On a beautiful Sunday afternoon last weekend, Gavan took his maiden voyage in the Chariot behind a bicycle. As I predicted, he loved it. He likes looking at Daddy or Mommy in front of him rather than craning his neck in a vain effort to see us pushing him in stroller mode. Even so, he fell asleep after about 20 minutes of whipping along the tarmac.
We went on the bike pathways in Fish Creek. Kelley went as well (on her own bike, not in the chariot) but she turned back a bit early since she had an errand to do for someone else. Gavan and I continued on to the very west tip of Fish Creek Park riding on twisty paths through the forest. All in, it was a 2 hour ride.
The Chariot worked great. It was solid and handled well. It rolled well but it will definitely give Daddy a good workout. When using it you have double the contact patch of your tires, much more wind resistance and of course the weight of the rig and baby (Gavan is only 5 lbs. less than my bike itself). So Daddy will be a much better climber on my bike this year when I'm riding solo.
It sure was nice to have some family time, get a workout, and relieve some stress all at the same time... Gavan says "Thanks for the biking attachment G'ma and Gmpa!"
On Monday of this week I got an e-mail from Shawn calling a ride for Saturday. The weather forecast was a very promising 7 degrees without the "-" sign before it. I haven't gone for a significant ride in quite a while let alone a good group ride so I told Shawn I would do my best make sure I make it to this ride.
Saturday morning rolls around and I had the best of intentions of getting to Cadence, one of our favourite meeting spots early to socialize a bit over a coffee before we depart on what I'm sure will be a fun but also painful and humbling experience as most of the guys are fitter and getting a lot more saddle time than I. Needless to say, the early arrival never manifested itself. I rolled in 5 minutes late, chugged the rest of Dallas' coffee which he generously offered me, then it was off rolling. There were about 10 of us. It was awesome to see everyone that I don't get as much opportunity to see in the winter. Also, It was a special pleasure to ride with Dylan, Ross, Jamie and Thomas since I rarely have opportunity to enjoy there company.
The weather was co-operating and so was the group. I got the impression that some people will looking for a bit of a training ride but with it being so early in the season a "lower" level base ride was the order. We didn't even break it up on the COP hill. I remember last year getting dropped on that hill on a similar ride (never a good sign). From there It was to the Shell gas plant southwest of Cochrane on a mix of gravel and secondary paved road skiffed with a bit of snow. It was great. I was feeling acceptably good and able to maintain a conversational pace with my ridemates.
The weather was only getting nicer as we approached the gas plant and everything was going well save for Jamie's derailleur breaking and then single speeding then subsequently breaking the chain again (too much power in those legs for most bikes). It got fixed again and we were off. Thomas was beginning to feel the dreaded bonk the further west we got antagonized by the strong headwind that we had been experiencing. I've been there so many times and made a point to make sure that we didn't leave anyone from our group. There was an awesome group effort to help with pushing and drafting. Thomas pushed through the pain and lightheadedness like a pro.
The only negative part of the ride happened when we encountered an irate rancher who apparently was not pleased with us being on what he called his property. It was our understanding that a lot of this land is leased for oil and ranching purposes. It is a network of dirt roads and fences and gates (none closed). Occasionally, you see a no trespassing sign but I am guilty of assuming that that is only to minimize liability concerns in the event that a sue-happy yahoo hurts himself out there. Anyway, this rancher was not happy about our presence. Dallas and Jamie already got through before the rancher blocked the road with his John Deer. He was not listening to any rational argument and was treating us like I would expect a 3 yr. old would react if a peer stole a toy from him. We were within about a kilometre or two from the reserve which would be out of his property. To turn around would mean that we were on his property for double the time than if we just kept going but he would have none of it. All he did was shout that he was "DEAD SERIOUS" and "OUT!". It was like talking to a big gorilla trying to protect his family. The thing is we aren't harming anything! No motors, no alcohol, certainly we weren't hunting. We were simply en route. Honestly, I think the problem is that he just hates city people. In the end, we convinced him to let Shawn go on to catch the other two and the rest of us turned back into "no man's land". We were fine but it could have put one or two of us into a world of dehydration and pain since it unexpectedly added a lot to the trip.
