Cowichan Crusher 2023 presented by Schwalbe
The weather was kind to us for the 2023 Cowichan Crusher. The event crew arrived early in the morning, in time to see the sun peek over the horizon, casting a warm glow on the picturesque Cowichan Valley. Soon, excitement filled the air as cyclists gathered at the starting area, their bikes gleaming under the morning light. Soon after, the riders were off on their way along this year’s route which presented a rollercoaster of challenges.
Gravel paths stretched endlessly, demanding concentration and resilience. Steep pitches required riders to summon their inner grit and push through the leg sting. All burning legs, heavy breathing, and salty sweat were rewarded by picturesque views of the Cowichan area. After what seemed like only minutes, the riders began to roll across the finish line with varying expressions of pride, happiness, and relief spread across their faces. Some riders were covered in mud, some in sweat and some, miraculously, looked good as new.
New Courses and New Course Records
New Full Fondo 102 KM loop with almost 81% of pure gravel roads goodness. We were super excited to share this new course which was essentially a great big loop. Both the men’s and women’s events did some amazingly fast times. The Men’s race was a very close races with the top 2 finishing in just under 3 hours and the top 3 within 3 minutes of each other. The Women’s event was also very close with just over a minute between the top 2 and only several minutes for all 3 podium places.
The new Medio Course has a new gravel road loop added to make it a bit more interesting and challenging. The actual distance is approximately 56 km. Times were a bit slower than in previous years due to added distance and climbing but everyone loved the new course and the men’s and women’s races were quite closer together finishing just minutes apart.
Piccolo/beginner Fondo was also great with almost 30 participants trying out the 25km gravel route and having a blast! Post-event the participants relaxed and had warm food, cold drinks, and there were tons of draw prizes to be had.
Next up in The Triple Crown of Gravel is Kettle Mettle in the beautiful Okanagan of BC in mid-September.
Submitted by: Tri 1 Events
