Red Cross

I was going into this race with a ton of confidence. I had ridden one of my best races ever and gotten enough points for my upgrade. A couple of us were told that they were 99% sure we’d be able to race in the Expert race the next day….so I prepped the next day to race in Expert. I got to the race site a little late but left just enough time just in case something happened and I would have to race in Sport again. Once again the race was at the same site as the previous day and once again it was on the pretty much the same course, only backwards. The only difference was the two run-ups were eliminated for a 2 barrier set into a short run-up.

I got down to the race site and strolled over to registration when Chris comes out and tells me that we have to race in Sport again. I was a little annoyed as we were receiving mixed messages from officials...but I didn’t want to waste time arguing as I was now running late for my start. I was sort of half-expecting this but I now had only left myself 45 minutes to get changed, get my spare wheels to the pit, pre-ride and stretch. I was only able to do barely get a one lap pre-ride in, which was essentially my warm-up and a very quick stretch.

I got to the start and did the one thing you should never ever do before a race. I decided I was in too easy of a gear to sprint out so I changed my bike into a harder gear to go for the hole shot. I was pretty focused today and didn’t chat nearly as much as usual. The whistle blew and my gear was way too hard and I trouble finding my pedal with three quarters of the field flying right by me. When I finally clipped in, I was near the back of the field going into the hairpin turn.

I was able to start passing lots of people in the first lap but on the longer steep single track sections I got stuck behind riders who couldn’t make it all the way up and had to stop to dismount. Because it was pretty tight I couldn’t ride around them so I had to dismount and run around them in the deep grass. The dismount into the barriers was right hand hairpin which really messed me up. I lost a lot of momentum and had lots of trouble clearing the barriers.

Around 3rd lap in I had caught up to Thomas. I went by him and tagged him on the back telling him to grab my wheel and we could work together to move up the field. 4th lap in I could see Mark up ahead…so I decided to grab onto his wheel. Mark and I changed position a couple of times as I would attack and then he would counter-attack in every chance he got. It was awesome. Then I had caught up to rider who had apparently been lapped so I grabbed on to his wheel and Mark timed his attack perfectly and was able to gap me going into the steep climb as I had gotten stuck behind a slower rider. I was able to catch up again and then attacked again.

Last lap Mark and I continued to battle it out, a rider flew by us…but I thought it was a lapped rider so I chose not to chase him down. On the last power section, I caught up to Chris Coleman who I had raced against the day before. I grabbed onto his wheel and was trying to set up an attack going into the last power section. Chris was going really hard and I had a tough time hanging on. We got the hairpin and I didn’t want to crash him out so I laid off the gas to try and out sprint him to the line. We got the finishing straight and we both sprinted hard for the finish line…Chris had just a little bit more left in the tank and beat me to the finish.

Result: 4th

Because of my start, I had no idea where I was most of the race. I didn’t really believe Craig when he was yelling at me that I was closing in on 2nd place during the last lap, I thought I was much further back then that. There were 40 riders in all and I think I was in 30th place in the first 200m of the race. I was really happy I was able to claw my way back up the field and once again finish in the prize money. In some ways I felt this race was just as good as yesterday…I had a lot of fun battling it out with Mark for 2 laps and having a sprint battle at the end of the race.

All in all, it was weekend of great racing on great courses with some awesome weather. This would probably be my last trip up to Edmonton for the year so glad for all the good times and awesome company.

Photo Credits: Ken Hurd

Jim Horner Grand Prix

I decided to head up to Edmonton to do the next series of races as I was now pretty close to my Expert upgrade, so I figured I’d be able to do it by the end of the weekend.

Immediately upon us arriving to our hotel in Edmonton, I knew this weekend was going to be awesome. I drove to Edmonton with Thomas and there we met a whole bunch of other riders from Calgary. There at the hotel bar sat 10 of us: Keith, Shawna, Thomas and Charles from Speed Theory; Katie Curtis from Bowcycle; Craig F. from Calgary Cycle; Craig S. and I from Deadgoat along with independent riders Mani and Josh. It was great times, all of us laughing over beers and food even though we’d all be racing against each other the next day. To me this is what defines the racing community, the great times we all have on and off the bike.

The next day we rode down to the course from the hotel as it was only about 5 minutes away by bike. I dropped off my spare wheels, registered and went to do a proper warm-up as per Keith’s advice prior to doing my course pre-ride. This time I went into the race with a plan. I knew who I needed to stay with and what position I needed to hold on to in order to have a good race. I wanted to finish on the podium this weekend…all I needed was 5th place for an upgrade…but I wanted top 3.

The race course was one that was suited to me. Lots of short power climbs, 2 forced run-ups and it was fairly technical with some good flow as well.

The start of the race was probably one my best starts this season. I was sitting in the top 5 going into the first turn and pretty much right away 6 of us had a slight gap on the field. There was a really strong headwind along the power section so I knew I wanted to sit a few wheels back in the paceline to conserve energy. Going into second lap I moved up a few positions to sit on Chris from Pedalhead’s wheel, who was in the lead.

3rd lap in, I noticed Chris was starting to slow down trying to fight the headwind on the power section so I did a quick check to see our gap on the field and noticed the chase group was closing. Against my usual nature and probably a bit of surprise to many people, I decided to attack and push the pace a little bit. I was now leading the paceline and trying to fight the strong headwind but I figured I would only lead for a little bit and drop back a few spots on the next power section. We went through a technical turn and then I heard Chris drop an f-bomb behind me so I knew that he had slipped out and bailed. I attacked again to get a gap on the field as I knew he had gone down in tight section and was holding up the chase group. I was now by myself with the whole field trying to chase me down going into the next power section.

Every lap I could barely hear Craig yelling my time gap on the field while I ran up the run-ups and Keith yelling at me that I was getting away from the chase group, but I was just trying to push through all the pain in my legs and keep going as hard as I could. It was pretty crazy trying to focus on the race, it was my first time ever being in the lead and having a significant gap on the field. I was now focusing on riding the rest of the race clean and to keep going hard even though everything hurt. There was even a point where I almost ran into a lapped rider as I got tunnel vision trying to concentrate on my lines.
On my last lap as I neared the finish line, I knew I had it…in my last 100 meters I started thinking about my victory salute. There was a bump at the finish line so I didn’t want to do any crazy stuff and then bail so I decided to go conservative with the one arm fist pump as I crossed the finish line for my first ever win.

Result: 1st

After I crossed the finish line I remember asking Shawna “Did I win?”...hahaha...cyclocross can make you delirious. During the race when I was in front, I never once looked back and I don’t even remember looking at the lap counter…I just listened for the final lap bell. It seemed like all the work and all the challenges throughout the season had just paid off. Talk to most bike racers and they’ll tell you how rare winning a race is, so I have to admit it felt amazing to stand up on the top step of the podium for the first time. The best part of my race was all the support I got from my friends during and after my race and I think that’s what really made my race what it was. I also got my upgrade to the Expert category which was my top goal for this race season.

