Cross on the Rock

UPDATE: Download Race Bible

CROSS ON THE ROCK NEWS #4 for 2011—-Bringing on the Lumber Cross.

NOTE: THE “GRACE PERIOD” IS OVER……bring your license or pack some extra cash (only $10 extra). NO EXCEPTIONS! Put it in your wallet NOW.

Friendly rivalry is good….isn’t it? Of course I look at the race results and the racer numbers for the races in the lower mainland….of course I do! I saw how many participants they had at New Breighton last weekend. I saw how many women they had out. I want Vancouver Island to be the Belgium of Canada…..our little cross mecca. And YES I want the participation levels at Port Alberni to be bigger than Vanier Park. I love Vanier Park….but I want us to have MORE RACERS! Don’t all of you COTR’ers? So lets make it happen. The Belgium of Canada!! Lets beat Vanier Park. Bring the girls out. Bring the boys out…..just make sure you come out! (PS any regular island cross racers that go rogue and race in Vanier park this Sunday will be furthermore shunned….you have been warned!!)

LUMBER CROSS PREVIEW

RACE BIBLE DOWNLOAD Entry form on the last page if you want to print, fill out and bring.

The Steam Pot cafe will be open on site.

For the kids….there will be no kids race at this venue BUT an obstacle course for the kids will be off to the side so they can ride at any time.

Course description:

This is the 2nd annual Lumber Cross on the historic McLean’s Mill site. Expect the same 3-4 km of suffering with the new super greasy single track section. Tight twists and turns around ancient logging machinery and of course the infamous logger’s intestine. Wait until after your race to read the informative plaques that explain early Alberni Valley logging practices

General schedule (see specific schedule in race bible)
Registration Opens at 9:00am
Beginner Clinic is at 10:00am
First race starts at 11:00am Beginners
Intermediate Men’s and Women’s at 12:00
Open Women and Masters Men at 1:00
Expert at 2:15

SOME FOLLOW UP FROM COAL CROSS

I really should have mentioned that Whirly Whirl at Coal cross. It was the biggest we have ever had at a C.O.T.R. race….people got lost in there….lost all sense of direction, time, days…..it was great!

From Coal Cross Race Director Lisa Ludwig:
I will be presenting a cheque to the CCFS for $200 on behalf of the racers of the Cumberland Coal Cross for all the t-shirts sold.

I don’t know if many of the racers understand what the CCFS does or why it is important to donate. There is an outstanding mortgage on the property purchased and the CCFS is looking to buy more of the land (where most of the mtb trails lie) in order to keep Cumby the great cycling destination place that it is.

FMI go to: www.cumberlandforest.com

“Our community is surrounded by a beautiful forest. All the forests around Cumberland are privately owned. Like many other forests around the world, the Cumberland area forest is being clear-cut for economic potential. Faced with the imminent clear-cutting of an old forest on the Cumberland boundary, the Cumberland Community Forest Society came into being. Although the Society recognizes the importance of the forestry industry to the local economy, there is a clear need to maintain a section of the forest already well used by mountain bikers and hikers. Members of the local mountain biking community have built many kilometres of bike trails through these forests, and sanctioned local mountain bike races are frequently held on them.

Our mandate is to purchase as much as 650 acres of forest on Cumberland’s southwest boundary from The Hancock Timber Resource Group. In 2005 the first and second parcels of forest, totaling over 150 acres, were purchased for approximately one million dollars. They were given to the Village of Cumberland with stringent conservation covenants attached to them, and they now form a wilderness park called the Cumberland Community Forest.”

A little note from one of our first timers at Coal Cross:

Yes I made it, great fun! I raced the intermediate race and was appropriate schooled. Funny story after reading your write-up. I pre-rode with the beginner clinic and asked some newbie questions, like what tire pressure…Tire said 60-90, I put 75. In the parking lot I was dumping air and laughing at myself and chatting with the fellow next door, introduced himself as Carter. He gave me some great tips, tire pressure, warm-up etc. and sent me
on my way. His helpfulness stuck with me and I looked through the results to find his name, not hard to find, top of the list. Awesome guy, we share a cyclo-cross hero.

