updates, updates...

So October has been as busy as ever, but a little more low-key this year! After a bit of a slow start things are slowly coming back into their own.. here is an update.
Starting with a weekend in Montreal, I decided to do Laval and Blainville of the Quebec series, close enough to drive down and back each day, gas was proving cheaper than hotel.. I guess.. tougher recovery though. Laval was near identical to last year. Weather was a couple of degrees warmer, but really windy and the odd cloud spitting. The course was very similar, a couple of small changes, no snow pile(thank you), fast and good! Good race, still not on form but feeling better, a decent fourth place. Blainville was a "new to me" race, good course, rain over night, lots of sand (hard packed however) damp ground, technical power course. Probably best suited to day 1 of a weekend or a single race (that is based on my form however.) Feeling previous day a bit, but alright. Course was good fast, and worth riding aggressive. A final lap flub, and broken spoke knocked me down a spot to finish 5th.

The next week, we'd pack up the fam and head off to Barrie, for the Baseball Cross. It would be a good chance to visit some friends that we'd not seen in a while. The course was worth the trip also! I'd take a shot in the senior field. Original goal was top ten, based on feelings that morning, I'd be happy with not getting lapped! The course as said, was awesome, flat, really fast, hang loose and rail corners, unfortunate for me, no legs.. poor result, 'nuff said!



Next up was an "unconventional double". Saturday I packed up and headed to Cowansville Quebec for the final round of the series there. Sunday was Quebec provincials, but I would opt out to race Cornwall. The drive to Cowansville felt nice, I had good feelings during the drive and was feeling like something nice might happen, first podium of the year maybe? Got in and registered, not a super warmup, it was cold and cloudy (6deg) kind of how I like it. The course was great, fast technical, lots of focus and accelerations. I took the holeshot, and went hard early. The first two laps I had one rider with me, we had ~10sec gap, by the end of lap two, I was alone, with the chase group behind. They would max out at 5 riders, and never more than 15 seconds away. By midway things were really clicking, and with 3 laps to go I was feeling like a win was very doable. Two to go, one of the chasing riders would bridge up, and I started to doubt. Then as with most of the race I was putting time in on the incline sections so pushed hard on the quick ups at the end of lap two, and then really pushed the incline on the final lap, putting the distance back to about 10 seconds. For the final lap all I could think of was push, don't mess up, and don't go home without winning! A solid race, and very nice to leave Quebec with a win! After a slow start and some poor results, it was certainly redemption!

Another long drive home, quick clean up, and up early the next morning to pack up the family for a Eastern Ontario series race in Cornwall. Doubles are tough, even harder in non-same town, and ridiculous hard with a 2pm start followed by and 11am start. I prefer a ~24 hour time gap.. The previous day's effort was felt for sure. Weather was nice though, 8deg and sunny. A good hard course, fast and turny, I felt good but not up to the previous day. A solid race non-the-less. 5th master. Happy.

Next week is nationals, I'm skipping for family stuff, so likely some training days, and then back at it for the rest of Nov! Next time I'll try to be more thorough, and less catch up.

fall is here?.. updates a plenty!

Well it seems that the updates are piling up and so are needed to be posted. What was a nice long summer has passed with not too much action on the bike front. Baby number 2 arrived in April, and seemed to have slowed me down a little bit this year.
All was part of a master plan however, but me and plans don't always work out. The plan this year was to take it a bit easy during the summer, lots of miles in, and bump up the intensity for the fall season. All was seemingly going ok, at times full on, others half-hearted, but still somewhat solid.
The first 'cross race of the year would be a familiar event, but new venue. I drove down solo for the Magog cross race in hopes of a strong start to the year. I'd not been feeling the best, a bit unsure, and generally off. Figured best to shrug it off, its early, first race no big deal. A mediocre warm up after registration to check out the new course looked promising. Fast, small hill, some good technical, and rain throughout the week to make it a bit greasy in places. I scored a good start, and took the holeshot, however our start was 15sec after the Elites, so by the first corner we were backed up and into their chaos. A bunch of scrambling would leave me chasing in second position for a lap. By lap two, I was down to third until mid race, when some more riders caught up. Generally fading, I'd end up racing it out for a 7th place. First non-win in Quebec... A bit disappointing for sure, not how I wanted to start off the year.
The following few days were not much better, not a good recovery, and generally drained. The next weekend was to be a pair of races east of Montreal. I would decide last minute to stay home, good call as I got to catch up on sleep and rest...
A couple days after the weekend off was the first time in about a month I'd felt normal, and a doctor's appt. on the Wednesday would confirm suspicions of some sort of "wrench in the cogs" rest had been good, but the green light to move on was lit.
Season re-start underway!

