Cross on the Rock

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Bikes washed, lubed and protected for the season with Muc Off.

Notes from the sidelines:

1. New Cross on the Rock Website Features.
Roland and Brett always like to improve on what we have going on at Cross on the Rock World Wide Web Headquarters. Here are two of the recent additions to the site:

Compare Racers.
This page allows you to compare your results to someone else. Roland devised it so he could see if in fact Coal Cross was the closest he has ever been to be as he was breathing down my neck for a lot of the race. You can use it to compare yourself to anyone in your races. I have of course used it to compare myself to Sean Cruickshank….you can check that for yoursel

Clubs Page
We have started populating this page with club information in the hope of growing the sport through support and love. We know there are more clubs and groups out there so if you have any more info you want to share please send it to us!

2. WRONG PHOTO LINK
For some reason the photo link to Chad Grice’s Coal Cross Photos did not work in the last e-mail. SO I am posting it again HERE This time I will CHECK it! Lots of great shots of most of the categories.

3. Need a place to stay in Victoria this weekend? Every Accent Inn is a Bike-Friendly Hotel

Why should your bike have to stay in a dark, unfriendly storage locker, while you sleep in one of our comfortable rooms?

It shouldn’t! That’s why we’ve invented our Bike Love program for all Accent Inns hotel locations.

Bike Love makes us the bike-friendliest hotel chain in BC—maybe even the world. Whether you’re a long-distance tourer, a mountain biker, or just bringing your bike on vacation, your bicycle will always be welcome here. Just ask for a bike-friendly room when you make your reservation.

Every Accent Inns hotel offers:
Ground floor rooms you can store your bike in
Bicycle wash and tuning station with a professional-grade bike stand
Shop-quality, 37-piece tool kit at your disposal to do everything from tire changes and brake adjustments to headset overhauls
Rags for cleaning your bike
A laundry room in case it’s not just your bike that needs washing
Free Bike Love stickers

Newsletter #5.

1. Things to remember for Race #2.
2. Study Build Youth Program Outline for 2019
3. Pro City GP Preview

1. Things to remember for Race #2.

• We are approaching the second race of the season this Sunday. A couple of things to remember:
• If you raced already this season you need to bring your race number AND your timing chip. IF you don’t you will need a new one so then remember $5
• There is rumoured to be a Pie truck coming to Topaz…..and maybe wafels?
• You still need to sign in to race. So bring your license or $10.
• Put your timing chip on correctly. On the seatpost. Facing backward. Not the frame, fork, chainstay etc.
• Put your number on correctly. It is easier for everyone. (Check the side it needs to be on at registration)
• We had great co-operation and respect at Coal Cross between racers. Lets keep that going. It makes the races WAY more awesome!
• PLEASE STAY OFF THE PLAYING FIELDS FOR THE DURATION OF RACE DAY.
• PLEASE DO NOT RIDE THE COURSE AFTER RACE DAY!
• Try to bring someone new to the races. Either to try it out or to watch!
• Keep being awesome!

2. Study Build Youth Program Outline for 2019

https://www.study-build.com/

We have been REALLY lucky to have this program the last three years to support our younger racers. Study – Build has agreed to do the program again this year and would love to support the youth riders most in need of assistance. If your youth is racing BUT you are “good” when it comes to family income then maybe pass it onto someone that can use it more. (We also understand that this is sometimes a BIG motivator for younger kids and we know…..motivation is KING). Your call. Details below.

Program Details for 2019

Study Build Youth Program for COTR 2019
Youth must participate in at least 6 of the COTR races to qualify for free entries. At the end of the season, the KIDS (Not parents) should fill out and submit the reimbursement form to us, and then we’ll mail them (or their parents) a cheque.

The submission form will be open for one week, starting from day after last race of the season.
The total sponsorship payout will be capped at $4000 this year, so submit early!

3. Pro City GP Preview

Course Description:
The course will be the same as last year, running counter clockwise. Taking advantage of Topaz park’s varied terrain including grass, wood chip trails, rocks, a short stair section, and more grass. The 2019 race course is fast, fun, and flowing with a mix of high/low speed riding, wide open power sections, technical cornering, and fluid long radius turns over varied surfaces. Bring your horsepower and your cornering skills.

Venue:
Topaz Park is located at the corner of Finlayson Street and Blanshard Street in Victoria. Parking is available on the north end of the park off of Finlayson Street or on the East side of the park by taking Spruce St off of Quadra Street. Additional parking is available at Mayfair Centre and SJ Willis School, a short walking distance to the park.

Please be courteous to other park users during race day and keep off the sports fields. The park is still open to the public so please be respectful.

Team tents: Please send scott@trekbikesvictoria.com if you would like a reserved parking spot and area for your team tent. We will be setting up tents similar to last year, a bit closer to the parking area off Spruce St. Your spot will only be reserved until 9:30 am.

Race sponsors: Shimano, Pro and Trek Bikes Victoria
Big thanks to Shimano for stepping up big time to help with prizes, course marking, and making great products!

Directions to Topaz Park
From the Mainland:
• Please check www.bcferries.com for up to date sailing times

From the Swartz Bay ferry terminal
1. Follow the Patricia Bay Hwy/BC‐17 S toward Victoria.
2. Head southwest on Patricia Bay Hwy/BC‐17 S (go 28.3 km)
3. Take left onto Finlayson St (go 260m) and look for parking lot entrance to Topaz Park on your right hand side.
OR
4. Additional parking also available by continuing straight on Finlayson another 250m
5. Turn right onto Quadra St (go 200m)
6. Take the 1st right onto Spruce St and follow for 110m to parking lot.

