University MTB Cup Series

Hey guys, sorry it has been a while since an update. Ive been super busy with school, biking, and some unfortunate events that have happened. But I've cleared some time to write to you now!
An update on my last three races of the year. There is a sweet inter-university (and college) series that is hosted by UofT. With UofT, guelph and queen's being the big teams, mcmaster is trying to get ourselves a presence out on the trails! If you, or someone you know rides bikes and is still in school get them to come out! Its tons of fun and super laid back. Everyone is just there to have a good time and get rid of school stress. Info can be found here: http://mtnbike.sa.utoronto.ca/oumrc/oumrc_mission.htm Of course if you want to get involved with the McMaster Cycling club you can join the facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/mcmastercycling/

The first race was a weekend of events at Mansfield that I missed due to the centurion. I did it last year and it was tons of fun, i would suggest anyone that has the opportunity to come out to the Mansfield race to do so. There's a time trial, crit (mtb spin on it which is tons of fun) on Saturday, you camp out for the night and race Sunday.
The second race was at Boler mountain in London. This venue was to try and get more western riders out, but they weren't coming so we will be saying good bye to this course next year. It was a lot of climbing, each lap we went up the ski hill, and there were no shortage of climbs once we got to the top. There was a sick little jump and a lot of fast single track. An awesome course overall.
The third race was at hardwood. Unlike boler, this course was wet and slippery. Being a 'roadie' I was immediately at more of a disadvantage. I took it a bit easier on the technical sections and just had fun with it. Hardwood has tons of fun singletrack, I always love riding here!
The last race was at Ganaraska Forest. It was pouring rain the day before, and the morning of. It was a mud bath! I had been having some problems with my knee since thanksgiving weekend and was hoping it would be better. This and a few other factors led to my first ever DNF. My body went through a lot in its first real season of racing and training and it called it quits. Lap times were super slow and I didn't want my knee to get any worse so I pulled the plug a lap early. It was a really fun course just wish I felt better.
You might notice I didn't mention my results :p Last year I tied for first in the Mens B division. (last year I tried my go at mtb ocup racing so I was a bit more familiar with the trails). This year I moved up, and wasn't as fast on the mountain bike as I hoped. Just an excuse to train harder for next year! If your still curious I was at the bottom of the list :p I will post some pics from boler under the pictures tab.
Results of all events can be found here: http://mtnbike.sa.utoronto.ca/results.html 
Congrats for McMaster taking 5th in the team standings! No garmin data (if you really want to see it im sure you could get to it from my other links). The edge 800 didnt track in the woods so well. Maybe I have to take it off road only or something. Just didnt get the distances right but ohwell!

Well this is it for my race season, I will keep you posted with some of my off season shenanigans and maybe some product reviews. Have to thank my coach Jeff Kehler for all the help this year, I've grow a ton. And of course couldn't have done any of this without the support of my family and friends!

Im a Centurian!

This past weekend I was at Blue mountain for the centurion. I did the provincial hill climb on saturday evening and the C100 on sunday morning. The weather was nice, but a little chilly at night and in the morning. I took a lot of time off this past week because my legs felt like hell the previous weekend, so I was hoping to have something to give this weekend.
The hill climb was done on scenic caves road. It was a 3.5km course with a 1km lead out. The hill averaged a gruelling 12%. This was my longest hill climb yet so I was unsure how hard to go at the start so that I didnt blow up before the finish. When I started I went hard on the flat to cover more ground while it was easy. Once I hit the first corner, it got steep. I felt like I wanted another gear! I tried my best to avg 14km/h up the hill but I fell down to 12 towards to top. I finished the longer (than last year) course with 10:23! That was good enough for 7th overall and second for u23!
Sunday was the C100. A long hilly 170km loop through the area surrounding Blue Mountains. It started with a slow leadout around 5km, moving around 20km/h. The race kicked off with a cat 3 climb, and the leaders werent holding back. It was a struggle to hang on, and it tore the field apart. At the top of the climb there may have been around 90 people in the peloton, down from a couple hundred. It was a struggle to hang on to the fast group but I was able to for 80km and conquer two more hills with them. After that I blew up. I figured id last around that long because all my training this year has been for races around 80km. For the rest of the race I had to watch groups bike past me. I had nothing left in the legs to jump on and hang on to their pace (which wasnt overly fast by any means). The last two big climbs were brutal for me. The one was a KOM and I watched tons of people go by me. I consider myself to be a good climber but I was not able to showcase my talents here. At the end of the race there was a guy about 25m ahead of me, and I was going to sprint for the crowd and get him at the line. As soon as I stood up my legs were screaming! Needless to say I sat back down and rode across the line. I finished 10/23 in my age group, and was 203/954 overall. 170km took me just under 5hrs, and without the lead out avg 35.6km/h.

