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


Race Bikes.  Make Friends.  Have Fun.


SOCKS.  You might have seen them at Hot Crossed Bunnies or at Provincials!  We are set up under the registration page to sell the socks when you register.  Any socks that we have left after we allocate what was sold we will have at registration on Sunday.  There are limited quantities!  Size Small would be a prefect gift for a little COTR racer for Christmas stockings!

Openers:

  • CHECK YOUR POINTS!!  We want few or no mess ups with our final awards BUT our data is only as good as what you have provided us with.  If you have registered with 2 different names…..you will have points under 2 different names…..so you will not get credit.  IF you TEAM name is spelled differently…..like the Slugs have done with 2-5 different variations or Triple Shot….you need to EDIT those to the correct one that is the most common one.  Get it all together.  Make sure ALL your team registers with the CORRECT team name for the finals.  And check your points to make sure you have credit for all your hard laps this season!!
  • PHOTOS!!!  Do you have any stand out photos from this season?  Send them our way by Thursday night for the Photo Contest!!  Don’t send ALL your photos.  Maybe no more than your top 5 for each person…..that will be more than enough!
  • Need a realtor that will put your needs above their racing?……read below!

1. Provincial Championships 
Well…we have to admit it felt great to be at a cyclocross race to just be a racer family for once!  It normally happens once or less per year so we savored it!  Some interesting things to observe at Provincials this past Sunday.  In 150+ Cyclocross races some things happened that we have never seen before:

  • The BEST thing we have never seen before was we have NEVER seen before a racer (in this case Brent McMahon) stop mid race.  Pulled out his phone to talk to a client about a house that they had an offer in on.  Finish the conversation and continue on with his race.  If you want someone with 100% dedication to their clients……I think Brent is the person!
  • We have never seen 9 different age categories start at the exact same time with no stagger between them and no differentiation for length of race between a 9 year old and a masters racer…..what could go wrong?
  • We have never seen a U17 women racer do a race of 54+ minutes when the UCI dictate a 30-40 minute time limit for this category.  The results only show 4 laps BUT they did 6.
  • We would love to say that we have never seen a Provincial champs ignore the call up protocol that they set up for this event for some categories but not others…..but we saw that last year and were told after last years race it would not happen again.  BUT of course it did happen again.
  • We have never seen a provincial or national championship that has U17 and U19 men do the same number of lap times as the Elite category with no difference in race time.  So a U17 man doing a 70 minute race when they are used to 30-40 minutes as dictated by the UCI.
  • We have never seen so many young racers leave a cyclocross course in tears….we hope we NEVER see this again.
  • I have never seen 3 categories of masters racers being started with one start so that it was impossible to know who was in what race and what position.
  • We have never seen Bob Welbourne roll a tubular.
  • On the flip side the weather was AMAZING.  The mud was perfect.  The course was fun.  The PA system was crystal clear (envy),  COTR was over-represented. The announcers were appreciated and there was some good racing to be had……and we just loaded our vehicle after the race and drove away in search of food……..

1. Hot Crossed Bunnies Review.
HOT CROSSED BUNNIES RESULTS

SERIES POINTS AFTER 5 RACES
TEAM POINTS AFTER 5 RACES

LINKS:
Photos from Ross Greenwood
Ari Robinson’s Full Season photo links so far
Roland’s POV Video from the Masters Race

From Christine the president of MIVA:

Another amazing race day, going down without a hitch! The weather cooperated, with the atmospheric rivers taking a break just in time for course set up and holding off all through race day, we could hardly ask for better!

So much work goes into putting an event like this on, and we are so grateful for all those that made it happen: first to the City of Nanaimo, the V.I.E.X. and Nanaimo Equestrians, and BMX club for allowing us the use of their grounds and equipment for the course. Many thanks to Coal City Cycles and Rock City Cycles for sponsoring draw prizes, and Georgie’s Pies for the Podium pies, to our food trucks Sip and Sliders and Harbour City Donuts for keeping the masses fed. A giant high five to all our volunteers who came out this weekend, we just couldn’t do it without you, nor without Shep who this the mastermind behind our course designs year after year.  And finally a big thank you to all that helped rake out the course after the race. It was certainly hard work, but well worth it to keep the groundskeepers  happy so we can continue using this venue in future years. 

