Trans-Rockies (Brief) Summary, Throughout the Rocky Mountains
August 21st 2008
It's been a bit since we've finished the Trans-Rockies, but with the intensity of this year's event, a few days away from the bike and civilization was much needed as I went camping up island. Now with some of the pain and suffering slowly dissipating from my mind, i can reflect back on the race with a more positive view, sometimes even tricking myself into thinking it was totally 'fun'.
Although fun is a big aspect of my participation in this career path, there are times and situations that really test my will power and strength. The trans-rockies was one of those times, as this year the race had gotten considerably harder and more competitive from the time I did it two years ago.
With an average of over 5 hours of racing a day, for 7 days straight, climbing close to 18000 vertical meters, (yes, that’s more the climbing Mt. Everest twice from sea level in 7 days!) I think almost every participants physical limits were pushed to the brink. As these stage races continue to become more and more popular, and with Trans-Rockies being one of the original and most prestigious one, the competition at this years edition became fierce and fast. Included in the race was a former world champion and a European road pro from Italy (winners), two Canadian Olympic hopefuls, a past Olympian and numerous other top national level racers, there was not a single day that could be taken lightly. It was always a cat fight right to the end for the day's podium finish. Out of a possible 6 podium appearances, (1 day was 'neutralized' after 90% of the field got lost on course) Marty and myself managed 5 podium appearances, resulting in a 3rd place overall in the General Classification standings. Although a 3rd was not what we had gone there for, under the circumstances and the nature of this years race, we were happy with the result. We stayed in contention with the two teams ahead of us throughout the race and we all pushed each other to the max.
Below is the extended version describing the race day by day to give you a better idea of what we went through.
Trans-Rockies (long) Day by Day Summary, Throughout the Rocky Mountains
August 20th 2008
Day 1
Panorama – K2 Ranch (Invermere)
2500m/climbing – 67 km
We finished the drive up, got the bikes prepped, and were ready to get started. All the anticipation and excitement was building and there was far too much talk and over analysis of the race going on in our RV. Talk is cheap and it was time to let our legs do the talking.
Day one started in Panorama. There was a small little parade loop around the village behind a fire truck which turned out to be pretty sketchy cause the vast majority of the cyclist were not comfortable riding in a tight pack. The loop spat us out on the hill where we started a 10 km ascent where we would gain 2500 vertical meters in one shot. Day one is tricky, everyone has fresh legs and everyone is gunning to get that first leaders jersey to gain a tactical advantage over the rest of your competitors. So, the pace going up that hill was easily as fast as a Canada Cup, but unlike a national race where you go up and down for 2 hours, we only went up and up and up some more for over 2 hours!
Near the start of the climb, the team of two Italians pretty much rode away from the field. They quickly gained many minutes with most of us near the rivet already, we just let them go and the general consensus was that we would make up that time in the decent, as Europeans are typically know to not have many technical skills. We couldn’t have been more wrong as by the end of the day, they finished up first with a very healthy gap on second.
Rewinding a bit, the climb was fast a furious. My legs were feeling quite good and I was setting the pace for the group with Marty (my partner) behind me. Halfway up, Sneddon came to the front (partnered with Plaxton) and upped the tempo, putting Marty in some difficulty. I stayed on Sneddons wheel, trying to control his attack and allow Marty to catch back up but it turned out that Marty’s adductor leg muscles were highly inflamed and the power to stay with the group was just not there. Not to panic, it was a 7 day race, I dropped back to him staying calm and trying to help him along. I could see the amount of pain he was in and I felt bad but knew that I was surely going to be in the same boat in future days. We got to the top sitting in about 6th place, where we traversed along a ridge with some spectacular scenery, but where the blizzard started. It was slow going with many of the short climbs up top too steep to ride and a fair chunk of hike a bike was necessary. We were both freezing, unable to warm ourselves up again as the snow was just pounding down on us. Teams were catching us and I knew we had to make a concerted effort to try and salvage the day. As Marty put it, ‘when we started getting caught by a fat dude with hairy legs, we knew we had to put in a better effort’!
We made it work on the decent. We hauled ass and took some big risks and passed many teams on the decent. We had no idea how much time we had conceded to our main competitors but limiting our damage was the only thing on my mind. I put the hammer down as we cruised down a quad track at over 70 km/h! with 10km to go, we reached the bottom and had a short climb left. That’s where we saw Shep (Chris Sheppard) and Dre (Andreas Hestler) and were surprised we had caught them. Catching them, I could see Dre was in a bit of a bonk (low blood sugar) so we ramped it up enough on the last hill to get a gap. Finishing up, we managed to crawl our way back to 3rd place, 11 minutes down on the Italians and 5 minutes down on Sneddon and Plaxton. Overall satisfied with our comeback, it was time for some food and massages to try and get those adductors fixed on Marty’s legs! Ending up podium after having been 6th or 7th was not too shabby and I would call our first day quite successful!
Day 2
K2 Ranch – Nipika
2100m/climbing – 89 km
Day two. Fatigue is already in the legs, the morning is bloody cold and we’re back on the bike racing at 8am. (too early!) Today, there was 3 major climbs, one right off the bat, then the mid way one which had a hike a bike at the top, then the last one to get over the last mountain pass which would get us into Nipika.
The race started on the road and everyone stayed together. The pace quickened once we hit the first climb and my legs were not feeling too badly. Looking back with Marty on my tail, I could tell that he seemed much more comfortable the yesterday, breathing a sigh of relief that he had his legs back. Once again, the Italiens started to ride away on the hill. I set a fast pace and saw that Sneddon was in a bit of discomfort and was dangling on the back of the group. Off to a good start! We started a quick little decent with a bunch of water bars across the road where unfortunately I got a flat. Not a good time of the day to get a flat. Riding with a group is always easier as you can work together and share the workload. Oh well, that is the way it was. We stopped, put a tube in as team after team was passing us. We got it all sorted out in 4-5 minutes and the wheel was re-inflated and we were back in the saddle! We were on a mission! We hammered, time trialing our way back to the leaders, flying by teams one after another. I could tell we were going well cause no team was really able to hang on to our wheel and draft off us as we passed them!
