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 :)

Just a quicky

Short update on what's going down here at St Anne. Staying at a nice chalet right at the mountain. Living with some good guys like Kris Sneddon and Francis Morain. I've been seeing a lot of the top pro guys walking around the area. Seems to be the hot spot around our chalet. Rode the course a bunch and love it. A bit on the dry side. Actually it's really dry. The whole course is covered in sand. But I'm riding well on it so no worries.

The team relay is today. It will be fun too watch the team ride a suicide lap while I sit on the side of the trail. Kinda glad I'm not doing it. Save that juice for the race on Friday. That's about it. Super cool to be here. It's unlike any race I've been to before. Can't wait to race!

Lets Catch Things Up

It seems that once again I have been late on posting a race report. But I have an excuse this time. After the race I talked to the guys organizing the worlds project and found out that it was going to cost 1000 bucks! Now I know that everyone going has to pay that much but I just found out and didn't have enough money to cover that. But it seems that I will still be going thanks to some help from various people. Good to have friends that are willing to support you.

So the race on the weekend went well. After a rough start the leaders were well out of sight. But I didn't panic and got into my groove. Picked people of for the first lap and by the end was with Tyson and Zach was just behind.

Second lap Just kept it steady and gradually rode away from those 2. I made it up to Peter and Morka and was pretty happy to be with them. But then they picked up the pace. So instead of killing myself and trying to stay with them I just kept that steady pace.

After that there's not much to report. Spent the rest of the race alone trying to hold of any late race attacks. Finished 6th overall and 1st U-23.

So that raps up the O-cup season. It was an awesome year of racing and Chico did a great job as usually. Those guys deserve every ones gratitude. So if you haven't already then next time you see them be sure to thank them for all the hard work they do. The Ontario scene wouldn't be the same without chico.

Prep for worlds is going well. Past few days have been blow yourself up workouts. It's good because I have a feeling that world is going to be all about how much you can suffer without blowing up so it's good to know were that red line is.

Getting pumped for the race! Not just mine but the seeing the Elite race as well. For those who don't already know CBC will be covering the race. So if you aren't able to be there you can see the action there.

All for know

Close call

Past few days have been pretty scary. Sunday I went to ride the new course at Woodnewton. Got in a few hrs and had the course figured out pretty good. During the ride I was having mixed sensations. One minute I would be feeling good and the next I would be red lined and wanting to go home. Held in till the end of the ride and went home. That's when things went bad. I was getting the chills and a wicked headache. Instead of trying to pretend that I wasn't sick and hoping that it would just go away which has proven unsuccessful in the past I went to bed and slept as much as possible. The next morning I was feeling a bit better. But I had to get up and go to work. That was rough and by the end of the day I was useless. Got home and repeated what I did the night before. Next day felt better again but didn't have to go to work. So I Spent the whole day doing nothing but napping eating relaxing. And guess what. It worked! Got up today and felt normal and well rested. Had a great ride and feel back to my normal self. I haven't felt normal since Kelso so I'm thinking I just needed to take a day and really rest up.

Now as for the course at Woodnewton. Well It's a classic style MTB course complete with a long start stretch threw a field, fast sandy single track and lots of steep punchy climbs. Verdict = like it. I think after riding it again this Saturday with good health will help me to love it. The second part of the course is definitely more exciting than the first with some awesome full speed burmed downhills and less blow yourself up climbing.

Look forward to the race and seeing everyone. Hope all goes well.

How much can you suffer?

Just thought I would right a quick post while I'm sitting at home doing nothing. While every one is racing in Bromont at this very moment I've opted to stay home and get in some good training. Today was one of those days were I had talk myself through the pain. Did some max hill reps and finished off with a 20min mtb TT. It's funny. Every time I have hill reps to do I wake up in the morning all pumped to do them and see how hard I can go. But then when I'm actually doing them I can't remember why I was so excited. But it's always satisfying when you finish a workout like that and your sitting at home relaxing knowing that you gave it your all and got that much stronger.

Tomorrow I'll be heading to the new venue in Uxbridge to ride the course for a few hours. Pretty excited about it. It's always cool riding somewhere new and from the sound of things this place will be prime.

That's all for now. Just want to say Happy anniversary to my parents. If anyone sees them be sure to send your best wishes as it's the big 25th year. Now we're off to a nice dinner at the grandparents tonight.

Back to buisness

Wow it's been a while! Just logged on to my blogger account and saw that there were some new templates and decided to make a few changes. Might have gone a little over board with it and will most likely tone it down a bit. But for now the purple flames a sweet!

Well I guess it's a bit late to do a nationals race report. Long story short I won and it was an awesome feeling. I knew I could hang with those guys but taking the win was a bit of a shock. So what that means know is that I'm going to worlds at Mt. Saint Anne! That was kind of the "super goal" at the start of the season so I would say that anything else now is just added bonus.

Since nationals I've just been getting in some good training in the heat. I've also gotten very good at timing my rides just right to avoid any rain. Somehow I haven't got caught in any real downpour once this summer. Now that I said that I'll probably get poured on this weekend haha!

Oh ya I forgot to mention the last O-cup race... well it was probably the worst I've felt on a bike all year. I was suffering like crazy and not going anywhere. Haven't been able to pin down the reason why I felt so bad but I'm starting to feel normal again now. That's all I have to say about that. (Forest Gump quote)

Well that's all for now. I'll be sure to be more frequent with my post from now on because it was getting a little ridicules. Happy trails!