Jacob McClelland

Provincial Championships Of The World

2011-09-12T20:43:00.002-04:00

So after kinda slacking for a while when it come to blogging, and riding as well, it was time for provincials. Off to Highlands Nordic up in Duntroon, where it is always either snowing or raining was having some strange weather yesterday. It was actually sunny. After cruising around a bit and socializing i got geared up and warmed up.

At the end of lap 1 there was $100 for the person leading so the pace off the start was rediculous. I was sitting about 20th going into the first singletrack and from there on started working my way back up. Legs started to feel pretty good and when the first 2 juniors came by i was able to ride withe them for a bit. Stuck behind Marc-Antoine for a bit and when he got away Bretton caught me and i was glued to his wheel. That lasted a couple singletracks until i followed him off a drop off that i wasn't expecting, and i hit the dirt pretty hard. Got up and picked my bike up to realize my rear wheel had come off and i had broken my seat. Popped the wheel back on and bent my seat back to a useable position. Put the hammer down to gain some time back but had nothin left. Put it in survival mode and rode it home.

Kinda disappointed with the result, but that's racing, and there is always next time. I.T band was super sore after the race too, going to spend some time rolling it out and stretching and try to get ready for the 8 hour in 2 weeks. Not sure what other races i'll be doing this fall, but i'm sure something will involve the cross bike. All for now, i might try to update this a little more often....

Mountainview 9 hour

2011-08-23T18:14:00.003-04:00

Summer seems to be winding down a little here, all those thunderstorms we kept getting promised the past two weeks finally arrived yesterday at around 12:30 in the afternoon. Day started with Matt and I arguing about where the sun will move in the sky and whether or not 1.5 liters of fluid an hour is too much. (i think it is)

Anywho got started, solo field was stacked, Andrew, Matt 24 Solo Ontarios premier endurance racer, & Lee, it was gonna be a death match. After a few guys missed some turns I was sitting in 3rd overall. And had a little gap on the rest of the solos, except Andrew who was ahead. It was a lot of fun just riding fast not crazy hope i don`t crash at this speed fast just easy speed.

Got settled into a pace, about 4 or 5 laps came through and Matts bike was on his car. that was fast. For the first few hours I was rocking the 3/4 unzipped jersey, so nice, then the clouds started rolling in each lap at the top I could see the sky getting a little darker. About 3 hours in started to rain, no big deal it was super sandy, but it didn`t take long to turn to grease. And then the thunder and lightning came, I was gonna pull over and sit in my car, but didn`t have to make that call as they closed the course. I love modern day safe races. Not like the 90s where the commissars would tell us to be careful before starting in a lightning storm at chicopee.....Not that i have done that since i started racing in 1998.

Didn't get changed or wash my bike during the rain delay, Tmas figured it would be an hour. It was tough getting motivated to get back on the bike. So much so i actually almost missed the restart. Got on my bike, wet shoes and no gloves were key, legs were angry for sure.

Managed to get another 5 or 6 laps in before 6:30, pulled the plug at 6:00, before the rain started to come down again. Took my second career 8 hour podium. First being Hardwood 2 years ago.

In summary 8 hour races are awesome you just go out and ride your bike, and win a Batman pez dispenser.

14 laps of mountainview was awesome.

If You're Not First, You're Sixth

2011-08-07T20:42:00.002-04:00

Check out my Kelso report on AWI Racing....

All Fixed

2011-07-17T09:21:00.002-04:00

So this week got my latest fixie project built up. Still not 100% done, but all the parts are on it. I still need to match up the handlebar, seat post and crank. I took it for a half hour ride on thursday morning before work on the Orillia bike path. It almost needs a bell or something to make some noise as its a super quiet bike and scares people as you ride past. Anyway, here is a pic of it so far...

Buckwallow

2011-07-11T08:42:00.002-04:00

Ok so. After Albion took a week to rest the legs, then got sick and coundln't ride without dieing on the side of the trail from my cough, so that was bad news bears. Got a solid 4 days of training in before Buckwallow so i was right on form and ready to go.

Woke up in the morning and nearly got heat stroke loading my bike on the car so i knew it was going to be a rough day. During the warm up it went overcast for a bit and was kinda nice. I'm not one to complain about the heat since i hate cold weather, but it was just intensely hot without giving us any time to get ready for that.

Gun went off and Atkins and the other Kunstadt boys turned it up to 11. Might not have been that high but it felt like it since i'm fat and slow these days. After the first time through the 1:30 only singletrack i felt pretty good but knew it would be hard on the body for the next 4 laps. Nothing too exciting happened for the next couple laps except for my legs slowly fading away. Bunch of people doing A-hole passes for no reason, i was ready to knock someone into the woods head first, or tell the guy in the camera car to come do it. (Tour reference if you don't know that).

Anyway 4th lap heading trough the rocky section.....you know, the single track with all the rocks...blew a spoke in the rear wheel. Stopped to try to get it "fixed" a couple times but kept unwrapping itself from the other spoke i twisted it around and getiing all caught up in my brake and rotor. Not wanting to destroy my new wheel or anything else on my bike, after 10 minutes on the side of the trail debating i pulled the plug. My body was glad i did, but my brain didn't want to.

After having a couple crappy races now i'm thinking i should take up something easy where you don't need fitness......maybe endurance racing.

And on that bombshell it's time to end.

New Ride

2011-06-22T08:23:00.003-04:00

After exactly 3 weeks to the day my car was written off i now have a new one parked in the driveway. Davenport's in Orillia was putting the final touches on it yesterday while i was patiently waiting at work. They just had to get the windows tinted and do a little wheel swap and then i would be good to go.

Right around 2 o'clock the phone rang and it was all ready to roll. Took my money and stole Tristan's Rabo and rode over to pick it up. Got the paperwork sorted and then it was all mine. Threw the bike in the back with not disassembly which was nice, and still had some room to spare. Now i just have to wait for the roof racks to come in and it will be all set for the cycling adventures.

"I got Tammy's ring at the hock shop and i regret it" - Anonymous

Bonking, Resting, and a New Car

2011-06-19T08:32:00.002-04:00

So long time no post eh. After racing Albion and epic failing there i decided my legs needed a bit of a break so this whole week has been off the bike. I have been too busy this week anyway, been car shopping, had my birthday, busy at work, you know, all that jazz.

Looked at a few different cars and made the final decision to get a Subaru Legacy Wagon. Haven't picked it up yet, still been battling the banks and whatnot trying to get some money. Hopefully by wednesday or so i'll be able to drive it off the lot.

Other than that there hasn't been too much excitement going on around here so i'll leave you with that for now.

Late Canada Cup Post

2011-06-09T08:44:00.002-04:00

Better late than never. I haven't been into this whole blogging thing in the last week or so as you can tell. Since my car accident i have been driving around in the worst vehicle known to man. A Dodge Caliber. The whole veiwing area is a blind spot, and it feels like i'm driving one of those plastic kids cars.

On to the Canada Cup. It was a nice hot day and with 60 or so guys in the start pen it was going to be a race to the first single track. Realized my legs didn't want to do that as the pace was like starting a wednesday night so i just sat in mid pack. likely went into the single track mid 30's. Finished lap 1 in 30th, end of lap 2 in 20th, took a guy out on Boneshaker lap 3 and the came through in 15th. I held that for a bit and lap 5 dropped back to 18th as a group of 3 went by me. Legs started to get the hurt on but i didn;t want to slow down too much, had a last lap battle with a Louis Garneau rider and finished up 19th. Still a decent top 20 finish on home soil.

This week is Orillia's ride your bike to work week so Monday i rode in to log the km's. After eating dinner at Theo's then doing a tt home and hopping in the car with another bike to go ride Monday night ride, my legs were fried and my I.T band was super tight so i haven't done any more riding to work. I would rather lose a ride to work competition that be out for the season with a wrecked knee.

Last night was a good little play in the mud. After the race got pushed back a half hour because of the monsoon we went and ripped around serious and splashed in the mud.

Anyway, going to head into town now. More car shopping to be done. Still don't know for sure what is going on with mine. I have called my insurance since they are taking forever and i'm waiting for a call back.

Boom goes The Dynamite

2011-05-31T20:29:00.002-04:00

Do you know what haapens when a 79 year old lady turns left infront of a Hyundai going through a green light?? I do now.

So i was heading home from work today and heading out Coldwater Rd toward HWY 11 i was driving beside a bus and went from seeing a bus, to having a Honda Accord come across infront of the bus and then WHAM! i had a face full of Honda and was in the grass on the church lawn. Lots of seriously f-ed stuff on the car. Wheel got shoved back, fender pretty much doesn't look like a fender anymore, bumper cover came off, the list goes on. We'll see how bad it is and see if there is any structural damage in a couple days i guess. Oh i'm fine by the way i guess. If my window wasn't open my head probably would have broken it. Pretty glad the airbag didn't fire, but there were lunch boxes and ipods flying every which way.

Here are some pics i snapped on the scene. The first one you can actually se ehere car in the intersection in the back ground.

Dragged down the side a bit i guess...

Hows the fender gap?

That's the excitement for my day. Sitting at home now drinking a nice cold bevy, going to pick up a rental in the morning, hopefully it doesn't suck.

"The majority of our bikes are sold without pedals"

2011-05-26T21:08:00.002-04:00

Been chilling a bit and doing some easy riding since Quebec trying to get recovered and ready for Hardwood.

On tuesday Liz and I went exploring out behind the Heights and found a good loop that wasn't cleared earlier this year and is deffinitely a tough loop. A good mix of double track and single track climbing. We were doing some hike-a-bike and whatnot and linking single tracks together until we had a loop put together. We were out for a bit under 2 hours, and i now have a new favourite loop in copeland. I rode it this evening continuously and it takes about 50 minutes. We have 1 more single track to clear off and link into it but i plan on using it as a training course. One climb is probably about 5 minutes up a double track, lots of steep stuff, good times.

Rode the Canada Cup course Wednesday night instead of racing. It's going to be a fun race i think. The climbing will add up and we will be doing lots of laps as it's a pretty short course. Looking forward to it and going to shoot for another top 20. Also did some AWI video shooting on Wednesday during the race. Tristan may post something as it was on his phone, but we'll see.

I think that's all i have to say for now.

Mt Tremblant....Ya I Know it was like 4 days ago, but here you go..

2011-05-24T20:31:00.002-04:00

Ok so smooth drive up to Tremblant to get settled in and went for a spin thrusday night to loosen up the legs. Friday did a couple pre ride laps too se how the course was. Some of the bumps and whatnot seems bigger, and there was some snow on the climb, but it wasn't too wet and a couple changes they had made at the end of the downhill were kinda nice. Went back to the Condo and put the legs up and relaxed. Did a bit of carb loading too. Don't care who you are i think a beer the night before a race is good for you, and the more wheat the better.

Anyway race day. Legs were feeling ok warming up but not great by any means so i spun around with only a couple short efforts and rolled to the start line. After the Quebecois started the call up wrong and everyone got mad they sorted it out and we were off. 82 guys on the start, with some chaos in the first singletrack causing my front skewer to be flicked undone by someone elses wheel. Not to panic, we were climbing and it didn't need to be done up for a bit. Saw some guys hopping off for a technical corner and i took the chance to just off, do up the wheel and then actually ran it past a couple guys who were getting jammed up behind one another. After that things calmed down and i settled into my pace.

From there it was all uphill. Just started picking guys off and never looked back. At the first feed i was in the 30's and each lap got some positions. Managed to sit in behind someone for the bike path section for 4 of the 5 laps, with one of them behind Zach while he tried to TT it away for 3 others. It didn't work. Lap 5 i was on a mission to catch Noble and a french guy, and by the top i was just behind them, maybe 20 seconds benhind Noble and 10 behind french. I caught them both on the dh and once we hit the bike path nobody was willing to pull the others to the finish. I sat on the back and right before it got twisty made my move and was off. Beat them both in and ended up 18th. Super happy with that. Pretty sure it is my best Canada Cup result to date in Elite and will shoot for another good one at Hardwood.

After the race had some pizza then headed back to the condo to find Jer and Tammy who should have both been racing. Jer thought he broke his bike and Tammy the healthy paleo person was vomiting. Maybe eating nothing but meat and vegtables, then drinking 5 litres of heed has something to do with it. I dunno, just saying, i eat as much wheat and sugar as anyone anf don't recall the last time i was sick or had digestion issues. Well i'm sure i've offended a bunch of people who are on that diet so i'll move on.

Sunday morning we headed to Canada Cup winner Catherine Vipond's cottage to hang out with her and her husband....i think he won something too this weekend...Matt Hadley, maybe you've heard of him. Anyway we spent some time in the canoe, found 2 boats, played some borad games, etc, and left Monday and lunch time. Good times were had by all.

Getting long, better end it. Later.

Woodnewton

2011-05-17T20:43:00.003-04:00

O Cup #2. Forcast for rain, the perfect time to race on semi slicks. After preriding the course on Saturday i made the decision to keep on the dry tires as they were rolling quick and gripping nicely in the corners. Between that time and race day the venue got quite a large amount of rain and many spots got very muddy. I was commited to the tires i had on and was ready to play in the mud.

Started much slower than Mansfield and settled in to a comfortable pace that i knew i could increase later in the race. The muddy parts were good, i was riding by guys with mud tires, but i guess that is probably just because i ride on ice all winter and a little mud doesn't scare me. Finished lap 1 in 10th position and slowly picked it up through the race. Rode with Preston Wagler for a lot of it. We were keeping it nice and smooth and as we were gaining on the Norco hammer heads trying to blow each other up i started to pick the pace up a bit.

Got into a group with those 2 and we all stayed together for a lap and a bit. Lap 4 i had Tyson and Noble in my sights and i was on the gas trying to get them. Got Tyson, and then just before the start of the final lap i went blazing by Noble while he was stopped in the mud. I didn't know what was up but later found out it was because he ran into a post. I had a small gap on the chase group and was givin'r all i had not knowing what place i was in, but knowing it was top 6 which is where the money is. Kept that position and rolled in 4th. Just 2 minutes off of Matt Vipond.....i mean Hadley, and 3:15 behind the leader. A good day in tha saddle. I think the speed is due to the new Rocky Mountain kit i was sporting.

Here are a couple pics.

In other news we did our first pub ride to The Dam Grill in Port Severn. It was raining so we didn't actually ride, we took cars. Great place, good sunset, fantastically priced pizza.

Was on my way home from the parental's house this evening driving up the 7th and got pulled over by a nice police man since it is a dumb 60 zone. He asked how fast i thought i was going, and followed that with "and don't say 70". turns out it was more like 91...oops. He asked what i did for a living, did a little name drop of The Bike Stop. Istead of giving me the $226 and 4 points he let me off with a warning and a $65 ticket for not having valid insurance in the car. Thats my bad, i will have my new papers in the car tomorrow.

