Cross on the Rock

CROSS ON THE ROCK NEWS #5 for 2011

October is the golden month for cross on Vancouver Island (the Belgium of Vancouver Island)!

LUMBER CROSS REVIEW…..a Look back at a great day for C.O.T.R.

Special thanks to Alberni Valley Riders and Alberni Single Speeders for putting on a great event. Also special thanks to: Hilary Grant for being our master-volunteer timer, The McLean’s Historic Society, All the volunteers and local sponsors of the event as well as Bryan Anderson from Rocky Mountain Bikes who supports the event through Ozzie Cycles.

Records BROKEN! Not only did the 2nd Lumber Cross destroy last year’s attendance at their event it set a NEW RECORD for all time attendance for a COTR event at 140 racers. This beat last year’s KONA Cup event at Bowen park by a scant 4 racers. PLUS…..PLUS…..40 women were out! 11 in beginner (outnumbering the men). 18 in intermediate. 10 in Open women and 1 in Expert. That is not only a COTR record that has got to be a Provincial record!

We also had a respectable turn out of Single Speed CX racers in both the intermediate and beginner categories as well as 1 in the intermediate women’s.

The masters race needed 2 registration and 2 timing sheets!

It was a perfect day for cross with temperatures hovering around 11c. The Steam Pot café was open at McLean’s Mill…. serving great food that people were raving about. There was only a drizzle of rain. Great competition and the course…..the course…..

The course was similar to last years but not as long, not as much mud and not as much grass. Racers RAVED about it….especially those with MTB back grounds. A bit of everything with fast roads. Fast sections that you had to slam your brakes on to make the next corner. LOTS of turns. Some single track. Some road. Double track. Grass. And of course the intestine.

One feature of the course that was not welcome were a few sharp rocks…..you had to be smooth, put a bit more tire pressure in than normal and pick your lines carefully.

The pits were the busiest that anyone had ever seen with people swapping out wheels and bikes but staying in the race. As one person commented, “it was last man standing out there”. Even with the number of flat tires the drop out rate/tough race rate was not even in our top 10…..which means to me that people wanted to keep on racing ’cause it was so fun!

NOTES:

• Kelly Guest taking down his first podium and his first COTR win on the weekend. That was not the most impressive part though. Spectators watched as Kelly finished the grueling race, dropped his bike and headed out of the venue in a full sprint. Kelly was practicing his transitions in preparation for the world X Terra Champs coming up on October 23rd in Maui. Cross is great training for Xterra….do you hear that Mel……Mel……??
• The gloves might be off and love lost between Regan and Mical….both tied in the standings for Expert…..what will happen next in this unfolding drama??!! 
• The race in Port Alberni was my (Normon Thibault) 30th COTR race finish and the first time ever I have won the 1st lap prime!! I had a great time doing some wheel to wheel racing with the Pro City boys, Jon Benskin, Huntley and Cameron. I might actually rank Lumber cross 2011 as one of my most favorite COTR races of all time!
• It sounds like Vanier park did beat us for overall participation BUT that is fine. We had more women!! Plus considering we had a record turn out….well it a record is a record! They dill “accuse” of us being “bullies” though with our potential shunning of regular island racers…..we gotta do what we gotta do!!
• There was a lot of “Buzz” surrounding the first place prize at the event which were custom red suspenders with “Lumber X” “First Place” embroidered down them. They were one of the coolest prizes ever….that was part of the buzz…the other part….well you might have to try to find the photos on Facebook on the ASS site….and not the ones of Ron Hewitson.
• It was great to see Ron Hewitson take his first victory in the Master Men’s category. He has been doing a lot of BIG events this year…all in preparation for COTR!
  Menno Jongsma made his first COTR appearance in 2 years with a respectable mid pack finish.
• Also a major thanks to Bryn from Saltspring Coffee for making an extra special trip to the venue to drop off coffee….he wanted to race….but was just a bit too late….bummer!
• Series results are posted as well….so check out who is getting close to you and who you are getting close to.

Kids course
Port Alberni also was able to put a separate kids course together featuring a small intestine, bridge and mini-barriers. Kids were ripping around this course all day and “unofficial” races were held mid day to the delight of all the mini rippers. Lee and I learned something very valuable about kids courses after watching Otis Birch get onto the course first early in the morning…..um….the flagging has to be WAY-WAY down. Otis ended up in the middle of the large intestine and way off the kids course within seconds….. we adjusted the flagging and everything was a lot more smooth.

OTHER “BUSINESS”

CONDO CROSS THIS THANKSGIVING MONDAY
We will have the bible posted Friday morning will all the information you need to get yourself to this event. Work off your turkey! IF you want to make it an extra challenge do the 8k, half marathon or marathon on Sunday as well!!