quebec city day two, series finale

Day two in Quebec City was to be the final race of the year on the Quebec Calendar. I had only done one other series race (Laval) so for me, this would be a day to show off the "Bleu et Blanc". To be honest, wasn't sure how the legs would hold up from the previous day, and was fully expecting Michel to take a run at it. He is leading the series, with a solid lock on it, so I was rooting for him to take it home in style, BUT, I also have a bit of a streak going (in the province of Quebec) and wasn't quite ready to hand someone the opportunity to end it!
Weather was good, really close to the previous day, maybe a degree or two cooler, overcast and dry, a bit more wind too. Oh wait no, there is a big difference between 2 and 4 degrees! The course was a bit modified from Saturday, but a lot of the same features repeating.
Off the start I had a good jump, took the holeshot and pinned it hard. I vividly remember thinking why am I going so hard, but kept pushing harder.. odd. We had a larger gap between starts so we didn't plow into the back of the elites, which was nice.
Halfway through lap one I was already distancing the field and had a 10 second lead. Also, by the end of the first lap I could not feel my fingers, literally! I went gloveless, maybe a bad choice. I knew I was shifting well and pulling the brake levers, but braking was weak, at first I thought cause I froze my fingers, later realizing it was cause I was jamming my ring and pinky under the brake lever stopping full force. Yeah, that cold, I was crushing my own hand and didn't feel it! I tried the only two methods I know, as I couldn't just pull off at the car and grab my gloves, breathe on my hands (warm air is nice) and go harder (to get the blood flowing). The latter worked somewhat, except going harder often means going faster, which in turn ups the "wind-chill" factor.. catch-22. By the third lap I had gained a significant 25-30 second lead, and was getting feeling back in my fingers. The lead held there for a couple of laps. I was feeling strong, and although I was watching behind, I kept the pressure on hard for the first 40 mins.I had thoughts about the upcoming national championship race, which is, 40 minutes vs. the normal full 60. After 40 min, I figured I'd just take it as it goes.
Fortunately, the legs held, and I was feeling stronger as the race went on. I kept the pressure on, and by the final lap kept the lead going. The last lap was fast and fun, almost felt like cruise control, and my fingers were happy to know it was almost over. I finished off a nice wire-to-wire win, by 45seconds. A good day, and a nice topper to the weekend!
National Championships in Toronto next weekend. Hoping for good sensations, a podium would be beauty, but maintaining last years 7thish is the primary goal.
Until next time...
(pictures again by sharron harrison)

championnats provincial de cyclocross

Day one in Quebec City, 'cross provincials! Drove up Friday night after work crashed at the HoJo for a good sleep, then up in the morning to head over to the race venue. It would have been nice to check it out the day before, but work beckoned, and hey, my mantra has always been - First lap is a warmup!
I got parked, registered, changed, situated, sort of warmed up and so on.. made my way over towards the start, pitted the spare and looked for the start. I'd gotten a chance to ride some of the course, but not very much. Mostly the grassy stuff. So I was going to go into it a bit blind. Not a good plan for a big race. I had a poor start, missing the jump. We'd fly into a set of barriers really early, catching the tail end of the Elite race, so I got wedged in, fell back a few more spots and before you know it, I'm in about 5-6th place 15+ seconds off the lead. Not the best scenario, but it is just the first lap. I decided to remain calm, and play the hand as given.
By the second lap I was able to work up to 3rd, and managed to dump off a few riders leaving a cleared contact to the leader, but was now 20-25 seconds off the lead, but calm. Lap three, I'd regained a few seconds to the lead, but was contently sitting in second place, feeling good. I though it best to start a move, as we were nearing the halfway mark, so I gave a good push through the start/finish, cleared the rock steps nicely, and gassed it on the backside gravel climb. By the top I'd worked my way up to the leader and was within 5 seconds. We'd come through together with 3 to go. From here out it was looking too familiar, with thoughts of Laval setting in. Michel and I rode away in Laval, and were doing an even better job this time. The lead was traded off a couple of times a lap. We had a good chance to feel each other out, I felt he was weakening, but whenever I put in a dig, he was always right there. With two to go, pretty much the same as previous, although I was having a tough time on the steep grass climb. Michel was clearing it, I had to dismount, he'd get around to lead through the start/finish. This was looking all too key for the final lap. After the hill there was a fast open section, into a narrow down/up, across an impossibly narrow bridge, followed by a right turn onto a paved section for the final 150m, of course with a (bigger than) 90degress left turn with about 75m to go. So, first man onto the bridge would be likely winner.
I started the final lap on Michel's wheel, passing him on the rock run up. Over on the gravel climb I went full gas to the top, he would hang in as we descended down into the slick switchbacks. I cleared the sand hill (another narrow section, slightly sandy steep climb) and notice Michel was off, so went for broke. He caught back on down by the flat section (through the straights and grassy turns) and I would lead into the super steep hill. Deja-vu, I was usually in first, but he was getting me every time. It was a do or die moment, I grunted myself over the hill, and cleared it for the first time of the day, got to the top, and again full gas. We hit the narrows, then crossed the bridge. As soon as we hit the pavement I began the set up for the corner and sprint. It can be sketchy railing a paved corner on a cross bike. We rolled through and instantly sprinted out of the corner.
I had no problem holding the lead out to the line, clinching my third consecutive provincial title! An excellent race. It was the toughest of the three to win, but will likely be the most remembered! (so cliche LOL) One day down, one more to go, the next day would be the series finale. I'm not in for the series, as I'd only done one other race in Quebec this year, so I'll get some good rest, then enjoy another day in the blue and white!

