MUC OFF – Cross on the Rock 2024.
Newsletter #1 – Season Preview!

Venue Support from Coastal Community Credit Union.

The FIRST Newsletter for the season.

Some Short Notes from when we saw you last:

  • Emily Johnston….the Killer…..just 8 days ago was on the PODIUM at the World Championships for U23!!
  • We had past COTR racers at the Olympics racing on the track.  Sarah Van Dam and Erin Attwell.
  • COTR racer Geza Rodgers raced the JR DOWNHILL at the World Championships!
  • Derek Steel set a new WORLD RECORD for his age for the hour!
  • Barb Morris set a new Canadian Record for the hour!

FINALLY.  Cyclocross Season!!  We have waited and waited patiently since the last finisher at National Championships in Saanich last fall to get going again.  We are excited to get our 18th season started!!  We are looking forward to starting at Topaz Park in Victoria again this coming Sunday.

REGISTRATION.  We just missed the crew at CCN last last week so we have set registration up to open at noon on Monday the 9th.  IF for some reason it can’t….we will let you know.  We have the 1st and 2nd events ready for reg.  IF you want to wait until later in the week we will try to have 3-7 available as well.  We TRIED to do a full season reg again like pre 2018 but it is TOO Difficult!  So the next best we can do is to have all the events ready to go.

1. Season #18 Preview.
Honestly we start working on NEXT year’s race season while the current one is active.  Never in the previous 17 seasons have we had SO MUCH schedule and venue adjustments in the last month.  Things came up.  Events that were not accounted for pushed our races.  Venues became un available one weekend but good another.  For a bit there it seemed like almost every race would have to be adjusted.  Then it all settled down and the schedule “looks” good for the season.

Race #1`- September 15th.  Victoria Cyclocross Grand Prix p/b Pro City and Tripleshot.  Topaz Park.  In 2021 when we last raced at Topaz Park we thought that would be the last time.  Guess what!!??  They have not started their MAJOR project yet so we are going racing there this coming Sunday!!  (Pre-Race info below)

Race #2 – September 29th.  Coal Cross.  Village Park.  Cumberland.  The Comox Valley has been on the schedule EVERY year since 2006 (The first year) when we raced at the Hostel located by the trails in Puntlage area.  This time we are back at Village Park!!  Quad Whirly – Whirl…..??  We don’t even know yet!!

Race #3 – October 6th.  Twin City X.  Port Alberni Fair Grounds.  Nik Kay and the Jumping Slug crew have the strongest lobby group in Cyclocross.  I will walk to the shop and someone will yell at me, “Port Alberni needs a cyclocross race again”….completely random.  We have not raced in “Port” since 2018 at McLeans Mill.  This time we head to our 3rd Port Alberni Venue at the Fair Grounds.  Qualicum Beach will (hopefully with permission) be back on the schedule next year with the idea that Port Alberni and QB will take turns each year.

Race #4 – October 14th (Yes it is a Monday).  The Muc Off Cup.  Bowen Park.  Nanaimo.  Typically one of our biggest races of the season and most often the largest in the country.  We are working on making this a all comers club championships this year.  Stay tuned for that.  Rumour has it that Pete the Legend will be on site with his power washer as he has been in past year.

October 20th is the Cross Fondo.  Out of respect for this AMAZING event and because we want to ride it as well we have NO COTR scheduled that weekend!

Race #5 – October 27th.  . Cowe X. Cowichan Fairgrounds.  It did not work out for this one to be the finals this year BUT this amazing venue with the great course is on the schedule for race #5.  The Cycle Therapy Cycling Club will have what in store for us this year?  Maybe a hot wheels loop?

Race #6 – November 10th. Broad Street GP. Jordi Lunn Bike Park in Langford.  With a week break in there so that a bunch of COTR racers can head to Montana for Pan Am CX Championships (That have 5 year age categories instead of Canadian Nats 10 years)….then we head to Langford for the Broad Street GP.  For out of towners it will be a good chance to check out the Broad Street Cycles on-site location and some of the other new features of the park!