Oh and apparently tinted license plate covers are illegal. Just a little fun fact for you.

Later.

BCC Interclub

2011-05-09T08:28:00.002-04:00

So yesterday was the day to have a go at this road racing thing. It was a short loop in Oro that was fairly flat but had some deceiving false flats. 4 of us from AWI signed up and got lined up in the fastest group. Tristan was told our race strategy was for him to drill it the first lap right from the start. He did and the mayhem started. After Watson yelled at him and told him to slow down the group worked together a bit but not very well. After one lap of 5 we lost a couple guys off the back, Spak being one of them, so with 3 AWI's left in the group we had our sights set on the groups up the road. Caught group 4 on the second lap, and that messed up the flow of our group. We picked a couple guys up from that group and got away from the rest of them, and on the start of lap 3 on the rough 15/16 sideroad section we blew Tristan off the back along with another guy or 2 i think. Made the group a bit smaller and we started working smooth again to reel in group 3. We caught group 3 and after a bit of confusion trying to get through/around them we had maybe 8 guys left working together for the last 2 laps.

The 4th lap we had picked it up and were going good, made some progress, and then on the 5th it turned into a gong show again. Nobody was wanting to work with anybody else, and there were a lot of hurting legs, including mine. I was doing everything i could to hang on, and half way through the lap Watson threw down an attack and split us up. It was him riding solo up the road, followed by Mark Summers and Brien Ross, the a small gap to Bretton and some guy, small gap then Justin Zottl and me. I was drilling it trying to get back to Brett and the other dude, but in the headwind it just wasn't happening. I managed to drop Justin and rolled into the finish in what i think was a decent position. A good intensity session, legs felt good overall.

After some food and drink Liz and I headed over to the Heights to watch some downhill racing. Found a good spot on course to watch people crash. Good times. Lots of face planting, hitting the trees adn one guy just landed off the jump off balance and took out a bunch of spectators. Always a good event to watch.

All for now.

Love The Ride

2011-05-06T18:43:00.002-04:00

Since Mansfield have kinda felt weird but have gotten a couple rides in. We hit Midhurst on Monday night for a spin and had some nice weather and saved the world with all of our great ideas of course.

Wednesday night we decided last minute to race bike without tires. Ok well not last minute, but not long before the race. We came up with this idea after Jack said to me in the winter "skiing with no wax is like riding your bike with no air in the tires"......Sounds like a challenge. We got some crappy wheels on crapppy bikes and hit the trails. Brought our spare(race) bikes just incase there was complete disaster, not that we had doubts. During pre ride we realized how hard the 6km race would be. Pretty much laying down all of our power and not going anywhere. It brought back scary memories of P2A in the fields.

Anyway race time rolled around and after a whole bunch of kids calling us sandbaggers the gun went off and we were hammering up the start. Traction climbing was an issue but cornering was great, and roots and rocks were death for the arms and hands. After i made it to the singletrack in the top 10 i started to drop back. Felt as though i was holding people up a couple times so pulled over for a couple seconds. Some of that and some times it was just hammering and getting passed by 12 year old girls. About half way through i eased up and decided to wait up and see how Tristan was doing. He was drilling it to keep moving and making a lot of grunting and graoning noises. We bounced through the last half of the course and did a little sprint for the crowd at the end. All in all a good time. wheels held up pretty good too for single walled, used $15 wheels. Not a fad that will catch on i don't think, maybe i'll have to try out one of those 29er bikes instead.....but it doesn't sounds likely.

Today was a fairly slow day at the store but the Purolator man brought me some gifts. Got a box from Rocky Mountain with a couple kits, pairs of socks and a bunch of bottles. All ready to race now. Thanks again to Andrew from Rocky Mountain. I have to go out into Copeland now and do a photo shoot for some new header pictures.

All for now, redicilus 7 am ride tomorrow with the guys from the other bike store in Orillia. Gonna go win some sign sprints.

O Cup 1. Mansfield

2011-05-03T08:24:00.002-04:00

First O cup done and gone already. I was mentally ready and had no idea where my legs were but it was a good race to find out. Not much rest on the course, not much drinking, makes for a tough race when you're just drilling it the whole time.

I went out a got with some guys that were going a good pace and i was feeling good the first 2 laps. Zach and some french guy were killing the climbs, but i was right there and i was actually able to ease up a bit in the single tracks to try to get some recovery. Since the longest singletrack section is only 30 seconds long it was tough, and i just had to turn it back up to 11 when we hit the double track but that's alright. Lap 3 we had dropped the french guy and we could just se a couple guys in the distance that we may have been closing on. The first climb on the 4th lap the legs pretty much had just had enough and decided to turn it off. I shifted into survival mode and kept truckin'.

Lost probly 5 spots on the 4th lap and onyl 1 or 2 on the last lap. The last couple km's i caught a couple of the elite women. Cayley was one of them. I hammered as hard as i could to try and drop her. Only managed a couple seconds. Those tractor wheels must roll fast on that terrain.

Anyway finished up 13th...(i just ignored the Quebec racers that beat me since it was an O Cup). Could have been better. I now know where my legs are. Woodnewton, bring it on, but not before some fun this weekend at the interclub(or as Spak would say "innerclub") road race. It's going to be a pain train from start to finish. Should be good times. I just looked at my powertap files and i haven't ridden my road bike since April 15th. The tires are probably flat.

All for now. Heading to work shortly.

What Road Bike

2011-04-26T18:41:00.002-04:00

After the snow melting and many days spent on the new mountain bike i am finding it hard to go out on the road bike. Makes sense really. Why go ride on wide paved surfaces when i can go tear through singletrack? Took a couple rides to get everything dialed in, but now its pretty well set up and it's a rocket. Super stiff and fast climbing, but you turn around and point it back down the hill and can just let it loose and fly.

Got out for a couple good ride on the weekend. No arm warmers, no leg warmers, it was just like summer. Met up with a few of the AWI folks Sunday and we put the hurt into Scott in Copeland after he decided to bring out his single speed.

Was going to head out for a ride this evening but kinda feel funny so i think i'll hit the couch hard and watch Top Gear. Don't want to feel like crap for this weekend. Just checked out the course map, and it looks pretty much like the typical Mansfield course with a couple little tweaks. I think i am feeling pretty good for the race, not really sure how it will turn out. It's hard to say what shape everyone will be in. Time will tell i guess.

Lots of Photos

2011-04-18T20:42:00.004-04:00

Got some P2A pics uploaded and today the Canpar man brought me some presents. My last parts for my mountain bike came in so i was able to put it together and take it for a spin. Rides really nice and fits really well too which is nice. Found some trail which i would assume was from back in the day when they ran the O Cup and Horseshoe. It's nice and flat and super flowy. I would like to get out and clear it off one of these days. Without further adieu(i think), here are some pics. Nice white Bar and stem.

XTR Crank with X.O derailleur.

The wicked new carbon seat. Tune Komm Vor. Thats German for comfort.

And now on to the P2A pics promised. Get ready. I'm pretty sure we are some of the more memorable people from the race.

There you go ladies. Tristan is single and thinking of making this his eharmony profile picture.

My nice pink onesie.

Hammering up the final climb.

All for now. Peace

P 2 freaking A

2011-04-17T17:22:00.002-04:00

We shall start with the weather. Left here at 6 am in a Typhoon and it didn't get better....Or above 5 degrees. We had our kits ready, bike ready and even put a bottle cage on this year so we could drink. Made it to reg and then to the start line in lots of time. Geared up and did the rounds to show off our suits and helmets. Everyone seemed quite impressed. As soon as the starting pen opened up we got in there so we got a good position and good start. The first bit to get to the rail trail went well and then the hammerfest started. It was the hardest i have seen the pace heading down that railtrail. We had a killer tailwind and had the tandem spun right out. Didn't kill it too hard since there was still 55km left. We were doing ok for the first half and rode some of the trail sections pretty smooth. Had to stop for a quick tightening seat sessions and the got back going again. Once we got through the mid way point and hit some of the soft feilds really slowed us down. It was slow going for everyone, but it drained us pretty good. After pulling a group of guys for 10 or 15 km we hit some more mud and after dragging the bike through stopped for a bar to refuel and a drink since the bottle cage broke off in the first 10km. We were pretty much in survival mode. Spinning and having some fun with it. Got the the last climb and drilled it up to put on a show for the crowd. Legs were fried at the end. Probably won't do that race again, and i'm officially retired from tandem racing. We were 1st tandem out of 8 or 9 i think and not sure overall result yet. After getting out of wet clothes, grabbing our lunch and pestering our Giant rep we took off. Got home before awards were scheduled to start. And of course they would have been delayed. Liz got somme pics. Once she uploads them i will post some up. All for now.

More Bikes + Non Pancake ride

2011-04-10T19:33:00.002-04:00

So Friday was a good day at the Bike Stop. Tristan finally got his road bike, but more importantly Liz got her new MTB. Got a clearout from last year so although she is still in the stone ages with 9 speed stuff, maybe it's not such a bad thing. Got a good deal and the bike looks pretty sweet. It's a Giant Anthem X1 womens. Not an overly girly women's bike as Giant tends to make a more neutral coloured bike. Here are a couple pics... She went for a little rip on it Friday night around the back yard singletrack and such. Yesterday we hit the road for a nice ride in the sun, but today was a different story. The ride was sceduled to start at 10 am, and obviously that wasn't going to happen, since Tristan was coming, and we couldn't even leave without him because we were riding the tandem to get prepped for P2A. Anyway it started to pour rain on the way to Waub. As everyone gathered we made the decision to wait a bit and see if it cleared. By 11:30 the radar looked good and we headed out in just a light mist. Out upper big chute road, etc toward Big Chute, and it wasn't too bad. A bit of light rain but nothing too bad. After we had made it to Big Chute in 3 groups, we all got back together and the skies opened up. Started just pounding down and we were soaked in no time. Tristan and I decided we were going to Hammer it home for the last hour of the ride so we didn't freeze. Getting closer to being back our limbs were all numb, but we kept pushing it to the end. Decided to change quick then head backwards on the loop in the cars to rescue anyone that may be frozen. Only a couple minutes from Waub we found everyone and they were fine so we turned around and headed back for breakfast. A few hours of eating, drinking beer and chillin, and then out of nowhere it was 5 o'clock. Time to head home. An alright day in the end after getting warmed back up. Lots of calories consumed. Ready for next weekend. Be There.

Yesterday

2011-04-08T14:03:00.002-04:00

Got the chance yesterday to work a long ride into my busy schedule. After doing some prep work on my fixie, getting it ready for paint, i got geared up and planned for 4 hours. I was going to do a destination ride and hit up Coffee Culture in Stayer, for a coffee, obviously and loop back. Once i started going i decided i wasn't going to stop, just doing to loop with no disruptions. It was only 6 degrees when i started, but with the high being 11 i dressed for that and gave'r. First hour and a half out Flos rd 4 i was fairly cold so i had the pace a bit higher to keep me warm in the head wind. Made the turn just behing stayner and got the tailwind and warmed up pretty quick. Crossed 26 and headed down Center line rd and hookup up with the Brewery to Brewery route and took that all the way in Sunnidale to Wilson drive. The sun had come up and after about a half hour of feeling like i was going to have to stop and curl up in the ditch i felt good again and i was on pace to make it hoome in the planned time. Looking at my powertap i wanted to bring my average watts up 5 more in the last half hour. Had the hammer down along Barrie road and up the 3rd and 4th. Got it to where i wanted it anden it dropped a couple again in my cool down around Cathedral Pines and down the hill. All in all a good ride. No stops other than to pee a couple times. Rolled in at 4 hours 3 minutes, had a recovery smoothie and a Bacon Cheese burger with extra cheese and some cookies, then headed to town to pick up Liz and go for wings and beer. Today i'm relaxing and waiting for the Bell guy to come fix our satellite. Going for a ride tomorrow and then Sunday is the Non Pancake ride at Spak's. Good day to test out the newly modified tandem for the race next weekend. All for now.

Ups and Downs

2011-04-05T13:13:00.002-04:00

Last few days i have been finishing up some bike repairs for some people, with only 1 of them beating me at my own game. Liz's dad's bike had a front flat and after breaking 3 tire levers i decided its a job to be done at the store with metal levers. It's a pretty sweet bike as well, even though it is old it was one of the first 6 carbon bikes in Canada. Full Campy, and all that jazz, and there could be a pair of them making the fixie transformating in the fall. We'll have to see about that. Speaking of fixie's i have started to take apart my next fixie to get it ready for paint and whatnot. I think i'm going with some candy apple red and gold. Should be pretty cool. The ups and downs have been coming in the form of the routes i have been choosing on my rides. Lots of hills lately. Yesterday was a Moonstone loop and included drilling it up Mt St Louis. I won't say what my average wattage was for the interval because that seems to be the cool thing to do, but i was pleased. After getting up into Moonstone i prceeded to get lost trying to find the northern end of Watson's new favourite road. Ended up in Orr Lake and had to race the rain home down hwy 93. Today was a short ride, but it was on the mtb in the Copeland. Thats just good news in itself. There its still too much snow in most areas, but i got a chance to explore and brainstorm some new trails to make a good race course simulation loop. Might get out with a rake and a shovel later this week. I just need 2 things first.....A rake, and a shovel. The Rocky is starting to look like a bike again. It has handlebars, wheels and brakes back on it, tomorrow it will have shifters and derailleurs, and hopefully some cranks and a cassette soon to finish it off. Stoked to ride it. I have an idea of what it might weigh in the end. Should be good. Peace out.

Blahhh

2011-03-31T18:03:00.002-04:00

No title in my head. Been riding outside lots the last few days. Soon enough and i'll be getting a sun tan while doing it. Ok well that may still be a couple weeks away, but we'll see. Big chute loop yesterday with Andrew and Spak. I think we put the hurt into Spak, but he won't admit it. He kept telling us to keep it under 200 watts. Nothing too eventful except for when Matt pulled a Tristan and failed at his sprint attempt, almost leaving him on the road with some skin missing. Got a good 3 hours in. Today got out for just under 2 hours. Wasn't as nice out but still got a good ride in. There were army dudes with big guns all over the place. Thought i was a gonner. Managed to make it out alive. I've picked up a new bike to turn into my fixie. Thinking a simple black and gold paint scheme. Or maybe get some candy red in the mix. The world is my oyster i guess. Just relaxing here waiting to hear from some people that are buying bike parts from me. Could end up being a good day for sales. We'll see what happens. Keepin' it short. Later

New Whip

2011-03-25T19:36:00.002-04:00

Not too much excitement going on in the laste few days....Until today. Bike came in and i went and picked it up. Rocky Mountain Element 70 RSL. Totally sweet ride, and going to be nice and light. It is currently on a diet as i swap some of the parts i'm not keen on. Here are some pics.

