Cyclocross

Fitting for the first day of fall. Bear with me here - It's about to get a little philisophical...

Cyclocross has been a large and significant part of my cycling world since I was 12. In early years, you would be challenged to find a production cyclocross bike on the floors of any bike shop in Canada. At the first races I rode my mountain bike. An assortment of bikes took part until trie cross bikes were more common - even someone's conversion of their wife's hybrid commuter bike. 

The 'cross bug was strong in Saskatoon. Bob Hawboldt and Guy McInnis were the promoters, and the community came together, with participation from all the local road and MTB personalities. Our race culture was strong.

I was easily captivated by it. The early races were structured as mild & grassy renditions of mountain bike races around local parks but I instantly took a liking to the novelty, and the challenge. cyclocross was hard and weird. And somehow, It felt like the place to be on any fall weekend morning - a perfect denouement to the summer racing season.

My love grew through my first cross bike (1999 trek X01). I raced that bike to my first CX Nationals medal in 2000, and a championship in 2001. 3 more consecutive medals followed from there. Racing cyclocross was my groove. 

As the years progressed on, I obsessed over every technical aspect of the bike and race. But then the cyclocross bike became so much more than just a race tool and outlet for equipment obsession. In my Calgary years, the cross bike became a facilitator to the endless adventure that lies just off the beaten path. Winter months have become some of my most cherished for the time shared between close friends and backroads, frozen lakes & fields. 

I am an October birthday. In fact - I have a theory that "fall children" are naturally inclined towards cyclocross. So when it came time to reflect on my upcoming 30th, It didn't take long to decide that a cyclocross bike would be most fitting to mark the occasion. For a life of cycling passion, this has been a big part of my mind and heart for more than half of it.

But not just any bike - no carbon wunderbike to be superseded by next year's model. I have always admired titanium as the original super material, before Carbon's ubiquity. So it would have to be titanium, for a timeless bike that stands the test if time. And if it had to be Ti, it had to be Moots. So far its been the perfect way to celebrate the season... Maybe more on that later.