I arrived at the CX Nats venue at Riverside Park in Hartford, Connecticut around 2 p.m. on Friday and headed straight to the course to check it out. My first reaction was surprise, mainly at the conditions and arrangement of the track.
The air was wet and cool, so I imagined there would be a lot of mud and instability, but my expectations were nothing compared to what I walked up to.
What I gathered almost instantly is that the dirtier, muddier, and all-around more chaotic the better for the sport of cyclocross! As if the mud and chaos were not enough, obstacles were set up throughout the winding course, posing additional hazards and challenges. I loved it immediately!
When I got into the main area, what stood out to me was the age ranges of both the riders and the spectators. Every age demographic was there, which I guess speaks to the accessibility of the sport. Still a surprise, given cyclocross is a very niche category of cycling.
As someone who grew up playing “traditional” American team sports, many questions ran through my mind. Mainly, “how do parents get their kids into this?”
My wonder went away when I got to see more of the course. Mud, bikes, and healthy competition. What’s not to love, especially for a kid feeling indestructible? My attention then turned to the middle aged riders. No explanation is needed there. Cyclocross is a sport that keeps you young, like cycling in general. A lot more dangerous, but that is the fun.
My experience as a cyclist is in road, mountain, and fixie riding, where—whether subconsciously or consciously—I imagine most riders pray for good conditions. So to see riders eagerly awaiting to take on, for lack of a better way to articulate this in my vernacular, the shittiest riding conditions I could conceive was another welcomed surprise.
I knew about cyclocross, having been introduced to it a few years back, but to see it in person is the only way to understand how challenging the sport is.
There is a grittiness about cyclocross that I came to enjoy as I watched riders hurl their bikes onto their shoulders to run through thick mud, hop over fallen riders, and climb hills.
Any sport involving eating mud, collective suffering, and obstacles meant to surprise and disarm competitors is my kind of activity. Maybe I will give cyclocross a shot one day. However, for now, I can confidently say that I was plenty happy with the minimal amount of mud on my pants and camera gear, having just been a spectator.