Another week break in here for Canadian National Championships.

Race #7 – November 24th.  Hot Crossed Bunnies. Beban Park.  Nanaimo.  The new park entrance cutting SHOULD be operational by our last race of the season making it even EASIER to get to the park.  The Nanaimo BMX club is currently SUPER SIZING their track.  It is MASSIVE.  So we will see what the area looks like when they are done.  You can expect at least half the course will be different from last year.  Finishing up the season with the race and series awards in the BIG BARN!

Seven races for 2024!  That will be the first time we have had 7 events since 2019.

We can’t wait to see everyone back as well as meet some new people out racing.  Bring a friend.  Bring someone that we have not seen before.  This is your series and your community!!

2. Race #1 Preview. Victoria Cyclocross Grand Prix p/b Pro City and Tripleshot. 

WE WILL POST THE REGISTRATION LINK AS SOON AS IT GOES LIVE WITH CCN on FB, IG and the web site.

Sunday, September 15th,  2024

Volunteers needed for all the normal race stuff:  Set Up.  In Race Day Maintenance.  Timing.  Registration.  Timing.  Take Down.  Raking etc.  Without volunteers none of the races happen!  You can still race AND volunteer.

You can use the google doc. to sign up.
Or contact Scott Mitchell to help out please: scott@trekbikesvictoria.com

REGISTRATION CLOSES: Saturday at 6:00 PM.  CLOSES!

A couple of notes for this race:
1. Do you need a place to stay?  Hotel Zed in Victoria just had a MAJOR renovation.  They have SPACE for our race weekend.  PLUS you can get a discount.  Use the discount code: FRIENDS  to book your night.  This will also work for Accent Inn.  BOTH these locations are CLOSE to race venue and all the action.
2. The first race of the season always is a bit trickier to exceute.  First of all we are giving out ALL the race packages and numbers for the race season.  That takes some time.  We will put out a schedule for each category.  Also we need a LOT of help to organize and execute this in a city park with set up on the day.  If you can help out hit the link above.
3. Many hands and rakes make everything go smoother.  Please put “RAKE” down on your list of things to bring to thid event and maybe all the events for 2024.  The more help we get after the last finisher.  The quicker everything comes down and the better the venue looks.  the better the venue looks the better chance we have of using it again.
Description:
HEY we are BACK at Topaz Park!!  In 2021 we thought that was the LAST ONE.  What a turn of events!  We are kicking off Season #18 in Victoria racing at one of our favourite venues!!  We said this in 2021 and we will say it again…..Could this be the final race at Topaz? There are plans to change the park considerably in the next year so this could be our last chance to race in this central Victoria park.
There will be grass…. and more grass… stairs…. and more grass…… Expect some slippery off camber corners, some long painful straightaways.
The forecast currently looks favourable for DRY conditions so choose your tires wisely!

Venue:
Topaz Park is located at the corner of Finlayson Street and Blanshard Street in Victoria. Parking is available on the north end of the park off of Finlayson Street or on the East side of the park by taking Spruce St off of Quadra Street. Additional parking is available at Mayfair Centre and SJ Willis School, a short walking distance to the park.

Please be courteous to other park users during race day and keep off the sports fields. The park is still open to the public so please be respectful.

We encourage team tents along the East side of the course near the Spruce parking lot, first come first served. If you do not have gear to haul please consider those that do and try to find parking a bit further from the fields.

4. Help out Andy.

If you don’t know Andrew Hamilton he is one of the GOOD ONES.  He is the manager of our local Air House and coaches hundreds of kids on mountain biking as well as leading CX rides in Nanaimo.  Airhouse ALSO sponsors a couple of the kids races with passes for racers!