From Nanaimo / Up-Island (Incl. both mid-island ferries)
1. Follow Island Hwy/BC-19A South (go 106km)
2. Continue to follow Island Hwy onto Trans-Canada Hwy/BC-1 S (go 6.8km)
3. Turn left onto Finlayson St go 450m head straight through lights at Blanshard and look for parking lot entrance to Topaz Park on your right hand side.
OR
4. Additional parking also available by continuing straight on Finlayson another 250m
5. Turn right onto Quadra St (go 200m)
6. Take the 1st right onto Spruce St and follow for 110m to parking lot.

From Victoria
1. Take Blanshard St/Patricia Bay Hwy/BC‐17 N towards Yates St (go 2.3 km)
2. Turn right onto Finlayson St (go 260m) and look for parking lot entrance to Topaz Park on your right hand side.
OR
3. Additional parking also available by continuing straight on Finlayson another 250m
4. Turn right onto Quadra St (go 200m)
5. Take the 1st right onto Spruce St and follow for 110m to parking lot.

Volunteers needed!!!
We are currently looking for volunteers to help make the event Crosstastic!! Volunteers are key to COTR events and we are keen to get some new people out to help us set up, take down and run these awesome events!!

If you are in Victoria and would like to learn more about volunteering for Victoria based COTR events send me an email at scott@trekbikesvictoria.com I will gladly sign you up for sweet volunteer position.

We need help with:
Course Construction: Sunday Morning prior to the race, 7:30-10:00 (As many people as possible please.
Timers: 1 person for every race to help out…so sign up for a race you are not racing in 🙂
Course Take down: If everyone pitches in it does not take long at all!

Cross on the Rock is an ISLAND series and the past support we have received from our island community is awesome. Lets keep it up in the future as it is what drives this series and makes it special. PLEASE SUPPORT THE SPONSORS. These are local businesses and companies that support local businesses. On-line companies, amazon, big business (besides Shimano and local dealers of MAZDA) do NOT support community events.

Cross on the Rock is organized by the council of cross and supported by a lot of bike shops and awesome people as well as Cycling BC.

Newsletter #3 for 2019. MAZDA-COTR. Season #14. Coal Cross Preview.

Powered by MAZDA
Bikes washed, lubed and protected for Topaz Park with Muc Off.

Did you check out Ted Hobby’s Intertidal Creative COTR Season #14 Preview Edit….check it out by clicking this!

Newsletter #4.

1. Coal Cross Review
2. Registration is OPEN
3. Lots of other stuff happening!
4. Teams, Clubs, Practices and Clinics.

“Great race today! Best course I have ever seen in Cumberland!!! By far the most polite and supportive group of guys for passing and being passed.” C.S.

“Best Coal Cross Ever! (Except for maybe the first one where we went through the alleys”. R.R.

“Loved the choose your own adventure sections in front of tent alley”. The boys at Rock City Cycles.

1. Coal Cross Review

Chad Grice had some great shots from Coal Cross last Sunday. The low res are free to download.

Patrick’s Photos are UP here

This might be his shot of the race

The riders in the picture are
Bib 168 Damian Parlee – making it look smooth and finished 9th
Bib 140 Jordan Drew – got up and rode it out. Finished 1 lap down in 72place

Notes from Chris and Dave Race Directors:

We are super pumped with how smoothly this race went from the pounding of the first stake on Saturday afternoon, right through until we locked up the trailer on Sunday night. Course set-up was done in under two hours thanks to our veteran crew including the members of the Trail Bicycles Junior Team. Registration was hiccup free and the timing team was tight!

It truly was the tale of ‘two races’. Dry and dusty for the Beginners and Intermediates and driving rain and slick conditions for the Masters Men and Experts. We think the beer garden was a nice addition and its placement lead to viral social media posts of bunny hops gone awry!

A couple of special mentions…
Hilary Grant: Timing legend
Michelle and Katie: Double Duty. Registration in the morning and flogging beer tickets all afternoon
Jay Walker (Land and Sea): For not knowing what he was really getting into and pulling beer all afternoon in some nasty conditions
Sarah Johnston: 4th year doing registration and she keeps coming back
Tim Roberts: Pounded more rebar than the rest of us combined
Brett Whitehead and Tom Skinner: For organizing the CV Wednesday Night Cross practice
Steve Blacklock: Our beer garden host

Finally we want to thank all the local sponsors:
Land and Sea Brewing, Ronni Lister (Realtor), Waypoint Insurance, Eatmore Sprouts, Milano Comox, Cascadian Wood Tech, Blue Toque, Done Creative, Cumberland Crate, Bibliotaco, and the title sponsor Trail Bicycles, who have been supporting #cross in the valley since the very first race held in 2006.

See you next year!
Chris and Dave

Norm’s Notes:

• Great start to season #14!
• Thanks to the crew behind the scenes that makes sure that things will go smooth: Roland, Brett, Patrick, Sherry, Wendy, Tycho and Tessa.
• I did not hear a single negative thing about this race which……is honestly…..AMAZING!
• Great job Dave and Chris for sure!

