The freeze cycle is a little different typically in much of the CX hotspots of europe.
Shifting our calendar forwards a month lets us skip the BS in January.
BS? Yeah, you know, like racing frozen ruts of death in a snow storm in Hartford.
I've done a bunch of races in actual snow and on frozen ground, they aren't fun.
The radness you are describing was Supercross Cup Day 2 11/20/2016 Overnight rain turning snow that thawed and turned the hillside course into a mud pit. Fun, challenging, cold, windy, miserable. Cyclocross.
October and november CX is the best. September is fast and still fun. Totally not pointless. Come October you're flying. August CX is a novelty reserved for the few of us that have something wrong in our brains. I guess you could say the same about January CX too.
That Saturday in Hartford changed me. It took 5 months for me to be able to drive by Riverside without getting overwhelmed with anxiety.
I 100% agree here... I'm all for adverse conditions, but Natz was insane. Nearly all moving parts needed to be either replaced or professionally cleaned on BOTH bikes after that race. I think Supercross only destroyed my brake pads and rotors. And chain. Falling/crashing in mud sucks, but that's all. Doing the same on mud that's hiding frozen ice ruts underneath hurts. Another race that was dope in shitty conditions was Elm City. There was this layer of fog hovering over the snow/mud... pretty cool.