First Cross Race

Jensen after his race

OK, this isn't really my first cross race.  It is the first one of the season for the Ottawa Cross series, but that's not really what this post is about.  It's about the first cyclocross bike race (in fact, the first bike race) that my son, Jensen, participated in. 

Jensen has been biking for several years, and began mountain biking in earnest this summer.  Of course, I'm anxious to encourage his biking, being that I'm quite obsessed with it (OK, at least I can admit it...); however I'm also careful not to push too hard, to avoid turning him off the activity. 

So the Ottawa Cross series kicked off on 25 September at Calabogie, and the conditions couldn't have been better.  We had decided to travel to Calabogie on Saturday, and camp Saturday night.  We traveled with Rob Kerr and his family, making the trip as much about camping with friends as it was about a bike race.  Rob's son, Liam, has quite a bit more riding under his belt than Jensen, so it has been good for Jensen to bike with Liam - to give him motivation, to give him a good model for skills, and to make it fun.  I've found out the hard way - as soon as it stops being fun, the kids tune out fast!  And as expected, the kids (Jensen and Liam, as well as the girls Mia and Breagh) found a hill, a jump, and a loop to occupy lots of time on their bikes at the camp site. 

Start of the B race, Liam in red and yellow

Camping was fun, but there was a race to do!  Sunday was a great day, once the sun rose it felt like a summer day - good for the kids, since they were in the 9:00am start!  Unfortunately, due to my poor planning, we showed up too late for Jensen to do a lap to see what the course looked like.  Well, he'll just have to figure that out on the first lap (I know, that's not fair, it won't happen again!).  But off they go anyway.

Carving a wicked turn

The kids did two and a half laps, and it was very exciting for me to watch.  I now believe that a cross race is probably the best venue for youngsters to start racing.  The cost is minimal, the race is short (or as long as they want it to be), and the scope of the course is small.  I was able to walk back and forth across the course and watch him at each part of the course.  At one point, the kids were supposed to turn right to bypass the big run-up - unfortunately, since we didn't get a chance to pre-ride the course (oops), he went the wrong way - but at least I was able to call out to get him back on course.  It was awesome to watch him racing around, on his own, making his own choices to try to ride, or dismount and run, and to just keep on given' 'er! 

It was also fun to watch him racing around on his "new" bike - which is actually his mother's old 14" Santa Cruz Juliana, 26" wheel.  If someone would have told me a few weeks ago he could ride a 26" wheel, I would have argued that the geometry is all wrong, little kids can't handle the 26" wheels, and they won't learn the right skills.  I take that all back now.  Especially when mountain biking, the 26" wheels are a huge asset compared to smaller wheels.  And I can fully understand the issue: I've switched to a 29er this year, and I love the bigger wheels.  Not to mention that the Santa Cruz is probably lighter than his current 20" bike.

In the end, Liam came 2nd and Jensen came 3rd in the Under-11 category.  I am very proud of the effort he put in, and I expect he'll be out there for a few more races this year. 

Jensen and Liam after their race

We're all looking forward to the Madison next weekend in Almonte.  Jensen and Liam are going to be on a team, and it looks as if Jensen's younger sister, Mia, is going to race also - apparently the fun at the cross races is contagious!

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE (Q-CUP FINAL)

This is a late update, but an important one for team orange. Saturday Sept.3. Camp Fortune. New course. Fast!

Imad and I were excited,when we heard 3 weeks prior to the Quebec cup final that it would be on our home course. Also, it was to be a revised/repaired course.

After a sunset series race, we were shown the course by the race organizer himself. Eric (CycleOutaouais), was excited to be taking the reigns and wanted our feedback on both selection and race pace lap times. We were both impressed. It was fast and had 209 meters of climbing per lap.

For those of you who have riden Brian's, you know how technical the climbing is. I really enjoy that type of stuff as opposed to climbing CBC.

We knew what we had to do: Train, and dial the course. Dial we did. Imad showed me some lines, I showed him a couple. Man we knew that course!

So race day came, we assembled at the start line with our new matching helmets. Ready to race!
The start was blistering!
By the end of the start loop climb, we were sitting in 6th and 7th-Awesome!
By lap 2 we had caught 4th place Devinci rider and left him behind.We continued to ride well together, sharing the lead.
Eventually, it was evident that Imad was stronger on the long climbs.Going into the last lap I yelled to him to go for it as we were getting close to the 3rd place Val Morin rider. He did!
At a switchback point he informed me that I could catch 4th. I did!
I jumped around 4th place coming into the home stretch, I botched the last right turn due to some confusion at the finish line and ended up losing the sprint by half a wheel length.

