Derrick St. John ready to give it his all at Canadian cyclocross championships

After a difficult year, standing on the start line in Winnipeg will already be a victory for Ottawa local Derrick St. John. From there, his ambitions are personal. “I go with the aspiration of having my best day of the year,” the 37-year-old born in Cornwall says. On his best days, St. John is formidable. A professional on the road with the Silber squad, he’s racked up an impressive tally of ‘cross results in the past few years, with podium finishes in some of the top UCI races in North America, as well as World Cup and world championship experiences in Europe. He’s finished on the podium three times at ‘cross nationals. He took third in 2008, came second in 2009, and finished third in 2012.

This year has been a struggle, however. St.John was involved in a vicious crash this spring at the Tour of the Gila that left him with a badly broken arm and a race season that seemed in jeopardy. He was back in time for road nationals, where he proved his resilience with an 18th-place finish. Then, disaster struck again at the Tour of Alberta. St.John had to quit the race during Stage 1 when he was hit with a heart irregularity that sent him to the emergency ward. “I thought I was going to have more days as an in-patient in the hospital this year than race days, that’s not a good ratio,” he jokes. Still, he is not discouraged. “Everyone has their excuses and alibis. What I have realized is that you just can’t let that squash your dreams,” he says. “I’ve learned a lot this year, especially from Gord Fraser, my DS on Silber Pro, and Scott McFarlane, our owner and team manager. From Scott, I’ve learned that you have to roll with the punches. Half your team goes down in a crash, what do you do? You get more riders. You make things happen. From Gord, I’ve learned to look at every situation as an opportunity,” he explains. “If sponsors pull out, or deals go sour, find one that will support you and cherish those relationships. If you get sick or injured, realize that eventually you’ll be back,” St. John urges.

Derrick St. John is back. What does he hope to achieve? “I really take a lot of happiness in just executing a good hard race. If I can get to that place in my mind where the harder I go it just doesn’t hurt, but feels good, I’ll be happy,” he says. If he gets close to there, he’ll be at the front of the race.