Arrived in Canmore, Alberta for the Canada Cup XC Nationals after a solid two and a half days of driving with Taylor Near. We arrived early evening and were welcomed by rain and cool temperatures, which later that evening switched to sun and warmer temps. We unpacked the truck, grabbed some groceries in town, ate and hit the hay.
We awoke the next morning to go do some practice laps with Peter Glassford. I led him out to show him some lines that I may choose on course, it was a good ride until... I came over a wood bridge a bit too hot, over shot and compressed hard, which caused my back end to flex or something, which ended up grabbing my derailleur in the wheel and ripping it off the bike, wiping out 7 spokes while at it, bummer. I stopped, assessed the situation and felt sort of weird, maybe a combination of a long drive, high altitudes, adrenaline, not too sure, but I reached for my bottle on my bike and continued to topple into my bike as I passed out, weird. I hydrated like mad and felt fine, but my bike was in rough shape. I managed to hit up CAFE, the local bike shop in town, to grab some spokes to rebuild my wheel. Luckily my derailleur was fine and I had a spare hanger, so I got my bike rolling once the team bikes were all checked over and race ready.
Taylor and I headed to the Nordic Center early afternoon to get all of the wheels set up in the tech zone, and take the teams water bottles up with us in the cooler. Cayley Brooks was the first of our riders to race in the U23 women's category. She came around on her second lap with a rear flat, which we changed out with lightning fast speed, and got her running again, she ended up in 8th. As the sun came out behind the mountain and clouds the temperature increased, just in time for the men to race. All of our Elite riders had a good start and pushed hard. Adam had a good clean race and ended up in 5th! Peter Glassford had a crash on his third lap, burped his tire on his fourth and still came in across the line in 7th, after fighting his way back up to pass Norco Factory team rider Andrew Watson. Eric Batty had some unfortunate mechanical issues causing him to loose a bunch of time and got pulled on his last lap, he was riding well too. In the U23 men's category, young gun Mitch Bailey rode an awesome race and was looking great but just couldn't hold the win, he finished up in 2nd. All in all, it was an awesome race, the entire team rode really well and did a fantastic job! Tomorrow Peter and Adam are riding in a team relay so that will be cool. I also look forward to riding the other trails around here and having some fun! Check back for pictures and other updates soon!
Happy Trails!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Buckwallow XC #4
Buckwallow, around Gravenhurst area, was host to the last O Cup XC race this past weekend. I had never ridden there before and was told I would absolutely love the trails, and I definitely did! It's pretty much flat, a few small climbs but nothing serious, with tons of flat open double track and super technical single track at times, lots of fun!
I went up Saturday morning to get in some practice laps. There was a new section they had added just for the 1:30 start times which was interesting to say the least. It was all rock, quick uphills and some drop offs and other rocky bits, it was slow and hard on the body. I did 4 laps, 2 a little slower and 2 race laps and felt pretty good. I got to bed at a decent hour and felt good the next morning for the race.
I got to Buckwallow nice and early and fed my friend Mike who came up with me during his 11:30 am sport race. His race finished and I started my warm up. I got to the line a bit late and ended up lining up at the back of the pack. My first three laps felt pretty good, then on the 4th lap I bonked hard (meaning my body was on the verge of shutting down). Luckily Barry Near of the Trek store was there for the race and kept me going with his comments. I picked up the pace a touch for my fifth lap and ended up crossing the line in 7th. I was happy with my result, but not too happy with the way I performed, so definitely some work to be done there! I may also add that the top elite guys were off at the world cup at Windham, so it let the rest of the elite field battle it out. Overall I am pleased with how it went and will definitely be getting back up to Buckwallow to ride again, the trails are amazing.
I just arrived in Canmore AB for the Canadian National XC race, so I will keep you posted as things unroll.
Happy Trails!
I went up Saturday morning to get in some practice laps. There was a new section they had added just for the 1:30 start times which was interesting to say the least. It was all rock, quick uphills and some drop offs and other rocky bits, it was slow and hard on the body. I did 4 laps, 2 a little slower and 2 race laps and felt pretty good. I got to bed at a decent hour and felt good the next morning for the race.