Thanks for all your efforts,
Travis

WOMEN CROSS RACERS

You guys (and girls) all know we PUSH hard to have more women come out and race. Here was a good article from CX Magazine about women cross racing if you want to check it out:

http://www.cxmagazine.com/womens-wednesdays-pros-cons-racing-female

PHOTO CONTEST
Capture the spirit of COTR. Don’t forget we are having a contest this year and we also have galleries on our web site. Fire your top shots to: photos@23.235.211.7/~thehol19/crossontherock/

Another photo gallery from Coal Cross from Jamie Cameron
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jam1ec/sets/72157627526725825/

And again from Nigel and Liz Brown:
http://niglb.smugmug.com/CrossOntheRock2011/

RACE RULE CLAIRIFIATION
Further to the notes in the last news: Someone asked me about mechanicals and if you had to proceed to the pit or could you just pull over to the side and fix it. You can of course just pull over to the side BUT you can only receive outside assistance in the pit.

2011 CATEGORIES: One more UPDATED

Someone asked: Races a single speed but is over 40 and NOT an “expert”. Your choice I guess. You can race in Masters for masters points or race against the S/S’ers I Intermediate for the 6 pack (if those S/S will show up!!). Legit question and 1 of the 2 S/S at Coal Cross was over 40.

SERIES SCHEDULE
* September 11th. Coal Cross at the Village Park in Cumberland: In the BOOKS!
* October 2nd. Lumber Cross at McLean’s Mill in Port Alberni
* October 10th. Condo Cross at Topaz Park in Victoria
* October 15th. Beban Park in Nanaimo
Social at the new Oak Bay Bikes in Nanaimo in the PM.
* October 16th. Bowen Park in Nanaimo (Island Championships)
* October 30th. Transfer Beach in Ladysmith
* November 20th Cameron Cross TBA Park in Victoria (Series Championships and Double Points)

NEXT RACE PORT ALBERNI in 5 days.

SERIES SPONSORS
* KONA
* Oak Bay Bikes Nanaimo
* Lambert: Pedros-Leyzne
* Action Motorcycles
* PHILLIPS BEER
* Howard Johnson
* Saltspring Coffee
* Oakley
* Pro Bar
* Aviawest
* Frontrunners

Brought to you by the Council of Cross.

23.235.211.7/~thehol19/crossontherock/

This Cyclocross Series is Organized by the Cross Council:
With the following cycling clubs: MIVA, VICC, Everti Cycling Club, UROC,
Arrowsmith MTB Club, ASS, Alberni Valley Riders and IRC

Supported by the following Shops:
OBB Victoria, Westshore and Nanaimo
Trail Bikes in Courtenay
Experience cycles in Duncan
Cowichan Cycles in Duncan
Cycle Therapy in Duncan
Frontrunners in Nanaimo
Straight Up Cycles in Victoria
Dodge City Cycles in Cumberland
Ozzie’s Cycles in Port Alberni

Sanctioned by:
Cycling BC

And lastly (if you made it this far down)….YES…..Joey WAS OK!

And even more lastly…..BEER!

Cross on the Rock News #3 for 2011

Well….it was great to be back cross racing on Vancouver Island. I hear about it all the time…..there is just a great “vibe” at our events here. Solid and hard racing but people get along and without “attitude”….everyone can talk to everyone….and then try to beat them to the finish line. You guys make it the way it should be…..lets keep it that way!

Building on the foundation laid down by Dave Nowack and U-Rock at the Hostel-Course (Still our longest Expert race EVER) and then the Number 6 Mine park in Cumberland, the last 2 years at Village Park have been a huge success. In it’s second year at our 3rd Comox Valley location we enjoyed a HUGE turn out, incredibly HOT weather, great racing and a great course.

