Panorama

Oct-Dec

A few days after our wedding I headed to Panorama to design an XC mountain bike race course. It was definitely challenging work, as they didn’t want to build too much new trail, wanted to keep most of the DH park trails open during the race, and I wanted it to be fun challenging singletrack with a double tech/feed zone that was appropriate speed and near the middle of the race course. But, I got it all figured out and am looking forward to racing the Canada Cup there in August.

A feature to be built in the new Canada Cup race course

After Panorama I packed up the last load of our belongings from Kamloops and headed to Vic to see my Wife. Yikes, yes it does sound crazy to say that word! She was already working (as an intern in the exercise physiology lab at the Canadian Sport Centre Pacific), so I decided it was time to get a real job too. My landlord and retired MTB racer Carter Hovey helped me find a job, and 2 weeks later I was a working man.

I think I was a bit disillusioned with what my work was going to be. The last 3 carpentry jobs I had were more skill related – I got to build and fix houses, even do finish carpentry, whereas on this job I mostly just carried wood! I was helping frame a super fancy house with 5 different angled roves, concrete floors upstairs and lots of other crazy details to it. The worst day was when I carried the rafters which were 24foot long 2x10`s that were wet Douglas fir up the hill and into the house. I calculated that each one weighed about 110lbs, and that day I carried about three thousand pounds, yes that is 3 tons.

I stuck the job out until late December, and then quit. I was getting super tired from the physical labour as well as training lots.

Our Wedding

Oct 16

So Catherine Vipond and I got married! It was pretty much a perfect wedding for us. We were up on Harper mountain at a rustic DH ski lodge in Kamloops BC. There was a very light dusting of snow on the ground and we had a bright sunny day so it was an incredible setting. We did our ceremony outside with a beautiful view out over the valley. Then we had dinner, the dance, and most importantly we roasted marshmellows over the fireplace inside. It was a great time, awesome to get to see all the friends and family who could make it, and just a super relaxed happy vibe from everyone.

Newly Wed's!

Where would we be without a bicycle?

Sept-Oct

Sept-Oct
This fall I also got addicted to salmon fishing. The Adams River had the largest salmon run of Sockeye salmon since 1913 – so there were tons of fish. Brad, a good friend of mine and owner of Taboo Cycles, took me out salmon fishing a few times. It is actual “sport” fishing, and the fish aren’t really biting at that time of year – they might strike from aggression. So how you catch them is you put a lead ball on your line, and then off that ball you tie a 10foot line with the hook on the end. You cast it way up the river and as the current bounces the ball down river on the bottom, your line passes through the mouth of the salmon that is breathing on the bottom of the river, and if you can feel it you give a big YANK and you’ve got the fish hooked! I caught a few on my own, but Brad was a real pro at it, and he let me reel in and keep some of his fish. They were delicious!
Cleaning and filleting a few fish!

These are the Sockeye just before spawning in the Adams river, we did not fish here

September

September
So this fall I had the most amazing Stag party, or we should really call it a “Ram”. A whole group of us from the cycling scene headed out to Hornby Island with a Ram Danny S had got from a farmer. We butchered it out there and roasted it on a spit over a massive fire. We also ate tons of oysters from the beach, and put in some good days of riding on the trails there.

There was a bulldozer pile of stumps and brush from clearing the land, and one evening we got the jeep out and drug some stumps from the pile and 8 of us picked up these massive Douglas fir stumps and threw them on the fire. It was an awesome fire , so big we could sit 15 feet back with our shirts off on a 5deg day!


Roasting the Ram over our small fire

World Championships

Worlds!!!

The 2010 Mountain bike World Championships were in Mount Sainte Anne this year, and they were amazing. The whole event was super cool. The expo was massive with tons of bike teams, countries, and vendors represented, and the race course was very well laid out for spectators and racers alike.

During the week it had been super dry and dusty, and we had good preparation training on it and staying in the condos with the national team. The night before our race it rained quite a bit, and really it just helped the course – knocked the dust down and made it tackier.

The women’s race went off at 11, and I watched the first ½ of it. It was very exciting with Catherine V having a very good ride in the mid 30’s before fading a bit on the last lap to 42nd, and Catharine P having an awesome ride, leading for lap 2 and then fighting back and forth with the top 5 and ending up 4th.

I had to leave from watching their race to get kitted up to race at 2. I had a good warmup and then spun to the starting pens. The fans there were awesome, with tons of friends from NB and all over providing support before the race. Then we were called up individually, and rode up through the crowd, who just loved it and gave huge cheers.

When the gun went off I had a good start and moved up well. There were 3 pileups in the first 1km, and I was able to mostly avoid them and move up. I got into the woods in a pretty good position, and did some running and riding to try and hold my position and move up more. I rode/ran the rocky downhill (there were so many people), and then at the bottom I launched off a rock to pass someone and landed heavily on my back tire and heard a big BRAAAP. I had burped my tire, and it was down to about 10-15psi. There was enough in there that I could ride a bit, so I kept going and rode up the switchback climb. As I was riding I was thinking what I should do, and because it was just burped I figured it should hold air. So I reached back and ripped my CO2 off my seat post, screwed the head on while riding (I had awesome traction at 15psi), and then at the top of the climb I jumped off and put the CO2 on. I didn’t lose much time, but because it was at the start of the race I lost a lot of positions. From them on it was all about being patient and passing when I could. I think it really took me another full lap to clear traffic, and then I felt pretty good and was laying down very competitive lap times.

