Iron Lung and Test of Metal

From Hardwood Catherine and I flew to Kamloops and spent a few days at home before packing up AGAIN and heading to Canmore. I owed the Nordic centre 2 days of work because last fall the weather flipped and went to -27deg C, so there was no point in trying to trail build then. At Canmore we stayed with Magi and Steff and had lots of fun hanging out with them.

There was the “Iron Lung” mtb race happening that weekend on the race course that I designed and helped build. I started a bit hard and had an absolute sufferfest of a race, finishing 2nd to Steff. It was awesome to hear from all the racers how much they loved the race course and neat to see over 375 racers out all having a good time. Unfortunately due to a short sighted matter of pride by a member of the club in charge of national championships, the race course will not be on the course I designed. This is particularly too bad for all the non-elite level racers – those in it just for fun- who had so much fun at the Iron lung and were inspired to bring their friends back for the next race there.

Here's a picture of a rider going off the "eye dropper" into the stadium at Canmore, I build this section with a pick axe.


Check out this post for a shout out on the race course at Canmore.
http://www.canadiancyclist.com/dailynews.php?id=19332

From Canmore we drove back to the loops for a few days, and then on down to Squamish where we stayed with Olivier (a fellow Xprezo racer) and Melanie for the Test of Metal. The Test is a super cool event because everyone from the community gets interested and behind it. This year the 800 spots sold out in 24minutes!!! As an elite I was able to register day of because they want my high profile figure there...

Anyway, I had a decent start and felt pretty good, but going through one dip in the trail my chain somehow jammed with my front derailleur and twisted the derailleur. I rode it for a while and then realized that it was stupid and I was going to catastrophically break my bike, so I stopped and fixed it. It took forever to fix because with the full suspension linkage on my frame it is hard to get an allen key in there, so after 3min or so I was able to go again. I was back in about 35th at this time, and had lots of fun blowing by racers and weaving in and out on the double and singletrack. By the “9 mile” a good climb, I had caught back up to 10-17th place, and then by the top of it I pushed really hard and was up to 6th. I rode the plunge a bit slow as I was starting to get tired but then got it back together and finished strong through crumpet woods to the finish. I ended up 5th in 2:41, not a bad race for 3 min on the side of the trail and then not being able to draft anyone for the race.

An Update....

So It's been a while and I know I should have updated long ago... but here is a bit of a recap for the last while...

The Houffalize, Belgium World cup was actually a pretty good race. It was somewhat muddy, and had good steep climbs and descents, I had fun and raced hard. We then flew to Oshawa Ontario and spent a few days with Catherine's folks before heading up to their cottage near Gatineau.

From there we went to Baie Saint Paul for the first Canada Cup, I had an ok race, not the best or worst, I cranked the turbos on for the last lap and was able to get ahead of Peter - so that was fun as we had been battling it out all race.

The race at Tremblant was pretty good, every year they make it smoother and easier (which I don't like), and this year it was even dry. We were able to race pretty much the whole thing in Big ring except a climb in the middle. I had lots of fun and used my technical abilities to make up for short falls in fitness and reeled in a few racers by the bottom of the long downhill. At the end I was able to out sprint Peter on the line to take 5th.

During the week we did some intervals on roads near the cottage, it was 35deg and humid, and I was dying in between my 10min intervals so I jumped in the nearby lakes each time for the recovery.

From there it was off to Hardwood, it was pretty hot and I had a decent race but not the best, I ended up 11th, and this time Peter got me...

UK world cup

So I raced the Dalby forest world cup yesterday. It was the first world cup of the year, so everybody is keen to test their form.

I had great preperation, with lots of time on the course during the week. We have been staying with the Myers in Guisborough, and having a great time learning lots about the UK from them.

Race day dawned with a light rain shower, enough to make Catherine worried but the track didn't actually get wet. Catherine had a great race - she started on the 2nd last row and finished 42 out of 90 or so. Kika had a slow start but moved back up through the field for 6th, so I guess she has good legs too.

My race was a bit crazy. I was on the 8th row or so, and there were another 8 rows of guys packed in behind me. When the gun went there was a crash in the first 50m, I avoided that, and then we hammered at 50km/hr on the flat to a 90deg corner, there was another crash there and I just avoided running over the guy's head with my chainrings, then back up to speed, 90deg left, avoid another crash, and then stand in line to get into the singletrack. All in all it was actually a pretty good start as I avoided the crashes and was just a bit ahead of where you really had to stop and wait.

