Cross on the Rock

This will be the second to last newsletter for 2016. In the LAST one we will give you :a photo gallery link, video link, the link to the 2016 Survey (where you get to give your direct feedback) and…….the schedule for #COTR2017. Keep an eye on your in box for the LAST e-mail of the season!!

A Community of Cyclocross. Our COTR community.

That is what we have built.

“We”

It is “We”……It is not me. It is not Drew. It is not the other race directors. Brett that does the web site. Roland and Katie. Patrick. Jamie Cameron and Paul. The bike shops that sponsor teams or organize rides. Megan for taking care of my kids so I can race. People that just randomly jump in to help when needed. Jack that organizes and sources prizes JUST for Super Masters. Parks and Rec. Departments……the list goes on and on and on…….

The point is it is all of us. From the event directors. The crews at the races. Registration volunteers. Sponsors. Sponsors that come out and power wash bikes. Those that race. Those that don’t race but they “get” us. Spectators. Fans. Family….and most of all the racers. This year 713 of us out there racing 2599 times.

Those are the facts. Cross on the Rock is the BIGGEST cyclocross series in Canada. On our little Vancouver Island!

I think I am up to 75-78ish cross races put on. I am not going to say it gets “easier” as it does not. It is a LOT of work on race days. Before and after is also a HUGE amount of work. What is amazing is that a LOT of people help out. Never because they are forced (that I know about) to or have to. It is because they want to.

This is the community that we have built.

We have grown our racer base 4.5X since we started in 2006. We grew almost 10% again this year for racers. Double that to 20% as to how many more times everyone raced this year!

As we grow (and judging from the size of the Zoom Zoom and ‘Lil Nutcase races we will still grow for years) we need to keep the same things that have made the series since the start.

Fun
Competitive (but not “agro”)
Hard/Challenging
But still Encouraging, Inclusive and supportive.
And hopefully more Wafels!

Keep these things in mind as we work towards our 12th COTR season in a short 9 months from now.

Hands up for the Champions

After an amazing season with TIGHT battles we gave away 45 awards at the Saanich Fairgrounds. These are the riders that rode the best race season in each category.

U13 Men: Remy Garrison
U13 Women: Eva Leikermoser
U15 Men: Nicholas Knight
U15 Women: Olivia Gribbon
U17 Men: Carter Woods
U17 Women: Talia Hill
Intermediate Men: Andy Pitre
Intermediate Women: Haley Lounsbury
Masters Men: Normon Thibault
Masters Women: Tracy Egan
Super Masters Men: Barry Beck
Super Masters Women: Joanna Fox
Expert Men: Parker Bloom
Expert Women: Carey Mark
Top Fastmers (40+ racer in Expert Men): Justin Mark
Top U19 Female: Emily Johnston
Top U19 Male: Max McCullock
Best Rookie Season: Felix Burke

And also for the first time Top Team: Coal City Cycles

This is the stuff we love
· Statistics! We love them! 23.235.211.7/~thehol19/crossontherock//results/statistics/

· First time winning last Sunday; Matthew Evans, Toria Kalyniuk, Andy Pitre and Kristen Kit!

· First time on the Podium!! Nik Kay!

· Special mention to Sarah Van Dam for her first Expert Women’s podium!!

· Monday morning e-mails, texts and FB messages mentioning how their kids slept with their ZOOM ZOOM/’Lil Nutcase Trophy and then brought it to school.

· Same as above but with photos.

· A sunny Monday with an actual block of time to (almost) unload the van and (almost) tidy up a bunch of COTR stuff.

· When an awesome racer like Mick http://www.crossontherock.com//php/racer/?racername=Mick+Egan Offers to clean your bike while you are busy organizing the awards, moving the PA, herding your kids. Thanks Mick

· OK this one is a “Don’t love”. When you walk out of the awards with your kids and one says, “How can it be dark out already when we have not had lunch”? Apparently 2 wafels are not considered “lunch”…….always more to do!!

· The “Hand up Zone” over by the parking lot on Sunday. I did not take anything as Ken Olson was hunting me down….but you guys made me want to!!

Warming it down
· As we head into winter on the Island and away from COTR there is still a few things to do….Are you missing anything….like a set of wheels, jackets etc? The lost and found box will be going to good will soon.

· PLEASE fill out our Survey when you get the link. We will do two draws for those that fill it out.

· Make sure you write all the dates for the 2017 season on your calendar and plan ahead!

· Take care of your bike before you pack it away. Bearings. BB. Wheels. Chain. Cables. Put it away in good shape. It will appreciate it.

· Apologies to Emmy Lan and one other person…..(no notes) who’s series awards we messed up on. We were using last year’s extraction which did not separate out that we had changed our points structure for youth categories this year. Sorry.

Don’t want to “Warmed Down” yet?
· BC Cyclocross Championships THIS Saturday in Squamish. NEXT year BC champs will be on Vancouver Island…..so this is a good way for you to check it out and see what it is all about. Check Cycling BC.net for more info or Steed Cycles Web page. Last chance to register is Wednesday.

· Kris Cross at the Cowichan Fairgrounds on December 11th . We have looked at this venue for a few years so it will be a good chance to check it out. Registration for this one is on Webscorer with links from OBB and Cycle therapy pages.

· Semiprestige CX Race: Dec 18th Likely the same excellent venue as last year, with fingers firmly crossed for SNOW. Keep an eye on Broad Street Cycles FB page for more information on this one.

