DUDES! EVERYTHING IS FUCKING AWESOME.

In 2006, I put on a cross race at UNH.  We thought it would be a good idea to do it on a field near campus.  We thought it would be awesome and everyone would have fun.

HOWEVER, we did not take into account that most of the course was practically five feet below the water table.  That there was no available water for bike washing. That the starting/staging area was about 100 feet long.

As a result, people were running almost the entire race, derailleurs were ripped off, Merlin from SRAM (yes, we somehow got him to show up) just said “Fuck it” and took my bike down to the nearby stream after I handed it to him after my “race”.  He dunked it a few times, and handed it back to me.  As he passed it off, his eyes met mine, and his gaze communicated to my soul a message along the lines of “Holy shit, kid, this is the shittiest race I’ve ever been too.”

I only started racing cross in 2005, but in the six years I’ve been involved with the sport, it has gotten so much better.  Races like the one I put on in 2006 would not happen today.  The modern “promoters” of such a race would think about what they were doing, laugh at themselves, and then pull their shit together and put on a quality event.  There would be a DJ, a food cart, some knowledge about water tables, and a case of beer or a plate of muffins so that the paid mechanics would be a little bit happier.

Sure, there was a certain charm to the crappy cross races that UNH put on.  But that “charm” could have easily been replaced with “quality” if the promoters (read: me) gave the whole endeavor 10% more thought and effort.

In 2011, the prevalence of UCI races – and the standards that they must adhere to – have raised the bar for what passes as a cross race in New England.

Sure, there’s still a dude throwing down some spray paint and running a race for a six-pack on the honor system.  But if a racer is paying $20 or more, they expect a certain level of professionalism that is the result of UCI inroads in New England.

If the NBA suddenly opens a franchise in your town, you had better believe that the rec league games are going to get a shit ton better, and the same can be said about cross in New England.

If I am trying to run a race, I know that everyone who is coming to my race has probably been to Gloucester at least once – as a spectator, or as a participant – during their involvement with cross.  I know that they are expecting a beer tent, a spectator-friendly course, a competent announcer and some level of involvement for the non-racer that is in the crowd.

Many of the UCI races have kids races.  Orchard Cross has a kids race and a costume race.  Singlespeed races (both traditional and zip-tied/Ice-Weaseled) have a series.

Want to get your on-the-fence friend into cross?  Tell him/her to not worry.  Toss them on your bike, Ice-Weasel the shift levers and tell them what time the start is.

Yes, I do pay $45 to probably get lapped by Jeremy Powers.  A Cat 3 dude has to pay $35 to race against 120 of his peers.

But wait!  As a Cat 3 dude, you’re racing with 120 people in a cross race with a beer tent and results are posted online an hour after the race is over and there is an announcer talking about you and there’s fucking prize money and there’s races every weekend within two hours of Boston.

EVERYTHING IS FUCKING AWESOME!

The beginner women’s field is filling up?
Races have a staff of knowledgeable people running things?
“Small” races (with 363 racers) are raising $6000 for good causes?
There are multiple legit race options on the same day?
Racing cross bikes at night is A THING?!?

EVERYTHING IS FUCKING AWESOME.

The biggest problem NECX currently has is too many fields, and fields that fill too quickly?

Maybe we should have more races.

Yeah, it’s nutz (yeah, with a FUCKING Z) that the Gloucester Men’s 3 race filled in 45 seconds (or whatever it was).  But it’s the big dance, and everyone wants to go to it.

The demand for cross racing is there – so maybe it’s time for someone to run a race the same weekend in Springfield (or somewhere that is not Gloucester but is still pretty close to The Hub).

More races would mean that 35+ dudes who don’t want to throw down against Jonny Bold at Gloucester can do something more productive with their time.  The Cat 3 men who can’t get in have something to do that weekend instead of sitting at home being sad (or going to the race and heckling angrily).  And people who don’t want to pay the cover charge of the club with the awesome DJs and great drinks and good looking people can go slum it somewhere with a jukebox and some people who are confused and think they’re waiting at the bus station.  But the cover charge is LOW, and the beer is CHEAP.

And even if this club has a low cover charge and no officials, the quality of production is going to be far greater than the shitty race I put on at UNH in 2006 – because those going to the race have expectations of some professionalism.

Because even though in Ice World there are no rules, Ice World still exists in the halo of New England UCI races, and some level of professionalism remains.