Cross on the Rock 2022: Newsletter #1

 

The cyclocross race season is about to start!!




Newsletter #1


Warming up for the cyclocross race season. 

Our first newsletter of the season.  We will have another one next week before our first race of the year in Qualicum Beach!

Preparing for the cyclocross season is always tough in the middle of an amazing summer!  Who wants to start doing intervals when it is 30c?  Not us!!  That is why it is important to ease into the race season.  We start with one of our “tamest” courses and hopefully great weather this year in Qualicum Beach.  It will be the first time that Qualicum has hosted the first race of the season.

It is our 16th year of Cross on the Rock!!  In some ways it has never been harder to put on events.  In others it feels like we have done it all before….maybe over 100 times on Vancouver Island.  While 2021 saw the racing was as good as ever.  We can’t wait to see how this season plays out and most of all to see our community come back together as we have for the last 16 years of Cross on the Rock.

We will see you at the races.  Feel free to bring a friend out and introduce them to ‘cross.  If you are no longer a racer come on out and spectate.  If you have not raced for a while it might be time to come back.  After all cyclocross is by far the BEST racing you can do on a bicycle!



1. Cross on the Rock Season Preview

If you missed our listing on Facebook earlier or have not been on our web site since last season these are the dates that we are working with for fall of 2022:

September 11th. COTR #1. Qualicum Beach. Cross on the Commons.
September 18th COTR #2. Cumberland. Coal Cross.
October 10th. COTR #3. Nanaimo. Muc Off Cup.
October 23rd. COTR #4. Langford.  Broad Street Cycles GP
October 30th. COTR #5. Cowichan Valley. Chris Cross.
November 13th. COTR #6. Nanaimo. Hot Crossed Bunnies. (This venue is still to be confirmed)
  • 6 races again.  Same as 2021
  • So far we have 5 returning venues with 1 new venue
  • At least 2 very different courses from previously raced at those returning venues.
  • 1 totally new course at Chris Cross in the Cowichan Valley.
Registration for our first race will be OPEN tonight or tomorrow….just waiting for CCN to fire their approval on it.

There are a few other fun events happening on the island this fall that you may want to also consider:

September 10th. Steam Donkey Racing Dodge X Off road TriathlonSeptember 24th Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race
September 24th Burnt Bridge Classic Gravel Fondo
October 2nd Island Cup Enduro series final (need to get this moved out of cross season for 2023!!)
October 9th Royal Victoria Marathon 8km and Half.

October 16th. Tripleshot CrossFondo
November 5th or 6th. BC Provincial Champs at Hard Knox CX in Kelowna (not on the island)
November. 25-27. National Cyclocross Champs in VICTORIA!! (Rumour has it NOT at Bear Mountain)

As well there are a few other cyclocross events not on Vancouver Island:

Check those out here:  https://cyclingbc.net/events/?tribe_disciplines%5B%5D=2468&tribe_disciplines%5B%5D=500

Parting Shot

Jack Piket (Rock City Cycles Racing) from 2021 Beban Park.  Just looking at this photo gets us EXCITED for the upcoming race season!!

Cross is Coming

Rain was hitting my windows today which of course brought me to thoughts of the fall and our 16th season of Cross on the Rock.

If you don’t have these dates on your calendar you might want to mark them down. This is how the race season looks at this point. More details and information will be added and posted as we know.

September 11th. COTR #1. Qualicum Beach. Cross on the Commons.
September 18th COTR #2. Cumberland. Coal Cross.
October 10th. COTR #3. Nanaimo. Muc Off Cup.
October 23rd. COTR #4. Victoria. Name TBA
October 30th. COTR #5. Cowichan Valley. Name TBA
November 13th. COTR #6. Nanaimo. Hot Crossed Bunnies.
There are a LOT of moving parts and events this fall.
Please also consider:
August 28th. Mid Island Velo Association UNPAVED
September 10th. Steam Donkey Racing Dodge X Off road Triathlon
September 24th Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race
September 24th Burnt Bridge Classic Gravel Fondo
October 2nd Island Cup Enduro series final (need to get this moved out of cross season for 2023!!)
October 9th Royal Victoria Marathon 8km and Half.
October 16th. Tripleshot CrossFondo
November 5th or 6th. BC Provincial Champs at Hard Knox CX
November. 25-27. National Cyclocross Champs in VICTORIA!!