Handlebar camera video of the first lap: (I think it's from a Velocity rider...not sure who though). I'm the rider directly in front (527).

Oval Crash

The next day we raced on pretty much the same course but with the pump track removed as it had to be opened for the downhill mountain bikers. To make the course a little longer there were a few modifications to the course. The result was a more technical course with lots of sharp, leg shredding power climbs.

I was back to racing my usual Sport category, although a little tired from racing the night before but most of us were in the same boat. I was really aiming to try and make podium this race but a lot of the top guys had come out so it was going to be another hard battle. I once again started right up at the front of the pack for the start.

The start was pretty fast and it was all the usual suspects in the top 10. Personally I like having the long climb to start off the race, it really strings things out pretty quickly and the start isn’t nearly as chaotic. My legs were feeling pretty good and I felt that the course really suited me. There were parts of the course that threw me off because I was so used to the course the day before…so some of the minor changes kept catching me off-guard despite having done a few practice laps.

We got to the sand pit and I decided I would try to ride it the first few laps to keep in the top group. I went behind another rider so I could follow his line through but he lost a lot of momentum and stopped right in front of me. I started to dismount from my bike but a rider had gone really hot into the pit and couldn’t slow down in time so he ended up running right into my bike. I managed to untangle my bike and started running but when I remounted and tried to pedal, I found out my chain had come off from the crash. I fumbled it back on as I was a little flustered having lost about 10 positions. I remounted and now came the hard task of trying to focus to getting back in the race.

I was pretty mad at this point as I was really hoping to get podium in this race and I was now near the back. But it was first lap so I tried not to panic, ride consistently and try to ride the rest of the race clean. I don’t know what it is, but I entered into a zone where I was just concentrating purely on my race and trying to ride cleanly. I was starting to pull people back in by my third lap and that just fueled me to keep going hard. Lap 4 I had caught up to Brent and was now trying to catch up to Thomas. The last lap, I managed to catch up to Thomas and was trying to hang on to his wheel.

After the sand pit we went into the technical section of the course when Thomas lost grip in his back wheel and bailed. I just managed to ride around him, but he was up running with his bike as I was trying to pedal up the hill. He remounted just as I cleared the hill, but I was lucky to have a little more momentum and managed to gap him slightly going into the final stretch of the climb to the finish.

As I climbed I could see Mark in front of me. 50 meters from the finish, I attacked and sprinted for the finish to beat him by 1 second.

Result: 5th

I was completely surprised by my result….even more than usual, I was glad I was able to re-focus after having a bad first lap. I rode a clean race from that point forward and managed to finish up in the prizing again. Mark got me by one second at the Hop N’ Hurl so it was pretty funny that I beat him by the same margin this time. This was also one the reason I love bike racing, after the race Mark and I shook hands and had a great time talking about our neck-to-neck battles in the last couple races.

Photo Credits: Trevor Jensen and Rod Loewen

Dark Knight Year 3

This race almost didn’t happen. During the crits there were rumors that this race would be cancelled as we were told that we were not welcome back at the University…but the Cyclemeisters team managed to find a new venue on time and saved the race.

The race was a go ahead at COP and it looked to be an even better course than the one at the U of C. Knowing the Cyclemeisters, this event was guaranteed to be pretty awesome and probably even better than previous years. The main highlights of the course were the inclusion of a downhill pumptrack and “high-Speed” barriers.

Battling for position with Judd Fraser

This year I decided to race the B category, because apparently all the cool kids were doing it and I wanted to challenge myself  as I was really aiming to make Expert this year. Our category was the largest one with 60 racers signed up so it was going to be chaos once again…but that what makes ‘cross so awesome. Before our race, there was already huge crowd of spectators gathered on the hill where most of the action was taking place.

We had a large contigent of 'Goats show up to the race which was really awesome. Derek was the first to go in the C category and was able to hold onto 3rd. In the B category it was me, Tim, Pat and Ed. In the A category was Devin and Craig. And of course, Ken, on photo duty.

Tim rocking the stealth kit

I took a spot near the front for the start as I wanted to be in a good position as it started off with a fairly long hill climb and I didn’t want to get stuck behind a huge line of riders. The race started and we all went out pretty hard up the hill, but had to file up in order to go on the skinny wooden bridge and then onto the bit of single track on the way down to the pump track. The pump track was super fun but it was hard trying to keep the bike from grabbing air and right at the bottom was a sharp 180 turn on gravel, which meant you almost had to come to a dead stop to make it without bailing.

Devin getting ready to hop the barriers

I rode most of the race on the wheel of Pepper Harlton, who was last years Provincial Champion and member of the Canadian National team. She was racing in her costume, which looked pretty uncomfortable given the unusually warm weather so I’m sure she wasn’t going as fast as she could have been. Pepper is a fantastic technical bike handler and it was fun to see how she took the lines as she weaved through the course in the dark.

Ed running the sand pit

Result: 10th

I managed to finish in the prizes but more importantly I finished about a minutes behind Tim who took 6th and Pat who was given'r to avoid getting chicked by Katy Curtis (he still did) for 3rd. It was great to have 3 of us place in the top ten and I was really glad to not only not get lapped but finish right up there with the people I hope to be racing with soon.

In the A category Devin and Craig gabbed 4th and 5th respectively.

Climbing up to the pump track

I liked this course a little more than the U of C course and was able to ride the sand pit probably half the time. It was pretty technical, had 2 sustained climbs, flowy downhill sections and it felt like a pretty fast course. The pump track was a little sketch in the dark but overall it was a great night of racing. The crowd was amazing and most people stuck around all the way to the end. There were lots of families and so much cowbell...it was awesome.

Huge props to Cyclemeisters for putting on another fantastic event. I already can't wait until next year.

All photos: Ken Hurd
Flickr Photo Set

School of Cross

Finally it's ‘cross season…and it seems like it’s been far too long. So far it’s been a pretty tough start to the season with 2 midweek CX races cancelled due to rain and the Bow 80 cancelled due to inclement weather. It had been almost a month since my last ABA race and I now really pretty anxious for ‘cross to start up. I hadn’t done this series of races last year so I decided it would be worth the drive up to Edmonton to get a couple races under my belt before the Dark Knight and Oval ‘cross races.

After meeting up with my buddy Simon and his wife for breakfast buffet at our hotel, we headed down to the venue that would be hosting both races. We got to the race site and it was actually really warm outside so the course was probably going to be pretty dry and fast. I went to sign in and I was fairly surprised to see I was going into the race ranked 3rd out of the registered racers based on my results from ‘09. After getting ready, we both went out for a couple warm up laps.