Onto the second climb of the day, our key word was steady. Steady tempo, going quickly but not blowing ourselves up. We had no idea how far back we were but just kept it steady. Getting near the top of the climb, close to where the hike a bike was, we spotted them ahead. I was really excited that we were able to pace ourselves back up to them after a flat. We made contact just as we started to walk our bikes. No one really knew how long the hike was but it was up this scree avalanche chute which was super steep and full of loose rocks. It was hard to get a proper footing in the ground with our bikes on our backs. It didn’t help that the cycling shoes we wear do not flex an inch and have a very slippery hard carbon sole on them with not much treads. There were many slips which resulted in a loss of balance and rocks catapulting themselves down the hill. We had no idea how far we had to go up this hill and with no trail markers pointing us back into the woods, we just kept climbing. It was discouraging looking up at where we had to to cause it was soooo steep and soooo far. Not much fun. I was drenched with sweat with a steady stream running down my face! The further up we went the colder it got, the steeper it got and the more dangerous it got. After side stepping our way up the hill moving forward mere centimeters on each step, we reach the summit of this mountain (yes it was an actual pointy summit! I felt like I should have stuck a flag in the top to mark my accomplishment!) after nearly 2 hours of hiking. This was the stupidest thing I had ever done and we were all in a very bitter mood. It was dangerous up there, cold, loose with rocks falling down the hill behind us. Looking down, we could see the whole race (250 teams) following us up this mountain like lemmings. I remember thinking how on earth these recreational guys were ever going to make it. I was on the verge of tears and close to breaking down and I was supposed to be the ‘professional’ in this race. We reached the summit only to find a cliff on the other side of the peak???? Where the f@*k was the trail??? This was unbelievable!
We start relaying messages down the hill from team to team to see if anyone can see a trail that we missed. No word. We start exploring both ridges on either side of the peak to look for a trail, no sign. At this point we were starting to become close to hypothermic, miserable and it was getting more and more dangerous. If we had gone wrong, why was there no helicopter coming to tell us??? (race has 2 helicopters hired full time) This was unbelievable and I was getting desperate.
Finally, word came from the bottom that someone had found a trail. One that was terribly if at all marked which was completely unacceptable! With all the top teams in and around us, we talked and made a packed that we would neutralize the rest of the day. What this means is that racing is done for the day, our main concern was getting down from this mountain safely. It took a while for the Italians to understand as they did not speak a single word of English, but we got it through to them eventually so the trek back down the mountain began. When we reached the trail, you can imagine, we were the last team in the race and there was a massive bottle neck to enter it. We actually didn’t get back on our bikes for a good half hour or so. We rode it back in leisurely, passing through the field of riders and arrived at the finish more the 7 hours after we started. This was probably 3 hours longer then this stage should have taken. Not please with the day, we filed an official protest for the day to have the results of this day taken out of the GC (general classification – overall results). The protest was successful and so our epic 7 hour day was scrapped from the books!
Day 3
Nipika – Nipika (Time Trial)
1500m/climbing - 49km
Time Trial day, and a bit of a sleep in as we departed today at 2pm. I’ve never done an off road time trial and for those who don’t know what it is, it’s a format of race where each team is sent off individually, at 1 minute intervals with the quickest team going first, and has to complete the course on their own. Still sitting in 3rd in the GC, we departed at 2:02, one minute behind Plaxton and Sneddon and one minute ahead of Dre and Shep. If we got caught by them, we would relinquish our third overall as they only trailed us by 50 or so seconds.
We set off quickly as Marty set a blistering pace into the first part of the course. We were trying to hunt down the team ahead of us and wanted to do it as quickly as possible. We quickly realized that the single track that they sent us on was freshly cut and incredibly rough. You have to understand that when you ride a trail casually, it rides much different and much smoother then when you are really racing it and pushing through it. Being so rough, I thought to myself that I was lucky I was on a full suspension bike, as my ‘taint’ was already just getting pounded and not having that rear suspension would have been unbearable. About 5 minutes in, we settled into a comfortable pace when I got stung by a bee or something on my ankle. It hurt like hell but it helped me go harder as I wanted the pain in my legs to be greater then the pain from the sting to over ride it. We hit the climb at the back of the course, a 2.5 km climb about 1/3 way into the day. That’s where we saw Sneddon and Plaxton in front of us. It looked as though Sneds was hurting but unfortunately I was in the same boat and unable to make up the remaining 15 seconds that we were behind them. Once they spotted how close we were, they turned on their after burners and pulled away from us again. I was struggling for most of the day with Marty dragging me around as I tried to get enough gels and sugars into my body to snap out of my bonk.
With the tight single track and bumpy trails, the course seemed to go on for ever and ever with my taint and lower back just taking a beating. The gels finally seemed to enter my blood stream as I regained some strength and it was Marty’s turn to struggle a bit. For the last portion of the day, we soldiered our way through the twists as it seemed that the finish was never going to come. We were both constantly looking behind us to see if we were getting caught by Shep and Dre. Didn’t see anything but in a time trial, it’s hard to know how good your going, because when you’re alone, you have no one around you to gage and compare yourself to. Marty kept assuring me that we were hauling along well but I was not convinced and kept thinking we were going slower and slower…
The finish finally! We arrived, some 4 minutes down on the Iti’s and 3 or so down on Sneds and Plaxton. What made me happy is that we built up our cushion between us and 4th place a bit by putting 5 or so minutes into them. With the day only taking 2:20h to do, it was relatively short in duration but was incredibly hard. It was no recovery or recuperation day, if anything, my body took a massive beating today and to be honest, feel like I put my future family life at risk…
Day 4
Nipika – Whiteswan Lake
3800m/climbing – 115km
I am wrecked. I rolled out this morning afraid of the day. This day was massive. I don’t know if I can make you understand how much 3800 meters of climbing is. With the longest day in the race today, I knew that this could potentially be a very dangerous day. (for loosing time) With my legs not really existent at the start, my goal was to maintain contact with the lead group for as long as I could. I was afraid of getting dropped right off the bat and having to fend for the day on my own… Luckily, I don’t think I was the only one hurting as it seemed like the rest of the top teams were more then happy to cruise through the first part of the day.