In newsletter #15

1. The most important stuff…….Thanks to our Sponsors.
2. De Grote Prijs van Fairgrounds. The Last Round.

1. The most important stuff…….Thanks to our Series Sponsors.

We were privileged to have our MAZDA as our title sponsor again this year. Sean Voigt has been at every one of our events helping set up the finish area. Helping with the kids races. Taking photos and video and pretty much doing anything we have asked of him. We were able to start and support the Zoom Zoom Half Track races with their support which have become VERY popular. For gosh sakes….EVERYONE buy a MAZDA!

Our presenting sponsor this year was Muc Off. Muc Off is only part of the equation here. The real sponsor is Peter Creighton who works for Cycles Lambert. Peter has supported our series since before it was a series. He pulls in whoever he feels will be a good fit for us and helps us as much as he can. That includes power washing bikes. Dropping off hundreds of give away CO2 cartridges. Getting us an EVOC bike bag to give away. He looks through all his samples for give aways to see if he can make our events as cool as the old school MTB races of the mid 90’s. He is a great partner and supporter of COTR.

Another company that came in late to help us in a very unique way was Study-Build. This is through Danielle http://www.crossontherock.com//php/racer/?racername=Danielle+Hagen and Andreas Hagen http://www.crossontherock.com//php/racer/?racername=Andreas+Hagen. Their idea was to reduce the financial barrier for the families of youth riders by basically paying for their races. Any youth rider that did 6 or more events had their races paid for. This equated to 42 riders or around $4550 cash that they handed out in a youth-cash-mosh pit for about a minute and a half during the awards ceremony. I have NEVER heard of ANYTHING like this happening at any race series anywhere in all the years of doing sports. I hope that if your son or daughter benefited from this that it helps you and that you pass on a HUGE thanks to Danielle and Andreas.

Naked Bikes. Sam Wittingham. ALMOST won the Fastmers category this year…..a small 7 points. One more place…….anyways everyone knows that up on Quadra they make something amazing. We are the LUCKIEST series in the WORLD to get to give away a hand-built frame for the last 6 years to one of our awesome riders!!

Single Speeders don’t “like” beer. It is what fuels their huge legs to not NEED gears! Phillips Brewery Beer is the PERFECT sponsor for these maniacs. PLUS they also pitch in a tonne of growlers and fill tokens for the series awards AND for the U19 crew (on those days that you “need” it for recovery) the absolute BEST root beer from their Maltworks division.

We had 4 bike shop sponsors this year. These are shops that organize and support specific events. Ozzie’s Cycles in Port Alberni with Farmer Bills. Rock City Cycles for the KONA KUP. Pro City Cycles in Victoria for the ProCity GP. We also have Island Cycles on Quadra with Jack Mar who organizes all the prizing for the men’s Super Master’s Category.

Pearl Izumi, Shimano and Pro were the main prizing sponsor for the ProCity GP, Bear X-ing and De Grote Prijis van Fairgrounds. Not only did they supply a lot of the prizing for those events BUT they also provided around 21km’s of flagging tape or around 70 rolls of pro looking SHIMANO flagging.

Dr. Wade Luksay and the Luksay cx clan through Riverway Dental took care of the bulk of the kids race goodie bags this year as well as supported the youth prizing for the series.

KONA has been involved with the cross on the island since BEFORE it was COTR. With the KONA Kup one of the premier events in BC it is a perfect namesake for one of our own BC based bike companies. Home grown. Just like COTR.

NUTCASE Helmets. Great sponsors of the ‘Lil Nutty Kids races. Almost every kid in those races has a Nutcase Helmet which is PERFECT. We want to make sure their brains are protected as best as possible.

The Howard Johnston Harbourside Hotel and Elk Lake gave us CX racers a friendly place to stay AND gave us a bunch of free room stays for draw prizes that people were PUMPED to win at each event. We have not yet gotten Dan Brady out to a COTR race….but there is always 2017!!

Harbour Air was not a series sponsor this year with their super fun Harbour Air Hand up Zone BUT they did give us 4 certificates for the year end prizes that were a VERY Hot draw prize.

Blue Tuke up in Courtenay and Sew what I Sew in Cumberland also donated a box of prizing and a Filthy Taco respectively!

Lastly Frontrunners Nanaimo and NewBalance Nanaimo. Not only did they do racer numbers (prior to us getting the Mazda and Muc Off ones), custom 574’s for series and survey prizes and Lifestyle shoes for the Kona Kup. The most important part is how all the staff steps up during COTR season to help me and make it easier for me to do what I need to do for COTR. Sometimes it is loading and unloading wet tents, tables, gear. Receiving BIG Muc Off orders. Figuring out why we are getting more cyclists in than runners on some days…..just to chat about last weekends/this weekends race. An amazing crew of people at both these shops and I am lucky they have my back (which means our back).

2. De Grote Prijs van Fairgrounds. The Last Round wrap up.

From 2.5 X 2016 COTR race director Drew MacKenzie.

Wow what a great season! Even with 8 races this year, I’m still wishing it wasn’t over. Sad!

It’s an incredible thing we have going here and I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of it. Every weekend there are so many great people out sharing the same passion and joy for racing and riding bikes.

Also one highlight that stuck out for me this past Sunday was watching the Zoom Zoom half lap kids. Seriously cute seriousness on display during that race!

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.

Specifically thank you to the following folks:

– Norm, Katie and Roland for all of their hard work and tireless dedication.

– Sylvia for wrangling volunteers all the while being so positive, upbeat and easy to work with.

