Words: Kim Hurst  Images: Dominic Blissett

It’s always happy hour somewhere in the world.

Surely that relates to cyclocross racing as much as pinot o’clock. As the Southern Hemisphere mourns the parting of CX, our Northern friends hand over the baton with #crossisnearlyhere Insta posts trending right now. They’ll get their just desserts by time we journey around the sun some more.

2019 was the year of quashing fake news, on the ‘cross circuit at least if not the global political scene. Turns out those Aussies don’t just race in sunshine kicking up dust. And it is possible to hold a full-noise UCI-sanctioned National Championships and still keep the community radness dialed up to ten. Who woulda thunk it?

Aotearoa Crossfest adored her debut voyage this year. She was doused with a custom craft offering from Lighthouse Brewery named CX Pale Ale and disembarked from Steam Scene in Canterbury on her maiden journey, which included negotiating some natural sandpits and an iconic set of stenciled up double planks. Heavily inspired by the ‘cross festival events you see Stateside, her game plan was to serve up a truckload of fun alongside epic battles for National title honors. And ACXF did just that.

Day One dished out Run What You Brung and Beer Handup races, which got multiple generations of crossers out on course and also doubled as course preparation for Sunday’s big show. ‘Cross virgins and novices alike often overlook the gravity of their role in the course preparation phase of any CX event. As the rain fell, lines were cut in then cut up leaving the ground perfectly primed.

Day Two saw clearer skies, waving of tyre gauges and a profanity of skinsuits. Christchurch’s power course provoked close quarters racing down to the bell lap, with some still duking it out for sprint finish glory at the line. An old hand at CX took the men’s title sans disc brakes. An Olympian discovered a whole new rad way to race on two wheels and powered her way to prime position on a borrowed bike. The moral of that story is that the original owner may never ride that bike again.

Everyone should race cyclocross. For real. Where else can you get close contact racing, level up your bike handling skills, have fun with mates, and do it all in an environment where the worst that’s gonna happen is you make a tit of yourself, bend your rear mech hanger or overload your washing machine filter (all of which are, in fact, highly likely to happen if you commit to a full season).

ACXF carried a plethora of social media posts about good times had long after we’d all departed the race venue and will remain long after the grass has grown back. Our party even caught the eye of the Australians. Full deep custom cowbells now adorn garages across the Land of The Long White Cloud. N+1 bike (or rear mech hanger) purchases are being budgeted. And a snapshot of the author’s lastest Google searches includes how to construct a cyclocross flyover. Until next season. Keep counting sleeps, friends.