COTR Segments
* Nice to see Sean Lunny (Rock City Cycles) return to COTR after an 8 year absence. Sean made it from the back row of Masters all the way up to 6th place. An amazing ride!
* Nathan Braun continues to do great in the Beginner men’s category with his 2nd win in 2 start this year.
* Isla Walker in Beginner women’s category went 3 for 3 for 2016 at Transfer Beach
* Carter Woods (Dodge City Cycles) won his second intermediate race out of two this year as did Brian Green in Masters Men.
* Emily Boyle took her first Victory in 6 races and gained valuable team points for Victoria Wheelers.
* Bill McMillan took his 9th win in a row in Super Master.
* Amazing to see 50 year old Pete Stevenson lining up on the front row of Expert Men.
* Sorry to not see how young Emily Johnston (Trail Bikes) would have done on the hilly technical Tugboat race with her rare absence from a COTR event.
Also
* BIG thanks to Richard Cook for hooking up the equipment trailer and giving it a tow down to Bear Mountain for Race #4
* The Zoom Zoom Half Track and ‘Lil Nutcase Kids racers had books as prizes this weekend curtesy of the re-purposed hill climb primes from Mt. Washington. Thanks Morgan Harker and Drew MacKenzie
A week today is Bear X-ing. Our Thanksgiving Monday event is typically the BIGGEST and most festive cross race of the season. We can’t wait to host it and Drew MacKenzie has designed a brand new course due to the on-going construction at Bear Mountain. It should be great. More details will follow on Thursday night heading into the long weekend. Register here: https://raceroster.com/events/2016/10088/2016-cross-on-the-rock-the-bear-xing
Before we proceed into the main body of the newsletter we just need to re-address something that comes up every year. Helmets.
Yesterday we had a few incidents where this was “less than ideal”. Here are two;
The first one was before races started with a dad riding the course with his son. Son had helmet on. Father did not. Certainly not a great example and certainly not safe.
The second one a rider racing in the elite category was riding UP and DOWN the road leading to the park warming up with his headphones on, and no helmet. A car was driving towards the park stopped at the “race in progress” sign and decided to turn left into the gravel parking lot by the “amphitheater stairs”. The rider who was doing sprints up and down the road approached the stopped vehicle at decent pace, snaked around the car on its left, which now is turning, nearly avoiding collision, and then threw hand gestures in the air towards the driver.
In this case we have more than one problem: Helmet. Headphones, bad pr and really bad behavior. All not great for COTR. This rider knows who they are.
A few points:
* COTR is NOT a UCI world championships race….the riders here are not “pros”. So no need to try to be super cool.
* COTR usually do not have a closed venue, we almost always share the parks/roads we race on with other users/drivers
* Riders should always wear helmets especially riding on public roads, since, it’s the law
* Youths always look up to adults, parents or “elite” riders, if you are one or both or all three don’t set bad examples
IF this turns out is not enough of a reminder then we will have to increase the penalty.
In newsletter #7
1. Tugboat we Loved you 2. Interview with Tugboat Cross Expert Winners; Carey Mark and Drew MacKenzie 3. COTR 2016 Hats. Limited Quanity. 4. Tripleshot Crossfondo 2016
1. Tugboat we loved you.
From Race directors, racers and awesome organizers Tara and Mike Pollock Thanks to: Jim Allair Chris Birch Trevor Jones Pete Stevenson Glenn Popenko Rich Huggins Caitlin Dave Pady Aaron Clare MacKinnon Helen Gibbins Kathy Theobold Tiffany Wong Jen and Chris Day Sue Glenn Kari Pollock Natalie Jones Sydney O’Toole Tom Rozendaal
Thanks to event sponsors: Active Solutions and Health Coal City Cycles Old Town Bakery the Town of Ladysmith Mexican Food Mafia Wolf Brewing.
Interesting points: Rich Huggins who helped with the kids races, said that his 3 year old daughter, who raced for the first time, wore her number for the rest of the day and kept running around the house, pretending that she was racing her friends! Such a great introduction for kids!!
Observations and notes:
* The course this year was easy on the eyes (as always) but not on the body!
* The “trifecta of pain”, (sand, stairs and the steep hill), took its toll!!
* The Town of Ladysmith Parks and Rec was great to work with as always.
* A special thanks to the Mexican Food Mafia for coming at the last minute.
* We had a record set up time and a smooth event thanks to the great team of volunteers!
Signing off, Tara and Mike
Notes from Norm
* One of the most challenging courses that I have raced on Vancouver Island. So many technical features that the laps went by so fast. LOTS of line choices.
* LOTS of kids in the Half Track with around 40 and the little kids race at around 20!
* Great tacos
* Amazing weather
* Incredible venue
* A lot of sore back complaints today! I read a couple on FB. A few people mentioned it to me in e-mails. My back got progressively more sore as the day went on so much so that my co-workers got sick of me complaining about it.
* Pro-Tip. Dry Lube (thanks Greg MacDonald)
* Mike and Tara are amazing organizers. There is VERY little extra that I have to do at this event outside of my “normal” work. They treat their crew great and they explain everything well. We are lucky to have them!
* Great prizes from the event sponsors as well as from Series Sponsors: Muc Off, Phillips, The Howard Johnston and Blue Toque for this event.