Course Set up and Tear down:
Amy Errington
Kyle Clark
Dave Podmoroff
Scott Mitchell
Andrew Barnes
Parker Bloom
Cam Mclellan
Clay Webb
Jack Mar
Halldor Gunnarsson
Terry McKall
Curtis Schlossberger
Ian Brown
Andy Achuff
Joele Guynup
Sam Willis

Beginner Clinic :
Mical Dyck

Registration team:
Sylvia Storry
Andréane Lanthier Nadeau
Lisa VanDame
Patricia Rooney
Lori Swantson

Timing team:
Patrick Burnham
Bruce Falk
Sherry Barnes
Rita
Laura Cook
Ros Penty
Lori

My sincerest apologies if I have missed anyone!

A very big thank you also to our event sponsors:

Please remember to vote with your dollars and your kind words the next time you’re out shopping or talking about cyclocross 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 you!

Shimano (http://bike.shimano.com/)
Pearl Izumi (http://www.pearlizumi.com/)
Pro Components (http://www.pro-bikegear.com/en-gb)

This is the stuff we love:

• Epic Battles:

• A young racer coming up to you away from a COTR event (Zone XC races) and saying, “Hey Norm. At Farmer Bills it was the first time I did not get lapped in Beginner”. Me thinking…..man that is awesome hearing that from a 10 year old!!
• Giving away HUGE draw prizes on SUNDAY! (EVOC Bike Bag. Harbour Air Gift Certificates. A NAKED BIKE FRAME!!)
• BRAND new venue and race course. After 70+ races….this still gets us fired up.
• Getting an e-mail that says, “I’m a bit addicted on cross this year and sad that it might be almost over”.

Your Warm Up

• Check out this first time edit for COTR from Luke Hubner from Hot Crossed Bunnies:

https://youtu.be/EQ3NBMJTBe8

• Sean Voight from Mazda who has been at and helped at EVERY COTR race this year has sent us an UPDATED link to his photos. 2016 Cross-on-the-Rock Photos by Sean Voigt from Pacific Mazda This link will show all the Albums for the races and will be used for the last round as well.

COTR THINGS TO REMEMBER FOR SUNDAY

• Register for the race: https://raceroster.com/events/2016/10092/2016-cross-on-the-rock-series-championships
• Your race Number from the double header (And pins. No need to waste them every race)
• Your race license (like always)
• $$ for a wannawafel (I can’t wait…..yum…..yum)
• Change of clothes so that you can be comfortable hanging around after your race
• To buy a T Shirt. Inventory stands at: Kids: 1 Size 6 and 1 Size 8. Women’s: 2 Small, 2 Medium, 1 Large. Men’s: 4 Small, 19 Medium, 16 Large. LAST chance to get your COTR 2016 shirts will be at the Series Final.
• CHECK THE LOST AND FOUND

Get Warmed Down and ready

• You gotta be there to win (BIG DRAW PRIZES) on Sunday……so plan on being there.
• Check out your series standings: http://www.crossontherock.com//php/series-results/?series=2016 Take your note pad and add up your top 6 spots so far. Do some calculations. Double points at the last race…..so who do you have to beat and by how much?
• Check out your team standings: http://www.crossontherock.com//php/team-standings/?series=2016

In newsletter #14

1. Make the timers job easier.
2. De Grote Prijs van Fairgrounds. The Last Round.

1. Make the timers job easier.

We know that we ALL love accurate results……..but some people do NOT make it easy. Here is an example of some “fails”. Don’t be a number “fail’er”. (Recognize anyone in these photos?). Pack your pins. Pack a few extra that you have by your clothes drier. Make sure your number is in the RIGHT spot and secure.

De Grote Prijs van Fairgrounds. The Last Round.

1 Register for the race: https://raceroster.com/events/2016/10092/2016-cross-on-the-rock-series-championships

2 Check out the Venue Map: see below

3. Read the Course Description
This brand new 3.5 km course is a flat, but very diverse circuit. The course is designed roughly in a “U” formation to accomplish simple access to Registration/EVENT HQ and easy spectator flow while having as few crossings as possible. Each lap of the course will take riders through a varied mix of terrains including a paved start/finish straight, grassy meadows, hardpack dirt/gravel, 2 sets of man-made barriers/planks, sawdust sectors, double-sided pits, a barn, stone dust sections and sandy loam. Oh and there will be mud.

4. Parking: There is plenty of parking at Saanich Fairgrounds and signage will be clearly posted directing vehicles where to go.

5. Registration: Registration and post race awards ceremonies will be located in the RCMP barn. Signage will be posted directing foot traffic the 200m from the parking lot to the entrance of the RCMP barn.

6. Team Tent Area:
There will be a designated tent set up area close to the registration and start/finish area of the course. If you want to reserve a team tent spot fire Drew a note (drew.mackenzie@triathloncanada.com).

7. Event Sponsors:
A massive thanks to our extraordinary event sponsors for supplying all the race tape (so much race tape!) and a huge amount of prizing.

Shimano (http://bike.shimano.com/)
Pearl Izumi (http://www.pearlizumi.com/)
Pro Components (http://www.pro-bikegear.com/en-gb)

As well as more gear from Muc Off, Howard Johnston. Series Prizes from Cycles Lambert (EVOC Bag), Harbour Air…and NAKED

8. Food and Expo: The best waffles in the business, Wannawafel will be on site serving up tasty Belgian inspired goodness.

PowerPlant Whole Foods (www.powerplantwholefoods.com) will have a tent set up and will be doing live demos as well as providing the championship race with some prizing as well.
endūr socks (www.endurofficial.com) will also be out at the COTR finals showing off their wares.