The course had a road start, which went into a criterium like sharp turn then onto the grass portion. The first section was fairly technical with some really high barriers (I read somewhere they were actually 6cm too high). The next section was totally sketch with a deep grass off camber into a really steep descent into a small forest. After climbing out of the forest, it was another off-camber section into a set of man-made stairs. The next section was fairly windy with short power sections and a couple power climbs. Then came the double sand pit…both of which were completely unrideable with a short section of pavement separating the sand pits.

Stappy running the sand pit

After doing another warm-up lap, I went to what I thought was the start line. I waited for a couple minutes with another ride wondering where everyone was…but then Simon started calling me to the right start line. Late again…d’oh. I got to the real start line and had to seed myself somewhere mid-pack. After some instructions and a quick about some of the technical sections of the course we were off.

The race started which a paved section which was fairly fast, but slowed down as we all had to try and make the sharp right turn with a little bit of gravel so the group filed out pretty quickly. As we negotiated the first lap, Simon and I were pretty much calling “on your left, inside, outside” as we tried to move our way up the field. I was trying to move up as quickly as possible as getting stuck behind slower riders through more technical sections can really break your race if the leaders can gap the main field. As the race progressed I tried not to panic about my bad start and just tried to ride consistently. I knew I was moving up the field but still could not tell how many riders were in front of me.

Second last lap, my friend Masa calls out to me that I was only 40 seconds behind the leader so now I started to put on a little more pressure to try and close the gap. I had gotten a cramp on the second lap in my stomach from eating breakfast late so I was also battling through the pain while trying to keep riding hard.

Last lap I was starting to lap riders on the course but still wasn’t sure if I was even in the top 10. It seemed like there were still quite a few riders in front of me so I kept going hard…in fact midway through my last lap my breakfast started to creeping its way back up….which is pretty much a sure sign I was going all out.

I crossed the finish, completely exhausted and surprisingly there were only a few guys there and they were all telling me I had done awesome in the race and I had finished in the top 5. I talked for a bit with the top 3 riders but headed out to do a recovery spin as my heart rate was still pretty maxed and my stomach cramp was really painful. After spinning around and getting back to the race site, I got changed and went to watch the Expert race.

Result: 4th

My best racing result so far (I have finally broken the 5th place barrier) and I was actually really surprised that I finished that high up. I was slightly worried about being burned out for ‘cross going into this weekend as I had been riding, racing and training way more than last year. It was great to see that it all paid off and I was keeping up with the race leaders now.

Photo: Bill Quinney

Hop N’ Hurl

Today the race was same ‘cross time, same ‘cross place…only backwards with a few modifications.

I was feeling pretty confident going into the race with my results from the previous day. I had a good idea of whose wheel I should try grab and stay on. Most of the guys that had raced the day before were back again for more pain and suffering.

After doing a few warm-up laps and chatting with a bunch of people I got to the proper start line this time but was once again a little too late. I seeded myself in the middle of the pack and then all the guys told me to move myself up to the front, which felt really awesome. After joking around a little bit as staging had started a little early the commissaire announced that there would be call-ups for the top 5 riders based on the previous day’s results. Sweet…I got my first call-up!

The race started and Mark Jung went out for the hole shot on the road part. Right away I grabbed onto his wheel and decided I would sit on him for the first laps as he did really well the previous day and together we might be able to gap the field. Finishing up the lap I was going into the right nad turn on the road when my back tire slid out on a bit of gravel. I was just barely able to keep the bike upright but had to remind myself to corner a little wider and slower due to the gravel on subsequent laps.

After a lap it looked like we had a good group of 5 and developing a good gap on the rest of the field. Second lap in Brian Loewen went on the attack. Mark and I decided to let him go as it was still early in the race. Then Chris Hubrick and a Pedalhead rider went on the attack.

2 laps to go I pulled ahead of Mark and was trying as hard as I could to gap him but he stayed on my wheel and would never let me get to far ahead. During the last lap, Mark attacked and flew off his bike into the sand pit. I was behind a lapped rider so I wasn’t able to respond. I pushed hard to try and catch up to Mark but wasn’t able to get the lead. Halfway through the last lap we had Chris in our sights and we were trying to catch him but it seemed neither of us could close the gap.

Mark sprinted out onto the final straight and I tried to out sprint him on the road but slowed down through the sharp turn on the road as I didn’t want to slide out and crash.

Result: 5th

Today’s race was really good. Our group of the top 6 riders had a wicked battle the entire race with lots of position changes and plenty of attacks and counter-attacks. It felt awesome to have another clean race and finish up in the lead group again.

Photo Credits: Mark Kay

Speed Theory Speedfest Crit

Seems to be getting harder to write in any blog updates right now. It’s combination of more time spent training and I don’t really feel like it..so this will be a pretty short recap.

This was going to be my last road race of the season. As was going to do the Bow 80, I decided to just do the crit to try and get enough points to upgrade. The race was in downtown Calgary by Eau Claire Market and I’m sure getting the city to buy into this was no easy feat. The course was pancake flat with 2 long straightaways and shorter than any other crit course I had done. After walking the course during one of my lunch hours, I knew right away it would be a really fast race.

 After getting everything ready, watching the kids race and running a bunch of laps, I got to the start line…but apparently I got there a little too late and had to seed myself in the second row. Because of issues with light, we had our race reduced from 35min + 3 laps (roughly about 40 laps) to 20 laps….so it was going to be really fast.

The first lap started a little slower then as we had a pretty big group but it soon settled into a double file peloton. I was near the back on the first lap but it we were on closed roads with lots of room to move. As always whenever a gap was starting to open up I went around the packs to bridge up to the faster group.

With about ten laps remaining there was a group of two riders that had gone off the front and were about a half lap ahead of the rest of the group. With 7 laps remaining and a 20 second lead on us, Andrew launched the first attempt to bridge. No one followed him and I missed his attack so he ended coming back to the pack. 6 laps remaining and the MCs said there was a 9 second lead on the peloton. This is where I decided to do a suicide attack to try and reel the riders back in. I pulled out and went to the front of the pack and went off the front to see who would a follow. A couple riders got on my wheel to help me bridge but the rest of the peloton didn’t seem interested in helping us.

4 laps to go we managed to reel in the 2 riders that were off the front and we were a pretty big pack again. As we rounded into the final straight I tried to get myself in good position for the last sprint. Everyone started going right after corner 4 but I was trying to time it so I could pass the people that went too early. There were riders spread out all across the road and I wasn't able to sprint effectively past all the riders. I ended up finishing with the main pack but I knew right away I had not placed in the top 7 which is what I was aiming for in this race. I burned my last match at the front trying to bridge and just didn’t have enough for the final sprint.