I got to Buckwallow nice and early and fed my friend Mike who came up with me during his 11:30 am sport race. His race finished and I started my warm up. I got to the line a bit late and ended up lining up at the back of the pack. My first three laps felt pretty good, then on the 4th lap I bonked hard (meaning my body was on the verge of shutting down). Luckily Barry Near of the Trek store was there for the race and kept me going with his comments. I picked up the pace a touch for my fifth lap and ended up crossing the line in 7th. I was happy with my result, but not too happy with the way I performed, so definitely some work to be done there! I may also add that the top elite guys were off at the world cup at Windham, so it let the rest of the elite field battle it out. Overall I am pleased with how it went and will definitely be getting back up to Buckwallow to ride again, the trails are amazing.
I just arrived in Canmore AB for the Canadian National XC race, so I will keep you posted as things unroll.
Happy Trails!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Blue Mountain DH #4
Canada Day long weekend at blue mountain, blue skies, perfect weather and riding bikes, what a great time! Aside from the 4.5 hour drive Friday a.m to get to Collingwood. We opted to enjoy Canada Day and save the riding for Saturday and Sunday. A friend of mine brought over a little 50cc dirt bike to play around on, and I had a GoPro, things got loose! check back for some hilarious footage soon.
In the woods off a small feature
Practice day went well, I was feeling good and riding well, my new POC helmet was feeling great too, and the POC goggles I had to match kept my line of sight clear! There were a few new sections on the course from last year, which made the track a little more interesting. A couple of rock gardens were built up, a new berm and little step down jump were added, and near the bottom of the course they added in some "steps" made of about 15-20 logs laid across the trail filled between with slabs of stone and some dirt, it could get rough if your speed wasn't up. Then right before the finish line they added in a take off ramp but also left the option to go beside it, faster? maybe, the outside line around it was loose and felt slow, and the inside line beside the jump was tight, I opted to hit the jump and just stay nice and low.
Squatting one of the final jumps
Race day came around and I was stoked to be riding Blue Mountain. After a few race course practice runs the course was closed for lunch. I just wanted to keep riding so I rode the other trails that Blue had to offer until it was race time. It kept me warmed up and loose, but probably tired me out too, but I was just having too much fun. Race time rolled around, I dropped in and was riding rather "hack" for the top quarter then finally got into a groove and started feeling good. I came through the finish line in 5th (0.5 seconds behind Terry Leimonis who I had been riding with all weekend) then ended up finishing in 7th again. Mike Hermo form Silent Norco Racing took the win by a good margin, followed by local and young ripper James Frost with Brad Zdrillluk in third. Another awesome event, and another great weekend at Blue, it was an amazing time, thanks to Harry for the place to stay, SirBikealot Racing and all of the Volunteers, Buckwallow report coming next!
Race Run, mid scrub
Happy Trails!
In the woods off a small feature
Practice day went well, I was feeling good and riding well, my new POC helmet was feeling great too, and the POC goggles I had to match kept my line of sight clear! There were a few new sections on the course from last year, which made the track a little more interesting. A couple of rock gardens were built up, a new berm and little step down jump were added, and near the bottom of the course they added in some "steps" made of about 15-20 logs laid across the trail filled between with slabs of stone and some dirt, it could get rough if your speed wasn't up. Then right before the finish line they added in a take off ramp but also left the option to go beside it, faster? maybe, the outside line around it was loose and felt slow, and the inside line beside the jump was tight, I opted to hit the jump and just stay nice and low.
Squatting one of the final jumps
Race day came around and I was stoked to be riding Blue Mountain. After a few race course practice runs the course was closed for lunch. I just wanted to keep riding so I rode the other trails that Blue had to offer until it was race time. It kept me warmed up and loose, but probably tired me out too, but I was just having too much fun. Race time rolled around, I dropped in and was riding rather "hack" for the top quarter then finally got into a groove and started feeling good. I came through the finish line in 5th (0.5 seconds behind Terry Leimonis who I had been riding with all weekend) then ended up finishing in 7th again. Mike Hermo form Silent Norco Racing took the win by a good margin, followed by local and young ripper James Frost with Brad Zdrillluk in third. Another awesome event, and another great weekend at Blue, it was an amazing time, thanks to Harry for the place to stay, SirBikealot Racing and all of the Volunteers, Buckwallow report coming next!
Race Run, mid scrub
Happy Trails!
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