We Rode the Inaugural Purple Thistle Cyclocross

A big thanks to Stefan, Ryan and all the staff at Fitzgerald's for bringing cross back to Idaho Falls after a long absence as well to Brelon May for his excellent work on course design. Participant numbers were typical for a first-year event but should grow based on positive word of mouth. The course and organization were both outstanding.

The Gem Lake Recreation Area is mostly a series of abandoned gravel pits, The quality of the dirt is not great in some parts of the park, and frankly, the area is not much to look at. Conditions benefited significantly yesterday from an early morning rain shower. Even though the venue is ugly, it is home to an expanding mountain bike park and has tremendous potential. GLRA is huge with varied topograpy. The course was a well-balanced mountain bike style cyclocross race with plenty of tough technical sections as well as faster flowier sections.