The first race of the Triple Crown of Gravel Series, Vancouver Island’s premier and oldest gravel fondo, the eighth annual Cowichan Crusher, is set for June 1 at Lake Cowichan.
"We moved the date back a bit due to adding a new longer event," explained organizer Dean Stanton.
This year's event will feature four distances, up one from last year's three: the 25km beginner race, the 50km medio race, the 100km full fondo, and the new 160km full fondo plus race.
"We added the full fondo plus as we had some people ask for it," Stanton explained. "People love the challenge and gravel cycling has less cars/vehicles. They also love how amazing the scenery is."
Last year, Kai Vander Veen placed seventh overall in the full fondo and was the Cowichan region's top rider.
Four Duncan women placed in the top 20 of the women’s full fondo and four Duncan men made the top 25 in the men’s.
Stanton said all are welcome to participate.
"The Gravel Cycling community is very receptive to all cyclists including beginners as your type of bicycle doesn’t matter as much and really only affects the rides on the longer event distances over 100kms," he said.
The Triple Crown of Gravel also includes the Kettle Mettle Dirty Fondo and Sea2Sky Fondo. The Kettle Mettle is scheduled for June 28 in the Okanagan and the Sea2Sky runs Sept. 21 in Squamish.
Visit cowichancrusher.com to learn more about the 2025 Cowichan Crusher.