Result: 12th

I finished up in a group off 22 riders so it was pretty much a toss up for my placing. I still had a really good race and was able to reel back in the two riders off the front who were almost guaranteed 1st and 2nd place. Andrew was able to time his sprint right for second which bumped him up to Cat 4 but I’m sure I’ll be able to get my remaining points next season.

*Photo credits to all the photgraphers who posted links up on the Speed Theory blog.

Alberta Road Provincials

I should really take a break.

I really wasn't going to do this race. I wanted to do the Speed Theory stage race to finish off my road season and then start resting up for the Bow 80 and 'cross. I said over and over…I wasn’t going to do road provincials…but I was so close to an upgrade to Cat 4.

I checked the weather forecast everyday…wishing for rain or bad weather to keep me from wanting to do this race…but alas, the forecast settled on being sunny in the mid-20s with no rain…probably the nicest day we’ve had all year so far. Also all the people I normally train with were helping out with the race so I figured this would be a good way to get a good training ride in.

The race was up and down Horse Creek road near Cochrane. I had pre-ridden the north half of the course last year and but had decided to skip the race in order to do the Speed Theory stage race the following week. The course is a fairly selective course with one feature that usually breaks the field apart…a 1km 6% average climb at the halfway mark.

The race started fairly neutral as we were pretty much downhill for the first 11km to the first turn around. At each turn around there was a fairly tight 180 that need to be negotiated…usually not an issue but with a pack trying to take the turn 3 wide…it made for some interesting turnarounds…pretty amazed there were no crashes…although more than a few people got pushed into the ditch.

After the turnaround, the pace stayed fairly neutral up the false flat with no major attacks or surges within the pack. Though there were only about 30 riders in the race it was still fairly hard to move up in the peloton as the pack pretty much took up the entire lane. My first chance came when we approach the first power climb. There was a slight gap developing in the pack so I made my move and bridged up to the lead pack. I wanted to be at the front of the peloton so that I wouldn’t get dropped on the descent on the big hill. As we neared the top of the hill, I moved to the very front of the peloton and went down the hill first. I knew couldn’t go down as fast as most people despite being in full tuck position and not using my brakes I cringed a little after seeing a few close calls with guys weaving back and forth across the road going 70+ km/h. At the bottom of the hill I was near the back of the pack again…but I wasn’t too worried about it.

We got to the north turnaround and in the distance I could see the hill we had just descended looming ahead like a giant wall. We got to the big climb and the pack broke apart almost instantly. I switched into my little ring and pretty spent the entire hill dodging riders scattered cross the road while just spinning to conserve energy. Surprisingly enough there more than a few moments where I had to soft pedal behind a rider to look for a way around and then stand up and keep hammering. I crested the hill and latched onto the back of about 15 riders. I checked behind me and could not see any other riders…so it looked like we had a split in the pack…it was time to hammer. I called out that we needed to form a pace line and take short pulls so we could drop the other riders. A couple riders heard me and rode up to the front of the pack to tell the other guys in the font to start taking short pulls. After not seeing any movement on the front, I rode up to the front of the paceline and did a quick pull and pulled off to get the paceline going, another rider pulled through and did the same…then the next rider pulled though and just sat there which effectively ended our attempt to have a smooth rotating fast pace line.

As we got down to the last 10km of the race, a bunch of riders flew by me and then I realized that the chase pack had caught us and we were a big group of about 20 riders again. They had worked together and caught back…which is something our group should have never let happen with 15 riders...but lesson learned.

After the south turn it looked like everyone was weary of being on the front as we went up the false flat. I did another turn on the front but as it seemed that the riders would not let me pull off. Even after I waved for the riders to pull though and I moved off to the side, the whole pack moved with me as I moved so I ended up having to slow the pace down so that I could get back in the draft again.

When we got to the final turn I was positioned in the front into the last 2km stretch. It was an uphill finish so I was trying to conserve energy so that I could sprint a little later than usual because of the hill. I ended up on the very front of the pack as we neared the hill but I didn’t want to go full out just yet and have other riders sit on my wheel. Suddenly the pack surged around me and I was at the back of about 15 riders. I let a gap develop a bit as I looked for a way around the pack while in my drops to start my sprint. All of a sudden I see a bike literally go backwards, the sound of metal on pavement and a riders head hit the pavement hard right in front of me…not again.

I knew no one was behind so I just managed to slam on my brakes, swing wide and barely missed hitting the rider as he rolled on the ground. I sprinted hard to catch up to the group and somehow managed to pass a bunch of riders going into the finish.

Result: 9th
I was fairly happy with how my race went. I still managed to finish in the points despite having to slow down during a sprint to avoid a crash and for the most part I felt really good the entire race.

My teammate managed to grab 4th in the sprint so it was a pretty good day for our team with two top 10 finishes.

Tour De Bowness

August long weekend had finally arrived. For most people this is a time for camping and to enjoy the last month or so of summer. For roadies in Alberta, it's time to throw down at the annual Tour De Bowness stage race. This is a great wekend racing event that is organized by Bow Cycle and the Niklas Group which includes a road race, hill climb time trial and criterium around the Bow Cycle shop.

A year ago I remember doing this race just to try out road racing and of course, participate in one the biggest cycling events of the year. Looking back on my first year of racing last year, I didn’t really know how to train properly for an event like this and I also didn’t really fully understand race tactics so things didn’t go as well as planned. Although I did fairly well in the hill climb, I really suffered in the road race and then I got lapped in the crit.

I trained most of July for this event and was pretty focused on doing better than last year. This was also going to be my first ABA road race since my crash in Pigeon Lake so I was a little nervous about getting back into a pack again...but I knew all the courses really well and had a much better idea of where attacks and surges would take place which really goes a long in keeping safe and having a good race.

Road Race:

The first event was the road race which took place on Saturday morning at the Bears Paw golf course just outside of Calgary. This course is a pretty difficult one as the distance is shorter than most road races which makes for a much faster race and it is really rolly with no real chance to rest. The plan was pretty simple for this one…stay in with the main pack on the big climb at the end of each lap. This is where I had lost the pack last year so I knew that all the surges and attacks would be here in order to break the field up.

