Hard training can make for a hard time racing!

Much has been happening this summer, life is a little different now, during my first summer as a grad student at Queen’s (taking a two year master’s program in Civil Engineering). Of course I’m finding the time still to train on my bike, and this year I’m training with a power meter every day, which helped me to train this winter and get the speed that I had found in my legs for the first O-Cup. The downside however of being a super motivated guy with a few good results in the bank is that I was pretty sure that I knew everything: I knew that I was fast, I knew how to train really hard, and I knew that I was invincible. Looking back on my training I’m not sure how I did do so well in the first Ontario Cup of the season, but with my boosted confidence I began to train like a madman, pushing myself to my max sometimes four days in a row watching my power output and designing workouts to push myself. I adopted the attitude that if I wasn’t getting to the power I needed, I simply needed to push harder through the pain and keep training, I was on the cusp of racing at pro speed after all, right?

Pretty soon I'll be simulating rivers in this flume!

Tremblant Canada Cup

This attitude led me to some rough racing. There was the Tremblant Canada Cup, a mudslide of an event – and the race to end all bikes. The weekend was fantastic; I rented 3 condos for all of my buddies and I and we had a great long weekend. My nervousness/sore legs showed the night before the race as I was doing an ice bath, I didn’t ride a fast lap (which I always do the day before any race), and I wanted to go to bed early.

I wanted some company in the bathroom to keep my mind off the cold water, then this happened. Good thing I'm the best man at his weeding, right?

On race morning I pushed myself and stayed in the race for two laps, but my fork was totally seized (I was riding an incredibly technical and demanding course with no suspension), making my bike hard and dangerous to race, and I didn’t see the point in racing the whole race because I was damaging my bike, I was letting people pass me in any technical section because it wasn’t fair to slow them down, and one simply can’t race properly if they’re only treating 1/3 of each lap like it’s a race. I dropped out after 2 of 4 laps, and didn’t think much of it. I did however write in my training diary “Not on point” and that was all.

"Racing" up through the village, sometimes a facial expression speaks volumes!
Thanks Joe Bailey for the photo

Check this video my buddy Kelsey put together of the Tremblant descent last year (imagine this with more mud and no suspension)

Mansfield Ontario Cup

The following weekend was the Mansfield Ontario Cup. Historically this has been a fast course for me (it was my top result last year – 18^th place with two flat tires), and I had 4^th call up (meaning that of the racers at this O-Cup only 3 had beaten me in the first one). I had a great day with my buddies the day before, and was very sure of myself in my ability to handle the course at speed. I had a freshly rebuilt fork (thanks Trek Toronto), and loved being called the 4^th fastest guy of the day (before the race). The race begins with a long hill, which I made sure that by the top of I was 4^th, and by the time we came through for a spectator section of tough drops and turns, I was sitting in 3^rd position – ready for my time in the spotlight. I was racing one of my favorite sets of tires, the Bontrager XR0 tires – they have minimal tread but work well and roll fast if you know what you’re doing with them even though my friends thought that it was a bit bold to use them on the sandy course. Anyway, after making it though the intimidating drops and smiling for the cameras, I totally slid out on the corner right afterwards (still in the middle of spectators), and lost 4-5 positions just like that.

Droppin like it's hot (thanks Hannah Clarke for this one)

 I got back on my bike and tried to bridge the gap back to the leaders, and just couldn’t gain any momentum. I watched my power as I was pushing hard, and even my best efforts up the big hills were about 30% below where I should be. I was pretty disheartened the next lap, and even considered dropping out of the race as people kept passing me who I knew I could beat. By third lap I knew I wouldn’t drop out (rather Dead F****g Last than Did Not Finish show up on the results), and in the 4^th lap I began to have fun again, and found my pace for the day. Ironically a spectator can tell my mood during a race by how done up my jersey zipper is. I rode into a 16^th place finish, a far cry from my 4^th place expectations, but still a very good result.

Undone jersey, unimpressed look on my face (Scotty Toucanlife photo)

After I pulled myself together and deciding that I'd better look presentable (Scotty Toucanlife photo)

There was this beautiful surprise though, and she even took me out to dinner with her race winnings!

That's my girl in 2nd place!

Sir Sam's Ontario Cup and Eliminator

Fast forward a few weeks, I’ve had bloodwork done, I’ve been on my own in Kingston (Tori had been at conferences in Halfiax and Portland, Oregon), I’ve been not training much (but also not sleeping much without Tori), and was hopefully fresh ready to race again. I had even practiced the course, on a special weekend training camp with the Mansfield Ontario Cup champion Kelsey Krushel, shredding the course and camping and swimming.

Sir Sam's Jamming

 It was a great course at Sir Sam’s in Haliburton, and though I knew I wouldn’t be close to riding my fastest yet, I was ready for a weekend of fun, camping and swimming, and maybe some racing, including the eliminator.