We never met up with the rest of the group again but we did meet Chris on our way back to Cochrane. Eventually, we refuelled at the Coffee Traders, a very cyclist friendly establishment.
On our way back, Craig showed us a new, exciting singletrack route that leads to an enjoyable climb up the Cochrane hill. From there, it was a spectacularly, easy spin with the wind and sun on our backs pushing us to Calgary... Great ride.
Today I am looking forward to Gavan's first chariot ride behind a bike. I'm sure he will enjoy it and it will be good for my leg strength.
Kelley, Gavan and I had a pretty good New Year's Eve and Day. New Year's Eve was pretty quiet by most people's standards but was very enjoyable. We hung out with Drew and Jo which is always fun. The first part of the evening was spent at the Zoo's Zoo Year's Eve. Basically, it is a lot of lights and neat displays. It was fun but freezing as the temperature was in the minus 20's. We had to move quickly to keep our internal furnace going. Afterwards, we went back to our house, ordered pizza and rung in the new year with good fellowship.
New Year's Day...
On New Year's Day I always like to do something fun, active and a foreshadow of the upcoming year. Kelley, Gavan, Izzy and I went to Barrier Lake to do some skating. I've never seen anyone skating there before but, for at least the last five years, I've been meaning to try it out. The scenery is sweet, of course, and the incessant wind is cold but perfect for clearing the snow. I took my pick axe to test the ice and it was more than adequate at about 1 1/2 ft. deep or more. Kelley took a lot of convincing and a little time to get used to the idea (antagonized by the expansion cracks that admittedly do look ominous) but after a while had a great time. We skated to the end of the lake and then let the wind push us back through a maze of low snow drifts... A great time and a great way to spend the first day of the year.
I thought I'd post a couple pics of some of the work that I did earlier this year. The house is now complete and all beautiful for Christmas. I'm particularly proud of these since It was an opportunity to do the designing as well. I hope you think they are cool.
Today Gavan pulled himself up from the floor to a standing position by himself! He has been pretty close for the last while but today he did it all the way and without falling... Awesome!
He can walk around a little bit using the furniture. It won't be long before he starts propelling himself all over the house. He can't crawl yet and doesn't seem to want to learn so maybe he'll just decide he doesn't need that. Walking is cooler anyway.
Mom keeps reminding me to not push him too much (Incidentally, I am not. He just likes to move and has to keep his curious hands busy). Personally, I love the fact that he's getting closer to the mobility stage. I know it will be a lot of work but I can't wait to play tag and hide-and-go-seek.
Before I get to some of the other posts that I have in mind I should blog about the coolest thing about my life right now. That would be my son -- Gavan.
He's not that new I guess. He just turned 7 months old on Dec. 4th. Right now he's learning all kinds of new things. He said his fist word... Kind of. He said "Izzy", our dog. I'm not surprised that would be his first word since it is probably the most frequently used word in our house -- often loud and pointedly. I'm know he doesn't really know what he's saying but he's saying it really well. It certainly grabs Izzy's attention... Next comes "Dadda".
Gavan is making some pretty good inroads in the mobility department as well. He's not crawling yet but I think he will be any day.
He can "wheel-barrow" (I hold his legs up and he walks with his arms). Also, if I hold his hands he walks really well. I think he will be walking sometime in when he's 10 months old. But, if he doesn't that's really ok too. The real, important question is when he will learn to ride a bike. Notice that his shirt in the first picture says "I love my tricycle". He may skip the tricycle stage though... I know he has a norco push bike on his horizon. That will be sweet!
Right now he's screaming at the top of his lungs because he's board in his crib. It is way past his bedtime but he just isn't tired. The more he cries, the more tired he'll get. Just one of those life lessons you got to learn... Just so you know, he usually sleeps really well. He makes being a parent seem really easy -- for now.
After a long hiatus, I have decided to start posting on my blog again...
I'm at a point in my life where I would like to get myself more self-disciplined and I think disciplining myself to do regular blog posts will help me be disciplined in other time management areas. Basically, I have a pretty busy life but sometimes waste the time that I do have on frivolous and unimportant things. Somehow I suppose that if I can achieve the time management skills to do regular blog posts (more on the to do list!) that I will be able to manage my time with more important things...
That, and it will keep me from watching too many TLC re-runs when there are much more productive things to do.
