MIVA CYCLO-CROSS CLINIC # 1
Beban Park, Nanaimo October 14th. 2011 go here for videos and photos
Mid Island Velo Association's first cyclo-cross clinic was agreat success. Nearly twenty people turned out to practise and develop their dismount and remount skills, both with and without barriers. Clinic conductor Peter McCaffery utilised the expertise of participants Tom Wojyk, John Ham and Shawn Boyd who demonstrated effective ways of getting on and off their bikes without losing speed.
The second part of the clinic focussed on descending cross camberslopes. Again, it was easy to see the rapid improvement made by some of the “students” A few of the more experienced riders also rode up theslope, demonsrating their bike handling skills.. Everyone commented on how much they learned and are looking forward to next week's cornering clinic.
The evening concluded with a thirty minute race using part of the course for Saturday's Island Cyclo-cross Championship. One of the features, the BMX course, was approached very gingerly by a number of the riders but, as confidence grew, some of them sped around the banked turns and over the whoop-de-doos like seasoned BMX'ers. There was only one crash whn Bryan Rehill, his weight too far forward, met the tarmac and cut his knee.
Shawn Boyd led the race from start to finish, with Kevin Higgin and John Lam hovering ten to fifteen seconds back until lap six, when Higgin closed in for a lap but at the line, Boyd had increased his lead to over twenty seconds. In the women's event, Vicki Boyd, who had just returned from competing in the Ironman triathlon, won comfortably, gaining almost a full lap on Rose Houle, Charlene Stewart having retired. The race proved to be the most popular part of the clinic and the three reaming workshops will also finish with a similar event.
Thanks to Dave Kenny and John Hannon for help with course set up and marshalling. Most of the participants also helped with course take down – much appreciated!