Cross was coming, but now it has come. Mud, sand, stairs, barriers, chicanes, power, technique, glory, misery and post-race interviews of winners with their faces splattered with all that nonsense.
This is 2014, Hoogerheide, Sven Nys vs. Zdenek Stybar. And it is all class.
Dammit, Robot! Now you are making me all wistful thinking about CX. My last race was 9-10 years ago. I don’t see myself returning, but weirder things have happened.
We are in the golden age. I get to watch CX on HBO. There are now so many cross races to watch that I don’t have time to watch them all and must be selective. I watched last weekend’s Trofee Veldrijden Oudenaarde race. That’s the Koppenburg cross in English-ish. Finally some mud, and a banger.
As for myself, I haven’t done a cross race since 2003 or so. SSCXWC in Bellingham (Canada’s Tijuana credit: Stevil) next year may have me pull that orange Coconino out of the shed for a shred.