I would like to post one thing per week. It will likely not be the most interesting or entertaining piece of literature you'll come upon in any given week but it is more for me than for you... If "you", the readership, exists. That said, I hope some of my banter is worth the read.
“Welcome to Hell!” was what the marshal assigned to checkpoint 23 (or was it 24… maybe 25… the haze surrounding my grey matter blurred a lot of the details.) taunted me with as I rode past his skull and cross bones flag that he had erected on the other side of the trail. “I don’t want to tell you that it only gets worse from here – but it does!” My first thought was that I think he actually did want to tell me that it got worse ahead and my second, more chilling, was -- did he actually know about the almost 10 km hike-a-bike over flat terrain that I had just completed with my mud clogged bike on the north section of Tom Snow. The only “user groups” that frequent that section of trail are the free range cattle and the ranchers on horses who churn that low lying area east of Moose Mountain into a hellacious, soupy swamp where the mud is more than a little bit questionable in terms of its bacteria content. I guess the other users of this trail are us mountain bikers that sign up for the Bow-80 every year so we can endure what the gracious marshal coined “Hell” and come out on top triumphantly no matter which finishing position we are battling for.
Even as I write this, the dull pain of yesterday’s Bow-80 lingers in my legs trying its best to not let me forget the mix of agony and satisfaction that I, and close to 200 others, endured. That is XC mountain bike racing for you. That short narrative doesn’t describe your average XC race but the “grand narrative” of personal accomplishment is echoed at every race. There are several things that set mountain biking apart from other cycling disciplines and those are the things that will ensure that I keep coming back to the sport that captured me. I will attempt to list, for me, what defines mountain bike racing. I should also point out that I take part in and enjoy most niches of cycling and those that I don’t participate in myself, I still respect greatly. This is not meant as a comparison to other cycling disciplines but as a personal look into what I love about racing.
The single-most, defining aspect of XC mountain bike racing is the art of mastering technical difficulties that a course throws at you while you are in a state of physical duress. This is paramount to the sport and is part of every good race course. A rider brings herself to the point where, if she were on a wind trainer indoors, she would have her head down and saliva dripping off her chin. In the world of mountain bike racing, that is exactly when we throw a 100 metre descent at her with 9 turns, 3 drop-offs, and countless trees to avoid that come within inches of her handlebars not to mention the seemingly infinite roots under her tires, some to find a way over and others just to distract her. Or… perhaps she needs to climb up 100 metres with the same obstacles all doing there best to impede forward movement. The technical prowess of a rider truly is an art. One that I never tire of watching an artist perform.
The second part of my collection of what defines mountain bike racing is that it is not for “fakers” or “excuse-makers”. If you’ve ever been part of a mountain bike race you’ll remember the surreal moments in the last few seconds before the starter pistol breaks the quiet sound of the athlete’s nervous shallow breathing. I have been racing for about ten years now and I still get butterflies before I race (that is an improvement over throwing up with nervousness like I did when I started in my Junior days). That nervousness comes from knowing that your quads, heart and lungs are going to be in a world of pain in seconds and there is nowhere to hide and no one to point the finger at but yourself if things don’t work out in your favour. You can’t hide in the pack and show up for the “important” part of the race. You can’t “sit in and just finish with the pack”, there is no pack most of the time. If you try you’ll likely be spit out the back and be dropped like a soiled chamois. Eighth place is better than ninth place which is better than tenth place. Results that just say “same time” are a non-existent reality. The race isn’t over in one to five minutes. You’re going to have to suffer to success or suffer to humility or just give up like a loser. In the end it is you and what you could offer up on a given day.
Mountain biking is painful. Not in a meaningless sort of way or in a way that needs to be remedied (although occasionally it is that sort). It is the type of pain that is simultaneously rewarding. If you’ve never thought about letting the air out of your tires and claiming you double flatted so you could end your race early with some sort of dignity, you’ve never raced XC mountain bikes. It’s universal as far as I know. I’ve had races that I have literally finished in tears from exhaustion and joy that I finished in spite of the exhaustion. I’ve raced La Ruta de los Conquistadores and on Day One, in 2006, brought myself to the point where I and the soul of my very being were separate and were able to dialogue about the essence of existence. I exaggerate to make a point but honestly that is what it felt like. Pain and suffering are synonymous with racing your mountain bike long distances.