Good times on the beach with the crew, next OCA calendar cover photo for sure!

Eliminator racing is a short course and it’s a knockout style of race: 4 go into each heat, and two move on until there is one final heat and one final champion. There’s a qualifying round where everyone rides the course (about 2 minutes long) and then we are assigned our heats accordingly. I was somehow ranked 5^th after the qualifier (which surprised me because I didn’t go quite as fast as I could), and was in a great heat with my nemesis for the year Scott L., good buddy from Guelph Will C. and the up-and-coming Theo (who is about 10 years old and half my size). 

Qualifier over the rocks Jim Cassel photo

The eliminator course started in a small straight section then turned 3 times into a pump-track with rocks, then led us out and back in some fast open trail. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t quite get my shoe clipped into my pedal quick enough, and Theo got the holeshot on me! I could have bowled him over to get into the race with the other guys, but really, I’m not about to ruin some kid’s first ever race with some big fast guys. I bided my time and waited until it was safe (by which point the other guys had close to a 100m lead on me (in a 900m course), and called a pass to Theo once the course straightened out. I shot off with an acceleration that even surprised me, and actually caught the other guys pretty quickly. The problem is that I used my “race winning effort” at the start of the race, where Scott and Will both had some gas left in the tank, and handily beat me when it came to the point that mattered; the finish. I had a great time regardless watching the heats go by and I gave Theo a high five, told him good job, and even stuck around to watch his race and podium the next day. Is there any point in being good at a sport if you can’t be a good sport? I don’t really think so.

Bringing up the caboose in the eliminator Jim Cassel photo

The race started with a bit of a mess, and I was not in good position to climb the hill (well all look like ants climbing up it). The hill is about a 5 minute ordeal of zig-zagging up, which was a good opportunity for me to do some hard work and make my way up toward the front of the pack. I had a great first lap jamming with long-time friend Alex Lefebvre (you really impressed me on the downhill buddy!), and bridged away from him up to the next group on lap 2. Lap 3 I spent my time riding with Robin W. and it took me most of the hill on lap 4 to pull  far enough away from him, but then I rode most of the lap on my own. By midway through lap 4 I was beginning to feel the heat, and I was completely aware that I had not had enough to drink (shivers mid-race is usually a great indicator of dehydration/heat exhaustion), but I had no idea what was how bad this was going to get. By the end of the climb on my 5^th lap I figured that I had a good distance on the next guy back, and as long as I rode clean and safe and didn’t fall I’d have 16^th position in the race secured for another week.

It can be a lonely ride up sometimes! (Hannah Clarke photo)

On the technical descent however, I realized what dehydration on such a technical course could mean. The backs of my arms were seizing somehow, along with my quads. Ever get a footcramp? Picture that in your triceps and quads in the middle of a technical race – I’ve had more fun on a bike that’s for sure!

At the end of the downhill I was shocked to see that Mike H., the Norco XC/Downhill rider had ridden like a bat out of hell to catch me, and that I wasn’t so guaranteed that nice 16^th position after all. I had two notable sections to keep him away; a few minutes of technical twisting uphill section, and then the long downhill into the finish area. I picked up my pace as fast as I could through the uphill, and kept him at bay, but once we had gone down a bit of downhill, he was right on my tail again. I shut the door on him a bunch of times, being as wide as I could in the trail so he couldn’t get by, and right before the last technical downhill by the finish I yelled

“NOTHING STUPID, OKAY? WE’LL SPRINT THIS OUT.”

Signifying that passing me on the downhill would get us both hurt and that we had enough flat space down at the bottom to sprint to the finish though the crowds.

No shennanigans on this hill, thanks Hannah Clarke for making my legs look so great in this photo!

Just as I was about to lay down all my force on my pedals to sprint the finish, my chain popped off. It was as simple as that, no sprint for me. I yelled “awwwwwww!” Mike yelled “awwww!” clearly he was looking forward to the sprint finish too, but not enough to wait for me.

Running her through, bike held high and proudly! Jim Cassel photo

Queen's University: varsity teams and new experiences!

Well I've been here at Queen's University for almost two months now and it's been a bit of an adjustment I guess. The people here aren't the same as the small town that I grew up, nor are they like my compadres over at U of Guelph. But if you know where to look in this private school of Canadian Universities, you can find some pretty cool people. So in my first week, naturally I did what I could never do at Guelph - I joined two varsity teams! Of course I was stoked to be a part of the cycling club, lead by none other than Patches O'Houlihan himself

This led to a get together in which I was having a drink with the captain of the ski team who happened to be going on a trip to Ottawa with the team and had an extra spot. He I said I'd come and that was that!

