Let's Talk Cyclocross

Vanier 2013 results, some photos now posted on WCC's news section;

http://www.westcoastcycling.ca/

Thanks everyone for coming out to slide around in the goo. Awesome day, about 230 riders on the line counting all 3 starts.

Vanier 2013 results, some photos now posted on WCC's news section;

http://www.westcoastcycling.ca/

Thanks everyone for coming out to slide around in the goo. Awesome day, about 230 riders on the line counting all 3 starts.

Thanks so much for organizing!! It was well done and the results are well done too. lets hope we can race there again next year.

You can see that the top 5' in masters 3/4 should be in Masters 1/2 because they would be top 5 there as well. I am right in saying that there has always been sandbagging in that masters 3/4 cat.

I was DFL in SS.

Thanks so much for organizing!! It was well done and the results are well done too. lets hope we can race there again next year.

Well, I'd tip my hat and give thanks instead to all the sponsors, volunteers, and racers for coming out. Can't do it without all of them. The "World's Happiest 'Cross Racer" a.k.a. race director Sven always comes up huge behind the scenes to make it all come together.

Vanier is the longest running 'cross event in B.C. as far as I know, so no reason to expect it to drop off the calendar anytime soon. The grass obviously left a brown track from the course route, but didn't actually churn up the surface too badly. Based on some previous years in wet conditions at Vanier, it bounces back pretty quick and I'd guess in a month you won't even be able to see the course route after some regeneration. Unless someone complains to Van Parks and/or the city (keeping in mind it's kind of "off season" for park users) I suspect all will be OK.

You can see that the top 5' in masters 3/4 should be in Masters 1/2 because they would be top 5 there as well. I am right in saying that there has always been sandbagging in that masters 3/4 cat.

If a trend is spotted maybe the organizers will give a "nudge" to anyone consistently topping the field, but someone has to win even if we keep moving people up. The course conditions got slower as the day went on, so a direct comparison of lap times may not be entirely useful to compare. Also keep in mind that the big hitters eligible for Masters (even some 40+) actually choose to race Elite 1/2 for this series, so I doubt the top Masters 3/4 would finish top 5 if the better Masters age riders (even a couple of 40+) dropped down from Elite 1/2.

I was DFL in SS.

Somebody has to take the DFL bullet. Thanks for stepping into the line of fire!

If a trend is spotted maybe the organizers will give a "nudge" to anyone consistently topping the field, but someone has to win even if we keep moving people up. The course conditions got slower as the day went on, so a direct comparison of lap times may not be entirely useful to compare. Also keep in mind that the big hitters eligible for Masters (even some 40+) actually choose to race Elite 1/2 for this series, so I doubt the top Masters 3/4 would finish top 5 if the better Masters age riders (even a couple of 40+) dropped down from Elite 1/2.

I would guess that people who ride 3/4 on the road and have some tech skill might be doing well on the cross course, and are reluctant to upgrade because they aren't actually winning races on the road and it feels good to battle at the top. Of course Vanier is not a very good example of a technical course – it's much more Belgian flat track than most of the others on the circuit.

Of course Vanier is not a very good example of a technical course – it's much more Belgian flat track than most of the others on the circuit.

Variety is the spice of life when it comes to courses. Hopefully people enjoy having different options, and the challenge of trying to race some courses that don't necessarily favour their strengths (that can fall to either the technical or fitness side).

I agree - the variety of courses on the cross circuit is awesome and a good thing. Vanier is among – or may actually be – my least favourite, though.

I agree - the variety of courses on the cross circuit is awesome and a good thing. Vanier is among – or may actually be – my least favourite, though.

Ya, Vanier is pretty far to one end of the spectrum. I can definitely see riders who lean to the opposite side of preferences in course style wouldn't necessarily be so keen on the Vanier track, even though from a competitive perspective in the end the best 'cross riders usually seem to find their way to the top regardless of the layout.

I know what you are saying about the riders coming more from a road background having a better chance at Vanier (in the dry at least), which is why it's more important to look at trends across a few races/courses before tagging someone as needing to move up a cat.

What Vanier does have going for it is a very "accessible" feel - and location - to pull in new entrants to 'cross racing, so that hopefully those new riders will follow the carrot, spilling over to one or more of the other events and get hooked as regulars in the series. Same goes the other way too, where the other more technical courses draw more new blood from the MTB crowd perhaps, to become series regulars.

Next stop for the SuperPrestige series Oct. 19th (Cross(Port)quitlam) / Oct. 20th (Atomic CX in Mahon Park/North Van) double header for the Lower Mainland, but lots of other stuff going on all around the province in between also for CX Island, Interior, etc. Bring a friend. Or six.

http://cyclingbc.net/cyclo-cross/race-calendar/

i think you have your dates and locations mixed up
poco is on the 19th, mahon is on the 20th

i think you have your dates and locations mixed up
poco is on the 19th, mahon is on the 20th

I thought if I sent enough people to the wrong venue on each day then we could have both Saturday and Sunday racing at both venues. OK, not really. Duh… fixed.

Thanks

Variety is the spice of life when it comes to courses. Hopefully people enjoy having different options, and the challenge of trying to race some courses that don't necessarily favour their strengths (that can fall to either the technical or fitness side).

It favours 42:18 gearing and that suits me just fine.

I was DFL in SS.

Nice looking wheels BTW what was your magic gear?

For Vanier we now have a full race report posted, plus an excellent photo gallery from Alison Sydor (4 pages, 250+ photos featuring just about every racer), and links to some wild interactive race animations and analysis tools to supplement the primary results PDF. Note that the interactive junk is 2 minutes short for the first lap time for everyone in the 3rd start (reference times in PDF are correct though) Sorry for minor glitch, but should still be kind of fun to look at for any tech heads.

http://www.westcoastcycling.ca/index.php?option=com_content[HTML_REMOVED]view=article[HTML_REMOVED]id=95:vanier-park-cyclocross-2013-results[HTML_REMOVED]catid=1:latest

nice pics alison . . . especially like the flying re-mounts .

Was that teh Alison Sydor? She was a XC ripper back in the day.

Was that teh Alison Sydor? She was a XC ripper back in the day.

Up until a couple of years ago Alison was still racing some local 'cross events including Vanier, and moving up through and past the men's field in her start like it was soft butter.

Times have changed a bit, but on paper she still probably has the lengthiest palmares of major results of any Canadian cyclist ever, in any discipline of cycling.