Raid Velo Mag battle with friends

Friday Morining (June 24th) Kunstadt, (Imad,Ryan,James and I). Headed to MSA,(Mont Saint Anne), for a 3 day stage race.

Stage 1:

Friday 4pm-- 17km

7km Hill Climb to the top of MSA extremely steep, summiting up a ski run. Then a 10km downhill singletrack of the awesomist twisty tight stuff littered with rocks and roots!

I Finished 5th on the day about 2 min down on Ryan who had a flat which he rode out on the final km of fireroad.

Stage 2:

Saturday 9:30am in Quebec city--77km

Mass start with a police entourage through the streets of Quebec city for about 10km Until finally getting to the trails and the race began! Was fast from the start with Ryan and the Garneau boys pushing the pace, within the first 10km we had created a selection of only 7 of us.

Included in the group was the GC winner of the last 3 yrs Marc Plante, 2 Garneau pros Marc Andre Daigle and Leni Trudel, a Scott rider, Ryan, myself and Matt Surch. We lost Matt first after he crashed into the woods in some slick stuff. Then Ryan really started to really drive it. Marc Adre-Daigle and I fell off the pace a little, but caught back up about 5km later. I'll cut it a little short on details and tell you that Ryan got another flat(tore his sidewall). So then it was the 2 Garneau boys who pulled away from us. Marc Plante pulled away from the Scott rider and me.

The 2 of us worked together for a while but I dropped him once we hit the steepest,longest climb in the woods.
I came out of there alone and rode conservatively thinking about the next day.
With about 800 meters to go Ryan caught me. I said hello, no response. He was winded for sure. So I just gaver' and beat him to the line.

Stage 3:

Sunday 9:30am Mont Saint Anne---60km

Going into the final stage I was 3rd in the GC(about 12min down). And Ryan in 2nd (about 10min down). After discussing on the start line, we decided itwas up to us to attack the leader repeatedly until someone got away. The other would stick to the leaders wheel all day.

Well Ryan attacked first and it worked. So I sat on the leaders jersey all day. We eventually caught Ryan anyway with about 20km to go. He attacked again and this time I just couldn't hold the pace --they finished together Ryan won the day and I came in about 4min behind in 3rd. We did all we could do, but the leader was strong and the deficit caused by Ryan's flat on day 2 was too much to make up.

Overall -it was an awesome event. Tons of fun and I will definitely be back next year. Thanks to James, Matt,Ryan,Dave,Imad and of course my wife Anna,(who finished 3rd in the women's GC by the way!).

Riding this event and hanging with friends reminded me of why I started mountain biking in the first place.

Raid Velo-Mag (front flat follies)

I've been doing a lot of XC events this year. They are a lot of fun, but seem to lack somewhat in the epic-ness category. Also, driving 6+ hours to do a 2 hour race can be somewhat lame, if you have a poor race. Finally, the attitude can get super serious. I was asked about doing this "Raid" event, up in MSA. Although the details of each stage were unclear, it seemed like a very fun race. I've been wanting to do something like this (Crank the shield / transrockies etc.) for a few years, but the entry price usually discourages me. This event was only $120 to enter. The Kunstadt guys were all going up, and it just seemed awesome. I'm in!

Day 1: There was some anxiety on the ride up, as we thought we were going to be late. James and I were crammed into the back seat of the truck, and we only arrived 15 mins before registration closed. Tight! After uncurling my legs, the first stage was off. Everyone was unsure about the course. It was either going to be a 6km climb to the top, or a 17km climb, then descent, or a 24km climb. It turned out to be a 17km course, up to the top (with a brutal kicker at the top) then rip back down. About 600m into the race, I went to the front, and just hammered. By the top, I had a pretty solid gap, I think it was about 1-2 mins. Descending back down, with 2km to go, my front tire blew off the rim. I rode it in, but got caught with about 200m to go. I hung on for 2nd. I was happy with the ride, but unhappy with the flat.

Day 2: Quebec city to MSA. This day was 77km. An honest, GPS measured 77km - I think it was more like 83. About 28km into the race, I was taking a pull at the front, feeling great, then the tire that neil lent me blew. frig. Front tire again! The CO2 didn't work, and I was saved by matt surch, who gave me a pump. I lost a lot of time there, and chased hard for the rest of the race. I was able to catch neil, and came in 5th on the day. This left me about 9 minuted down on GC. damn.

Day 3: loop around MSA. This was my day. I had to put 9 minutes into second, to win GC. I didn't manage to do this, but I was happy with my ride. Again, I pulled away right from the start, got caught with 15km to go, attacked again and again, and then sprinted in for the win. My legs felt good, but the person who won was too strong to totally drop.

Overall, I finished 2nd, and Neil came in 3rd. Awesome result, and an awesome race. I really pushed it all weekend, and my legs felt good. Also, the camaraderie was great. Super fun riding, lots of climbing and a great environment. My only big complaint about the race, were the sketchy feed zones. They could have placed them much better.
The most impressive feat of the weekend was Neil pounding a large poutine on the way home. WOW. Thats a lot of curd. Good job bud. Sorry about the lack of good pics. I was slacking on the photo duty. The image is of us getting ready for stage 2.