(photos thanks to sharron harrison)

laval

It was off to Laval for my first 'cross race of the season in Quebec. Most of the Ottawa crew headed to Toronto for the UCI races, I decided to head the other way. With provincials coming up in a couple of weeks, I thought it to be a good idea to check out the scene. I'd missed a few of the early races while I was in China, so this would be a good chance to catch up on things, and see who's on form.
Kelly and Leiden stayed home, so I was travelling solo, lots of time to get pumped up and get in a good headspace early, not used to travelling alone, so I was relying heavily on Armin van Buurin to pump me up! Partly cloudy on the way there, a quick shower or two, but mostly clear 12ish degrees and windy by the time I rolled into MTL. Got myself registered, changed, and headed out for warm-up, check the course, and figure things out. It was looking good, fast, mostly dry, lots of turns, in mostly open park area. The big wind and lots of turning was looking like theme of the day. But I was feeling ok, so maybe a good day to have a go.
The start went well, good jump off the gun, and took the holeshot. We quickly caught the Elites at the bottleneck/first uphill, but were able to quickly start working around. Up on top, a few trees and turns, then we'd cross a ball diamond, and do a U-turn at second base, wet heavy sand, so no sinking. It was a standstill, so I dismounted and forced through. Feeling aggressive! By the time we came back down, to the switchbacks a group of 4-5 of us were riding. On the second lap, it was evident this was going to be a fast tactical race, I was in no mood to attack, the wind wasn't a help, so I thought it best to hang back and save it for the second half. Our group was riding fast, and we'd whittle ourselves down over the next lap or two. There were a couple of guys who I didn't know, and judging from season's results it was worth it to ride with them to get a feel for their abilities. On either the 3rd or 4th lap we hit the snow pile and Michel Henri (Iris) went over the bars, I pushed hard on the run-up just after the snow, but eased off down the other side. I could see him chasing, but thought it better to let him work back up, as opposed to working alone, it was still early in the race. Jean-Phillip Lambert (Equipe Brunet) was falling off the back, he did a good job chasing, but it would be just Michel and I for the rest of the race. We had an Elite rider or two with us from time to time, but they'd either sit on, or pull. I kind of held back for the mid portion of the race, sat on in the draft, and kind of let the others lead. Tactically it was smarter to just ride, not kill myself and blow up, I was confident I'd have some left at the end should an attack show itself, otherwise not much happening mid race. Michel and I would finish out the race together, and with two to go, there was an acceleration or two, but nothing big. On the final lap we'd share the work with no real accerations again, I thought he'd try to go for it, but maybe was thinking of a sprint too, I thought of going at one point, but was maybe more confident in my sprint. On the final run up we were still locked together, came over the top and hit the pavement for the final 300m. At 250m I pulled up beside, I could have waited for the lead out, but hey, I love a drag race. Just inside the 200m sign I started my sprint and was immediately off. Michel jumped on my wheel, but was not able to come around. On the line it was me by a bit over a bike length, very nice sprint indeed!
A good race, lots of work to stay out of the wind, even more tactics going on too! The legs felt good, the back was a bit tight, so going to work on that over the next week and a bit. Feels really good to get a win in, but I know that my time is coming, and Provincials is going to be a full on battle! I'm getting stoked for it. We're in Perth next week. So should be a good final test!