I've long known Bard at the races for being the guy with the best race expression

The weekend with the ski team was fantastic, and quite humbling - it turns out that I need more than just a motor to be a good nordic skier(I thought that I had been practicing it right though). I was chasing the ski team around all weekend "red lining" it and trying to pick myself out of the snowbank. I met some wonderful people who taught me to ski a bit better (nordic skiing is all about the technique), and as a bonus got to spend time learning to skate on the canal and seeing my little brother (the rocket scientist).

The second day of the training camp in Ottawa I was introduced to "skate skiing" which is one of the two techniques of nordic skiing, needless to say I wasn't great at it - but I tried! (unfortunately I can't share the video posted onto the nordic team on facebook where everybody is practicing but I keep falling)
The final day in Ottawa started with a race between Queen's and Carleton University - of course I wanted to be involved to my greatest potential. I would help with timing.
On the ride there however, I was convinced that through borrowing Brad's skis and using my shorter classic style poles, I'd be able to race. "Just use that big engine Chris!" they said. "Going to be fun!" They said. I was actually shocked to see that I was keeping pace with the race (or keeping the rear in sight). The ski race was one of the hardest things that I've done, but I'm really happy that I did put myself out there and gave it a try.

Following the weekend with the ski team was a weekend at the Forest City Velodrome. It turns out that our road cycling rivals MIT had been there the weekend before and wrote all about it - though we were told that we were much faster learners. Riding around a track is an exercise in pacing, control, and trust; we are riding bikes with neither gears nor brakes and on walls that would go up about 20 feet. The only way to stay on is to keep a clean line, and keep your speed up. I was very happy to see how well the team worked together and progressed over the weekend, and it was fun to be with the Queen's team not as a rival, but as a teammate.

Most recently, however we have just returned from a training camp in North Carolina, but in the interest of suspense you'll have to keep posted to find out about it!

They were our biggest rival, but now..

Well, it's been a while – probably close to the longest period of time that I've spent since creating my blog that I haven't updated it, and for good reason! Last post described my life in Algonquin, which was great! I have since got back to the same nomadic lifestyle of spending a week here, a few days there, working and trying to keep fit – but with a difference – in January I'm settling down. Settling down for two years! I'll be living in Kingston, ON doing my Master's in Civil Engineering at Queen's University. That's right Mike and Dave, two more years of University Cup racing, and now I can harass the Queen's University team from the inside. I'm super stoked to be working with the Queen's team.

   But I can't forget where I came from

Because Guelph Cycling are the classiest folks I know

I'll have to teach the Queen's team a bit about cheering

And I'll never forget the first time we won the University Cup

And I'll always miss Moe Hill repeats

Before I get too lost in nostalgia and start crying I'll finish with saying who wouldn't want to be part of such a good looking team?

And of course excited for cross training with this guy

Final Ucup

This past weekend marked the final University Cup mountain bike race; a fun and sad event all in one. I love the University Cup series, it's put on by some really awesome volunteers who do this just for love of the sport and to get new people into cycling, and this year more than ever, it was the friendliest place to be on a bike. People from other teams would yell and cheer for you
"You're an animal Chris, GO!"
Help was never far away, like the start line crash at Boler mountain that left somebody with a flat front tire - I proceeded to fix his tire, then we realized that it had a tear right in the tire (irreparable) so I lent him my own super light race wheel, because that's what it's about. It's about the ride. I know that all of the teams have shared good times through camping this year, and cheering for each other, and that we've all made new friends. I'm just afraid that this may be my final year racing them, because I'm set to graduate in December. Oh well, I guess this is even more motivation to be accepted to a Graduate studies program!

Queen's and Guelph together! Big props to Jon Slaughter, my buddy who broke his neck that I had previously mentioned, for coming out and supporting the racers!

The race day itself could have only been described as miserable as we drove to the course, a grey October day with rain POURING down. I was not overly fond of the idea of riding in the trails in this mud, you could slide off the trail pretty easily, and the venue (Ganaraska Forest) is infamous for its poison ivy. But when we got to the parking lot things were better. The Queen's team was all setting up their bikes, smiling and having a good time, people were milling about between the parking lot and registration tent, and the fantastic men who host these races were smiling ear to ear, just happy that anyone had showed up.

These guys are the kings of University Cup racing. Thanks so much!! (Photo stolen from Jim Cassell)

Kissing for the lovely camera lady Joan Dundas!