Today there were two massive peaks to climb over and pace remained very civil over the first one and on the false flat to the next one. This killed 50 some odd kilometers as we cruised and nobody really wanting to push the pace. Our lead group was bigger today as the gentle pace allowed some weaker teams to stay in contact and some of them felt the need to try and up our pace. This was incredibly annoying because in cycling, you have to know your place! If you are back in the GC, there is a reason for it and when the top teams all decide to take it easy, again, there is a reason for it. These stupid teams thought it would be a good idea to go off the front and try and gap us was more of an annoyance then a concern. Know your place, stay where you belong! (behind us!)
As mentioned, the pace was leisurely but even at that rate, I was having troubles maintaining contact. I was really starting to get afraid for the next big climb. We could not afford to have another bad day if we wanted to maintain our podium GC position. At the base of the last climb there was a feed station and we all stopped to fill our bottles. At this point, there was a sense of urgency in everyone and I could tell the pace was going to quicken. With our bottles full, we had a river crossing to go through with some fast moving water and a depth that was up to our mid thighs. Again, with not much tread on our cycling shoes, getting a good footing was next to impossible and we all almost fell in and got swept down stream! At the other end of the river, the climbing began. I gritted my teeth to try and hide my weakness and maintained contact with the group. Once on the hill, the Iti’s again went to the front and started to ride away. Everyone let them go and I could see the Dre and Sneddon were both having difficulties as well. This was our opportunity. I kept the pace steady and we started to build a bit of a lead. Looking back and seeing that the others were not matching our pace, we kept pushing it harder and harder. This was our opportunity to try and gain back some time on Max/Plaxton and the Iti’s and to create a bigger cushion on Dre/Shep. It was a suffer fest but we kept it going. After reaching the top of the climb, the others were no longer in sight so we put our heads down for the remaining 1 hour decent of the day. We had no idea how big our gap was and were constantly concerned that the others were catching back up. Almost every few seconds, one of us would check behind us to see if they were in sight. This continued until the end when we finished completely exhausted but our efforts were worth it and we were rewarded by taking back numerous minutes on the other teams.
Tonight, we were staying in Whiteswan lake which is a beautiful wilderness camping experience with some natural hot springs near by. We didn’t have the energy to go check them out this time but will definitely be a destination to discover in the future!
Day 5
Whiteswan Lake – Elkford
2147m of climbing, 88.5km
Today we had 2 hard steep climbs right off the bat. The pace was steady but not crazy and my legs were definitely feeling their effort from yesterday. Hanging in on the first climb, not far from the leaders, we all gathered at the top and descended together. The second climb was a long fire road climb the climb in switchbacks up from a river. This is where I was starting to drop off the pace. To my relief, Sneddon was not feeling too hot either and him and myself were bringing up the rear as the rest of the top teams were gradually starting to gap us. For whatever reason, Dre and Shep went to the front and started to drill the pace and dropped all of us including the Italians. This was not too popular of a mood within the group as it was very early in the day and didn’t seem to come with much purpose. However, the chase was on and like predicted, a lot of futile energy was wasted reeling them back in when we really all should have been working together against the Italians.
When we caught back up to them, Marty unfortunately suffered a flat. This made us loose touch with the lead group and for the rest of the day, we were in the hurt locker trying to limit our losses. I was really feeling it, struggling to put any effort into the pedals. Slowly but surely, we claw our way back towards the front. We never made contact with the group but reeled in some time we had lost.
At the end of the day, there was one of the most brutal, steep rocky descents that was so rough that you pretty much had to stay as loose as possible on the bike and hope that the front wheel would find it’s way through the ‘baby head’ sized rocks. Still trying to make up time, we let it all hang out on and took some big risks. By the end of it, we got down without any major damage. I had a broken derailleur and a twisted chain which made pedaling hard, but it wasn’t too far from the finish so we pushed on through. The Italians were not as lucky and suffered numerous flats which allowed us to pass them at the end and take yet again a podium spot for the day!
Day 6
Elkford – Crowsnest Pass
2998m of climbing, 102.4km
This day is one that has been in the back of my mind for some time now. I remember doing it in reverse two years ago and was very afraid for what was to come. My fears were justified as this day never seemed to end. It went on and on and on and up and up and up. Again, lots of hike a biking and relentless climbing…
On the first major climb, we started up it at a leisure pace. Quick enough to shed some weaker teams and narrow it back done to our usual top 4 teams. As we approached the top of the fist massive climb, the Italian’s cranked up the pace and started to ride away. That was enough motivation for Dre and Shep to take up chase but our team and Max and Sneds just kept it steady, trying to limit the losses. The two teams dropped us in a hurry and during the next climb, reeled back Dre/Shep but the Iti’s were once again gone… we climbed the second peak together which brought us over the continental divide. I wish I wasn’t as gassed as I was so that I could have enjoyed the view and the scenery more then I could because it was spectacular. But, my head was down to the grind stone and after Max and Sneds flatted on the descent, the pace was upped again as we saw it an opportunity to get back some time on them.
We stayed away until a few km until the end but they eventually caught back on and ended up dropping us before the end. The end was probably the toughest section of the entire race as we had already reached our destination town but the course took us around it up and down 3 brutally steep drainage valleys. This was completely unnecessary, after an already brutal day to tease us at the end and tacking on an extra 1.5 hours of tedious steep climbing under a baking hot sun. I don’t have much else to say on this day as we came across the line furious and frustrated. Definitely a sour taste in our mouths after today…
Day 7
Crowsnest Pass – Fernie
2101m of climbing, 78.8km
One would think that on the last day, the race would treat you with an ‘easier’ day. Whether it’s shorter or has less climbing, more so following the typical ‘ parade loop’ last day of stage races. But, being the ‘hardest race’, they had a reputation to drill into our minds and this day was no easier then any other.
