Qualicum Beach teen Nicholas Knight insisted he had no home-course advantage in winning the intermediate men’s race in the inaugural Cross on the Commons cyclocross race Sunday at Qualicum Beach Civic Centre. Although he did get somewhat more of a look at it than most.
“The first time I rode it was this morning, when we had a practice run,” said Knight, 14, who grabbed the lead on the second of four laps and pulled away to a 30-second win over Erik Ashton of Comox in the intermediate race, which drew the biggest field with 72 racers. “I did get to see it when I helped set it up in the rain (Saturday) night.”
The event, the fifth in the eight-race Cross on the Rock Vancouver Island racing series, drew 363 riders, said co-organizer Michael Addiscott. Competition was held in beginner, intermediate, expert and masters divisions, for both men and women. Tots as young as two years old got in on the action with a push-bike “race” on a short loop set up on the Qualicum Beach rec soccer field. Participants came from across Vancouver Island and from as far away as Winnipeg and Seattle, Wa.
Cyclocross bears a slight resemblance to mountain bike racing, but it is designed to bring the racing out of the wilderness and into the middle of community parks and recreation areas, said Knight. Rather than long, gradual slopes, cyclocross is marked by short, steep hills that the riders must push or carry their bikes up. Cyclocross also employs the judicious use of sand on slopes and in pits to rein in would-be runaways.
Cyclocross bikes are considerably lighter than mountain bikes, said Knight, and have slimmer tires to help prevent drag through sand and boggy terrain created by heavy showers like those that periodically dropped on Qualicum Beach Sunday.
“It’s a lot more technical than mountain biking, with the sand and everything,” said Knight. “I really like the challenge.”
Luke Hubner, another Qualicum Beach 14-year-old, was the overall winner in the male beginner race.
The RCMP and Oceanside Community Safety Volunteers were invited and attended Cross on the Commons to register bikes in the 529 Garage program. The program, which started in the Parksville Qualicum Beach area in May, is designed to deter bicycle theft and make it easier for police to locate owners of recovered bikes.
Addiscott said Cross on the Commons was unlikely to become an annual event, but that doesn’t mean it can’t return in the near future. “At the moment, venues often alternate, so there’s a chance it would be every second year,” said Addiscott. “This means that neither the venues nor the volunteers get over-used, racers get more variety and more towns get to enjoy the spectacle of cyclo-cross.”
Creating some of the hill runs and sandy cuts involved scarring some sections of the recreational area behind the Civic Centre, but Addiscott said organizers designed the course through “full consultation” with the Town of Qualicum Beach.
“We will be working with them to reinstate some areas,” he said. “Other areas where use was agreed are due for ground work and re-seeding, so we’re hoping that the Town of Qualicum Beach will support hosting the event in future years.”
See complete results at www.crossontherock.com.