December 5, 2003 – There comes a time every year where people must be at their best and come to shine. This year that opportunity came at the 2003 National Cyclocross Championships, which were held at Gericho Park on the Bernard Inlet in Vancouver, British Columbia. With a field of 84 competitors this year's nationals marked one of the higher turnouts in recent years. BC naturally had the most competitors, but there was a strong showing from the Ontario contingent as well, with five competitors taking part, all of which had a strong performance this year.

Peter Morse led the Ontario contingent as he so often does, but there were other serious competitors too that went this year such as; Eric Batty, Carolyne Hail, Rob Cheskey and the young Tyler Holtzman. Although the course was frosty in the morning, as the day wore on the track began to loosen up making for some ideal racing conditions. Perhaps if there were any problems in this year's nationals it would be that the competitors did not find the course challenging. This is in no way meant to bad mouth or discourage the work of the organizers, it's just to say that as cyclo-cross has grown in Ontario, so have the courses and the level of challenge.

Ontario's contingent used the course as a springboard and a number of the competitors had a great day. Tyler Holtzman, in only his first nationals managed to finish second in a strong field of junior men. Along with his effort Carolyne Hail won second in the master women with Eric Batty placing second in the men's Espoir race as well. Peter Morse had a strong race in the men's elite, although he was in a race of very tough competition along with a number of guys who knew the terrain well and managed a fifth place finish.Rob Cheskey had a solid day, but has experienced some knee problems this year, which, has led to a season that wasn't as ideal as he would have liked, but a strong season and showing nonetheless.

Over the last couple of years Cyclo-Cross has grown, steadily increasing back to its glory years of rider participation. Here are some thoughts from most of the competitors on what got them into cyclo-cross.

For Holtzman cyclo-cross was an opportunity to continue cycling through the autumn as well and to further help him with his strength and conditioning that he had to do in the mountain biking field. He has been racing cyclo-cross for over a year now and quite enjoys it.

For Eric Batty cyclocross was an opportunity as well to continue the sport he loves and he credits a couple friends with getting him interested in it. Batty has been involved with it for the last number of years and has scored some pretty impressive finishes winning third at the Nationals in Edmonton.

For Rob Cheskey, who has been in this sport for a long time now, it was a friend of his who introduced him back in 1989.  Today he primarily competes in cyclo-cross although he still does have some involvement in road, which was his field prior to cyclo-cross. Cheskey has competed in both the two previous nationals placing fourth last year and second two years ago.

Lastly, and the only women who went to nationals Carolyne Hail, the former duathlete saw cyclo-cross a couple years ago, tried it and has been hooked ever since. She enjoys it and feels that it is a great way to stay fit while doing something you love.

Overall Ontario had a strong representation of competitors in Vancouver, although ultimately the desire of each person is to finish first, all enjoyed the experience, the organizers were great and the course was solid. Cyclo-Cross is beginning to show signs of peaking and with people like this and performances like this, you can see why, the excitement and challenge of this discipline is simply too hard to contain.