Cross on the Rock Season #15. Newsletter #9

Cross on the Rock 2021: Newsletter #9

We made it this far. Lets finish this season off STRONG!

Newsletter #9.
1. Hot Crossed Bunnies. Race #6. Series FINAL. Preview!
2. Broad Street Cycles GP.
3. Check your points. Check your team points!

Warm Ups.

  • Have you ever wanted to win a custom bike frame build specially for you? If you have raced this season then attending the series awards is your BEST CHANCE EVER!! Sam Whittingham will be drawing from our master draw prize list 1 special person that will win a Naked Bikes frame. Every time you raced this year your name has been entered. Race 6 times. You have 6 chances. Race 0 times. You will not win! We will also be drawing for other prizes from our series sponsors including a stay at Hotel Zed in Tofino and gear from MUC-OFF! You have to be there to win any of it!
  • We have made it this far. 5 of 6 races. When we made the decision to get Cross on the Rocks fired up again after 20 months away we did not know what to expect. One observation from the series so far is how incredible everyone have been. People are pitching in when needed. The community of racers has been great! There has been the least complaints or issues of any of the 15 seasons of racing we have hosted. Most of all people are reporting that during the races people are racing HARD but generally it has been clean and supportive. That has been so great to hear! We have one more race for the season. Lets all work together and finish this off the same way we have been all season. Race Hard. Have Fun. Be Nice. See you Sunday!
  • Don’t forget for the series only your top 5 race scores count. Check the link below in the “Check your points” section which shows which race is your lowest. Then you can do the math to see who you have to beat and by how much to move up in the series!
  • We started carrying an awesome product called Sport Wipes this fall at Frontrunners in Nanaimo. I have been using them all season after each race to clean up and look presentable for the awards. They are like a HUGE wet wipe towel. One of the best features is that they are 100% Biodegradable and you can put them in your compost. I thought they were so good that I contacted the company and asked if they would sponsor our series! So at the finish line on Sunday everyone will get a FREE Sport Wipe to use to clean up after their race. We will have a compost container on-site so you can drop your used one in there before the awards. I hope you like these as much as I have. You can get more from Frontrunners in Nanaimo!

1. Hot Crossed Bunnies. Race #6. Series FINAL. Preview!

Please NOTE: MASKS ARE MANDATORY IN THE AGRIPLEX for registration and spectating. They will not be mandatory for racers during the race. The awards will need to be fully masked for all ages and all people attending. Plan accordingly.

Parking: (Consult Map) Beban park is HUGE. But on any given weekend there is a LOT going on. The best place to park for the race is south of the race course in the gravel lot by the golf course and tennis courts. Be aware that there is a new road access to the Steve Smith Jump park, please do not block it. IF there is no soccer on the Beban fields then that lot will also be available. The lot by the BMX track is normally under-utilized. The paved parking by the Pool and arena might be over run so it would be best to avoid those lots. Parking on the roadways or grass is strictly forbidden and will get you towed

Team Tents: Make 100% sure your tent is staked and secured. With wind this week and in the forecast we can not have any tents becoming kites. It is drop and go (NO PARKING AT TEAM TENTS AREA) until we close and lock the gates around 9:30am. After that point you will have to carry your gear in. On the flip side the gate will be LOCKED until after the OPEN races so it will be carry out until that point. There will be no team vehicles inside the gate or we will run out of space for the team tents.

Registration: As it has been all season pre-registration only. This will close like normal at 6:00pm the night before the race. In this case that will be SATURDAY NIGHT at 6:00pm. The call up sheets are literally done by 6:10pm the night before the race. So if you FORGET or put it off you are unlikely to get your earned call up spot.

The link to register is Here

Race day number pick up and race central will be located in the Agriplex. Consult the map.

Washrooms: NOTE: MASKS ON IN THE PORTA JOHNS AND IN ANY OTHER BUILDINGS IN BEBAN PARK. There will be porta johns located at the end of the opening straight away. There are LOTS of other (Flush) washrooms located in Beban park. You can also locate washrooms in almost all buildings in the park. Both arenas. Down by the artificial turf field. In the Pool. NO DIRTY BIKE SHOES OR DIRTY PEOPLE INSIDE THE BUILDINGS OR WASHROOMS. Clean yourself up BEFORE going into a public area. We want to be able to use this venue again. MORE IMPORTANTLY if you are going IN a building LOCK YOUR BIKE!!!