A huge THANKS to our race director Lisa Ludwig for bang-on race organization. We also heard nothing but good things about the course that Lisa’s Husband Curtis designed. Last year’s event was great….this year’s event was a bit greater! I told Curtis that the test of a good race course is one that the designers feels compelled to race it….’cause they want to see how it feels in a real situation. Well the course must have been good as Curtis used his cross bike for its intended use for the first time….I think her narrowly missed the beer prime and almost won the t-shirt for barrier bunny hop performance.

As always thanks to our series sponsors.

A Special Thanks to:

• To The Village of Cumberland and Coal Hills BMX Club for allowing us to use this venue.
• Our host Cycling Club; Trail Bicycles-Eatmore Sprouts Cycling Team
• Our Local Bike Shop Sponsor; Trail Bicycles and Jeff Beeston
• All our volunteers, marshals and post pounders

We have kind of given up on the traditional “Race Report” last year. Who lead who. Times. Splits…..it is never as exciting as being there in the race or being there live watching the action. The results give the stats. Everything else….well you gotta be there.

We do try to give a summary of the race though and things that caught our eye or that deserve attention. More like an “Event Report” We hope you find that more entertaining and valuable.

Results

Normally not worth a specific mention but between Katie, Roland and Hillary Grant the results were not only posted on our web site the fastest they have ever been but for the first time ever (outside of 2006 National Championships) the race had the results posted at the site. If you knew how hard it is to read the language that are our timing sheets and try to make sure it is as accurate as possible…you would know that this is a HUGE accomplishment and only achieved through the perseverance of Roland and Katie.

HOT-HOT-HOT

32 degrees C when I left the venue at 5:30………whoah!

Impressed

• Jordan Duncan. 16 Years old. Started racing our races at 13 years old. Now racing Expert and finishing mid pack…..Wendy impressed too!
• Rob Britton. Started racing our races even before we were C.O.T.R. was our yesterday racing to a 4th…..made the long list for the Canadian Team to road world champs. The only racer on the list that did not race in Europe this year.
• Guy Ridler…..an amazing first half of the Expert Race…. ….way to hang in there!
• Kelly Guest. Top Xterra racer at Cyclocross!
• The return of Monica Birch
• The number of kids out for our kids race!!

Post event notes.

• I hope that no one was disappointed with shorter races yesterday. Most people looked nothing less that relieved when I told them their races were done. With the length of the course one more lap would have made the leaders slightly over the normal time range but the back of the packers would have been a long way over. We thought given the conditions it would be best to go shorter. The Expert race was the shortest one we have ever run but I can tell you after I stopped sweating 20 minutes into the race I don’t personally think I could have done another lap…..I was cooked.
• I was very happy to see Carter Hovey back at our event. The last time Carter did one of our races was 2005 at the first ever BC cup race we hosted at Diver Lake Park. You see….I have never told anyone this….but I have a secret admiration for Carter. Back in the 90’s he was traveling down to Seattle from Victoria to participate in the Super Cup and Super Prestige races down there. I would hear stories (per blog/web/twitter/facebook) from people about the conditions and races. I had never done a cyclocross race but I was fascinated by it…..so Carter was my first Cyclocross hero. Thus having Carter race our series again was like watching your Hero race…..plus he won!!
• Having the Coal Hills BMX track concession open was great. Not your usual concession stand fair with their “Power Burger”….fresh produce and a tasty fresh locally made bun…..it was really good!
• There are a lot of riders that come out to the races that I genuinely admire. I think the ones that I gain the most admiration for are the ones that never give up. The ones that don’t quit. I saw a couple of great examples of this yesterday. One was Justin Mark who had done the Grand Fondo the day before. His pedal stripped out of his crank arm. So he thread it in on the back side to clean up the threads and put the pedal back on and kept going. Then he got a flat……and got a wheel from his wife in the pits and kept going. Then another flat…which he rode to the finish. Thomas Skinner who was in around 6th on the last lap when he wrapped his rear DR into his spokes on the far side of the track. He ran probably 2k or so to the finish and lost about 14 spots….but still finished. Craig Ritchey who had a problem with his bike and fell back into the low teens before climbing all the way back to 3rd place. Jamie Emery and Arron Desseault who’s days were done early with mechanicals but still jumped back in and raced even with impending “NOR”. Andrew Brown who went into the pits, rode through the pits to his car to fix his bike…back into the pits and onto the course to finish. All these guys did not quit and were racing……to race…..and to finish. I really dig that!
• Numbers……we had a mock Jersey with the number exactly the way we wanted it….and some people still did not get it right…..if you knew how hard it was to do timing you would know how important it is for us to have those numbers on your jersey correctly…..Roland says we should give one warning and then you lose your call up for the next race!! Beginners of course are exempt!!
• Powsey…step out from behind the mike and swing your leg over the top tube in Port Alberni!
• Bummed…..both Billy McMillan and Kristen Magnesson did not get to race and were at the hospital instead. Billy is one of the highest on the stats under “the faithful” and K-mag was looking forward to her first time on her cross bike this year….bummer but no breaks so that is good.

