CROSS ON THE ROCK NEWS #11 for 2011: Ricky Bobby Cameron Cross Shake and Baked…..the series is a wrap!

Have you seen Pelle’s new YouTube Video for Ricky Bobby Cameron Cross….worth checking out! Update: And one from Russell Berg as well.

I am still recovering from Saturday……just had some time this morning to finally wash my bike….well Peter Wellsman tried to wash my bike for me while I was preparing the prizes post race but when I went to load it into the van I noticed that while it was a sweet KONA Major Jake….it was NOT my KONA Major Jake…..so someone got a free spray off of their bike while mine remained VERY dirty for a couple more days.

Norm’s sad bike….2 days after Ricky Bobby.

COTR #7 for 2011. Ricky Bobby Cameron Cross at Western Speedway.

The last race of the series is always a blur for me. So much to do….want to make it all work out….plus have a good race (has never happened)…….and then wrap up the series and get some work done around the house that has been on hold for 2.5 months…..and spend time with Tessa who is now 2.5 months old!

Last year we did not get to have a conclusion to our series because of a big dump of snow. All last week I was a bit worried and when I woke up in Nanaimo on Saturday morning with 2 inches of snow in my yard I was worried….but Victoria being Victoria….the weather was great. Colder than our other races of the year….but this is cross and we have to expect to race in the cold once in a while…..did we even get a drop of rain during a race this year??

Paul Brend and the IRC crew had the course pretty much dialed when I arrived. After a preview lap with Paul and Roland we decided to add a bit more distance to the course. The added distance along with the thawed motocross track made the course just right for timing, distance, technical and finally….MUD!! A great mix of fast, slow….really slow….on-off bike….grass, pavement and dirt/mud!

The race turned out to be our second largest turn out in the history of COTR. It also has the statistic for now being our toughest race ever with the highest drop out rate. Mechanical failure being the #1 cause of drop out. The second being body-failure.

Unfortunately we also had our biggest accident in the years of racing. Despite their only being 9 racers in the women’s open field they are all fierce competitors and not wanting to back down at all in the opening 100 meters…..their spirit caused 3 of them to come together and then go down on the track. Tanya Berg and Amanda Wakeling taking the harshest of the blows while Karen Fedoruk was out….but did not require the ambulance. I contacted both Tanya and Amanda and neither of them can tell me what happened….only that they were going full speed. Both girls are going to enjoy a bit of time off the bike while they recover and were very bummed that they did not get to finish the race or the series. All three looking forward to next year already.

The other categories also had some hot racing action. The double points and series final always gets people fired up!

I personally liked Russell Anderson’s (one of the many people I love racing against) e-mail response to my “how did your race go”?;

Slow start, not sure if I was paranoid or just slow. Spent some time in no mans land before finally catching up to you guys. After that you were my motivation, the moto track was cool to check the status of your competition. After that I just kept her steady and watched the leaders come unglued with Mechanicals. Watched Tom destroy his bike twice, Kelly threw his bike into the bushes, Cameron rolled his tubular the list goes on, (Steve) Bachop? All in all a great race!

Wondering what happened to Steve Bachop I fired him a note as well:

From Steve: was going OK the first 3-4 laps then just kinda fell off, not a lot of zip in the old legs today. I also flatted around lap 5 after the pits and slid around the motocross section before changing my wheel, so lost a bunch of places there. It was a fun course though.

The course because of the mud required a very delicate approach to shifting and longevity and those that jam-gears were met with snapped DR hangers!

We also had a great time with the first ever COTR SHOP CHALLENGE with around 13 entries….one lap…..all the glory….plus a case of Saltspring Coffee. Dan Scott from Oak Bay Bikes Westshore won it for the boys taking control half way through the lap. Jenny Skinner dominated it for the girls and Oak Bay Bikes in Oak Bay!

A great race and a great way to finish the series.

Thanks to everyone for the season and we will see you next September.