2. Registraion is OPEN

We have been VERY fortunate in the past to have former COTR racer, Mark Nelson, working for us setting up our registration. This season we have had to do it ourselves which we found out takes a LOT of time!! The data from the series has been migrated to the next couple events and the rest of the events will have the data migrated soon. (Meaning if you signed up for the SERIES your name will be transferred to each of the races).

Registration for each race will close at 6:00pm the night before the event so that we can process the start lists etc. (if you are not pre-registered you do not get a call up). There is always registration available on race day up until 30 minutes before the race OR until it reaches it’s registration limit (Cash only on site).

Here are the links to each of the races

2019 Mazda Cross on the Rock: Pro City Racing GP. Race #2. Season #14. September 22, 2019

2019 Mazda Cross on the Rock: Pro Cross on the Commons. Race #3. Season #14. October 6, 2019

2019 Mazda Cross on the Rock: Muc Off Cup. Race #4. Season #14. October 14, 2019

2019 Mazda Cross on the Rock: Crosstoberfest (The return). Race #5. Season #14. October 27, 2019

2019 Mazda Cross on the Rock: Day of Thunder. Race #6. Season #14. November 3, 2019

2019 Mazda Cross on the Rock: Hot Crossed Bunnies. Race #7. Season #14. November 16th, 2019

3. Lots of other stuff happening!

The fall has become an amazing time for riding bikes, racing and being a part of a great community. Cross on the rock is just one part of what is going on.

Here are some other things:

• The Triple Shot Cross Fondo! http://tripleshotcrossfondo.ca/ This event happens on an OFF weekend for Cross on the Rock. October 20th. It is a SUPER FUN event that is like a scavenger hunt on wheels. The course is always a secret. Once in a while we hear rumours. Friends or family will come into Frontunners and mention someone they know in Saanich that was approached to see if a bike race could cut through their land……little pieces of the puzzle! You can day trip this event or make a weekend of it. They treat you like GOLD. (We will be reminding you of it in the newsletter and on FB until the event a few more times)
• Up in Powell River they are putting on their first EVER Cross race. The date unfortunately conflicts with the Pro City GP but if you know anyone that is on the Sunshine Coast and probably would not make it to Victoria on that day then this will be a good first event to try out. Very low key. Poster/Information Below. PowTown “Classic” (I never know how a first year event can be a classic?)
• There are a LOT of OTHER cyclocross events going on in Vancouver, the lower mainland and in Washington. This is a great document that shows you what is happening, when and where in all these locations:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15Gr0AmloVNPVverMXzQpk5pfqhl9EvITm_ismKFbqfk/edit#gid=0

• If you are not racing MOMAR this year in Cumberland (thank god that is NOT a double header this year!! OUCH) then you might want to check this event out in the Cowichan Valley. https://www.burntbridgeclassic.com 82km of gravel riding.

4. Teams, Clubs, Practices and Clinics.

Clubs
Cross on the rock would like to increase our focus on Clubs and Teams to foster community and growth to cycling. If you have a club or team that races we would like to know about it and put it on our resource page on the web site.

Please send any club information to: normont@islandnet.com
We would like the following information:

1. Name of the club/team
2. Is the club OPEN (will accept new members) or CLOSED (full or have to apply)
3. Where is the primary location (ie. Victoria).
4. Age group and what the group focused on (ie. ALL AGES. or “Just hard core single speeders and vodka drinkers)
5. Contact person and contacts (FB, e-mail, IG)
6. If you have any weekly practices or groups (Carpooling, monday night barrier practice. Tuesday night close down the bar practice)
7. If you have a club that does practices or clinics let us know.

Practices

Rock City Cycles in Nanaimo: Cross practice on Wednesday at 6PM at the Red Barns at Beban Park.
PS, please be sure to have paid for your cycling BC license.

Practice Races:
Wednesday Victoria Cross Club is back for another season.
Registration and details are at : https://raceroster.com/memberships/3999/2019-victoria-cross-club
We start up September 11 and registration is open now.

Cross on the Rock is an ISLAND series and the past support we have received from our island community is awesome. Lets keep it up in the future as it is what drives this series and makes it special. PLEASE SUPPORT THE SPONSORS. These are local businesses and companies that support local businesses. On-line companies, amazon, big business (besides Shimano and local dealers of MAZDA) do NOT support community events.

Cross on the Rock is organized by the council of cross and supported by a lot of bike shops and awesome people as well as Cycling BC.

Newsletter #3 for 2019. MAZDA-COTR. Season #14. Coal Cross Preview.

Powered by MAZDA
Bikes washed, lubed and protected for the season with Muc Off.

Are you getting fired up for this weekend? Check out this edit from our sponsors at Naked Bikes……it will get you higher than gluing tubulars.

How will the first race be started?
This year YOU have the say. Every year the first race has to start by some method….we have done a few through the years. Back in the older days we just lined everyone up on the front row! We have done Le Mans, random and braveheart over the last few years. What should we roll with for the first race of #MAZDACOTR2019? Coal cross is coming quick.

Take the 1 question survey and let us know your thoughts.

Small refresher for everyone that Cross on the Rock is designed to be a supportive environment for all ages. Please keep your language and behavior appropriate. Heckling is part of cross but it is good practices to do “positive” heckles….rather to tear someone down. Talk to a little kid. Encourage beginners and first timers. Be kind to your fellow racers. Make space for those lapping you. Race hard but have a great time. Shake hands at the end!
Be a part of something awesome!
As always…..no pre-riding during other peoples races!

Newsletter #3.

