Photo Albums

I added some photo albums to my facebook account: CROSS COUNTRY race photos, CYCLOCROSS race photos, and photos from SUMMER (because we tried to do a few things besides just race).

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their fall!

Pumpkin Cross in Maple Ridge

This weekend we headed to lovely Maple Ridge for yet another BC Cup. The event was run by Local Ride bike shop who puts on well organized, fun events. The course was more of a short mountain bike course with a climb, a sketchy gravel downhill, a highspeed wood chip descent, a double barrier, a slippery, muddy descent, some off-camber corners, a single barrier, and some slippery corners into the start finish area. A good course for testing the bike handling skills, but painful if you aren't in tip top shape (and probably painful even if you are).

I pre rode a lap about 30 minutes before the start and gave myself two puncture flats (always a good way to warm up!!) Got them fixed in time to get rid of my extra clothes and head to the start/finish area. The boys got let out in front of us (per the usual) with Drew and Tyler hanging out in the back of the pack. They eventually worked their way up the pack, Drew used his technical skills and ability to suffer to pull away from the pack as Kevin Noiles, Kevin Calhoun, and Tyler Trace chased. The men finished up with Drew in First, Kevin Calhoun in Second, and Tyler in Third.

Our field this week was smaller than it has been, but the girls key in the BC Cup overall points race were there, currently Kelly Jones is in 1st, I am in 2nd, Melanie Vaughn is in 3rd, and Christy Love is in 4th. Added to those girls was Dawn Berg who has been doing really well on the island and claimed a Top 5 at Nationals and a Top 3 at the UCI race the next day and Sandra Walter who was heading out on her first cross race of the year after racing the World Cup XC races all summer.

Off the line I hung out in the back trying to warm my legs up and not shock the system too much, Dawn and Kelly attacked with Melanie and I following 1/3 of the way through the first lap, Dawn gapped us and I tried to stay on Kelly's wheel until the runup where she literally ran away from me. Melanie and I stayed together for most of the race with one or the other of us leading and attacking throughout the race until, just before heading out onto our last lap, Melanie slipped in one of the greasy off-camber corners, I attacked over the barrier and rode the last lap scared--Melanie tends to have a good late-race kick. I got within 10 seconds of Kelly, but couldn't close down the gap any further before we got to the finish line. The women's race finished as follows:

1. Dawn Berg (Oak Bay Bikes/Everti) 0:38:31
2. Kelly Jones aka Harley Quinn (Sugoi) 0:39:26
3. Joele Guynup (Island Racing Club p/b RW Cameron) 0:39:35
4. Melanie Vaughan (Steed Cycles) 0:39:45
5. Sandra Walter (Local Ride Racing) 0:41:39
6. Christy Love (West Coast Racing/Mighty Riders) 0:42:41

Vanier Park BC Cup and Drew's Birthday

This week has been busy starting with the West Coast Racing Vanier Park BC Cup CX race. This course is an oddly challenging course--it doesn't have a big climb, it isn't the most technical or the most demanding aerobically....it is average of all of the following, the kicker being the lack of recovery anywhere in the course.

Off the line I watched everyone go, and realized it was going to be a bit of an ugly race. I felt flat after resting all week the week before and didn't have a great start. I revved up a bit in the first lap and was fighting with Melanie Vaugn throughout the second lap as Kelly Jones rode away from all of us.

Halfway through the third lap I lost my rear wheel in a loose corner and Melanie attacked, although I tried to respond I didn't have it and I settled into 3rd place where I rode comfortably for the last few laps to finish up 3rd but maintain my BC Cup overall in 2nd place by 1 point.

As for the men's race...Drew Mackenzie, Tyler Trace and Kevin Noiles started out strong, and then there were two with Drew and Tyler in the lead. Somewhere in the race Tyler got tangled up in the course tape and crashed over his bars, but recovered quickly enough to get himself back into 1st place to take the men's race with Drew in 2nd and Kevin in 3rd.

This week found us celebrating Drew's birthday with a dinner on Monday, a surprise party on Tuesday, a Wednesday-night cross race, and a Thursday dinner at the Willock/Zarsadias household where I had my first encounter with a Wii...I am hooked--and Drew and I have been complaining since then about our sore "Wii Muscles."

We are back at it tomorrow though with "Pumpkin Cross" organized by Local Ride Bike Store in Maple Ridge.

Cross Nats and Jim Horner UCI Race

This weekend we headed to Edmonton for Nationals (for Drew) and the Jim Horner UCI cross race. We flew in way too early on Friday and spent the day building bikes, whining about the cold (everyone who lives east of Vancouver can laugh at me here), and checking out the park the two races were being held at--which was 5 minutes away from our accomodations at the all-inclusive Achuff House (thanks Andy!).

Edmonton (for those Americans following this) is actually a really neat city with a huge amount of parks. If you work/live downtown or in town you can ride to single track, mountain bike worthy trails in an inner-city park in about 10 minutes and ride for a solid 2-2 1/2 hours. Banff and Canmore are within a couple hours drive, and the sky (at least while we were there) always seemed to be sparkling blue. The downside to Edmonton, though, is that it is cold in the winter, and not all that warm in the fall (although the temperature was relatively moderate and hovered between -2 degrees to 10 degrees Celcius while we were there).

