Goal for the race: Don't get lapped
Finally, the kickoff to the ABA Cyclocross series.
This race appeared out of nowhere as the Midweek Mayhem series opener was moved because of a conflict with the Bow 80 race. I wasn't doing the Bow 80 (which turned out to be a good decision) so I went to this to get a real race in before the Dark Knight race.
The Friday before the race I was at a season wind-up party with the rest of the team and it seemed I was the only one not doing the Bow 80 (which turned out to be a bust as 3/4 of the field DNF'd due to weather...but congrats to those that did finish...you guys are crazy!).
The race took place at the Red Deer College campus and I was glad to get out and race in much nicer weather conditions. I went down with a friend from Bicisport whom I've been practicing and racing with the past few months so that made the drive seem much shorter.
The course was really interesting. It had pretty much everything jammed into one race which made it a lot of fun. There was a sweeping turn on a baseball diamond, 2 runs through a volleyball court, off-camber barrier set, steep run-up, sketchy descent, some single track through the woods, a few hairpin turns and a fast gravel road section. Not much elevation on the course so there were a few power sections.
The amount of running worried me as I still had a huge bruise on my right-shoulder (the shoulder where I put my bike during running sections) so I wasn't sure how I'd be able to cope with the pain. A teammate said to me that my legs will probably hurt so much during the race that I'd forget about my shoulder.
The race started kinda abrutly with no countdown or anything so that was a little odd and that caught me off guard. I ended up in the back pretty quickly and was conserving my energy as you don't know how laps you need to do until 2 laps in. My dismounts were going pretty smoothly and I barely noticed any pain in my shoulder. I was bracing the downtube with my arm to take some pressure off so that might of helped. The off-camber uphill barriers were what really messed me up, I kept catching them with my front tire or barely made it over.
During the first lap and second there was carnage on the steep downhill section. So many crashes as guys were taking it way too fast and not being able to make the sharp left hand turn at the bottom. I gained about 3 positions after the first crash as I somehow manuvered around the fallen riders. Canti's don't stop bikes...they just slow them down!
As the race progressed I was playing cat and mouse with a few guys the entire race. I would catch up on the running sections but they would just hammer the straight-aways. The last few laps the wind was just brutal. I had to go onto my drops and try to just power through even though my legs were killing me. The running through the sand almost became the best part of the course.
Near the end of the race the thing that was really hurting was my back. Super rough single-track on a rigid aluminum bike...not good. My back took a lot of punishment during the race and I couldn't wait to finish it off, if only to stretch out my back a little.
Result: 16/28 (did not get lapped)
Not bad for my first race. I was racing in the Sport category which includes both Cat 4/5 Road categories and Novice/Sport mountain bike categories so I felt that I did fairly well racing against guys who had a few season under their belts. I felt I did everything pretty good and didn't have any crashes or bails. I just need to develop more power through the straights, gauge my energy reserves a little better and get faster at remounting. I also didn't trip on any barriers or on the run-ups like I thought I would. I really enjoyed the course and now anxiously awaiting the Dark Knight 'cross race.
- Kyle
Monday, September 21, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
COP Fall XC Race
Goal for the race: Have fun!
This race had been circulating the Alberta biking clubs to see if there was an interest in reviving a weeknight XC racing series. I decided to attend this event purely to show some support for the idea so that we might have a training race series next year. I had no intention of going out super hard as I had a real race coming up.
This was going to be my last mountain bike race of the season so I decided I would just take it easy and have fun (although technically I should always be racing for fun). At first we were told we would be racing the CCC course which is a really easy 3 km course...which would have been 30 minutes of racing at $20. Closer to the date it was announced that we would be doing the World Cup XC Course. My category was set to do 3 laps of the roughly 5 km course.
I arrived at the site pretty early and after registering for the race, I went to bust off a quick pre-ride lap. The first half of the course was the Giver-8-er and the second half was the CCC course. The one part that worried me was the single track dowhill that had been turned in a stream from the earlier thundershower.
We all lined up for the mass start which was going to be a LeMan's start (running about 80m to your bike). The whistle blew and I went out into a light run...which turned out to be a bad idea mainly because when I got to the first climb I ended up soft pedaling behind a bunch of people who were dismountng to walk up. There was nowhere to pass on the tight single-track so that was about the point where I would no longer be able to contest the top 3.
There was an area of the course that I had ridden at least 10 times that had a skinny bridge to a sharp left turn. I called out to the rider behind me there was a bridge and I was going pretty fast. I went to make the turn into the single track and my wheel slipped off the bridge and got stuck in a rut catapulting me off my bike. I crashed pretty hard and ended up smashing my right shoulder into a root (later on I found out I had just missed breaking my collarbone). I picked up my bike and checked to see if anything broken and kept going.
The single-track down the stream was super slick, really muddy and took a toll on my drivetrain. On the hills my small gear was locking up my chain, forcing me to either run up steep hills or hammer out the climbs in my middle gear during the rest of the race.
