BEND, Ore. — The growing sport of cyclocross is an off-road version of a road cycling race, staged on a course featuring a series of obstacles that force riders to dismount and carry their bikes. Competitors race against the clock on bikes that are a cross between road bikes and mountain bikes.

Although the big event is still more than three months away, anticipation is already mounting in Central Oregon for the 2009 Cyclo-cross National Championship.

And unlike the recent road national championships here, which were open only to limited categories of riders, the cyclocross championship — set for Dec. 10-13 in Bend — is an all-comers event.

Buy a USA Cycling license, pay the entry fee, and show up at the start line. And with multiple age divisions and skill categories offered in the schedule of events, there’s a race for just about everyone.

In the meantime, opportunities are plentiful locally and throughout the region to prep for the event — both for riders who want to dip a toe (or a tire) into cyclocross for the first time and for those seasoned veterans eyeing a national title.

Bend’s Stephanie Uetrecht calls competing in December’s cyclocross national championships “a No. 1 priority.”

“I want to really do well at the national race,” says Uetrecht, 39, an age-group racer who last competed in the national championships in 2004, when the race was held in Portland. “It’s a cool big deal to have that here.

“I’ve got my USA Cycling license and I’m ready to go.”

What’s all the fuss about?

Cyclocross racing in Oregon has developed a devoted — sometimes described as almost cultish — following.

The Portland-based Cross Crusade series regularly turns out some 1,200 racers at a single event, while Central Oregon’s weeknight Thrilla Cross Series pulled in nearly 90 riders for its first race of the 2008 season. Enthusiasm for cyclocross seems to be most fervent among riders in the Northwest and Northeast regions of the country, perhaps because of the sport’s connection to foul weather.

“I’ve done a few ’cross races in Texas, where it’s 75 degrees and sunny, and it’s not really a ’cross race,” offers Brig Brandt, of Bend. “It’s not how it’s supposed to be.”

According to Brandt, who races at the elite level in both cyclocross and mountain biking, the cyclocross scene also tends to be more casual and more welcoming than other types of bike races.

“’Cross has beer gardens, there’s cowbells, and sometimes people dress up in costumes,” he explains.

Others credit the spectator- and family-friendly nature of cyclocross for its popularity. Races are short — usually from 30 to 60 minutes — and riders typically compete over a 2- to 4-kilometer circuit. Races are often staged in a parklike setting, and riders may cover a variety of surfaces, such as grass, dirt and pavement. A cyclocross course also may include unridable sections or obstacles that force riders to dismount and carry their bikes on foot.

“I think people like the length of the race because it doesn’t take all day,” says Uetrecht, whose husband, Rob, and young son, Ryder, also race. “For our family, we can cheer for each other and race and everybody participates.”

Mountain bike and road bike races tend to be challenging for spectators, as riders leave from the start line and may not be seen again until they return to the finish, sometimes hours later.

“It’s epic, in a way, because of the weather and the mud, but it’s not so epic because it’s only an hour,” says Brandt of cyclocross. “The short circuit plays out really well for spectating, and families to come watch — more so than other cycling events.”

And its easier for participants to train for an hour race, than for a mountain bike race or road race, she added.