Well if that doesn’t sell you on cyclocross, I don’t know what will.

And afterwards- you have to make time for this:

Seen HERE

Bike racing isn’t cheap.  In fact it may be one of the most expensive sports that a person can take part in.  Pound for pound… add up the broken parts, upgrades, spandex, race entry fees, travel to races…. it makes frisbee golf sound much more appealing (not really.)  For those of us that aren’t flush with dollars or don’t get hookups, but still can’t shake the bug- we watch from the sidelines, or race alleycats.  Fret not.  There is a lesser known side of bike racing- the single speed category.  The singlespeed category lends more of a blue collar feel to the whole approach, often the requirements for a bike are slightly less stringent- encouraging participation more than a strict adhesion to the rulebook..  Single Speeding is bike racing for people that don’t make six figure incomes- (by six figures I don’t mean the numbers to the right of the decimal, silly.)

As you likely know, Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships will be taking Seattle by storm this October, and it’s time that you get that bike built up.  Single speed cyclocross may be one of the most affordable forms of bike racing one can get involved in.  Single speeds; whether they be track bikes, mountain bikes, or cyclocross bikes- are much more affordable, simpler and therefore easier to maintain than their geared counterparts.

Below are just a few offerings that are out there- some are current models, while others like the Bianchi Roger and the Tricross don’t seem to be in production anymore.  Of course you can find bargains on Craigslist and Ebay, as well as at swaps and garage sales.  Buying used will reduce your carbon footprint too- so go buy that Big Mac at McDonalds without any guilt.

Complete Bikes

All- City Nature Boy Complete MSRP $899

This bike looks great and seems thoughtfully built.  All-City has been doing wonderful stuff whether it be on the fixed gear, polo, and now CX front.  At $899 complete it looks to be a pretty good deal.

Felt Bicycles Breed Complete MSRP $999

Aluminum frame and a carbon fork- the Breed has not seen any changes from 2010 to 2011.  Very classy looking-  Black and Belgian Blue…

Motobecane Fantom Cross UNO complete MSRP $895 ($399 delivered)

Raleigh One Way complete MSRP $770

Something like the “little old lady from Pasadena,” don’t underestimate this bike.  The One Way has the same geometry as the Raleigh RX (their cross bike.) With a Reynolds steel frame and a 4130 cross fork it comes with some great accessories to make it good looking commuter as well.  (You get serious style points if you race it as pictured)

Swobo Crosby Single Speed complete MSRP $999

An alloy frame and carbon fork, more of an “all-purpose” bike than either a road or cross frame.  Another multipurpose bike for those that don’t have space, or cash for a whole stable of bikes.

Framesets

Raleigh SSCXWC frameset MSRP $700

This aluminum frame and carbon fork was the limited edition SSCXWC paint scheme for their 2009 offering.  I can say matter of factly that this year there will be something new coming out for SSCXWC and it will be available to purchase soon- and it’s going to be very different from what you’ve seen before.

Traitor Cycles Crusade SS frameset MSRP $699

This bike looks really clean as well and I love the blue.  Columbus tubing and a Columbus fork which is great- it shows good attention to detail when it comes to cable routing as well.

Discontinued?

Bianchi Roger Complete MSRP $1099

This seems to be a 2007 model, which Bianchi discontinued?  Oddly enough, disc brakes were made legal by the UCI this year- maybe they’ll bring it back?

2010 Kona Majorone Complete MSRP $1099- Kona Race Light Scandium frame and a carbon fork.

Specialized Tricross Single Complete MSRP $910

Looks to be from 2008…

Anybody have any other recommendations for SS Cross bikes under $1100?  What are you going to be riding this year?

This year you may see a lot of cyclocross based content on GMG in addition to the myriad of other cycling goodies that come across my path on the internet. As one of the people working on the Single Speed CycloCross World Championships (SSCXWC,) it’s on my mind a lot. With lots of experience producing bike events and a passion about bridging the gaps between the various cyclist camps, SSCXWC is going to be great. The spectators of today are the racers of tomorrow- and something like cross is fairly easy to get into, fun, and still challenging. Watching bike racing is free, entertaining, and when the city sees that it’s popular, it can have tremendous positive effects on urban planning.