1. Coal Cross Preview.
2. License requirements for 2019 (Repeat)
3. Category name changes and descriptions. (Repeat)
4. Teams, Clubs, Practices and Clinics. (Updated)

1. Coal Cross Preview;

#1 and #2 thing you need to remember: Don’t ride on the BMX track. Don’t ride on the playing fields (outside of where the course is).

Tessa and Tycho will be running their Freezie stand at Coal Cross. They love your support and chatting with everyone. I think they are racing LAUNCH for the first time……so ask them how it went.

Registration for the series and Coal Cross will open until 6:00PM Saturday. Registration for the SERIES will close at 6:00pm Saturday and not open again.. Registration for each race will close at 6:00pm the night before the event so that we can process the start lists etc. (if you are not pre-registered you do not get a call up). There is always registration available on race day up until 30 minutes before the race OR until it reaches it’s registration limit.

EASY LINK TO REGISTRATION FOR THE FULL 7 RACE SERIES

EASY LINK TO REGISTRATION FOR ONLY COAL CROSS

We have received several e-mails from people that have not read this note……so PLEASE NOTE: When you are signing up for TEAMS for the FULL SEASON or for COAL Cross make sure everyone is on the same page with regards to the TEAM NAME. Signing up for the full season does not automatically put the team name into the list for Coal Cross (or any of the other races) and signing up for Coal Cross does not put the team name into the list for registering for the full season.

Race Day Schedule

Until the time change we will be going with the longer schedule. The first race of the year is always a bit tougher with everyone registering for the series as well as data being inputted. We will do our best as always to stay on-schedule but be aware there are always a lot of moving parts!

2. Licence Requirements for 2019 (Repeat)

Licencing is confusing. It does not help that every year the licences change. The insurance requirements change and it all starts again…..WHICH LICENCE DO I NEED TO RACE?

So here we go. We will try to explain your options.

1) If you are only going to do a couple of COTR races (We strongly encourage you to race them all) but you don’t want to buy any license. You are racing COTR races ONLY. Pay for a Day of Race licence each time you race $10 for an adult. $5 for youth. This is OK if you are only going to race once or twice a year. But it is a PITA (paperwork etc) if you are going to race more than that!

2) Buy a “Provincial Ride Licence” from Cycling BC. $60. This works if you are racing the LAUNCH category (Beginners/Youth/Sport) races at COTR. If you are going to race 6 or more COTR events this year. This is your best bet but ONLY if you are ONLY going to race Cross on the Rock this fall. You can not race other events or the provincial championships with this licence.

3) Buy a “Provincial Race License” from Cycling BC.Adult $90. Youth $60. Get this one if you want to race COTR as well as in Vancouver and Provincial Championships. You can race any category in the province.

4) Buy a UCI license (Cost varies depending on age) if you want to race BIGGER races such as UCI races or National Championships.

Those are your current (for this year) options for Cross on the Rock for 2019

3. Category name changes and descriptions. (Repeat)

If you did not figure it out the theme for this year’s series is Harry Potter. We have been getting a lot of awesome feedback about the logo and theme for the year so thanks for sending that and passing it on. With that we have been working on making the categories for this season a bit more “fun”. Hopefully everyone will catch on. We are also changing the name of two of the categories (for now) to better reflect who is racing in them.

This is what we are going with for this year. You may have to look up some of these terms as we did. They were researched and suggested by Tycho and Tessa.

• Little Nutcase racers will be “First Years”. As in the “First Years race the Little Nutcase races”.
• Mazda Zoom Zoom racers will be “Goblins”
• The Beginner category will receive a name change to “Launch”. This category is a mix of youth, return to race all ages, masters “c” racers and all age beginners so it was felt that “beginners” did not really fit. Those racing the Launch category this year will be called the “Seekers”
• If you are a Boggart you will be racing the men’s intermediate category this year. That includes the older youth categories and those not ready to jump into open. We chose Boggart for this category as a boggart can change itself into ANYTHING it wants. Just as an intermediate has endless possibilities.
• Women’s Intermediate will be the “Animagi”!
• Men’s masters racers are the “wizards” and women are the “Veela”
• Super masters…..well “Professors” just fit so well!
• Rounding it out Experts will be changed to OPEN (Actually returns to open) which reflects the nature of that category with “A” level masters racers, fast JR racers and those fitter than most humans racing in this category. Those racing the Open category are of course….the Auror!

We hope this theme is fun for everyone this season. After all racing should be fun!

4. Teams, Clubs, Practices and Clinics. (Updated)

We have received one e-mail from this so far…..we encourage you to share your community and information!!

Cross on the rock would like to increase our focus on Clubs and Teams to foster community and growth to cycling. If you have a club or team that races we would like to know about it and put it on our resource page on the web site.

Please send any club information to: normont@islandnet.com
We would like the following information:

1. Name of the club/team
2. Is the club OPEN (will accept new members) or CLOSED (full or have to apply)
3. Where is the primary location (ie. Victoria).
4. Age group and what the group focused on (ie. ALL AGES. or “Just hard core single speeders and vodka drinkers)
5. Contact person and contacts (FB, e-mail, IG)
6. If you have any weekly practices or groups (Carpooling, monday night barrier practice. Tuesday night close down the bar practice)

If you have a club that does practices or clinics let us know.

Practices:
Rock City Cycles in Nanaimo: Cross practice on Wednesday at 6PM at the Red Barns at Beban.
PS, please be sure to have paid for your cycling BC license.

