“Get a bicycle. You will not regret it. If you live.” - Mark Twain <- This sums up my cyclocross experience. 
I have SPDs on all my cross bikes, and the ONLY issue I've had with them is after running through sand. So the solution is obvious: try to figure out how to ride through the *&%# sandpit. Or get eggbeaters, like the rest of my team does.
And I've all but given up on my geared bike and am resigning myself to my *two* SS crossbikes. Whut? One's the pit bike!
-- gnat!
Windsor: 2010 S-Works Ruby
Pantysgawn: 2011 S-Works Stumpjumper 29er
Whiz!: 2013 S-Works Crux (Singlespeed)
Boucheron: 2009 S-Works Tricross
Haloumi: 2013 Tern P7i
Kraft: 2009 Singlecross
Gouda: 2005 Electra Betty
Roquefort: 1974 Stella SX-73