20 years is a long time for any single race to run continuously, let alone an entire series. Vancouver Island’s iconic grassroots cyclocross series, Cross on the Rock, marked the occasion as it typically does: by throwing a curveball at racers. In this case, that was a Le Mans start long enough to inflict discomfort but short enough to still be considered a sprint.
230 racers off all ages showed up for the first of seven races this season. From under-10 racers in the Kid’s hot lap to the 55+ Super Masters field, with more in the free Lil Nutcase kids race, the racers showing up at Qualicum Beach covered COTR’s usual broad spectrum of ages and speeds.
Racers were greated by early season warm weather, easing into cyclocross season before the mud arrived in force, and fast laps at Qualicum. Evan Moore of the Collingwood Collective put in a big effort to take the Open Men’s win ahead of Robin Horsfield and Rob Parkin. Cristin Schlossberger won the elite women’s race ahead of retired track Olypian Gillian Carleton and North Vancouver’s Kelly Welbourn.
Norm Thibault not only organizes COTR, but continues to race at the pointy end of the master’s men’s field.
Series organizer Norm Thibault continued his impressive run of combining racing and organizing. He finished 12th in a 63-rider deep Master’s Men’s field. Series stats magician Roland Rabien finished further back in the same field and still had the energy to get race results online soon afer the last race finished.
COTR courses aren’t wild as they once were, but they’re still more challenging than you’re everage CX. Photo: Patrick Burnham
Hopping hurdles together: Two decades of community-driven cyclocross
Cross on the Rock started hosting cyclocross races way back in 2006. The people behind the race, the “Council of Cross” put together a year-by-year retrospective of the grassroots series’s growth and development. It follows the series from small entry lists and cantilever brakes to averaging over 400 racers per event at its peak. It’s quite the journey for a community-focused series. Even going on two decades of putting on events, the series requires no race license. Race entries run from just $17 to a hair under $30 for the most expensive categories.
You can scroll through that on the Cross on the Rock Instagram profile. Or, if you’re not doing the social media thing, read through it with fewer photos on the COTR website.
Cross on the Rock keeps trucking along in two weeks with a return to Cumberland. The popular Coal Cross heads to Village Park with more classic cross vibes. And, maybe, some singletrack.