From Andy:
On August 12th I successfully completed an #everesting ride in my backyard at Doumont. A small group of people knew why I was attempting this monster of a challenge and after reflecting on the accomplishment, I’m sharing the story in hopes of raising awareness of mental health. I pursued this challenge to honour a dear friend lost to suicide 10 years ago. Although it has been a decade, his memory still fuels my passion to push myself further both mentally and physically and to keep the conversation going. I’m fundraising to spread awareness and help those who are battling their own challenges. My goal is to raise $8848, 1 Dollar for every meter of elevation I gained on this ride, and any little bit helps! Even if you’re unable to donate, I challenge everyone to get out there and push yourself to your limits, you will truly be amazed at what you are capable of. This ride would not have been possible without all the support I received prior to and on the day of the ride. An absolutely massive thank you to everyone who came out or sent me a message while I was grinding away ❤️‍🔥 Much love, Hammy

Donations are made through my Instagram page @andyhammy. If anyone does not have instagram and would like to donate they are able to e-transfer andrew@airhouse.caand I will donate on their behalf, as well as provide a receipt.

Thanks again!!

— 

Andrew Hamilton 

5. 2023 Series Winners (Refresher)
Each of our races have 10 categories BUT at each event there always the race within the races.  The series has 20 categories for overall victory.

If you want to re-cap who won the SERIES categories last year to remember who to watch for in 2024 here is the list.  REMEMBER depending on your category each race you might be battling for that event (For example Launch) as well as the OVERALL (For example Launch has 3 series categories racing at the same time).  It is a bit confusing at times but what matters most is racing hard and having a wicked time!

Category

Launch Men Jacob Appenheimer   Nicolas Blight 1105 Jeremy Robson 1027
Launch Women Amanda McArthur 970 Charlotte Tai 900 Rose Aarrestad 590
U13 – Launch Men Cael Schlossberger 1180 Callum Bobbitt 1125 Owen Chen 1095
U13 – Launch Women Tilly Cocksedge 1000 Beatrix Maraun 200 Tessa Thibault 190
U15 – Launch Men Noah Lutz 1190 Nico Schum 1150 Landon Mottishaw 1095
U15 – Launch Women Adianta Cocksedge 1190 Daiya Schlossberger 200
Intermediate Men Marcus Appenheimer 1190 Aaron Slobodin 1075 Nik Kay 1055
Intermediate Women Kelsey McGaw 1185 Vanessa Minke-Martin 1105 Haley Healey 1100
U17 – Intermediate Men Sam Schum 1125 Mercer Benham 1095 Walker Bobbitt 1070
U17 – Intermediate Women Daiya Schlossberger 970 Maggie Preston 920 Lindsey Cameron 600
Masters Women Christy Love 1180 Jessica Planeta 1093 Wanda Reddin 1085
Masters Women (55+) Christine Neal 1200 Michele Carr 1140 Brenda Jager 1070
Masters Men (40-54) Graham Cocksedge 1200 Normon Thibault 1105 Matthew Mahoney 1085
Super Masters Men (55+) Ken Olson 1200 Gary MacGregor 1081 Richard Stark 1065
Mega Masters (70+) Derek Steel 962 Dean Vinden 912 Roy Kregosky 582
Open Women Eleanor Winchell 1071 Katja Verkerk 1058 Ella MacPhee 985
Open Men Craig Richey 1067  Soren Weselake 1066 Fabian Merino 1030
U19 – Men Soren Weselake 1066 Oscar Wong 797 Jonathan Hard 758
U19 – Women Eleanor Winchell 1071 Kimberly Chen 861 Talia MacPhail-McGrady 790
Riverway Dental Hot Lap Boys Jasper Johnson 1200 Stellan Kydd 1130 Gabriel Molgat-Roy 1060
Riverway Dental Hot Lap Girls Piper Tench-Cocksedge 946 Evelyn Kydd 926 Kinsley Hepples 914

It is about the community.  Racing.  Respect.  Repeat.

We can’t wait for the season to get started!!

Remember to recommend COTR to people that ride and bring a friend out to race!!
MUC OFF – Cross on the Rock 2024. Newsletter #1 – Season Preview!