Lastly, in the definition of mountain bike racing, is that it is joy. I use the word “joy” because I don’t feel comfortable using the word “fun”. Yes, of course mountain biking is fun, and I believe we should incorporate the absolute maximum amount of fun into our races and the time before and after. However, if I’m burrowing down to the core of what defines my mountain bike racing, I have to choose the word joy. Mountain bike racing brings me joy when (or after) I’m suffering. It brings me joy when I look forward to the next epic race. It brings me joy when I rail that ridiculously gnarly section of trail in the BC bike race! Mountain bike racing is one of the things that gives me great joy in my life. It is beat only by faith, family and relationships with friends but it weaves its way through those aspects of my life as well.
I will have stories to follow these pictures as soon as I can. I'm trying to get bit of work in before I leave to Ontario for a wedding. Needless to say I'm busy but I'd like to have the whole story up by the end of the weekend.
This year La Ruta was going to be 4 days. That meant it would start on a Wednesday and end on a Saturday. With a schedule like that it made perfect sense to head down on the Saturday before so that I could get some good solid acclimatization in.
My plane ride was good. The first leg of the trip to a 6 hr. layover in Houston, Texas was pretty dull and quiet, though I did get some good reading time in. From Houston to San Jose CR I found a few people to talk to. It was fairly easy to pick out other cyclists heading to La Ruta, the lean physique and shaved legs are usually pretty good indicators as long as they aren't accompanied by tight leather pants and/or purple silk shirts (in which case other options present themselves). I met up with Andreas Hestler and a couple of his friends and I met Dan from San Diego. Dan had raced last year but had not made it past checkpoint 3 on the first day. We chatted about how heinous last year was and what we anticipated this year. He was a great guy and I am happy to report that he finished the whole race and achieved a very respectable time. I should add, though, that at the finish party he tells me in passing that he is done with this race (We'll see, that's what they all say).
As soon as the plane landed in Costa Rica we were informed that the regular "movable hallways that you usually walk out of planes on (I don't know what these are called but that is the best description I can think of at the moment) was not functioning so we'll have to get out via a portable stairway in the rain to be picked up by a shuttle bus. The bus was packed and I was the last person allowed on it. I was standing on the doorsteps as the doors shut behind me pretty much leaving my cheek pressed against the glass. I love Costa Rica. There's very rarely a dull moment.
I got to the hotel promptly after getting through the airport lines and was met almost immediately by Gerry (a friend from Calgary who would be one of the 5 Deadgoats who I got to hang around with during the race) who told me where my room was and provided me with the corresponding room card. Sweet. That is service.
On Sunday all the Deadgoats (Erik, Tori, Jack, Gerry and Trish) and I pooled our resources to get a couple of vans to take us to Jaco, a beach town on the Pacific Coast. We piled our bikes into one van and us in the other. Gerry and I got the misfortune of sitting in the seats that faced backwards. This was good for the social aspect of the trip but not for the stomach aspect. Both of us claimed to have strong stomachs to fend off motion sickness induced by the massively undulating and curvy nature of Costa Rican roads (not to mention the driving habits of the motorists themselves make the difficult to take backwards) but both of us admitted to being a bit queazy by lunch.
Lunch was awesome. An amazing view and some amazing "sopanegra" (black bean soup). I love the open concept (a roof with no walls except around the kitchen) that virtually all Costa Rican restaurants seem to have (except, come to think of it, that "den of prostitution" I inadvertently walked into a couple of days before the race but that is another story).
Finally, we got settled into our rooms at Best Western Jaco. Monday and Tuesday were filled with finding nice local places to dine, sharing an "Imperial" or two, swimming in the ocean, and, of course, chatting about our anxieties and anticipations after being reminded of just how steep that first climb really is after the pre-ride.
On Tuesday night we all went to bed a little nervous. Sleeping, but still half conscious of how long and hard of a day we would have when our 3:00 AM wake up call would sound.
Ok. To be fair, I shave my legs on a fairly regular basis. However, recently, I have generally avoided the practice. I had not shaved my legs since before the Transrockies. And, if memory serves me correctly, my leg hair was quite long when I shaved it then. This evening, however, La Ruta (the stage race in Costa Rica) inspired me to draw a bath and turn my legs from looking like the "evolutionary missing link" to as smooth as the late and great Pantani's head.