Awards: Awards location will be in the Agriplex where the finish is located.

Race Course: The weather is calling for rain. MIVA will have been out cutting blackberries and scouting lines. With the rain we’ll have mud, sand, gravel, grass, pavement and off camber hills. Everything you could want for an epic final race of the season.

Food: Tipsy Avocado (Same as Bowen Park) will be on-site and ready to serve up Lunch. We have also invited Georgies Pies to come back and set up her baked goods stand as she did in 2019.

Post race: We will want to get the awards going as soon as possible on Sunday. With that in mind please help us both tear down as well as RAKE out the course. With the rain in the forecast the more raking we can do the better the course will look on Monday when people are driving by or walking through. Please bring a rake and work gloves. Many hands make light work and get the work done FAST. We will make an announcement when we are starting the awards….and…..well…..there will be no one left on course so you will notice that the awards have started! Ideally we would like to start around 4:00

TENTATIVE COURSE MAP WITH SITE OVERVIEW

2. Broad Street Cycles GP Review

Photos from Patrick until his camera decided it did not like the rain any more.

Photos from Matt Powell

From Parker
THANK you to the volunteers, racers, spectators and weather gods for making Sunday a memorable event.
Icy temps, treacherous conditions, some patches of sun and a few squalls: perfect cyclocrossing.

From Roland
Thanks to all racers for coming out to to race. It’s getting harder and harder to find venues in Victoria, so it’s great to have a venue we will reliably be able to get going into the future. I hope everybody enjoyed the unconventional cross course that brought back memories of the early days of CotR of Jungle Cross at Fletchers Farm. Thanks to Jon Watkin for getting us the course.

Shout out to the setup crew: Parker Bloom, Cam McLellan, Doug Doyle, Andy Achuff, Glenowyn Carlson, Mitch Thacker, Scott Mitchell, James Pauly, Jon Watkin, Meegan Armstrong, Brent Hooper

Registration crew: Denise Mahon, Sylvia Storry, Markus Kellerhals

Timing crew: Dylan Reeves, Geoff Homer, Shawn McKean, Steve Crowe, Joanna Fox, Ros Penty, Holly Henry

Waffles: Ryan Dawson

Event Prizes: Broad St Cycles, Arc’teryx Victoria, Drew MacKenzie of Shimano

And everybody who helped tear down the course!

From Norm
We were very excited to be able to race at the Jordie Lunn Bike park in Irwin Park. Many members of our community including but not limited to Parker Bloom, Jon Watkin and Drew MacKenzie have spent hundreds of hours developing the plan for this facility and bringing it from raw land to what we were able to race on. It was a rowdy day! The course had a bit of EVERYTHING. Most exciting of course was another opportunity to race in the MUD.

With any new venue we learn after the first event. This past Sunday we made many observations and we hope that our event at this venue continues to improve in 2022 and beyond.

A special thanks to the Masters and Super Masters men who maintained their season long cool during our lap 1.5 on course incident. We made the best of the situation and hopefully it did not change anyone’s overall result too much.

Also a thanks to Roland for stepping up to race direct this event. Parker and Broad Street for sponsoring and making some REALLY nice prize packs and Jon for being the go between and working the behind the scene to make sure that everything was in place for us to race.

2. Check your points. Check your team points!

As you know from reading our series rules if you race the full series only your top 5 results count towards your overall standings. Roland has made a series results page with your lowest score crossed out. If you want to check it out it is located here!

The team competition continues to be CLOSE. Make sure you check your team points before the series final!!

Most of the errors that happen in the team competition have to do with the team name that was inputted at the time of registration. If it does not match your other team mates…..then your points will not get counted.

If your team name is NOT CORRECT it is now possible to adjust them yourself because Roland is a master of coding!

Now people can go to their user page e.g. https://www.crossontherock.com/php/racer/?racername=Normon+Thibault

There is an edit link next to each result. Click the link, press the get password button. Your password gets emailed to you. Type in the team name you want and hit save. Team name updated!

