About

I love cyclocross! Yeah, road bikes on dirt. Our races are a celebration of the cyclocross bike, the most versatile bike on the planet. We can only dream of having hundreds of crazed drunken fans as in Europe, lining a muddy course, screaming Hup, Hup, Hup and ringing cow bells. So this is the next best thing, KISSCROSS.

K.I.S.S.cross. Keep It Simple Stupid. The idea here is to have a series of cyclocross races that are fun, low key and challenging for riders of any skill level. And the beer….Yes we give away six packs of  Founders Ale at each ‘cross race. To discourage sandbagging the beer isn’t always awarded to 1st place! We also have many prizes donated by our other great sponsors so please check the prize table after each race to see if you have won something. (we label prizes with random placements in each class, even DFL)

New for 2011, everyone should start in the same category that they were racing in last year. No excuses such as, “I’m out of shape”, “I haven’t been riding much”, etc. If we adhere to this only the the winner of each race must move up to the next class. Look for your name on the results page.

Our races tend to be held in City or County Parks and are very spectator and family friendly. Most courses are about 1.5 miles long and can be seen from one or two vantage points.

Also, don’t forget each ‘cross race you enter increases your odds of winning a Cannondale cyclocross frame and fork to be raffled off at the end of the series. Just fill out a name card and deposit it in the raffle box at each event. You don’t have to be present at the final race to win! Thanks to our series sponsor Cannondale USA!

Don’t fuss about it, because another benefit of keeping things simple is that it keeps things cheap. We don’t care much about money so you shouldn’t either. We’re not corporate greed mongers into scalping you on entry fees. Anyways it’s hard enough getting the significant other to let you get out to race on the weekends. Now you can say, “babe, it’s only going to cost me $20 and it’s right in town so sleep in and I’ll be back in two shakes of the lambs tail.” No pre-registration necessary, all races are day of registration only. No license required.

Are you a skilled ‘cross veteran? Come on out and give it a go. As you already know, there’s not much else in the way of cyclocross action in West Michigan. This will give you a good chance to have some fun and hone your skills in the process.

Never tried cyclocross before? Want to learn more about the sport? This is a great opportunity, as we’re dubbing this a “training series”. Come out and give it a shot! What’s the worst that can happen? The pain only lasts 45 minutes.

We have four classes available to choose from; the one lap kids race, the C Race is the Beginner class and lasts about 30 minutes, the B Race and Masters (40+) is the Intermediate class and lasts about 45 minutes and the A Race is the Advanced/Expert class lasting about 60 minutes.

A cyclocross bike is not necessary, mountain bikes are allowed, just remove the bars ends if you have them. Heck, some folks even use road bikes.

Yep, that’s really the reason these races are cheap compared to the $30+ the others are charging. How do we do it? Simple, sort of. You will receive a name-tag when you register (we even recycle them for the next time) and you must carry it with you in a pocket or a pant leg during the race. When we line you up for the start of your race we’ll let you know how many laps you have to do. Here’s the hard part: You have to count your own laps! A race is typically 5-10 laps, depending on the class and length of the course. This can be overwhelming to some, as they become oxygen deprived and delirious. Suggestion: focus harder, have a friend count your laps for you, use a cycling computer, whatever. When you do the required amount of laps, you will put your name-tag on a spindle in the order that you finish and we’ll take it from there. You must ride all your laps if you put your name on the spindle otherwise the results will be messed up! Ride too many laps? Didn’t ride enough laps? Lose your tag? Sorry we don’t fix those, try harder next time. Remember, this is Kisscross: not to serious, a training race and cheap. Same day results uploaded to this site? Sometimes but not always. Check the website on Monday night.