PHOTO CONTEST

It is always nice to see some photographers out there. Don’t forget we are having a contest this year and we also have galleries on our web site. Fire your top shots to: photos@23.235.211.7/~thehol19/crossontherock/

Here are some galleries from the weekend:

http://niglb.smugmug.com/CrossOntheRock2011/

RACE RULE CLAIRIFIATION

Our number 1 priority as a series is to have fun, competitive races. We don’t like “attitude” at our events….we just want everyone to have some hard racing….but basically be able to share a parking lot pop afterwards with someone you just out sprinted for 10th place. In our opinion in order to have fun races everyone has to be on a level playing field….that means some rules. One rule that we have explained before but we should probably include in all the race bibles is with regard to pits and outside assistance. As it stands the rule is this. If you have a mechanical or problem on the course…such as a flat you proceed the direction of the course to the pits to receive help….change of wheel etc. You can not cut the course to the pits as that would not be completing the distance. Nor can you go backwards on the course to the pits if you have passed the entrance. If you cut the course or receive outside assistance outside the pit than we will rank you with a NOR which means Not Officially Ranked. You are fee to continue in the race but you will not be in contention for prizes or points at that race. We also expect that if you cut the course etc.or receive outside assistance and we don’t see you then you would let the timers know after the race to rank you NOR. Fair is fun….fun is better.

2011 CATEGORIES UPDATED POST RACE WITH COMMENTS

All the categories were competitive. I would say that a couple of people may wish to look at their lap/race times and either move up or move down a category to be more competitive/happy racing.

WOMENS: The women are stepping it up and am PUMPED. We had 28 women racing at Coal Cross. 7 in Beginners. 10 in Intermediate and 11 in Open Women. Don’t rest though…we still need to recruit, drag, coerce more girls into coming out ‘cause you never know who might have a wedding or other function to go to……and we don’t want the numbers to dip under 10 per category!! Take a look at the list of racers under statistics on our web site…..see if there are any names of any girls that you know but are not coming out…..drag them out!

MENS INTERMEDIATE and MASTERS: There was a bit of confusion around who should race masters and who should race intermediate. We had a few masters in intermediate….which we let slide for this time as people had made plans…family waiting etc. Basically it is this. We have an ability based category system for the race series. The “B” category is split into 2. Under 40 which we call “Intermediate” and over 40 which we call “Masters”. If you are under 39 you race either Intermediate or Expert. If you are over 40 you race ether Masters or Expert. The only difference between Masters and Intermediate is that Masters usually do one more lap to be consistent with the length of racing they would do if they raced a USGP or other bigger race….usually around 45 to 50 minutes.

If there is any confusion around this please fire me an e-mail.

