October 2, 2009 – We are just finishing up Dik Cox day here in Nanaimo (Check out the KONA Cog on konaworld.com for the full story in the next day or so)…..and I know I have to get this update out…..so I gave up the festivities at Spitsville Bowling alley to get this update out! Can you feel the excitement for this weekend? Have you been practicing your sand???

The RACE GUIDE for the Kona Kup at Bowen Park presented by Oak Bay Bikes will be on our web site in the next 12 hours….download it for all the information that you need to know about the race.

Just a heads up that we are a “test event” for Bowen park….so we want to try to leave it in great shape and can use all the help we can on Sunday for both clean up and FIX up…..so please bring your rake (grass, leaf or leveler) and help us re-dial in the park after our event so we can use it again.

PSSST: Don’t forget your license!

Oak Bay Bikes Nanaimo PRESENT: The Kona Kup at Bowen Park
Oak Bay bikes in Nanaimo is CLOSING their store on Sunday so that they can concentrate all their efforts on presenting a great course in a new venue. Corey Piket from Oak Bay bikes has been doing lap after lap after lap getting the exact location of every flagging pole to optimize the course…..it is going to be great! All the details will be posted in the race guide….so check it out!

Oak Bay bikes would also like to challenge any other shop in the UNIVERSE to have more shop employees racing this Sunday than they do. Try to beat them!

$$$ for Nationals
We have $200 each for the top Expert Man and the Top open women that can show us that they are going to nationals. Action Motorcylces wants to help out with your travel expenses as part of their sponsorship of the series. Lets see some good fights for the cash!

Girls. Girls. Girls!
We NEED more girls out there racing!! We REALLY want to try to get an intermediate women’s category in the future…but if we only have 11 girls racing in total it is hard to justify. So drag, pull or push a girl out to race. Beginner or open! Come on girls!! Come on!!

Change in the Series Points Structure
I have changed the points structure for the series this year…..I KNOW it was not published for the first event….BUT I think it will be better. Check it out in the race guide. I hope everyone likes it better.

Wendy Simms (Factory Team KONA Rider…on pregnancy hiatus) Training Tips

This week I am going to give you some tips to help you find seconds that I call “free shave time” – time shaved off your laps at no physical cost.  No extra intervals, no extra ride time, no extra stairs. Easy peezy lemon squeezy. You just have to focus on a few key things during the race that will shave seconds here and there. It doesn’t sound very helpful but lets do the math: if you can shave 1 second off every corner and there are 20-30 corners every lap and you race 6 laps that can take up to 3 minutes off your race. Did I mention no extra intervals?

1 – Back off the brakes! There is a reason disc brakes didn’t take off in cross….its because they slow you down too much! Practice going through corners with no braking. Try to carry your speed through the corner. In other words, scrub your speed before you get to it, maintain a comfortable speed through the corner, look through the corner and beyond, then stand up and power OUT of the corner. Punch it every. single. time. Don’t get lazy.

2 – Draft, it really does make a difference. If there is someone in front of you, stay as close to their wheel as possible. If they are just out of reach, make a HUGE effort to get top that wheel because it will be worth it in the long run. With all the powering you will be doing out of corners, take the rest when you can get it. When you decide to pass (and drop) that person you are drafting off, make sure you can do it decisively.

3 – Choose your lines wisely. Downhillers are always looking for seconds. They walk the course and examine every potential line before they even pull out their bike. Cross racers don’t usually have this luxury so make sure you pay attention when you pre-ride the course. Look for the fastest lines into and out of the corners. The smoothest lines aren’t always the fastest. Don’t be afraid to test out a few lines in a difficult section of the course. Get a buddy to ride side by side through a section to see what is quicker.

4 – Know when to dismount. Be smart about when you dismount. Is it faster to ride or run? Let me make that more clear – is it faster for YOU to ride or run ? (not the expert you just saw power through the sand or bunny hop over a barrier). Make sure you dismount BEFORE you have scrubbed all your speed. If you carry your speed INTO an obstacle (stairs, hill, sand pit) you will be able to move through/over/up that obstacle and carry that speed OUT of that obstacle. If you misjudge your dismount you could end up in a dead stop, losing a lot of time as you pick yourself up out of the sand.

Single Speed Champs
Oh it is going to be FUN……!!!! My ultimate would be to see Mr. Single Speed; Jeremy Grasby vs. the Golden Speedo…..Drew for VICTORY! Step up Jeremy!!

If you are racing the Double Header in Victoria
And are thinking about staying at our host hotel the Howard Johnston I have heard from Dan Brady the Hotel General Manager that the hotel is quite busy for that weekend….so book early!! They are giving our cross racers a GREAT deal of $79/night so take advantage of it if you need a place to stay.

The email for the Victoria hotel is suites@hojovictoria.ca website is here.

The “Gentle” Nudge
We don’t want this to progress to Phase II so do the right thing!