Practice Races:
Wednesday Victoria Cross Club is back for another season.
Registration and details are at : https://raceroster.com/memberships/3999/2019-victoria-cross-club
We start up September 11 and registration is open now.

Cross on the Rock is an ISLAND series and the past support we have received from our island community is awesome. Lets keep it up in the future as it is what drives this series and makes it special. PLEASE SUPPORT THE SPONSORS. These are local businesses and companies that support local businesses. On-line companies, amazon, big business (besides Shimano and local dealers of MAZDA) do NOT support community events.

Cross on the Rock is organized by the council of cross and supported by a lot of bike shops and awesome people as well as sanctioned by Cycling BC.

Newsletter #2 for 2019. MAZDA-COTR.
Season #14. The year of the dark mark.

Powered by MAZDA
Bikes washed, lubed and protected for the season with Muc Off.

Welcome to the 14th season of Cross on the Rock. We are a week and a half away from our first race of the season in Cumberland on September 8th. We will be sending out our 3rd newsletter next week with a preview for that race next week. This newsletter will overview the season and some of the changes that are happening at Cross on the Rock for 2019.

Newsletter #2.
1. Cross on the Rock Season #14 Overview
2. License requirements for 2019
3. Category name changes and descriptions.
4. Teams, Clubs, Practices and Clinics.

1. Cross on the Rock Season #14 Overview

The fall schedule continues to get more and more busy! We have tried to space out the races a bit more than last year but without a double header we could not fit in 8 events for this season. All this means is the 7 we have will be even more tightly contested and you will not want to miss a single race!

September 8th. COTR #1. Coal Cross. Cumberland.

• Starting the season off this year in Cumberland. We have experiences heat and rain in Cumberland in Septembers past…..so we will see what we get this year!

September 22nd. COTR #2. Pro City GP. Victoria

• After being the first race of the series for a few years Topaz park will be the second race for 2019. With a looming park re-design the future of this amazing venue is uncertain.

October 6th. COTR #3. Cross on the Commons. Qualicum Beach

• Qualicum Beach returns for the 3rd time. Clockwise or Counter clockwise? Something entirely new? We don’t know! We can tell you that the ice cream in the village tastes great after a day of racing.

October 14th. COTR #4. Muc Off Cup. Nanaimo

• Thanksgiving Monday classic! Name change for this year but one of the best courses (and polarizing) courses around. This event has had the highest DNF rate and the lowest!

October 27th. COTR #5. Crosstoberfest (The return of). Ladysmith

• After a couple of years off COTR will return to Transfer Beach. This time for “Crosstoberfest”. Some park changes will mean some course changes. The venue and view can not be beat!

November 3rd. COTR #6. Day of Thunder. Victoria

• Back to Western Speedway for the second to last event for the 2019 season at Western Speedway. This venue has probably hosted the 3rd most cyclocross races on Vancouver Island. Lots of space. Lots of “knarly”.

November 16th. COTR #7. Hot Crossed Bunnies. Nanaimo

• Nanaimo’s Beban park will host the last race for 2019 with it’s Hot Crossed Bunnies race. Double points will be up for grabs which normally means a shake up in some of the standings right before the awards for the season are given out.

7 races.
5 Sundays
1 Monday
1 Saturday

Registration for the series and Coal Cross will open at 6:00PM tonight (links on the web site) and registration for the remaining 6 events will open next week. Registration for the SERIES will close at 6:00pm before the first event and not open again. Registration for each race will close at 6:00pm the night before the event so that we can process the start lists etc. (if you are not pre-registered you do not get a call up). There is always registration available on race day up until 30 minutes before the race OR until it reaches it’s registration limit.

PLEASE NOTE: When you are signing up for TEAMS for the FULL SEASON or for COAL Cross make sure everyone is on the same page with regards to the TEAM NAME. Signing up for the full season does not automatically put the team name into the list for Coal Cross (or any of the other races) and signing up for Coal Cross does not put the team name into the list for registering for the full season.

2. Licence Requirements for 2019

Licencing is confusing. It does not help that every year the licences change. The insurance requirements change and it all starts again…..WHICH LICENCE DO I NEED TO RACE?

So here we go. We will try to explain your options.

1) If you are only going to do a couple of COTR races (We strongly encourage you to race them all) but you don’t want to buy any license. You are racing COTR races ONLY. Pay for a Day of Race licence each time you race $10 for an adult. $5 for youth. This is OK if you are only going to race once or twice a year. But it is a PITA (paperwork etc) if you are going to race more than that!

2) Buy a “Provincial Ride Licence” from Cycling BC. $60. This works if you are racing the LAUNCH category (Beginners/Youth/Sport) races at COTR. If you are going to race 6 or more COTR events this year. This is your best bet but ONLY if you are ONLY going to race Cross on the Rock this fall. You can not race other events or the provincial championships with this licence.

3) Buy a “Provincial Race License” from Cycling BC.Adult $90. Youth $60. Get this one if you want to race COTR as well as in Vancouver and Provincial Championships. You can race any category in the province.

4) Buy a UCI license (Cost varies depending on age) if you want to race BIGGER races such as UCI races or National Championships.

Those are your current (for this year) options for Cross on the Rock for 2019

3. Category name changes and descriptions.

If you did not figure it out the theme for this year’s series is Harry Potter. We have been getting a lot of awesome feedback about the logo and theme for the year so thanks for sending that and passing it on. With that we have been working on making the categories for this season a bit more “fun”. Hopefully everyone will catch on. We are also changing the name of two of the categories (for now) to better reflect who is racing in them.

