Im going to get slammed, but what is cyclocross? Looks fun… Where can I ride? I live in socal. What kind of bike do I need?
Pain. And beer. But, mostly pain.
It’s an excuse to get away from the roadie atmosphere and go get dirty in the mud. You ride a bike similar to a road bike with knobby tires and do a circuit race with barriers to hop over, off-camber turns, sand-pits, run-ups, etc. etc.
Cross bikes are essentially road bikes with cantilever brakes (for mud clearance) and knobby tires. But, you can totally rock a mountain bike if you like as well.
Just way too much fun…you will taste your own blood but the good thing is you can wash it down with a beer afterward…get a cheap entry level cross bike off of ebay…ride it like you stole it.
Way to much fun
yeah, what they said.
'Cross is the anti-triathlon. Gear is cheap and it’s short and intense effort that has absolutely nothing to do with pacing and everything to do with letting it all hang out and hanging on for dear life. When you’re not grinning wildly, you’ll be puking on your shoes.
It really is fun. You can cobble a bike together for a few hundred bucks and then, as you tear-ass around dirt trails, through mud and sand, over obstacles, and up and down hills you feel like a little kid on your BMX bike.
Give it a try - its totally accessible and you wont regret it.
Reasons to like 'cross:
- Cyclocross is like when you rode your ten-speed through forest trails because nobody told you that you couldn’t.
- You can push yourself to the max because the penalty for failure isn’t the same as crashing on the road.
- The 140lb climbers get punished for their summer transgressions by 170lb sprinters.
- It’s all over in 60 minutes.
WAIT! I missed that part about the OP being in SoCal…well I don’t think there is “real” Cross there? Mud, Snow, Temps in the teens and the wind blowing 30 mph… 
CX is the most fun I’ve had on a bike since I was 10.
I did my first 3 races last fall. I got my assed kicked, I was humiliated and bloodied but I loved it.
Only the single greatest activity the good Lord ever saw fit to bestow on mankind! Cross is without question the best time you’ll ever have actively trying to make yourself puke your guts out. As everyone else has said, it’s reasonably cheap to get into, fun on a whole other level from most racing (which I already thought was the most fun you could have with funny clothes on), and if you’re competitive will push you to the point you think you’re going to die and would be happy to do so just so the race would end. It’s AWESOME!
That’s the site for most of the races you’d probably be doing
http://www.plusonelap.blogspot.com/
That’s a great site once you becoming a 'cross addict (meaning after your first race)
http://bigshark.com/page.cfm?PageID=68
A reasonable description of cross racing basics
http://www.velonews.com/article/83882
Some great videos for when you’re starting on technique like dismounts and stuff (it seems like they used to have a bunny hopping/barrier crossing one but I can’t find it now)
Reasons to like 'cross:
- Cyclocross is like when you rode your ten-speed through forest trails because nobody told you that you couldn’t.
- You can push yourself to the max because the penalty for failure isn’t the same as crashing on the road.
- The 140lb climbers get punished for their summer transgressions by 170lb sprinters.
- It’s all over in 60 minutes.
LOL! Love the climbers getting punished part (that is me, although I’m more like 155). Did 10 races last season and loved 'em all - even the ones in the snow and ice! Even managed a few podium spots and prizes. Got my daughter doing them and she has a blast as well, although it pains me to have to watch her lift a bike that weighs a third her weight over barriers and up hills!
Oh, and make sure the beer is Belgian 
Cross is hard, but fun. Not many folks showing off their new $5k bikes with 10 cent legs (except me). Buy a Redline, Jake the Snake, Salsa, Voo Doo , or other bike off the ebay for less than a grand and ride that puppy for a year. If you like cross then the old bike becomes your pit bike, and buy a new one cause you are now hooked for life.
The real cost in cross is tires. The words Dugast, FMB, Challenge and Tufo make you smile like a kid on Christmas. They all cost around $100 plus each and you get to play with strong smelling glue and find out that 5 lbs tire pressure is a lot when you only have 30 psi in your wheels. You can race at a high level on $30 clinchers, but those sewups are so sweet you won’t want to for too long.
So Cal is reputed for being dry and fast races so the Ritchey Speedmax on the back and possibly on the front is a cheap tire you can run a lot of the time. When you go to NorCal and Oregun, you need to have some serious mudders in you wheel choices. For me cross is what mtb and triathlons were 25 years ago. Some of the nicest people and totally laid back. If you don’t enjoy getting your ass handed to you a few times, try something else. And remember the races all start out wicked fast. Be there for the first narrow spot or corner, or be chasing all day. Buy a cowbell and show up for the races all day.
It’s a fall and early winter sport that cocnsists of about an hour of riding on a short circuit that takes 5-10 minutes to ride around. The circuit is wide enough to pass and less technical than a mountain bike race and often includes one or more sections that force riders to dismount and run a bit. Most courses will have tight turns and off camber sections to reward better bike handlers. All riders generally finish on the same lap. The sport is under the umbrella of the road cycling organization of the US and international (USAC and UCI) associations or whatever local outfit you have in socal. You may need to purchase a license for racing or buy a one day license. Most races will have multiple classes, some race 40 mins others around an hour.
It’s lots of fun, improves bike handling and you are able to ride your own pace and get lapped without a problem, unlike most bike racing.
I hope you try it, it’s lot of fun. You can use a standard mountain bike with bar ends removed or purchase a cyclocross bike for an affordable price.
It’s a great sport for people with families, I bring mine along and we camp out or just spend the day outside, the races are nice and short too. They will make you stronger from having to go anaerobic so much.
If you go to you tube and search for something like “world cup cyclocross” you can see what a race looks like
It’s SO fun. Here’s a link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWGnM_1ViZA
I do not know what size you would need, but someone over in the classifieds section is selling a pretty cheap cross bike in southern California and specified that he wanted a buyer in the area so that he could skip the shipping. Might be worth a look to get you started…
It’s a freakin’ cult up here in PDX. Nationals are in Bend both this year and next.
I’ll go ahead and echo what everyone else has said, it is AWESOME. The statement about feeling like a kid is exactly how I described my 1st race and most courses are laid out like you would have when you were 12-13.
Complete pain and suffering cursing yourself for putting yourself over the limit until 10 minutes after the race and then not being able to wait for the next one. Pure Sweet Hell.
In every picture of me in cross races, I have a huge shit eating grin.
Tenths of lbs of tire pressure begin to matter. A LOT
You sit around and drink beer after the race and watch the fast people. If you’re slow, you get to drink a lot of beer.
It will teach you a whole new meaning about being in race shape.
Good handling skills can make up a shit ton if you are giving away power.
People with good handling skills and good power can make it look easy. It never is.
You can start out on anything you want, most people have a mountain bike laying around that they do their 1st few races on. The nice thing about a cross bike is that you can ride it anywwhere and you have good handling skills you can ride on most singletrack that you could find.