Came with the ballin' red handlebar that i would love to keep, but it just doesn't cut it on the weight front. I had it home for a bit and started to take some things apart. Took a little break to go for a hike in the copeland, during which we found a racoon climbing a tree and i got revenge for him trying to get into our house a couple nights this week.

After the hike i had the tools out again and all of the sudden........

All that was left was the frame and a couple piles of parts. Now i know how much everything weighs and how much weight i am saving with the parts being swapped. Right now i am just over 1200 grams of savings, which is nearly 3 pounds. More to come.

Thanks to Andrew at Rocky Mountain. hopefully everyone will see this bike flying around the race courses this year.

Pole, Pound, and Pedal for Pancakes

2011-03-19T19:58:00.002-04:00

So first off we had a racoon trying to break into our house the other night. Liz thought it was inside but i wasn't convinced. She got up to see it was outside the window on the sill. More on that later.

Ok so no pancakes this year but the post race meal for next year is supposed to be pancakes as it is the season. Morning started off nice and cool with perfect cycling conditions, as the snow was very firm. I thought they should have just shut down for skiing and opened for riding today after the race was over. I had all my transitions planned out perfect and was ready to go.

The bike was good. Sean Ruppel and I made a break up the first climb and didn't look back. Got a few seconds on Tristan, but no a ton. Thought i would have gotten more after his weak showing on Wednesday. They had the quick exchange and i could have put my snowshoes on faster in a perfect world, but it wasn't too bad. Started running up the trail with Sean and realized i forgot to take my helmet off. Figured i looked like i was in the special olympics so i threw it in the woods. Had a couple technical issues during the snowshoe with ski boots not being the best choice. The shoes slipped off a couple times, and Sean gapped me a bit after waiting twice and then having enough of that. On the plus side my transition to the skiis was super speedy. Popped my boots into my bindings and the quick realease straps for my poles were already on my hands so i was off. Passed Sean and even got a couple seconds on him. Turns out he was a better skier than me and ended up beating me by quite a bit. Team Awesome took the overall, which if they didn't they would have had to quit their respective sports for ever. Good times, ate some food after and then did some work and got some stuff ready for the bike swap tomorrow.

Liz - " I hope no coons try to break into our house tonight". haha

And on that bombshell it's time to end.

Wow 3 Days in a Row

2011-03-17T16:33:00.002-04:00

Seems like i have a lot of time on my hands lately. It's kinda nice.

First off i would like to change something from yesterday's post. When i said Tristan screamed like a peewee girl, apparently there were people that didn't like it. The peewee girls are saying they are more manly than Tristan, and they only scream like him when they see Andrew Watson's mustache.

Now that that is all cleared up on to today. Saw a post on Facebook last night from Total Sports, explaining all the service they offer, and i realized i haven't been up there to see the new place yet, so figured i should ride up. I also wanted to inquire about their tire truing service..... Anyway, I don't know the roads up in that direction very well so i opted for taking 93 all the way in to Midland. Felt like a super hero with a high average speed and solid, high cadence the whole way there. Too bad the wind was at my back. Browsed around the shop, chatted, checked out one of the new Giants....i mean, Norcos with the Gates belt drive system on it. Pretty snazzy. Downed my clif Bar and hit the road back.

Immediatly noticed the head wind, but i was up for the challenge, and i was also planning on doing every blue sign sprint on the way back. Drilled it into the wind for almost 40 km and 6 signs later i was back. Passing Orr Lake the thought of zig zagging across Moonstone sd rd, down the 4th and back out Ingram crossed my mind, but for some reason it didn't seem like a good idea, so i kept 'er pinned on 93.

Ended up with a little over 2.5 hours ride time, and some tired lags. Used every last gram of energy i had on the Craighurst sprint, and then put it in cool down/survival mode for the last 5 km.

Good times were had by all(just me), and i didn't get run over, which is always a plus. Tomorrow will be an easy spin day to get the legs ready for the Pole, Pedal and Pound.

Good Ride Considering

2011-03-16T14:29:00.002-04:00

Made the call today to start a road ride at 11 with Tristan and Brandon, while the weather people were saying rain ending around noon. The radar was looking good, maybe we would only have to ride in the rain for a few minutes. I had a route in mind with lots of the Oro hills in it including St. Louis. Original plan was to head up 93 to Hillsdale and across, etc. Made the executive decision to take Ingram rd across to the 4th instead of going up 93 to avoid some traffic. That started all well and good and when we hit the gravel i remembered it wasn't paved all the way across. Drive train was getting dirty but we didn't turn back because of that. Cruising along and all of the sudden, a peewee girl screamed beside me and i saw Tristan and his bike sliding in my direction, followed shortly after by his bike taking me out and me sliding toward Brandon. Brandon narrowly escaped death also, and it was just the two of us getting wet and injured. My shin was in some pain when i got up and had a hole in the ass of my shorts, but i didn't check for any blood. Gloves were soaked and i knew it would be bad news bears. After a couple easy km of spinning it out, then we turned up the 4th and i decided to get the HR back up on the climb so i didn't get too cold. Didn't really work, but we dropped Tristan.

Not so eventful across Mt St Louis rd and up the hill. Got onto the 9th and i stopped to warm up the hands. Tristan offered up his gloves that were warmer than mine and not so wet. Props for that, it saved the day. Finished off the ride with Horseshoe Valley rd, Sugarbush climb, and decent into the Valley. Overall good times. Looked at my leg when we rolled in and my black leg warmer was pretty red so i rolled it up and found this:

It's all washed up and doesn't look so bad in the picture, but it is pretty deep. Not sure what did it to me, whether it was my bike or Tristan's. The bike seems to be fine. No scratches or even ripped bar tape. It's all cleaned up and ready for another, hopefully much dryer ride tomorrow.

Time to go eat a bunch more food. Later.

Smack Talk

2011-03-15T18:19:00.002-04:00

Had a little get together last night with the Monday night crew to have some beer and smack talk about the Pole, Pedal and Pound. Lots of calling each other weak, making fun of certain people's biking skills(tristan's), with the argument ending with Men in pink spandex. The same pink spandex that was used to ski into the bar a few weeks back, so it isn't as original as it sounds. Will still be something to watch for on Saturday.

Looked at the registrations today at work and it seems there are a bunch of Solo's signed up and just one team that call themself "Team Awesome". So if you know anyone considering putting a team in tell them to get out there. Someone has to beat the 3 way man date(I must say, Brandon would be the man in that relationship).

On a lighter note. It was a perfect day to ride the Giant to work today. A little chilly in the morning, but the way home was perfect. Tomorrow looks like another good day to ride. Maybe a little rain, but nice and warm. Maybe i'll have to hit up Scenic Caves rd.... Hmmm. All the possibilities. Anyway, I'm out. Later.

Secret Military Training

2011-03-11T16:35:00.002-05:00

Ok, so its not secret and not military training, but other than that my title is accurate. I decided to hit the road for a ride today is the snowy, rainy, whatever was falling from the sky weather, and a few minutes into the ride i decided to do some Pole, Pedal and Pound training. Didn't have any water skis so that part was out but i was going to stop at Hardwood and test my prototype snowshoes i had made for the race. Rolled in, cleaned all the ice off my glasses and what not so i could see again and hit the 3km loop. After a couple hundred meters my legs were on fire. Tried to think of the last time i ran this far........Didn't come up with an answer. Anyway, it hurt and the snowshoes were crap. Threw them out when i got back in and decided i will just use some of the atlas's from Hardwood as they are quick to get on and off.

I found out it was my lucky day when i got in from the snowshoe, as one of the kitchen staff had sllightly burnt the cinnamin buns that were in the oven and i got to go to town on them and consume 4 or 5 for free to fuel my ride home. Loaded my pockets with more buns for apres ride and headed back.

I now know how much this race is actually going to hurt, and predict it will take me somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1 hour 15 minutes. Although Team Tribrandrew, or Team Beat Matt Spak, whatever they are calling themselves i have confidence i will defeat them. Andrew is doing the ski i hear which will be a close race for me i think, and Tristan and Brandon are going to battle it out for who has to run. My theory is Brandon is just a big guy to try to run and will sink through the snow if he tries to do the riding leg, and Tristan, no matter which one he does will just crash and sue someone for $20 mil. The time for them will be made up in the transition. If i have a clean race i predict beating them by 2 minutes. What do you think?

All for now folks.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2011-03-10T21:26:00.004-05:00

Ahh yes, spring time. The season of melting snow, warmish weather and.....ummm....cleaning bikes in the living room. Awww Yeah! I'm in the middle of cleaning up Liz's bike to get it ready to the Hardwood bike swap next weekend.

If anyone is looking for an 18" framed bike in mint condition, her xtc alliance is for sale. $1350. I have gotten the wheels cleaned up, new tires on, and a bit of the drivetrain done, and i don't even think i have ruined the carpet yet. I have it protected with some old sheets or something. Will finish it off tomorrow and it will be spotless.

With all the rain we have been getting today i have been wondering how much snow we will have left for the Pole, Pedal and Pound. I'm getting exciting to do this:

A couple years ago we were closed for skiing because it was too icey and stuff so i brought my bike and Glenn and I went out for a photo op. It was actually my first ride on my Giant Anthem. Maybe this year the Pole, Pedal and Pound will be the first ride on my Rocky Mountain.......Hopefully it comes in soon.

Anyway, I'm out.

Race Prep.

2011-03-08T18:14:00.002-05:00

Starting to think about racing my bicycle lately. Have got some decent workouts in, only 1 snowshoe since the last cougar attack site sighting(make sense?). I have feared being eaten for dinner. Fischer Loppet went well on the weekend at Hardwood. Watson got beat by a bunch on kids and an old guy. He would have done better if he took the feed i offered him, while i was standing out in the feed zone getting soaked all day.

Roads are getting dry again and of course it is supposed to snow and get crappy again tomorrow and it will screw up any thoughts of road riding on my good bike. I have been out doing some sign sprints and such getting ready for the pancake ride whenever that may happen.

The Pole, Pedal and Pound is coming up at Hardwood on the 19th and there are some folks putting teams together for that. I have been smack talking Jack far to much to go on a team, and pretty much have to do it solo. Should be a good time.

I know i was going to say something else, but can't think of what it was, so i'll end it here. Peace

I Am Now Sure the Cougars Are Real

2011-03-04T09:29:00.003-05:00

Just out for a nice snowshoe this morning in the copeland and came across what looked to be a cougar attack site(and no it wasn't 55 special). Only had my phone with me so kinda a crappy picture, but i snapped a quick one and high tailed it out of there so i wasn't next. Anyway, here is my evidence.
That is all for today. Hitting up the bike show this aft.

The Chickens Have Large Talons

2011-03-02T18:54:00.002-05:00

This past weekend Liz and I were house/dog/chicken sitting for Hannah an Andrew(AKA Handrew) while they were away. Had to walk the dog, and feed it and all that jazz. Also had to make sure the water for the chickens wasn't frozen each morning and night. The chickens were all good but the rosster just down right hated me. Andrew warned us that he was a bit defensive and told us to take in a rake to fend him off. The first time in to collect eggs i learned that that was a good idea as i got attacked and pecked in the shins with its sharp beak. Round 2 was worse. I got in and got the eggs no sweat, but i could sense an attack coming on just by looking at the rooster's eyes. Trying to carry the water container, the rake and open the broke-ass door he went for it and i was blocking left, right and center with the rake. Made it out alive, but still had to go back in to give them the water back after it had thawed. Some cursing, and swatting and a managed to make it out with no blood drawn. I felt like i was in this episode of family guy. Good times.

Hope to get out for a road ride tomorrow. Was going to go out today, but it was cold and windy. This time of the year i am just soft and wanting warm weather.

All for now. I'm a very busy person and have things to do.

Congrats.

2011-02-25T20:50:00.002-05:00

First off congrats to Spak. Apparently he is going to Australia to get married in the summer. Not too long and there will be little Spakling's running around.

Anyway. Juts got off the incredibly exciting trainer. Watched some Anchorman. It's a classic. After having 2 days off in a row again this week and getting to ski both days(once on nicely groomed trails in Collingwood and once on machine groomed trees and shrubbery at a local facility) i realize the chance of having 2 days off in a row is pretty much gone now. Ben is leaving for S.C on Tuesday and that means i'm going to have to pick up the slack. that means i will have to slack twice as much at work now.(don't tell Jack i said that). With him being gona also means i probably won't be able to race the Fischer Loppet, which i actually kinda wanted to think about considering doing. If Watson does it i'll just have to cheer him on for the cyclists.

Been getting impatient waiting for my bike. I have lots of parts i would like to swap out before i ride it, but would also like to sell some stuff off of it first so i have money to change things. Not sure how much will get done before race season hits hard.

Well my brain is empty. Thank you come again.

Playing in the Snow

2011-02-24T08:19:00.007-05:00

After Liz had taken her curling team to Guelph last weekend she had some hours banked to take days off so yesterday was a collingwood play day. Satrted off at Blue, hopping on the lifts and 8:45 when they started running to get the nice, fresh corduroy. The plan was to stay there unitl everyone got out of bed and we had to wait in line and the leave. Got a decnt amount of runs in during that time. About 10:30 rolled around and we were out of there.
Liz going down one of the runs on the far north side.

Got out of the dh ski boots and headed up the hill to Scenic Caves for an xc ski and snowshoe. Started with the ski. The trails there are super fun. They cross over each other a lot, but there is tons of nice rolling hills and high speed corners. No really steep stuff that you have to snow plow down in ored to survive. They have 22 km and we skied all of it except a couple short little pieces.

Stopped at the lookout up on the hill.

Snapped a spy shot of my skis that don't exist yet. 2012 Salomon Equipe 10 skate's. The Salomon rep left them at Hardwood for a while and they just happen to be my size.

Finished off the ski trail, ate some food and headed out on the snowshoes. Not and optimal snowshoe day as the main trail was quite packed down, and everywhere else was pretty solid from the warm weather we had last week. We gave'r through the trail and finished up around 2 o'clock. Legs were a bit tired, but not too bad.

Went over the suspension bridge...And of course jumped up and down on it to freak out some old people.

And some section had seen a lot of sun, and not a lot of snow.

The last thing on the schedule, after wondering around downtown Collingwood and getting a Mojito Mocha Latte at Espresso post, was to go to Barrie for dinner at Akira. It's a restaurant from one of those Chinse countries like Japan. (haha). Anyway, pounded down a whole bunch of all you can eat sushi. Favourite was the AK47 so i took a picture of it. It was delicious and the whole roll was deep fried. Nom nom. The picture is missing a couple pieces too because we started to eat it and then decided to take a pic.

All in all a good day. Might ski in some trails just behind our house today when it softens up. Want to avoid the inevitable death since the likelyhood of that perticular place grooming last night is slim.

