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