Yes, the Lower Mainland Cyclocross Series (LMCX) has been run and done for another year. Another successful series that provided some great racing in some interesting racing conditions. In the end, it all worked out better than anticipated.
How successful were we? There were 1,095 race entries across 17 categories. Not bad and it can, and should, only get better.
A BIG shout-out to the race organizers, without whom none of this would exist.
- The Bike Zone JunkYard Cross at South Surrey Bike Park (SORCE Bike Club)
- Pumpkin Cross Local Ride Racing (Barry Lyster)
- Vanier Park CX, West Coast Cycling (Sven Sturm, whom everyone seems to know)
And not to be missed …. 3 more events plus the BC Provincial CX Championships by our newest organizing group, Thrashers Bike Club, with help from DEVO.
The amount of time, effort and actual physical work “in the field” to put on an individual race is generally under-appreciated. Yes, an understatement. If you think one race is a burden, how about three? Thrashers Bike Club’s, Drew Nelson, deserves a special mention for taking on the task of three LMCX events and …. drum roll … BC Provincial Championships in Chilliwack, at a new course location. Awesome job! We all owe Drew and friends a beer.
There were a couple of changes implemented for 2023, a 55+ Masters class and a discounted second race entry fee.
In the Men’s Masters class, we added a 55+ category—this was to align with the success that the Cross on the Rock series has had and to provide better racing for those who have matured beyond their 40s. The 55+ class also reduced the overall numbers in the B-Masters category. A group that was becoming too large to handle at some events. Besides, it always feels better to finish 15th rather than 50th. Success can come in different forms. Checking the race times for the 55+ and for the B-Masters group for a couple of events showed that the winning race times for the two classes were close. In some cases, the 55+ were faster. Just helps to justify the tag of “Super Masters”. Typically we had around 15 to 20 in the 55+ group.
The second change was to add a second race entry at a discounted price, usually $10.00. For racers that have an itch for more racing, this is an easy way to double up.
We had single-speed racers running in other classes, novices who took a crack at racing Masters and some Elites who rocked it in the single-speed group as well as Elite. The main beneficiary so far has been added participation in the single-speed class. I must apologize to those Intermediate racers who wanted to do single-speed as well as Intermediate, but we had to slot those two classes together in the same start. Only so much room in the daily schedule.
A BIG Thanks to all who came out to help with the races and to participate. We had six LMCX events this year, now is the time to think about what can be done to expand and make the LMCX series even better. You have around 37 weeks to think about training, no need to rush is there.? See you in September.
The tables of the results for the series are available here and on the WCC site.
LMCX 2023 Series – Final Standings:
LMCX 2023 Summary Stats:
Article submitted by Ian Parker