Also watched Due Date last night. It was ok. Kinda of a rip off of Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

All for now.

Hurricane in Ontario

2011-02-19T21:19:00.002-05:00

Yesterday hit up the auto show in T.O. Not super impressed, i think its getting smaller each year. Iy was a super nice day yesterday for most of the day, but i spent the whole time walking around inside. In the evening the wind started to pick up and the snow started to come down a bit. Trying to sleep, i though the house was going to come down. Tons of bangs and thuds of branches hitting the roof and decks. The power went out a couple times for sure because my clock was all messed up. I was afraid to look outside when i got up, i thought i would see a tree lying on my car. Luckily that wasn't the case, but it was quite a mess, as you can see from this picture....
As i was eating breakfast i heard the groomer coming up the trail so i looked out to watch him go by. There was a good sized tree down just behind the neighbour's house so he had to stop and bust out the chainsaw. I expected him to cut it up andlift the peices off the trail. That didn't happen, he got out, cut it a couple times then got back in the groomer. Revved 'er up and pushed the tree and most of the snow that was on the trail into the bush. Some dirt showing after, but thats ok, just another reason to ski somewhere else. Snapped a picture from the deck as he was out with the saw but you can't really see. Phone pictures suck, and my actual camera was all the way upstairs.

Spent the whole day at work today clearing trail the right way. A few guys and 8 hours got us about half way through the system. A couple more working through the night tonight. Maybe by morning the whole system will be open. All for now. Some stretching and then i'm ready to hit the sack.

Time Flies

2011-02-17T20:24:00.002-05:00

Seems like i just updated this like yesterday, but i think in reality its more like last week. Well the past few days have been nice and warm and i have actually ridden my new road bike on the road twice. First one was with Tristan and Spak. The route that was suppose to be nice and dry with rainbows and butterflies had some icey and dicey sections, and since the other 2 were on cross bikes i was the only one that had to slow up a bit. Now sweat though i just made time back on the hills since i wasn`t pushing 25 pounds around. Some "attacks" were made and quickly gathered back up by the field. Total time ended up being almost 2.5 hours with some good climbing. Not bad for a road ride in Febuary.

Last night was our planned urban ski and bar night with Ben and Jurgen. We were trying to get a few other to come but they all bailed out. Tristan said he would come out up until we were 2 minutes away and then after all of his smack talk to Spak during the ride about not showing up for stuff he did the ultimate Spak out. It was good times. The ski into the bar was probably twice as long as i thought it would be but no big deal. We had a good time, didn't seem like we were there all that long but i guess 10 to 2:30 is fairly long. Jurgen and i were having fun telling all the girls that Ben lives in a mansion and drives a sports car. Headed out to tackle the long ski back at the end of the night and nearly froze to death.

A little tired today but i managed to get through work and do a road ride apres dinner. Good times. Light died part way through, stopped at Hardwood to swap out for one of the rental lights, continued on and made it back with lots of time to give the ol'(and by that i actually mean quite new) giant a bath.

Hitting up the auto show tomorrow as it seems to be the only day i can get away from work and go down.

Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

2011-02-10T10:34:00.002-05:00

Have you ever looked outside and thought to yourself, it's minus 11, dark, windy, with a snowsquall watch.....time for a bike ride!!!? Well thats what Tristan and i though last night. We started for my place for what i thought would be 2 hours of riding. I must say, climbing out of the calley at the start of every ride is good for 1 thing. When its -11 out you get warmed up quickly. Once we crested the hill and realized there was a dirty headwind we took a lefty and bolted down the 3rd Line. There may have been some good ice sections, but i didn't really noticed since i had the studs on. I figured we were on ice everytime i heard feminate screams beside me.

Anyway, lots of 3rd line, some ridge road, some more 3rd line and very surprisingly on the way back up the 3rd it turned into a blizzard. Wow, didn't see that coming. We had word that in Orillia was pretty bad so we figured it was coming our way. It didn't really slow us down at all, but it slowed the cars around us dowm. Either that or it was Tristan's 900 lumen light on strobe mode. I made the executive decision to not ride back into the valley on Horseshoe Valley RD, so we went through the highlands and finished with the snowcovered Valleycrest descent. It was a little sketch, but there was not traffic so i didn't feel like i was going to die. We rolled in with 2 hours 50 ride time. Good for some man points, but not enough to make it worth while calculating.

Looks like we probably have 15 cm outside now so i guess i have to gear up and grab a shovel.

2011-02-02T08:47:00.002-05:00

Has everyone freaked out enough becasue of the snow? They were calling for something like 10 cm last night and 10-20 today. Although its quite a bit compared to other "storms" we have had this year, compared to years past its not big deal. It is winter in Canada and this kind of thing happens. Looking outside now and at the radar it looks like they were wrong anyway. Definitely got less than 10 cm last night and looks like its going to pass shortly. I'm not too concerned with the outcome. I'll have to shovel the driveway, yes, but that will take me all of about 15 minutes, and then i will strap on the snowshoes and go play in the fresh powder before other people get a chance to pack it down.

Thought this was funny. I guess its from the Rick Mercer Report last night, but since we don't have tv for the winter because Bell is gay, i didn't actually see the show. Anyway WATCH THIS, it's funny.

All for now, might head into Barrie tonight and watch Chasing Legends.

Its Still Winter

2011-01-27T09:57:00.002-05:00

Busy busy busy with training and work and all that jazz. Yesterday did a good trainer/snowshoe session. 2 episodes of Top Gear on the trainer then out into the woods. Headed along parallel to Horseshoe Valley Rd with getting to Settler's Ghost in mind. When i was crossing the entrance to Horseshoe someone stopped and asked me where ther downhill skiing was.....Ummmm, its that hill with the chairlifts on it. Maybe ski hills look different in their country. I truck on over the ridges and through the valleys and made it to the edge of the golf course. Along the Ganaraska, into the woods. Looped around and it came out being 2 hours, with the final sprint being to the mailbox and back. Pretty much just played playstation the rest of the day after that.

This morning Liz had the morning off work, well until 10:30 anyway so we got up bright and early, put on the beater classic skis and headed out for a loop on the trails someone has groomed in the Copeland. Just under an hour to do the green trail, which i must say isn't signed very well. There are sections where the trail splits and goes both ways and the green arrows point in both directions. Anyway, i had the faster of the skis and i was putting some time into Liz on the downhills, but my skis are a little stiff for me so i really have to work to get grip on the up hills. I guess thats what you get when you just inherit someones 30 year old skis that they don't want anymore.

Manshoe

2011-01-20T16:14:00.002-05:00

Great training day today. Started on the trainer for an hour and a half watching Semi Pro. A lot funnier than i remember, glad i watched it. After that was all wrapped up i got some food in me and got geared up for a good male bonding experiance/snowshoe in the copeland. Saw Andrew snowshoeing up through the yard just on time and then we waited for Tristan for 10 minutes. The plan was to go for 2 hours and get some good elevation in. We knew Tristan had been out drinking last night and when he showed up with no food or water we figured we could have some fun and set the pace nice and high. Headed deep into the woods, crossed the ski trail a couple hundred times, went up the berms backwards, found a new berm section that isn't done yet because they haven't made an exit or entrance to the trail yet.(ok well Andrew had already founf it but we walked the whole trail) Since Spak didn't come out i guess he doesn't get let in on the secret. About an hour a a half into it we asked Tristan if 3 hours was ok, since we were at the farthest point in Copeland. He seemed cool with it but as we hiked we could tell he was feeling it, especially when he pulled out the I Phone to check the gps. He then realized we were just messing with him and were actually not that far out. Finished it up with a race up one of the steepest hills imaginable, and rolled in at 2 hours 15. Thats 2 good long days in a row, some strength on the slate for tomorrow.

Tristan might actually blog about this so check out his site for the pictures of the Cougar prints and other various things. Thats all for now.

Learning the FaCTs of Life

2011-01-19T16:09:00.002-05:00

Monday i did a FaCT test to figure out balance point and get some numbers down so i'm training effectively. Test was good, got the results and now i'm on my way. With the new power tap built up and on the bike i have been doing lots(in comparison to previous years) of trainer and roller rides. Its always fun to have fun new toys to play with. But as i am getting into more hours i need to break it up. This morning started with and episode of Top Gear on the trainer and then headed to Hardwood to do a ski. The last ski i did was a couple weeks ago and i was fried after an hour. This time i was aiming for 2 hours and headed out on Salt Lake City(the longest loop at Hardwood). Being 23 km i figured it would be around 2 hours and i was pretty close. An hour and 47 mins, and i cool down around the teaching flats and it was all said and done. Body felt pretty good, got the heart rate up to 196 once to drop some women that were drilling it up the Cook's Climb behind me.

Another day off tomorow is all lined up. Going to start with watching Semi Pro on the trainer and the strap on the snowshoes and wander out into Copeland for 2 hours. Should be good times.

All for now.

New Wheels

2011-01-08T21:03:00.003-05:00

So its that time of year. Time to dust off the trainers and get some specific intervals and what not in. It's hard to do that on the road and ice. Since all i had for bikes was a beater MTB and a fixie i thought i should go into The Bike Stop and order up a road bike. I was planning on getting a Rocky Mountain to go along with the mountain bike I am getting, but unfortunately they had nothing in stock and weren't going to have anything until late March. Some quick thinking and debating and i ordered up the old faithful Giant. It's the same bike i had last year except it has different wheels and different colours. I ordered it Wednesday and it showed up Friday. Not bad i'd say. Also on Wednesday i got my Powertap(with Joule 2.0) ordered so it should be here early in the week.

Anyway i assembled my bike on Friday, got home and hopped on the rollers for a bit to get it dialed in. A couple adjustments and its good to go. Here are some pics.

Had the first day of the Jackrabbit programs(kids lessons) at Hardwood today. Already counting down until they are over.

All for now.

Freeze Frame

2011-01-03T09:25:00.002-05:00

After the nice, warm, rainy few days there Saturday night we had a good freeze the firmed up the ski trails and shut down horseshoe's xc center. After i had ridden to work and back, i had some dinner and decided we should go out for a trail ride on the nice solid snow. We got geared up and aired up Liz's tires then headed out. Down the end of the trail on the 7th fairway and just as we were going to get to the starting trail junction we hit a patch of ice and both went down sliding. Liz must have hit the soft ice because she was un harmed and i got up with ripped shorts and a bloody hip. We looped around and headed back up another trail back home.

Turns out my genius idea wasn't so great after all. I hear the snowmobile trails are better. More dirt= more traction..

Summer in the Winter

2011-01-01T20:16:00.002-05:00

Over the last few days the temperature has been rising and the roads have cleared up. 3 nice, warm, outdoor rides in 3 days. It's kinda nice to be able to ride the back roads without rattling your teeth out on the bumpy, icey crap. The ski trail at hosrseshoe has died and Hardwood is barely holding on. I got sent home early today because for some reason nobody wanted to ski in the rain. Thats fine, i got a bunch of stuff done around here. Chemicals in the hot tub, junk getting organized in the shed and got out on the bike for a spin. Hoping that the dropping temperatures make the snow nice and solid so i can go out for a night ride tomorrow on the ski trails in Copeland. Might even be able to get a Monday night ride in if we don't get any fresh stuff......

I thought of a couple good New years resolutions. I'm going to stop smoking and lose weight. Since i don't smoke and have 2% body fat i think i have already acheived my goals.

Christmas and Such

2010-12-27T16:19:00.002-05:00

Not too much going on in the past week other than Christmas. It was our turn to host and eat some turkey. We slathered the turkey in bacon first thing in the morning and by lunch time it was ready to feast. Bit of a change from the regular dinner feast. We ate so much at lunch we didn't even have to have dinner. Lots of alcohol changed hands for gifts, and a couple bottles of wine were drained during the day. Liz and I got a couple Giant push bikes for my nieces and soon enough they will be ripping it up with full xtr.

My brain isn't really functioning at 100% so this post will be cut short. Going out for the second snowshoe of the day at 8 and might even hop in the hot tub to finish iff the day.

Blue Trip Number 1.

2010-12-18T18:52:00.005-05:00

Yesterday i had the day off so after a short babysitting session at my brother's Liz and I went out to Blue to hit the slopes for the first time this season. The plan was to ski for a couple hours, eat and then go to Scandinave for some hot tubbing and such since with our 5x7 passes we get a 2 for 1 coup. Realized while we were skiing that we had forgotten that and made alternate plans. Kept skiing for a while, and came to the determiniation that Blue Mountain is the coldest place in Ontario. On the last run i just happened to find a 2 for 1 coup, and the plans went back to the original and after 2 hours on the bumpy, icey, knee beating skiing it was time to eat. Rusty's was the first choice and when we didn't went to pay $17 for the cheapest thing on the menu we went to Windy O'niel's. A little Irish pub with good food and turns out it has a great beer selection. I ordered up a Hoegaarden, and when it came in the biggest pint glass known to man i was stoked. I could barely palm the thing. Anyway, good meal and off to the spa.

A couple hours at the spa and we set our sights for home. Good day. Hopefully lots more this season up there to get the moneys worth from the pass.

Watching Top Gear now, later.

Wintery Weekend

2010-12-13T10:41:00.002-05:00

Hardwood is in full swing now and I'm back out there for thw winter now. With the heavy wet snow falling all day yesterday, we probably ended up with around 15 cm of good dense snow that will make for a good base on the ski trails. I barely made it up the 5th line coming home from work, it was good times.

Last night after i was home Ben asked me if i wanted to go for some Japanese donuts. Well obviously i did. He picked me up and we headed down to the Horseshoe Nordic parking lot that wasn't plowed yet. He had the Micro Machine from Hell going in all directions, and even lost in a cloud of snow at times. Its amazing when you can get an inch of snow on the roof of your car when it isn't even snowing outside. I guess thats what you get from 240 bhp and AWD.

Anyway there is a bunch more snow in the forecast but it really isn't doing anything right now. Here is a pic out the back window from this morning. The ski trail isn't groomed yet at 11:00. They better step up their game, as Hardwood always has their trails ready to go by 8 am. Just sayin. Its hard to skate ski in 15 cm of powder.

First Monday night snowshoe is tonight. Going to do a longish one today during the day as well....Sometime after it warms up a bit. Its -16 now.

A Small Man Ride

2010-12-10T14:33:00.002-05:00

Had 2.5 hours on the schedule today and there was snow in the forecast so i thought i might as well make it a mini man ride. It was snowing 95 percent of the time. The other 5 percent was there was sleet coming down. Pretty decent wind coming out of the south east was cold on the face until i started heading away from it to finish up the ride. The whole time i was heading along Bass Lake side road there was a decent amount of snow on the ground, i think it would have been easier to ski it. Since i have been home it was stopped snowing here but the skies still look dark around.