Cyclocross in the Pacific Northwest is something of a religion. Mud, rain and cold- par for the course. If these are a few of your favorite things, then you are likely happy to call this place home. SSCXWC is going to be a lot of fun, and something that you should most definitely make an effort to attend. If you are interested in riding cross, getting dirty, learning more about the sport- or just looking for a good time- our good friends at Baron Bicycles are putting together a weekly ride that’s open to all bikes and skill levels that will be cross-centric. Every Saturday starting June the 12th there will be a group ride.

Obviously it’s going to be Super Rad- it says so right there- and with a start time at 11:30- you can still make it to one of the many events that we’ll be doing through Go Means Go this summer!

When I saw this flier, I had a memory flash of my previous lives, and how bikes have been a part of my life since I can remember. Many things have changed over the years, but my love for riding has never wavered. The important information about cyclocross is above, below is gibberish about riding bikes and how I used to do things that I will never encourage my children to do.

I got into mountain bikes in the early nineties, with my first “real” mountain bike being a GT Timberline (the Electric blue one, with black splatter paint.) I saved up for it myself with the money I was making on a paper route while riding a Centurion road bike that was much to big for me. I’ve had many bikes at many different levels- and I’ve loved them all. My real love for cycling however was born in the street, and my love for urban cycling culture reflects that. I had a few hybrid bicycles, they had just come on the scene and were all the rage. Later, I bought a used, fully equipped Cannondale touring bike while living in North Carolina. The touring bike was nice- I could ride fatter tires, carry some weight in the panniers, and it was still way faster than my old mountain bike. It felt like the best of both worlds.

Then comes 1998. My Cannondale was put to work as a real work horse while I was a messenger in Austin, TX- after work being used multiple times as a taxi to carry friends home from the bar on the rear rack. I was 21 years old then- working as a courier, living in an overcrowded house, going out to monitor police activities with Cop Watch, volunteering at the Yellow Bike Project, dumpster diving, preparing and serving food with Food Not Bombs and putting together Free Skool workshops on anything from men’s health and sexuality to scamming the system. All that, and yet I always had time for happy hour at the no longer in business Waterloo Brewery.

One particular day- working downtown- my last drop was later than usual and further up north. Maybe I had a mechanical failure… something held me up…. I was running behind for some reason. I was on my way to the warehouse district for $1 pints of micro brew beer, and rolled through a redlight. I looked- and had enough time to make it, but the cop that flipped his lights on and told me to pull over didn’t agree. I could have stopped- but A) I didn’t have such a soft spot in my heart for the boys in blue, and B) Happy Hour was ending soon and the beer price jumped up to $4 a pint!

I decided to do what any self respecting messenger that hates “The Man” would do. I cut down an alley. Well- the cop did the same. I cut down 5th, so did he. Sirens blaring and lights aglow, I had a flash of watching Cops and remembered one thing in particular that I learned from it:

The longer you are chased by the police, the less likely you are to get away.

Downtown Austin- with it’s many one-way streets, alleys and open lots- is far easier to navigate by bike. If I were to wait long enough, he may call backup. A motorcycle would level the playing field tremendously, and I liked having the upper hand. It was time to go. After a few more zigs and zags; I bunny hopped the two curbs and cross cut a grassy lot- went down an alley- in and out of a parking garage- through another alley, and locked my bike in the parking garage adjacent to Waterloo. I pulled off my panniers (yes- all this was with panniers on) stuffed my jacket and helmet into them and walked to the bar- with time to spare for a couple pints with friends as we laughed over the story I got to tell them. The poor cop never had a chance.

I don’t think I’d be so likely to pull off a stunt like that- but I often think back to it, laughing to myself and remembering the good times that were had while I lived in Austin. Waterloo Brewing is now long gone, and many of the people that I knew then have moved away. The tattoo of an old Humber Chainring that was tattooed on my chest by Sean, in a friend’s kitchen- is now faded and looks like it was done by a child. Ah, Austin- if I hadn’t of moved, you could very well had been the death of me.

That story really doesn’t have much of anything to do with cyclocross. But you should get out and ride- cross, or in the street- and if I can get a cross bike- I may see you in the mud this year. If I don’t get a cross bike, then I’ll most definitely see you on the sidelines. It’s almost time for beer handups and cowbells.

It’s time.  Get over to the SSCXWC registration page on Bike Reg to sign up.

