MUC OFF – Cross on the Rock 2025. Season #19

Did you:

Race Bikes?
Make Friends?
Have Fun?

We can’t believe it is over and we miss it already! Thanks to a few of you that took the time to send a note about the 19th COTR season. They were appreciated. We have not had a chance to respond to everyone yet as two days after the series wrapped we were on snow in Silver Star at a BC Biathlon Camp where we also ran into MORE COTR racers past and present!

What a race season it was. 6 events. Great participation. Amazing community. Positive vibes! A massive amount of butchered pronunciations of names (every year….no extra cost). We are looking forward to the off-cyclocross season and then onto our 20th Cross on the Rock Tour!!

Some Series Closers for the Season

A special season #19 thanks to John at Higgins Heavy Duty Mechanics. When the door hinge on the trailer failed days before Coal Cross he welded that thing back together and it is sill holding. He also fixed the wiring (again) so that the lights worked without fail for the season.
A special thanks to Tycho Thibault for all the extra hard work again this year. Tycho finished racing at each of the races and then jumped right into leading the Riverway Dental Hot Lap race. Then from there organizing the LITTLE racers with Tessa. Then cheered on his Mom. Then cheered on his dad. Short chill and helped with all the awards this year with Tessa and other buddies.
Where the prizes at? If you were 2nd or 3rd for the series in your category BUT are NOT on our social media accounts…..get on there and figure out where your prize is and how to pick it up. Kim Theriault WINS the fastest prize pick up with 33 minutes from when it was posted!
Are the bikes getting better? Are the courses getting too easy? Or are the riders getting more skilled and fit? We have not had a race in the top 10 for least DNF’s since 2014. This year we had 4 of our 6 events rank in the top 10 LEAST DNF’s/TAMEST races of all time….in 19 seasons. If you think about how many races we have put on at this point (129) over 19 seasons to have 4 races from one season rank in the top 10 is mind blowing!
After 6 seasons of being the runner up Rock City Cycles – Frontrunners won the team competition for the season!! Check out the final results!
Race directing is VERY-VERY difficult. It puts people under a microscope. We all LOVE racing and we want it to go PERFECT and when it does not there are “observations” like we made after the Provincial Championships. Some things are under the control of the race director and crew….and at provincials those were the positive things that we pointed out about the event. Other things at a Provincial Championships are under the control of officials and provincial organizations NOT the race director. Jon felt that we did not make as good a distinction from our post about provincials that we could have. Our observations were intended to draw attention to things that we felt were not great in the hope for change and improvement. The things that were not great at Provincials were NOT the responsibility of Jon and his race crew. Hopefully that clears things up and moves things forward and finally improve for the next Provincial Championships!
And finishing with a statistic. Number of steps taken the day before each of our COTR races for the season: 100,730. And on Race days: 103, 975 (does not include during the race) = 204, 705 steps or an average of 17,059/day which is 189km walked/run on those days. The highest of course was the series final at the Broad Street Cycles GP with 19, 794 steps which was close to a half marathon of walking that day.

The best thing is the people! Without Cross on the Rock I would not know cool things about cool people. Like David Pechter is a physiotherapist that knows Murray McKutchan that I raced triathlons with in the 90’s/00’s and have not seen in decades. Or that Sofia Donnecke is also a professional disc golfer. Or that if I need some storage in Comox to talk to John Van der Vliet. Amazing people. In the community. Coming together in the fall to race bikes and get dirty!
1. Broad Street Cycles GP Review.
Photos from the series final from Ross Greenwood.

Norm’s Notes:

Special thanks to Cycling BC and Nolan Riding for the use of the BIG ROOM for the race and series awards! That was sweet!
Special thanks to Concept Photography for loaning a battery bank to Patrick for the last race so that we could get back to high-quality results!
Corey (Rock City Cycles) mentioned a small girl helping tidy up the course after the race carrying massive load of flagging tape. When asked if she wanted to put it in the garbage bag she simply said “NO I am taking this home to set up a course in my yard”. This is what we are promoting!
How many Coulters are there?
One BIG thing we noticed at this event that was different from all the other ones of the season was the number of racers hanging out after the finish at the finish area. Sure the weather helped and we were not soaked or muddy but honestly I think people were just stoked to be there and wanted to share the stories of the day. It was so cool!