This is what we are going with for this year. You may have to look up some of these terms as we did. They were researched and suggested by Tycho and Tessa.

• Little Nutcase racers will be “First Years”. As in the “First Years race the Little Nutcase races”.
• Mazda Zoom Zoom racers will be “Goblins”
• The Beginner category will receive a name change to “Launch”. This category is a mix of youth, return to race all ages, masters “c” racers and all age beginners so it was felt that “beginners” did not really fit. Those racing the Launch category this year will be called the “Seekers”
• If you are a Boggart you will be racing the men’s intermediate category this year. That includes the older youth categories and those not ready to jump into open. We chose Boggart for this category as a boggart can change itself into ANYTHING it wants. Just as an intermediate has endless possibilities.
• Women’s Intermediate will be the “Animagi”!
• Men’s masters racers are the “wizards” and women are the “Veela”
• Super masters…..well “Professors” just fit so well!
• Rounding it out Experts will be changed to OPEN (Actually returns to open) which reflects the nature of that category with “A” level masters racers, fast JR racers and those fitter than most humans racing in this category. Those racing the Open category are of course….the Auror!

We hope this theme is fun for everyone this season. After all racing should be fun!

4. Teams, Clubs, Practices and Clinics.
Cross on the rock would like to increase our focus on Clubs and Teams to foster community and growth to cycling. If you have a club or team that races we would like to know about it and put it on our resource page on the web site.

Please send any club information to: normont@islandnet.com
We would like the following information:

1. Name of the club/team
2. Is the club OPEN (will accept new members) or CLOSED (full or have to apply)
3. Where is the primary location (ie. Victoria).
4. Age group and what the group focused on (ie. ALL AGES. or “Just hard core single speeders and vodka drinkers)
5. Contact person and contacts (FB, e-mail, IG)
6. If you have any weekly practices or groups (Carpooling, monday night barrier practice. Tuesday night close down the bar practice)
7. If you have a club that does practices or clinics let us know.

Here is a good example:

Practices:

Rock City Cycles in Nanaimo: Frst cross practice will be this Wednesday (August 28) at 6PM at the Red Barns at Beban. We will work on some basics and try to get our cross legs back!
PS, please be sure to have paid for your cycling BC license.

Clinics:
Broad Street Cycles:
Details are here: http://www.broadstcycles.ca/cyclocross-skills-weekend-clinic-sunday-sept-23rd-2/
We’re hosting another round of CYCLOCROSS SKILLS CLINICS!
– Learn the classic technique for dismounting, carrying and remounting your bike for cyclocross racing.
– Taught by coaches with many years of cyclocross experience.
– We break everything down into steps and progress methodically, focusing on technique. Then we go into race-like situations where you practice and make use of what you’ve learned!
WHEN: Wednesday evenings August 28th, and September 4th. – 6:00 reg, 6:30 start

LOCATION: 4017 Prospect Lake Road.
$10/ clinic, or $25 for three!

Cross on the Rock is an ISLAND series and the past support we have received from our island community is awesome. Lets keep it up in the future as it is what drives this series and makes it special. PLEASE SUPPORT THE SPONSORS. These are local businesses and companies that support local businesses. On-line companies, amazon, big business (besides Shimano and local dealers of MAZDA) do NOT support community events.

Cross on the Rock is organized by the council of cross and supported by a lot of bike shops and awesome people as well as Cycling BC.

Newsletter #13 for 2018. MAZDA-COTR YEAR #13

Having MAZDA as our title sponsor Mazda, makes so much more possible for COTR. Thank you!!

Don’t put your bike away until it is fully washed, checked and prepped. Fix things that are broken and use Muc Off to get your bike ready for the off season.
#COTR2019
#CROSSWASHERE
#crossontherock
#Mazdarules

While this is our FINAL newsletter for 2018 you can continue to follow us on the socials. We are constantly posting on both the Facebook and Instagram. The first newsletter for 2019 is due out in August. Until then enjoy our last newsletter for 2018.

Race and Series Maintenance Items

1) StudyBuild Youth COTR Sponsorship for 2018

Council Note first: How amazing is it to have this program the last 2 years. MAJOR thanks go out to Danielle and Andreas for doing this for our young Cross on the Rock racers.

Criteria and steps to apply:

• Participation in 7 or 8 of the 8 COTR races this season is required to qualify for funding.
• Age 19 and under racers in Beginner, Intermediate or Expert races
• Each youth racer should complete the application form in their own words (NOT their parents), to request reimbursement for race entry fees.
• Submissions will be accepted until midnight on Friday, November 30th 2018
• Study Build will mail cheques out to racers in December. Cash your cheque when you get it please, don’t save it for months!
• Link to application form: https://goo.gl/forms/aR7yndBJRAqlkkN63

2) Lost and Found. A tool kit in a red and white shopping bag (Swiss Flag) was left beside the EV/Devo tent. If anyone picked this up please tell them to get in touch and the owners will trade for much beer! Thanks.

3) THE SURVEY
Our year end survey is important to direct the future of COTR Season #14 as well as relay information to sponsors for their continued support. PLEASE take the 5 or less minutes to work through this year’s survey and give your input. We will sweeten the deal with a prize for someone in the first 100, 200 and 250 (our goal is 250) respondents. Here is a link to the 2018 survey.

