross Championships.
A gallery of photos from your humble editor is below.
Photo Gallery: Wisconsin's Cross Fire
Jim Holmes throws out an outrigger on an off-camber. 2018 Cross Fire, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. © Z. Schuster / Cyclocross Magazine
