Trek Red Truck’s Michael van dem Ham on the 2014 Canadian cyclocross championships

In September at Interbike, Trek Red Truck rider Michael van den Ham, spoke with Canadian Cycling Magazine about the 2014 Shimano Canadian cyclocross championships, which will be held in Winnipeg. The Brandon, Man., native is looking forward to racing on home turf in front of family and friends. He’s also glad that the event is being held in Winnipeg’s downtown at The Forks, a space that locals frequent on weekends. He feels the prime location will be good for the event.

“Cyclocross is a difficult sport to explain. You can say, ‘Oh yeah, I go run around in a circle on a 3-km loop, and I get off my bike sometimes, and sometimes it muddy and sometimes it snowy.’ It doesn’t really make sense to anybody. But once you see the sport, once you see a race in progress, I think that is when you get people hooked on ‘cross.” van den Ham said.

The recently crowned Alberta cyclocross champion says CX in Manitoba has developed quite a bit since he left to attend university five years ago. “Manitoba has really taken a hold of cyclocross,” he says. “I think it fits the Winnipeg and Manitoba mentality: hardworking but wanting to get out and have a bunch of fun with friends, maybe drink a few beers. Manitobans take sport seriously, but not so seriously that you can’t have a great time,” van den Ham says.