Warm Ups

• Rolands on-board coverage of the Master’s Men’s Day of Thunder race. Including some amazing footage of the first lap. BONUS his coverage of BC Provincial Champs
• I saw Geoff Robson out there at the Day of Thunder….have not been able to find any photos from him yet but he did have his camera with him…..so looking forward to it. Geoff captured this memorable feature years ago at one of the early Western Speedway races.

• Here is a link to Patrick Burnham’s photos from the weekend.
• Here is a link to MAZDA’s Sean Voigt’s photos and video’s including a lot from the MAZDA ZOOM ZOOM Race.
• Nothing yet from Intertidal Creative for video. Apparently their drone crashed after 3 minutes of flight on Saturday. Thoughts and prayers for their drone.

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1. COTR Year #13 Review
2. The Day of Thunder Review
3. COTR Year #14 Preview

1. COTR Year #13 Review

13 years!! Well we had an amazing season. From South to North. East to West. We covered more of the island than the COTR series has ever before. All the while racing some amazing courses in some amazing places. That is all fine and good but we all know what makes this series as special as it is. The people. The racers. The sponsors. The race directors. The parents. Everyone coming together for 8 days in the fall. Working behind the scenes. Making it all work out. Without everyone making it happen it simply would not.

Next year is the 14th season! We encourage you all to return as racers. Bring someone new with you. Bring someone back that has not raced for a while. Help out at your local race. Help clean up at all the races. Be a “bigger” part of it all. Too much falls on too many most of the time so lets make year 14 the year that more people are involved with Cross on the Rock!!

Have a great off season……it is too long and then too short!

Many thanks to all our sponsor Sponsors.
Title Sponsor: Mazda who make a LOT more possible with the series including covering all the prizes for ALL the kids races.
Presenting/Prizing Sponsor: Muc Off
Sponsor for the Victoria races: Pro-Pearl Izumi-Shimano
Super Masters Men’s Category Sponsors Island Cycles
Corey and Sean from Rock City Cycles Nanaimo sponsoring the Kona Kup
Peter Crighton from Cycles Lambert/Muc OFF
Phillips Brewery for their continued support for the Single Speed category and series prizes
Frontrunners Nanaimo who let me race and organize.
Nutcase do a great job supporting the little kid races
KONA the sponsor of the Kona Kup
Trek Bikes Victoria. Pro City Cycles for the GP at Topaz
Wade Luksay Riverway Dental (Youth Category Sponsors giving CASH to these little up coming racers today)
Andreas and Danielle from Study Build from Quadra Island who are sponsoring the Youth race for FREE program
Kyle Denny from 11 Speed Coffee covering the Last Not Lapped (AKA most in need of coffee)
And Sam Wittingham from Naked Bikes….because he is SAM

SPECIAL THANKS TO our Race Directors
Scott Mitchell
Grant Leystock Key
Lee Blais
Dave Nowak and Chris Sykes
Corey and Sean from Rock City Cycles
Roy Kregosky and the Arrowsmith MTB Club
Patrick Burnham and MIVA
Drew MacKenzie, Joele Guynup and Parker Bloom

For helping with our amazing trophies.
Jamie Cameron and Paul Brend

Our stats, results and timing crew
Patrick Burnham and Roland Rabien

Website
Brett Whitehead

Congratulations to our special prize winners for the series:

Forever Young: Bill Lane. Started in 2007. Has done 47 races since. 72 years old. ALWAYS out there. Never complains. BIG SMILE. BILL LANE

Best Rookie Season: We had an amazing crop of COTR Rookies this year. It was the hardest year to decide this award and in the end it came down to the last race. Taking it home was 17 year old Hamish Graham taking 4th place overall in the EXPERT category in his first year racing COTR.

COTR Spirit AWARD– Laurie Voroney and Edwin, Bridget, Emma Booi.
Started racing in 2016 in Beginners. Doubled up with Intermediate. Raced Intermeidate. Started Maters in 2018. 3 Podiums in Masters. Doubled with Expert. Branching out by entering the Red Bull Pump track challenge. EVERYONE races from their family. EVERY time.

2. The Day of Thunder Review

Council Notes:
Drew MacKenzie not only directed the double header. Drew ALSO won the EXPERT Men’s for the 2018 SERIES! He had to kill it Saturday after working his butt off setting up the course and organizing a double header. This is pretty much an impossible task…..but he pulled it off with a 3rd place. His record 41st Podium! This was his 3rd time winning the series OVERALL for Expert (2018, 2012 and 2010). He is also the oldest Male ever to win the Expert Category for the series overall. On Monday the day after putting on 2 races, setting up and racing Drew drove the trailer up to Nanaimo from Victoria so that he could get it done before leaving the next day for work. In total…..a MASSIVE effort by Drew!!

Notes from double header race director: Drew MacKenzie

Well another awesome weekend and season of cross racing has flown by!

Even with 8 races this year and a lot of lingering sore muscles I am still sad that its over.

First and foremost, I want to express my sincerest appreciation for all of the volunteers who come out early and stay long to make the events happen!

There is literally no way to put on events of this size without the help of so many volunteers and so many other quality individuals who chip in where they see a hand being needed.

I spend most my time on race days simply running around going from one thing to the next and never really getting to spend any earnest time with all the fine folks who help out, so I really want to take this opportunity to recognize them.