The day started with a climb up the local ski mountain with some… you guessed it: HIKE A BIKES! I’ve had about enough with this walking of the bike and was looking forward to this being over. The pace was once again furious, when really it probably shouldn’t have been. The standings were all but set the gaps between us too large to realistically make up in 1 day. But, give them credit for trying, Dre/Shep took off and attacked the whole group. The Italians suffered a broken seatpost and while they were trying to tie it back together with a tube… Max/Sneds and Marty and I took up chase to the lead. I have to credit Max here as he and Marty did the bulk of the work and fortunately got us back to the front. From here on in, I think we all knew nothing else will happen, so the pace slowed considerably on the next climb, allowing a few more teams to join us in the front. It stayed slow right up until the last little punchy climb of the race when there was some jockeying of positions for the day’s podium finish. I was done, finished, exhausted and was unable to stay with them. Allowed them to go off the front and rolled in on the final day in 4th. This did not bother us as we knew we had secured our final 3rd overall placing!
Canadian Mountain Bike Nationals, Mont Saint-Anne
Sunday July 20th, 2008
Back in "la belle province." Unfortunately, the weather hasn't been too "belle" for us, having had everything from sun to monsoon rains and intense thundershowers.
With a full field of Canada's best present, I knew this race would be nice and fast, and really tough. Nationals has always been a hard race for me to do well in. Something about trying to plan my training to peak for this one race, the pressure of performing on this one day... I don't know, I've never had much luck with this race so this year, I'm trying to put a little less emphasis on it.
Yesterday started out promising. Our race was at 2:30pm, which suited me well as I like the relaxed mornings and the sleeping in, that the late starts offer. Being nationals, we had the course to ourselves (only our category racing at that time) as opposed to sharing the course with juniors and women as we usually do. The weather was holding out on us, and it was actually quite warm, muggy even, getting close to the 30's. I had a great call up, getting called up after Toulouse on the front line. The start couldn't have been better, I felt great, got out front quickly and didn't find the pace unbearable. I was right near the front up the first climb and got into the singletrack 4th or 5th wheel. Throughout the first lap, I felt strong and comfortable, riding in the front group of 5. We had developed a gap to Marty and a few others behind us that grew in the second lap. I dropped off the pace midway through that lap and was caught in a bit of no man's land. I rode alone, consistent and strong feeling pretty good about my race. I could always see the guys ahead of me on the climbs as they had a minute or so on me. On the start of the 4th lap, I saw Plaxton ahead of me, and was told that he was suffering a bit. That gave me some motivation to pick it up the pace a bit. Maybe the extra push on the descent translated into a mistake and I came off the bike. Not entirely sure on what happened but I picked myself up, my body still working, and hopped back on the bike. Unfortunately, my front tire either had a leak/flat/burped as it was really low on air and would roll on me every corner. I finished the descent slowly, picking my way down with one foot out, trying to make it to the pits at the bottom of the climb. There, Rocky support started changing my front wheel. These things always feel like they take forever as your helpless watching someone try to get your bike up and running again. The quick release of the new wheel did not match up well with my fork and it took us a while to get the new wheel in. When I was back up and rolling, I got back out on course as Marty was just passing me. I had probably 1:30ish on him before the incident and it is killer demoralizing to see the hard work put in at the start of the race slip right through your fingers... but, it's all part of it and that's part of the game. I was lucky that it happened close to the pits, and that the rest of my bike was still sort of functioning.
I think mentally I lost a battle there and felt like I was unable to push the same way as during the first 4 laps. The last 2 were painful, as I could see that I was loosing time on Marty and then having Glassford pass me. This set me back into 8th place, 3 places off my goal of top 5... but, overall I am happy that my legs were working well and with all things considering, 8th is my best nationals result to date. With Nationals over, I'm hanging out here in Saint-Anne for the week, trying to pass the time until the World Cup next Sunday. The World Cup will be my last XCO race of the year (already!) but have plans to do one more 'large' race. More on that in a couple of days.
In the air Between Vancouver and Quebec
Tuesday July 15th, 2008
It was take two at the Vancouver airport this morning. I was meant to fly out yesterday morning only to show for my flight 2 hours late. It was stellar: I had accommodation and a rental car all lined up in Quebec city, which had to all be rearranged. So, here I am, traveling this time as a stand by passenger, hoping that I will get onto my next flight from T.O. to Quebec city...
My week at home was enjoyable. The weather cooperated and I spent as much time with my puppy as possible. I felt quite tired from the past two weekends of racing that I took my training quite easy. At the end of the week, I did want to get a bit of a tune up in before nationals, so I worked the local BC Cup race on Burnaby Mountain (SFU) into my training. I rode out the morning of and found myself on a race course which was much more difficult then I had expected! The climb was gruesome, over 15 minutes long for each lap and relentlessly steep! There was a first lap prime to be had at the top of the hill so I pushed hard off the start to ensure that I would make back my entry fee. After that, Colin Kerr flew by me on the downhill (he was hauling!) and I would catch back on once we started climbing again. This happened every lap as he would easily put 10-15 seconds into me in the singletrack. Knowing this, on the last lap, I wanted to ensure that I'd get into the descent first so near the top of the "Cardiac Climb" I ramped up the pace slightly, but enough to establish a gap between us. I would continue to hold that advantage through to the end and take home a rare win.
Getting a win in elite races does not happen often so when the opportunity arises, it's nice to pull it off and boosts the moral.
Canada Cup #5, Canmore, Alberta
Monday July 7th, 2008
My expected 2 month end of year trip got interrupted today with a last minute flight back home from Edmonton. The plan had been to stay out in Alberta until I flew out to Quebec for nationals next week. After browsing the west jet site a few days ago, I came across a blow out ticket from Edmonton to Vancouver for $19! It was too good to be true so I decided to snatch it up and come home for a week to spend some time with my 'puppy' Akela.
At home now, I plan on recovering from these past two back-to-back Canada Cup weekends that concluded the 2008 National Series. Canmore happened this weekend in considerably nicer temperatures then we faced last week in Kamloops. The course, one of the best on the circuit, was considerably more difficult with much more climbing compared to last week.
