September 18/06 12:22 pm - Island Cup Cross Series : Cross on the Rock #1

Posted by Editoress on 09/18/06
 

Cross on the Rock #1 September 17th, Diver Lake, Nanaimo BC
Courtesy organizer

Race #1 in the Island Cup Cross Series 2006

Brought to you by Multi-Sport Promotions: www.island-multi-sports.com

Presented by the Nanaimo Daily News
Sponsored by Oak Bay Bikes, Frontrunners, The Howard Johnson Harbourside Hotel and Arrowsmith Bikes

Thanks to Nanaimo Parks and Recreation, Mid Island Towing and the City of Nanaimo

Conditions: Rain, 14c, mud, wet grass, loose dirt, slippery pavement, tough and fun racing.

Rain. Glorious Rain. Perfect for Cyclocross!! Unfortunately we have had such an incredible summer that people were scared that it was raining and as a result a few missed out on one of the best and tightest courses around at Diver Lake in Nanaimo.

It was a record turn out for this event with 70 racers showing up from as far away as Ontario and in this province; Salmon Arm. A large number of the racers were club licensed riders showing the strong club based racing scene on Vancouver Island.

The first event was the Beginner Category with 10 racers off the line. It was girls against the boys with 5 each. Mountain bikes ruled this category with Bill McMillan (Nanaimo Mountain Bike Club) from Nanaimo pulling away for the win in the men's category. Brandy Swenson from Parksville winning the girls event and placing 3rd overall for the beginner race!

The second event saw the Masters leaving 1 minute before the Women and another minute before the Intermediate Men. The masters category was the largest of the day with 21 racers. Taking the first lap beer prime was Brad Collins (Bicycle Sport Pacific) for the Masters. The women's prime was won by Kelly Jones (Sugoi) and Trevor Jones (CVCC) took home the Intermediate prime.

With the first quick laps out of the way Mark Svenson from Parksville worked his way up from a late arrival-back of the call up-start position to take over, and hold, 1st place on the 4th lap from Steven Murray (SORCA). Mark was skeptical of his 1st place position and kept asking people all around the course, including the timers, who was in front of him and by how far. Behind Svenson, Brian Griffin (MRC) from Maple Ridge was holding in 2nd place to the finish and Gary Croome (Frontrunners) from Nanaimo was working his way through the field from 6th to finish 3rd.

In the women's race Kelly Jones (Sugoi) dominated from start to finish making a game of picking off the masters racers that started 1 minute up on her. By the end of her 50 minutes and 50 seconds race she had picked off all by 5 of the masters men. Lisa Ludwig (Oak Bay Bikes) held onto her 2nd place and Trish Sinclair (Scott) returned to cyclocross from a 3 year absence to take 3rd place.

The Intermediate racers blew apart early with Shawnigan Lake's Trevor Jones (CVCC) taking the first lap prime and then faded to 3rd. Winning this category was David Kennedy who passed Trevor on the 7th lap and Robbie Bitz (Local Ride) coming in for the 2nd spot. Local Jr, Ben Glassen (Oak Bay Bikes) in his first bike race at the age of 17 came in 4th.

The Expert race was a joyfully painful 10 lap experience for the 19 starters.....or 9 laps of pain for 7 of the 19. Rocky Mountain racer Kevin Calhoun took the first lap out for the prime in 6:09 followed by Troy Woodburn (Giga Bike) and Rob Britton (Gigabike). I must admit that I don't have a lot to report on this race as I was suffering SO much having started it without warm up and sore from pounding stakes. All I can tell you is that the front guys looked like they were fly'in. Somewhere in the middle of the race Drew McKenzie (Sugoi) went out with his second mechanical. I took two pit stops as I apparently did not have even enough time to check my tire pressure. Wendy kept yelling at me from across the course, "I'm coming for you norm". I heard on the last lap Rob just twisted the throttle and pulled away from his riding buddies to take the win in 55:51. Kevin Calhoun (Rocky Mountain) came in for second. Dred locked Stefan Widmer (Sugoi) was 3rd.

Next race in the Cross on the Rock Island Cup Series is in Courtenay on October 15th.


We are also holding a raffle to raise money for our Canadian Cross racers who will be traveling to 2007 unfunded World Cross Championships in Belgium. The prize is an Electra Rally 3 speed Cruiser Bike. Tickets are $4 or 3 for $10. Draw date will be the day after our National Championships at the last Cross on the Rock race at Fletcher Farm on the 12th of November. For Tickets or more information please feel free to contact us: normont@islandnet.com