Best bad race

After last weekend I had to take it easy for few days as I was pretty destroyed. 2 days of chasing a group of fast guys into a head wind proved to be hard on the legs. But Maybe it was good training because when I got back on the bike I felt really good. So as long as I could keep that good feeling I was confident that I would have a good race at provincials.

Lets skip ahead to race day. Turns out the good feeling stayed with me and I woke up dying to get on my bike. hmm... pretty uneventful up until the race. Just rode the course a bit and chatted with all the good cross folk while watching the 11:30 race.

Got lined up next to Andrew so that I could get in his head a little bit before that race. Don't think it worked though because he went off the start and took the lead right away. I had a good start and was able to get right on his wheel with no trouble from anyone else. Through the first set of corners I was content to just sit on Andrew and let him set the pace. There were a few passing attempts by Mr. Hughs but I had to shut them down as I did not want any separation between me and Andrew. Sorry Zack. Once we hit the hill section of the course Andrew and I had some separation. Then he took a fast sweeping corner wide and I ripped it on the inside and past him. May have been some smack talk going on. But When we got to the top of the course I blew a corner and he was quick with a come back.

After the first lap we had a good sized gap. That would mark my most successful attempt at staying with Andrew to date. And I was still feeling good. Going into the second lap Andrew upped it. I reacted and stayed on him. I had a feeling he was hurting more then he was showing so I stuck with it. Coming back into the hill section again. Put it in the a small ring and SNAP goes the derailleur hanger. Got off my bike, sat down and pouted like a 5 year old for a bit. After watching the rest of the field go by I shook my head and said what are you doing you fool! Picked my bike up and ran it into the pits. Got on the old ridly and tried to restart my race. Legs felt weird after the run and the bike felt really awkward. Took me a few laps to get used to the added weight and different position.

With 3 to go I got a bit of a second wind and picked it up a bit. I really started picking guys off after that. It wasn't long before I had moved into 4th in the u23 and could see 3rd at some of the cross over sections. By the beginning of the last lap he was just up ahead. Once I caught him he put in a good effort to stay with me. So I punched it to try and break his spirit a bit. Before the finish I managed to catch and pass Peter Morse which would have put me 7th Elite.

So not what I had in mind but definitely not disappointed. It gave me the chance to work on some mental toughness and made me push harder. After looking at the lap time I noticed that my last 3 laps were faster then every ones. So There are a lot of good things to take away from this race.

Today I chose not to race and just do a good endurance ride which I need to get started with. It's gonna be a cold one I think.

T.O day 1

Here's a short take on how today went. Finally got on the front row. Had a good start and sat in with the fast guys for about a minute. Didn't ride as aggressively as I should have and got past by a few guys who were slower through the hills and corners and lost the lead group. Once we hit the straits I past the guys in front of me and desperately tried to Chase down the group ahead. It was hard because there was a good head wind and I was the only one in who seemed interested in chasing. So I pretty lead into the head wind for the whole race and picked off guys that were falling off the lead group and kept riding past them. I probably could have let someone else take the lead and recover a bit but I won't lie I wanted to catch Evan Mcneely who had a great start and was sitting in with leaders (sans Fretini). So I kept drilling it for the whole race. Got caught by Andrew and pulled him around for a bit. Then he picked it up again and I was to blown to stick with him. The last lap I blew a corner in a fast section and was gaped by Mark Lalond who had stuck on my wheel for most of the race. Once I got up and back on my bike he had a good gap. I was able to close the gap a bit but didn't have enough time to seal the deal.

Ended up 7th 2mins down on Fretini. Looking forward to tomorrow. It's goin down! Looking at you Evan.

Will you go easy on us please

My words as I was in line for the washroom talking to Dave Fratini of the Italian National team. That's right we had some international talent at an non uci Ontario race! He's here for the uci race next weekend and for thanks giving with family here. He heard about the race from Eric Box and said hey why not?

So Here's how the day went down. Got up feeling a bit tired from a very active recovery day yesterday. It was worth it. Had too much for breakfast but it was also worth it. Yum! Headed over to Toronto with My dad, my Bro and Tristan Smit. Got there at 10:30ish and watched the early race and checked out what was in store course wise. Lots more uphill and strait aways then last weekend. And one very off camber section that people were getting me all worked up over. Jumped on for a lap after the race was over and it wasn't so bad. But the course was very physical. It had the first real run up of the year which was unrideable because of the steepness (is that a real word?). Then watched the next race witch included the juniors and women. Small junior fields this year. Only 3 today. I guess most of them have moved on to new categories this year.

Then it was go time for me! Got in a few more laps for a warm up. Then waited around for a bit by the start. Got board there and went to ride some more on the course and ended up being late to the start line. Missed the front row again. But squeezed in on the second row which was alright. Had a good start and managed to blow by the 2 guys the row in front of me. Settled into the Fratini train and picked 1-2 off on every strait section. It wasn't long before I was in the front group of Batty and Fratini. So I settled in and let Dave do the leading and learned as much as I could by watching him. Very smooth on the pedals and never seems to make mistakes.

After a few laps of following Dave eased up a bit and we all started looking at each other. I noticed that A chase group was closing a bit and decided that I didn't want them to catch on so I took the lead and pushed hard. I knew there was no chance of gaping Fratini but I thought maybe i could shake Mark. But after about half a lap I was hurting pretty bad and the other 2 were still sitting on. After a 1.5 laps I pulled over to let Dave by again and sat on his wheel and tried to recover. And guess what happened next? He upped the pace and gaped me a bit. It wasn't long before Mark decided to come by to try and close the gap. I managed to get on his wheel and stay there.