SINGLE SPEEDERS: Hmmmmmm……..Single Speeders……where were you? Get your ASS out there or we will go back to giving all your beer out to the geared riders……enough said.

KIDS: We had a GREAT turn out for our kids race. I LOVE it as it is more of a family type event and I look forward to getting Tycho out there next year. I would like some feedback though from the parents as to what they think a reasonable distance for the kids races are as well as if it should be an actual “race” rather than just a “ride”…..? Yes I know all your 3-10 year olds are super human athletes and should be racing Expert if we would let them…….!!! OK be reasonable and fire me your thoughts as I would love to hear them.

SERIES SCHEDULE

• September 11th. Village Park in Cumberland: In the BOOKS!
• October 2nd. McLean’s Mill in Port Alberni
• October 10th. Topaz Park in Victoria
• October 15th. Beban Park in Nanaimo (Island Championships)
• Social at the new Oak Bay Bikes in Nanaimo in the PM.
• October 16th. Bowen Park in Nanaimo
• October 30th. Transfer Beach in Ladysmith
• November 20th TBA Park in Victoria (Series Championships and Double Points)

NEXT RACE PORT ALBERNI in just under 3 Weeks!!

SERIES SPONSORS

• KONA
• Oak Bay Bikes Nanaimo
• Lambert: Pedros-Leyzne
• Action Motorcycles
• PHILLIPS BEER
• Howard Johnson
• Saltspring Coffee
• Oakley
• Pro Bar
• Aviawest
• Frontrunners

Brought to you by the Council of Cross.
23.235.211.7/~thehol19/crossontherock/

This Cyclocross Series is Organized by the Cross Council:

With the following cycling clubs: MIVA, VICC, Everti Cycling Club, UROC, Arrowsmith MTB Club, ASS, Alberni Valley Riders and IRC

Supported by:
OBB Victoria, Westshore and Nanaimo
Trail Bikes in Courtenay
Experience cycles in Duncan

Frontrunners in Nanaimo

Straight Up Cycles in Victoria

Dodge City Cycles in Cumberland

Ozzie’s Cycles in Port Alberni

Sanctioned by:

Cycling BC

Unbelievable for July but I did a cross race last Thursday in Washington. Even more un-real was there were 3 other C.O.T.R. racers there doing it too! Craig Ritchey and Kevin Noiles had great races in the Elite category… me not so much…lots of work to do!

I have been getting quite a few e-mails with regards to the SCHEDULE for C.O.T.R. 2011 so thought I better fire it out. Even better is that I have the preliminary schedule for all of BC. Which races end up being BC cups etc. remains to be seen but in the meantime you can start booking some days off and checking your schedule. After all…what is it just over 6 weeks until the first of the C.O.T.R. races for 2011!! That is not much time. If your bikes are like mine (seized bottom brackets…various other things in disrepair) you will need every second just to get your bikes up and running.

First thing first:

CROSS ON THE ROCK Schedule for 2011 (and other provincial races)
Keep in mind this is still PRELIMINARY!

BC Cyclocross Schedule 2011 Preliminary
 

SO we have at least 2 courses that were not used last year and possibly up to 4….when venues get finalized we will start posting it up.

GET YOURSELF READY!!

We will be chatting with Atomic to see if they can move their race to the 19th so that there is no conflict with our series final date (honestly Atomic…you don’t want to conflict with us!).

AND we are a tiny bit concerned with the C.O.T.R. #1 date on September 11th as (just in case you have not heard) Wendy and I are expecting Tycho’s partner in grime and crime on the 5th of September and sometimes these little creatures are early and some times they are late… rarely are they on time!

Some changes to C.O.T.R. for 2011.
(I will put these in BULLIT form so that they are easy to read and you won’t miss any)

• Contest…for best photo from the series. Take some pictures. Send us your best. We will fire up a gallery…we will decide which one rocks the best!
• Kids races…working on this but we would LOVE to get this going again.
• Masters…should we change the ages to 40+?
• Beer Gardens…we wish!