So 3rd and 5th! Best elite result ever for Imad and not far off my best either. Looks like this season is going to end on a high note! Congrats to Imad for a stellar ride. Nice to see all his hard work pay off.

Bras du Nord Raid #4

In the city of Saint Raymond, Quebec this past weekend was the 4th and final of the Raid Extreme series. This final edition was to be 2 stages of 70km each. It promised lots of single track on day 1 and it did not disappoint!

Day 1
About 500 racers took to the start line.Within the first 10km a small selection happened. Marc-Andre Daigle,(MAD), pulled away on a long climb but never got out of sight. I ended up with his teamate Leni Trudel,(LT). I chased for a while with Leni sitting on my wheel until Aroussen Laflamme, (AF), bridged up to us and we proceeded to work together catching MAD shortly after. The 4 of us were riding well together and attacking one another on the climbs. AF and I shared the work of responding to the attacks of the 2 Garneau riders MAD and LT.
After a very long section of downhill single track AF and MAD had a small gap on LT and I. I was sitting on LT's wheel going downhill at about 45km/hr when he missed a turn and slammed on his brakes abruptly. I was caught off guard and hit him, launched myself over the bars and landed on my head pretty hard. I crushed the helmet. Broke my derailer hanger right off! Race over. Damn!
Nothing I could do about day 1.

Between
Sat afternoon we went to a shop called Biclyclette Record, in Quebec city. They set me up with all the parts I needed and even did the work! Great guys. Thanks to owner Mike and fellow racer , (up and comer) Vincent! You guys saved my race weekend and even hooked me up with a racer discount.

Day 2
An even bigger crowd too to the start line of Day 2. I felt good as I only had a half day of racing in my legs due to the crash. Took a little longer to get to the steep stuff. So it wasn't until 15km in that we had a selection. About 9 of us popped out on the road.
Entering the next section of trail I drove it pretty hard and managed to get a good gap taking the lead. I was joined by a Scott rider. We took advantage of our gap and worked together well. About 30 km in we were joined by the Garneau boys again. We hit a big climb and dropped the Scott guy right away.
Me against 2....been here before. The biggest longest most technical climb of the weekend and they just kept launching attack after attack.
Finally I cracked and MAD got away. LT sat on me again until I showed a small sign of weakness and he pounced! I was alone in no-mans land. I knew I had to keep my speed up. It was hard being alone in the wind for the remaining 30 km but I managed to pull off 3rd,(4min behind the Garneau boys).

Overall, great weekend. Time to buy a new helmet!

Quebec Provincial championships

Monday, August 8, 2011

Late Report

Val Morin, a beautiful little town with super steep hills and lakes everywhere you look. Located just down the 117 from Tremblant in the Laurentians.
Imad and I headed out for a pre-ride on Saturday around 3pm with Rob and Trish who had already done 1. Rob showed me some lines I showed him a couple and proceeded to do some sections way too fast having way too much fun, crashing spectacularly numerous times!
We all ended up staying in the same super 8 because le Radison burnt down the night before. But it ended up being pretty good, as they had an awesome water slide which we setioned for about an hour and continental breakfast with fresh wafels in the morning!
On to the race.....Rob had a catastrophic technical, exploding his bearing on his rear Hope Pro II rendering his bike completely unrideable,and being in the Masters category has to carry any parts and tools on him. Too bad he didn't have a new bearing and a hammer in his pockets, then he could have fixed it and finished the race.

Our race was sure to be really fast on a super dry hot course. I went for it right from the gun. I was able to stay with the lead group for the 1st half of the first lap. Really hard efforts. Eventually fell into the chase group where we proceeded to attack each other repeatedly. By the 3rd Lap I was joined by Imad, we dropped all of the chase group and it started to pour. I slipped my right hand off the bar , crashed pretty bad and got passed by 4 guys, got up, and settled back in, eventually passing them all again. I ended up about 40 sec behind Imad going into the last lap. I gave it all I had and finished 34 seconds behind him. He was 7th and I was 9th in the end!!
I can't imagine it going much better than this, considering the extremely strong field of young Quebec guns who were in attendance.

I highly recommend Val Morin (Far Hills Ski resort) for MTB'n---only $5/day and about 2.5hrs from Ottawa!

84km MTB Marathon in the Heart of Quebec. Victory!

Quebec has a MTB Marathon series called the Raid. There are 4 races in the series this year,
1)Raid Velo Mag (the one we did at MSA in June)
2)Raid Massif du Sud(missed it but will go next year)
3)Raid Jean D'Avignon(East Hereford )
4) Raid Bras du Nord( near Quebec city)
To be a "Marathon" it needs to be between 80- 120km, compared to the usual regular mtb race which is around 50km or less depending on the terrain.