My only issue with this course is the descent on the back side of the course which usually rubber bands at the bottom as people slow down to take the hard right turn. Every lap I was able to make up the places I lost on the descent, on the climb back up to the start/finish. I was able to stay in every time the pack surged on the hill and didn’t try to chase down every suicide breakaways. I did a couple short pulls at the front just to keep in with the lead group but for the most part positioned myself to conserve energy for the climb. Around the 5th or 6th lap we had dropped half the field but the lead pack kept pushing the pace. As we came around for the last lap the pace went up considerably. Around lap 7, there were only about 15 of us left in the main pack with a start group of around 50. On the last lap, we got to the hill and I went hard as I could to try and gap anyone that could be a threat on the final sprint. This time I grabbed onto a wheel as soon as I saw someone going faster and I knew where I wanted to start my sprint. As we neared the finish line, I sprinted hard for the finish line and was able to pass a few more people.

Result: 5th

After a lot of confusion over the results I got confirmation the next day I had placed 5th so I was now in the running for the Omnium.

Hill Climb:

The second event of the day was the hill climb which was the same course as last year. My goal this year was to try and beat my time from last year which was 4:33min.

The event was in the evening so it was a pretty long break between races. My heat was with 2 guys that I normally race with on Tuesday nights so I was hoping that would they would help me push myself for a better time this year. After spinning for a while on my trainer in the parking lot, chatting with friends and stripping all the unnecessary parts off my road bike, I went over to the start area to get weighed in and focus. After having some good laughs at the start line, it only took the 15 second countdown for us to settle down and focus. Right out of the gate I sprinted out hard in my drops to try and hit a good speed before the pain started. I knew my pain threshold was quite a bit higher than the previous year and due to some testing on a CompuTrainer I knew how long I could stay at certain thresholds.

I had a plan of where I wanted to be...but each person telling me to keep going hard, I kept pushing harder. At turn 3 I looked back and I couldn’t even see the other guys in my heat…so now I just had to keep pace through the constant pain in my legs. This time I remembered where the turns were but by turn 6, I could barely increase my speed anymore as my legs were just burning from the lactic acid buildup. As I closed in on the finish line, I had just enough resolve to stand up and just hammer for the finish line.

Result: 6th Time: 4:21 (12 seconds faster than last year).


Provincial Criterium:

Finally the big day had arrived, the infamous technical crit around the Bow Cycle shop. This was the event I was really training hard for as I got dropped last year 15 minutes in, lapped with 4 laps to go and got pulled out of the race. This year my goal was to try and finish with the main pack and stay in for the final sprint.

This year I ran a few laps on the course after warming up on my trainer to prevent me from having another bad start like at the Velocity crit. Also during the race staging, I managed to sneak my way right up to the front right on the start line. This year we didn’t get a neutral lap so as soon as the race started it was pretty much full-on gas. This year I was a little less nervous about my bike on the bumpy Bowness roads and had done way sketchier races on my road bike (Prairie-Roubaix race). Around the third lap there was crash involving my friends Trevor from Bici and Archie from Deadgoat. I caught a glimpse of Trevor going into the barrier out of the corner of my eye…which kind of unnerved me…but I tried not think about it and just kept hammering. With 10 laps to go, I decided to do a slight attack….not for a prime or anything…just to see if could get to the front and out of the pack of sketchy riders around me (and for a photo op). I felt really good this year with no cramps and my legs actually cooperating me with me on the back rise. When the last lap came around…it was fast. I went hard up the rise so I could have a good position on the chicane and then set myself up for the final sprint. As we came around the last corner, I could see the race leaders so I shifted and drafted another rider to set up my sprint. As soon as I close in to 200 meters, I ducked out and sprinted as hard as I could, passing a bunch of riders in the process. As I neared the finish line, I finally did a bike throw and I could count only four people who had crossed the line just a split second before me.

Result: 5th

After the race, I checked in with my teammate Archie who was OK but a little bruised and Trevor who had hit his hip pretty hard. Not too sure what happened during the race but it was unfortunate that they both had a pretty short race.

Omnium Result: 3rd 5th

Well after a long weekend of racing I placed on the podium for the road race, crit and omnium (overall points result). Originally, I was placed 3rd overall in the Omnium at the awards ceremony but that was later changed to 5th as some results were messed up and corrected the next day. Still it felt awesome to finally get on the podium and it was a pretty awesome weekend for me, having had a completely different race experience from the year before. My parents had missed the races but I was able to get them from the airport and back in time to watch me stand on the podium for the first time.

I’m really glad I was able to do what I wanted to do stage race and really improve on last year’s results. After having so many results being just shy of the top 8 and not having acquired a single upgrade point in almost 2 years of racing, it was pretty awesome to get 3 top 8 finishes in a row.

I didn't get to watch very many of the other races as I was running around doing errands and resting. I did watch the entire Cat 1/2 crit and it was awesome. It was a really exciting race with plenty of attacks, a huge breakaway and a surprise winner. I love watching the Cat 1/2 crit as you always see a ton of tactics being used and it's also a surprise who pulls it out for the win.

Many thanks to all the people who cheered me on during the race and all the people who came up to me after my race, it is always very much appreciated. Also a big thanks to Bow Cycle, the Niklas Group and all the volunteers for helping to put on this great event.

Photos credit: Brent Topilko

http://kayphoto.smugmug.com/event/tourdebowness2010

Crit: http://www.canadianexposures.com/gallery/johnrajic/201/0

Road Race: http://www.canadianexposures.com/gallery/johnrajic/203/0

Awards: http://www.canadianexposures.com/gallery/johnrajic/204/0

Suffer Spring Summer Solstice

I know it's pretty surprising but this was going to be my first ABA XC race for the year, all my other starts were either marathon races or road races. Despite not having my road rash fully healed and still having bandages on my arms...I needed to get back out and race again. I had originally planned on racing the crit in Banff the day before...but since I hadn't done a road race or big group ride since my crash, I decided against it as I stil didn't feel fully comfortable racing in a pack at high speeds especially on a notoriously sketchy course.

As I had been caught in a hail storm during the pre-ride the day before...I expected the course to be pretty muddy...but it was really nice outside and the course usually dries up pretty fast so I wasn't too worried about the course conditions. What really worried me, were the guys I was going to be racing against. All these guys had done several of the ABA XC races and all of them had shown huge gains over last year.  Major threats for me were the usual culprits, Ken, Mark and Sam. I had yet to beat Ken in a race and I knew that he is riding really strong this year (and I called him out at the end of the season last year...haha). Mark is an awesome technical rider and always does well in technical dowhill courses. Sam and I have always finished really close in results last year and he looked to be riding really well this year.

Needless to say, I was a lot more nervous then I may have let on at the start of the race, although I do find myself a little more relaxed at starts then I used to be...but I was surrounded by all these fast guys...so I seeded myself right up at the front in the hopes of being able to keep up.

Don't let the smile fool you - I'm getting ready to SUFFER!