Here is my breakdown of points according to the new Man Points System. Luckily every ride i do i will get the hill climb bonus, and sketchy road bonus twice....And i didn't even make the system.

One point per minute: 182
Hill Climb Bonus(horseshoe Valley): 25
Sketchy Roads(horseshoe valley rd twice): 20
Degrees Below Zero(-2): 10
Different Conditons(i got snow, sleet and heavy wind): 60
Elevation(about 1200 ft climbing): 12
No Fuel Stops: 20

Total: 329

I don't expect it told hold up. I have a good route that can get a good amount but that won't happen until much later in the winter. The rest of my rides are just following my training schedule.

SMASHBOMB!!!

2010-12-08T16:53:00.003-05:00

Yesterday afternoon Liz and i had a trip to T.O planned as we were meeting her friends Aly and Ben for dinner at the Mill Street brew pub. We thought we should head down a bit early so we could stop at The Cloak and Dagger(Obviously the best pub ever) for a pint of the new Flying Monkey's brew called Smashbomb Atomic IPA, as my cousin Brent(owner of the pub) has it on tap and it is not yet available to the public in bottles. Got down onto College St, did a bit of wondering and then popped into the pub. Sat down for a Smashbomb and a Stone Hammer Stout, and a few minutes later as we were chatting with Brent a guy Brent knew came in and they started shooting the breeze. Turns out this guy works for Flying Monkey's and was out doing his rounds. We sat down and had a pint with him and told him we were fans of the Brand, especially Netherworld. "Thats great to hear" he said "I've got some in my truck, i'll get you some before i go". Awesome. The question came up when we were wondering when Smashbomb would be bottled. His response was "Well it is already but the artwork for the label isn't done yet so it isn't for sale yet, but i have some of that in my truck too so i'll get you some" Double awesome. Ended up leaving there with some free beer, some that isn't even for sale yet, and a sweet Cloak and Dagger hoodie. Thanks Brent, and Eric at Flying Monkey's.

On to Mill Street we went, it is a crazy busy place even on a tuesday night, i had my mind made up on what i was having. Poutine with pulled shortribs on it in Tankhouse gravey. It was the best poutine i have ever had for sure. Overall well worth the trip to Toronto, even after driving through the blizzard in Barrie twice....I wasn't driving anyway as i had to be the official beer drinker, and make sure the Jagermeister machine is still working well at the pub.

Snow is coming down still here. Think i'll go to Blue tomorrow.

X-Train

2010-12-06T15:46:00.002-05:00

Lots of hiking in the past 3 days. Worked at hardwood yesterday and we have gotten a bunch of snow. Hardwood has a few km open for skiing now, the guys at Horseshoe have been out rolling and packing the trails. They are in bruntal condition, lots of sticks, etc.

Out for a long one today. Just went in boots, not enough for snowshoes quite yet. Was aiming for 2.5 hours, headed waaaay out to the back of copeland, got some hills in on the second half. The guy packing the trails told us we weren't allowed to walk on the ski trails. He obviously didn't notice anytime we had come to a ski trail we just crossed instead of stopping to destroy it. There is no need for that, they are already bad.

Anyway, good hike. 2 hours and 40 in the end. My shoulders were killing me at the end, not sure why, legs were fine though.

Saw the Tristan has made up a man points sytem. It has some flaws for sure, the group will have to sit down and get them on paper.

Back 2 Back

2010-12-03T15:47:00.002-05:00

2 road rides the last 2 days. Yesterday was a venture down to HWS&B partly to see how long it takes to ride there and partly to find out when i will start working. Not that i'm in a hurry as i have realized that being unemployed saves you a lot of money. I have only gone through 1/8th of a tank of gas this week. Ride was good, only takes half an hour to get there, might do some commuting through the winter. It was pretty messy on the roads and i ended up getting wet. Need to do a modification work on the front fender and it will be all good. Forecast looks good for skiing soon.

Today rode into Barrie, it was a little nicer day to ride other than the wind. Horseshoe was blowing snow when i left, didn't notice on the way back as i was doing 60km/h not facing the hill and didn't feel like looking. Got 2 hours 20 in today and legs felt ok most of the time. Tomorrow is X-training day. Since there isn't enough snow to snowshoe yet it will likely be a hike in the woods.

Off to get the mail.(Assuming there isn't any)

Untitled

2010-12-01T16:33:00.003-05:00

Had another good ride today on the mtb. Looking at the weather it may not be the last. Pretty much went around the outer trails of Copeland and did some exploring. Found some things i didn't knw existed, rode up the ski hill at Pine Ridge and almost rode right into Simmer's back yard. Didn't know thats where he backed onto. After a full day and night the ground was pretty wet and slick. Made for a good time. Some of the climbs the rear wheel was putting on a little more mileage than the front and i almost bit the dust....or mud....a couple of times. Rolled home in right around 2 hours. Prefect timing, got the bike cleaned up and had a smoothie.

Have been getting a few things done around here while not working. Getting the shop bike ready, installing some hooks, clearing shelves, and going to find pictures of Chuck Norris to cover the windows so nobody comes near. Snapped some pics around the house today too.

Driveway side of the house. I guess you couls call it the front.

This side overlooks the Horseshoe xc ski trail where i was standing when i took the picture.

Wicked spiral staircase. Lots of people seem to be afraid of them.

The training center set up with surround sound.

Inside the shed that will be known as "The Man Cave".

I guess that's it for now.

Living in the Shoe

2010-11-29T17:04:00.002-05:00

Made the big move to Horseshoe Friday and tried to do it quickly as they were calling for 87 feet of snow and we wanted to get done before that hit. It went well, noly a couple trips and lots of unpacking the same day. The only down side is the bathroom is under construction so we have to be dirty for a few days(or shower at one of our parents house).

After we got 3 cm of snow Friday night they were calling for another whole bunch Saturday and Saturday night. That added up to a dusting so Sunday was a perfect day for a snowy Copeland ride. Watson, Spak, Jer and Tammy were meeting at the far lot at 11. I had a wing eating contest at 1 so i started a little earlier from here and met them(minus Spak) at 11. Rode with them for a bit, lots of slipping and sliding, and then tore off and headed back home in time to go to town. The wing eating contest was supposed to be at 1 but they are a bunch of tools and didn't start it until 2 because they were waiting for people that hadn't shown up. Guess what, they didn't show up. I've never been to a race where they held the start because someone isn't there. It's things like that that drive away customers.

Had the crew over Sunday night for a bit of a potluck get together to hang out and check out the new place. It has gotten good reviews, except for the wool lamp shades, i'm not sure why. Obviously we solved the world's problems and talked about this commercial where Micheal Jordan has a Hitler 'stache. Pretty funny stuff.

After splitting and piling some wood this morning i had some lunch(i would tell you what i ate but nobody cares) and headed into Copeland again on the bike. Its quite convenient. A little warmer today made for some slippery, slushy snow, and sketchy decents. Good times. Seemed like there were more people hunting out there than there were animals. My count was 4 hunters and 2 squirrels. Luckily i didn't get shot as i was in my Hardwood/hunting season orange. Thought i was going to get mauled by a cougar once, but it turned out to be a red squirrel. Got back, ate, chainsawed and chopped some more wood. I might take up Lumberjacking. Sounds like a lot of rain tomorrow, don't know what i'll do. probably ride in copeland.

All for now. Peace

Missed A Couple Things

2010-11-24T09:06:00.002-05:00

I think i mentioned the Santa Claus Parade in the last post. Forgot to say one thing about that. I had heard, from Tristan actually, that people weren't allowed to throw candy from floats anymore. He knew this of course because he was going to be on his parent's float in Orillia and wanted to entice the children with his 'stache and some candy. Anyway, that was a bummer, no candy for us....but wait there was a float throwing something into the crowd. Most of it was just landing on the ground and probably not being picked up. I wonder who this could be.....It was MEC`s float. ``The greenest MEC store yet`` was the only float in the parade throwing garbage all over the place. I don`t see that being very green. Anyway, i might give them another shot sometime, but it seems to be a common reaction that the new store is pretty dissapointing.

Last Weekend In Marchmont

2010-11-21T17:37:00.002-05:00

Starting to count down until moving to Horseshoe. Only 5 more sleeps. Had a fairly chill weekend but really weren`t home much. Saturday headed to the parental`s to throw on the snow tires and get ready for the apocalyps known as winter. Hung out there for a while and then headed to barrie to meet up with Liz`s work peeps to watch the Santa Claus parade and go to Moxie`s for dinner. Good times, good food as always there.

Today was the BCC cross race at the Sports complex so we went to watch the Elite/M1 race. Looked like fun, super fast, pretty cold, and still glad i wasn't racing. Watched in lots of different spots on course. The barrier, "run up" which everyone rode and the "Bike Stop Boobs". Box took it. I totally called that.

Can't really think of anything else, so i'll end it there. Later.

Just A Song of The Day

2010-11-18T22:02:00.001-05:00

Watch this.........Pretty funny, kinda disturbing. Probably lot of women like this in Waubeshene.

Time Off Winding Down

2010-11-14T20:19:00.002-05:00

My scheduled training starts up tomorrow, so that will be the Monday Night Ride. Nothing super structured for the first few weeks but getting back into the grrove of doing physical activity. Once i get my road bike and new Powertap(with the new Joule 2.0 unit that looks sweet) i will do some testing and get right into it.

Going back a couple days, the most important thing that has happened is that Flying Monkey's has finally bottled their Netherworld Cascadian Dark Ale which is delicious. I am having one right now.

Next up Liz and i found a good deal on a chalet in Horseshoe Valley for rent so we are moving out there at the end of the month. With the riding, skiing and snowshoing all from the back door of the house, and the hot tub to relax in, it should make for an awesome place to live. Lots more space to have people over we will be sure to invite everyone over for a visit.

Yesterday we had a stake pounding session setting up some of the course for the BCC cross race next Sunday. Super flat and fast course, it is sure to be a good race.

Last off did some spectating today at Hardwoood. Some good save to world chat while watching. Andrew even put some of his mad stacks on the line to see if people would ride the stairs. 2 people made it throughout the day. Only 1 elite. Was actually a pretty nice day for the race.

Back to work tomorrow. Have some wheels to build, some bikes to build and have to finish getting my winter bike ready to go.

Epic Fail

2010-11-07T07:33:00.002-05:00

Last night was halloween movie night out at Ben's in the barn since he was suppose to be busy last weekend. Got everything set up and ready to go and there was a dispute about where to put the screen. In the barn where it was or move it out by the fire? I beleive the verdict was determined when the words "it will be warmer in the barn" came out. Some of us sitting around the couple hundred degree fire moved our chairs in and we started up the movie.

Started to get cold a few minutes in and pounded the hot chocolate. The warmth didn't last long. I was freezing and the movie we were watching was not one i would have chose. Made it through, everyone tapped out and the 2 movies that were suppose to follow that one didn't get seen. I must say it would have been warmer by the fire. I think next year might have to go back to the way they were last year.

Working at Hardwood today. Been a couple days with some snow on the car lately. Winter may ber here any time.

Getting Things Done

2010-11-02T09:02:00.002-04:00

It has been kinda nice only working half time at The Bike Stop. I have been getting all kinds of things done. Running around, picked up my Blue Pass last week, and even went out and worked a couple days at Hardwood on my free days.

Sunday we headed up to Duntroon to watch the cross race. I was glad i didn't have a bike to race on, as it turns out they had gotten a bunch of snow up there. Rolled in just before the Elite race and nobody seemed really stoked to race. It was cold, windy, wet, but on the plus side it was sunny at that point. After the first lap everybody was soaked and muddy. Watched some off camber stuff for most of the race and threw some snowballs at Watson.

Last night i was itching to get out and go for an easy ride with the Monday night folks.....Ok i just wanted to go see Ben's car. Andrew was the only one that showed up to ride i think. We got there and Ben gave us rides around the parking lot while Watson got ready to ride. Eventually we got going and it was freakin' cold. Had to do some mini races to warm up. My light died part way through so i was going in the dark and using my 6th, or maybe even 7th sense to find my way through the woods.

Day off today. The Litespeed has a one way ticket to Montreal. Another week and a bit and i'll start up training again.

Ordering Bikes

2010-10-25T16:40:00.002-04:00

Today was the day filled with ordering bikes, both for the store and for myself. Got my MTB finalized for next year. Ordered up the Rocky Mountain Element 70 RSL. Full carbon frame which is as light as a Scott Spark. Didn't go for the full xtr version, because i wanted something a bit more durable. Going to switch out a couple parts, but it's going to be nice and light anyway. Here is a pic...

Road bike is still up in the air. They aren't going to be available until decemberish anyway so i don't need to decide right now. Thinking it will be something with a Sram group just to try out something different.

Worked the ski swap this past weekend at Hardwood. Was crazy busy on Saturday and got me thinking winter. Need to head up to Blue Mountain this week to get my 5x7 before the price goes up.

All Wrapped Up

2010-10-21T08:00:00.002-04:00

That's that. The final Wednesday night cross race is over. I think i got slower every week. I'm ready to spend a few weeks doing nothing on a bike. Working out at th Hardwood Ski swap this weekend will probably put me in the mood to ski, but as soon as i get my new bikes that mmod will go away and i'll want to ride again. I think Monday will be the day they will be ordered. No idea if they are in stock yet, but we'll see and then see how long they take to come in.

That's it for now.

Home From The West

2010-10-19T10:20:00.002-04:00

Rolled into Toronto late Sunday night. The wedding went well, it was nice out for the outdoor ceremony, and while pictures were getting done a few of us took all the tables, sounds system, and extension cords in and got everything set up inside. A bit of hanging around and chatting and it was dinner time. Super good food, Right up there with the ribs and beer can chicken for Hannah and Andrew's last month. Speeches happened, a slide show and some more socializing. No one really stayed too late, other than those camping.

First thing Sunday morning Liz and i headed up to Sun Peaks to go for a hike before we had to fly home. Scaled a bit a of the mountain, walked some of the singletrack from nationals a few years ago and some of the downhill trails that were sketchy on foot. After the hike grabbed some Kicking Horse coffee from a little cafe and headed back down the hill to catch the plane.

Flight went really smooth, got to Toronto a few minutes early, picked up the car and decided we would stop at the Wendy's/Tim Hortons on the way up the 400. Turns out Wendy's was closed and like every other Tim Hortons the staff there were completely incompetent. Anyway, had the food we didn't order and left, because if we complained we would have to translate it to their language anyway. Got home and went straight to bed.

One more bike ride Wednesday night and then i will be completely off the bike for a few weeks. Here are some pics.
Wedding with the crappy view in the back.

Hiking at sun peaks.

Sketchy bridge on the DH trail with snow on it.

Rock obstacle or wuss route around.