Returning this year is the qualifier event starting Saturday morning, October 23, 2010. This means we will be limiting the number of participants in the World Championships main event. So the qualifier is mandatory in order to secure a spot in the race on Sunday October 24th. We will be offering second chance opportunities during the many events planned on Saturday. Winning the MFG Cyclocross SS race earlier on Sunday will be the final qualifier. Times and locations for the qualifier events will be announced as the event approaches.

The first 50 pre-registered racers will receive a limited edition SSCXWC t-shirt, SSCXWC/Stanley mug, and a custom handmade number from Seattle bag maker Dank Bags. While not everyone will get to race in the World Championships, everyone who registers will be allowed to race in the MFG Cyclocross Series SS race. This guarantees everyone the opportunity to get their race on.

Spoiler alert: Starting with the coming out party there will be a total of 5 events leading up to the SSCXWC event that you can pick up a limited edition spokecard (only 30 available at each event.) Be the first to collect all five, bring them to the race and win something nice. Stay tuned to the SSCXWC website for info, as well as here at Go Means Go.

We’ll be at Hooverville tomorrow and you will learn fun facts that will not only better your everyday life, but you will find them extremely helpful and informative if you have any interest in cyclocross of the single speed persuasion.  There will be a DJ, beer specials and as always, peanuts are on the house…. and floor.

Ladies and Gentlemen…. It’s time to get this party started right. This October, Seattle will host the Single Speed CycloCross World Championships. It will be three days of awesome. Whether racing or viewing from the sidelines, you won’t want to miss what’s in store.

Come out to Hooverville April 29th to get a small taste of what will be taking place this fall. MFG will be announcing their race calendar for the season, there will be a DJ, beer specials and free stuff. It’s 21+ and free to attend.

The Facebook Event Page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109176222451782

If you didn’t know that SSCXWC was going to be in Seattle this year…. Now you do. And it’s going to be off the chain. It might even be off the belt drive. Here is a little taste of 2008 SSCXWC. Get ready Seattle!

Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championships 2008 from bce on Vimeo.

And a snippet from 2009:

Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships [SSCXWC II] 2009 from AllenInk on Vimeo.

Get your training on. And if you don’t race- fret not. This event is going to be fun for everyone. It’s going to be like a mud ball fight on Christmas. But in spandex. And with beer.

Stopped by the final race in the MFG Cross series yesterday, held at Woodland Park. The occasional sprinkle, and cool weather made for a perfect cross day. I can’t express how pumped I am that Seattle has finally allowed a cross event to take place within the city limits. Woodland Park was a great park to host the event, and I hope that all that attended had a good time. I didn’t make it to the wrap party at Brouwer’s post race, but I’m sure it was a blast. I snapped a few photos and got to see Benny, though I missed his race. Cross racing is a great spectator sport, and Raleigh even had test bikes available if people wanted to get muddy.

My computer is in need of many updates, so I can’t see the posted results, but you can HERE

I hope that James, riding for uBRDO did well, he has been in the top of Men’s Cat 3 for this series. Good on ya.

If you attended, or even if you didn’t, but you are supportive of more races being held in Seattle City Parks, please let your voice be heard. For whatever reason, the supporters of these events are not as vocal as the few negative Nancy’s out there. So sing sweet songs from your rooftops to the City of Seattle - and let them know that you encourage them in working with local race promoters. You can email these folks at the Seattle Parks Department with your kudos:

timo...@seattle.gov

chri...@seattle.gov

tom....@seattle.gov

Seattle has shown some reluctance in allowing cyclocross racing within city limits. I don’t know why. Prudes. I guess. But this Saturday you’ll get a chance to see cross in all its wet and sloppy glory as MFG Cyclocross brings series race #6 to Woodland Park. You don’t want to miss it.

Come cheer, encourage, heckle, or berate your favorite riders as they kick ass and take names like they do up here in the Northwest. And just so you know, the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships (SSCXWC) will be held in Seattle next year.

Race Day Schedule (proposed)

Brian Vernor is a busy man. Not only making wonderful films such as “Where Are You Go” and “Pure Sweet Hell” he has an independent project called “The Cyclocross Meeting” about the currently exploding Japanese cyclocross scene.

It will be premiering in Bend, OR on December 12th at the Cyclocross National Championships.  A Seattle screening is in the works.