A racer at the Cyclocross Crusade Halloween race in 2014. (The Bulletin file photo)

The atmosphere will be post-apocalyptic, but the cycling will continue as scheduled at the Halloween Cross Crusade at Deschutes Brewery in Bend’s Old Mill District this weekend.

The Mad Max-style Thunderdome-themed cyclocross festival begins at 6 tonight with a registration and kickoff party at Crow’s Feet Commons and continues with two days of racing and a Halloween warehouse bash at Deschutes Brewery on Saturday night.

Saturday and Sunday’s races are the only dates on the eight-part Cross Crusade series held outside of the Portland area, and series director Brad Ross said the weekend is always one of the most enjoyable of the season —and not just because it falls on Halloween (although that adds to the fun).

“It has a different character because the majority of people that race in it actually travel here from Portland, so it has a little more of a festival atmosphere to it,” Ross said, noting he expects 700 or so of the approximately 1,000 daily competitors to come from outside Central Oregon. “It’s not like a race we do in downtown Portland, where people can get up in the morning and zip over, do the race and come home.”

This being cyclocross, costumes are welcome at every Cross Crusade event but are particularly encouraged on Sunday’s official costume day, when each race will be proceeded by a costume contest.

“We have a different theme every year, but people dress up in anything, from matadors to ghosts. Just because the race has a theme doesn’t mean you have to dress in that theme,” Ross said. “There have been some great ones. I think the best one that comes to mind for me is Ichabod Crane, from the Headless Horseman. That was an all-time great.”

Although the event will be in the same general location as in previous years, construction in the area has forced change to the race course. This year the event area will have an additional beer garden and, yes, an actual Thunderdome that riders will race through.

And with specific race categories for riders of all ages and levels of expertise — not to mention the Clydesdale and Athena Championship of the Universe, which will be held at 7:30 p.m. Saturday — there is a contest for every athlete who would rather sweat than scare this Halloween.

“It’s not just a bike race,” Ross said. “There are thousands of people out here having fun, and it turns into a big, huge party.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0305, vjacobsen@bendbulletin.com