In The 'Loops

2010-10-16T13:36:00.004-04:00

Obiosly this is my first post out in Kamloops. We've been pretty busy since we got here. Thursday was a tiring day. Up at 4:45 am and hit the highway right away to head down to the airport. I couldn't believe the number of people driving down the 400 once we got past Barrie. People that do this every day. Rediculus. Got to Pearson and got in the park and fly. Lots of time to spare as there wasn't many people in the airport. Sat down for some breakfast and hopped on the plane. 4 hours to Calgary, and hour layover then a short flight to Kamloops. Pretty uneventful.

Got checked into our hotel and headed over to socialize for a bit before dinner. A huge meal at the Greek place for dinnner and then hit the sac early.

This is our view from the hotel room window.

Friday morning met up at the Pendrel residence(where Matt and Catherine lived while they were in Kamloops) and headed out for a hike to check out a bunch of the single thrack they have cut. Saw a bunch of the jumps and stuff that were made for filming the last couple New World Disorder movies. Pretty crazy. After the hike Matt and i went to pick up the chairs and sound system they had rented, then everyone headed up the hill to Harper Mountain, where the wedding is taking place. We got up there and saw this.....

The bit of rain we had gotten Thursday night had been snow up there. A nice rustic lodge and goot views, and looks like it will be nice weather for the outdoor ceremony. Could see a good amount of snow in the distance atop Sun Peaks.

The lodge.

Catherine and Liz standing pretty much where the ceremony is taking place. Not a bad background.

We went through the rehursal with the marriage guy and i've got my DJ duties dialed. Going to get ready and head up in a couple hours. Wedding is at 4, followed by dinner and a big bonfire to finish things off.

Later.

Brewery To Brewery

2010-10-11T18:30:00.002-04:00

A nice day today for the ?th Anual Brewery to Brewery ride from Barrie to Creemore and back. I had the hardtail set up with slicks since i have sold all my other bikes. It started off a nice easy pace for most of the time except when Tristan and Brandon got on the front together there was always a big surge. There were a few good sign sprints, but i only took part in a couple. Got to Creemore, had our samples and headed across the road for food. All twelve of us got sitting on the patio, and the service was pretty slow. I guess when you're the only place open on the holiday it gets busy. No big deal, we were in the nice warm sun and enjoyed our 2 hour lunch, the whole time laughing at Tristan as he tried his best to pick up Cayley. Back on the road Jer and i schemed for the first sign and took it in our respective categories(road bike, and mtb). After that settled in to a fairly easy pace with a bit of a headwind. Just after Angus Another surge happened and we knew what was up. It was a close match in overall sign points in the road division i think but Brandon blew Tristan out of the water on the final Barrie sprint.

It was the first year in a while that Flying Monkey's was open so we went in and sampled all of their beers. Good times were had, might be the last good weekend for riding the year, you never know. Off to Kamloops Thursday for 4 days, for the Hadley/Vipond wedding.

Cyclocrossin'

2010-10-07T08:51:00.002-04:00

Another nice night last night for round 2 of the Hardwood cross series. A couple minor changes were made to the course for the better. Got rid of a little bit of sand, although it's still impossible to avoid it all, and stuck a log infront of the steep hill to make it a forced run up.....It didn't force me to run up, i just hopped the log and still rode it. We gave Jack and Andrew the advice to force the run. They only need to move the log up 3 or 4 feet and there will be nobody riding it.

Anyway it was a good race. I didn`t do a header through a snow fence like last week, and got some good battling in with Bretton. Back and forth a few times but he took the sprint in the end.

Another day off work today. It`s pretty nice being able to do things during the day, it makes me feel productive. Going to get some road tires on for brewery to brewery, it`s probably the most important ride of the year.

Oktberfest Cross and More

2010-10-05T20:56:00.003-04:00

So i obviously forgot to update my blog during the week since the Guelph race. Wasn't much going on. Crashed pretty good at the Wednesday night race and put my head through some snow fence.

I found out the Ziggy's cross race was actually happening so instead of doing the Kawartha Rube eh Saturday i headed to T.O Sunday for that. Tristan was gung ho to do the Rube Eh but since nobody was there to hold his hand he Spakked out. I felt a bit off on Sunday so wasn`t sure what kind of outcome there would be. I started much easier than Guelph and still blew up 20 minutes in. After that just did some showing off for the camera and hammered the big climb for the crowd. It was a good course and still had some fun with the race.

Was planning to go for a longish one today, but shortened it quite a bit and i just spun down to Trek Store to chat and get a couple tubes we didn`t have in stock. Hung out there while i drank my second cup and headed home. On the way back i felt pretty wacky and thought i was going to fall over. This made me decide to stop riding for a while. It has been a long season and i think i just need to chill. I will still do Wednesday nights and Brewery to Brewery, but other than that, not too much until the Hillbilly Hustle.

Sold the Litespeed a couple days ago. It will be missed, but i`ll change it up for next year and try something else. Looking at the new Rocky Mountain Element carbon.

All for now. Liz`s Birthday is on Saturday. Having a bonfire that night.

SRCC Cross

2010-09-27T08:42:00.002-04:00

Round 1 of the Southern Ontario cross series kicked off yesterday. Didn't really know what to expect for fitness levels after not really doing any intensity in the past month, and thats kinda what you need to succeed in cross. I still thought i would stand a chance to do decent. I mean i'm faster than box on a mtb so i must be close on a cross bike.

After a couple warm up laps the bike was feeling good in the corners and they legs felt good too. Gun went off and i turned it up to 11. Sat right on Peter Mogg's wheel with Box and some Lap Dogs dude in chase. We broke away from everyone else, i let them rotate through and i sat on tha back of the train for a bit. Legs were feeling it so i backed off just a bit. They rode away and Marco caught me. Stuck with him for a bit then he dropped me. Steadily went backwards from there. About half way i was back and forth a bit with Danny. He was having bike issues and i crashed on the easiest corner on the course. Landed on my palm and it was bleeding all over the place so i couldn't hold on the way i wanted to after that. Legs didn't want to go for more than 40 minutes, which really is perfect for Wednesday night. Rode the last 4 laps after my crash watching the buldge in my front tire and hoping it didn't blow off and make me land on my face. It survived, i rolled in 10th. It was a good test for the legs.

Tip of the Day: Gloves in cyclocross is actually a good idea.

Ruide Guide put the pics up from Thursday on Facebook. Of course i just saved the ones of myself, but here they are...

Hollywood Called, They Want Me on TV

2010-09-25T11:07:00.002-04:00

So Thursday was filming day at Hardwood for part of the Ontario episode of Ride Guide Bike. Watson and Matt P have been working with the guys all week doing a few things, and at Hardwood Cayley and myself were the locals to show them around and find some good shooting sections.

The weather was a bit iffy and we definitely wanted to get Coffee Run in so thats where we started. A few runs in, switched up the order, style, etc. After a couple runs all the way down from Stone House Hill with Josh filming from the back of the Hardwood truck we were riding back up the road with Gareth driving up behind us. Oh wow there is a car coming....oh its a cop.....oh there is a guy standing in the back of the truck......oh good he kept going.....oh crap, he turned around. We waited at the starting point as the not so nice officed yelled at Gareth and Josh. He let them off with a warning since neither of them had I.D on them. It was going to be a seatbelt charge and a dangerous driving charge. We got told to practice riding on the right side of the road, and he drove away probably being one of the only cars on that road all day.

Moved on after that, covered Boneshaker, Blue chip, JP's, Batty's Boulder, and Skid Rock, where Matt hit it with his fork locked out and epic failed, doing a half front flip. Pretty good day all in all, finished up before the rain came, and got free dinner thanks to Brewery Bay.

Guelph Cross race tomorrow. Feel pretty good. And i leave you with a songof the day....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvyTY_oYR_c&ob=av3e

2010-09-22T09:06:00.002-04:00

So we got the pictures from Chris's wedding uploaded so i figured i'd put a couple up.

Liz and I.
Haha, Tristan dancing with Chris's mom.....after a few drinks.

Got some good thunder and lightning last night and the power went on and off about 5 times. Tomorrow looks like i'll be cold and wet, doing filming with Ride Guide at Hardwood for the day.

The Weekend I Didn't Race

2010-09-21T09:12:00.002-04:00

Was pretty stoked ofr this past weekend as the tractor pulls at the Oro World's Fair were on Friday night. Ok the tractor part usually isn't too exciting, but they have all kinds of trucks and such to make it entertaining. Wasn't nearly as cold the year. They always mix up the order so it's not all tractors at once or all trucks at once. You never know what they are going to pull out. Last year they had this guy on his golf cart with an Arctic Cat 650 snowmobile engine in it doing wheelies up and down the track.....Well he was back this year. Check out the pictures. Not real great because they are from my phone, but you get the idea. SWEET!

Anyway, that was exciting, the power went out about half way through and it was quite dark for a bit until they got some generators going. We stuck around until after the last of the trucks and headed home. A good redneck experience for the year.

Next on the weekend schedule was Wonger's wedding Saturday night. They were going to have an outdoor ceremony but of course it was raining, so it got moved under the buffet tent. Had a cross race the next day so originally was going to take it easy and when the beer was $6 a bottle i decided only to have 1. It turns out there were a couple bottles of wine per table, and since our table didn't want the kids at the next table drinking we had to take theirs away. Needless to say i didn't make the cross race. I'll try again this weekend and see if i can make it to Guelph for the race.

Real Cross Training

2010-09-12T16:56:00.002-04:00

This morning Liz had a lesson to teach at Hardwood so i decided to take out the cross bike and hope that they had the course set up. Turms out they did and Mike G was also teaching the cross clinic today. Started out and was a little rusty on the cross skills for the first lap or 2. Blew a few corners and almost went down on a couple sandy corners. Started getting it dialed and picked up the pace. On the grass the new tires were hooking up good and rolling nice and fast. It's a pretty bumpy course and there is quite a bit of climbing. Ended up doing ten laps in about 57 minutes, with 4 being race pace ish and 6 being in the tempo range. Was thinking of running a single ring up from but i think i'm going to stick with the double.

The hour on course was a good test for everything. Rattled the cones loose on my wheels, but the rest of the bike was working really well. Drove by scout's valley on the way home and thought of going in there sometime this week to try to put together a bit of a course to train on close to home.

Was going to snp some pics today but only had my phone. Later.

One season over, One just beginning

2010-09-10T09:06:00.002-04:00

Hav ebeen making some little changes to the Mannondale to get ready to race cross this fall. Nothing much, not taking it super serious. Sounds like a bunch of races are being cancelled anyway. Bike feels good and the legs feel ok too. they are probably just well rested as i have been slacking. Rode last night in the dark with Trstan. I now know why he crashes a lot. His light was pointed in every direction except for in front of him, unless it was at the ground 2 feet in front of him.

I thought i had something exciting to ramble about but i guess not. Nothing much going on this weekend, and next weekend is every event in september. My bets are in for Crank The Shield. With Peter taking stage 1 he will think he has an edge on Andrew, but Watson wil come back on stage 2 and 3 and become victorious leaving Peter in the dust. Don't know about anyone else, i am just trying to get the battle heated up.

All for now.

Relaxing

2010-09-03T09:05:00.002-04:00

Wow, it's almost been 2 weeks since provincials already. I haven't done much serious training since then. Some down time is nice before cross season ramps up. Last weekend hit up the 24 hour for a bit to chase around Ben as he was riding away from the solo field. Did a couple night laps, didn't pass through transition, because we were just spectating. Sunday Tristan and i followed that up with a lap around the Big Chute loop. Niether of us were feeling good so it was fairly slow, not to mention we were both on cross bikes as we have sold the TCR's. It was crazy hot, had to stop for a fudgicle and 2 liters of iced tea half way through.

Wednesday we got all geared up for the most intese race ever. Got the fixed gear tandem out to Hardwood early so we could test ride it. It was a good thing, because we broke a chain pre riding. Tristan hopped in the car and gave'r back to town to get some links. Apparently Hardwood doesn't sell single speed chains or master links. Got that problem solved with a couple minutes until the race. Lined up, and got told that we were going to get beaten by some 5 year old kid. Got the invite to start about 10 feet ahead of the group so we didn't kill anyone. 15 seconds..........GO!. One pedal stroke and our chain ring decided it didn't like 2000 watts blasting through it, so it folded and our race was over.........or was it? Came up with the brilliant idea to just run it. Turn sout we were in carbon soled cycling shoes. After about a km Tristan realized he had his cross bike there, but it was too late to use it. My legs are still killing me from the run.

Hannah and Andrew's wedding is this weekend. The first of a few this fall. Chris and Kristen's in a couple weeks, on Lance Armstrong's birthday, and the Hadlley/Vipond event out west in October.

All for now. Thinking the next race on the schedule might be the Kawartha Rube-eh? in Fenlon Falls.

Provincials

2010-08-24T08:46:00.002-04:00

New venue for provincials this year. Pre rode it Saturday and wasn't entirely impressed with the course. Bumpy, and road bike worthy. Anyway, thought i would at least give it a chance in the race and try to have fun.

As the rain came down Sunday morning i actually kinda hoped it got really muddy just so there was some sections where you needed bike handling skills. Didn't rain much at the course and only one little section was a little slick, but was still easily rideable. My first 3 laps were spent with Atkins and Danny working together a bit since there were so many long double tracks. We lost Danny on the second lap and after my long pull along the first double track on the third lap it was my turn. Ryan hit the first couple climbs and dropped me like a sack of hammers.

My legs felt like crap after that and i started riding pretty bad for a bit too. Lost a couple more positions, and tried to find some hiding energy on the last lap. Anton came by me part way through the last lap but i had nothing left. I bridged the gap up to him in the single track, but the last bit of the lap was pretty open and he had the legs. I finished up 12th. Same place as Nationals, probably my least favourite number this year.

Cross season starts in a month, going to be fun. Will probably try to do most of the southern series and maybe even Nationals since it is in T.O.

Quick pre work post

2010-08-19T09:27:00.002-04:00

So last night at Hardwood was the very unofficial Department Store Bike Classic. Mine was a brutally heavy and terrible Oryx full suspension, and Tristan had an Arashi full rigid. We raced cranked which is just flat out and the dually was just weighing me down the whole time. I caught up in the single tracks but had nowhere to pass. We sprinted it in with Tristan taking it.

Went to Studabaker's for some vitaimin P afterwards, hung out and chatted for a bit. I suspected Tristan wouldn't race provincials because he is a pansey. Turns out i was right, and now he wants to a triathalon next year so that proves he isn't a cyclist anymore. Had to put that out there so everyone knows.

Another pub ride at Matt's Friday night. Provincials Sunday. Wow, that season went by fast.