ROAST POTATO HAND UP for Intermediate race
 

TEAM RICKY BOBBY
 

Special thanks to:

• Western Speedway
• Renaat from Wannawafel….man those tasted great!
• The registration crew…..those ladies had it dialed! Deanna, Lori, Rhonda and Barb
• Hilary Grant….again had the timing down.
• The Rabiens for all their expertise and hard work with set up of Ricky Bobby.
• “Props” to Jeff, Suzie and Steve from Westshore Moto and Western Speedway
• Bryn from Saltspring Coffee who had hot coffee on site.
• Straight up Cycles and IRC-Cameron Law for kicking in great prizes
• Everyone that helped out Amanda, Tanya and Karen after their crash…..cool under pressure.

RANDOM STATS SECTION

• Temperature range for COTR races in 2011: -1 at Ricky Bobby to + 33c at Coal Cross
• Number of individual racers this year: 332 Up 28% from 2010
• Number of races this year (racers X number of times they raced): 1046 Up 43.5% from 2010
• For women we have seen a 30% increase in number of racers with a 50% increase in the number of times they have raced.
• Additionally, 70% of the women raced in a “series category” in 2011, whereas last year only 50% of the women raced in Open Women in 2010
• Overall we are seeing more “repeat racers” than last year, especially in the women’s categories
• With the addition of the Intermediate Women category, the growth in the women’s category is outpacing the overall series growth!
• 75 people raced in the Beginner Categories. Of those racers, 32% raced more than 1 race in the category, and 20% of the racers moved into a series category. 3 racers raced all the races!
• 2011 saw a 15% increase in Junior Racers (41 racers), and a 38% increase in 50+ racers (39 racers).

GRAND PRIZE WINNERS:

The last race and following race and series awards is a total BLUR for me. I don’t know the names of the racers that won the wheels, trips or furious three entry BUT because Libby Aynsley had her new I Phone 4S we do have photos of them! Congratulations!!

A SWEET pair Zed Wheels CrossRock AXs. These are named after the COTR series. wheels built just for you www.zedwheels.com
 

Entry into any of the FURIOUS THREE Mountainbike events for 2012. . With events in Fernie, Whistler and Moab for 2012….it is going to be cool. Furious3 Events. www.furious3.com

SERIES WINNERS AND STANDING SHAKE UPS

Intermediate Men: Haldor Gunnerson was beaten at the last race by series winner 19 year old Chris Sundby for 1st.

Intermediate Women: Christyna Jones held on to win this category

Masters Men: David Damery ……..had a secret weapon and perfect preparation to hold onto his lead in Masters Men

Over 50 Men: Peter Wellsman not only won the 50+ men but placed 2nd in Masters 40-49 (run together)

Open Women: Dawn Anderson won with a PERFECT SCORE of 180….she is a COTR LEGEND

Expert Men: Steve Bachop was bumped rightfully so by Tyler Trace…..Tyler is SO good that he only needed 4 of a possible 5 races to win the series.

COTR 2011 PHOTO CONTEST

We (by “We” I mean Roland has) have made a separate gallery for the 7 finalist photos from our photo contest.

The winner in case you missed it was Halldor Gunnarsson’s Photo:

This photo received the most number of votes from our 11 Judge panel.

Photos were judged based on:
Judge on:
1) Quality of photo
2) Composition
3) Framing
4) IF the photo captures “Cross”
5) If the photo captures COTR?

One of the best Cross Photographers out there, Joe Sales, was one of our judges and he had this to say about Halldor’s photo:

A Euro-maxed out dude shoulder to shoulder with a guy rocking disc brakes and a BC bike race jersey with fans cheering. Older dude even has a bloody mini-bike light on his handlebars. And its a perfect mild pan, just enough to capture motion and spoke blur but the riders are sharp. The colours aren’t dialed in but content is king. This picture wins for sure. There’s even a baseball diamond in the background! This picture shows that there is something for everyone at COTR: Euro – geekiness, Fred-Geekiness and crazed rabid spectators. And after the race you can play softball.

