Feeling a bit cross

If I were to consider my facefriends an average slice of American pie I can assume that nine out of ten people in this country race cyclocross. Everybody's doing it, talking about it, and pretty much bathing in it on a regular basis. I enjoy racing cross as much as anybody who has no intentions of ever doing well at the sport, and this weekend cross racing is coming to town.

I will be there, but once again only as a spectator. Last year I couldn't race because I had other commitments, but now I wished I woulda raced before USACycling made the rule change I bitched about already:

For races on the road and cyclo-cross, the use of fixed sprocket is forbidden: a braking system that acts on both wheels is required.”

Which means this bike is illegal out the wazoo.

To bring this bike up to code I would need to dig my shitty spare Bontrager wheel out of the attic, install a cross tire, mount up my old Hayes Mag brakes (which sorta work), and attach a front rotor... probably about 45 minutes worth of work just so I can race for 30 minutes. Hmmmm...

It's not like I haven't raced fixed in cross before...

photo cred: Lee Flythe

I didn't kill anybody, and I didn't do anything truly dangerous like wear a helmet cam...

photo cred: Big Worm

Sure I could race the Meatplow, but I currently have a 1,400 gram front tire , an 8" rotor, the steel fork, and a heavy rear tire that I ain't spending even more time swapping around.

Then there's the whole price thing. I hate when people bitch about registration prices, but I do have a point.

In order to race any event in this series you must pay for a number plate. That's cool... reduce, reuse, recycle.

Then if you do not have a USACycling license you need to pay an additional $10 for a one day license...

that only allows you to race in the Cat CX 4 or junior class (no single speed?).

Add all that to the $20 preregistration fee and were talking $35 to race 30 minutes or $45 if you register day of.

I know promoters aren't in this to lose money. I also know there are so many hidden expenses in promoting a race that most racers don't know about when they bitch about registration fees. The thing I don't like is that I don't believe you're going to get as many first time dabblers who might end up interested in the sport at that cost. I will admit I'm complaining about a problem without having a whole lot of ideas on how to solve it. Maybe an "open citizens" class that is only $10 (like the juniors) which has no series points and uses old numbers from last year or paper plates, or perhaps USACycling could back down on that one day fee a little... to the point where it's not 50% of the entry fee. Dunno...

I know, I know... "Put on your own damn race," or "A loaf of bread doesn't cost $.25 anymore!" Maybe even a little "Just go race one of the much more practical Tuesday night races (which only charges $5 for the same one day license)and save $15."

This is my blog, and if you don't like what I have to say I'm going home and taking it with me.

So anyways as much as I love cross I won't be spending 45 minutes working on my bike for one race (to have to spend 30 minutes returning it to its original form) just so I can pay $35-45 for 30 minutes of racing. It would make for better blog fodder come Monday, but c'est la vie.

Late Edit: I don't want this to seem like a total bitch fest. I'm stoked to see cross grow as much as it has over the last decade in the Southeast. No need to adapt the norm for my needs, but I do see that there is room to grow the sport even more with a few changes... and cheap, noncommittal assholes like me could take advantage of it. The "no fixed gear" rule? Yeah, I am pretty much bitching about that.