Masters battle for maple leaf jerseys at Canadian cyclocross championships

Before the elites lined up and before the ground thawed at Layritz Park, the masters men and women kicked off 2023 Canadian cyclocross national championships. Spread across several race starts, the age categories mixed fierce and fast racing with friendly competition and shared celebrations. Every finish line, no matter how hard fought, came with hugs and high fives.

The masters women were up first, facing a frosty course and several frozen corners as the sun worked its way up and over the trees of Layritz Park. While every category would face changing conditions on Saturday, the masters, and especially women, faced a tricky course.

Pepper Harlton was the day’s first national champion, winning the 35-44 master’s women’s race.

“I had really great race, it was really dynamic. Every lap the sun was touching a different part of the course, it was like a sunshine time bomb,” said Harlton. From Devon, Alberta, thenew champion was ready for the frosty course, and revelling in the changing conditions. “I was expecting it to be muddier but, given the time the start was, I wasn’t surprised to see frost on course. But it had a velcro feel, at first, it was great.”

In the 65+ women’s race, Patricia Konantz and Barb Morris were all smiles in the finish area after taking on the frozen early morning conditions.

“The cornering was very slick because the ground was still frozen,” Konantz said of her winning ride. “My back wheel skidded out a few times. I got caught in a rut once, but for the most part it was pretty fun. Very cautious though.”

“That’s how the race was won!” Morris chimed in.

“Yeah, it was won by staying upright and not breaking any bones,” Konantz added. “It was a very very fun course. It’s wonderful to be here in Victoria. I love the snow, but this is nice!”

While the two were the only entries in the category, they finished just 32 seconds apart after three laps of the frozen course.

“We need to do some recruiting for this category!” Konantz said with a laugh.

“I think just showing up is the main thing. I’m not a great cyclocrosser, but last year they finally added this category. If we don’t show up, they won’t want to hold it,” Morris chimed in. “There’s lots of men in this category, so why shouldn’t there be lots of women as well!”

The men were up next, with five entries. Colin Funk took that win ahead of 81-year-old Derek Steel and Victoria local Peter Wellsman.

At the same time, Lorenzo Caterini was locked in a four-lap boxing match with Cross on the Rock organizer Norm Thibault.

“It was one of the best battles I’ve had in a cross race yet! Norm’s a great rider, obviously, and knows the course. He’s strong,” Caterini said after the finish. “The course, one side was a skating rink, the other side had mud on the skating rink and the other side was soft and warm. It was three courses in one.”

With the technical and changing conditions, Caterini says the win was a mix of strategy and survival.

“I crashed twice and bridged back up to him. On a road section I did a big finishing sprint and opened up five, six seconds on him.”

As fierce as the competition is on course, Bob Welbourn says there’s something special about the masters racing.

“Racing the masters is so much fun. We’re all mates. We’ve all done this against one another enough times that it’s honestly that camraderie becomes more and more important. Obviously it’s nice to take the win and finish the season on a high note.”

That men’s 45-54 win came over the Pan American masters champion, Jean Francois Blais.

“We were all hoping to beat him, but I didn’t expect to be in that fight,” Welbourn said, adding equipment choice played into the win. “I had the right tires on. JF is the Pan American champ, right? But I had more traction.”

“What else can I say?” the modest champion demeured, possibly trying to get back to cleaining the muddy bike in front of him. Kelly Welbourn, organizing gear in the back of their van, was quick to jump in: “Why don’t you tell him how you cried at the finish line?”

“That surprised me, I’ll admit,” Bob Welborn said, expalining: “That’s the thing, at this point we’ve all been through a lot to get here. I didn’t expect it, but I caught a friend’s eyes and it started, with about half a lap to the finish.”

As the juniors and under-23s started lining up for their championship races, Welbourn added that he was happy to have the national championships close to his Vancouver home for a couple of years.

“It was amazing. We’d live on the island if we could, we come here so much. What an amazing coursre and venue, this was so much fun.”

Maters results: 2023-24 Canadian Cylocross National Championships (Layritz Park, Victoria)

Women – 35-44

1		Pepper Harlton – Devon Bicycle Association					38:53.04
2		Denise Mahon – Tripleshot CC					42:06.88
3		Lindsay Burgess					43:23.32

Women – 45-54

1		Cristin Schlossberger – Broad St. Breakaway					39:36.36
2		Shantel Koenig – PRW					40:08.67
3		Kelly Welbourn – Steed Cycles					41:18.55

Women 55-64

1		Gail O’Reilly					44:30.57
2		Rachel Dumont					45:32.47
3		Shannon Baerg – Element Race Team					49:47.40

Women 65+

1		Patricia Konantz – Ride With Rendall P/B Biemme					39:50.05
2		Barb Morris – Escape Velocity / Devo					40:22.55

Men 55-64

1		Lorenzo Caterini					38:02.72
2		Normon Thibault – Rock City Cycles-Frontrunners					38:20.50
3		Sean Cruickshank – Pro City Racing					38:26.53

Men 65+

1		Colin Funk – Atomic Racing		66			41:28.27
2		Derek Steel – Riverway Dental Racing		81			44:21.77
3		Peter Wellsman – Pro City Racing		66			46:03.28

Men 35-44

1	301	Raphael Lalumiere – Broad St. Breakaway					46:17.70
2	303	Craig Richey – Easton Overland					46:19.84
3	306	Andrew Davidson – Manteo Cycling					46:43.08

Men 45-54

1		Bob Welbourn					47:08.72
2		Jean Francois Blais – Siboire GFT					47:33.20
3		Brian Green					47:41.86

Full category results are on Webscorer.com