OK I will re-read some of the feedback that we got at the end of last year and see what else we need to change. One thing for sure….the series will be a LOT of fun ‘cause you guys make it FUN…AND we will have some T-Shirts again!

Nanaimo Social
There is talk about a social event on the Saturday night of the double header in Nanaimo. If it goes down it will be at the new Oak Bay Bikes location which is not even open yet…we will keep you posted on it.

These guys deserve a bit more recognition for last year…..
THE 2010 SERIES WINNERS:

Intermediate Men
1st Place: Mitchell Thacker
2nd Place: Regan Pringle
3rd Place: Chris Dickenson

Masters Men
1st Place: Jamie Emery
2nd Place: Brent Stubbs
3rd Place: Peter Wellsman

Open Women
1st Place: Dawn Anderson
2nd Place: Joele Guynup
3rd Place: Amanda Wakleing

Expert
1st Place: Drew MacKenzie
2nd Place: Dylan Tremblay
3rd Place: Steve Bachop

Best Rookie Season.
Jeff Drew. After winning a couple of races in Intermediate Jeff moved up to Expert and had a few top 10 performances. In the last race in Port Alberni he was on track for a top 5 until an untimely flat on the last lap of the race. Winning a sweet Lezyne Carbon 4 multi tool from Lambert….it is so nice!

Most Improved Female
Amanda Wakeling
After a great rookie season 2 years ago where she dominated the women’s beginner category at 13 years old…last year Amanda was 11th in the Open Women for the series. A few DNF’s. Sickness and some sub par results. This year she came back and got stronger towards the end of the season and placed 3rd overall for the series. All at 15 years old. Plus she was the youngest female at National Champs racing the elite women. Winning a Lezyne Carbon Drive S pump from Lambert

Most improved Male
Regan Pringle
After wallowing mid to back of the pack of Intermediate in 2009 Regan stepped it up and won 3 races in the intermediate category this season. Winning a Lezyne Carbon Drive S pump from Lambert

THANKS AGAIN TO OUR SPONSORS FOR 2010 …..we will update you to our 2011 sponsors with our next update:

KONA who have been with us since the star of the series. Sponsors of the KONA KUP. MAJOR draw prize sponsor!
LAMBERT who support this series like you can not even believe…..a LOT of prizes from Leyzene and Pedros via Lambert
Phillips Beer a new sponsor but stepped in tokeep the beer flowing.
Oak Bay Bikes all the locations have been supporting the series since the start….and they do a lot of work. Also organizers of the KONA KUP and the Island Champs
Aviawest with awesome room-night draw prizes for the events along withone of our GRAND prizes
Howard Johnson…..room nights and support for our Victoria and Nanaimo events with hotel deals
SaltspringCoffee…..Bryn was out there racing…and bringing bags of goodness for our racers
OAKLEY provided us with sweet draw and series prizes of cool shades.
The North Facegave us some draw prizes and we are hoping to get them on board even bigger in 2011
Frontrunners….well they let me put on the races. Draw prizes. Number sponsor….etc!
Pro Bar. Another new sponsor for this year with their tasty bars. Again hope to have them on board bigger in 2011 as well
ActionMotorcylces…..the hospitality tent at Victoria and a tonne of draw prizes!

Brought to you by the Council of Cross.

This Cyclocross Series is Organized by the Cross Council:
With the following cycling clubs: VICC, Experience Cycling Club, UROC, Arrowsmith MTB Club, Alberni Valley Riders and IRC

Supported by:
OBB Victoria, Westshore and Nanaimo
Trail Bikes in Courtenay
Experience cycles in Duncan
Frontrunners in Nanaimo
Straight Up Cycles in Victoria
Dodge City Cycles in Cumberland
Ozzie’s Cycles in Port Alberni

Sanctioned by:
Cycling BC

Look for the next update in your mail box MID-August!

Until then…train hard!