OK……time to finish off your training and get ready for the last round. It is going to be AWESOME!!

This is the stuff we love: “I just wanted to say that today was without a doubt the best race of the season for me. Best course, with lots of gnarly climbs, a bit of technical stuff and lots of fast, flowing greasy sections. Best spectators as well, with people cheering all through the course, and everyone obviously enjoying themselves.”

“Thank you again for an amazing day for the family and all racers, I really appreciate everything you do and I know everyone else is so thankful for all your hard work!”

Mazda – COTR – Newsletter 2016 #13 – Cleaned and prepped by Muc Off.

Double headers are TOUGH. They are tough on bodies, bikes, people, weekends, “free time”, equipment, supplies and resources. Not to mention…VOLUNTEERS! What they are as well are AWESOME!! Spend the whole weekend surrounded by like minded people riding 2 amazing courses over two days in GREAT weather. Thanks to everyone, Racers, Spectators, Sponsors and especially Volunteers that made the Nanaimo double header SO WICKED!!

With 2 races….also comes a BIG Newsletter. Enjoy the read.

The Warm Up
· Before you read anything more in this newsletter check this Video out by Simon Crieghton from Sunday’s Kona Kup if you have not seen it yet. The overhead shots are AMAZING!! https://youtu.be/MXwKPs6nvh4

· If you love stats this one might be interesting to you. My Garmin Fenix 3 records steps. On a typical shop work day (without a run) I am between 9,000-11,000 steps. On a day when I am not at the shop (and don’t run) like yesterday after the race I was a low 7800 steps. On COTR race days….Saturday was 19,297 steps and Sunday was 20,332. Double a normal day. On the mid summer’s night race day I hit 29,000 for the day.

· Special thanks to Harris Mazda supplying an additional Mazda CX-5 for display at the start line.

· Sean Voight from Mazda sent us a link to his photos. Mostly unedited: https://goo.gl/photos/PHLxCRjfupJaJUnR8

· Reminder. Your race number from the weekend (if you were here) is your race number for the last race BUT you still have to 1) REGISTER and 2) SIGN in to get your timing chip. People were showing up to the start line on Sunday with no timing chip as they thought they were just good to go without signing in….etc……NOT the case!!

· Along with timing Patrick Burnham had the camera out a bit this weekend. Check it. From Patrick: “I was able to get some shots at the races this weekend. And Mike took my camera for a walk at Hot Cross Bunnies.” They’re up at www.Flickr.com/palleus There’s also some from farmer bills up there.

COTR Segments
· T-Shirt Inventory after the weekend stands at: Kids: 1 Size 6 and 1 Size 8. Women’s: 2 Small, 2 Medium, 1 Large. Men’s: 4 Small, 19 Medium, 16 Large. LAST chance to get your COTR 2016 shirts will be at the Series Final.

· Lost and Found…..um……I need another box or a bigger one. Ended up with 2 sets of wheels…..one guy came back for his JUST in time before I left. Saturday we had Nick Kupiak’s bike that he left behind. Last chance to claim your stuff will be at the Series Final.

· Some first time podium placers over the weekend. A BIG SHOUT OUT to: Matthew Evans, Lucy Schick, Lauren Marshall, Eva Leikermsoer, Megan Racher and Curtis Sclossberger who made it to the podium for the first time on Saturday at Hot Crossed Bunnies. Also to Evan Soucy and Josie Welbourn for their first podiums at the Kona Kup. Josie again for her first win along with Aedan Crocker, Tony Waklin, Barry Beck and Felix Burke for making it to the top step of a COTR race over the weekend. And Breckin Nowack for his first Intermediate podium. Awesome competition!

Warm Down

WE LOVE GOALS so were pumped that 529 Garage registered 142 bikes over the double header weekend. Thanks to everyone that took the time to get their bikes registered. Bike theft SUCKS and anything we can do to help get a stolen bike back or prevent a theft the better. You can still register you bikes at their site. Also if you registered one of your N+1 bikes over the weekend but still have your, Road, Fat, DH, XC, Commuter, Trainer, Winter, Fondo, Gravel, E, Old-CX, or cruiser at home you can still add it into your profile. Anything we can do to slow down or stop theft.
More information at https://project529.com/garage/organizations/nanaimorcmp/landing

Congratulations to LONG time COTR racer and MIVA club member, Dave Morris http://www.crossontherock.com//php/racer/?racername=Dave+Morris for winning the KONA Private Jake at the Kona Kup.

In newsletter #13

1. Saturday-Hot Crossed Bunnies. BEBAN PARK. Re-Cap

2. Saturday Night-Social at White Sails. Short Re-Cap

3. Sunday-Kona Kup. BOWEN PARK. Re-Cap

4. Mini-Interviews

5. Looking ahead to the LAST COTR race of the Season. Saanich Fairgrounds.

1. Saturday-Hot Crossed Bunnies. Beban Park. Re-Cap

From Ron Hewitson MIVA Race Director

Thanks to:
1. The weather Gods for raining at the appropriate time and being nice when it was convenient for us.

2. Everyone from MIVA who came out and supported the club by serving the greater cycling community. Special mention to Patrick Burnham who bravely fought through his illness and helped with Friday set-up AND timing on Saturday. What a champ! Chris Cameron for stepping in as Medical Director and as Course Marshall. Phil, President Mike for rallying the troops, Hilary, Kyomi and Lori for working both registration and timing. If something needed to get done, people jumped in without asking. That means a lot.