By the time the race started, the rain was almost non existent, which left us with some pretty tough trails to ride, but otherwise it was a good day to be on a bike! Throughout the race my bike (read below, I had a whole new ride this weekend!) held out fantastically, and my tire choice was flawless. Using the Bontrager 29-2 Team Issue in the rear kept my tire tracking through the soupy muck. This tire has been my go to driving tire since late August when we finally started to see rainy courses, and it never fails to keep me driving forward! The tractor tire lug pattern clears mud quickly while biting into the ground and tracking well over roots. These are 2.1 inch tires but have a great depth to them and a very rounded profile; the two aspects that I personally consider most important when choosing tires. The only time that I found a flaw with these tires was at very high speeds downhill on curves (where I was leaning the bike probably too far anyway) the rear tire would chatter out a bit. Running the rear tire with rotation as it would be if it were the front tire makes the whole bike track better anyway, and the only tire that I can think of that will track well leaning that hard is the 29-1 team issue.

The end of season celebrations were great, and totally bittersweet. It was fun to be with everyone for one last time before the next race season, but I realized that it may be my last University Cup season, and that I would definitely not be racing for Guelph anymore. The awards were great and congrats to all of the winners!

Ladies, Kelsey is single and grabbing my girlfriend's bum, send me a message if you want that lovely man's number!

This weekend I had the privilege to rip on a new bike: the Superfly 100 AL Elite. I had always been curious of how the full-suspension version of my own race dream bike, and I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. The Superfly 100 ran a very similar wheelbase to my own Superfly Elite, so I was still tracking on the trail with the same "footprint". The rear suspension let me ride completely differently than I had before, keeping seated through rough terrain and letting me put power out where I would otherwise have had to coast before. My first ride on this sweet machine was at the Harold Town property near Peterborough, ON. This is a conservation area recently designated for mountain biking and since its designation the trails have exploded as local mountain bikers come to the cause and help build a trail rider's dream. These trails are situated on a drumlin which means it's basically a streamlined bump in the landscape with big steep hills on 3 sides and a more gradual climb on the leeside. This kind of terrain is perfect for mountain biking as drumlins are sandy and rocky deposits left behind by glaciers, so they drain well and don't get too muddy, they have plenty of rocks to incorporate into trails, and you can build technical downhills and uphills all over the place. Needless to say, the bike tracked beautifully over rocks, through obstacles, and kept speed on all sections. I was riding stuff that most people couldn't get through at all, and on my first try!

Radical sports weekend!

This weekend marked the third university cup race, and the first university rock climbing competition of the year! Rock climbing competitions are totally different than mountain bike racing, though the same kinds of people seem to go, and it’s a very similar friendly atmosphere.  Climbing competitions are done while “bouldering” which is basically climbing to no higher than 20 feet up certain “problems”; routes with specially designated holds that make it hard to reach the top. The routes are then ranked and climbers are awarded points based on difficulty. The whole “University Bouldering Series”   is orchestrated and organized by one of my best friends Mr. David Albert-Lebrun (pronounced Daveed Suzuki), and it was a great opportunity to see him since he has moved to the east coast for school. I have climbed 4 times in the last 6 months.

I woke up Saturday morning and had a great idea; to meet somebody at the bouldering series and hitch a ride to Peterborough with some Trent students to go see my mom. This would be a big weekend, travelling from Guelph to Waterloo, then Peterborough to north of Barrie, from Barrie to Muskoka, then back to Guelph again. I packed for all possibilities on Saturday morning and it paid off!

The climbing gym was set up in a pretty cool way; a massive “bouldering” feature in the middle on which they set 50 routes. Most routes were fairly inverted, forcing the climbers to use more strength and skill because they had gravity working against them as much as possible.  Climbing competitions are in such a different setting than mountain bike races, which allows for constant cheering and feedback amongst competitors and spectators, even the newest climber is encouraged by his peers and competitors. I highly suggest that any climber tries one out!

Check out those tan lines on the thighs, clearly the cyclist in the crowd!

Sunday marked the second last University Cup Race that I would ever race for Guelph, and, sadly my last race on my Trek Superfly Elite. I had to wake up early Sunday morning (after staying up late celebrating my Aunt’s birthday) and was a bit groggy but on my way to rendezvous with my buddies from Guelph, and all of the competitors (who are turning out to be my buddies too) from the other universities. I had it in my head that this is my day. I know that I’m capable of standing on top of the podium, so it’s time to grab it, race my last race on my bike fast, and push the limit to my max. The race started out according to plan, though I did not have a pre ride lap or a warm up, but these are minor details when you know that you’re going to be on the podium anyway, right?

Great action shot here, thanks to Kyle Schaltz for the photo!

Unfortunately, though it took a lap, the rock climbing competition caught up to me. By the start of my second lap I realized that my hands could scarcely grip the bars, and by the third lap I was having trouble just holding myself properly on my bike (upper body was in rough shape). I held myself in the race, because my integrity matters much more than any race result, and I will be hitting the trail hard for the final Ucup, thanks to my buddy and fellow teammate Scott lending me a bike!

Stay tuned for a helmet camera video of the race!