While I admit I have been lax about riding cross this season, I have only just realized the biggest reason that I avoid it as much as I do. Holy Crap is that $%!* expensive!
Mountain bike racing can be pricy itself with most races costing about $30 per entry, and then the traveling involved usually racks up some pennies at the gas pumps. That being said, the amount of time spent racing (1.5 - 3 hours) somehow justifies in my mind the cost of the experience. Plus, if a podium is manageable, there's usually some swag, or even some cash to buy lunch on the way home.
Cyclocross racing is a whole other thing. Not only is one race at least $30, but most weekends have TWO races!! That's at least $60 in race fees. (DANG) Also, if you are a Saturday worker like I am, you have to take the day off of work without pay. Then there're the issues of "pit wheels," or if you're extra fancy, an entire "pit bike." Not only that, but you probably need two full team kits to race in because the chance of getting the first one clean and dry before the second race is pretty slim. The races themselves are hardly a bargain because they only last 30-60 minutes, and in that amount of time, there is little room for error, let alone recovery from said error. So, if you DO fork over the time and money to race all weekend, one little mistake and you might has well have just tossed your entry fee in the mud and rolled around on it a few times in your team kit.
All whining aside, cross is super fun. The courses are all different and each have their own kind of fun attached to them. Maybe someday I will no longer be a student working sporadically with an up and down income. However, by then, my daughter will likely be a teenager sucking the money from my bank account faster than I can put it in there.
So, for now I will have to be a budget cross racer. I will do the cheap races, the races close to home, and the races I can, for some reason or other, afford to do because I came up with a random extra $30. I will train when I can, and if I do race, it's going to be without any sort of back-up in the pit and for the sheer enjoyment of being on my bike and going wicked fast.