Something

2010-08-15T14:59:00.002-04:00

So first i guess i'll back track to Wednesday. Fixie's off road and through single track at race pace. Tristan and I raced the Cranked course for safety reasons. Everyone at the start line thought we were jokesters and didn't think we were seriously racing. One guy at the start asked us to go out hard so he could draft us. He obviously didn't know what gearing we had on, we had no choice but to go hard. Hammered from the line and by the post probably had 30 seconds on the field. First couple single tracks Tristan got in front of me. We were goig pretty slow because he was screaming like a baby at every corner. I Ended taking a dumb bail but caught back up to him quickly. The technical issues started occuring for me, dropping the chain a couple times, and then a couple more times. That's bad news on a fixie as it means there is no brakes. Tristan had dissapeared ahead and i though i had lost it. Came around the last corner to the finish and he was running it in. I sprinted and took him just feet from the line. He was angry, i laughed. No major casualties, I chipped some paint with my chain jamming up, Tristan bent his fork a bit in the race and broke his kick stand off during warm up. Good times.

This weekend was camping weekend. Friday after work headed north a bit to Massasauga Provincial Park. The only way to get to the camp sites is by water. We loaded up the canoe and headed for our site. About an hour of paddling and me complaining the whole time we got there and set up. Had a bit of a fire and then called it a day. Got no sleep at all Friday night, got up at 9 ish Saturday morning and had some breakfast before the day trip. Don`t really know where we went, but it hurt my arms because i`m a cyclist. I think about 3 hours of paddling and a couple stops, one to eat lunch and we were back at our site. Chilled a bit and swam a bit before dinner and got the box of wine chilling in the water. Liz brought stuff for pad thai so that was dinner, then we sparked up the fire. We had a fairly large pile of wood collected but after seeing how fast the first bit went we had to fetch more. Probablydoubled the amount of wood we had and ended lasting for about 4 hours. Not bad, a lot of fire, some smores, and wine. Was super tired by the end of the day so got a good amount of sleep last night. On the way out today we stopped for a hike along the way. Wasn`t too exciting, lots of trees and roots, much like here. Made it home after a stop in Coldwater for Kawartha Dairy ice cream and picked up some elk steaks at the universal game farm.

Was going to head out for a ride, but looked at the radar and the rain was coming. Started pouring moments later and the power started going on and off. All for now. I`m sure i`ll post some pics and such.

Ups and Downs

2010-08-10T20:50:00.002-04:00

After semi recovering from my deathish illness 4 of us headed out to Copeland for the ride last night. 45 minutes of railing slippery decents and going hard not by choice on all the climbs, just because it's copeland. Apres ride we headed to Chateau Watson to hang out for a bit and have a refreshing recovery beverage. Chatted, saved the world, you know all that stuff. Starbuck was on a mission the whole time trying to get attention, and even challenged us to an ass race.

Today it was looking ominous in the morning so i opted not to ride in to work. Hopped on the Mannondale after dinner and headed to Hawkestone to get the fixie as we are racing fixies at Hardwood tomorrow night. Rode back, saw some other cyclists that were amazed i didn't have any gears or brakes. Almost home going over the 1 lane bridge and i had the right of way by a good 100 meters and some knob in a black and white car with lights on the roof almost ran me over. Not flashing lights, just went flying by like a cock. Missed his unit number on the car....damn.

Anyway, top gear is on. Laters

Kelso Race Report

2010-08-08T13:05:00.002-04:00

OK, so obviously the race hasn't started yet, but i will put up my report now. Got sick and didn't race. Kinda sucks, but on the plus side, i don't have to drive to Kelso and don't have to race in the rain. I've got 4 O Cups in so hopefully i can do well at provincials to hold on to an overall standing.

Monday night ride tomorrow looks like it's happening at Copeland followed by inviting ourselves to Watson's.

TT

2010-08-06T20:26:00.002-04:00

Since blogger is dumb and wouldn't let me actually publish the post i wrote i am doing this one now and not re writing it. so all you get is a picture.

Somewhere Between Man Ride and Boy Ride

2010-08-02T15:55:00.002-04:00

Yesterday started off fairly early, at 9:30 am having breakfast. I would tell you what i have but when i read blogs about breakfast i usually just skip over it because it doesn't appeal to me.

Headed out to Spak's for our 10:30 start time and of course waited for Tristan because he is always "en retard". Kinda ironic really, sounds like a word we call him in english. Finally got rolling after a bunch of excuses. After 25 km on Hwy 12 we turned on to some more quiet roads. Down the 15th to lakeshore and all the way to Barrie. First half of the ride the sign sprints were very tame and whoever was on the front took it. Shorty after Tristan started screaming like a girl and saying he got stung by a bee we made a stop at Neighbour's Variety at Cundles and St. Vincent to load up on drinks and snacks. Headed out through Midhurst and whatnot and out the Old Second. Saw some triathletes "group Riding"....I guess if there are 4 of them within 2km of each other they are in a group, right? Tristan Kept doing his dumb little attacks on hills and stuff and ended up riding by the turn toward Hillsdale because he was off the front. He needs someone to put a powertap in front of his face and give him a talk about consistancy. I knew we were nearing the only categorized climb of the ride which was the 7th Line beside Mt St Louis. Turned the corner and Tristan hit the gas. With his lack of knowledge, and my knowledge of the hill, i had my plan to let him hammer off early and when he cracks i ride by him. Nearing the crest you can see from the bottom he realized it keeps going for a lot longer than it looks. I rode by him to and easy 30 second victory over the top. Spak was somewhere behind that trying to get up in endurance wattage.

Up to Vasey Rd climbing the slight grade Spak Shlecked it and dropped his chain, i quickly Contadored him and took the final sign sprint into Tay. Finished up the ride along the railtrail and rolled into Spak's at just under 4 and 1/2 hours and 125 km.

Today was not going to be wasted sitting around waiting for Monday night ride at 6 so Liz and I headed out this morning for the around Lake Couch loop. A nice little 2:30 loop from our place and finished up with pretty much the same average speed as yesterday, and a good chuck of rama road into a decent head wind.

Lasagna is in the oven. Num nums. TT this Thursday, it's going down.

pics

2010-07-24T18:44:00.002-04:00

As the elderly say, "lollygagging"

2010-07-24T18:24:00.004-04:00

Last few days have been fairy chill as i'm resting up after out west. Wednesday night rode out to Hardwood and the raced serious. Was struggling to find power. Chris, Spak, and i had a nice little battle, and Chris came away with the victory. Went for post race wings at Studabakers with Tristan, Justin, Spak and Liz. On our way out ran into Mark, Amanda, Ben, and Aly so stuck around for another couple hours. Thursday and friday were relaxed. Opted out of the TT Thursday night to go for steak at Shutters. Found out Trsitan rode a 21:42 or something like that. I'm going to have to show him how it's done next time.

Today took a ride out to Hardwood to see what was up at the 8 hour. Didn't seem like there were many people there. Got home and had some Souvlaki and Greek salad. Was tasty. Might have a fire tonight and make smores.

All for now...Oh one more thing. It's almost that time to sell the bikes. Road bike is available whenever, next years should be coming out soon.

Giant TCR Advanced 2. Full Ultegra w/ Ksyrium Elite's. Thinking $2700 or best offer. Tell your friends. See some pics Above.

Nationals and the Drvie Home

2010-07-21T08:30:00.002-04:00

Lets go back a few days now that i'm home. It was a perfect race day in "Manmore" for the National Championships. I was feeling pretty good warming up but knew it would be a tough one. Start was crazy fast, i think i was second last for the start loop. I really didn't have a problem with that though since we had a lot of wide open climbing to start the lap. By the time we got toward the top i had settled into the groove and everyone had slowed down a lot. Got up there pretty good, probably about 8th.

Second lap came around and was still the same position but Jon and I had been easing up to the next group of guys. Coming into the second feed zone on the stupid 40 km/h gravel road, 90 degree turn i bit the dust and went bouncing across the gravel infront of everyone there. I got up and going again pretty quick but i must have hit my leg on my handlebar and my arm/hand were pretty sore. It took more than half a lap to start feeling good again, so i lost quite a bit there. Went hard on lap 4 to catch up but it was a little too hard and i started to get the hurt on the last part of the climb on the last lap. Stayed in survival mode until the end and finished up in 12th. Hoped for better, but still did better than last year.

The drive home seem wayyy longer than the way out. Canmore to Brandon, MB the first day with a stop in Rouleau, Saskatchewan, better know as Dog River, for those Corner Gas Watchers. Pretty cool to see, kinda a ghetto place though. Day 2 was Brandon to Marathon. Northern Ontario really only needs to be seen once apparently, it was like a never ending road of rocks and trees, with now radio stations. Made our stop for dinner in Pass Lake at the truck stop. Service was terrbile, food was ok, but the waitress was a few stones short of something that was only half full of stones to begin with. I gues everyone from there isn't quite all there. Day 3 we sprinted home and it went fairly smooth. Only slow down was the double transport death crash on hwy 69 that we had to detour around. It's good to be home after 2 weeks, i guess its back to work now.

In The Mountains......Almost

2010-07-16T11:39:00.003-04:00

Got to Canmore yesterday late afternoon. First thing on the agenda was eating, closly followed by going to the beer store for some more western micro brewery beers, then of course went to the grocery store to fill up the hotel room fridge(which is the exact fridge Liz had in her old apartment.....it's still too small). After i had food in me i got ready to go out for a spin. Jon and Sam were going to check out the town and the river, so i joined in. We found a good spot to go in the water and it was extremely cold, but refreshing. Enjoyed a Big Rock Lime, then a Big Rock Black Amber Stout while sitting out ejoying the fact that its light out here until after 10 pm.

I'm out in the park at our hotel to get internet since our room is too far away from the router to get effective signal. Going to get on course today. Apparently there is a lot of double track, and the fit riders will do well.....Bad news bears, i need that single track to give me some recovery. We'll see how pre ride goes i guess and go from there. I think thats all for now.

"I thought they said Contador wouldn't attack because he was to busy wanting to have sex with a pumkin, or something"

Mall Shenanigans

2010-07-13T16:33:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was fairly eventful. Kinsie and i hit up the West Edmonton Mall to go to the water slides. Not too busy on a Monday so we were able to get tons of runs in. Such a sweet and rediculous indoor water park. After a few hours of stair climbing intervals we were pretty trashed and had to go find some food. Walked around the mall forever looking for the candy shop that was just outside the waterpark.

All in all a good day. Didn't get a ride in but used the stairs as a workout for the day. Just got in from a rainy spin today, going to wash some bikes and shoes soon.

Edmonton Canada Cup

2010-07-12T12:34:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was the first race since June 6th other than the 24 hour. Legs didn't feel 100% during warm up so i went into it planning to start slow and see what happens.

From the start until the first single track was about 300 meters of mad sprinting on pavement. I guess it wasn't true single track but a narrow climb where everyone crashed into each other and had to run the climb. Through the first lap i think i was sitting about 34th or 35th just in cruise mode. After about half way through the 2nd lap i started to pick it up and reel in some guys. Feeling good and climbing strong later in the race i was getting up near some guys i should have been racing with the whole time. Lapped traffic wasn't all that so it didn't really slow me down. There was only one muddy section left of the course and if you hit the right line you could do it no problem. I got it right 3 out of 6 times and had to get my white shoes dirty the other 3 times.

Although i was working my way up pretty good i didn't kill it as hard as i could since nationals is only 5 days away now.

Congrats to some other Team Ontario athletes, Marc Antoine won cadet, Mitch won Junior, Cayley came home with second in Junior girls (i take credit for that since i gave her a push on the road), and i'm not sure watson was Team O because he's a bit too old but he came second in elite, and made it through without going over the handlebars on doubletrack.

Pre Ride

2010-07-10T20:28:00.002-04:00

Rode the course this morning....and of course by morning i meant this afternoon. Rolled into the parking lot and noticed everyone was quite muddy. Bad news bears. Started my lap with no warm up the legs felt a little wierd up the first climb but then started to feel ok. The first part of the lap wasn't that slick but it changed quickly. The first single track after coming past the expo area was slick and the first corner i slid into a tree and fell in a puddle. Didn't hurt but i got up bleeding and had a bent brake lever, and front wheel.

Got going and then got lost because the person who marked the course obviously hasn't had enough practice doing so. Spray paint arrows on the ground covered up by mud doesn't cut it. After sliding my way through the rest of the lap i was wondering how this course ever got approvel to have a Canada Cup on it. Way too much off cambre, non sustainable trail that just sends you into the woods as soon as you hit it. Also way too much pavement. I like to ride my mtb on dirt double track, not paved path.

Needless to say i'm looking ofrward to the course at Canmore. The terrain and course there is just wicked. We'll see how tomorrow goes. I think i may still do ok, but just thinking the whole time how i would rather be riding a good course.

All for now i suppose...Oh and i was amazed how big United Cycle was, but shortly found out the didn't even have Big Air's in stock....Useless.

Arrival in Edmonton

2010-07-09T22:56:00.002-04:00

Last night made it to Regina and stayed over there. Thats all i remember ffrom the day. Well that and that gas mileage goes down with the headwind of the prairies. Nothing to do with the increased speed, all the headwind.

Left by 7 am this morning and was expeceting 8 hours or so of driving to get to Edmonton. Made a couple of stops for gas and food but nothing we didn't need to do. A wee rain storm in the last 2 hours but other than that we didn't see any crazy weather. Made it here in good time and got unloaded a bit. Had some good dinner here and then changed my brake pads on my hardtail to get it ready to pre ride tomorrow.

Hopefully will get a good amount of sleep tonight and feel good for the weekend and get on course for some laps. Can't think of anything else right now. Later.

Holy Thunder Bay Jesus

2010-07-07T21:36:00.002-04:00

OK, so got all moved last week, and haven't received interweb yet because Bell is not all they are cut out to be.

Anyway, short post tonight before crashing for the night. Hit the road at 6:20 this morning and took until after 8 to wake up....Yes i was driving too. Woke up just after Parry Sound i think, and we were making good time. Stop in Espanola for petrol and back at it. Through Sault St Marie in good time and the cell signal dissappeared. Absolutely no signal from the Sue until Thunder Bay. Lots of crazy transport truck passing happened, only minimal consruction which was nice.

A few hours into the drive something happened, and i thought "i think i should blog about that, it will get some laughs"......the drive is too freaking long and i forgot what that was. Aiming for Regina tomorrow. suppose to be about the same distance/time to get there as it was to get here. Hopefully it is a bit higher average speed......Hehehe, Regina.

Anyway it's time to end. More tomorrow night maybe.

