Obstacle Races, Cycling Legends, & Live Music – At CLIF Bar’s Cykle-Scramble Anything can Happen… & Probably Will

Pirates, Prisoners, and Furries were in abundance at CLIF Bar’s 2015 Cykle-Scramble (prounced: see-kul skrambul) at the Marin County Fairgrounds in San Rafael, California. This wasn’t just a race with normal participants…. I’m pretty sure, “normal” participants weren’t even allowed. Even the cycling celebrities “participating” were about as far from normal as one could get. To add to this spectator-heavy event, there were food trucks galore, great beer, and live music being head lined by none other than Cold War Kids.

Ramble on past the table jumps, wall rides, pump tracks and blood stained dirt, (there was a “yard sale” award after-all), to see all that is Cykle-Scramble….

The Bike Relay Race was made of teams of 4 riders in 3 categories. The Coasters (I have a bike), Toasters (I ride my bike), and Roasters (BAMFs). The course was littered with everything from wheel gobbling sand pits, beer keg jumps, tables, and every type of bike imaginable. Of the four riders, one unlucky one had to begin with a LeMans style start to kick off the mayhem.

Trials legend and forever rad Hans “No Way” Rey was one of the culprits who helped design the course, (though Safety Steve must have taken out the 6 foot drops and 4 inch wide rail rides). Hans, who is still hopping around (according to the pics he showed me of him in his back yard), wanted something really fun for everybody while having plenty of opportunities for those capable of ringing out some sick maneuvers.

The CLIF Bar Cykle-Scramble was a FREE event that anybody was allowed to enter so you can only imagine the characters who showed up. They even let these cats enter…. Team “Jailbaiters”

Diamond Back Freerider, Eric “that wasn’t me” Porter couldn’t quit smiling all day and kept the crowd as entertained as he was.

Diamondback Slopestyle Pro, Carson “can you see my mustache” Storch, the youngest on Team Jailbaiters, (jailbait’ee?), hung it all out there for multiple cheers.

Freeride legend and all around spaz, Kirt “that was Eric, not me” Voreis did what he does best despite complaining that all the trick spots shouldn’t be towards the back so he isn’t dying by the time he got there. His team then pointed out it was just a 2 minute lap.

Multiple National Mountian Bike & Cyclocross Champ, Todd “sorry I don’t do tricks” Wells blazed the competition on the team’s single-speed DJ bike. Despite being the fastest guy on the course, poor Todd continuously drew “awwww’s” of disappointment from the crowd every time he skillfully cleared the table tops without doing so much as a 360, wheel-grab, no-hander or tailwhip like that of his similarly outfitted team mates. He never removed his hipster shades once, likely to hide the tears of shame.

Busting on the mic, as the event’s MC was everybody’s favorite slope and bird calling legend Cam “lets play hotel tag” McCaul. *don’t ask. CLIF did a superb job of making sure every detail of this event was pinned to the max.

It was pretty much “Rung what ya Brung” and dress accordingly. Two wheels and at least one brake was pretty much the guideline on equipment. *this was a non-UCI event

Nothing but fun was to be had….

Though the racing was serious.

Sometimes you fall at the top and slide down…..

But you get up and keep going, (because everybody IS watching)…..

And tend to your wounds after you complete your lap.

Even locally based Strava sent out their own nerd herd to attempt KOMs and toss out some Strava….. gang signs I think.

Although no KOM’s were achieved by the orange avengers, theire riding skills were anything but shabby. They easily cleared the tables multiple times on their cross bike weapon of choice. Is King of Air in our near future?

A face plant won the Yard Sale award.

Here is the, you guessed it, Spirit Award Recipients, team “Knobby Dreads”.

Our own Press Pigions, (I had to sit out due to injury), won the Coasters category. I am pretty sure I could have made a difference… not in a better way.

Some of CLIF’s sponsored wake board athletes, The “Washed up Wakeboarders” won the Toasters category despite the lack of wake on the course.

The Jailbaiters took the win over NICA’s More Kids on Bikes and Team CLIF Bar….. the only Spandy Andys on the course. They get a pass since their skin-suits burned anyone’s eyes that stared for more than 2 seconds.

After the race and awards, all gathered for a FREE concert.

Cold War Kids took us into the sunset in what turned out to be a perfect event.

In the end, there was a few minor incidents that resulted in a couple of minor injuries, but smiles and laughter dominated the event without fail. Overall the team at CLIF and their supporters put on an event I hope we see more of around the country. The cycling culture is burrowing its way into the mainstream at a faster rate every day and everyone from the guy in the sling with a separated shoulder to the pro athletes in attendance……. to every single spectator, (cyclist or not), walked away that evening thinking bicycles are pretty effing rad.

Making it even more special, sustainability is a core value of CLIF Bar & Company. Cykle-Scramble was a Zero Waste event having all products provided be able to be recycled and several containers throughout the event for Food compostables, recyclables, and landfill.