The State of Australian CX Part 7: Western Australia
This is part 7 of our extended series on the state of Australian Cyclocross. You can read the others here:
Part 1: CX National Series
Part 2: Tasmania
Part 3: Victoria
Part 5: Queensland
Part 6: South Australia
Unbeknownst to many, the second largest state CX scene in Australia can be found bordering the Indian Ocean. The fiercely independent folks in Western Australia have built a fantastic and underrated CX series, and provided a great example of what can be achieved with time, commitment and dedicated volunteers.
The WA Cyclocross scene is the brainchild of Steuart and Louise Carson (or van der Caarson, depending on how Flemish they feel when they wake up in the morning), and brought to life by a committed crew of WACX volunteers.
The symbol of cyclocross in Western Australia - the mighty Numbat of Flanders!
Photo: @wacyclocross
Louise (L) and Steuart (R) Carson, masterminds of the cyclocross scene in Western Australia.
Photo: @nigelnosering
Methodology
Where ages of participants are referred to, these will refer to racing ages (effectively one year older than most people are IRL). The participation figures are for each individual race day, so a person who entered every round would account for 10 people in the figure below. While this may skew results slightly in favour of those who turn up most regularly, we feel it’s most representative of what the sport as a whole looks like from race day to race day.
Things we’ve included in this dataset:
Race results from the 2019 Numbat Cup, including results by grade and gender;
Race results from the 2019 Speedshop Supercross, including results by grade and gender;
Race results from the 2019 Western Australian CX State Championships, including results by age and gender; and
People who started races, but did not finish, and are marked as DNF on the results sheet.
Things we’ve not included in this dataset:
Data from the 3 club races held by WA Cyclocross that were not part of the official Numbat Cup;
People who entered races, but didn’t start, and are marked as DNS on the results sheet.
Data for kids races where participants are 10 and under, because:
Most kids races don’t give their smallest racers timing chips (meaning they won’t show up in officially timed results);
We believe that the priority for young kids is to get them enjoying bikes, and we want to encourage race organisers to promote having fun over racing; and
We want to respect the privacy of the kids and their loved ones.
Angela Coleman makes a hasty dismount at Garvey Park in Round 5 of the 2019 Numbat Cup. She’d go on to win an age-group National Championship in Women’s Masters 4 later in 2019.
Photo: @k__v__a
The 2019 Numbat Cup
The 2019 Numbat Cup was made up of eight state series rounds, the 2019 edition of Speedshop Supercross and the WA State Championships, all hosted and and around suburban Perth.
Round One: Garvey Park, April 28th
Speedshop Supercross 2019: Claremont Showgrounds, May 4th
Round Two: Fishmarket Reserve, Guildford, May 19th
Round Three: Edgewater Quarry, June 9th
Round Four: Garvey Park, June 29th
Round Five: Garvey Park, June 30th
Round Six: Guildford Meadow, July 20th
Round Seven: Guildford Meadow, July 21st
State Championships: Helena Valley, August 4th
Round Eight: South Guildford, August 18th
These ten events were all held within 25km of Perth’s CBD - closer to the city than any other state series around the country with the exception of South Australia - who hold their races in the parklands surrounding the Adelaide CBD - and Tasmania, whose races were all held at the same location.
Something else that’s noteworthy about the 2019 Numbat Cup schedule is that seven different locations were used over the course of the ten races above that were all held quite close together - a mark of the positive relationship between WACX organisers and local councils and landowners in suburban Perth. The work behind the scenes to keep such stakeholders on side is among the least appreciated (and most onerous) of a cyclocross race organiser’s tasks, and we have to tip our riding caps to all those in WA who help make racing possible.
State cyclocross series in Australia in 2019, sorted by race distance from state capital
There was plenty of mud to go around at round 8 of last year’s Numbat Cup.
Photo: PB Photography
Facts and figures
Number of 2019 CX series races (including State Championships): 10 (8 x Numbat Cup rounds, Speedshop Supercross & WA State Championships)
Number of other 2019 CX races:
Organising club/s (series races):
- WA Cyclocross
First race: April 28th
Last race: August 18th
Total number of race entrants: 1128 (2nd)
Biggest race day: 127 (2nd)
Average participants per race day: 112.8 (2nd)
Percentage of male participants: 75.3% (3rd)
Percentage of female participants: 24.7% (4th)
Racers graded by: Ability (A/B/C Grade), plus Men’s Masters B and C grades, and a Singlespeed category
Claims to fame:
· Second biggest CX scene in Australia
· Most races in a state CX series (10)
· Rockin’ the one cog (only dedicated singlespeed category in Australia)
The finishing straight at round 8 of the 2019 Numbat Cup had a definite community feel.