The race started and I went out hard...but tried to reel it in a bit as I knew that the first climb was relentless and a major risk on this course is going out too hard and then blowing up on the climb. I found Ken's wheel pretty quickly and kept him in my sights to keep a good pace. I gained a few spots on the initial climb where I was able to pass Sam and Sheldon. We did a descent into a pool of mud and because I couldn't remember the line (and coming out the race clean with a clean bike was pretty much done with), I decided to plow straight throught to gain a couple spots. My front wheel pretty much disappeared into the mud and so I had to put my foot down to try and get my bike out. My leg went straight down into the mud and I was in knee deep mud struggling to push my bike out. Luckily the pool of mud was before the creek crossing which was pretty deep too...so I was able to wash off a lot of the mud from my bike (and shoes). Now came the first big climb...and I was now starting to pass guys that had blown up or didn't have the legs ready for the climb. I knew I had made my way into the top 5 and could see the race leaders in front of me. I had passed both Ken and Mark who both told me to keep givin' er which really helped me to keep pushing.

After grabbing onto a wheel, I winded through the single track climb (my favorite part of the course) and then sped along the connector to the second big climb. I power up the climb and was hanging onto the wheel of another rider (which turned out to be the guy in third place). I stayed with him until the first switchback descent which is where he, despite my best efforts, gapped me almost instantly. I rode within myself as I know that crashing can pretty much kill your race if you aren't confident in taking the decents fast. I couldn't hear any riders behind me so I just kept my own pace. There was one big climb remaining where I figured I could make up lost time.

Sulpher Spring Descent

Near the end of the switchback descents, my front wheel got caught in a rut and I bailed into the grass...the exact same place where I had bailed yesterday during the pre-ride. I was a pretty soft landing but the rider in 5th gained a place on me. I got up and pushed hard to close the gap before the first climb. During the one of the power climbs, I ended up passing him as he had dropped his chain. Then it was time for the 3rd and hardest climb.

Because of the rain the day before the climb was tackier then usual which made the first part of the climb a little bit easier. I zig-zagged my way up but took a bad line tat the steepest part and ended up having to dismount and run the last little bit. The rider who had passed me had caught up but I was slowly opening the gap on the climb. I could once again see the rider in 3rd so I tried to climb in a harder gear to try and close in on him but he got away from me again on the descent.

As I went down the final descent the rider behind me once again caught up and passed me...now I was just hoping to try and hold onto my position. After the descent it was time for the long flat single track to the finish line. I popped my chain into the big ring and hammered for the finish. I checked behind me and couldn't see a rider but that didn't mean I would let up. I crossed the finish line and was pretty happy about how the race went.

Result: 5th

My best rsult in a race so far. It seems that on a fitness level, I'm really feeling much stronger in races then last year and finally starting to feel all my hours of training come through. It was also a great day for my teammates as well with Mark, Ken and I all finishing up in the top 8.  

Lyndon finishing up a true mountain bike race

Photo Credits: Carthy Chan, Earl Nolan, Ken Hurd 

Pigeon Lake Road Race

The day started out great and  was I was feeling pretty good. Despite having a rough week at work, I was trying to forget about it all and try to have fun during the race. It was a super nice day outside and the wind seemed to be pretty calm. For once it wasn't so bad waiting aroudn for the start. When we got called to the start, I moved myself as far to the front as I could. Sometimes it feels like your starting position is one of the most critical things in racing…but sometimes it seems you have to prove yourself to self-seed yourself at the front. After a few instructions we all rolled out on a neutral start. As we rolled out of the parking lot I got cut off by a lot of riders so went pretty far back in the pack just getting out onto the road.

As we rolled down past the Start/Finish we followed the lead motorcycle until he signalled the race was on. The motorcycle didn’t seem to really know the course because he decided to go straight onto a gravel road…and caused a ton of confusion in the pack with some people turning and some people going straight. After finally getting the turn and the pack sorted out….the race was on. I was still pretty far back in the pack and there wasn’t much room for movement as the pack took up the entire lane of the road. Centre rule violation was extremely strict with several riders getting DQ’d during the race so it was pretty dicey to try and gain positions along the left side of the pack and on the right side there was gravel on the shoulder which made that pretty sketch as well.

The pack was pretty sketchy to be honest. There was a lot of slowing down, braking, tempo changes and almost no attacks. On the second major turn we finally had a decent chance to shake up the pack a little. I found on the left side of the pack and moved up to the front of the group. Then 5 of us formed a paceline and tried to accelerate away from the pack. A rider pulled through to do a pull and pretty much stopped pedalling. Right away our paceline was shut down and the pack absorbed us back in. We went through the next turn and I could see a climb in the distance, nothing too selective but probably a good chance to drop a few riders. I was up front and stayed with the lead group as we paced up the hill, all in our big rings. I felt pretty strong going up the hill and stayed to my game plan to not spend too much time at the front if I could prevent it.

Going into second lap, a few riders started passing me and I was getting worried about getting dropped so I looked back to see the size of the pack. It turns out that we dropped about half the riders on the hill so the pack was now a lot smaller…and I was still in the lead pack. Despite the smaller number, it was still almost impossible to get to the front and the pace was still all over the place. I don’t think I’ve braked so much in a road race! Every chance I got I would move up a little further in the pack so I would keep myself in position at the front. We went up the hill again and we all stayed together. I thought I would be able to gain get up to the front as the finish was on an uphill, but riders were all across the road so I had to soft pedal up the hill as there was no room to move. We got to the second last turn of the course where we turned off the loop to proceed towards the finish line. Now the pack was getting faster as we were all fighting for position. I went into my drops and started looking for a way to move up. I backed off a little to let the pack thin out a bit when all of sudden I hear the sound of screeching metal and I see a bike go up in the air. I slammed on my brakes but before I know it a rider is on the ground right in front of my bike. I try to look for an exit but I was going too fast and my wheels had locked up so I ended up running into the rider. I got thrown off my bike and soon as I was sliding/rolling on pavement. As I was lying ont he ground, I looked and watched another rider hit the same rider I just hit and go flying off his bike as well.

I got up off the gorund fairly quickly and did a quick mental check of my body. Everything appeared to be working but I could also sense a little bit a road rash. I looked around to see riders, bikes and waterbottles everywhere. I looked around for my bike which was thrown about 10 meters in front of me and did a quick check to se if it was all one piece. After I looked around and found both my waterbottles. I hopped on the bike and noticed the seat was twisted. I banged it back straight, got on yelled back that I was OK and TT'd for the finish line by myself. At this point I was less concerned about finishing the race then I was to try and get back to the community hall to get first aid. I had road rash down both my arms, knees and my hands had been cut up a little. As I crossed the finish line, I noticed my shorts and my jersey were ripped up pretty badly as well.

