The Holmgrens are definitely a two-wheeling family.
Father Rob, mother Lisa, daughters Isabella and Ava as well as son Gunnar were all getting ready Friday at Midland’s Little Lake Park for this weekend’s Pan American Cyclocross Championship, which has drawn close to 400 competitive riders racing in various divisions.
“We started at Hardwood (Ski and Bike) on Wednesday nights when they (Isabella and Ava) were four and it was just for fun,” said Lisa, who is originally from Peterborough and represented Canada at the 2000 Pan American Championships in Puerto Rico.
“It’s awesome to be riding with my daughters.”
Not surprisingly, Rob and Lisa (née McGilvray) met in 1998 while biking. They eventually married, settled in Oro-Medonte, and went on to raise five children, who all enjoy sports, with cycling maintaining a special place in their collective hearts.
And while the parents continue competing in the master’s divisions, three of their offspring are becoming cycling stars in their own right.
Gunnar, 20, regularly finishes on the podium in his elite division races while 14-year-old twins Ava and Isabella are also gaining some top finishes.
Rob joked that 16-year-old Max, who’s in Grade 11 at École secondaire catholique Nouvelle-Alliance in Barrie, and Torunn, 18, who attends the University of Waterloo, are the “black sheep” since they don’t race competitively, but have lots of other interests to keep them busy.
Lisa said its a lot of fun to travel to meets and compete as a family because you acquire a lot of shared experiences that comes with the camaraderie found in the cycling community.
“It’s pretty good and together we share the tasks,” adds Rob, noting everyone helps out with bike maintenance and cleaning, which, depending on the weather, can become a major task to ensure mud isn’t caked on gears or wheels.
Last weekend, Gunnar successfully defended his U23 men's national title at the Canadian Cyclocross Championship in Peterborough with Rob winning gold in the very competitive master's division for men aged 45-54. Ava and Isabella, meanwhile, finished first and third in their respective division.
“It’s a really good group of girls in my age group,” Isabella said. “We’ve gotten to go to a lot of different places. I haven’t been outside of North America yet for competitions, but I’ve seen a lot of the continent.”
The twins competed at last year’s Ontario Summer Games in London with Ava winning five gold medals between mountain and road races and Isabella capturing three bronze medals. The girls are also involved with the Orillia Channel Cats swim team.
Gunnar, meanwhile, now regularly competes against the world’s best and hopes to one day represent Canada at the Olympic Games.
“It will still be awhile for me to peak physically in the sport, but maybe in 2024 or 2028,” said Gunnar, who holds down two part-time jobs to help with travel costs.
Gunnar said that while his parents have always been passionate about cycling, they never pushed him or his siblings to pursue the sport.
“It was my decision to start competing,” he said. “They got us started and we took it to the next step. I always try to work at a high level. It’s also fun because you get to do a lot of travelling, which is nice. I’ve gotten to see quite a bit of the world.”
This time around they’re competing close to home with this marking the seventh time Midland’s picturesque Little Lake Park has hosted a championship for cyclocross, which is a hybrid of road and mountain bike racing.
Rob and Lisa now help coach the Hardwood Next Wave Cycling Team, which has 116 cyclists from across the region; 35 team members are competing this weekend in Midland.
The Holmgrens and other team members practised for their weekend races Friday on the winding course that’s considered both challenging and fun with riders encountering a beach sand section, stair climb along with technical climbs and descents.
“There are some pretty deep fields here,” said Rob, referring to the many divisions, including master’s and elite, that will hit the course over the next two days.
“For the elites like Gunnar, this is a big deal and for the old farts like me, it’s a great competition. It’s a fast and flowing course. Cyclocross is a special community," added Rob.
In the winter months, the Holmgren family straps on cross-country skis to continue their fitness regimen, but added Rob: “It’s just for training, not for competition.”
For more information about this weekend’s biking event, visit silvergoosecx.ca.