The next 2 laps were fairly straight forward. No more crashes or close calls and pretty much jsut raced my race. It was a really fun course, except for the 200m down a stream of mud each lap.
Result: 5/8
When I finished the race which took me about an hour with the top time being 45min I washed off with my water bottle and went inside for a BBQ. At the BBQ it was announced that COP will really try to bring in a XC series next year based on the turnout. Hopefully this makes a return and more people in Calgary will be able to participate in a fun local race with no pressure. The only issues we could think of was that $20 a race is way too much to charge every week so that will have to come down if they want a good number of people to come out and race.
I'm looking forward to see what transpires and hopefully more people will come out and see what racing is all about and help revive the XC MTB scene in Calgary.
- Kyle
This race had been circulating the Alberta biking clubs to see if there was an interest in reviving a weeknight XC racing series. I decided to attend this event purely to show some support for the idea so that we might have a training race series next year. I had no intention of going out super hard as I had a real race coming up.
This was going to be my last mountain bike race of the season so I decided I would just take it easy and have fun (although technically I should always be racing for fun). At first we were told we would be racing the CCC course which is a really easy 3 km course...which would have been 30 minutes of racing at $20. Closer to the date it was announced that we would be doing the World Cup XC Course. My category was set to do 3 laps of the roughly 5 km course.
I arrived at the site pretty early and after registering for the race, I went to bust off a quick pre-ride lap. The first half of the course was the Giver-8-er and the second half was the CCC course. The one part that worried me was the single track dowhill that had been turned in a stream from the earlier thundershower.
We all lined up for the mass start which was going to be a LeMan's start (running about 80m to your bike). The whistle blew and I went out into a light run...which turned out to be a bad idea mainly because when I got to the first climb I ended up soft pedaling behind a bunch of people who were dismountng to walk up. There was nowhere to pass on the tight single-track so that was about the point where I would no longer be able to contest the top 3.
There was an area of the course that I had ridden at least 10 times that had a skinny bridge to a sharp left turn. I called out to the rider behind me there was a bridge and I was going pretty fast. I went to make the turn into the single track and my wheel slipped off the bridge and got stuck in a rut catapulting me off my bike. I crashed pretty hard and ended up smashing my right shoulder into a root (later on I found out I had just missed breaking my collarbone). I picked up my bike and checked to see if anything broken and kept going.
The single-track down the stream was super slick, really muddy and took a toll on my drivetrain. On the hills my small gear was locking up my chain, forcing me to either run up steep hills or hammer out the climbs in my middle gear during the rest of the race.
The next 2 laps were fairly straight forward. No more crashes or close calls and pretty much jsut raced my race. It was a really fun course, except for the 200m down a stream of mud each lap.
Result: 5/8
When I finished the race which took me about an hour with the top time being 45min I washed off with my water bottle and went inside for a BBQ. At the BBQ it was announced that COP will really try to bring in a XC series next year based on the turnout. Hopefully this makes a return and more people in Calgary will be able to participate in a fun local race with no pressure. The only issues we could think of was that $20 a race is way too much to charge every week so that will have to come down if they want a good number of people to come out and race.
I'm looking forward to see what transpires and hopefully more people will come out and see what racing is all about and help revive the XC MTB scene in Calgary.
- Kyle
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Cyclocross Rhymes with Pain
Since I won't be having any major races for a little while I thought I'd do a write up on my first cyclocross race experience.
So, what is Cyclocross?
The short answer: It's a portion of road biking, with a side of mountain biking, a sprinkle of steeplechase and a dash of running served with a nice tall glass of pain. Sounds like chaos? Well, quite frankly...it is...but it's insanely fun.
I have honestly been waiting all season to do cyclocross. This is the reason I wanted to race this season. It's probably the most pain you'll ever experience in 30 - 45 minutes...but at the end you can't help but smile.
The kickoff race was in Laycock park and Keith B. did an awesome job of throwing together a great course that did not disappoint....although it would be awesome to emerge covered head to toe in mud...it's not Europe and I'm sure we all want to be able to use the park next year.
My first race went pretty good. I didn't get lapped and I could see the race leaders for the most part. Not sure where I finished...but really...I was having to0 much fun to care.
The turnout as you can see below was incredible.
Jumping the barrier...this sport is ridiculous
Really...this is fun....though the picture suggests otherwise
If you've never been in a bike race but you want to try...I highly suggest you give 'cross a try. The community is awesome, the atmosphere is positive and we are all out here just having a blast. You don't even need to own a 'cross bike...a mountain bike will do, no one will judge you...I swear!
Don't own a bike? Come out anyways and watch some awesome bike racing, have some entertaining conversation and enjoy the last days of summer/fall.
Bike racing ain't over yet so come out and see what it's all about. Never before has pain been so much fun!
- Kyle
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