Enthusiasm for 'cross racing seems to be growing in the UK just as it is across the pond. This weekend saw two big events in London: the third running of Muddy Hell at Herne Hill velodrome and the second in the Rapha cross series at Ally Pally. I headed down to Herne Hill for Muddy Hell and took lots of photos which I thought I'd share...

The event is floodlit and Halloween themed (though the front runners tend not to take the theme seriously) and a fun course with a bridge, jumps, rollers (styled as graves) and a hurdle in the beer tent. There were junior, women's, veterans' and novice races as well as the main men's event which was pretty much all I caught. Riders ranged from skinny cross-whippets on the latest carbon frames with disc-brakes to Mr. Blobby on a single-speed mountain bike. Everyone had a lot of fun and they ran out of beer...

One of the serious riders:

Mike (a guy I've ridden with a few times) combined fancy dress with aerodynamics:

No fancy dress but that's a scary pain face:

The ramp and jump:

ET kept falling out of his basket:

Clowns are scary:

Mr. Blobby bunnyhops the hurdle next to the beer tent:

I don't think this is make-up - he's just pale:

Sccoby Doo goes for it:

That's it - if you like the pics more can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/willarmitage/sets/72157627833579233/