Overall I think I had a great end to my road season and look forward to kicking some but in cat 3!
Garmin data:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/223625527  (C100)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/223117566  (hill climb)
Results:http://www.sportstats.ca/displayResults.xhtml?racecode=103133  (hill climb)
http://sportstats.ca/displayResults.xhtml?racecode=101443 (C100)

Hill climb pic will be posted soon under photos, and maybe centurion pics if they post up some of me!

CRITASTIC!

This past labour day weekend I went with my family down to Windsor where I raced in two criteriums.  The first one was the provincial crit, and the second was the tour via Italia. The weather was great for both courses and both were closed off. I haven’t done well in the two crits I had done already this year so I was hoping to change that. 

Starting with the first one, which was 40 mins plus 3 laps (sportif). 3 Laps in I worked to the front and started attacking on the small hill on the course. They let me go and I stayed away for 3 laps before I coasted until they caught me. I kept attacking just to tire out the bunch and to have some fun. No one wanted to work (what a surprise) so I found myself chasing all the other attacks. Finally I said I wasn’t going to cover the attack and save energy for the end. One guy then gets away and had a decent gap going into the last lap. I moved to the front in hopes of salvaging the possible first place. We caught him at the final corner, but then I got boxed in for the sprint giving me a 9^th place.  This race was just for fun for me anyways and practice.

The second one was 20 laps of a 2km course in the little Italy section of Windsor.  On the third stretch someone parked their car on the road which startled the group. Someone ended up wrapping it in caution tape and after our race it was towed for the women's race.  Again I found myself attacking early in the race before sitting back in. No one again wanted to work, so when Niles attacked I found myself having to move up to reel him back in.  I played it safe trying to stay out of trouble for the race. The last lap it picked up and I made sure I held my position into the final corner. I took the corner a bit wide setting me back a bit. I opened up and flew up the side into 7^th spot and 3^rd in the elite 4! My brother said, "From where we were we thought you were going to win, you flew right up the side passing people!" The only problem with this race was it was very disorganized with the podium. Everyone that had to wait, was waiting for several hours. OCA officials were getting frustrated with all the questions and im sure they will have something to say to the organizer. Other than that it was awesome!

First podium for a crit, and my fastest sprint at 57.2km/h on flat ground and no wind! Definitely have had huge improvements this year.
Next year I look forward to racing with Coach Chris and having a team to support me and work with. Also next year I look forward to moving up into cat 3!
Pictures should be added soon! (I have not forgotten about the pics page :p )
 Garmin data! And results
Italia -- http://connect.garmin.com/activity/218388358

http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pages/results/20120902-232251-tdviresults.htm
Prov--- http://connect.garmin.com/activity/218388378  

http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pages/results/20120901-224832-wpcresults.htm

Now I look towards provincial hill climb, and the centurion road race in barrie. I will finally get to race with my buddy, the one and only Andrew House!  Hopefully I can hang on to him.  After that my mtb season starts with the university cup!

2 shades of grey

Saturday was the last ontario cup race of the season and I was hoping to get enough points to move me into first place. This race was held on the roads surrounding horseshoe valley resort, north of barrie. The weather was pretty wet so I was stuck using my training wheels because they had more traction on the wet, slippery roads. The course was a good one with lots of rollers (next to no flat sections), although it didnt seem like an ideal setup for people to watch, due the the loops and finish line being a few km away from the resort (and parking).

I started the race knowing who I needed to beat. I started at the front and kept a good position for the first lap. Three guys tried a break away that lasted about 5 mins before they threw in the towel. The second lap things started to pick up and I found myself sliding back in the group. At the end of the second lap I was at the very back and knew I had to get lucky to get back to the front as the group was riding the width of the lane making it tough to move up.

I had to strategize and move up where I could. On the up hills I attacked harder, and sprinted out of the corners faster to slowly creep my way up to the peloton. These were the only times gaps would form. On the stretch before the turn onto the finish leg I found myself near the front and made sure I held my position. Two CHCH guys were doing the work, but they were masters riders so it worked for me.