I also want to take this opportunity to strongly encourage more people to volunteer moving forward. A lot of the same fine folks help out year after year and we absolutely need new people to come into the fold and help out in order to sustain this amazing series and avoid burning out our incredible regulars.

Please strongly consider volunteering if you can and please take a second to show your appreciation and thank these people for their contribution to our beloved cross community. When you see them next, give them a high five, or a beer, or heck give em a hug and say thanks for all that they do:

Specifically thank you to the following extremely fine folks:

– Norm, Wendy, Patrick, Roland and Brett for all of their hard work, inspiration and tireless dedication. Words do no justice. Thank you!
– Sylvia Storry for wrangling volunteers and running the show so effectively all the while being so positive, upbeat and so easy to work with.
– Parker Bloom for agreeing to partner with me and taking on a lot of the work to make Provincial Championships happen. Parker then ended up getting wrangled into the entire weekend of activities and essentially living at the Speedway Friday, Saturday and Sunday!
– And last but not least… and speaking of getting wrangled into stuff, a massive thank you to Joele for putting up with my shenanigans all the time. A lot of people end up thanking me for putting on races, but Joele is so instrumental to every single aspect of pulling off all the events that it would be impossible without her, and she should get way more of the blame!

COURSE SET UP AND TEAR DOWN:
Dave Podmoroff
Doug Doyle
Roland Rabien
Patrick Burnham
Terry McKall
Rob Parkin
Victoria Leeson
Steve Crowe
Scott Mitchell
Brent Hooper
Andy Pitre
Mitch Thacker
Joele Guynup
Jon Watkin
and Wendy Simms, Tessa and Tycho!

REGISTRATION
Sharon Hume
Linda Saunders
Jacinta
Betsy Mackenzie

BEGINNER PRE-RIDE/CLINIC
Victoria
Glenowyn
Denise

TIMING
Amy Errington
Sherry Barnes
Kyle
Bruce Falk
Liz
Ros

My sincerest apologies if I have missed anyone!

A massive round of THANK YOUs to everyone who contributes to this great series by chipping in where you see a hand being needed or simply just by coming out being quality individuals.

A very big thank you also to our race sponsors:
Please remember to vote with your dollars and your kind words the next time you’re out shopping or talking about bikes to friends and strangers alike. The internet does not put on events or provide prizing for all the races in your local community. Make sure to support your local businesses/shops/distributors/representatives that work hard to support the community!

Extra Event Sponsors (In addition to the series sponsors):
Shimano (bike.shimano.com/)
Pearl Izumi (www.pearlizumi.com/)
Pro Components (www.pro-bikegear.com/en-gb)
Focus Bikes (www.focus-bikes.com)

Kimberly Chen. The 2018 Winner of the GRAND PRIZE a new NAKED frameset. Congratulations!!

3. MAZDA-COTR Year #14 Preview
We try our best to post what the season looks like the next year at the end of the current year. Each year even though we post this in the newsletter we get a BUNCH of e-mails asking for dates etc. So take note! This is not 100% final BUT it is a rough estimate of how the race season will shake out in 2019 for our 14th MAZDA-COTR season.

Cross on the Rock Season #14

September

8th – Starting the season in Cumberland for the first time since 2015 with Coal Cross. WITH the early season and the longer days MAYBE we can finally pull off a race through the Waiverly Pub again on Saturday Night?

22nd – Heading back to Topaz for the Pro City G.P. COTR Race #2

The 28th of September is MOMAR (confirmed this time) and I am reluctant to put anything on that weekend as it is a heinous double.

October
6th – Cross on the Commons at Qualicum Beach?

15th – Thanksgiving Monday. This is currently in debate between Victoria (Western Speedway) and Nanaimo (Bowen Park)…..stay tuned on how this shakes out.

20th is the Tripleshot Crossfondo Day so we will leave this weekend to them!

That leaves the 27th. The closest COTR to Halloween…….I think we just HAVE to return to Psycho Cross at Lake Cowichan. They have the best podium!! We can’t not put that to use!

November

4th. Our first back to back weekend (gotta fit it in) will see us racing back in Ladysmith with Transfer Beach! A few changes to that park may have us returning to slack point for the first time since the Great Pumpkin Cross of 2011.

17th. Depending on what happens for Thanksgiving Monday and a few other irons we have in the organization fire we this will either be Victoria, Nanaimo OR possibly Shawinigan Lake.

with the 24th being the Ladysmith Cinnamon Bun Fun Run we will finish the season off on the 23rd. Again this could be either Victoria, Nanaimo or Shawinigan to finish off our 14th Cross on the Rock season.

That is roughly how the season will look. BUT at the same time a lot will depend on the feedback we receive in from the year end survey and how things shake out with available venues.

Regardless…..it will be worth showing up for!!

This is an ISLAND series and the past support we have received from our island community is awesome. Lets keep it up in the future as it is what drives this series and makes it special. PLEASE SUPPORT THE SPONSORS. These are local businesses and companies that support local businesses. On-line companies, amazon, big business (besides Shimano) do NOT support community events.

Parting Shots.

The spirit of COTR. Last year Hadrien Hudson Kam won the GRAND prize Giant bike at Cross on the Commons. He GAVE us his amazing 20″ SPAWN to give away. It took us all season to have the space/racks to bring it with us but we finally (remembered) packed it to the Day of Thunder where we found the smallest, youngest and most cute Buttcat Racer to pass the bike onto. We hope to see it back in action at COTR as soon as she can reach the pedals.

From Hung Mai Photography.