Preston Street Crit 2011

This year Preston street was to be one of the only road races on my calendar. It's always fun when family and friends can come out and see you do what you love. I was looking forward to it. Last year I had got in a late break away and pulled off a 5th place finish. I knew it would be hard to top this, but I was willing to try!
Imad and I were to be the only Kunstadt riders in the Senior 1-2 race. Couple of hack mountain bikers mixing it up with the roadies!

Pretty much right off the start Imad got away in a small break and I played defence until we finally caught them. shortly after I got away with Mark Boudreau for a short test. Finally about 1/2 way through a major break got away with all the favorites in it. I knew that we had to catch this one fast or it was race over.
I decided to go straight to the front and take charge. I was very difficult but eventually Imad joined me and a couple others finally got involved with us and we pulled them back! Awesome! But pretty tired at this point. Before the break got caught Matteo Dal-Cin broke away from them , UNBELIEVEABLE! So going into the final lap it was a race for second. Unfortunately coming out of the second to last corner there was a bad crash in front of me, (mid pack), k-os! I was able to avoid it and came across the line sitting up rather than sprinting for 20th or whatever. Despite only finishing 22nd, I am pretty proud of our race, we really took charge and stopped a group of favorites from spoiling the race. Or did we spoil theirs?? Either way, was an honest days work in my books.
Here's a few pics from the day, thanks for reading!

Tubes and 29ers - Fortune Sunset Race June 22

I finally got my new mountain bike last Friday, and used it for an hour on that day. It definitely wasn't enough time to get in the groove... First, it's a hardtail, and the last time I road a hardtail was before my beloved 2000 Norco Team Ti frame cracked back in 2005. Norco replaced that one with a full suspension EXC 1.0 FS frame (thank you lifetime warranty!). Second, it's a 29er (Scott Scale 29 Pro). Let's just say it was a rough ride in Kanata Lakes last Friday, and I'll admit that I didn't get a chance to appreciate the benefits of a 29er.

In any case, I was anxious to really "kick the tires", and the Fortune Sunset race seemed like a good way to do that. Oh yea, the other luxury I've become accustomed is tubeless, since building up a new set of ZTR Alpines/Chris King/SuperComp wheels for the Norco. Going back to tubed on the 29er was an unwelcome change; but since I've become addicted to the super-low pressure, I ended up running much lower pressure on the 29er than I ever would have in the past with tubes.

It had rained (drizzled?) all day, so the course was wet. No big puddles, but slippery rocks and roots; luckily the rain seemed to mostly hold off during the race, making for quite acceptable conditions. Off the start I was able to hang with the fast guys up the CBC road (we raced the sport loop), but had to "let them go" once we got into the woods, as I maxed out and needed to to recover a bit. And so started my learning process of how a 29er works! The remainder of the first lap went OK, but there was no flow in the single track - because of the new geometry, because of the slippery conditions, because I haven't really raced seriously since 2002... Then it happened - at end of the first lap - the dreaded "tire bottoms out". Just a soft hit, but unmistakable, the rim hit a rock. OK, so I really did run the pressure too low for tubes (23.5psi rear), and it seemed like I was going to pay the price. Waiting for the air to rush out.. waiting.. waiting... OK, I guess I got lucky, no flat! Carry on then!

By the third lap, I started to get into a groove. I had been duking it out with a few guys since the 2nd lap, but once we hit the single track on the 3rd lap I started making a gap. It felt like I finally found the gas pedal that I've been missing so far. Maybe it was the gel from half a lap earlier; maybe I found a second wind; maybe this is the difference between hardtail the full suspension I've become to; maybe this is the 29er advantage; maybe I was just coming out of the corners in the right gears. I don't know, but I do know that those 6 or 7 minutes was enough to make me feel good about my riding, in a way that has been elusive so far this year. Alas, all good things must come to an end, and sadly for me, not at the actual end of the race. As forebode at the end of the first lap, the rear tire flatted. I can't say I was surprised. It's possible that the small hit on the first lap left a small pinch that eventually failed, or maybe I simply pinched again going over more rough stuff. Regardless, my race was over, and it was walking back to the start/finish for me! (yes, I could have [should have?] changed the flat - it's always good practice, and a late finish is much better than a DNF. But I had forgotten my inflation at home, and in the wet I'm not sure I would have been up to it anyway.)

No one's every happy with a DNF, but I did leave the race feeling better than when I arrived. I think I'm going to like the bike, I think I am getting back some of the fitness that I used to have, and I know I had a fun ride.

Final Score:
29er: good
Tubes: bad

Welcome!

This is Kunstadt's new ride blog. Our cycling team will be updating this frequently with our latest adventures. Check in regularly and see what we've been up to. Thanks for visiting!!

Neil