From there I had a decent first 2 laps with a bit of waiting here and there. By the 3rd lap I was ready to crank it up and actually race, but it was super frustrating because the only places to really pass were on the flats and 2 uphills, and on the flats I just got out gunned by some of the euros - then we would ride the descents slower than I wanted to - and they would sprint up the next climb and I just didn't have the legs to sprint on every open section (like driving a car behind a Saskatchewaner, everytime you get to a passing section it is 140km/hr, and when you are twisting through the mtns it is 60km/hr - ARRRGGGHHH!!) Anyway, I found it hard to race my best, or the fastest way to get around the course. By the end of the 6th lap I was quite tired and faded a bit. I ended up finishing 101st out of 160, so not what I was hoping for but decent none the less.

We are heading to Belgium tomorrow for Houffalize WC next weekend.

Europe

So, Catherine and I got lucky on this one. We decided to skip Sea Otter and fly to the UK a bit early to do a local race there and get used to the time change. We left Tuesday and got in Wed, and merrily went on our way - oblivious to the fact that volcanic ash was spewing into the sky and flights were getting cancelled.

We hired a car from the manchester airport and they handed us the keys. With a measly 4hrs sleep in me I hopped in and took off on the left side of the road, shifting with my left hand. We quickly got the roundabouts figured out, and headed towards Caistor. We got part way there and had to pull over and sleep for a while, but finally arrived to visit and stay with friends of Catherine's Peter and Mary. She knew them from a year long exchange she did at age 7, so we got to check out where she lived and all the neat little places around her town.

From Caistor we drove to Stoke-On-Trent, and did the Midlands XC race. It was a brilliant course and very well put on. I had some good competition with 2 other world cup racers there, but I managed to drop them on the Canadian style rooty section and get enough of a gap to win. Catherine had a little less competition and won by 12 mins, so she worked on how many guys she could pass, and I think she was at about 120 by the end of it.

From Stoke we drove to Guisborough to stay with Rob, Ruth, and Tom. From here it is about 1h to the race site at Dalby, but we have a brilliant set up with Tom being a registered mechanic at a local shop.

We have seen some beautiful countryside - with daffodils lining the road sides in the country, and lots of ancient, as in 1300 castles and a prior. Oh, and I got a Phesant for dinner when I was out on a bike ride.




Yesterday we pre-rode the course at Dalby. There were 7 people riding on the track. It was very quiet and we are super glad that we avoided the 5+day travel fiasco many of our racing friends have and are going through. The course is 100% man made, with every obstical placed just so, and the rest of it quite buff. It will be hard to drop other racers based on technical skills, but it is a lot better than most european courses I have ridden. I think the start will be absoutley chaotic, as it is flat and we will go into singletrack fairly quickly.

Hope all is well across the pond. Theoretically I should be updating quite frequently now as I've got a lot of races lined up in the next month and a bit.


Ox tongue for dinner anyone?

Crazy carpets

So I've been having a blast this winter. It's not really winter here in Kamloops, with the average temp for the last 3 weeks at +3 deg or so, and all the snow melted from the valley. We are road riding down low and xc skiing up high, so it is an ideal combination. I mean, we have about 10 activities to choose from each day with the trainer rusting in the basement!

The biggest news by far this year is that I got engaged to Catherine Elizabeth Vipond. Yep, that was crazy carpet adventure # 1. Just before Christmas we went for a hike up a local mountain in the Kamloops area, and built a snowman at the top. I wrote the words in the snow (it covered about 75m square), and she said yes! Then we crazy carpeted back down parts of the way, where it was steep enough and didn’t have too many rocks. Definitely got a few bruises on the hips from the rocks.





For Christmas we drove down to Corvallis Oregon and visited with my brother Adam and his girlfriend Sarah and my parents who flew out. We did a sweet road ride up Marry’s peak until we hit snow, and some good mtb rides both there and in Bend. The xc skiing at Mt Bachelor in Bend was awesome, with berms and tabletop jumps built into one of the trails, you could ski it like a bike trail.

Then when we got back home I worked a bit more, (as a finish carpenter = doors, trim, cabinets etc), and looked for the next adventure.

Crazy carpet adventure # 2 originated from xc skiing 80km/week at the Stake Lake ski area. At one point (the absolute furthest from the parking lot), I saw where a large spruce tree had broken off and split length-wise right around a growth ring, forming a piece of wood about 12 feet long and shaped like a canoe or a C. Anyway, I thought it was really cool, and decided to get it to make a vertical display shelving unit for something cool like rocks and bike parts or whatever. So first off I had to build a sled, which involved at least 5 power tools, some scrap wood, and 2 crazy carpets.