This past Sunday I did the 3rd one, in East Hereford. The town is about 45min south east of Sherbrooke. Right on the border to Vermont.
It was my second year doing this race and last year I finished second overall to a local Elite strong man named Jean-Philipe Thibault Roberge(JPTR). We blew punches all day at each other and after 4hrs he won by about 20 sec!. Anyways, that was last year.......

This year he was away out west doing a string of Canada cups and Nationals. I looked around at the start line, some familiar strong faces but nobody I was really worried about, except maybe Pierre Harvey, (yes that Pierre Harvey). I was confident in my fitness and was ready to go. The gun went and all 110 of us were off. I surprised myself and easily took the lead down the road, with everyone sitting behind me waiting to see.
We turned right on the first gravel climb, I had a gap, so I said lets see what I can do here!

I went for it. 1km in with 83km to go --I went alone! I was just bombing and felt great all day, I ate, I drank, my bike was excellent. There was tonnes of Kingdom Trail style downhill singletrack. It was 4hrs of just me, my bike and the trails. I almost forgot I was racing, almost....On the long stretches on rolling straight gravel, I could see a group of 4 in what looked like an organized chase, so I had to buckle down, and for the final 35km I really dropped the hammer.

It worked, I came through the finish at 3hrs 51 min. 8 minutes ahead of second place.

Feels good to get a victory once in a while. Seems like it's been a long time!

Better Fortune? Maybe just a bit...

The latest Camp Fortune Sunset Series mountain bike race was last Wednesday evening. The temperature was mercifully moderate - well below 30, if I recall. I'm pretty sure that if the race was Thursday night, I would have skipped it; actually, I probably wouldn't have skipped it, but I would have gotten heat exhaustion. I'm happy to have not suffered that fate (again)!
The field expert/elite field was quite thin - a total of 5 guys. No doubt, this is in part due to observations described by Neil two weeks ago. In any case, I had arrived early enough to be on the bike 30 minutes prior to start, and caught up with Imad and Dustin heading out for a lap - to do a little course prep. Yup, to get the course ready for the race. Uh-huh, the race put on by Camp Fortune, a race for which I (and everyone else) have to pay for entry, as well as for trail access, and which starts in 30 minutes. But I digress!
OK, off we go, no time to spare It doesn't take long to find a "small" problem - a large tree fallen across the trail. Well, this is no good, it sure would suck if the race had started with that in the way. Not to worry, Imad heads back to the start to get a few big burly racers to move the fallen tree. Not being in that particular category, I keep going. As Neil noted two weeks ago, the course is poorly (i.e. not) marked. Well, that's not quite true. Most of the single track has tape along both sides of the trail - that must have taken forever. On the other hand, none of the intersections are adequately marked. It's not as if the intersections have never been marked - at most places where there is a choice on which way to go, there is ripped tape on the ground. I did my best to retrieve random unused tape segments (such as the tape along most of the single track...), to tape off as many incorrect turns as possible. I hope it helped, and I will say that this sort of course marking is the absolute least we should expect for a sanctioned race that carries an entry fee. I'm sure my tape will be gone in two weeks - no big deal, it'll just take someone from the race organization 30 minutes to go around and prep it before the next race.
OK, we didn't fix all the problems, maybe not even most of them. There is still lots of erosion, and the course does need attention - but hopefully we helped most of the racers go the right way most of the time...

A few race notes:
- as mentioned, the expert/elite category was thin. With only 5 of us on the start line, it was a very civilized pace.
- Imad crashed hard, right in front of me. I was sure there would be a dislocated shoulder, or broken clavicle, but it turned out to just be just a flesh wound, and a bent bike. Bend it back and keep going!
- my string of flats on the 29er has finally come to an end. I'm set up tubeless with my ZTR rims - no more pinch flats, and the bike is handling great.

2011 Nationals report

Well, I've been putting this blog post off for a while, with the hopes of finding a sweet photo to upload, but no such luck.
Nationals was a pretty awesome race. The course was at the Canmore Nordic Centre, and involved a lot of climbing, and fun trails. There was one somewhat sketchy descent that was taken out of the race (sad face!) but other than that, the course stayed the same as it was from pre-riding. I got to Canmore on Thursday afternoon, and only got to spend one day on the course, but I think that was enough. I had most of it fairly dialed by the time I got called up to the line on saturday morning.