Photo: PB Photography
Cyclocross in Western Australia - a hidden gem
The Numbat Cup series was Australia’s second largest state cyclocross series by size in 2019, with 1128 riders taking part across 10 different events - the most of any state besides Victoria. Attendance across the 10 major CX races in Western Australia was remarkably consistent, with a high of 127 riders for round 3 at Edgewater Quarry and a low of 96 attendees for round 6 at Garvey Park (a race that clashed with round 5 of the CX National Series in Queensland, which drew away a handful of riders), for an average of 112.8 adult riders - which would undoubtedly be higher once young children are factored in.
Although the cyclocross scene in Western Australia was Australia’s second largest in 2019, there wasn’t a lot of overlap between cyclocross in the west and the states east of the rabbit-proof fence. This is largely because as there were no National Series rounds held in Perth, and only a few Western Australians who took the long flight east to participate in the CX National Series or National Championships.
Participation in the 2019 Numbat Cup, by race day
Grading in the 2019 Numbat Cup
As with many other states around Australia, cyclocross in Western Australia is divided into grades by ability, with riders divided into Elite (equivalent to A grade), B and C Grades by ability. Additional Masters B and Masters C grades are available for male competitors aged 40 and over - though they race at the same time as their equivalent non-Masters grade, so in practical terms both grades still share the course and swap elbows with their younger counterparts.
In terms of the younger riders, there’s no separate grades for juniors in the 10-18 range, as they get to have a go at C grade to get their kicks - possibly to the chagrin of some of the older riders they compete with!
Participation in the 2019 Numbat Cup, by grade
The most popular grade in 2019 was Men’s Elite, with a total of 230 riders taking to the start line across the 10 races - making up 20.4% of all entries across the series (though it should be noted that Men’s B grade would be the most popular if it weren’t divided into Masters and non-Masters categories). For the women’s grades it was C grade that proved the most popular, making up 41.9% of all female riders and 10% of the total participants.
While there’s an Open grade for Men wanting to compete on mountain bikes and monstercross rigs without taking up place in C Grade, there’s no equivalent Open grade for women, as women’s C grade allowed riders to enter on bikes with >35mm tyres in 2019 - though they have an Open grade of their own in 2020.
Men's participation in the 2019 Numbat Cup, by race day and grade
A muddy puddle on any cyclocross course is guaranteed to draw a crowd!
Photo: @k__v__a
Unique to Western Australia is the existence of a separate category for singlespeed riders. Where in most other states riders are forced to ride in C Grade or Open if they want to rock the one cog, WA gives them the chance to compete in a separate grade where only one gear is permitted, as you can see in the handy chart below.
Number of permitted rear cogs in West Australian CX racing, by grade
The WACX crew have been able to find local sponsorship for their series in each of the past 2 years - Total Travel WA in 2019, and the Liquor Barons chain of bottleshops in 2020.
Photo: @nigelnosering
Women’s participation in the 2019 Numbat Cup
Across the 10 events and 1128 participants in the 2019 Numbat Cup, of whom 276 riders - around 23.7% - were women. This level of women’s participation is the fourth highest in Australia, behind Victoria, NSW/ACT and South Australia.
One thing that’s clear when looking at the graph below is sharp rise of women’s participation for round 5 of the Numbat Cup series at Garvey Park. This is because round 5 was designated as Ladies’ Day, with sponsorship obtained from Chaotic Energy (a local gym and rehab facility founded by Women’s Elite racer and former Olympian Teneal Attard) and a considerable push from race organisers to get women to come along and try CX, especially those who hadn’t raced in the discipline before.
Participation in the 2019 Numbat Cup, by gender and race day
The results of their efforts are plain to see, as the 44 women who raced on Chaotic Energy Ladies’ Day far outstripped the number of women who rode in any of the other Numbat Cup races - the next closest was round 2 in Guildford, which had 29 women toeing the start line.
The most notable increase for that Ladies’ Day was in Women’s C Grade - up to 22 riders from a normal average of around 10 - which indicates that the race organisers were able to achieve their goal of getting more women to try cyclocross racing for the first time.
They’re at it again in 2020 and are shooting for a new high of 50 female participants at the 2020 Ladies’ Day - which happens to be taking place on the weekend of this article’s publication!
Women's participation in the 2019 Numbat Cup, by race day and grade
From strength to strength - a look at the future
Something else that’s been great to see from the crew over in the west is the various ways that race organisers and other stakeholders are looking to add value to the lives of the racers who participate in the Numbat Cup - not only building stoke for future races and events, but helping to promote cyclocross as the kind of sporting community that doesn’t just end when you cross the line or pack up the course.
As of early 2020, WA Cyclocross has its own website (https://wacyclocross.org/), the occasional video series Wide World of Cyclocross hosted by race organisers Steuart Carson and Ashley Williams, an online store which will sell you hoodies and t-shirts featuring the Numbat of Flanders, and perhaps best of all, a beer collaboration with Nowhereman Brewery! Be sure to check it all out - they’re doing some really cool stuff!
A cyclocross-themed beer? We’ll drink to that!
Photo: @wacyclocross