1. Kids love the opportunity to get muddy. This might not be the best news for the poor parents who are left peeling caked off mud off their children’s clothes. But trust us, this task will be rendered completely insignificant when you see the smile on your kid’s face as they make their way around  the course, covered in mud.

2. Due to fact that cyclo cross is off-road, you do not have to worry about the dangers of other road users. A muddy course does mean the kids will fall off the bike from time to time but the landing is usually pretty soft as the events will be held in a field with grass and mud underfoot. Your child will also get great satisfaction boasting about their latest war wound in the guise of a yellowing bruise on their knee.

3. Cyclo cross will help to improve your kid’s bike handling skills making them more confident in the saddle.  

4. For younger kids the races are usually just under 10 minutes long. Once the first lap is over nobody really knows who is first or last. You don’t have that feeling of hanging out the back and being embarrassed and all the riders finish on the same lap, whether they have been lapped or not. Once the lead rider has gone through the finish line the riders all finish the next time they cross the finish line so it’s possible that the last placed rider who may have just been lapped for the fourth time could cross the finish line second and only the results published later will give their actual placing.