The sun was shining Sunday as Kenwood Cyclery once again put on the best event of the year with the State Cross Championship. Kate's Chili, a keg of Summit, and the Red Bull inflatable arch for the start/finish made for a great day of racing and/or watching racing while standing around drinking. Peace Coffee provided some sweet black coffee. In fact, the drink of the day was the 50/50 coffee-beer mix. The Kenwood Crue, Zito, Brauer, & myself were the last souls standing as the keg gave up the last drop. Special mention goes to Kenwood Racer Tom Thornquist who was knocked from his bike during his race by a buck who came flashing out of nowhere, taking out his handlebars. Saturday the sun was shining, too. With an anticipated high of 65°, a trip to Lebanon was needed. A group of seven of us hit the dirt. The Kona's new Project 2 fork was slaying the singletrack and I was feeling good at the front of the pack. Now, it's late fall in Minnesota, so as you would expect, the trees have all shorn their leaves, covering the trail. But a good trail is instinctual, and with the volume of riders who use the Lebanon Trails, the leaves should be no problem. So imagine my surprise and utter disbelief when we encounter a member of MORC out there with a gas powered leaf blower. WTF?!?! Not just once, but three separate times our group had to ride through a cloud of two-stroke smoke, and once the guy didn't notice us over the noise of his blower and got out of the way at the last second. I should have wheelied over his shoe. I just don't get it. If MORC feels that the leaves need to be removed from the trail, fine. But why not use a rake because it's only certain sections that pose any type of concern. Leaves compost, smoke doesn't.