3. Norm. For being such a great mentor. There are so many details putting on a race and when you only do this once a year, notes help but they only can take you so far . Thanks for being so patient.

4. Loved the turnout! Loved the course too, super fun with the sandy sections.

5. Pacific Mazda & Harris Mazda for series sponsorship.

Norm adding in here. If you missed the photo of Janna Gillick’s sweet home made number pouches…..designed perfectly to carry your new race number and a bunch of safety pins I am re-posting it here. These were super sweet with each one having a different internal lining. Mine has skulls….so …..you know….I love it! Thanks VERY much to Janna for taking her time to make these for all the podium finishers at COTR #6.

2. Saturday Night-Social at White Sails. Short Re-Cap

After a long muddy day at Hot Crossed Bunnies what better way to unwind then with a freshly brewed beer from White Sails Brewpub! Saturday night brought a relaxing social sponsored by Mid Island Velo Association, Rock City Cycles and White Sail Brewpub. Free beer flowed for most of the evening as racers, volunteers and organizers reviewed the days’ events and prepared for the day ahead all while enjoying a giant fireplace and good company. There must be something in the beer at White Sails because at least one racer, Bill McMillian, had the strength to jump from 14th the first day of racing to crack the top ten the next! Just saying you might want to rethink your recovery drink! Thanks to all who came out and the fine staff at White Sails.

Corey
Rock City Cycles

3. Sunday-Kona Kup. BOWEN PARK

I would like to thank the City of Nanaimo for their continued support of Cyclocross Racing in Nanaimo and Cross on the Rock and Norm Thibault for another great season of racing!

This years’ Rock City Cycles Kona Kup was the smoothest to date, thanks to all the volunteers and sponsors.
We had an amazing team for set up which makes a huge difference since we can’t set up the night before, Thank you Paul, Shep, Derek, Del, Mitch, Dale, Brandi, Sean, and Doug.

Brandi and Del also did double duty and along with Helen and Lisa made registration seamless, thank you!

This is the first year I didn’t have to do timing at the Kona Kup, thanks to Patrick, Hilary, Lisa and Mitch!

Colin Ferguson for attending to Medical.

Thanks to Dik Cox (the Legend) at Kona for the stepping up again with a Private Jake and many other prizes to give away!

Special thanks to Pete Creighton for not just sponsoring though Muc-off and Cycles Lambert for category prizes but for coming out and spending the whole day pressure washing bikes!! Also thank you to Simon Creighton for his video work!

Thank you to Steve Pukesh from Live to Play for the draw prizes prizes.

Thank you to Andrea from AJ’s food truck for feeding the starving racers.

I love seeing the racers faces when they finish their pre ride and they have a giant smile, I’m kinda biased but I think the Bowen course is one of my favorites. It’s a technical course that makes great use of natural terrain. The interesting stat is that this year we had almost no DNF’s, (Ranked #2) making it one of the “Tamest Races” yet it still holds record for “Hardest Races” with 3 of the top ten positions!! I guess Cross on the Rockers are just getting tougher!!

Thanks to all who came out and raced, cheered or heckled, see you next year!!

Corey

Rock City Cycles

4. Mini-Interviews

You know we love a good mini-interview and we hope you do too. With the Kona Kup at Bowen park having an earned reputation of being one VERY TOUGH course we asked 4 questions to 4 riders that DNF’ed the last time a race was held at Bowen park in 2014 what the difference was this year.

The 4 Questions.
1. The Kona Kup has a reputation for being one of the toughest courses in BC. In 2014 you DNF’ed this race. Bowen Park has 3 of the top 10 (out of 70+ races) ranks in the DNF stats list. Yet this past Sunday, on day 2 of a double header it scored the easiest/least DNF’s since 2010. The stats rank it as #2 tamest races of ALL TIME. What was the difference this time?

2. What do you prefer. The MUD of Saturday or the vertical of Sunday?

3. What tires did you run on Saturday/Sunday.

4. Any changes this past Sunday that helped you finish the Kona Kup this year?

Rider: Roland Rabien. Pro Kitty Racing. http://www.crossontherock.com//php/racer/?racername=Roland+Rabien

1. I think people have become aware of the ‘Least Reliable’ list and how easy it is to get on that list and hard it is to get off. People don’t quit anymore, unless they physically can’t continue. Series and team standings are motivators too, can’t quit, need to get every possible point.

2. I’ll take mud over hills, 5 years ago it would have been the opposite.

3. My bike is in the shop so I can’t go look, but I’m pretty sure they are Kenda Kwickers set up tubeless. Same tires both days, probably a little less pressure Sunday because I forgot to check.

4. I slowed down. About 20 places behind where I usually am, but at least I left in one piece.

Rider: Emily Johnston. Trail Bikes. http://www.crossontherock.com//php/racer/?racername=Emilly+Johnston

1. I really can’t say for sure. For me it was that this time I’d learned what a hard
course it was from past experiences. I reigned it in just a tad more on the
descents so that I would be able to ride a clean race and finish with a smile on
my face.(Not that I wasn’t smiling last time:) )

2. Both courses were fantastic. Some of my fave’s of this year, but I would have to
say that the vertical of Sunday was more fun for me. I loved the fact that there
were some tricky tech section throughout the course as well as the climbs that
made the course just that much more challenging.

3. The Bontragers that came with my bike???? (I don’t know what they are)

4. I really had a great experience trying to stay on Carey and Janna’s wheel. It was
awesome to learn new techniques during the race by means of watching what
they were doing and figuring out what I could do to hold on for just that little bit
longer. I realized that the power that I had been putting out of the corners wasn’t
really all the power I had, watching them showed me that in order to keep up I
needed to not only go as fast as I could on the flats and the hills but that I needed
to do the same in the corners.