The race started out with an 8-9 minute sustained, steep climb right off the bat. From the gun, Heemskerk (sneaky Dutchmen who finished 3rd at Kamloops) took off and quickly established a significant gap. Behind him, there was a group of 5-6 riders keeping an even tempo, trying to limit our early losses to him. Knowing that he is a fast started, I decided not to follow him thinking he would not be able to hold the pace for too long. Coming through after the first lap (of 4) we learnt that Heemskerk had already built himself a lead of over 1 minute. This took me by surprise as I went to the front and quickened the pace a bit. This trimmed our chase group down to 3 of us; Lazarski, (teammate and current CC leader) Gagne and Myself. For the next two laps, I sat on the front of the group for the majority of the time setting the pace. I was feeling comfortable and keeping a steady pace, regretting not having tried to follow Heemskerk off the start. Setting a pace within a group is quite tricky, as you want to push hard enough to try and close the gap to the leader, but at the same time, if you are doing the majority of the work, you don't want to dig too deep, making yourself vulnerable to counter attacks by the others in your group. So for laps 2 & 3, I set the pace at a level that I was comfortable at. Unfortunately this did not allow us to close the gap to Heemskerk as we kept hovering behind him by just over a minute... Come the fourth lap, Marty Lazarski took charged and upped the tempo significantly. Now I was taken up to my max, being right on the rivet of holding his wheel and popping out the back. I stuck it out for the first major climb, then he laid down some serious rubber in the singletrack to drop both myself and Gagne. Not being able to follow him, I started to get really aware of what Gagne was doing behind me. I quickly took down the speed letting myself recover a bit better as I was afraid that he would sit on my wheel until the end and jump me before the line. I would have been quite upset after having done the majority of the work in the group for the first 3 laps, to have them both take me before the finish. I confronted Gagne about it and tried to have him take the lead up the last major climb to allow my legs to recover a bit better, but after he said that he was on the rivet and was barely hanging on, I kept it steady until the last kilometer where I put in a bit of an effort and pulled away from him. 3rd place it was. Not totally thrilled by how the race went but at the same time 3rd place is a great result! This final result secured my 3rd place overall in the Canada Cup series, where I was able to get into the top 5 in four out of the five races! A huge improvement over last years best individual result of 8th and an overall placing of 9th.
Now back home, I'm going to rest this week before flying out to Quebec on Monday to tackle Nationals and a World Cup in Mont St. Anne.
Canada Cup #4, Kamloops, BC
Wednesday June 30th, 2008
Back on the road. This time, the packing needed to be done for the next 2 months as I'm embarking on the longest, and last, road trip of the year. Kamloops was the first stop as the second swing of Canada cups, this time in the west, kicked off.
After 3 weeks at home with a mix of some good rest time and later some solid training, I was really looking forward to this race. Knowing that the race took place the week after worlds, I knew that there would be a few of the regulars absent. This left for a good opportunity to record a solid result to try and boost my overall placing (which was 7th after the first 3 rounds). Since it was one of the only races close to home, my mom, sister and 'puppy' akela, joined me for the road trip to cheer me on.
The race weekend did not start out ideally when temperatures started soaring into the high 30's when we got into town. After a couple of days of trying to hide from the sun and locking myself into my ac'ed hotel room, I braved the outside (because I had to) on race day to find the temperatures getting into the low 40's... and we were supposed to race in this??? I was actually quite worried as I heard tales of multiple riders from the race before us being taken to the hospital. It felt like we were stuck in a giant blow dryer and with no cover anywhere on the course, I knew that this was going to be a suffer fest like none other. I was gonna try to give a new meaning to my suffer face in this race!
As if the heat wasn't enough, the race course was set in a dust bowl. It was imposible to see in front of you and you could feel your lungs filling up and sucking it up as if they were a vacuum cleaner. It was not nice! Matt Hadley was the first to fall victim to the dust as he got catapulted off his bike after catching a rut that was impossible to see. (He got back on to finish up a strong 4th place!) Not long after that, Marty Lazarski (my teammate as we formed the rocky train) and I cranked the pace up to drop the field like they were hot (no pun intended) and created a gap which we worked on growing together for the next 4 laps. After having established a 1+ minute gap on Tim Heemskerk in 3rd, I felt comfortable enough to pull back on the gas a bit. After having followed Marty's wheel for the 3rd and start of the 4th lap, I could see that he was ridding really strong and in control and I knew that I wasn't going to be able to match his pace for the rest of the race, so I cut my loses, let him gap me and went my own pace. I made sure that my gap over Heemskerk did not diminish but in this 40+ degree heat, I could feel myself on edge of blowing up catastrophically! It was a very fine line of pushing myself enough and quite literally, going over the edge and passing out! A few times in the race I could feel cold shivers running through my body as it was pretty close to just shutting down, but hearing my fam. and most of all my 'puppy' cheering loudly from the sidelines helped pass the painful hour and 46 minutes it took to complete the 6 laps.
In retrospect of the race, I couldn't be happier on how things went after finishing 2nd to Lazarski, a teammate of mine with whom I've been battling all season! Yet again, I improved my best result in a Canada Cups to date and hope things keep on rolling next weekend out in Canmore. Being the last stop on the circuit, I will try and clinch a top three overall placing in the series. At the moment, I'm spending the week on the lake in Salmon Arm, at the Skinner residence and go off to Canmore on Thursday.
A few notes worth mentioning: I wish all the best and a speedy recovery to Mike Hunter, a fellow teammate who was killing his masters race before falling victim to the day's excruciating heat and ending up in the hospital unconscious, and also mad props to a very selfless Kevin Calhoun who saw a pack of brats in the process of stealing Hunter's abandoned bike (after he was taken to the hospital) and dropped out of his own elite race to recover the bike for Mike! Some good Karma coming to him for sure (maybe to be paid back in Canmore??? See ya out there Kev!).