At this point, there may be some of you who question why cyclists shave their legs at all. For your benefit I will give you a brief explanation. For roadies, who prefer speeding along smooth tarmac, the leg shaving is for minimizing wind resistance to maximize speed. Does it make a difference??? Well, in a solo effort into the wind, probably a bit but not a whole lot. It helps to remember that road racing has its heart and soul in the Mediterranean area of Europe where men typically resemble a Sasquatch in terms of their hair growth. Maybe that is where leg shaving for men started. As for mountain bikers, wind resistance plays a very small role, due to a slower speed and other variables, like the technical terrain, that are much greater factors than wind resistance. Mountain bikers reason that leg shaving is a good idea, beyond the meager air resistance benefit, due to faster healing of cuts and scrapes plus massages are a better experience.
My reason for shaving my legs tonight for La Ruta has very little to do with any of those reasons.
For La Ruta, I shave my legs for the weight savings! -- Ok. I know were talking a minimal weight savings but let me remind you that I have to carry my sorry carcass almost 15,000 ft of climbing the first day, 12,000 the second, 8,000 the third and over 5,000 the fourth and final day. I think the weight savings will amount to some time savings with that amount of climbing. I should also add, that if I had hairy legs on day one, I would probably accumulate about 5 lbs. of extra mud on my legs. Something I really don't need!
I anticipate one last protest from the cynics in the readership. "Jon, why don't you cut your HEAD hair short if you're so worried about weight!" To you, I have one word to say (or rather a name)-- SAMSON... I can't cut my hair. I'll lose my mojo!
Cheers everyone. If you're interested, keep track of the race on canadiancyclist.com or adventurerace.com.
I have no good excuse as to why I haven't updated my blog in a ridiculous amount of time. My bad excuses include being busy at work, feeling like I have nothing to say, and procrastination. I won't give an exhaustive account as the vast majority of you already know everything.
Craig and I had an awesome time. The group we went with (Erik & Mike, Tori & Cindy, and of course our support, Pete and Amber) was amazing. I don't think we could have asked for a better group to hang out with around the RV after and before the racing.
The racing was very competitive this year which is great. Craig and I had our best finish on day one which was 7th (after starting in about the 5th or 6th to last row of over 600 racers). I think the technical nature of the course and the fact that it was a short stage played to our advantage. For the rest of the week we hovered just outside of the top ten and had some good racing. We worked with and raced hard against out "roomies" Erik and Mike on several occasions. In the end, we ended up 12th.
I can't say enough about Craig's effort and competitiveness over the course of the seven stages. Everyday he gave 100% or more. Well done.
I won't be doing the TR next year but I have at least one other big stage race that I have committed to (which I will blog about soon). However, I recently heard the news that Erik and Craig have formed a team for next year that I'm positive they will be very successful. Good luck guys.
There is less than a week to go and I'm feeling great. I'm so stoked about this race. 7 days of epic riding on trails that are mostly new to me. This is going to be great!
There's a good field this year and I'm sure that the racing will be exciting! My partner, Craig Stappler, is in good form and we are ready for the pain.
This is a pic of me a the Canada Cup in Canmore. Wicked race! My favourite course of the year. It will definitely rank as one of my fav's ever! Basically it was one big climb followed by one BEEEEAUTIFUL downhill. Stellar. I got 26th which I'm pretty okay with considering I crashed into a tree with my face (among other things). I know this race is old news but I've been behind on my blogging and I couldn't let this one go without a mention.