Then we drove up to the ski area and parked as close as we could (6km away). Next we skate skied in pulling the sled (it was faster than me on the downhills). When we got to the tree I nailed some wood onto the trunk as lader rungs, and climbed up in my slippery ski boots to cut the piece of wood off. Only part way through my sawblade broke. Then we threw a rope over the top and Catherine was able to break it off and pull the tree down. I trimmed it to length with an axe, and loaded it onto the sled with a 3rd crazy carpet attached to the back because it was so long.






Then picture a very out of control transport truck on icy roads, and that was what I was like pulling it. Very slow pulling 100lbs up hill, and then it would try and pass me on either side on the way down hills, and try and run me over too. Luckily Catherine was able to ski behind holding a rope and snowplow on the downhills so we had a bit of control. It fit in the car from on top of the dash to the back of the trunk. Now we have peeled it and it is drying in the basement.

CC adventure # 3 was just yesterday. Catherine and I drove up near sun peaks, and took a back road, that lead to another back road, and then up a logging road. We drove up 3km in the trusty 2wd vibe, and then we put the chains on and went another 1km up. It was pretty impressive driving up a 20% grade logging road that had snow over ice. Eventually when we got to where it was 10 cm deep snow and 25% we spun out.


From there we snowshoed 5km up the road, and then another 4km with some bushwacking (in 1m deep snow then) to the top of a mountain by Tod mountain. We snowshoe ran back down, and when we got to steep enough parts of the logging road we crazy carpeted. The last section was by far the best (the one we couldn’t make up in the car). It was about 500m at 20-25%, with a fresh 4X4 tire track (they only made it 500m farther than us). For this pitch I dove on the crazy carpet and got up to 35km/hr! Now that doesn’t sound fast for people who ride bikes, but when your face is 5cm off the ground and your ribs and hips are bouncing along with snow flying into your face it’s fast. We both had headaches afterwards, and I have a stiff neck today. There aren't any crazy carpet pictures because how do you hold a camera let alone take a picture in that position at speed.

Hope you’re all having great adventures!

Bow 80 insanity

This is a long one but worth the read... the pic is actually from last year at Keystone in much nicer conditions than this year`s race.

So, for some reason I decided to race the bow 80, an epic loop in Kananskis country, near Calgary.

The day started out wrong, with a 4:50 wake up, an hour drive out there in the rain and darkness, and the car thermometer reading 6deg C. I drove out with co-worker Kate Scallion, and we had her sister, Magi's bike in the car too, as Magi had just flown in from NS visiting her mom. When Kate and I pulled into the parking lot at 6:40am, it was raining very hard and still dark. We sort of looked at each other and said, "we could just turn around and go home".

Anyway, we kept getting ready, and I headed out in the rain and blackness into the woods for an early morning bathroom stop. It took me a long time to get all layered up, followed by a 5min ride up to sign in. At registration just as I was leaving Brian Bain (who drove Magi out) rushed in and said Magi couldn't find us. Kate was already looking for her, and I pedaled off looking too. I went down to the car and couldn't find her, and while I was there I quickly strapped my booties on, and then sprinted back to the start at race pace.

I got to the start and the `potential delay` had not happened, and I missed the start by 5min. Anyway, it wasn`t the end of the world and I took off and caught the first stragglers in about 2km. The next 20min was spent with explosive efforts passing tons of people, then slow behind them in singletrack. Then I stopped to take off my headband and a winter jacket (it had stopped raining, was semi day-light now and I was hot). A bunch of people passed me back, but then I re-passed them in a few min. After about 1:20 of riding I had passed about 150 of the 230 racers, and it was much easier going. I had some awesome passes, as in sliding through grass on the inside of corners with one foot out...

Eventually I settled into a slow and steady race pace, just passing a few people here and there. At feed zone 1 I was doing quite well, I ate a bunch of food, and changed from my orange rubber fisherman`s gloves to a winter Louis garneau pair (people were making fun of my orange ones, but they were warm until water ran down the cuff`s)!