Rider: Nicholas Kupiak. Broad Street Cycles. http://www.crossontherock.com//php/racer/?racername=Nicholas+Kupiak

1. Unfortunately I am part of that DNF statistic from the last time Bowen Park was used and the only difference I really noticed was the weather. When it’s directly raining on that course while we’re racing it just makes everything a little bit harder as the grass turns to true mud and the sand doesn’t hold up like it did this year. More mud and more sand getting thrown around always equates to more mechanicals with grit finding its way into the gears on the ascents and the brakes on the descents.

2. Usually I prefer the muck and mud but I just can’t deny how incredibly fast and flowy Sunday was. Even on a day where it didn’t feel like the fitness was there for me, Bowen was just a fun course to let the bike go and find the limits of your handling whether it was on the descents, through the trees, or rallying the sand.

3. I was running the tubeless version 700×33 Specialized Terra Pros. They proved themselves well in the mud at last years Topaz Park race and have been my preferred tire since. Expecting more rain and mud on Sunday I ran the same setup, but if I had the opportunity to switch I think Bowen was the perfect course for something more like the Specialized Tracer Pro.

Rider: Roanne English. Naked Factory Racing. http://www.crossontherock.com//php/racer/?racername=roanne+english

1. The Kona Kup is definitely a tough course! I crashed pretty badly in 2014 when my breaks stopped working a few laps into the race. Not only does the course have a lot of climbing, but it also has a lot of descending and some of those descents were pretty scary for me when I was first racing. I think this year having more experience and my Naked bike with disc breaks made me much more confident; some guy yelling at me on a loud speaker didn’t hurt either…

2. I’m still a bit too chicken to fully take advantage of the vertical on Sunday’s course, and besides playing in the mud is my favourite thing about cyclocross so Saturday wins the weekend in my books.

3. My tires for both days were 35mm Kenda Kwicker cross tires. They are the set that Sam put on my bike last year and I’ve never considered changing them.

4. I didn’t make any changes for Sunday. I really could have used some more legs but I think those got left in the mud somewhere after Saturday’s race…

5. Looking ahead to the LAST COTR race of the Season. Saanich Fairgrounds.

We will fire a FULL Pre-Race Newsletter in your in-Box NEXT week with ALL the important details you will need to know.

In the meantime clean your number and put it someplace safe and do these 5 things:

1) Check out your series standings: http://www.crossontherock.com//php/series-results/?series=2016 Take your note pad and add up your top 6 spots so far. Do some calculations. Double points at the last race…..so who do you have to beat and by how much?

2) Check out your team standings: http://www.crossontherock.com//php/team-standings/?series=2016

3) Register for the race: https://raceroster.com/events/2016/10092/2016-cross-on-the-rock-series-championships

4) Watch this edit again:

5) And register all your bikes that were not registered over the weekend before someone rips them off: https://project529.com/garage/organizations/nanaimorcmp/landing

Oh yeah….and get a bit of recovery in BEFORE you fire up your last block of training. Time to PEAK!

There is a LOT of information to fire out for the Double Header so we are not going to brake a chain at the start here and stall out. Only a few little segments this week.

ONE THING TO REMEMBER: THERE IS A TIME CHANGE SATURDAY NIGHT! 1 hour extra sleep. Do NOT show up early Sunday. Take the SLEEP!!

COTR Segments

· With the price of airfare to Quebec $400+ more than flying to Japan it is no wonder that there is only one (that we know about) COTR racer making the trip to Nationals this weekend. The best of luck to defending Champ and Naked Factory rider, Mical Dyck, this weekend.

Register your Bike!
We have a GOAL to register 100+ bikes over the 2 days of racing in Nanaimo with 529 Garage.

529 Garage is a smartphone app the allows cyclists to register their bikes for free. Owners can add serial numbers, photos and descriptions of their bike and in the event their bike is stolen, they are able to instantly sent out an alert to the 529 community for everyone to be on the lookout for the stolen bike. RCMP volunteers will be registering bikes and providing a 529 shield to cyclists participating in the Cross on the Rock races at Beban and Bowen Park this weekend. Registration stations will run from 9:30 am to 2 pm both days. More information at https://project529.com/garage/organizations/nanaimorcmp/landing

In newsletter #12

1. Saturday-Hot Crossed Bunnies. BEBAN PARK

2. Saturday Night-Social at White Sails

3. Sunday-Kona Kup. BOWEN PARK

1. Saturday-Hot Crossed Bunnies. Beban Park

Beban park is the site of the first ever cross race on the Island outside of Victoria when we put on a Worlds prep. race 10 January of 2004 won by Robin Dutton. That year the lap times were close to 14 minutes and the rad course was around 4.5km. Later in 2004 it hosted the first official and sanctioned race on the island won by Andrew Pinfold. In 2006 we hosted the Canadian Cyclocross National Championships. The biggest National Championships and biggest race in Canada up to that point. Beban park has been used every year since 2004 except for 2014 to host a race.

Parking and Tents: There is a LOT of parking at Beban park. Where we do NOT want you to park is in the close to (south of) the soccer fields or close to the main barn near the start of the race course. You can park beside the swim pool. You can also park beside the golf course.

The tent set up area will be the same as last year – across from the registration Barn and along the start section of the course. You can park BEHIND your tents in that area but be aware the gate will be locked once the first race begins so as to prevent traffic movement while the races are in progress. Again….once the races start and until they finish the GATE WILL BE CLOSED, LOCKED and unless there is a medical emergency we will NOT KNOW where the key is so don’t ask.

