1. It’s just plain fun
But you don’t have to trust us, just give it a shot. Riding any type of bike over different terrain again and again is fun. Getting dirty is fun. Crashing can even sometimes be fun.
2. It’s practical
Knowing how to get from point A to point B on your bike, regardless of the terrain, obstacle or barrier as efficiently and quickly as possible actually makes a lot of sense and is incredibly useful from a utilitarian, recreational and even survival perspective (even if ten thousand fans aren’t watching you).
3. It’s accessible
Cyclocross is the most accessible form of bicycle racing, period. You can show up on practically any bike (cyclocross, mountain bike, hybrid, road bike), train or race in the tiniest piece of land near your home, not need to know a complex racing etiquette and race competitively with just a few hours of training per week and still have a job, family and life. Although you can train dozens of hours per week and drive hours to races, you certainly don’t need to. Thus, it’s a much more sustainable sport for busy, working people compared to road or mountain bike racing and has a lower barrier to entry.
4. It’s the ultimate spectator sport
With its incredible variety of terrain, obstacles and weather conditions and short course and race duration, cyclocross is not only the most spectator-friendly form of bike racing, it’s an awesome spectacle for any sports fan. Fans, friends and family enjoy 30 to 60 minutes of constant, intense action-packed racing, with many opportunities to see their favorite racer from just one vantage point. No hours of waiting for just a parade of a stage-race peloton, a few passes by some mountain bikers or the blur of an anonymous criterium pack. Once the gun goes off, fans witness a near-constant stream of racers battling each other and the race course. Spectators enjoy easy access and viewing of all parts of the race course as well as athletes – there’s no nose-bleed seats in cyclocross.
5. It will boost your performance in other forms of racing
After giving cyclocross a try, we bet in all likelihood you’ll soon want to focus specifically on the sport, it will be invaluable for your other disciplines of racing, whether that is road racing, mountain biking, triathlon, or even downhill mountain bike racing. Of course, it’s a great way to stay in shape during the off-season, but road racers will benefit from better handling and confidence in adverse conditions and bumpy surfaces, while mountain bikers will enjoy more versatility and efficiency in handling extreme technical terrain and forced dismounts. Triathletes will benefit from a low-impact way to maintain cycling and running fitness and improve bike handling. And downhillers will improve line selection, aerobic capacity, and remounts after the inevitable crash.

Why Cyclocross Magazine? I love the CX Mag so I had to keep this intact-

1. We’re Authentic
Cyclocross Magazine is for cyclocrossers by cyclocrossers who longed for more coverage of this wonderful sport. We cover all aspects of cyclocross and do our best to be objective, honest and informative. Our content comes from passionate cyclocrossers like yourself. And our reviews and CXM Labs articles in our print mag are second to none – we get into the details and tell you like it is. No fluff or advertorial here.
2. We’re Focused
We’re 100% cyclocross, all of the time. There isn’t an off-season in the world of Cyclocross Magazine. Our website has daily content 365 days of the year! And our print mag has 3-4 times of the content of other mags…trust us, we’ve counted words, articles and ads (our font is pretty small too).
3. Options for you
Our print mag is completely different than our website and features in-depth articles, interviews, product and bike reviews, culture pieces, pro racer columns and humorous articles. Think print is dead or can’t budget the $20 (that’s less than an entry fee)? We’ve got a more affordable digital version. Just want daily news? Come to our website at cxmagazine.com each morning and throughout the day. Have something to sell, need advice or some photos or videos to get psyched for the next race? Visit our cowbell community site.
4. We’re pushing the envelope
We’re the one and only cyclocross-specific magazine in the world! We’ve also been the first cycling publication to use Twitter for live race coverage, the first to use coveritlive for live interactive race coverage, the first cyclocross-specific forum and social network, and the first American fantasy league for cyclocross. What will we do next? Stay tuned.
5. We give back
We didn’t start Cyclocross Magazine with a formal business plan, venture funding or because we saw big dollar signs (for better or for worse). We just needed a bigger ‘cross fix and wanted to help grow the sport. Consistent with this mission, we’ve sent a ton of prizes and free subscriptions to races and fundraisers throughout the country, and have a junior, U23 and collegiate fundraiser program to help secure the future of our sport. And it goes without saying, we’ve provided a unique platform for racers, race promoters, manufacturers and legislative bodies to communicate in a targeted fashion. Grass roots promoters have the same opportunity to get a race report on our site as UCI promoters do. So send them in!

The original post can be found here: http://cxmagazine.com/why-cyclocross

Ride The Divide Movie Trailer from Ride The Divide on Vimeo.

If any of you have had the opportunity to try the electronic shifting components from the road bike side, you know the technology is here to stay. With the accurate shifting and auto trim it is a no brainer that someone would jump into the mountain bike market. You are going to hear a lot about these guys K-Edge has released their Ki2

So far K-Edge’s Ki2 prototypes have been built with a Shimano XTR’s 40/28t double-ring crank, and until Shimano develops a Di2 front derailleur with enough throw to accommodate a triple this will remain a 2×20 product.

After several prototype phases, the gold anodized (other colors to be offered) parts allow the rear derailleur to shift up to a 36-tooth cog without worry. Instead of a sequential shifting pattern, K-Edge decided to stick with a more traditional setup. The shifter pods mount a Shimano satellite shifter to the brake lever similar to SRAM’s MatchMaker. Like SRAM’s mountain bike pairing of brake and shift lever, the Ki2 cockpit is very clean.

More pics and info available on their site: K-Edge