Shift (or stretch) the season

So first of all, I've only been racing for a couple of years, and I know it used to be different. I'm not sure what changed, or why, but I've noticed the last few years that the Colorado racing season ends on basically the 2nd weekend of December, and then nationals are about a month later. There's a big gap there for people who want to race nationals but also stay sharp and competitive as the weather shifts into high gear. But I think it's worth thinking about Cyclocross season based on the end (nationals and/or UCI world cup championships) rather than the beginning, and schedule backwards from there.

So this year, UCI World Cup championships are the first weekend in Feburary. If we plan on at least 1-2 weeks of racing for US champions in Europe prior to the world cup, that would set nationals back to the week ending January 11th. This works out right so far, working backwards with a view for the pros. Prior to Nationals, most regional or state championships seem to be happening the first or second week of December (CO States is this weekend, Dec 13/14). Interestingly, this leaves 3 full weekends between state championships and nationals - with no racing scheduled. It makes sense to have at least one week to travel and maybe race in the same area as nationals, which then leaves two weeks off between races. So do we move states further into December, and allow for one or two weekends of additional racing, or move nationals back into December, leaving a bigger gap between nationals and worlds? I guess it depends on what matters to you. If you are a pro racer, who is doing at least a little time in europe, then you might have budgeted to be at worlds, in anticipation of representing the U.S. Moving nationals back into early/mid December doesn't help your schedule a lot unless you have a lot of money to be in Europe for a month or more (and skip Christmas with family).

In my inexperienced mind, what we should do is move state championships at least one week later into December. I'd suggest two, but then with variable holidays, eventually states would fall right on or about Christmas, and that's just silly, so 3rd weekend makes the most sense. It adds at least one weekend for (potentially) more wintry racing conditions, which is always an interesting dynamic here in Colorado (there's a reason my blog is called DUST and cowbells, homage to Greg Keller notwithstanding).