Squatters on the Doorstep

Are you plagued by unwanted guests? Do visitors frequently overstay their visit? Do squatters occasionally set up camp on your doorstep and then the next thing you know they have moved right on in? If you have experience with any of these scenarios, there are some people who would like to know how you resolved them.

It has been brought to my attention that there is a certain team out there, a team who shall remain nameless (but shall be referred to here as the "visitors"), just your ordinary team of friends, who kind of have a habit of setting up camp next to the encampments of other teams (who for sake of argument I will refer to as the "home" team), and gradually, slowly, methodically, kind of make themselves at home. The shift is so imperceptible that the home team rarely realizes what is happening until it has happened. It is a familiar pattern; the visitors set up a couple chairs, maybe three or four, then they will start chit-chatting with the home team members, share some bell-ringing or heckling duties. Little by little chairs get shifted an inch or two at a time toward the shade of the home team's easy-up. Sometimes the homies get up en-masse to race and, returning later, will find the visitors lounging around, feet up on the ice chest, and no empty chairs to spare. Beware of any offers to "share." That term implies some degree of give and take, but you might notice the sharing to be a "little" skewed. Just the other week, down San Diego way, I noticed the visitors had set up camp next to the SWAT; one visitor was offered a cold beverage from a kind-hearted SWAT racer, which was not refused. I noticed that visitor kind of hanging around the rest of the afternoon (he'd wander away for a bit, but always end up back by the SWAT camp), hoping there might be a second... perhaps... oh, wait that was me. Guess I sort of fit right in?

Since the cyclocross rule of hospitality forbids you from kicking the interlopers out the door, I warn you now to be vigilant. Like an invasive patch of poison oak, once they have taken root, the visitors will be difficult, if not impossible, to get rid of.

Now, for the serious part - once I have pressed the "publish" button, all bets are off, and I may need to find a new team for 2020.

No, seriously, in all seriousness, this post isn't really about cycling squatters, it is about how cross (CX) is all about welcoming, and being non-exclusive. The gathering is like one big, mostly, happy family, where visitors are welcome and sharing is not uncommon. Sooner or later new teams get their own easy-up, and just like that (snap of fingers) they are suddenly cast into the role of home team with visitors knocking on their door demanding payback - no, not that last bit - and the cycle continues. Ain't cyclocross great! 

Did you know that every weekend of the SoCalCross Prestige Series starts with a free beginners clinic, and is followed with a first-timers race? If you didn't before, you do now. So maybe I'll see you out there one of these next several weekends before the season reaches its inevitable end.