After the race, I was glad I was able to at least finish the race but not even sure why I even bothered. I felt bad for the guys that were pretty badly injured but I needed to get back to look after myself as I had blood everywhere and needed to get it treated ASAP. After getting medical attention, I was noticeably angry about the whole incident. We were only a few kms from the finish line and I was in the lead pack. I felt great and thought I had a good chance of placing well which completely changed in a split second. This was a pretty important race for me and it seemed like everything was going so well that it took a while for me to realize there was nothing I could do and it was just unfortunate circumstance.

Looking back, I think I'm actually pretty lucky. With the exception of my computer screen cracking on my computer and my seat ripping, there was virtually no damage to my bike. I had some pretty severe road rash on my arms and sore shoulder, but that's about it as far as injuries go. To my knowledge there were 7 guys involved in the crash. 2 guys had very serious injuries and there were quite a few wrecked bikes.

Here is a very well written race report by a a member of Team Fiera

http://fieraraceteam.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/pigeon-lake-rr-road-rash/

Hopefully Simmon has a speedy recovery and isn't deterred from racing again.

After going to the clinic and diagnosed with first and second degree burns, I decided to take a week off the bike to heal and get my mind back in the right zone again. The crash is by far one of the scariest things I have been involved during my time racing, I've been fortunate to have avoided these up until now...but the saying has always been that it's a "when" not an "if" and road racing especially in the aptly named "Crash 5" category.

Next major road event for me is the Tour de Bowness Stage Race which is just over a month away.

- Kyle

Giver-8-er

I remember I mentioned in a blog entry last year that I couldn’t really dislike enduro events without trying them first. For reasons unknown, I’m actually starting to see the fun in them…maybe it has something to do with being a Deadgoat. I was originally going to do the race solo but then I talked to Justin and he seemed interested in trying the race so we signed up as a 2-man relay team instead as this was going to be more of a fun race for me now as my mountain biking focus seems to be more on enduro this year.

In the week leadin up to the event while helping the team with a little bit of course maintenance and riding the course a few times…it looked like we were going to have the best Giver-8-er conditions ever. Everything was dry and the trail was mint. The next week the forecast just seemed to get worse every day. It was near the end of May and it was raining, snowing and really cold….it felt like what March should have been.

The day before the race just seemed like a recipe for disaster. There was sleet in the morning and the course was extremely muddy. We were still determined to run the race as we were already past the deadline to call it off. Our decision was to eliminate a couple sections of the course as they were going to be either extremely dangerous or bogs. As the conditions seemed to get worse, I was really not looking forward to bringing out my Faze and risk having to replace my barely used drive train. I really wanted to race…but I didn’t think it was worth it to trash my race bike for what was supposed to be a fun race for me.

I now had a few concerns about the race. The first being my partner still wanting to race in the conditions and the second being which bike I wanted to ride. After watching a rider pre-ride the course on his single-speed mountain bike…I talked with a few people on my team and decided that now would probably be a good time to build up my single-speed frame. After finishing up helping the team with the course, I went home to start putting my bike together. After mounting the cranks and wheels, I brought it over to Tim who helped me finish up the build in just over an hour. I took it for a test ride around the block and it seemed good enough to attempt to race the next day.

The next day, conditions were cold but it had stopped raining and snowing for the most part. I brought both my 1X1 and my Prophet bikes with me…just in case I had a mechanical with the single-speed. I met up with Justin and we set up in the team feed zone. Justin started the race as I wasn’t sure about riding a single-speed with a whole ton of people on the course at the same time and I didn’t want to hold people up when I had to get off and walk. We decided to switch off every lap as it was pretty cold and it would give us shorter breaks in the pit. Just enough time to refuel and clean off the bikes.

Justin finished off his first lap and now it was time for my first real ride on a single-speed mountain bike. I took off from the team pits…as fast my legs and 32 X 20 setup would let me. I got to the first hill…and I was totally surprised that I could pedal up with no problems. I continued to climb until the fairly steep rocky climb into the first section of single-track. This is where I decided to dismount and walk as there was still a lot of course and I didn’t know how my legs would hold up. The course was muddy…but not as bad as it could have been. I had to walk a few sections as I would lose traction when I had to stand up to pedal up some steep sections but overall there were only like 3 sections that were really bad.

Each subsequent lap the course was actually drying out and I was also able to pedal up more stuff as I got used to the single-speed bike. Single-speeding was pretty different for me…it tooks me a couple laps to get into it…but honestly…it really take a lot of your mind when you’re not worried about your drivetrain seizing up or ghost shifting. The course is a pretty hard one with lots of short power climbs so it was actually pretty good training for single-speeding technique.

The only thing I didn’t really like about the single-speed is it’s really hard on your back and your arms. At the end of each lap my lower back would get really tight so I had to stretch in between laps. My arms weren’t really that sore…but they were getting a good workout from all the side-to-side motion needed to torque my bike up all the climbs.

As we approached the end of the day, Justin went out for his final lap and warned me that he wasn’t sure if he’d be back in time for me to do one more lap. He had quite a bit of time…but he was getting tired but he still went out to throw down one more lap. I was also pretty tired and was concerned about needing more time than usual to finish my lap. With an hour remaining in the race, Justin came screaming into the lap zone and left me an hour to get my last lap done. I took off on my last lap and was pretty tired but determined to get in a 5th lap so I could tie with my number of laps from the previous year. Even though I was tired, I rode way more stuff then my previous laps as the ground was now really tacky with only a couple really muddy spots. I finished off my laps with some time to go and I was officially completely exhausted.

Although I didn’t do more laps then I did the year before…I’m quite happy that I got 5 laps down with no crashes, mechanicals and my first time on a single-speed bike. Justin also did awesome for his first mountain bike race and also had no major crashes or mechanicals. Perhaps I’ll bring the single-speed out for more ride and try to get a more of a feel for it…my team seems to really enjoy them.

Big thanks to the team for putting on a great event and everyone showing up and soldiering on despite the conditions. Also a big thanks to Tim and Gerry for helping me put together my single-speed bike the day before the race. It was great pulling after every lap and everyone asking me how I like the single-speed. Although I wasn’t in love with it at the start of the race…I really liked how I could just ride it and not have to worry about anything. It was also sufficiently hard…no granny gear to fall back on…so it really tested my limit as to how hard I could push myself to make it up some pretty steep climbs that I really did not want to walk.

Salty Dog 6 Hour Enduro

GPS Data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33876534

I don’t really know what pushed me into wanting to do this race. Most of my team talked about how fun it was last year and how this was one of their favorite events of the year. It’s hard to imagine how riding a bike for 6 hours straight can be fun…but there must be something to if it sold out last year. This year the rider limit was capped at 400 and after I heard how popular it was, I was registered way back in March….which was a good decision because it completely sold out the following week.

