Well here's the ending to this story. I wrecked in my race Sunday and the fork failed. It was a bad wreck, I crashed into another rider twisting my handlebars around, breaking some cable housing and sending me to the ER to get my knee looked at - it appears to be just a bad bruise thankfully.

Some bystanders tried to help me get back in the race, but when one twisted my bars back around he noticed my fork sticking about 15 degrees out to one side. Race over. By the shock was wearing off and my bleeding legs were starting to complain. Being steel the fork bent but did not totally break. I guess it took most of the blow because I was able to true the wheel and will be able to use that again. Looking at the pics you can see how thin the fork crown material is. I don't think there was adequate brazing applied to the joint with the steerer tube and a crack developed. The wreck applied enough force to finish it off.

Seeing as this is a 1 inch threaded, replacing the fork is not really practical. The rest of the bike is pretty beat up anyways, so I'm now in the market for a new 'cross bike / frameset. Oh well.