As I turned onto the finish leg three guys went for it again. I saw the sign saying 5km to go. I knew they tired themselves out earlier and this pack looked hungry so they werent staying away. We turned a corner onto 3rd line which went uphill. We caught the guys here and they fell back. I did everything I could to stay near the front. It was hard for me to see (the rain got to my glasses and i couldnt see clearly). This made it very difficult to judge when to start sprinting. I waited for someone else to start it. As I started sprinting I noticed they guy I wanted to beat to move up in the points standings and we were neck and neck. I used everything to get a few inches ahead. I thought I took the win. I was so focused on beating this rider that I didnt pay attention to the guy beside me who probably beat me by an inch. The closest finish I have ever seen. The top four elite four guys all within a wheel length!

I was still happy with second place, it was the best ocup race result I have ever had! (not including the time trial) I was happy with my pack riding skills this time, im really starting to figure it out I think. What I need to work on is practicing the 'lunge' at the end of my sprints. If I did this I probably could have won. Hopefully this result will be enough for the OCA to upgrade me to elite 3!

On sunday my girlfriend Lise raced her last ontario triathlon in niagara. She did amazing coming in second place in her age group. She pulled her best placings in this race and showed huge improvements on the swim.

For some data:
garmin: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/209895180
results: http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pages/results/20120812-142812-wbresults.htm
final ocup standings: http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pages/results/20120812-024233-Ontario%20Cup%20Road%20Standings%202012.pdf

Sorry no pics in this post, stay tuned for a pictures page where I will post a few pics from each race (if I have them).

It was over before it began...

Today was the Tour de Terra Cotta. The weather was beautiful and the course was awesome. Completely closed with no yellow line rule. During the weekend I was having problems with a tendon on the back of my knee and was hoping that it wouldnt hurt me today.

We got there early for my girlfriend to race the 26km race. She was terrified to do a road race but did terrific! For not having much big group riding practice she held her own and finished 3rd overall for the women in the race.

My race started with a 3km neutral start which ended just after the first hill. I never knew the race could be won in the neutral start! You would almost think it the way people were crazily jockeying for positions. Not wanting to get into trouble I found myself sliding back. Right near the end of the 3km there was a nasty pile up, and I got stuck behind it! There was a group of around 20 of us that were now 30secs or more off the pack.

Out of this group of 20 only about 5 of us were willing to work to get back into the race. The group sucked at taking turns, with no one wanting to push before the hill. I would signal that I was done and needed a switch and no one would take my spot so Id have to let up because I had nothing left and once the speed dropped about 10kph someone would take over. Due to this we were never able to catch up.

Throughout the race the pack was dropping people and picking people up. Towards the end we even dropped greg paupst who did a lot of work in the pack early on and didnt have enough. Fellow HCC rider Sarah Rasmussen fell back to our group for a bit, she just didnt havent have enough to stay on to the group till the end due to her hard riding at provincial track cycling.

For the last lap I was planning on getting some work on setting myself up for a good sprint. On the third stretch a reckless mattamy homes/racer sportif rider made a move cutting me off. I made the decision it wasnt worth crashing in this race , we were only fighting for 70th position. Took it easy until the end to roll into 90th position out of 172.

Tactically I should have been in the front of the pack to start and throughout the race to avoid problems. I liked how I tried to take control, although it didnt work. Im definitely getting stronger and I was glad that I made it the whole race. With an avg speed the same as my other races but with 40km extra tacked on, I was glad I had enough conditioning to make it.

Next up for me is the WOB ocup race next weekend. With a good result I could take over 1st place in the ocup standings!

Tic toc, tic toc...

This past weekend was the ocup Bike the Bruce ITT. Racers are sent off one at a time in a race against the clock. The fastest rider wins. (Good equipment definitely plays a factor into this).  Aerodynamics is the name of the game here, especially when it was as windy as it was on sunday. Lacking a time trial bike I had to ride this one Merckx style (for those unaware, Eddie Merckx is a legendary cyclist and he was able to dominate time trials without the use of the time trial bars to get you into a better position).  In my category there were only two other riders, one completely decked out in gear and another riding Merckx.
The course was relatively flat out and back style. At about the 1.5km mark there was a short steep downhill. Here I thought I was going to crash because I started to get some insane speed wobbles. Luckily I made it through and kept riding. At about 9km there was a gravel patch about 15ft long from construction. Just had to play it safe going through there and avoid and flats or unnecessary crashes. Before I hit the end of the first stretch I had a waterloo cycling guy from E3 pass me. This kind of dropped my hopes and reinforcing the knowledge that I wasn't going as fast as I wanted.
On the way back I tried to push harder but the wind was killer. You never got a break from the wind on the course, not out nor back. I was able catch the other Merckx E4 rider before the steep uphill. I powered up the climb trying not to redline too far so that I didnt drop to a stop to recover. I pushed it as hard as I could till the finish.