Roland the Race director’s notes for the Broad Street Cycles GPAnother awesome day for Cyclocross in Victoria. For a course that has a reputation for causing a lot of flat tires, 98% of people finished the race, same percentage as last year. We did a few tweaks to the course to make it a big longer and have a bit wider start, we will continue improving the course, we already have ideas for next year. Huge thank you to everybody who made the day come together. Fabian who took charge of course design. They convinced Yari from Langford Parks to allow us to have the run up again, the defining feature of the course. And Renny from Broad Street Cycles who provided the prizing. My setup crew: Doug, James, Fabian, Matt, Kevin, another Matt, Ian, Christy & Hugh. My reg and timing crew: Laura, Rosalind, Jen, Lauren, Megan, Jill, Adina, Robin, Matt, Joanna, Christy. Clean up crew: Everybody! Everything was torn down and back at the trainer in record time! Parking: Frank Remediation crew: Liam & Fabian. Hopefully you’ve had time to check out the gravity zone at the Jordie Lunn Bike Park, there are some amazing trails. If not, rent a big bike from Broad Street and give them a rip.
2. So Many Thanks……because it takes a LOT of people and support! This is somewhere where EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU can make a BIG difference! Support these sponsors. NO EXCUSES. Just do it! These are the people that are helping make what you LOVE happen! No one else. Without the sponsor COTR does not happen. You won’t see box stores in this list. Or on-line discounters. These are ALL Island or Canadian companies operating on small margins with increased costs and pressures. HELP THEM OUT. Buy your stuff local. Support These Companies!!

MUC OFF – OUR MAIN PRIZING SPONSOR with Muc Off Cup, Prizing and support at three events Peter Creighton from HLC Bike. Peter also helped us out with some extra draw prizes for the final (those sweet advent tool calendars) and has been there since the START!

Coastal Community Credit Union who gave us a cash grant this year to help with venue expenses. If you want a financial institution to work with that is not a MASSIVE company and contributes and cares about the community they live and work in. CCCU is it! They even came out to our race and hung out!

Hotel ZED and Accent Innfor great draw prizes and our grand prizes. If you are traveling some place and you need a place to stay…….there is no cooler place than Hotel Zed!! PLUS they sponsor our events!

Wade LuksayfromRiverway Dental sponsoring the kids prizes! Eventually you are going to need some dental work…..do you live up island? Call Wade up! He races bikes AND is a dentist!

Super Masters Men’s Category Sponsors Jilland Simonfrom Cycles West in Victoria. Two more people from another community supporting bike shop! Show them some love.

Kyle Denny from 11 Speed Coffee covering the Last Not Lapped (AKA most in need of coffee) and some series draw prizes. Almost everyone that lives drinks coffee. You have to buy it some place. Why don’t you support someone that races bikes and supports our community. It is a WIN-WIN!

Nothing happens without Frontrunners-Nanaimo who let me race, take Saturdays off to organize and without knowing it pay for all the fuel for the series. Cyclocross is a sport that is biking AND running. You gotta practice the running…..and for that you need good shoes….and even if you don’t race cyclocross you need good shoes. Support Frontrunners!! They have been community focused since 1988 on Vancouver Island! Since 1988!!!

Barnside Brewing was not a sponsor this year but we kept their logo on our banner…….in the hope we would have them back again next year!

These are the shops that supported our series this year. NOT a single one is a DTC Website off Vancouver Island doing nothing in our community. Support your LOCAL bike shop! Pro City Cycles, Broad Street Cycles, Rock City Cycles, Cycle Therapy, Jumping Slug Cyclery, Trail Bikes, Cycles West and some prizes as well from Coal City Cycles.

Our race directors this year: Scott Mitchell, Brett and Tom, Corey and Sean, Roland, Matt, Patrick, Christine and Shep.

Our partner clubs: Trail Bikes Club, Rock City Cycles Team, Broad Street Cycles, Cycle Therapy, Jumping Slug Community and MIVA

Roland, Patrick and Brett who keep things running on the back end and between events. There is a lot of action that happens away from race weekends and MORE on race weekends. These three working away to make sure everything operates as it should when we get to the BIG DAYS of the race season!