In the more recent history, Le Tour de Bowness was the big event this weekend. Fabulous Race. Great course, almost as technical as the Canmore Canada Cup! I almost turned full roadie. Nawwwwh. Not even close, but events like this sure make racing skinny tires fun. I bombed the hill climb barely breaking the 4 minute mark (I mean barely). I'm just no good when there's no one to chase. My time was good enough for a distant seventh. The crit was when the fun really started. I am still in Cat. 3 for road so I don't get to race with the big boys like I do at the Tuesday night weekly crits. So I feel that I have the fitness and legs to win a Cat. 3 race at least every once in a while but sprinting is not my thing so a win has eluded me so far. The other factor is that I can't sustain the big Watts required to ride away from the pack solo (without a climb). For this race my biggest asset was a half-decent ability to corner. The race turned out to be quite tame. I tried pushing the pace a bit here and there to thin the group so I'd shed some of the people who can only ride their bikes in a straight line and then use my cornering ability along with someone like Dave Larson who knows how to ride a bike and create a break. I probably should have pushed the pace a bit more but I didn't and eventually slunk back into the group where we would inevitably end in a sprint. Been there, done that in Alberta. I blame no one but myself and a couple others that I know are strong enough to shatter 90% of the Cat. 3 race. As it turned out, I took a prime and on the final lap I wanted to attack on corner #2 into the headwind, over the hill, through the corners and hold on for dear life on the final straightaway. Well, in real life, on corner #2 I got boxed in and on corner #3 and #5 was getting my wheels knocked all over the place so for the last corner I was near parked as I started my sprint. My mediocre sprinting was good enough for 5th and the last spot on the podium. Props to Rob Leeds (who's sprinting is not mediocre) for the win. We should haved shelled him at the half way point! Hee hee. oh well. It was fun.
That wasn't the only crit. Tonight I just finished the Tuesday night crit. It was a relatively windy day with very few people out. Eleven people started and I think only 6 or 7 finished. There was nowhere to hide. Once we dropped some of the riders it was like we were in a breakaway but it was the whole race. I attempted an attack with some help from Dan Wood (ERTC) but it didn't stick and tried again later to be counter attacked but I bridged back up. Eventually, It became evident that it would be a sprint finish. Looking at the field I knew that I wouldn't win it in a short flat race. I needed to gamble. One the tight corner #2 I pinned it as hard as I could and when I checked through my arms I saw I had a really good gap and my legs weren't screaming at me yet. Things looked good until I looked ahead and realized that I'm too far on the inside to make corner #3 at this speed. It was going to be dicey! I tried hard but as I reached the apex of my arc I could see the curb coming fast, very fast. I could try and hold on and risk a very dangerous crash (right before Transrockies) or I could admit defeat and bunny hop the curb. I admitted defeat and hopped the curb and skidded to a stop as I shoulder check a lightpost! Crap. I think I could have taken this one if I had held my head up. Live and learn. The race was hard and fun. Just the way I like it.
Today I am starting my 27th year of existence. Of course that means today is my birthday and I turned 26. As I have been reminded several times, that means that I am "over the hump of the twenties and it's all downhill to thirty". I'm okay with that. I feel pretty good about my life and so far I have no major regrets. I think I'll be pretty happy as long as I keep it that way.
As for my birthday wounds, those are from a great day of paintballing. My wonderful wife, Kelley, organized a surprise paintball party for me. It was a great way to celebrate. On a day to remember my entrance into the world, we get to engage in some of the most primal of mankind's activities. In this case, mock warfare. We get to exhibit "fight or flight" and survival insticts in the form of a series of games where team and individual domination are the goal. In some ways the games mirror the quest of life. Not that my goal is to shoot my enemies to oblivion!?!
Thank you to everyone who came on their long weekend. Thanks to Shawn for supper afterwards. And thanks again to Kelley for organizing everything... I love you.
Another Provincial Championships has come and gone. As always United Cycle did a good job of organizing and hosting it. It took place in Terwillegar Park which has a reputation of fast and non-technical courses but in the last couple of years course designers seem to have picked out a few singletrack gems and incorporated them into the provincials course. This year was the same as last years with the exception of they took out a sweet singletrack called "Dave's trail" and took out a short steep climb that preceded the long, gradual climb. Today the course was a touch muddy due to the rain last night but wasn't bad other than the chronically muddy downhill mid lap. It was, however, muddy enough that before the race there was some question as to whether they were going to delete "firemen's hill" (the most technical section) from the course as they did earlier in the morning with the sport race. Much to my pleasent surprise, they left it in.
There was a large field for the Elite category (considering it's Alberta). There were just under 20 riders I believe. With defending champion Tim Heemskirk not present (presumably at the world cup in QB) the title was up for grabs and there were quite a few potential racers.