Friday we got actual course practice on the largely flat course with lots of twists and turns in grass, a run-up for the women (most men were riding it), and some fast swooping off camber turns. Just before leaving Victoria I got a new Pro CX fork which dropped 1/2 a pound off of my bike, so I spent Friday getting used to it. Having a carbon steer-tube means that it isn't quite as stiff as my beefy aluminum steer-tube, but the fork had very little chatter, dampened vibration like a dream, and all around felt great--and awesome upgrade to my very stiff, full aluminum Empella Bonfire SL frame.

Saturday, after a bit of a pre-ride, I settled in to watch Drew and Tyler Trace race. Drew had a bit of a slow start, and sat towards the back of the race until the 4th lap when he attacked and passed 10 people in one lap and kept hunting wheels down until he ended up 9th at the finish, finishing up about 20 seconds behind Craig Richey and Kris Sneddon. Tyler was in the top 5 for the first 3 laps of the race, but eventually drifted back to finish 6th.

Heading into the race Sunday I was wishing I wasn't fresh-legged and had gotten to race the course at full-speed the day before, but had a great start and worked to stay in a group with Mical Dycke, Kelly Jones, Loni Klettl, Melanie Vaughn, and Jaymie McGowan. After a bit of a pile-up on the second climb (which featured two low-lying logs that were hoppable, but gave some people troubles) I was fighting for 6th position until Loni, Nical, and Kelly attacked and gapped me in the corners in the field (guess what I'll be working on next week!). I settled into 8th with Melanie right on my wheel, but crashed just before the run-up and lost a spot. Jaymie hammered up to ride just behind me for the rest of the race to keep me on my toes until the finish where we sprinted for 9th place--my second sprint and second successful sprint-finish in a cross race! (the last being star-crossed last year). I finished up 9th, which was pretty exciting since this was my first UCI level cross race--up until now I have solely done BC Cups at the Elite level. This means I have UCI points for the call-ups at the USGP's in Portland in December!

At the front of our race, Wendy Simms rode away from the group with Pepper Harlton and Dawn Berg rounding out the podium. It was a good day for BC women as 6 out of the top 10 were from BC and 4 of 6 from Vancouver Island!

The men's race started out fast with Geoff Kabush, Mike Garrigan, and Tim Heemskirk (fresh legs) pushing the pace. Their laps were exciting to watch as they flew through the fields and hopped the barriers, finishing up with Geoff in first, Tim in second, and Derrick St. John in third.

Full coverage, results, and photos are available on canadiancyclist.com. Thanks to Andy Achuff for accomodations, and to Dave Roberts for the above photos!

BTAC + Cyclocross 101

Its been a month since I last updated everyone, the last month has been busy. The weekend after provincials I headed to Montreal for the Bicycle Trade Association of Canada's Trade Show--like any trade show, vendors in the bike industry show up, display their wares, and shop owners descend to check out the 2009 product. I got a chance to work for Shimano Canada in their booth doing product demonstrations for the new wheels, shoes, and component groupsets. Some of the highlights in our booth were the new Di2 Electronic Dura Ace, the new Saint Grouppo, and the Naked Bicycles bike that was built specifically to display the internally geared Alfine Group.

I flew home on Tuesday September 9th, raced the first local Wednesday underground cross, and then headed to Vancouver on Saturday for the first BC Cup where I finished up 5th after an epic battle with Melanie Vaughn. Drew double-flatted, walked half a lap, and then road through the field one lap down for a great workout, but a frustrating day. On Sunday we headed back to Nanaimo to race the first Island Cup at Beban Park. The Island Cup CX Series is an awesome series of races put on on Vancouver Island. They are headed up by Norm Thibault who does a great job rallying up local clubs up and down the island to put on races. I finished up 4th in the day after some tired legs and some smoother barrier work.

A weekend off from racing kept us in Victoria where Drew was race organizer for the Times Colonist Cycling Festival, I was responsible for registration for the weekend which kept both of us busy, with high blood pressure, and relief at the end of the weekend. The weekend went relatively weekend and thus far has gotten great reviews!

Last weekend the BC Cup in Vancouver was cancelled so we actually got to spend the weekend in Victoria. Drew set up a practice course and we spent Sunday racing with the Wednesday night crew.

This weekend we headed to New Brighton Park in Vancouver where Wedgewood Cycling put on one of the best courses of the year with tough off-camber corners, a sand pit, and awkward barriers. Off the line I tried to stay on Sarah Stewart and Kelly Jones' wheels, but lost them mid-way through the second lap. The rest of the race I sat in no-man's land 3rd but raced a solid race and finished up in a strong 3rd place, my best CX BC Cup to date! Drew finished up in 3rd place so the whole household was on the podium. There were lots of photographers on course so I hope to get some of the photos up soon!

Thats the crash course on the last month...we are off to Edmonton this weekend and I'll be sure to post a race report on the UCI race on Sunday!