Paul Brend (the man of Mol) has not been able to race for a couple of seasons BUT he still makes the unique and beautiful trophies each year that the series top 3 take home!

Medix……most of the time they are bored BUT sometimes we make them work pretty hard….and sometimes they have to run ALL THE WAY DOWN to the BMX track when people don’t take it easy! Thanks Lyle and the crew.

Also it might sound corny but a BIG thanks to EVERYONE that helped out this year. Setting up. Working registration. Pulling tape. Packing the trailer. Rounding up and supporting all the kids that race. Lending a hand or equipment. Taking photos. The courses go up and come down with so much speed which makes it SO MUCH easier every race day. Thank you all!

3. Save some Dates for 2026.

2026 will be our 20th season of Cross on the Rock. We have been bouncing around a few different ideas for some special events during and possibly before the races season next year.

ONE for sure will be an Alumni race…..so if you have raced COTR at any point in the last 19 seasons and have been on a podium or are just from the early days….well….we are going to race! We have a few other masterful ideas as well including a SS Show down.

The scheduling for COTR is always tricky. Trickier that you might imagine.
We are juggling:

Venue availability
Are Roland and Patrick on the island?
Is the host club, shop or organization available?
Are there other conflicting events on that day?
Labour day…..late this year which eliminates another weekend in September
Halloween (Next year on a Saturday…..which means that weekend is OUT)
Number of races 6, 7 or 8? (Probably 7?)
The Farmers Almanac and our Magic Eight Ball.

After those considerations this is how the schedule MIGHT look for 2026

September.
Labour day is the latest is can possibly be which messes up the first weekend of September.
We HATE having a double header with other events that our racers MIGHT or DO do…..but it could be happening in 2026……September 12th is Dodge X……More likely than not Coal Cross OR the return to Qualicum Beach will be September 13th for Season #20 Race #1.

MOMAR is September 19th. Doing a double with MOMAR is harder than Dodge X so the 20th there will be no race.

September 27th will be Race #2. This MIGHT be the year that we FINALLY again get a second venue in Victoria for race #2!

October
We will race again on the 4th (Race #3) More likely than not an earlier Ladysmith as Port Alberni has requested MUD! BUT it might be Victoria depending on how we do with dates and venues.
The 12th (Race #4) will be the BIG ONE again. Thanksgiving Monday. The MUC OFF CUP. Beban Park. The Alumni race show down to start the day.
No race on the 17/18th weekend……fingers crossed for the return of the Cross Fondo. One of our favorite non COTR races!
October 25th we will be heading to Port Alberni (Race #5) and praying for MUD. The fire truck coming and filling the mud hole is always a highlight but I think we could use more of that course saturated. This event will also have the Dog CX championships and/or the Single Speed Show down to start the day! One gear only….none of this zap strapped shifter nonsense! Who is the best SS racer out there?

November
Our past research as shown that a race after a Saturday Haloween is NOT great. So no race on November 1st! Is there a time change than night as well?
The last two races will be The Broad Street Cycles GP and Hot Crossed Bunnies. We have not figured out the order for these two races yet BUT it would make sense to finish Cross on the Rock at the place that it all started which is Beban Park. This was our first underground race in 2002. Our first official races in 2003. Where we started the BC Cup in 2004 and where we hosted the first National Championships for cycling on Vancouver Island in 2005. Ideally we would finish this chapter with another National Championships…..but we know that that would involve…..so more likely than not we will stick with what we know works and try to have a bit of a party afterwards! MOST likely these will be November 8th and then 15th….but there is a small chance that it might be the 8th and then the 22nd….depending!

Keep an eye on the web site and social medial posts as we firm up the 20th Tour of COTR. (Special edition T shirts coming as well).

Parting Shot
We would LOVE this shot more if Riverway Dental Hot Lap racer Abigail made it in there! How many events can you go to and three generations can race. Same track. Getting muddy! The Daradics crew of Chris, Todd and Gabriel (missing Abigail)

OK if you have made it this far you are wicked!! It has been a great race season but if you have any feedback. Good/bad etc send us a note. You can make a difference.

Newsletter #9 (Big Read) – The series is done for 2025.