22 Hours of Summer Solstice

2010-06-29T20:26:00.002-04:00

Ok, so. Got on a 10 person team for the 24 hour this past weekend, with a bunch of Hardwood folk. Basically showed up and hung out in the rain as they kept postponing the race. I was prepping for the first lap and i think i got 4 warm ups in before the race acutally started. Was suppsoe to go off at noon and as 2 o'clock rolled around it finally began. Start loop was super wet and muddy so i wanted a good position so i could see instead of being plastered with dirt. Took the wholeshot and lead through a couple single tracks. Little slip up and Andrew and Danny went by me. I was trying to hold on but losing brakes fast. Ended up losing all rear bakes and had to slow it down a bunch. Still rolled in to the finish in 5th.

Settled in for the 8 hour break between laps. After some food and chilling headed over to the Spak/Spurr team tent to see what was up. Tristan was back for his 2 laps and consuming some food also. I stole his DT fork anf riser bar so my Kona could be a little more comfortable if i took it out again. Not too much excitment went down until my next lap. It had dried up quite a bit so i busted out the Litespeed fully equipped with Maxxlite 285's. Rocked the first full night lap and turned out a 47:22. Felt good about that but also was pretty tired so i took a bit of lay down time before i had to go out again. A couple folks on the team decided not to go out for a night lap so i was on the schedule for going out about 4 am. I should have probably just stayed up. As 3:30 came around i was waken up and felt like a bag of crap, trying to get moving to go out again. I really didn't eat much between the 10:30 lap and the 4 am lap so i wast pretty dead as i started out. Made the call to just chill the lap and await the day light. Spun through it and made it sub 1 hour. Just over 59 minutes and pretty much made the call that i wasn't going to go out again. As it was our team wasn't in contention for the win and everyone know that if you're not first, you're last.

A few people were pulling some decent laps Sunday morning and i think we got up to 4th place. Erica braved it and went out for what was the team's last lap of the day. She pulled off an impressive 1:01. Not too bad for a 12 year old.. That was it for the race for us as we called it the end at 11 am. Dropped to 8th, but didn't have to stick around for awards, which always take forever.

Anyway, post is getting long. Moving Thursday. Anyone have a king sized bed they want to get rid of?

Yes, I am Slacking. Wanna Fight About it?

2010-06-21T20:19:00.002-04:00

Ok so long time no post. Took a bit of a rest week then got back in riding mode last week. Got to wear the sweet new LG kit on Wednesday night, lots of comments about how awesome it is, and nobody even said anything about not wearing HH colours.

Thursday consisted of building up a new rig for the fixie ride Saturday. Of course it was a fixie, and yes it also was a tandem. Dropped lots of weight from stock when it read "error" on the scale down to 45 pounds. Had to use handlebars for seatposts as we had nothing the right length of diameter in the seat post department. Worked all well and good for me, but Tristan is just a big fatty and bend the 2 the we tried for his. Resorted to a solid piece of steel hammered into the frame. That worked.

Saturday came and we started to roll into Spak's for the ride. People were checking out the whip and getting scared to ride near us. Rightfully so. The most dangerous part of the ride in my mind was right at the beginning as it was downhill to the trail and we didn't have brakes(of course, real men don't use brakes on a fixie). The highlight of the trip to the pub was Tristan doing a 360 spin maneuver on the back of the bike while i kept balanced and straight. It was successful, and we made it to the pub with the world's worst service. Got some drinks, i scored the last Creemore. After the waitress realized that someone asked if they had anything dark......"we have Bud" she said....."bud isn't a dark beer"........"oh, it's in a dark bottle" she replies. Some things only happen in Waubeshene. And Tristan still liked this girl. After several more mix ups with the orders and some good chit chatting in the restaurant she came out with the bills. She apologized about the wait, and Jay responded with "That's OK, oh, and could you put your number on one of those for Tristan here" I won't say the outcome.......

Anyway ride home was good. We had more confidence going through the barriers on the way back, although we did hit one. All in a day's work. Learned that Waubeshene has too many mosquitos, so we hung out inside after we all got bird flu sitting around the fire.

A Week Of Not Much

2010-06-15T09:06:00.003-04:00

This past week has been nice and relaxing. A few fun rides and a few days off the bike. Lots of Birthday days too. Saturday night bbq at Liz's, a day of stuff up in Collingwood Sunday and Dinner with the 'rents last night. Had some killer steak.

Training commences again today among other things. We have a couple little projects at the store. One might involve a retro tandem. Thats all i can say for now until we see if it works or not.

Not much else to say. Moving out July 1st. Shortly after that going out west for 2 weeks.

Ontario Cup 4

2010-06-07T09:06:00.003-04:00

Wow, seaon is pretty much half over now. A few weeks off before the next important race, and finished that block of racing with a strong result. The plan was to hit the start hard and stick to sombody that i knew was faster than me and see how long i could hold on.

As the gun went off i had a little trouble getting clipped in but as soon as that happened i was off. May have been one of the only ones who rode the start climb clean and smooth, as i found myself riding into second place at the top. Ok, thats good. Stayed there behing Kyle until just before the rock garden then took him so i could ride it fast. Got through that and on the field section got sucked up by the fast guys. Andrew, Derek and Adam came by me. That was ok. I'll just hang onto them.

Rode a couple singeltracks and they were taking it a little easier on the sketchy stuff as they had dry tires on....I did too, but i had the skills to use them.(now watson is probly going to nascar me on the ride tonight) Anyway got to the end of the lap and it was Derek, Andrew and myself. I was feeling good and hanging on the second lap. They would put a second or 2 into me on the long double tracks, but i would reel it back through the singletracks. Riding up toward Glassford's and Andrew decided to revisit our frame pump in the spokes experiment but with a big stick. He went flying and ended up lying on the double track. Derek stopped to make sure he was ok, and i kept going, because i knew they would catch up. I came through with a small gap after 2 laps because of that and they came back a bit into the third.

Third lap i knew that they would pull away soon but i kept pushing. I stayed in the train until the first climb on the 4th lap. They started to ride away and i wasn't going to fight that. My test was successfull, now all i had to do was hang on tot he position i was in. Had no idea where 4th place was so i just raced my own race the last 2 laps. Rolled in 1:45 behind Derek, and 1:07 behind Andrew. I think thats a personal best. Still had another 2 and a half minutes back to 4th.

Good times were had. Time for a chill week for the first time in too long.

A little Something.

2010-06-05T16:38:00.002-04:00

Pretty much just a quote for today's post.

"Lance Armstrong and some other American riders have formed a new team this year to race in the tour. It's Team 7 Eleven, and they are riding Trek. If Trek is good enough for Lance Armstrong, Its good enough for you right?"

Mountainview tomorrow. Should be......uummmmm....fun?

Wednesday Night Ride

2010-06-03T09:22:00.002-04:00

Last week being the fast, competetive Wednesday night race on Gnarly, this week was the total opposite. It was raining yesterday for the first time really in a couple weeks. We needed it bad. It started about 2:30 and just kept going till race time. I knew it would be muddy, but didn't mind. I like playing in the mud sometimes, just not every ride and race like last year.

Basically we hammered the start until the second single track then just did a group ride. Slipped and slid in the mud and on the bridges in swap run. Just had some fun with plans of putting out effort tonight at Mountainview. Last week's time in the race was just under 38 minutes, this week was 46. Nice and chill.

Anyway i have to go to work now. Peace Out

Hardwood Canada Cup

2010-05-31T08:55:00.002-04:00

Yesterday at 11:30 it was time for round 3 of the Canada Cup circuit and this one only 10 minutes away, i know the trails quite well. The weather brought us a super hot day again. It has been so dry here, i ran my mud tires to get traction on the sketchy, sandy corners. My legs felt like crap on Saturday when i rode the course so i decided to start easy again and try to work my way up.

The start was insanely dusty and vision was an issue in the middle of the pack. A few guys went down off to the left side but i missed that and got settled in where i wanted to be. I knew there was going to be a bottleneck at the first singletrack, but i didn't think it was worth putting the effort in to try to beat it. Just waited it out and after that singletrack it spread out pretty quickly. Rode the first 2 and a bit laps smart even passing some of the heros who went off too hard.

Mid third lap I started to pick it up when Kinsie caught me. We rode together for half a lap then i found some energy and my mission began. Spak had told me i was a minute and a half down one the group of espoirs up the trail. (Evan, Cody, and Andrew). Started picking people off and was feeling great. Saw the black and red of Andrew's jersey through the woods near the beginning of the last lap. He looked pretty bagged and i went by him quick. Got in the clear and was able to ride coffee run with no interfearance really. Blazed down that and as i went over the bridge before Boneshaker, Cody had just gone under it. That meant with a little over 3 km left i was down probly about 45 seconds on him. The throttle was already turned up to 10, but when i saw him there i cranked it to 11.

Rocked the longest climb on the course and the traffic was down to a minimum for the remainder. Climbing up Ned's Overend, which is about 1.5 km from home i saw the red and yellow in the distance. I was trying to be sneaky so i could blast by him before the last singletrack. He happened to look back and saw me coming. Not good because he put down the efort he had left in him. Came down to the final sprint but he had the worn in line and i was left with trying to pass in the deep wood chips. Didn't get him but still super happy with the result. Gained another 4 places over last week. 20th overall.

1 more weekend of racing before some time to relax. Looking forward to that.

Wednesday Night Nationals

2010-05-27T20:21:00.002-04:00

SO last night was expected to be a fast race with some westerners and esterners out pre riding the canada cup course and also racing our little weekly series.

Got all warmed up and lined up at the Gnarly start line follewed shortly by the rest of the espoir field from a Canada Cup. There goes the idea of a tempo ride with some hard efforts throughout. Gun went and Mitch led out follwed by Andrew L'esperance, Cody Canning, and Evan Guthrie. All strong riders. I stuck myself on the back trying to be sneaky and with course knowledge would make my move at an unexpected moment. They were all killing it on the doubletracks and bounching through the singletrack. It's amazing how much smoother you can be through a section when you've ridden it 500 times. I was feeling better toward the middle of the race and knew the time had to be soon. Cruised behind them for Swamp run and Switchback Climb, Mitch led them around the rock garden in Sandpit, which gave me the chance to get by Evan. Got out onto The Grind, took a drink and hit the gas. 100% full out harder than i have ever ridden the grind in my life. Got to the top, into Gunner's Gulley and dropped my chain. Damn, felt like such a junior. Got the chain on quick and realized the attack got rid of Evan and Andrew. Looks like they shut it down right after that. Last steep climb up toward Hill 'N' Dale Cody eased off and shortly after that Mitch and i did. Spun in the last kilometer and a bit, having enjoyed a good little race.

It was a good gauge to see what the strengths and weaknesses are for the other guys. Canada Cup course this weekend is definitely going to take some good fitness, there is more climbing that you think, but the singletrack smoothness is also going to be key. Should be a good time. We'll see what happens.

Tremblant Race Day

2010-05-24T21:18:00.002-04:00

After the last few years of racing Tremblant being very muddy and elite still doing 6 laps i totally expected to 6. Dropped in at the coaches meeting to get a feed zone pass for Liz and to find out the info on the race. Dry, fast, and......5 laps??? Sweet! Was stoked for that and so was anyone else i talked to.

Nice and warm on race day and feeling pretty good. Got a pretty solid warm up in and rolled toward the start. Mid-pack call up again and i knew there would be a bottleneck at the first singletrack. Eased into it and gave it some gas the last part of the start climb. Plowed my way into the singletrack infront a couple people who were being patient. They seemed a bit angry, but they left the spot open and it's a Canada Cup. You just have to be agressive to get anywhere. Decided i was going to be hard on the gas until i got to the top of the course on the first lap. Worked well and i think i was sitting mid 20's. Rode the downhill smooth and quick and got in a pack for the paved bike path. After sitting in along the flat they put the gas down a bit more than me as i started to settle into my pace.

Trying to drink a lot to prevent the bonking in the hot weather was tough but i almost drained a bottle per lap. I really didn't have a lot of excitement after the first lap. I was back ond forth with a couple guys throughout the race, picked off people on the hot climb almost every lap. On the third lap I was following Kinsie down the singletrack and we tried to get around a junior girl....He ended up in the woods and i managed to dodge them both.

Last lap i killed it up the climb and held my position over the top and to the finish. after the ordeal of not being on the results sheet they finally figured it out and i was 24th out of 91 starters. Good day in the saddle.

Race 2 of the day was the Red Bull Monte Decend relay race. Started at 8:30 pm and my legs were pretty sore already. Lap 1 went well but after that went down hill. The quality organizers forgot to call some numbers so a bunch of us were standing wondering where our partners were. Eventually they came along and we had some catch up to do. My legs were getting more tired as the hour and a half race went on. Finished that one in 13th out of 36 teams.. Not bad but could have been better.

Got home yesterday in decent time. Tried to ride 3 stage today, but Liz took an epic bail, busted her helmet and got some scratches and scrapes. Did some other things in Collingwood in the nice hot summer weather.

Home

2010-05-23T20:35:00.002-04:00

Back from tremblant. Had a super good race. Ended up 24th out of 91 starters. Will probably do a more in depth post sometime in the next couple days. Heading to 3 stage tomorrow. Maybe a dip in G Bay while we are at it, suppose to be hot.

Canada Cup 2 - Tremblant - Pre Ride

2010-05-19T13:42:00.004-04:00

Alright so the weather here in Tremblant is all rainbows and butterflies so far which has made the course quite dry and exceptionally fast. Got out for 3 laps today to check it out, and see if they have done anything different. They have laid down some kitty litter in some places. Some places that they probably shouldn't have put it down. Overall the course is in great shape, and once again i'm glad i ride a full suspension. Started the ride today at about 11:30 and it was already pretty warm. It didn't help that i was wearing by all black kit. That climb was hot. Wasn't really going hard though, just a few easy laps to get the feel for it. Rocked the downhill and like always the arms were feeling it at the bottom.
CLimbing up a bit of rock...

Some rocky singletrack.

The last part of the climb. Open double track right in the sun, with no wind. Should be fun on saturday with the forcasted high of 29 degrees. Oh, and did i mention, this part also has lots of rock on it. There seems to be a trend.

One of the only flat pieces of single track, right at the top of the course for about 30 meters.

A couple big dumb deer just standing there looking at me. They probably went home and blogged about the big dumb human staning there taking a picture of them.

Nice steep drop followed by sharp turning.

Gnarly roots and rocks.

The ever so sketchy bridge. Brand new now, but instead of having 1x1 pieces of wood on it, it's nice and smooth. Careful turning or you slide into the woods and down the hill.

Shooting off the ramp.

A couple berms to finish off the steepest section of singletrack. The berms in Copeland are way better than these ones.

Thats pretty well all i had to say for today. We may head to La Source this afternoon since we have free passes. We'll see. Liz and Tristan arrive tomorrow afternoon, and Tammy tomorrow night sometime. It will be moving day as we check out of this condo at 11 and don't get to check in to the new one till 2 or something. We'll see about that, i have lots of cold food to take with me.