Well after doing the Midweek Mayhem crits every Tuesday night, I thought I should check this event out. Everyone I talked to said it was a lot of fun so I decided to see what it was all abotu. The event is a 3 day stage race that made up of a hill climb time trial, criterium and road race.
At first I was only going to do the criterium but I thought...if I'm going to suffer, I may as well make a weekend out of it. It seems I'm starting to become a roadie!
I decided not to do any races in July and train up for this event. This will be my first road race event and will be one of the few races my friend and family will be able to come out and watch.
The hill climb will be a time trial to the top of COP.
The criterium course will be a pretty technical 1km course around Bow Cycle.
The road race will be a 5.3km circuit race through the roads of the Bearspaw Golf Club.
I'm really looking forward to the criterium. While these races are always really sketchy, I love the rush of going 40-50km/h on a bike. I also find these races so exciting to watch...so much going on in every race and it's almost as if the racers are putting on a show for the spectators.
The road race course seems really fun. While it has a big hill in it...it's pretty technical and has something for everyone. To me it seems like a longer, slightly slower criterium course. I have pre-ridden my laps for the course a couple times and I personally like the format...though I'm sure some people disagree.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Suffer Springs Summer Solstice
Goal for the race: Finish the race in under an hour
Seconday goal: Don't crash or bail
You really have to love a race that starts with the word "suffer"....at least they get you to sign a waiver that pretty much says if anything happens, it's your own fault.
This race was held on the Sulpher Springs trail in Bragg Creek. In all my time mountain biking, I have never once hiked or biked this trails. My first time ever on the trail was during the pre-ride with the 'Goats in which we also did a run on the new Pneuma trail. Saturday during the course setup was the first time I had ridden the entire trail.
I wasn't as nervous than in previous races so when the whistle blew we all went out pretty hard. My plan for the race was to pick off people during the climbs. I got myself into good steady pace but could already feel my quads starting to burn a little on the first climb. I continued picking a few guys off but overall I was by myself. I could see my teammate, Ken, up ahead and was trying to pick up my pace so that I could ride with him as he seemed to going pretty good.
I kept him within eyesight until the second big hill. I tried to crank in a harder gear then usual but when I tried to shift into an easier gear, my chain popped off. All I could think about was "not this $#*! again". Luckily it didn't get stuck so after dismounted and doing a revolution on the pedals the chain came back on. I ran a little bit up the hill to a flat section where I started up again. The descent was really sketchy with loose gravel everywhere so I was riding the brakes pretty hard down the steep switchbacks. One really long climb still remained but as I approached it I could not see a single rider on it. There was one section that was extremely loose so I had to dismount and run a little as I couldn't any traction but for the most part I rode it all the way to the top.
The second major descent was a lot more technical and faster but all around tons of fun. I was finally getting used to my new bike and started taking straight lines down. I was also letting go of my brakes a little more then usual and just trusting my bike to carry me through the descents.
The last part of the race was a flat and grassy single track to the finish so I put my bike into the big ring, stood up and just hammered all the way to the end.
I finished the race with no bails, cuts or bruises and a fully working bike so I had met my secondary goal. I also checked my computer and I had finished the race in 55 minutes so I had completed both of my goals for the race. I was really happy...I didn't care about my results. I had gone out, raced my race and had a lot of fun in the process.
Result: 10/25
Good job to all my teammates that competed in the race. We had 4 people on the podium that day which was awesome.
Seconday goal: Don't crash or bail
You really have to love a race that starts with the word "suffer"....at least they get you to sign a waiver that pretty much says if anything happens, it's your own fault.
This race was held on the Sulpher Springs trail in Bragg Creek. In all my time mountain biking, I have never once hiked or biked this trails. My first time ever on the trail was during the pre-ride with the 'Goats in which we also did a run on the new Pneuma trail. Saturday during the course setup was the first time I had ridden the entire trail.
I wasn't as nervous than in previous races so when the whistle blew we all went out pretty hard. My plan for the race was to pick off people during the climbs. I got myself into good steady pace but could already feel my quads starting to burn a little on the first climb. I continued picking a few guys off but overall I was by myself. I could see my teammate, Ken, up ahead and was trying to pick up my pace so that I could ride with him as he seemed to going pretty good.
I kept him within eyesight until the second big hill. I tried to crank in a harder gear then usual but when I tried to shift into an easier gear, my chain popped off. All I could think about was "not this $#*! again". Luckily it didn't get stuck so after dismounted and doing a revolution on the pedals the chain came back on. I ran a little bit up the hill to a flat section where I started up again. The descent was really sketchy with loose gravel everywhere so I was riding the brakes pretty hard down the steep switchbacks. One really long climb still remained but as I approached it I could not see a single rider on it. There was one section that was extremely loose so I had to dismount and run a little as I couldn't any traction but for the most part I rode it all the way to the top.
The second major descent was a lot more technical and faster but all around tons of fun. I was finally getting used to my new bike and started taking straight lines down. I was also letting go of my brakes a little more then usual and just trusting my bike to carry me through the descents.
The last part of the race was a flat and grassy single track to the finish so I put my bike into the big ring, stood up and just hammered all the way to the end.
I finished the race with no bails, cuts or bruises and a fully working bike so I had met my secondary goal. I also checked my computer and I had finished the race in 55 minutes so I had completed both of my goals for the race. I was really happy...I didn't care about my results. I had gone out, raced my race and had a lot of fun in the process.
Result: 10/25
Good job to all my teammates that competed in the race. We had 4 people on the podium that day which was awesome.
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