The legendary Test of Metal, Squamish, BC
Monday June 16th, 2008
Back home I settled in, unpacked, did laundry, and chilled with Akela (my dog). The first week home was miserable. I believe in Vancouver, our start to June was dubbed "Junuary" as the temperature barely broke into double digits and the rain didn't seem to stop. Miserable is I think the best word used to describe a Vancouver that was supposed to be in full summer... Thankfully I had planed on taking a full week off the bike, giving myself a break between the first and the second half of the season.
I got back onto the bike as the weather started to slowly improve. Early last week I started up again by getting out consistently and following a series of planed workouts. I wanted to get a few days of riding into my legs to wake them up in time to get them going for the weekend where I planed on competing in the legendary Test of Metal up in Squamish. This is a classic and probably one of the funest and biggest races in Canada. It is a 67 km race that has close to 1000 competitors and where the whole town of Squamish participates by either racing, cheering or volunteering at it. Prior to this year, I have only started the race twice and only completed it once. By being in town for it for the first time in many years, I was excited to be able to compete in it.
We had pre-ridden the course last weekend in the rain and mud and after having suffered two flats on the ride, I was keeping a close eye on the weather report, really hoping for a dry fast course for the race. Come race day, my wish was granted as it was an absolutely perfect day to race. Sky was clear, sun was coming out but it was not too hot. The race went off at 11am after the singing of O Canada on the start line. The field was nice and deep this year with great representation from our Rocky Mountain/K-Capitol Source team, Plaxton, Snedon, Richey, a group up from the US, and all the local wild cards from Whistler and Squamish such as Ryan. This ensured for a quick start and with 10 $100 primes throughout the course, ensured the continuation of a quick start. Quickly after the start, 5 of us, Plaxton, Lazarski, Richey, Calhoun and myself separated ourselves from the rest of the field. We tried to work together to try and strengthen our lead and with each passing hill we shed a rider here and there. Once we came by the Power House Plunge party feedzone (about halfway through the race) it was down to Plaxton, Lazarski and myself in the front.
As we started climbing the infamous 9-mile climb, Plaxton started to ride away from Lazarski and myself. Knowing that it was close to a 40-minute climb, I let him go settling into a pace I knew I could hold throughout the climb. Lazarski and me stayed close and finished the climb together, some 2 minutes behind Plaxton. Now it was the long descend down the 'Plunge' where we both had flatted last weekend on the ride. With that in the back of our minds, we slowed the pace a bit to pick our lines a little more carefully. We got to the bottom where we would lap through the Powerhouse party once more before heading off to the finish. Here we were lapping through some riders heading through it on their first times and with all the people (many of which were fueled by alcohol by that point) cheering in the feedzone, we blasted up the climb amped by all the spectators. One of the greatest things of this race is the huge number and the enthusiasm of the spectators. Every time you go through a section with spectators, you get an extra boost of energy and pick your pace up.
On to the last section of the race called Crumpet Woods which seems to go by so slowly and seems to be never ending. Here Lazarski gained a small gap on me, which proved to hold until the end. It wasn't much, only 10 seconds or so, but with a head wind on the last section, was too difficult to close. In the end, Plaxton came through the finish at 2:31h, smashing the old course record by 6 minutes with myself and Lazarski coming in 4 minutes later. All 3 of us came in under the previous course record of 2:37h set by Chad Miles.
It was a good day in the saddle for myself, Rocky Mountain and our Team. Rocky bikes dominated the race by sweeping the podium and our team placed 5 riders in the top 10! I continue to be neck in neck with Lazarski and I look forward to battling with him in the next few weeks at the Western series of Canada Cups! Look out Marty, you've snagged some spots from me this year and I'll be motivated to get some revenge in the second half of the season!
On My Way Home, Barrie, Ontario
Monday June 2nd, 2008
Travel day. Homeward bound. End of the trip. As travel day approaches, you start to let your mind wander to all the things you're looking forward to at home. Your bed, a closet for clothes, (as apposed to a hockey bag...) good coffee, family/friends. You start to get excited, excited to be based in one area for more then a week. I do however know that after 10 or so days at home, I'll be ready to go again, itching to get back on the road!
Jumping back a day, yesterday I had my 3rd Canada Cup in as many weeks. It was the last of the swing out east and I went into it hoping for another solid result. Up until now, I had exceeded my expectations and goals for this trip so all I wanted for this weekend was another solid result so that I could end the trip on a positive note.
This weekend, we raced at 11:30am, which for me is too early. I like the 1:30-2pm starts which allow me to sleep in as long as I'd like, relax in the morning, and have plenty of time to stuff myself 3 hours before the start. With an 11:30am start, I was up at 7am, prepping bottles and going through my race morning routine. We got to the course shortly before 10am and started our warm up in some miserable weather. It was cold, windy and it seemed as though the clouds were lying really low as I was getting wet but it was neither raining nor drizzling... Again, my race mornings are always all the same so I go through my warm-up on autopilot, trying to stay loose and relaxed while at the same time focusing on the upcoming race. I find it a fine line between getting myself too amped up which gets me nervous and too relaxed where my body isn't prepared for the onslaught of pain which is soon to follow. Tunes are going, usually something fairly quiet and depressing??? (seems to work) and I usually like to roll the warm-up alone.
11:30, it's still cold and miserable and I reluctantly take off my warm-up cloths and stand anxiously on the start line. The gun goes and the start paced itself along a few kilometers of soft woodchips. It was much quicker then the last two weeks and I found myself a bit over extended. My goal was not to let a gap go to the lead group as this race typically is very fast with opportunity to draft and sit in throughout the course. I got into the single track again within the top 10, and the pace started to slow a bit. I recovered well lowered my HR and started moving up. Within half a lap, I got myself into the front group of 6 and we started to pull away from the rest of the field. This stayed this way for the first 3 laps and I found the pace quite comfortable. I was feeling good and not too maxed, liking my chances to do well within the group however it is often when you get comfortable that you make careless mistakes. I made that mistake and went down hard on one of the descents. This allowed the group to get 15-20 seconds on me which I struggled to make up over the next lap and a half. I would pay for this mistake for the remainder of the race as chasing took quite a bit out of me and when I finally made contact with the group again, Marty and Raph ramped it up and started pulling away. I was in damage control mode trying to hold Morka's wheel and not loose too much time. This course is notoriously hard to make up gaps but if you blow near the end, you can loose an extreme amount of time... I had 1 lap to go and Morka had pulled away from me a bit as well. I was determined not to let myself loose my top 5 and pushed myself as I rode alone. I came in well in front of the group behind me and was ultimately very satisfied with my race. Only 2:30 minutes off the lead and 1:30 minutes off second. I'm right up there! I know that with a good day in the saddle, I can play hardball with those guys!
