Calvin27
Eats Squid
It's not just death of XC. Most racing has declined relative to the proportion of participants. This is certainly the case and road racing and stuff like track as well. XC is just hardest hit. Part of the reason is because racing is falling out of flavor - why race when you can hang up your bike and make a nice day of riding with mates - you still come out cooked and have a great time. most new entrants to the sport have no intention of competing ever. Maybe an event to challenge yourself but that's it. Testament to this if that these days the events that do well tend to be gravel grind category. Folks make a day of it and you get some nice fueling stops in the middle of nowhere to make it worth your coin.