Equipment wise I really wish I had TT extensions at least. I needed to get lower as I was too upright. Im also going to try to work on my back flexibility to help this (I am very inflexible :p) . I used the giro selector helmet, which is a great helmet. For that hot of a day (30+) the visor stops the sweat from evaporating. I spent most of the race trying to wipe it out of my eyes. While the visor looks great, its definitely not for me on hot days.

Overall I finished second, 3 mins back off first. I wanted to avg 41, but I got 38.6km/h. I know I can go faster, as I have done in both 40km TT and 15km TT. I don't know if it was the heat, the wind, my legs but I was slower than I should have been. Either way I earned a bunch of upgrade points and ocup points. I now sit 5th in the standings!

No pics but here are some links
Garmin :   http://connect.garmin.com/activity/202099902
Results:  http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pages/results/20120723-204950-bbresults.htm
Picture:  http://www.sportszonephotography.ca/Cycling-2012/Bike-The-Bruce-O-Cup-TT/Part-II-Later-Startng-Racers/24334495_NH5hNn#!i=1982809916&k=txFBZjF

As always thanks for reading!!

He Shoots He Scores!

Today was the provincial championships located just outside of Bradford, Ontario. It was a great 12km loop that had flat start/finish, side 2 had a nice downhill for recovery, side 3 was flat to rolling hills, and the fourth side had a hill strava has listed as 'the beast'. I didnt find it all that bad of a hill, but thats kind of biased because I love to climb! This is a long post but lots of action!

The weather was perfect for the sportif race that launched in the morning. It was only 3 laps long, making it feel almost too short to go to. I knew I didn't have the conditioning for the much longer u23 race. So I thought I would have some fun with some tactics in the sportif race (which is what the elite 4 men are 'suppose' to do). From the get go my plan was to attack the first lap on the hill and try the break away. If the third lap came around and I was still in the group i would sit back and rest for the sprint.

The race started at a fairly slow pace. No one wanted to work it seemed. On the third stretch on one of the rollers, Mark riding for LapDogs, attacked. It was a bit earlier than I wanted to go so I moved up and started to go after him. I looked over my shoulder and noticed I was bringing everyone with me. I backed off and waited for the hill. The hill was the steepest at the bottom. Halfway up the steep section I jumped and had bridged the gap by the top of the hill. No one else came with me which was perfect! I immediately took command as I wanted this to hold. We started rotating every 30seconds keeping the pace high. The downhill on the second stretch allowed for much needed recovery time every lap.

On the second lap we started to pass some masters riders that started 2 mins before us. I knew we were doing good and had to keep it up. I encouraged him that 2nd place was better than last so we needed to work together and go! I was having chain problems (quick derailleur adjustment before the race screwed it up, should have let it be!). I almost dropped my chain on the second time up the hill. I let out a nice curse word then realized I was alright so I kept going. I was hoping that the Mark wouldnt take advantage of this on the last lap and leave me on the hill.

We got through to our last lap and I couldnt see the chasers behind us. Now it was time to make sure I had some left for the end, but not to slow down too much. Mark had his own plan having me take the wind during most of the third stretch with the hill. Lucky for me he didnt attack then. Once we turned the corner to the home stretch he went! I couldnt grab his wheel and thought I had lost it. I remembered Wiggins' tactic from watch the tour and tried to reel him in slowly. It worked and 500m left I was on his wheel. He slowed right up and let me back on the front. I kept the pace high enough to try and prevent him from recovering, but slow enough that I could still sprint. Now I was thinking of David Millar's win just a few days ago when he took the win from the front. I was watching the shadow waiting for a move. At the 200m mark I knew I would hit my max speed right by the finish line. At that point he hadnt gone yet so I figured it's in my best interest to sprint to the finish! All my sprint training the past few weeks paid off and he couldn't get by me! I took my first ever road victory!!! We ended up making a gap of just under 2 mins on the next group back which shows some good things for the time trial ahead next weekend!!

Tactically wise this race, everything went the way I wanted it to. The only thing for next time is to not screw with my derailleur just before the race!
Links: results http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pages/results/20120715-205541-prresults.htm
Garmin data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199675090

And a picture of the sprint to go home with! (courtesy of the Lovely Lise Munsie)