I heard about Soil Saloon a while back – a renegade cyclocross race (held at a different secret location each time– this one involved 6 laps around a 1-2 mile “course” of narrow off-road dirt trails, with roots and rocks to dodge and mud and puddles to splash through … oh, and a local beer to drink after each lap). Some people have photos on flickr.
A few of us dropped by at the end of a morning city ride to watch it– and then impulsively decided to join, even with our non-ideal bikes (I at least had my heavy touring bike, unlike my friends who had narrow-tire road bikes).
They yell “go!”, and everyone races off into the woods, following chalk markings on the ground that direct you on a twisty adventure (after the first lap it gets easier to go fast, because you know what’s coming around the next corner). I had one minor crash (fishtailing on a muddy turn), and by the 5th lap I was exhausted and grinning like an idiot.
It was a great time– thanks everyone. And hey, I ran into some fellow butterlappers as well. There’s also an older article in thebolditalic about it.