Norm’s Notes:

  • Any race at Beban is always special as we had our first races EVER there.  We hosted the first ever National Championship on Vancouver Island at Beban Park.  We hosted the first BC CUP races WAY back when.  We hosted the first ever sanctioned cyclocross race on Vancouver Island there…..We even set up an Island Championship race at Beban one year when Provincials was not happening or too far away.  It has the biggest Cyclocross heritage of any place in the Province!  
  • Too much garbage left in the team tent area……we can do better.
  • SOME people don’t listen to the warnings about the strider bike whoops on the BMX track.
  • During the Open race one of the Buttcat Racers, Emma Skaug, came running up with her pedal and crank arm in her hand.  Paul Auton and I tried to get it back on BUT we did not have a 10mm allen wrench so we pulled my back up MTB out of the van for her.  She continued on and Paul went to find a 10mm.  Bike fixed we met her at the end of the MULCH ring with her bike again.  Not only did she grab her bike…..but then she stopped for a shrimp on her way to Last Not Lapped for the women’s race! 

2.  Broad Street Cycles GP Preview

Just register NOW as you read this so that you don’t have to do the e-mail at 6:03pm on Saturday night:

REGISTRATION LINK IS OPEN

This is the fifth year at the Jordie Lunn Bike Park located in Irwin Park (so confusing) in Langford. We’ve had all sorts of weather here: epic rain to dry and dusty. Forecast is currently calling for a bit of rain. Our title event sponsor for this event is in the title: Broad St Cycles! Rhino Coffee House is now open at the club house, enjoy a snack after your race.

We will have a little kids race again this year in the area near our starting area.

PAY ATTENTION TO THIS NOTE ABOUT PARKING!!  (We do NOT want you to be towed away and you have to ride home all cold etc.)
 Parking this is the BIG issue so PAY attention!!Parking is going to be tight. Please carpool or ride out if you live in greater Victoria.Please follow the directions of the parking volunteers DO NOT PARK on any residential streets. (You will be towed and get us banned from the venue)Not annoying the neighbours is THE key to being allowed back to this venue.There are three places you CAN park.  See the MAP.The main parking lot is at 2992 Irwin Road. Please only use this to drop off equipment and then park elsewhere.Continue on Irwin Rd and you can park in front of the Church. This parking will be marked with special event parking signs. The Creekside parking lot is closed for repaving.When both lots are full, there is overflow parking on Constellation Ave, only 500m away.
I repeat: There is NO PARKING on the shoulder of Irwin Rd (other than in front of the church) or other nearby streets.Please use a parking lot or you will be towed.

Race Day ScheduleRace day schedule unless otherwise posted:

Registration Open9:15 am
Beginner Clinic-Pre Ride10:00 am
Launch Men(Including Youth U13 and U15)10:45 am
Launch Women ((Including Youth U13 and U15)10:46 am
Younglings (Bigger Kids). Full lap or almost a full lap11:40
Intermediate Men (Including U17)12:10 pm
Intermediate Women (Including U17 and Masters Women)12:11 pm
Lil Nutcase Kids Race12:15 pm
Masters Men (40-54)1:15 pm
Super Master Men (55+)1:16 pm
Open Men2:30 pm
Open Women2:31 pm

AWARDS will be as soon as we are finished tearing down the course and packing the trailer.  More hands make it all go quick and lets us get to the race and series awards FAST!

COURSEExpect a 2.5km loop with a mix of fast hard packed surfaces, technical features, pump track, and a bit of mud. All set in a beautiful forested park with two mini lakes. We had positive reviews from last year where we ran the course in reverse, so we are doing it again, except making the start wider. Expect a course that’s easier on your bike and has some running. 

Parting ShotWhere it ALL STARTED!!
19 years ago TODAY.  Remembrance day in 2006 we hosted the National Championships at Beban Park.  It would be amazing to book end this era of Vancouver Island Cyclocross with another National Champs at Beban in November of 2026.  20 years later.

Check out the results page from that race and spot the number of people who are still racing to this day!

Newsletter #8 – Broad Street Cycles GP – Preview