You can edit team name, city and age. You can’t edit your name…..so if you have registered using different names and want the results for all your personalities to be put together send an e-mail to the link on the results page. Multiple names can ALSO effect your call up……so it is worth fixing.

Parting Shot
If you have been following the bike industry over the last 1.5 years you know it has been “Crazy”. With that in mind we are very fortunate to have the continued support of Nutcase Helmets supporting our little racers! Thanks to Elladee Brown for her continued support and making this happen for our series!

Cross on the Rock Season #15. Newsletter #8.

Cross on the Rock 2021: Newsletter #8
Race weeks are always the best weeks.

Newsletter #8.
1. Broad City Cycles GP.
2. Check then fix your team points.

Warm Ups.

1. Broad City Cycles GP.

Link to get registered……..it will go dark as normal at 6:00pm on Saturday night.
https://ccnbikes.com/#!/events/cross-on-the-rock-2021-race-5-jordie-lunn-bike-park-irwin-park-langford

New venue in Greater-Victoria, sponsored by Broad St Cycles! Cross on the Rock will be visiting the Jordie Lunn Bike Park for the first time. A park that was designed, in part, to host cyclocross races. Expect a 3km loop with a mix of fast hard packed surfaces, technical features, pump track, and a bit of mud. Recent rains have transformed the course. All set in a beautiful forested park with two lakes.

Parking
Parking is going to be an issue at the race. DO NOT WORRY. There is more parking 500 meters from the race site!

The main parking lot is at 2992 Irwin Road.
Continue on Irwin Rd and make a left onto Creekside Trail for the secondary parking lot.
If both lots are full, there is overflow parking on Constellation Ave, only 500m away.
There is NO PARKING on the shoulder of Irwin Rd or other nearby streets. Please use a parking lot or you will be towed, we will make the neighbours angry and we may not be invited back!

Course Hazards
While we have use of the park, there may be people unaware. Keep your head up!
Getting to the start line requires crossing the course, please be careful when the previous race is still finishing.
As always, ride within your ability.

Registration
If you have not raced this year and need to pick up your number OR if you are changing categories etc and need to come to registration. Look for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics kiosk in the main parking lot. That is where it will be located.

Team tents
Tents will most likely be near main parking lot, with an option near overflow parking. Contact roland@rabien.com for a spot.

Food
Wannawafel will be onsite selling delicious waffles.

Prizes
Shimano and Broad St Cycles will be providing sweet prizes for this event along with series sponsors: Phillips Brewery, MUC-OFF, Nutcase, 11 Speed Coffee, Jack Mar and Hotel Zed!
In addition Arc’Teryx Victoria will also be doing some prizes!

PLUS Roland has made up some Custom COTR branded pint glass and medals for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places.

PLEASE feel free to share this poster as well!!

2. Check then fix your team points.

The team competition is VERY CLOSE right now. It is time to check the points for your team!!
Most of the errors that happen in the team competition have to do with the team name that was inputted at the time of registration. If it does not match your other team mates…..then your points will not get counted.

If your team name is NOT CORRECT it is now possible to adjust them yourself because Roland is a master of coding!

Now people can go to their user page e.g. https://www.crossontherock.com/php/racer/?racername=Normon+Thibault

There is an edit link next to each result. Click the link, press the get password button. Your password gets emailed to you. Type in the team name you want and hit save. Team name updated!

You can edit team name, city and age. You can’t edit your name…..so if you have registered using different names and want the results for all your personalities to be put together send an e-mail to the link on the results page. Multiple names can ALSO effect your call up……so it is worth fixing.

Parting Shot
Nothing like a mud beard at the finish of an epic race!

Cross on the Rock 2021. Race #5. Broad City Cycles GP. Registration Confirmation

Newsletter #7.

 


1. Muc-Off Cup Review
2. Registration is OPEN for the Broad City Cycles GP.

 

Warm Ups. Just ONE warm up note this week as it is SUPER IMPORTANT.

  • Before you do ANYTHING else. Before you read this newsletter or register for Race #5. Please send Nanaimo Parks and Recreation a note thanking them (do NOT mention MUD, Rain, course conditions, remediation or destruction) for supporting our race at Bowen Park. They have always been GREAT but the department has a LOT of new staff so they have not been around the last time we hosted this race. Here is the e-mail address: gail.johnson@nanaimo.ca Send a note to her. BCC us at normon@crossontherock.com and we will enter everyone that took the time to send a note into a draw for a prize pack at the next race. We want to return to Bowen park so help us make sure this happens!