So, this first eastern swing has been a great success. Now it's time to re-asses my goals for the rest of the season, rest up for a week now at home, then back to training in preparation of the next swing of races in a month!
The Batty Farm, Brooklyn, Ontario
Wednesday May 28th, 2008
My day started at 4:30am this morning with the alarm clock going and for once, unlike most times, I was bolt upright, putting on some clothes, ready to brave the frosty dark morning. This morning, I was going out hunting for a turkey with Rick and Mark Batty. Actually, they were going out to do the hunting, I was tagging along for the ride. I'm not ashamed to say that having spent my life in the city, I've never had the chance to hunt, let alone ever having really seen a gun. So, needless to say, I was excited!
Too early to eat, we were off to the trailer where all the family toys and trophy's are kept. It was full camo gear for all, dressed from head to toe. We had fleecy coveralls below our camo coveralls, and then completed the look with appropriate gloves hat and blankets. (camo netting to put over your head and face). Off to the bush we went, where we snuck into an area that we had scouted out the night before, and sat down as quietly as possible, draping our blankets over us. Now the waiting game began, as Mark started 'gobble' talking with the Turkeys trying to lure over the 'Tom' or the large male turkey. Mark had a 'device' that mimicked their sound and he would quite literally 'talk' back and forth with them and in front of us were 3 'mock' turkeys set up to lure the Tom in. Sure enough, after half and hour or so, leaves and sticks went crashing as a Tom came running and before I knew it, Boom, Rick had let it rip. Head shot, flapping turkey on the ground, and Mark ran up to go pick it up. Unfortunately its inch and a quarter talon ripped through his glove and left him with a nice little scrape...
Next was the cleaning. First, we strung him up and plucked all the feathers off. Then with the skin clean and the remaining hair singed off with a propane torch, Rick cut into him and started cleaning him out. We got a nice dissecting bird anatomy lesson and got a close look at his digestive system, then washed him up, bagged the liver (dinner tomorrow night!) and off to the freezer until the October for the Batty thanksgiving! For what seemed to be a whole days activity, it was only 9am and it was time to go off to Hardwood Hills to do some intervals on the course!
Mont-Tremblant Canada Cup Race Report
Tuesday May 27th, 2008
On Thursday, we traveled to Mont-Tremblant where round two of the Canada cup circuit took place. Tremblant is the eastern equivalent of whistler with Intrawest putting their signature stamp on the village, and surrounding houses and condo's. We keep the annual trip here short as it shares more then it's design with Whistler, it is also incredibly expensive!
We got on the course on Thursday and Friday when it was switching between pouring rain and hail. The course was not in the greatest shape with tons of mud around it. When the weather turns out to be different then expected, it always becomes a mad scramble to find the proper tires for the conditions and seal them up properly in time for the race.
The race was on Saturday again and started out up a gradual climb with Watson taking a flyer off the front. I got into the single track in the top 15 and started picking riders off one by one. By the end of the lap, there were 3 riders about a minute up from the chase group I was in with Morka and Hadley. The course had once again changed conditions since yesterday, as it was dry and sunny out. This made the mud very sticky with the consistency of peanut butter, making the downhills very tricky and slow. I was slipping all over the place and riding like a beginner. Hadley took advantage of this pathetic display of riding along with my slipping gears and would open a gap on me in every singletrack that I would need to close back up on the climbs. We kept the gap to the lead group fairly consistent until the 4th lap when Hadley and I started closing in on Toulouse. This left Gagne leading the race and Watson in second, less then a minute up on us. Hadley took the front and started pushing the pace. It was a bit too hard for me as I backed off and let them pull away from me. I had them in sight for much of the lap but was unable to real them back in. In the end, Gagne took the win for the 2nd time in as many weeks, with Watson in second, just over 1.5 minutes up on me. Hadley was able to hold off Toulouse for 3rd place.
I was happy with the result as this was my first top 5 in a Canada Cup and was a goal for me this season.
Bromont, Quebec, Canada Cup Race
Sunday May 18th, 2008
Back in Bromont, where we stay in Walt's Chalet every year. This is the pimp palace of the trip. Hot tub, Big screen TV, big kitchen, 5 lazy boy recliners, pretty much the works. Best of all, he has these knit slippers for everyone and fuzzy cozy robes in each closet. So after rides, it's nice to chill to some to some playoff hockey in our robes and slippers on the lazy boys. I definitely can't complain about life!
Enough about the place, let's go back to a week ago in Ontario. I still hadn't gotten over my sore throat so I opted not to race in the Ontario Cup and it seemed to be the right decision as still to date, I'm still struggling to kick. I went on antibiotics on Tuesday to try and kick the last of it. The positive aspect is that the meds allowed me to finally get in some sort of solid training for the week leading up to the race. As expected after not having done anything for a week, my legs felt like absolute s**t but at least I got out.
Pre ride for the race didn't inspire much confidence. Legs felt flat, I tried to do some spin ups and mini sprints and I'd go lactic really quickly and get out of breath fast. My HR didn't inspire much confidence either as I was idling at a astonishing 110-120 BPM (when it should be around 70-80). I remember looking at my watch on the start line as it raced at 133 BPM but I tried to put it out of mind and take the race as it came.
