Ronde van Hogwarts brings the 2015 edition of Cross on the Rock to a rough-and-tumble conclusion

Yet another installation of Cross on the Rock officially came to a close Sunday afternoon in Shawnigan Lake, B.C., when Ronde van Hogwarts — the culminating race of the Vancouver-based cyclocross series — rolled to a finish.

The competition brought Vancouver Island’s cyclocross season to its apex, too, and 2015 has once again raised the bar for B.C. ‘cross athletes.

With eight classifications in all rolling out throughout the day at , it was competition loaded with highlights. Beginner, intermediate, masters and expert fields encompassed a range of ‘cross prowess on Vancouver Island — a place that bred the likes of Canadian riders like Geoff Kabush, something that speaks volumes about the quality of both talent and competition on the B.C. west coast.

The expert women’s class was one of those highlights, a four-lap competition that saw 46-year-old Carey Mark, riding for Steed Cycles and hailing from Nanaimo, B.C., emerge victorious from that field with a time of 45:14. Eight seconds behind, Janna Gillick — also from Nanaimo, riding for Cowichan Cartel — finished with a time of 45:22. Though eight seconds apart, the first and second place finishers in the competition rolled through the terrain almost as a unit compared with the rest. In third, a full minute anda half behind Mark’s winning time, Oak Vay Bikes/Victoria Wheelers’ Tanya Larkin clocked a time of 46:43 — 1:29 behind the lead.

In the expert men’s competition, meanwhile, the winner rode to victory in command of a much larger gap.

.@CrossontheRock ready to roll down Island with gear for this weekend’s #cyclocross race at @Shawnigan pic.twitter.com/C8S6JeCuKa

— Oak Bay Bicycles (@oakbaybikes) November 12, 2015

Riding for Naked Factory Racing presented by Broad Street Cycles, and also from Victoria, Parker Bloom posted a winning time on the Ronde van Hogwarts course of 58:42, cruising to the finish with a 33 second lead on the second place finisher — and fellow Victorian — Drew Mackenzie. Riding in Shimano/Pearl Izumi/Marin colours, Mackenzie clocked 59:15, five seconds ahead of Raphael Lalumiere of Russ Hays Racing.

The excitement of Ronde van Hogwarts put a cap on the 10th annual Cross on the Rock series, whose first installation was somewhat more underground and grassroots, back when the first race kicked off at Beban Park. In those early days of what would become Cross on the Rock, 10 riders in all competed, with the event described as preparatory for organizer Wendy Simms’ competition at the world championships in France. Over the years, the rising profile of the Vancouver Island ‘cross racing reflected the growing appeal of cyclocross itself in Canada. In 2007, the series swelled to include five races. Four years later, in 2011, race attendance reached 190 for the first time in the event’s history.

With 2015 bringing another successful year of Vancouver Island ‘cross racing to a conclusion, there’s no telling what future years will look like at this rate — but by all indications of its success, cyclocross fans haven’t seen anything yet.

A full list of results from the 2015 Ronde van Hogwarts — as well as other competitions at Cross on the Rock — can be viewed here.