Repeat News Item: Series Schedule
HISTORY: September 13th. Series Race #1 FSA Cup at Beban Park

THIS WEEKEND: October 4th. Series Race #2. Kona Kup at Bowen Park Nanaimo. I know it kind of sounds like “Beban” but it is NOT. Bowen is where we usually practice for cross. Lots of awesome features including SAND, pavement, gravel….hills, grass….Oak Bay Bikes in Nanaimo is designing the course and will be out in force to make sure it is dialed and wicked!

October 18th. Series Race #3. Providence Farm in Duncan. Last year this course had “le petite massive” which made for a different turn out at the front in some of the categories. Experience Cycling Club will be organizing this event and we hope to use even more of the terrain that is available.

October 31st. Nutcase Intercontinental Single Speed Championships of the Universe! At Fletchers Farm. Not a series event and NOT one to be missed. This will be quite a bit different from some of our other races….full details to follow…..but needless to say we will have some different course options set up than past Fletcher’s Farm Races. One GEAR only……will be the most fun at a cross race this year.

November 7th and 8th. Series Races #4 and #5 will be in Victoria. #4 at a new venue at Slugget Farms in Central Saanich and #5 possibly at JDF and possibly a new location. IF it is at JDF it will be a slightly different course than last year as the BMX track is gone…..so stay tuned on this one.

November 22nd. Series Race #6 and Series FINAL. Ian Craib has organized a new venue and thus a new course at beautiful Hogwarts Castle. OK it is not Hogwarts but it is Shawnigan Lake school which should be awesome!

We have renamed this Section to; Dave Shishkoff Section

Victoria Clinics Continue, Facebook & CX Madisons?!!

The Learn to Race clinics continue in Victoria, this week we’re fortunate to have MTB legend Jon Taylor as our guest instructor! Hardly anyone in BC — nay, Canada — can match his bike handling skill, and he’ll be sharing his wealth of knowledge in this area. Meet at OBB Saturday morning at 9am, and join us to practice or perfect your cyclocross skills. This and other local details here.

Are you on Facebook? Join the Island ‘Cross group. Get updates, use it to discuss ‘cross, post items you’ve got to sell, arrange carpools to races, etc <http://www.hojovictoria.ca>here.

Finally, Dave is looking into organizing some Madison-style cyclocross races in Victoria (Madison’s are a track team race with those crazy handslings where the teammate gets slung back into the race while the other rests/recovers). It can be done on the dirt too! Email Dave if you’d be interested in finding out more about these, including instruction, all are welcome and encouraged: VeganTrackie@gmail.com

Perpetual Item: Licensing requirements for the Cross on the Rock Series for 2009

THERE IS ONE THING THAT YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER FOR ALL OF OUR EVENTS and that is YOUR CYCLING BC LICENSE! I am YELLING THIS ONE. PUT IT WITH YOUR BIKE. PUT IT IN YOUR WALLET. PUT IT IN YOUR CAR….WHERE EVER YOU WILL NOT FORGET IT. IF you forget your license….NOTHING can save you……so don’t ever argue with our registration person. IF YOU FORGET YOUR LICENSE you WILL be paying an extra $10 to race. I don’t care if I have known you for 15 years…..it does not matter….to race you have to have your license OR you have to have $10. NO EXCEPTIONS. NONE! (OUR Registration GIRL is ruthless on this!)

FULL UCI LICENSES HAVE BEEN DISCOUNTED FOR THE FALL ON THE CYCLING BC WEB SITE. You will need one of these IF you are racing off the Island. IF you are only racing on the island you need a regional road license to rip it up.

Unfortunately the licensing options are not the clearest part of our new agreement and sanctioning with Cycling BC. We will be working with Cycling BC to make this more simple in 2010 but because of the structure of their organization everything has to pass through the AGM to be changed….and the AGM is in the fall so we are stuck with this for 2009……but the good news is that we can work with it and see how it goes.

So to try to clarify the requirements:

Everyone is welcome at our events!
Our series will have an option for those that do not have any Cycling BC affiliation or license as we did in 2008. This will be available for a higher price than the regular price of the race. In 2009 it was $5 as the events were subsidizing those that did not have a GRMBA license. This year it will be $10. SO those without ANY LICENSE can race cross our events in 2009

You can do our events without paying any extra:

– If you have purchased a full UCI race license for 2009 for EITHER Road OR Road with MTB
– If you have purchased a Cycling BC citizen license for 2009 for ROAD
– If you have purchased a Cycling BC citizen license for 2009 for MTB you have to pay $9 to upgrade your license add road/cyclocross…do it NOW!

For a description of Cycling BC licensing options click here. The Citizen License allows you to race any event in the Provincial calendar for Road, MTB and Cross. A Citizen License does NOT allow you to race at the National Championships or outside of B.C.

I hope that is kind of clear? If not fire questions to me – normont@islandnet.com – and I will try to get them sorted.