For me this wasn’t so much a race…but a test to my training plan this year. I was never a big fan of endure races and my last one did not really go the way I had planned, but my team seems to love them and about 90% of the team signed up to do this…so it was pretty much already guaranteed to be a great time.

The race was in Salmon Arm, BC so it was probably going to be better weather then what we were getting in Calgary and my first out –of-province race. This was also going to be my first solo endure race. I managed to hook up with Mark on my team to drive up and Pat also tagged along for the ride. We left right after work so arrived just a little after 10pm in Salmon Arm where we promptly retired to our rooms for the night as we had a pretty full day planned for Saturday.

Saturday we went to pick up race packages and pre-ride the course. We met up with Jeff Nielsen and crew again then looked around Skookum Cycle which was a pretty small bike shop. We went down to the course after and met up with three other Deadgoats for the pre-ride. Gerry led us up through the first single-track climb which was smooth, tight and twisty. After that we continued on to the second section on single-track which is where we apparently missed a turn because we wound up climbing a gravel road for what seemed like forever to the first section of downhill. The first downhill was pretty technical with some North Shore style stunts littered throughout…which were thankfully marked so you didn’t go off by accident and a couple steep rock garden sections. After the first downhill we ended up back on the road we just climbed and then we climbed up to the second single-track descent section. The second descent was a little less technical with a super flowy switch back section at the bottom. After crossing the road again there was a small climb before an ultra-fast double-track section. This was pretty straight near the top with a couple switchbacks thrown in and then a couple steep descents back into the feed zone/lap section.

After finishing up the lap we found we had missed approx. 4km so we went headed out for another lap to see where we made the wrong turn. In the second section it turns out we missed a hard right turn…which we almost missed again but I was able to call back Mark and waiting for Linda to catch up so she wouldn’t miss it either. The second climb was a really nice climb with a few steep sections and then after getting to the top we did a really nice flowy single-track descent. After the descent we got spit out a double-track climb which wasn’t really steep but it was pretty long. It was really exposed so I was concerned about having the climb this the next day with the sun and potentially running out of water. We got to the top and did the descent once again where I felt a little more comfortable now that I knew what to expect.

Race day a bunch of us who were staying at the hotel woke up fairly early and went for breakfast. The sky was overcast and it looked like it might rain…which was actually a pretty sing considering how hot the day before was. After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and headed down to the race site. IT was pretty crazy with over 600 riders running around preparing for the race and getting setup. After listening to the pre-race info and announcement we headed down the road...about a 1km away from the trailhead for the mass start.

I seeded myself in the second fastest group as the first part of the course was mostly climbing and I didn’t want to get stuck behind people walking their bikes. After a few moments the race started and we headed out in staggered groups towards the gravel road climb. The first climb of the race was mostly on gravel road as the single-track would have been way too congested and this was a good way of stringing out the riders. The gravel climb went all the way up the road to about the second climbing section where we were strung out pretty good. After going through the first section I felt a little stiff and the quads were burning a little…but I figured I just needed to warm-up a little. My heart rate was pretty high…pretty much at 90% so I knew I needed to get it under control and try to pace myself.

I found Ted in the pack of riders and rode with him for a little bit of the climb. Ted stayed behind me pretty much the entire way down the single-track which was good because he pushed me a little to take the sections faster as he almost ran into me a couple times. My plan was to change water bottles every lap and stretch every other lap. Near the bottom of the descent into the feed zone, my front tire washed out during a hard turn into a slight climb and I ended up having a minor spill, I picked myself up and moved my bike to avoid getting killed by the huge line of riders bombing down the section then rejoined in a slight gap. After finishing off the first lap, I checked my water bottle which was still about ¾ full so I flew by the feed station and went out for a second lap. My legs felt way better on the second lap and now I was able to ride within myself as things started to string out. MY goal for the day was to complete at least 6 laps so I would beat my Giver-8-er record from last year.

After lap 2, I stopped for a 5 minutes to change water bottles, stretch and eat a little bit of food. It was going to be a long day and I wanted to make sure I had enough energy to keep going. The downhill was really rough so it was taking its on my body. Every lap, my triceps were killing me, my fingers were getting numb and my back was tightening up. This was my second ride on my newly upgraded Faze and tubeless wheels so I was a little concerned how they would hold up. Every lap I checked my pressure but it seems fine though it was hard to notice the benefits of having a full suspension bike on the really bumpy.

Around lap 5, Lyndon asked me how I was holding up and I told him I was starting to get a little tired. He yelled back for me to keep going and I was still doing great. We helped push each other up the climb most of the race and it was great having a teammate to ride with and push me a little harder. After lap 5 I figured I had time to go out for another lap…so I took a short break and headed out again…I wanted to get in 6 laps. During lap 6, I caught up to Tim who was on his 7th lap and said he was feeling pretty tired…we was also debating pulling the plug when he finished up the lap. I was getting pretty cross-eyed but still felt I could keep going. I managed to keep a smile on the face up to now (I was out riding my bike on awesome single-track in BC…how could I not smile?) so I figured I wasn’t tired enough yet.

I finished up my 6th lap and got back to the feed zone with Tim. I asked how much time was remaining and someone told me about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Tim said he felt he could hammer out another lap and so asked me if I’d go out for another. I was tired but I figured I had enough energy to hammer out one more so I grabbed my last water full water bottle and set out to do my 7th lap with Tim pulling me along.

The climb felt hard but surprisingly my legs did not feel like jelly as I thought they would after having biked 65km and climbing a over 2km. I lost Tim on the first single-track descent but was able to catch up to him and Lyndon on the climb. Lyndon was also completing his 7th lap so I felt pretty good being able to hold pace with them as we climbed the double-track. I did the last descent with no issues and was a little slow but managed to push out one more smile for the course marshal as I did the final technical descent back to the feed zone.

I finished my race at exactly 6 hours so didn’t have time to do another lap although I felt that I had enough energy for an 8th lap if only I had another hour but I still felt awesome about the race. I didn’t have any major crashes…and the one I did have was so minor it probably shouldn’t even count. I felt I got a little better technically and it was a true show of winter training. I never thought last year I’d be able to do a 6 hour endure…let alone hammer roughly 73km out on a mountain bike.

Result: 29/84 in my age category

This was by far one of my better mountain bike races. I felt great during the entire race and my bike worked flawlessly. The tubeless held up and really helped me during many of the technical climbs. I cleaned all the sections and even landed a drop that I took by accident. I finished up in results close to my teammates so that felt great as well. This race wasn’t really about results but rather having fun and seeing where my endurance was at. I signed up for the Bow80 this year so wanted to make sure I would have the fitness to finish it.