SURVEY
Some of the racers last weekend noticed and fully completed the MANDATORY Bike survey on the registration form…..some did not….some tried a bit too hard to be funny people with their responses!! If you have ever done a class on stats etc. you will know that sample size and return are important factors on getting good quality information. We need this information occasionally for both our records and in order to get sponsorship for the events that you guys race in. SO in order to up the return on the survey I am asking the following people to fill out the survey by e-mail as they missed it or part of it on the weekend and fire it back to me. Thanks in advance.

Please send the following information to me at normont@islandnet.com

What brand of bike you raced on:
What model of bike you raced on:
Where did you buy it:

NEED INFORMATION FROM
Beginner Women (11 racers 6 completed surveys)
Monica Birch
Mykelti Berg
Kelsi Duncan
Joanna Duncan (incomplete)
Danielle Coleman

Beginner Men (9 racers 5 complete surveys)
Jeff Coleman
Brodie Hay
Russell Leach
Billy Leach

Intermediate Women (19 racers. 14 completed surveys)
Aledandra Grant
Danielle Coleman
Christina Jones
Roberta Wilson

Intermediate Men and S/S (31 racers. 19 completed surveys)
Andy Pitre
Chris Hall
Chris Dickinson
Pelle Gustavs
Chris Sundby
Paul Auton
Shawn Boyd
Michael Arensen
Glen Wakling
Lee Blais (come on Lee!)
Brent Larkin
Antonio Burtini

Open women (10 racers. 6 completed surveys)
Kate Scallion
Karen Fedoruk
Tanya Berg
Glenowyn Carlson

Masters Men (39 racers. 29 completed surveys)
Dan Proulx
Tony Webster
Steve Crowley
David Holden
Jamie Emery
Robin Willard
Kirby Villeneuve
Bill McMillan
Norman Marcy
Ian Hay

Expert Men (22 racers. 18 completed surveys)
Kelly Guest
Dan Scott
Mical Dyck
Gavin Eaton

ANDREW PINFOLD
You may have read last week that Andrew Pinfold retired from the pro road peloton. What you may not know is that the first ever official cross race on Vancouver Island in November of 2004 at Beban park was won by Pinner. He also used to do some of the USGP’s and I think he even traveled to Europe for some cross action before his road career took off. I was going to extend a welcome to him to return to cross racing and an invite to the COTR series and then I noticed he did the Vanier Park cross race on the weekend. We are excited to have Andrew back on the dirt and hope to see him over for some of our races….provincials…..Nationals…..Bend??

SERIES FINAL (BIG UPDATE)
You may have noticed on some of our promotions stuff and the race calendar etc. that the venue for the Series Final for COTR was not mentioned. We were trying to sort out dates available with facilities available. We have the venue nailed down but because of a previous booking the date has to be changed to one day earlier. SO the final for COTR this year will be on Saturday, November the 19th. The venue will be WESTERN SPEEDWAY. There is a tonne of parking and great facilities out there. We had our COTR scouting crew out there last Saturday to make sure they can build a great course and they are VERY CONFIDENT. So please change the dates on your calendar and do what ever you need to do to get that date off and make sure you are on the start line to finish up the series!! (We will also work on an after party
location and keep you posted!).

PHOTOS
I am sure there are a few more photo galleries floating around out there but so far I only have a link to this one from the Pro City Boys: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bicyclepuller/sets/72157627809085394/

UNDERGROUND CX IN VICTORIA
The first ever cross race for myself, Wendy and Corey Piket was the Underground cross race at Larytz park in October of 2003. Corey and I rode our MTB’s as our cross bikes had not arrived. Wendy was doing her first ride on her Surly that she would go on to race at Nationals for 2 years and 2 world championships. There were about 13 racers out on a rainy night. I think I remember: Drew, Kelly, Andrew Petrie…..not sure who else. Anyways last Wednesday I was down in Victoria for a couple of meetings and planned on attending the weekly “practice” session down there. I was BLOWN AWAY
with the 90 people of all ages and abilities that came out. It was super fun and pretty much as competitive as you wanted to make it. What a great way to get people into cross and get your weekly hard workout in!

SERIES SCHEDULE (UPDATED)
* September 11th. Coal Cross at the Village Park in Cumberland: In
the BOOKS!
* October 2nd. Lumber Cross at McLean’s Mill in Port Alberni: Chopped
down and DONE!
* 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 19th Cameron Cross at Western Speedway in
Victoria/Langford (Series Championships and Double Points)

NEXT RACE is Condo Cross in Victoria Thanksgiving Monday…..only a few short days away. October is the golden month of cross on Vancouver Island this year!

SERIES SPONSORS
* KONA
* Oak Bay Bikes Nanaimo
* Lambert: Pedros-Leyzne
* Action Motorcycles
* PHILLIPS BEER
* Howard Johnson
* Saltspring Coffee
* Oakley
* Pro Bar
* Aviawest
* Frontrunners
* Also a bit of series support from Orange Sport Supply

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

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!