They’re just 14 and 9 years old, but Hayden and Wes Rowaan of Niagara-on-the-Lake are national mountain biking champions in their age groups.
At the recent Canada Cycling XCO (Olympic-length cross country) and XCC (short-track cross country) national championships in Kentville, Nova Scotia, Hayden took the gold in the Under-15 XCO category while his younger brother matched his feat in the Under-11 XCO group. Hayden also placed fifth in his XCC race.
Both boys are modest about their accomplishments as they sit in their rural NOTL backyard with their father Brian, an avid mountain biker himself. Brian also competed in Kentville, but crashed out of his Master Men’s XCO race.
“It was my goal to come in first,” Hayden says of topping the field of 27 riders, “but I didn’t expect it. There was one really rooty section, downhill with a little drop. And another rooty climb that was really challenging on the course. I raced on Sunday, but the pros raced the day before and they rutted it up for us.”
In Wes’ U-11 category, the course was much shorter, but there were still some challenges.
“There was this one big drop,” Wes says. “You’re coming down the hill, going pretty fast, then there’s this one-and-a-half-foot drop. We did get a chance to pre-ride the course a couple of days before, so that helped..”
Hayden rides for team Stimulus Next Wave, under coach Rob Holmgren out of Barrie. Holmgren’s own kids, Gunnar (25) and Isabella (19) represented Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Brian and Hayden drive up to Barrie once a week for training sessions. In between, Holmgren sends the St. Davids Public School graduate a daily training program via an app on his phone. Brian estimates that his eldest son rides between 15 and 20 hours a week.
Hayden made the switch to Stimulus Next Wave this year after riding for team Honey Fields, the business that Brian runs with his wife Erin. As the boys talk to The Local in their mountain biking gear, Wes is dressed head to toe in the team’s yellow and black colours.
“It’s my second year on the team,” Wes says. “My dad coaches me.”
Their middle brother Charlie, soon to celebrate his 12th birthday, was also on team Honey Fields last year, but decided that he didn’t want to ride competitively any longer. But Charlie still loves riding and accompanies Brian, Hayden and Wes to the hills at Queenston Heights to enjoy informal workouts.
All three boys are avid and skilled hockey players as well. Charlie plays for the AA St. Catharines Falcons while Hayden and Wes are part of the Niagara North Stars AAA program.
To stay in riding form during the winter Hayden and Wes spend a lot of time on their training equipment in the family’s garage.
Both Hayden and Wes compete in the provincial mountain biking Ontario Cup series in addition to the Canada Cup series. In the Canada Cup, Hayden won the XCC and was second at the XCO in Barrie earlier this year. In Mont Tremblant, Wes placed fourth in both XCC and XCO while Hayden was eighth in XCC.
Though neither is interested in road racing, Hayden competed in the annual Paris to Ancaster Spring Classic in April, a 72-kilometer-long gravel race. If his hockey schedule permits this fall, the future Eden High School student hopes to compete in cyclocross, a combination of road cycling, mountain biking and steeplechase, where cyclists dismount their bikes to run up stairs and embankments.
As one might imagine, the family travels frequently for mountain biking.
“One of the Ontario events was at Hiawatha Heights in Sault Ste. Marie, and we’ve been to Quebec,” Brian says. “We did a mini-training camp down in North Carolina, too.”
All five drove out in an RV to Kentville, hitting campsites along the way. They made a stop in New Brunswick at Kouchibouguac National Park, where Wes enjoyed the warm beaches, at the Bay of Fundy.
The St. Davids Public School Grade 4 student enthuses about the opportunity they had to try tidal bore rafting at the Bay of Fundy.
“At high tide, it gets all muddy underwater,” says Wes. “At low tide, you get to slide down the muddy river banks. Then you get back on the raft, and when high tide comes the waves hit the sand bars and make 12-feet-tall waves. It was so much fun.”
Up next for all Hayden, Wes, and yes, Brian, is the provincial championships at Kelso Conservation Area from Aug. 9 through 11. Hayden has his eye on winning that race too.
“It’s kind of a home course for him,” says Brian.
It’s not lost on Hayden that his coach Holmgren sent two athletes to the Olympics this month, either.
“I would say that’s my goal,” says Hayden. “I want to make it to the Olympics.”
