Video: On board at the Tugboat Cross, part of Cross on the Rock currently underway on Vancouver Island

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEc8HL1F2LDoHwGbjGZJQmg

British Columbia is home to some of the best terrain for cyclocross riding in the country. It’s not, of course, surprising. B.C. is a province of many different environments, all sharing the same geography. The difference of a day’s drive can take a person from the wet, coastal rainforest of Vancouver Island to the deserts of the Southern Interior. Just outside Vancouver, a veritable wilderness awaits.

For cyclists — especially those whose idea of a great bike ride involves crossing a variety of wildly different terrains — the result of this natural mish-mash can be heavenly.

As a consequence of this vibrant natural diversity, cylocross, as it does in other Canadian regions for their own unique reasons, thrives on the west coast. As a testament to that, Vancouver Island’s Cross on the Rock is currently underway, a cyclocross series that includes communities from Cumberland to Shawnigan Lake to Victoria, B.C. In these parts of the province, you’re as likely to find yourself speeding through dusty, dirty terrain, getting everything south of your helmet smeared and grimy, as rolling through grassy seaside fields. One of those races rolls out on Monday, October 12, in fact, when the Pro City Racing GP kicks off in Victoria.

Whether you’re a resident of the west coast, eager to see what the scene’s all about, or from another, farther-flung part of the country with a keenness to experience west coast cyclocross, this video won’t disappoint. Uploaded to YouTube by the account of Russ Hays Racing, this on-board video gives a tatse of what Cross on the Rock is all about, with a handlebar-level look at the series’ Tugboat Cross race, which hit the soil of Ladysmith, B.C. at the end of September.

The series wraps up with the Ronde Van Hogwarts in Shawnigan Lake, B.C., happening on November 15.