STILL LOOKING TO DO SOME MORE RACING??

In the USA the cross season goes until January (and actually started in July this year). In Europe it goes to February…..in BC we still have a couple more weekends and you can squeak in a couple more with a bit of travel.

This coming weekend on November 27th: PROVINCIAL CHAMPS in North Vancouver. http://www.atomicracing.com/race/ COTR series leaders will get favorable call ups with their call up proto call which will be: Front row: Provincial / island champ and top 3 from BC cup/island series. Second row: Positions 4-6 from BC cup / island series. Third row and beyond will be random. YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER IN ORDER TO GET THIS CONSIDERATION!!

The weekend after that is the BC Cup FINALS on December 3rd. http://daryl-evansracing.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=16&Itemid=31 This race will be in South Surrey so only a short hop on the ferry as well.

Cascade Cross in Bellingham http://cascadecross.com/races Actually has 2 more races coming up. December 17th they have Thriller Cross and then in JANUARY on the 14th they have Chiller Cross. I did one of their events two years ago and they were similar in feel to COTR.

If you are looking for some MAJOR COMPETITION then join a few of the other COTR racers heading to Bend Oregon for the last weekend of USGP http://www.usgpcyclocross.com/index.php racing on December 10th and 11th.

After that you will have a chance at Sea Otter to do some cross for the first time…..and then will have to wait until September and the next season of COTR!

SERIES SCHEDULE is all done for this year…..we will be back in 2012……stay tuned for details!

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: Record Breaker. Record Setter.
October 15th. Beban Park in Nanaimo (Island Championships): A bit risky but it turned out great. HUGE Women’s Field!!

Social at the new Oak Bay Bikes in Nanaimo in the PM.

October 16th. Bowen Park in Nanaimo: 10 LAPS for EXPERT!! Biggest race ever in Nanaimo…..#2 overall!!
October 30th. The GREAT PUMPKIN cross at Transfer Beach in Ladysmith: Great Venue. Great local support. Hope to be back!
November 19th Cameron Cross at Western Speedway in Victoria/Langford (Series Championships and Double Points): What a way to wrap up the series!

SERIES SPONSORS

KONA: who continue to sponsor the series and the KONA KUP.
Oak Bay Bikes Nanaimo: Who have been involved since 2004
Lambert: Pedros-Leyzne: Pumps!! Thanks for all the support Peter.
Action Motorcycles: Jamie not only races…but provides a huge amount of prizing and flagging
PHILLIPS BEER: Beer!! What can we say…..it tastes good and tastes better when you win it.
Howard Johnson: Dan Brady who supports the series and is always willing to help out.
Saltspring Coffee: Bryn races….Bryn brings coffee…..we like Bryn. Buy Saltspring coffee when you are at the supermarket!
Oakley: Great prizing. Thanks Mike!
Pro Bar: Yummy prizes that the adult AND kids love to get
Aviawest: 7 amazing Vacations that will be enjoyed by the winners…thanks Jim (come out and race in 2012!)
Frontrunners: Without them….we would not have a series…..cross racers need to run so get your shoes from Frontrunners FOR SURE!
Also a bit of series support from Orange Sport Supply: We would like to see Orange Sport as a MAJOR sponsor in 2012!!

Also: ZED Wheels which provided a great set of wheels as a final series prize and Furious 3 Mountain bike events…we all need something to do in the off-cross-season!!

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 Island Racing Club/Cameron Law

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

A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR RACE DIRECTORS FOR 2012

Lisa Ludwig and Curtis Saunders for Coal Cross
Lee Blais for Lumber X
Drew MacKenzie for Condo Cross
Peter McCaffery for the Island Champs at Beban
Corey Piket and Sean Lunny for the KONA KUP
Tara and Mike Pollock for The GREAT PUMPKIN Cross
Paul Brend for Ricky Bobby Cameron Cross at Western Speedway

COTR PARTING SHOT FOR 2012…..keep the rubber side DOWN and see you next September!