We were still gradually losing Dave and the lapped traffic wasn't helping us any. Then i made a few mistakes getting clipped in and Mark got a gap. I was able to drill it hard and close up but whenever I got close my right pedal would give me more trouble getting clipped in. And as Mark Accelerated away again I was still fumbling with my pedal. So the last few laps were spent with me drilling it try and catch back onto Mark and Mark drilling it to make sure I didn't get back to him. The last lap I manged to not have any pedal issues and got close to Mark again. Came around the last corner with him only a few bike lengths ahead but he has a kick that I couldn't match. But in fight with each other we were able to close the gap a bit on Fratini and could see him crossing the line as we hit the last corner into the finishing strait.

So that was that. 3rd for me but definatly a satisfying 3rd. And all the big Ontario hitters were there (- Watson) so I'm happy about the race. Also it was good to see more cross newcomers like and Adam Morka, Preston Wagler and another appearance by Ty Wag. Feel like I'm missing someone.

Well that's all for today. Looking forward to a long ride tomorrow with Tristan and Jamie and possibly others. See yall next weekend at Centennial!

Running over birds and elderly people

Don't be alarmed by the title. I managed to not do ether of those things. But It was hard not to at the race last weekend as someone had thrown some seeds on the course and every time a came around there would be a flock of them to dodge. This could be a new course standard for cross races as it adds another skill to master.

Anyways the race was great. Got lined up second row because A newcomer fresh out of junior sniped my spot on the front row. No matter. Just sat in for the start and let him destroy himself for a bit. Then I took the lead and settled into a nice hard pace. Looked back a lap later and no body was there. So I figured I was doing something right so I kept that high pace and made sure to punch it on the hard parts of the course. Speaking of the course I'm really glad to see that Ziggy has upped the level of course design for nationals. It was Quality with Good hard sections to put yourself in the hurt locker and awesome tech sections to keep you on your toes. So back to the race. I could see how much of a gap I had each lap and every lap it was opening more and more. It was a good feeling to be off the front like that but I missed having to chase Mr. Watson around. Ended up taking the win by 2mins. It was a fun race and I look forward to the race this weekend as it's put on by the same organizers and I'm hoping for an equally fun course.

Training this week has been going well. Most of my time is spent on the cross bike in the woods or at parks. The only problem with that is sometimes you scare the walkers. For example I came up on a pair of elderly women the other day. I wasn't going fast so that I wouldn't freak them out. I nicely called to let them now I was behind them. But with no reaction. Then I noticed the hearing aids. So I figured i would have to call louder to be heard. And So I called louder. Still no reply. So I called out almost yelling this time and they both jumped out of fear. And as I rode by I received a slur of verbal abuse for scaring them. Oh well I tried being a nice guy.

That's all I have to tell right now. Exciting stuff eh!

Cross Is Here!

Point form catchup

-worlds was crazy. Bad start, dropped chain, crash, off the back, played the catchup game and moved up pretty well, crashed hard on rocky decent and don't remember much until the hospital.

So the MTB season is over and I am really satisfied with it. I achieved my goals and then some. So I can't complain about a bad race at worlds because I was just happy to have been there on home soil. The experience will stay with me for years to come.

Now it's time to hang the mtb bike up and pull down the cross bike! I'm not going to lie I have been looking forward to cross season for a while now. After a bit of time off the bike to recover from the crash at worlds and to get some fresh legs I raced the Durham cross classic. With a guest appearance from Mike Garigan and the Mr. Box I was excited for a fast race. I got the whole shot in to the first "run up" and rode it. Well until my tire rolled off. Guess I should have done some maintenance on the bike before racing it. Got the tire back on and chased hard for a few laps but kept weight on the front because I was scared of rolling it again. Decided to switch onto the old bike after a few laps. Got about 100ft out of the pit and snap goes the chain. I'll skip the details but Craig let me run back and grab my other bike again. At that point I was in last. So I just went into TT mode and saw how many guys I could pick off. Found out at the end that I came 3rd. I'll take that. Great race and awesome course this year. Too bad the turnout was poor.

Moving on to the next weekend in Wisconsin For the first USGP weekend of the year. Went with Rick Myloff. Really chill and fun trip. The race was crazy fast with some of the fastest guys from Europe there and a very fast Canondale team. The first day saw more bike problems this time the drivtrain. Ended up running the last bit of the race and don't really know where I finished.

Second day went much better. I had my best cyclocross start ever riding with Berry Wick for the first lap. Made a few mistakes after that and lost that group. Spent most of the race battling with fellow u23 Cody Kyser for the 3 spot in our race. But once again my bike decided to quite on me. Ok it's my fault for for not making sure it was working well before the trip. Anyways I struggled with my bike for the rest of the race and managed to salvage a 36th place finish.

Dispite the bad luck there is a lot of good to take away from the race. Great experience at these US races. The level is so high and gives you a good idea of what you need to do to be good in this sport.

Feeling motivated from the weekend I have been doing some good training this week. Feeling a bit tired from it though so tomorrows race should be interesting. Looking forward to it though. Got my bike all sorted out so I don't expect to see any bike issues this time. The only one I can blame for a bad race will be myself.

All for now :)