Just after FZ1 I knew there was a super steep 1hr granny ring climb, so I stopped in a small creek and pedaled a bunch to clean the mud off my chain (a dude passed me there and got chainsuck while I was cleaning mine, it was kind of funny). So I rode this climb forever, and because I was way back in the field my goal was to ride it clean, which I did. This was quite a feat, as it is super long, very technical, in a race, and wet. Oh, did I mention that from 1900 to 2205m it was snowing! Yep, we had sideways sleeting snow, and 2cm on the ground. It was pretty neat riding, up in the alpine with 5m visibility and snow everywhere except on the trail where it had melted.

Eventually I got to the top of Cox Hill (with only walking the last 10m) said hi to the volunteers (who had inflatable palm trees coated in snow, and gummy bears) zipped up my layers, and blasted down the descent. Now the descent is super fun, pretty fast, rocky, and technical, I had a blast. However, after 5min my metal brake leavers got my wet snow coated hands very cold, and soon they were numb. Another 5min and I got to another volunteer station where I got them to get my coat out of my camel back, put it on me, and zip it up, as my fingers couldn`t do it.

Another 10min of descending and I reached the bottom and blew by a sign that said `last chance to drop our`. I rode by it to fast to really process the info, as I had been contemplating dropping out as I was only at 40km and my body was getting cold. The only reason I did not stop was I was afraid I would have to wait 3hrs or so, and just freeze, besides, I was dreaming of sitting in my car with the heater cranked, (I figured I could get someone else to turn the key as my fingers couldn`t). So I rode, and rode, and rode as hard as I could just to try and warm up. At the lower elevation it was now raining and there was about 4cm of standing water on the trail. By FZ2 I was cold.

I decided to keep going, as I couldn`t really stop. I figure if I stopped and wasn`t in a vehicle I had about 5min before hypothermia set in. So to try and get warm I would swing my arms in circles and run up hills pushing my bike with my forearms. About at this point I got to trail that had all the trees coated in snow, and bent over from the weight of it. So I had to push my way through them and get all the slushy snow dumped on me. Eventually my core temperature was still dropping, and in desperation I stopped and saw that my zipper would pull up another 5cm (with my teeth). After 5 tries I got my head band out of my pocket, and had to push my wrists together to undo the buckle on my helmet. I tried to pick a gel out of my pocket but was unable to at this point. I could have stuck my jackknife into my hand and not felt it, I was numb clear up my forearm. Somehow I hung on and was able to brake a bit when really necessary.

Oh yeah, I couldn`t blink right, I don`t know if my eyelids were frozen, or if there was just so much snow and water in them. My Oakleys were super dirty but I kept them on just to keep the big chunks of snow and mud out.

With 15km to go I stopped at a checkpoint and begged for gloves or mitts of any sort. A volunteer, Graham, gave me his bike gloves (which he had to put on my hands) and he got a gel out of my pocket. I weaved off, and the only reason I kept racing was because I couldn`t stop without freezing.

For the last 15k it had stopped raining, and with the head band and dry gloves I came around a bit and was able to finish.

From the finish I dropped my bike, and Mrs Bain took me to the first aid trailer, where I stripped down (my clothes looked like I rolled in a mud lagoon) and sat in a blanket and a sleeping bag for an hr with a bunch of other near hypothermia cases. Brian Bain looked especially bad, and would convulsively shake every 10min or so. The first-aiders were excellent, and even gave us hot chocolate.

After I recovered and a volunteer found my car and drove it up, I got some dry clothes on and went out into the bright sunny day. It turns out Kate and made a very smart decision and stopped at FZ1 when she was too cold to peel a banana, Magi never found her bike and went to work instead (very smart!!!), and 50 or so people finished. I ended up 5th overall and 3rd in my category, and won a big belt buckle. I also won a big Dakine hydration pack, which I gave to the volunteer who lent me his gloves. I am very thankful for his gloves, that I got my booties even if I missed my start, and for all the incredible volunteers that were on the side of the trail covered in snow.

So, the moral of the story is, don`t do a race that you have to wake up before 5am for, and don`t race in the mountains if it is below 10deg with any precipitation.

I am now alive and warm, with the furnace going in my house in Canmore...just me and the mice.

my house

Oh yeah, my house here in Camore has a ton of mice, I caught one eating a power gel, and another one eating my granola!!! The granola was just too much, so I rigged up a live trap with a peanut in the jaws of a pair of pliers, and then a bucket balanced on the plyers, so the mouse ate the peanut and the plyers fell over, and the bucket fell on the mouse. I caught 6 this way and had to drive them at least 2km away so they wouldn't return, that was getting tedious (although I did let a few go downtown - suckers...) So now I finally got some snap traps. Here is a picture of one of the mice getting ready for the snap trap.