The race start was super fast. I felt very sluggish off the start, and just didn't have that top gear. I think the altitude was affecting me. Off the start loop, I was sitting about 3rd from the back of the pack. Not good. So, I just started going harder, and gradually passed people. The race continued like this. I feel like I never really "got going" but I was climbing better than the people around me, and just kept on the gas, eventually dropping the people that I was battling with. I came across Cam Jette, who had blown up pretty badly. I told him to get on my wheel. He stayed with me for half a lap, then attacked. I spent the rest of the race chasing him, but never was able to close the gap. Overall, I finished 16th. Last year was 17th. Not quite the improvement I was looking for, but still pretty good.

I had a blast riding the course, and being out here in Canmore is Awesome. With a capital A. Sunday involved a hike up a mountain, plus a mtb ride. Monday was a 3+ hour hammer fest, then a hike, and some rock climbing. Tuesday was a 5+ hour ride, on which I bonked severely. Wednesday looks like easy recovery, and then maybe some more climbing, if the bad weather passes.

I'm not sure why, but I'm really digging Canmore this year, and find myself checking out rental prices. uh-oh! Tomorrow, Eric and I leave to head up to Edmonton, for a Canada Cup on saturday. Should be fun.

Ontario Cup gets all Buckawallow

The 5th Ontario cup mountain bike race was right in between Bracebridge and Gravenhurst Ontario. A venue built and owned by a guy who loves mountain biking.
Imad,Ryan and I liked our chances as most of the top guys were away at the World cup in Windham, NY.
We set up camp close by and got in a couple good pre-ride laps on a course with an awesome section very similar to Ridgetop in Kanata lakes. We seemed to have an edge through there due to our home made skills from riding Kanata often enough.
We ate dinner and were forced to our tents early due to an obscene amount of mosquitos. But that made for a nice long sleep, (9hrs for me), I think Imad got about 11hrs in his makeshift bed in his so called "tent", which is actually his truck with the seats down.
After some final adjustments on the bikes we headed for coffee. We had a choice between Mcdonalds and Tim's. Ryan and chose Mcdonalds, Imad chose both and got coffees an mcmufins from each. Before heading back for the battle, we decided to take a swim in the nice big lake, and man, did it feel good!! Dropped the core temperature dramatically on a +27 humid day. Ok. on to the race.

We were off at 1:30pm. Imad drove a mean pace and led us for the first part with a field of about 30 already starting to string out. I quickly moved up and took over the lead with Ryan right on my wheel. I led through until about 1/2 way through the first lap and out of all the rocky stuff. Ryan took over from there and at this point there was only 3 of us, Ryan, me and Preston Wagler. Just before the end of the first lap Danny Souter caught up and attacked. I couldn't quite hold on after my effort and fell about 5 sec off pace.
I came through the feed zone in 4th and missed my feed as my feeder wasn't expecting me to be so close to Ryan. Thankfully I still had a little water left in my bottle and was able to make it around again without cramping.
Fast forward 4 laps later....I was holding 4th strong with about 500meters to go and messed up my pass on a Masters rider, sending myself into a tree stump and dislocationg my thumb. I was able to hop back on but couldn't respond to John Slaughter who took home 4th leaving me to roll in 5th.
Imad was not far behind and claimed 6th!
We found out that Ryan had jammed up his chain and had fallen back a bit leaving him to claim 3rd!
So all in all in was a pretty successful weekend. All 3 of us made the big podium and even won a little bit of dough!
Next year with a little bit of luck I think we should be able to pull off the win.

Rough Fortune

Well, I did my second Sunset series race this year at Camp Fortune. Took the lead early, only to give it up to Imad and Vincent 3/4 of the way through the 1st of 4 laps. Managed to take a wrong turn,(as did many others), and crashed twice on a course which is in serious need of some TLC after many seasons of abuse and an especially rainy summer season so far. In the end Imad took the win, I came in 3rd well behind. Props go to Imad for a stellar ride and for keeping his lines dialed by regular visits to the beast we call Camp Fortune!

Other Kunstadt riders included Richard , James and Norm,(the Badger). James took some wrong turns too and Richard got many flats (3 total I think).. Richard: your luck is bound to turn around. I didn't speak with Norm after but he looked happy.
In all honesty, the place needs some work, the course was poorly marked, I know at lest 5 people I talked to after got lost. The trails are badly eroded and injuries are a very common occurance these days. I landed on my head, Rob Kerr needed stitches for his right ankle, Nancy Manning, (former world champion, and new team Kunstadt member), cracked some ribs. There were trucks, (3 over the course of 4 laps) flying down the course and narrowly missing me and likely many other riders.The least they could do if they want to run and charge people fo a race is ensure that there will not be oncoming traffic! Also, I don't think marking the course would not be too much to ask. On the plus side it was a beautiful night and Nancy seemed to be all over the place cheering us on. It would be wonderful to see someone new and enthusiastic like her, take the reigns for the series, just feels like it needs to be freshened up a bit.