The most impressive thing about worlds was the crowd. There were so many spectators, I think it was estimated between 40-70 thousand! And the thing about racing in Canada, is that 69,000 of them ALL cheered for the Canadians!!! As Elizabeth put it, you could stand at the bottom of the hill and tell where all 7 of the Canadians were just by listening to the crowd!

It was incredible, there were sections lined 4 deep with spectators, and here I couldn’t make out a single word, it was just a wall of sound. Other sections in the woods I could tell where some of the super fans from NB and the Maritimes were. There was even a section where Jamie Lamb and Barry Carswell had put up a full size bed sheet sign with “GO Allez Hadley Canada” written on it. This definitely brought a grin to my face everytime.

I was definitely motivated by this crowd, and pushed as hard as I could. I steadily moved up all race, and made it onto the last lap without getting pulled. On the last lap I almost caught Raph, and finished 10sec behind him in 45th place and was only 2min back of Derek and Max. Kabush had a very good race and finished 8th.

So now I am back out west and racing the Revelstoke hill climb this Sunday. It is a 27km paved mountain road, with a ton of switchbacks and a very constant 6% grade. Should be fun, I’m trying for the record and to beat Kika by 5min!!!

Many thanks to all the Maritimers who made it up, I heard you out there and pushed harder for it. Thanks also to my parents and Catherine’s parents for your help throughout the season and leading up to the race, and many thanks to everyone at Xprezo for all the support – it has been a great season!

Windham World cup finals

So Catherine and I made the drive down from her cottage in Gatineau in 2 parts. We stopped along the way and tented one night, it was nice and relaxing, although it did rain in the morning and we ate breakfast under a tree. The next day we drove to Windham and did a few laps of the course, it was super muddy and kind of soupy.

That night we camped again at a very sketchy campground, the worst I have ever been at. We ended up just getting a site in the back woods and showering in the creek, and we had steak over the camp fire, so it was fun. Oh, and it rained all night. Then we moved into a motel and it quit raining - ironic hunh?

Today was race day, I had a decent start and then moved up the whole race. Lap 1 and 2 I didn't feel the best but kept pushing, I had to out sprint riders to get into the singletrack first, so that took a lot of effort and I couldn't ride the top of the descent super well, but by lap 3 I had it figured out and rode the climb really well and then could catch and pass riders on the descent. It was full on NASCAR passing, but super fun. There were 4 sections on the descent I could pass, 3 on small uphills and 1 where I would out sprint someone from singletrack down a grass descent and then nab them into the next corner. Definately did some 2 wheel slides.

There were tons of flat tires. Lots of people were clobbering rocks on the descent and flatting. On Lap 5 Derek came out of the tech zone at the same time as me, and we rode a lap together and did the descent with Mike Broderick, so it was fun because all 3 of us were about the same speed, and we closed a big gap to the rider in front of us and majorly gapped the group behind us. For lap 6 I was able to pass Derek at the top of the climb and get into the singletrack first. I rode it really well and closed the gap to two other riders. I passed one of them on the descent and the 3 of us were in single file with me in the lead coming out of the last corner. I waited a bit and carried more momentum through a ditch and sprinted hard to take 38th place. Definately my best world cup this year, and my best result at a stacked field. For the record I was top Canadian, and 3rd North American!!!

Catherine Vipond (catherinevipond.weebly.com) had a good race for 42, and Catharine Pendrel (cpendrel.blogspot.com) had a great one for 1st, and 1st overall! Good race for team Valleyview house.

Bromont Canada Cup

So the Bromont Canada Cup went really well for me. I was feeling good all week and I think racing just the three days at TransRockies did wonders for my legs. I know from racing the 7 day version in the past it was always 3 weeks before I felt good again, but with just 3 days of racing I was ready to go 5 days later.

This year we raced the exact same course at Bromont, however, it felt as far from the same course as imaginable. Where last year there was deep and slow mud everywhere, this year we flew through those sections and pulled off lap times way faster than the World Cup winner. I kind of missed the added technical element of a wet race, but at the same time it is a lot nicer not to have to totally overhaul the my mtb and scrub the mud spots out of all the clothing.

For the race we had an awesome field. There were top racers from Britan, USA, New Zealand, Australia, and of course Canada. I had a great start in the top 10 and moved up to 5th by the top of the climb. We stayed together for the first lap and then up the climb on lap 2 Liam and Derek upped the pace a bit and got away. Watson tried to follow and I wasn’t far behind. On lap 3 I rode by myself and then for lap 4 Cam and Raph caught up to me. Raph put in an attack on the climb and he only got 5sec on me, and by mid way thorough lap 5 I had closed the gap to him by really railing a few sections of singletrack. I was feeling great starting lap 6 and attacked Raph through the start finish and then held the pace up the climb. I had 40 seconds on him by the top and was told Watson wasn’t far ahead. I chased hard but never saw Watson, ... until I came around a corner and saw him lying on the ground where he had crashed at the marshal station. He was in a lot of pain and had brused his quad quite badly. I was sorry to beat him in this way, as he really had a stupid crash on the easiest part of the trail, but I’m not complaining with 3rd.

Big thanks to my parents, Catherine’s parents, and Eric Alain, Terry, Josee, Hugo, Ava, and Luca from Xprezo for all the help on the weekend!

Catherine and I are now at her cottage in Gatineau area, enjoying the bike riding and water sports. Next up is the Windham World Cup on the 28th.