When the start was signalled Evan Sherman went off like a madman! I wanted to be relatively close to the front so I grabbed his wheel and went for the draft since the starting prologue is so exposed to wind. Cam Mcknight snuck in front of me and in the line change I had to make I lost the draft so as the trail widened after the first turn the top 5 or 6 places began shuffling but not for Evan. He was on a mission. He started in first would go on to finish in first but was never too far ahead to be caught.
After the prologue when the first lap began in earnest positions were still juggling around. At one point I was about in seventh and all positions from second to tenth were sorting themselves out. People in this group were Shawn Bunnin, Marc Bomhoff, Cam Mcknight, Dallas Morris, Chris McNeil, Mike Sarnecki, Brian Bain and Ryan Hopping. As the lap wore on, I worked my way to a group of two chasers, Shawn and Mike, with Evan in sight. Shawn proved to be too strong on the flats and eventually gapped Mike and I. Mike rode fantastically for the first half of the race making me hurt on the straight flats. For a brief moment Chris McNeil made an attack on the gradual climb which put him in third for a second or two before I counter attacked and dropped him on the "fireman's hill" downhill. Dallas made his mark on me when he caught me mid second or third lap and began trash talking me from behind but never passed only to be dropped on the muddy switchback downhill. Ahhhh... sweet satisfaction. From that point on I rode in third until about the 5th lap where from out of nowhere a Bicisport kit blows by me saying "your doing great!" It was none other than Corey Wallace who finishes races faster than most people start them! He made me look parked and I only saw him again at the bottom of the "fireman's downhill" where I made a bit of time on him but he was pretty distant. In the end I could only manage 4th and Corey could never quite catch Shawn.
This years Championship podium had Evan on top the the two Bici boys Shawn and Corey on the sides. Great work boys. Especially Shawn, he really had a fantastic race.
As a tangent story, I'll mention that I had really bad brake problems. I've had problems with my front brake lately so I bled it earlier this week and it seemed to be fine but last night on my pre-ride I lost 100% of my braking on the front. This morning, before the race I rushed to United Cycle where I was given quick help and they immediately bled my brake and and checked it for leaks because there was some fluid residue on the caliper and lever. Nothin seemed to leak even when you reefed on the lever. So, I thought it was fine but sure enough as I finish my warm up I start feeling the break lose pressure. I started the race thinking I might have to DNF if I lose all my braking. By the time I started my second lap I had about 10% of the breaking power you'd expect from XTR's and by the last lap the lever was to the grip at about5%. I thought about DNF'ing but thought as long as I'm still doing well and making time on the downhills (amazingly enough!) there is no good reason to quit. I'm going to have to do something about this soon.
What a beautiful day for racing... Too bad I spent most of the previous day under blankets trying to shed a cold enough to race today. Yes, I sound bitter because I hate DNF'ing. But that is what I did as I started the climb on lap 2. I knew my legs weren't the way they normally would be and this was all I was going to get out of them today. I also knew that if I trudge on (like I know I could have) I would be sick for most, if not all, next week as well. I've had it happen before where I was just about over a sickness and then I raced and it came back at me with a vengence while I was weak. Seeing as next weekend is the AB Provincials, I decided to call it a day early in hopes of being in good form for the AB Provincials... It was worth a try to start this morning, but in the end, I should have just slept in. I don't regret my decision to DNF but it still sucks.
Enough negativity, It wasn't a bad day for all. There was a good turnout of racers and the weather was pretty close to perfect racing temperature. The Deadgoats did an outstanding job of organizing and pulling off a fantastic race. I really liked the minor lap changes and addition of prologue. One thing I would like to be considered, though, is running the course the opposite direction next time. After I finished (kind of), I sat down and enjoyed awesome racing as the sport then expert categories finished their races. There were a lot of sprint finishes and tight racing which I think this course lends itself to.
I didn't catch the end of all the racing but I saw Steve Gaffney won my race and some good results were achived by Shawn Bunnin, Anthony Steenbergen and Erik Bakke.
What am I?...A Christian, a husband and father, a cyclist/racer, and a finishing carpenter (in that order). I love to live life and realize my potential.
I hope you can find a bit of entertainment in these stories. For me, they are just a good way to electronically document my life but with any luck you'll enjoy these stories of mountain bike races and rides, family and work updates, and other things that manage to catch my interest as the narrative of my life unfolds.