Registration – do this online but pick up your race numbers at the red barn. Same as last year. https://raceroster.com/events/2016/10090/2016-cross-on-the-rock-hot-cross-bunnies and while you’re at it register for Sunday too http://www.crossontherock.com//races/kona-kup/

Race Course: Things are coming together for Saturday’s race. Both the weather and the course will be similar to last year’s event but with a few notable changes. Because of the rain we are not using the BMX pump track. Last year there was quite a bit of damage caused by those skinny tires and we need work with all the user groups in the venue and respect their wishes. The BMX track is being expanded and some trees have recently been felled between the BMX and the off leash dog run areas which leads to some interesting new lines in there. Expect MIVA to use all of the available barriers and every ounce of terrain to ramp up technical aspect. Think flowy, fast and FUN!

Food: The folks from Superstore will be on hand to BBQ up some tasty burgers by donation (suggested $5) with profits going to Xmas Hampers via Haven House. Thanks to Patrick Burnham for arranging that. MIVA will be donating $250 to the volunteers to help cover the food costs so please help to support this worthwhile cause.

Bottle Drive: The Haven House volunteers will also be collecting empties so please bring your summer supply of empty bottles and drop them off at the Superstore BBQ tent. Thanks

Vollies: For course setup we are meeting a 4:30PM on Friday at the Beban Barn where race registration is. It should take 1.5 hours, so done by 6PM but we still need a few more volunteers for setup and take down. So far we have 14 but could use another 10. Please email me at hewitsonron@gmail.com Thanks so far to Ken Olson, BILL MCMILLAN!!, Chris Cameron, Monty, Man-o-Steel, Phil Birrer, Frederick Robinson, Miva Mike McCarney, Patrick, Shep, Paul, Kyomi, and Brad. Menno.

Prizing: You’re gonna like this. Janna Gillick and Wendy Simms have created some homespun madness that is going to be the talk of the town. That’s all I’m allowed to say but you are going to totally dig it. (Norm’s Note. We saw these last night for the first time….super sweet. Keep an eye on FB page as we might be posting some photos). Growlers too with our Bunny Race branded growler bottles and a little sumpin-sumpin for the kids race compliments of Norm.

2. Saturday Night-Social at White Sails

3. Sunday-Kona Kup. BOWEN PARK

WIN A KONA PRIVATE JAKE!! The Odds are AMAZING!!

ONE THING TO REMEMBER: THERE IS A TIME CHANGE SATURDAY NIGHT! 1 hour extra sleep. Do NOT show up early Sunday. Take the SLEEP!!

The Course: Bowen Park has been the home for the Kona Kup since 2009 with the exception of 2015 where it was moved to Beban. . It’s a love it or hate it course. Some good elevation gain each lap. Being that it wasn’t used last year the course won’t differ too much from previous years. Killer stair section and long sand section to test the legs. This course has the distinction of holding the #1 spot for COTR toughest courses as well as 4th and 10th. Pro Tip: Save something in your legs from Saturday!

Parking: There is some on-going construction in the area and they have been using the lower parking lot as staging so we may or may not have the full parking lot. Not to worry. There is a LOT of parking in Bowen park and it is all very close to the main area. Once the lower lot fills up there is the upper lot close to the tennis courts as well as the upper-upper lot by the swimming pool and lawn bowling.

Tents: will be in the lower volleyball parking lot along the finish stretch as they have been in previous years unless updated tomorrow (via FB)

Washrooms: One set up in the community building by the swimming pool and lawn bowling (please do not wear your dirty shoes in there. Another set right by the start of the race course.

Bike washing: Peter the Legend from Cycles Lambert will be there to power wash your bike on Sunday. Bring him a beer or something to keep his energy and spirits high.

Registration: Closes Saturday night at 8pm. https://raceroster.com/events/2016/10091/2016-cross-on-the-rock-kona-kup

Timing Band and number pick up (If you did not race the day before. Numbers are the same for the rest of the race season): Under the Rock City tents in the parking lot.

Food: AJ’s food truck will be on site. They will be there early enough for people to grab a breakfast sandwich and coffee before they start their lunch menu. They have debit as well.

Volunteers: Set up will start at 7:30 Sunday morning and we will need volunteers throughout the day for course maintenance, timing, registration etc. Please email: Rockcitycyclesnanaimo@gmail.com if you can help.

Prizing: We have some great prizes from Kona Bikes including a Private Jake cyclocross bike. Also prizes from Cycles Lambert.

The Warm up.
· Does anyone have a pair of Winter weight bib tights from Top of the Rock cross at Mt. Washington? Mark Grant is missing a pair and would LOVE to get those back.

· Speaking of Lost and Found items. We are starting to ACCUMULATE a lot of things in the box. So much so that I have to get a bigger box. I will take a photo and make a list for the next newsletter if I can. In the meantime if you are missing something let me know.

· In the same theme…..are you missing your helmet from Farmer Bills? IF it is/was a white GIRO…..and you don’t have it. Roland does.

COTR Segments

· If you are a fan of the Mazda Zoom Zoom Half Track races and you have a Zoom Zoom’er racing you will be happy to know that we have caught up on the results for those races. We know how much the kids kid seeing their names on the web site. Here is the link: http://www.crossontherock.com//results/2016-results/

· While looking over lap splits for the “Hot Laps” feature below I was impressed by Peter Stevenson ripping it up in Expert as the oldest racer there (50) and Ethan Pauley for being the youngest (16). Pretty awesome to see such a wide range of ages being so competitive at the highest level of COTR!

