Gentlemen, start your ox....

 Today we continued our tradition of visiting local festivals and events with Joachim and Katharina. 

Today we visited Muensing, south of Munich which goes from being a small village of 2-3K

to hosting and event for 15K+ people. The event is held once every four years. It is - of course - Ox racing.

 We gathered on a cool and windy August day to watch the 24 competitors battle it out. I know what you are thinking - people only go to watch the crashes. While that has some truth, the day also was rich with tradition and good spirits. The "track" is a natural bowl in the farm land south of Munich and creates an amphitheater for viewing.

 

Kip walked through the 'pits' before placing a bet on the races.

 

Am I taking a photo of him or is he checking me out?

 The races were... interesting. When they did run, it looked quite exciting and dangerous. Most races had participants choosing to stop and relax, visit with the spectators lining the track, or turn around to run in the wrong direction. You needed to be on the beast as it crossed the finish line or you were not able to win. This means riders were constantly trying to remount if they fell off. Hardy folks.

Here's some short video. Please notice the excitement of the crowd (especially Brian).

Now if you want to see them "trading paint" like in Nascar, this is a better clip. Some of these boys are going to be walking with a limp in the morning but, as I told our boys why they do it, glory is forever.

We started to reflect on some of the snowmobile racing, dirt bike racing, etc. and came to the conclusion that any group of people, fueled by beer, decides that they need to race anything within reach at some point. Here in Muensing, it was Ox.

It was another global event to check off of our bucket list.