Cyclo-cross nationals at Bear Mountain cancelled
Recent health orders force organizers to call off Jan. 8-9 event
First it was floods, now the Omicron variant.
The recent lockdowns have affected a Canadian championship cycling event scheduled for Bear Mountain. The national cyclo-cross championships set for Jan. 8-9 have been cancelled. The 2021 championships were originally scheduled for Nov. 27-28 on Bear Mountain but were postponed at that time due to the state of emergency declared due to the flooding and road washouts in B.C.
Cyclo-cross is one of the fastest-growing categories of cycling and features participants navigating courses that incorporate paved roads, trails through woods and grassy areas, steep hills and inclines, muddy areas and other obstacles which require riders to dismount and carry their bikes for stretches.
The cyclo-cross cancellation comes after a series of encouraging announcements regarding outdoor sports for 2022, including that the Times Colonist 10K on April 24 and six-event Frontrunners Vancouver Island Race Series of running Jan. 9 to April 10 were going live following the pandemic-darkened 2020 and 2021 events.
“We are not [postponed] at this time but we are waiting on ViaSport to clarify some of the wording,” said Louise HodgsonJones, general manager of the Vancouver Island Runners’ Association, which administers the Island Race Series.
“Business as usual at the moment.”
The Royal Victoria Marathon in October was limited to the half-marathon and 8K but was live, which was a breakthrough for the return of sports on the Island.
Cycling, however, hasn’t been as fortunate with their events. Also cancelled with the cyclo-cross nationals were the Canadian track cycling championships scheduled from Jan. 7-9 at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, Ont.
Canada is emerging in track cycling with Kelsey Mitchell winning women’s sprint gold and Lauriane Genest bronze in the Keirin at the Tokyo Olympics with the Canadian women’s pursuit team fourth and Jay Lamoureux of Victoria fifth in Tokyo with the Canadian men’s pursuit team.
“As a result of continuously evolving public health guidelines, Cycling Canada, in collaboration with the Wheelhouse Cycling Society, Ecoasis Developments LLP, Cycling B.C., the City of Langford and the Town of Milton, has made the difficult decision to cancel both the 2021 Canadian cyclo-cross championships and the 2021 Canadian track championships,” Cycling Canada said, in a statement.