1. Muc-Off Cup Review.

PLEASE STAY OFF THE COURSE!

So many posts on Instagram and Facebook from the Muc-Off cup. It was great to see everyone’s photos and comments!

Winning the GRAND DRAW PRIZE of a CUSTOM Muc-Off bike was Jonathan Hart!!
Corey from Rock City Cycles presenting the bike.

 

Photos from the Muc-Off Cup
Photos from Nick Dunlop from Rock City Cycles.
Photos from Dirk Heydemann who was blown away after coming to Bowen on Sunday. It was the first time he had attended a cyclocross race.
Photos from Patrick Burnham.

Notes from Sean and Corey.
Wow, just wow!

That was a cross race!! Great turnout, thank you to all that made the effort considering the weather forecast! The Low Pressure Bomb showed up midday to give us all a scare and to set the tone for the afternoon’s races. It was the mudder’s day to shine and they did. Big thanks to Pete and the Muc Off crew, Jamie and Brad, for keeping everyone’s bikes clean.

A separate thank you to Peter Creighton from HCL Bike and the local representative of Muc-Off. Peter has supported the series from the start and is there at the races making sure that everything is covered. His support is a HUGE part of our success!

I always get stressed leading up to this race. We love this course and take pride in doing our best to keep it one of the most loved with you too. Thankfully we have such an amazing crew that comes out that it takes all the stress away.

Thank you to Paul, Sheppard, Nick, Tyler, Aiden, Michael, Andrew.

Extra special thanks to Edwin, Laurie and their girls Bridget and Emma who came out to set up and then raced!

Thanks to Patrick and Roland for timing and scoring and Colin, Leigh and Daniel for helping with the timing.

I really appreciate how many racers pitch in at the end and get the course cleaned in record time. This series really has an incredible family/grassroots feel to it yet still blows every other series in Canada away with how professional the races are. It’s great to receive emails from out of town racers telling us how much they like the series.

Thank you to Lyle and his crew at Medix and also to the Tipsy Avocado! We try to only keep the food truck busy but unfortunately we sometimes keep Medix busy too. Send all your good thoughts to Wayne Shtybel to heal up quickly after his crash.

As always we couldn’t do this with the support of the City of Nanaimo and Parks and Rec. Thanks for supporting our series for all these years, especially Gail and Michele.

Norm! Thanks for keeping Cross on the Rock alive!! Big congratulations on your win!!

Corey and Sean
Rock City Cycles

Just a few notes from Norm
What a great opportunity for us last Sunday to race in unreal conditions!

A HUGE thanks to the crew from Rock City Cycles, MIVA and other members of our community for coming up to set up, monitor/maintain, clean up and rake. The course was taking a beating and people were stepping up all around the course to make sure it was still maintained.

Although I did not like it at the time a BIG THANK YOU to Patrick Burnham who was observant and with his experience was able to calmly make a call to cut the Masters Men’s race by a lap. With the conditions the way they became during that race it surely saved some racers a great deal of discomfort and may have saved a life. There were more than a few masters racers that were not dressed for the conditions once they changed.

Other than that masters race we absolutely lucked out on the weather! For the day that it was supposed to be we had a pretty stellar day for the race.

I was personally very satisfied with the number of people that LOVED the course. It is TOUGH but so fun. Since it is our home course Nanaimo takes pride in making sure that it is great and the tweaks we had this year made it as good as any other and far better than the time we had to do the stairs 10 times!

Always trying to come up with good prizes for the Younglings. This time we had some Halloween goodies in a Muc-Off bottle…..but trying to promote healthy habits with a toothbrush from Dr. Wade Luksay at Riverway Dental.

2. Registration is OPEN for the Broad City Cycles GP.

We will post a preview for Race #5 of the 2021 Cross on the Rock series next week. For now here it the link to registraion which is now OPEN but will close the night before the event at 6:00 like normal.
https://ccnbikes.com/#!/events/cross-on-the-rock-2021-race-5-jordie-lunn-bike-park-irwin-park-langford

Parting Shot
Peter Creighton. Cross on the Rock’s longest supporter. We all thank you.