2. Interview with Tugboat Cross Expert Winners; Carey Mark and Drew MacKenzie
Carey Mark (Steed Cycles) http://www.crossontherock.com//php/racer/?racername=Carey+Mark
Congratulations on your 12th win at Tugboat CX yesterday and your 24th podium placing.
Carey: Thanks so much Norm! Really appreciate the opportunity. Great race today.
1. You have won 6 of the last 8 expert races. What’s it going to take to beat you?
Excellent question, and one I’m so glad I don’t have to answer. I’m just so happy to be doing well, I love the positive atmosphere, the great venues and the amazing people that consistently come back. Why throw a cloud over the sun burst?
2. Typically you are a slow starter and a FAST finisher. Is that your plan or just how things work out?
I used to think that passing people would give me motivation to continue working harder, but with many words of wisdom, and some amazing opportunities to race with some of the best in Canada, I know the start is where many races are won. I still think of myself as more of an endurance athlete. A diesel. Strong and consistent, but honestly in the past year that has probably changed, and I just haven’t thought about it much.
3. How did you approach the Tugboat course?
Ha! My extensive preface ritual includes; Saturday rides with friends (2-4 hrs), a late night with a few non hydrating beverages, 7 am kids hockey practice, followed by a frantic attempt to pack, load and get the kids to the event for the zoom zoom half track. Today, when we did arrive, I realized it was a different course than previous years, which lends for more excitement! Multiple dismounts, stairs and hills, things I have been practicing in the Thursday night clinics. Perfect!
4. At Mt. Washington this year there was a 33 year age spread between the podium placers. How is that even possible?
Emily is a phenom. She inspires every woman there to want to reach their potential. As for me, I feel I have a lot to learn about cycling in general. But I have been fortunate to compete with many talented racers, who make me to be better. I do my best to step up for the challenge, and dig into that hurt locker when needed.
5. Have you been working on your starts?
Yeah I’ve had to face the reality that although I’d rather use the 1st lap as a warm-up, starts are critical. My strategy has been to find a fast steady wheel and use it as a carrot to put into a better 2nd lap position. That said I don’t see to many 1st lap primes in my future. Which is a shame because I really enjoy Phillips beer.
Drew MacKenzie (Shimano/ Marin/Pearl Izumi) http://www.crossontherock.com//php/racer/?racername=Drew+MacKenzie
Congratulations Drew on your 10th win and your 30th COTR podium yesterday at Tugboat CX!
Thanks! Sorry for missing the awards podium. Clearly I still need some practice when it comes to this podium thing.
1.Tugboat was your first win since 2014 Binab Property Group GP. Did you ever think you were going to get back on the top step at COTR?
I had some close ones last year, so I figured one might go my way again at some point.
2.How did you approach Tugboat differently?
I honestly did not do much differently. I think I’m just getting fitter now after racing into shape through September. We’ve also been having some great practices on Wednesday nights in Vic for the last month. Apparently trying really really hard to keep up with the likes of Kelly, Parker, Raph, Felix, Terry and the Robs (Parkin and Britton) is a pretty good workout.
3.Tugboat was a “very” tough course with LOTS of dismounts……you typically don’t like dismounts. How did you overcome your dismount dislike yesterday?
I usually never run, so longer stair sections are not my friend, but with the 2 le mans starts we’ve had this year, that’s two more runs than I normally do in a year, so I am in the best running shape of my life and was just bouncing up those suckers.
4.What was the key to your victory (besides just going faster than everyone else in Expert)?
Basically I got onto the beach section first and was able to ride it cleanly. I didn’t see exactly what happened but from what I heard it was a bit chaotic for the rest of the field the first time through the beach section, so I got a pretty good gap off of that and then went hard for the next 2 laps to see if I could grow the gap and stay away. After that I just suffered as much as I could and tried to stay as smooth as possible through all the various sand sections and technical bits. I had a couple spots on the course that I could look back and check if the gap was staying the same and so I could adjust the effort accordingly, generally fluctuating between DEFCON puke and cellular hypoxia.
5.You are currently 2nd of ALL time COTR podiums. You also hold the dubious honour of having the most DNF’s. What are you doing this year to keep your DNF count down?
I’ve just been taking the “Did Not” out of DNF. Actually, I just had a look at the stats right now. First, I think it is so cool how good the stats are for the COTR series. Second, some of those races I actually did finish so I want a recount
3. COTR 2016 Hats.
Limited Quanity Short note on this one. We have had some COTR 2016 Hats made up by Sew What I Sew in Cumberland. They are sweet. 4 styles and so far the first 4 people that have them (Race directors) all picked different ones. So the score is 1 all. I will post a photo after I dig them out of the van. We will have them at Bear X-ing for $28.
4. Tripleshot Crossfondo 2016
Sunday, October 16, 2016, 9am: Victoria BC’s first mass participation off-road cycling event for all ages and abilities winds through flowy pine-needle trails and hairpin turns, over hills, roots and rocks, and churns through chunky peanut butter mud and puddles. Oh, and maybe a few hike-a-bike sections.
www.tripleshotcrossfondo.ca
If you have always wanted to do Three Peaks in England (http://3peakscyclocross.org.uk/) but have not checked it off your list. This is the closest we will get in Canada!!
Should be AWESOME
All for now. More on Thursday.
