....at the beginning.....

I am an avid cyclist and a fanatic about cyclocross.  The 'cross bug bit  me a few years ago when some of my friends said, "Just try 'cross.  You'll love it."  Well I tried it.  And I hated that first race.  I couldn't breathe, my hands were numb, I thought my heart was beating over 300bpm and I generally thought this would be then end of my life.  Alas it was not.  Arguably, it was the beginning.  5 years later and I am very much a 'cross fan.  I like road riding and I did a little mountain biking this summer.  But I belong on a 'cross course.  The excitement, the intensity, the crowds cheering, the crowds beering and its all in a beautiful park in the fall - what else do you need.  

Well I have a few 'cross bikes but like all of us, I believe in the N+1 formula.  And I do love the beauty and simplicity of a single speed.  I've always loved that Raleigh does single speed framesets.  But this year they made a complete bike with hydraulic discs, Gate's belt drive and its blue and pink!  Whats not to love!?  The only problem now is there's no single speed category in Ontario.  I could race it in the normal geared category, but that's a hindering factor and what is my geared bike for?  So my single speed became my pit bike.  Quite a good one too, I might add.  But I've seen all the pics and videos of the SSCXWC (single speed cyclocross world championship) and my friends in the states race single speed all the time and say how much fun it is.  I wanted my own category, dammit.

(my SSCXON muse)

So I started at the beginning of this year (Jan 2014) by writing to the OCA (Ontario Cycling Association) about having a single speed category.  I really felt like I was getting somewhere and this was going to happen.  But then the season came around and there were no single speed races.  There was to be no SSCXON this year.  

I've now decided to be proactive.  The idea and plan of this blog and facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/sscxontario) is to show the OCA that we want a separate category created for next 'cross season. They're close to saying yes, we just need to show them we're all interested.
So join. Ask your friends to join. I'll try and keep things updated and keep telling you all how much closer we're getting.  I'll also post up pictures of rides.  I'll put links to other sites for workouts, races, bike builds, etc.

The way I see it, category is going to be about the love of the sport and the fun of 'cross. It will give us all a chance to race twice in one day rather than just once after having driven all over Ontario to get there. It'll be fun. Separate kits/race personas will be encouraged.  Adhesive sticks race numbers to bare skin right?  Prizes will be modest.  I'm seeing beers for the podium.  There is a hope of a series winner pulling down a big prize - I think I have solidified corporate sponsorship.  Bragging rights, above all, will be huge!

If you're interested, join. If you have friends that would be interested, tell them to join. Tell your shop and club to join. Let's build this up and get people excited for next Fall and maybe Ontario can have its very own SSCXON!