First Canada Cup of the year started out with a very steep 4 minute climb off the bat. The lap was 14-15 minutes and had two monster climbs and some good single track that we rode 8 times. The pace was quick but comfortable off the gun as a group of 6-7 riders went off the front. Morka and myself kept them in sight but were back 15-20 seconds during the first lap. As the second lap started, many of the riders from the front group dropped back as they started paying for their quick start. It quickly turned into a 3 man front group of Raph, Toulouse and Zandstra with Morka, Batty and myself trying to chase them down and minimize the gap they were putting on us. Unfortunately with 4 categories racing on the small lap at once, we started lapping riders on the 2nd lap already making it hard to maintain a good rhythm in the singletrack section, especially if you were rolling in a 3 man train. The groups stayed like that for a couple of laps after which Morka suffered from a flat and Batty started to ride away from me a bit. Toulouse also suffered a puncture and quickly dropped back in the field. This had me riding in 4th position for a few laps, by far the best place I've ever been in, in a Canada Cup! The thought of trying to hold on for a podium spot crossed my mind and an extra jolt of adrenalin kept me going. Unfortunately, the massive steep climbs started to take their toll on me with 2 laps to go when a couple of late surges from Watson and Lazarski kept me out of the top 5.
I finished up in 6th place, with a very respectable Canada Cup field on hand. This is my best finish in a CC to date and is inspiring after coming off a couple of sick weeks! Although I have to keep it in perspective and it is only the first race and next week I start all over again! At least I can take some confort out of knowing that my training is paying off and that I've had a great start to the season!
Mulmer, Ontario, Canada
Thursday May 8, 2008
Traveling sucks. I mean the packing, the flying and the mad scrambles to get everything done right and on time. This trip started out a bit turbulently as I had a 5 hour ride to do the day before heading out. So I packed my bike in the morning then went out for a nice ride into the ditch with Kindree where the topic of conversations revolved primarly around his new Rolls Royce of coffee machines! I really really enjoy my coffee but Neal, let me just say he takes it to a new level! Mid ride, we hit the season opener of Tuesday Nighters at UBC. Dubbed the 'Tuesday Night World Championships' reflects the seriousness that some roadies take it. So as MTBer's, we often like using them for some good training which doesn't often sit well with the road crowd... So training it was as Neal and myself would find ourselves sitting on the front, off in a break or chasing down nearly every attempt made for the vast majority of the crit. Good and exhausted, I spun around Stanley Park before heading home for some packing. Yeah it was 10pm when I started packing and our flight out in the morning was at 7am... which I knew would not leave us much time to sleep... My fears of traveling on a depressed immune system came to light after all the garlic, oil of oregano and cold FX could not help me through the 4 hour flight. I got off the plane and later in the evening felt a tickle in the throat... I knew exactly where this was going and sure enough, I woke up this morning after a 14 hour sleep with a bit of a larger tickle in my throat and a conjested nose. Not a good way to start things off...
So, it's back on the road, back to living out of a bag, back to training without distractions. Being home has it's benefits and it's challenges. It was nice to go home and see my family and friends but at the same time, it's a lot easier to stay up late, go for beers more frequently and go out for an easy meal vs. making a good one yourself. So, as nice as it is to be home, I do really enjoy being on the road. Less commitments, less distractions, easier to get done what you need to for yourself. Cycling or being an athlete for that matter, is often a very self-centered activity and way of life. You eat what you need when you need and decisions in and around your riding schedule are often made with rest and recover in mind so to get yourself as ready as possible for the next day of training or racing. That often means earlier bedtimes, less beer, more sleep... often times less fun for everyone around you...
This time, I'm traveling with Greener, Brian Bain and we're staying at Peter Glassford's place, outside of TO. This weekend we're gonna hit up an O-Cup at Albion Hills before heading out to Bromont for round 1 of the Canada Cups!
Sea Otter, Monterey, California
Sunday April 20, 2008
The last of the 3 early season US races, I was looking forward to this one as it was the biggest and has been for many the unofficial season opener for the mountain season.
Together with nearly the whole Batty family, and Morka, we squeezed into a tiny hotel room in Salinas. For the first night I was sleeping on the floor somewhere between the massive bag of grapefruits and the box of pots and pans. As Emily and Adam were moving back from Tucson, they had all their household appliances with them which came in handy as we chefed it up real good. I don't think the hotel staff that cleaned (or attempted to clean) our room every day had scene a room set up the way we had this one. Bathroom sink became our dishing pit, table had our coffee maker, a two burner stove, toaster, foreman grill... then every available floor realastate was occupied by boxes of food with the clothing drawers and closet stuffed with fruit, cereal and oats. Then tucked in between at night were our bikes. Quite a site!
Race day #1 was the short track again. Although some of the big north American names were missing this weekend (off doing the world cups in Europe) there was no shortage of speed on the start line with the likes of Miguel Martinez (former olympic and World Champion) Sam and Andy Shultz, Trebon... After slipping a pedal off the line, I played catch up for the first few laps but feeling quite well. I was moving up the field well and steadied my self just inside the top 15. With a nice little head wind, fatigue set in and the last 10 minutes were quite the struggle with the legs burning more and more. At the end, blood was again in my mouth and I was wondering how why I do this sport.
On to the XC which started on the famous Laguna race track. After having had a fairly light week on the bike, I was again expecting the legs would need a bit to get going. Like expected, they were incredibly flat for the first lap as I was struggling to hold Eric Batty's wheel. To be fair, he towed me for most of the first lap when after an hour or so, they started to come around. I took over the reigns on the second lap trying to no avail to close a small gap to Tinker and a Japanese rider, but slowly moving passed riders who had gone out too quickly and were totally blown. Come the last hill which was a 10 minute climb into direct head wind, fellow Canadian Peter Glassford came powering up behind us passing us like we were standing still. I tried to hold his wheel and managed to do so for 100 meters or so only to see him continue to power away and put over a minute on me in this last bit of the course. Happy to be finished, I pulled through the line with a torn skin suit, a swollen wrist but reasonably happy with my 14th place finish. I should mention that Adam Morka and Emily Batty both finished in 6th place, two amazing finishes at a race of this caliber!
Now I'm heading home to spend 2 weeks training in Vancouver before heading out to Eastern Canada for the next series of races in Quebec and Ontario.
