Robin Horsfield Aims To Return Stronger
Bermuda’s national mountain bike champion Robin Horsfield battled through a difficult season, and said he is ”determined to come back stronger than ever.”
A spokesperson said, “Bermuda’s national mountain bike champion Robin Horsfield has had his first difficult season of his career. Horsfield had planned a Canada Cup focus for the year, building upon his seventh place Canada Cup series national ranking in 2024. 2024 was also the year that he saw the podium at the Caribbean Mountain Bike Championships and was Ontario’s Provincial Champion. Unfortunately, after a strong start to the season in Costa Rica, Horsfield’s Canada Cup ambitions were quashed.
“After leading out the short track race in the national field at the first Canada Cup in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Horsfield’s race ended with a DNF as he felt immediately ill.”
Mr. Horsfield said, “I called my coach – not knowing what was going on he suggested to just stick with the race on Sunday [the cross country]. He had it chalked up to nerves as I was in the best condition of my career. Unfortunately, finishing that race on Sunday was potentially further damaging to my health – a perfect storm of illnesses were attacking my body, resulting in a trip to the hospital on Monday.”
The spokesperson said, “Horsfield eventually made his way home to Ontario, where he had to wait six weeks – during the peak of the mountain bike season – for test results and specialists to rule out a condition that could be life threatening. Upon being cleared to ride, he returned to the bike, literally one week prior to the Caribbean Championships in the Dominican Republic.”
Mr. Horsfield said, “I knew that Bermuda takes great pride in the Caribbean Champs and that we wanted to qualify for the CAC Games in 2026. After six weeks off the bike, I did the best I could given the circumstances. It appears as though my performance was strong enough for that qualification for the CAC Games in 2026.”
The spokesperson said, “Horsfield then made his way to western Canada at Whistler, where he had a solid finish at the Canada Cup in July”
Mr. Horsfield said “I wasn’t back to where I was in May, but at least I had clawed back to competitive in the field.”
The spokesperson said, “He competed early August at Dieppe, New Brunswick, where his performance was better still.”
Mr. Horsfield said, “I had a good race, but my stomach was again acting up. I put it out of my mind, thinking it was a ghost from earlier in the season. Unfortunately, that wasn’t true and I had a parasite, which eliminated my ambition for competing in Prince Edward Island the next week.
“I’ve never had a season where I missed even one race due to illness or injury. In that sense I guess I’ve been very lucky. This season was a tough one. I’ve seen other guys go through it and I’m determined to come back stronger than ever.”
“Coach Mark Brown notes that Horsfield is extremely level headed and highlights what he contributed this year beyond the bike.
Coach Brown said, “Robin has taken a very difficult season and made the best of it. When he was unable to hit our major target events of the year at Canmore he immediately signed on to support me by looking after my son on site while I competed at the Ironman 70.3 in Quebec. He also took his time off the bike to support young riders in Guelph near his home by running a weekly development camp for them.
“I understand he’s coming home to Bermuda very soon where, as usual, he will be available to the mountain bike youth and adults there. He is a well known, well respected, and well-liked competitor on the scene in Ontario, at the Caribbean Championships, and across Canada at the Canada Cups.
“In this sense, he remains an example of the best of Bermuda. He was capable of so much more this season, but it was taken away through no fault of his own. The road from here is one of recovery and building. I have no doubt that 2026 will be his best season yet.”
The spokesperson said, “Horsfield has set his target for 2026 squarely upon the CAC Games. Bermuda will see him compete, once again, at the March 2026 National Championships with potential guest appearances at Fat Tire events when he’s back on island.”
