Remembering Lindsay Burgess

When Lindsay Burgess died during a local race last weekend, her shocking death left a massive hole in the Victoria and greater B.C. cycling community.

A consistent presence on the Island race circuit with her partner Chad Grice, across gravel, road, cyclocross and mountain biking, nearly everyone who raced a bike on the island had met, or raced alongside Burgess a some point over the last decade. With her easy humour and dedication to the sport, Burgess had a way of quickly connecting with her fellow riders. That connection often started with a joke on the start line and grew from there.

Racing fast, and fast friends

“When I think of Lindsay, I remember the energy she brought to every event, her toughness and determination, and that she always showed up,” says Kimberly Chen, a Victoria track, road and cross racer. “Lindsay’s presence always brought me a sense of comfort in the racing environment, and I will miss it greatly.”

While showing up, weekend after weekend, season after season, made them a reliable presence on the race circuit, it was their deep commitment to the Victoria and island community that will be remembered by so many.

“I first met Chad and Lindsay at Cross on the Rock and they have been so kind and welcoming since my earliest racing days. Last year, after the Barbie movie came out, I got a pink cyclocross bike and called it my CX Barbie bike. This year, Chad and Lindsay attended a cyclocross clinic, that I was hosting, and remembered what I called my bike and brought me cyclocross Barbie stickers that they had made to put on my bike. They are the kind of people that remember the little things and find joy in making others happy,” recalls Holly Henry, a Victoria racer turned coach. “I am so deeply saddened about the loss of Lindsay. Lindsay was a light both literally and figuratively in our local racing scene. She supported all the local races and was an enthusiastic, determined racer, who also always had the most fun, bright cycling kits! The cycling community won’t be the same without Lindsay but we will always remember the impact she had.”

Everyone I talked to has their own Lindsay story. I first met her and Chad nearly a decade ago when their riding started to venture more off road pursuits. They were signed up for an into to cyclocross course I was assisting with. Chad was confident and enthusiastic, as he still is. Lindsay was no less enthusiastic, but a little more focused, more determined. That combination, plus a healthy dose of humour, would eventually carry Lindsay to several masters provincial titles and an indoor national title.

As a competitor, Lindsay Burgess’ enthusiasm was seemingly boundless. Every weekend there was a race, you could count on seeing her and Chad. Between start lines, they were smiling faces at numerous group rides throughout Victoria.

“Lindsay and Chad were fixtures in the cycling/racing community, attending almost every event. One of my favourite parts of race time is knowing that I’d see them almost every weekend,” says Patrick Burnham, who runs timing for many of the island race series. “She was an amazing person who was always happy to be out on her bike giving it her all regardless of weather or course conditions. She will be sorely missed on the start line.”

A community comes together in Cowichan

With cyclocross season in full swing, the first start line after Lindsay’s passing arrived quickly. At Sunday’s Cross on the Rock round in Cowichan, just one week after her death, the community gathered around Burgess’ bike, placed in the pits surrounded by sunflowers. Many wore small flowers in her honour and a memorial lap was held between the masters and open races.

“It was truly and deeply touching how everyone came together at Cowe X for the Celebration of Racer.  We have zero experience organizing that sort of a tribute but I can honestly say it was an amazing afternoon of spirit and love for Chad and Lindsay’s family,” says Norm Thibault, lead organizer of the series.

To Thibault, Burgess will be remembered for her and Grice’s dedication to the sport. He recalls the pair regularly being the first to register, first to show up at the venue (often the night before), some of the first on course to practice and often the last to leave. Burgess showed up at her first CORT event to race beginner in 2017. Over three seasons shoe moved steadily up through the categories to race open.

“In our 18 seasons we have never had a racer that used to race beginners move to open as a masters athlete and be leading the series after the half way race.  It has never happened before,” recalls Thibault. “Lindsay embodied the spirit of cyclocross in that she practiced and practiced to improve.  She was not agro on the course but she wanted to RACE.  She did not record any DNF’s in her 44 races even when things went wrong or she was lapped.”

Dedication and persistence

Burgess and Grice continued to their adventures from road and ‘cross to include gravel and, more recently, cross country mountain biking. The pair’s ubiquitous presence across cycling’s disciplines means Lindsay connected with a broad cross section of the Victoria and Vancouver Island community and beyond. It is also part of why her loss has hit the community so hard.

Island Cup organizer Scott Mitchell recalls both racing with them at COTR and their entry into the world of XC racing.

“I remember Lindsay and Chad started getting pretty serious about Mountain Bike racing in 2023. I probably joked with them about the dangers of putting a couple roadies on mountain bikes and, unfortunately, Lindsay had a fall in Hammerfest ending her Island Cup series a bit short that year. True to form she showed up in 2024 with more dedication than any other female racer as she was the only woman to race all eight Island Cup Cross Country events,” says Mitchell.

That dedication earned Burgess the expert women’s overall title this year. Adam Walker coached Burgess and continues to work with Grice. Walker says that, while Burgess’ results might make it look easy, they were the result of tireless and focused effort.

“Lindsay was her own toughest critic but, slowly, learned to find the positives each day in her racing and training. She was now stranger to hard work. She was dilligent. She was driving. She was tenacious,” says Walker. “This year, Lindsay made massive improvements on her technical skills. She conquered her fears of many trail features and clearly found the joy in that.”

That led to success in XC, as mentioned. But Mitchell says her presence at races will be remembered for more than results.

“As a race organizer all you really want is for people to show up and have fun. The best part of our grassroots cycling events is showing up to see all the passionate riders,” Mitchell shared. “Seeing Lindsay just added to the experience for many in our community. She will be missed by many. Hopefully her dedication to cycling will inspire more people to get out and enjoy riding and racing.”

Lindsay’s legacy

Putting on events from road to XC and, for the last two years, cyclocross national championships, Jon Watkin saw Burgess at start lines all season.

“As an organizer, Lindsay was the example, the poster person of someone who loves the sport, participated and tries everything. She wanted to try everything. Seeing Lindsay at all these events was impressive. There’s not a lot of people that show that level of passion for the sport. Her and Chad, they fed off each other. They had a wonderful relationship in that regard,” says Watkin. Like Mitchell, Watkin wants to Lindsay’s legacy to be a positive one. “I hope people see and are inspired by Lindsay’s story. I think cycling is still a safe sport.”

This isn’t the story I expected to be writing about Lindsay. This isn’t the story anyone expects to be writing about someone they know, someone that is such a force in their community. We all know that cycling does carry risks and that, in what feels like increasing numbers, communities and families are losing loved ones while riding bikes. We all read about these tragedies, but they’re always somewhere else. You never expect it to happen in your community. And never to someone so deeply involved in the local scene.

But this also isn’t the whole story of Lindsay. She also sailed and somehow held down a full-time job between her cycling adventures. Everyone I talked to had their own story about Lindsay, and their own connection to her. I hope, as others have said, that everything that she did before that weekend will inspire others to go out and pursue their passions with the same enthusiasm, determination and humour that she did, every weekend for so many years.

I earnestly appreciate everyone who took the time to speak about her, and recognize that there are many more who will miss her and have their own stories to share. An extra special thank you goes out to Patrick Burnham, who shared photos of Lindsay Burgess for this story.