· Photos from Sean Voight at Pacific Mazda. A LOT of Photos: https://goo.gl/photos/GGuER49kUtuJCeyz7

Bonus:
· If you were watching the UCI world Road Racing Championships the weekend before last and happened to watch the Junior Women’s race you might have caught this impressive save: https://youtu.be/yuMZzB5NTBk by one Canadian rider. Listen to the announcer. She probably would never know that Erin is one of us! http://www.crossontherock.com//php/racer/?racername=Erin+Attwell One of 2 COTR racers at World Road race championships with Adam de Vos. Both products of the Triple Shot youth cycling program.

· If you are looking for some inspiration for on the trainer or while doing your core work this week. Check out the CX World Cup races from Valkenburg (NED) this past weekend. Men’s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbC6U8MKnAs and Women’s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRd2Eidr3-g

In newsletter #11

1. Cleaning up from Farmer Bills. Cattle X-ing. Thompson Farm. Port Alberni.

2. Hot Laps

3. COTR 2016 Hats. Inventory

4. The DOUBLE HEADER approaches

1. Cleaning up from Farmer Bills. Cattle X-ing. Thompson Farm. Port Alberni.

It takes a LOT of work to put on a COTR race. A LOT of work!!

Famer Bill’s master race director, Lee Blais, would like to give a giant thanks to the following :

– Farmer Bill Thompson and son Billy.
-Dennis Jonnson and the Sproat lake fire department. (for first aid AS WELL as setting up an extra power washer!!)
– The many tireless volunteers that jump at a moments notice..xoxoxox
-Micheal (the Bull) Parcher.
– Charles Thomas
– Orange sport supply
-Totally Board Surf Company
– Lime ‘N food truck
– The racers… you came and braved the course. Thank you!!

Race day highlights:

– A very satisfyingly long embrace from Normon.
– Farmer Billy promising to race next year (which means we’ll be on the schedule 2017!! Yessssss) (Norm’s note…schedule has not be determined for 2017)
– Charles Thomas racing his custom drop bar run bike. Have a look for a photo of this.
– Deep fried pickles
– Donuts
– Sunshine
– Mud!!!!!

Norm’s Notes

It was great to be back in Port Alberni racing COTR again this last Sunday.

Furthest Westerly race in North America!?!?

247 Racers

96% finishers

Great Numbers.

BIGGEST bike race in Port Alberni’s History I heard. That would have to be confirmed as I remember a Stage Road Race in the mid 90’s that had a LOT of riders. TT, Crit.

Would 247 beat BCBR year 2?

Regardless it was about 34% bigger than last time we raced with almost the exact same finish percentage.

Huge thanks to everyone that came out. It is a bit of an adventure getting there so we hope we make it worth your while.

2. Hot Laps

You know how much we LOVE stats and numbers! (http://www.crossontherock.com//results/statistics/)

With that in mind we went through the Lap Sheets from Farmer Bills to check out each categories FASTEST LAP and when that fast lap happened. This is what we found out.

Beginners
Nicholas Knight was the winner for the beginner men and he also recorded the fastest lap on his last of 3 laps with a 9:34
In the women’s beginner Olivia Gribbon won and also had the fastest lap 11:39…..on her 2/2 laps….kind of a default as we did not count the opening lap and Olivia’s category only did 2 laps.

Intermediate
This year’s female speedster, Haley Lounsbury, won the women’s race against the biggest women’s field of the day. Her fastest lap was a 11:06 on the 2nd of 3 laps around the farm.
Carter Woods did not win the Intermediate category BUT he did record the fastest lap with a 8:54 on his 2nd of 4 laps.

Masters Men
Pro City Racing’s, Sean Cruickshank, rocked the fastest lap of the 45 racers on his 2nd of 5 laps with a 8:44. He ended up finishing 2nd of the 45 racers in the 40-54 race.
Undefeated Bill McMillan knocked off a 9:24 on his way to first during his 3rd of 4 laps.

Expert
The 2nd undefeated rider of the season, Carey Mark, laid down her quickest lap on the 2nd of 4 laps. Fastest of the Expert women….but only the 2nd fastest women of the day with Mical Dyck taking that title with a 9:07 while racing the boys in Expert.
And the FASTEST of the Hot Laps for the day was Drew MacKenzie on his way to his 11th win and moving him up to 5th place for all time number of COTR wins. He had a 8:08 on his 2nd of 7 laps with the competitive Expert field in Port Alberni.

3. COTR 2016 Hats. Inventory.

Sew what I Sew in Cumberland did an extra batch of the 2 styles we sold out of. So have 7 more of the Green and 8 of the Grey. $28 if you have exact change. $30 if you don’t! This will be the last batch of hats for 2016. We will have them at the Double Header and expect they will pretty much be gone after that. First come.

4. The DOUBLE HEADER approaches

On the November 5th and 6th weekend.
2 races
2 days
2 course
3 events
300+ racers
2 sets of points available
‘Lil Nutcase
Zoom Zoom Half Track

Limited registration……like normal……so DO NOT MISS OUT!!

https://raceroster.com/events/2016/10090/2016-cross-on-the-rock-hot-cross-bunnies
https://raceroster.com/events/2016/10091/2016-cross-on-the-rock-kona-kup

Parting Shot from Patrick Burnham who has been normally too busy behind the timing set up to pick up his camera this year. He made an exception at Farmer Bills.