The picture at the bottom of this post is Molly Cameron crashing 50 FEET from the finish and losing the Cross Crusade overall title this past Sunday. Henri alluded to it in a post this morning. I was there and this was absolutely crushing for any sports fan. The following is from Heidi Swifts blog. A hell of a finish in any sport, worthy of this poetic prose.

“But Molly? Molly is Molly. She’s our Euro correspondent. She goes across the pond and represents the PDX-ness. She’s got fucking sweet tattoos and hot-**** gear. She is more PRO than we will ever be in our lives. She races on f ucking D12 for godsake. She is sponsored by Shimano! All by herself! By Shimano!

Ok, clearly I’m getting worked up. But the bottom line is Molly Cameron is the Portland sweetheart. The Stumptown darling. A racer that we love and cheer for because of the sheer emotion that she brings to cyclocross. She trains with conviction, she races with her Cyclocross heart on her sleeve. She is unapologetic about her intensity and unflagging in her commitment to the sport. She’s everything. She’s Molly.

Truth be told, she was 75% of the reason I moved to Portland. I was reading her blog before I started cruising the Real Estate sites. She’s compelling and genuine. I still remember the first day I was introduced to her. [Giddy!]

So, yeah. I wanted Molly to win the Crusade. Really bad. I thought about it while we were out of town. I checked for updates. It was killing me.

And when the bits of news started to trickle in, my heart broke along with hers. It’s just a race, right? It’s just a series. But the beautiful thing about Molly Cameron is that she pedals every race as if its her last. As if every one were the most important. As if every section were those final feet to the finish.

And when she falls off her bike and crumples to the ground and loses the world’s biggest cyclocross series by the tiniest of margins? She sobs. And then she tells you about sobbing. Because it matters – and she works for it. And she’s not afraid to lay it out – on the course or on the internet. She shoots straight and tells you like it is.

And on Sunday she cried. Hard.

Sal and I shook our heads along with the rest of Portland and said, “Poor Molly!” We were thinking of her when we tucked in at night. We talked about her when we woke up in the morning. We drew breath sharply through our noses when the photo was released on PDXcross. You know the one.

It was a legendary race – one that Portland Crossers won’t soon forget. I can already see the old folk gathered around the fire telling exaggerated versions.

Maybe Molly wasn’t a hero in the classic sense on Sunday. Maybe we didn’t get Disney. But what is infinitely evident is that – Cross Crusade Crown or no – that little vegan bike racer is loved. By me and by many.”

Hang in there and come back stronger!