Fort French Cove – Sailing home fulla LOOT

Fort French Cove – Sailing home fulla LOOT.

T’was a clear n’ crisp morn when the team car set sail from the bowls of Hali, embarking on a crusade to the Francophone North. Crew members included Ya Boi Marty, The Young Gun, GuestriderZ and the author.

A 6:30 departure combined with a 10:00 cut off for unregistered riders meant that the voiture de l’equipe had to run hard through the Wentworth Valley—the first race of the day was against the clock. We got there at 10:30, as a coffee and gas stop was mandatory, and a frisky Young Gun pranced over to the registration table to try his luck. Hilariously, they told him “maybe” and that they’d bring him a plate to the line—if they decided they could make room for some World Cup heavyweighter talent.

With the rest of the crew pre-registered, the earth began to turn smoothly again. I arrived last to the line as Sheila was giving her pre-race warnings against riding helmetless in the parking lot after the race, and other tidbits. I threw my second Camelbak towards the feedzone and snuck up to the front through the throngs of kids and masters riders.

Taking it off the line was a young son on a dirt jump bike, who sprinted like he was Brian Lopes bustin’ off the gate. Eventually, the lack of a big ring caught up with the duder, and the pain train of CSD cruised on by. I made sure to give the jean-adorned kid major props. Lespy and I hit the first climb together, and made sure to intimidate any and all challengers with a duet—Foreigner’s Hot Blooded. Mwahaaa! We “passed the mic” back and forth while an incredulous Acadian contingent cocked their heads in shock and awe.

Slicing through the open hardwood over bone dry hardpack, we burst out on an ATV trail and passed some course marshals. Unbeknown to us, some ATVers had chewed off a piece of course tape, hoping that a crew of young city folk would happen upon their hunting camp complete with pretty mouths. Not to be fooled, CSD realized their mistake after a few minutes… Much cursing and skidding ensued, and we hauled the front of the pack around to retrace our steps. The tape was by now back up, and we ripped into the singletrack like relocated hyenas, uncaged and fresh off tranquilizers.

Martin Peltier made the turn initially, and was now separated from us by probably 20 riders. TYG and I tore into the trail, dropping all behind us in a blitzkrieg of mini-skid turns and cheater lines. One of the highlights of the day was how we could swing our rear semi-slicks around like rudders on the hardpack, shaving seconds from every corner.

We caught Martaan on the third 45m lap (he was killing it, thinking that more riders were ahead) and promptly shut down our all-out psychopathically anti-social pace in favor of a more relaxed “we only go hard where it’s fun” strategy. He hammered the climbs while we exchanged looks of concern, and we took turns gapping him in the light speed singletrack. This is total Hard Wood Hills type stuff we’re talking about.

With 1.5h to go, we were dicing up the first section of single, when Ya Boi Marty came a hootin’ and hollerin’ through the canopy. We jubilantly screamed back through the trees, and CSD was soon reunited in attack formation. The four of us stayed together until the longest, fastest section of singletrack, where our Halifax-honed, root-annihilating pace cast Martaan from the caboose of the pain train. He hit the ground running, and stayed ahead of the hord for 4th, but the race had gone up the trail.

Early in the race, when TYG was killin’ it like Blackwater on Sunnis, I coyly suggested how great it’d be if we all rolled it together like something out of a fairy tale. He scoffed, and filed the idea away for later use. . . . Pounding through the last 70 minutes, I started to feel better and better, and in one section detached the rest of the train from my rear Jet S. Lespy wasn’t impressed, and exclaimed: “what the fuck!? We just dropped Marty!” upon his reunion with the front. He wasn’t feeling so hot himself though, and began to fade dramatically as the minutes counted down. Martin found this just wonderful, and picked and poked at TYG’s fragmented armor—such a race moment of weakness in our junior destroyer was not to be wasted in Martin Land. TYG got crankier and crankier with this onslaught of insults to injury.

With Martin and I now riding chill in order to preserve the integrity of the pain train, Lespy suggested we all ride in together. I smirked, and said sure. If Martaan was to catch us again the contract would be void, but barring that, we decided we’d roll in together in a stunning display of bromance, and then split the prize money. I took the “win”; Marty second; TYG third.

GuestriderZ had a KILLER race—her second event ever—and rolled in third in sole female! No doubt 5 laps of the best speed-tech course in the ATL will upgrade her skills to another level.

Once rolling in the Team Car, we promptly got lost in the ‘Chi, while looking for the “Irish Pub”. We somehow ended up at a skatepark on the outskirts and upon pulling in to turn around, were swarmed by a few kids on DJ bikes who offered to trade bikes for ours. After much thought, we declined. One of them was accompanied by their father who sort of helped us find the pub: “turn around” was quite helpful. I think there was some language barrier in effect.

We eventually found it, and Lespy kicked the party off by ordering soup. “What soup do you have?” “Soup of the day is cream of leek and yam. It’s blended.” “Blended? Ahhhh, TOTALLY!” “Yeah, ummm . . . I’ll get that.” The rest of the table laughed, but coming from someone who was fresh out of a post-race comatose-in-lawn-chair state, we understood.

The crew busted out the generous prize money, and was generous with the tip to top up our karma to carry us safely through a moose-ridden highway 11 back to civilization. Marty drove and teased TYG, while GRZ and yours truly slept and then authored this piece.

Overall, it was another day well lived by some of CSD’s heaviest weight mercenaries. Anyone who hasn’t experienced the glory of Miramichi’s Fort French Cove trails should make the trip. There’s about 15km of some of, if not the best singletrack in the Maritimes. It’s the only “speed-technical” stuff I’ve ridden on an Atlantic race course; probably our sole taste of real, sustained hardpack. Major props to Incline Sports and all who made it happen—you guys rock.

‘Till next time,

Ya Crew.

(Photos stolen from the event's facebook group.)

The Wentworth Spokebender

It's been a damn long while since the last update from ya crew, but we've been out getting all our planets and mitochondria aligned for this Sunday--the Wentworth show-down.

With TYG and Gmoney fresh back from 'Games, The Ol' Man, Randall, Marty, Da Burge, D-Ral, Robertson and other choice players ensured the stacking of the start line. TYG, myself and Da Burge rolled up fashionably tardy, as per usual, and cast a steely-eyed Natural Born Killer-type survey over the field as we slid into the front row. (Yes, we love ourselves!)

Lespy and Gmoney, with all their unbridled confidence and hematocrit of youth, began yelling from one end of the front row to the other about how they were going to hammer off and then pinch the field as they cut in towards the center to slap each other's bums. This was not to be tolerated by the elder statesmen. I assumed a representative role for Old Man Strength and sliced through their play time to take the hole-shot. Whoohooo! I won the start!

Gmoney quickly exacted some revenge, however, as he shot past me at the top of the steep opening grade and began what would become a kamikaze attack on the 1500m climb. . . . Midway through the first rock garden, a season on the road caught up with him as he spun out and came to a stop, with more dabs going down than a bingo hall. That marked the termination of his time sur l'avant, as TYG took the reins for The Youth, with another rope virtually tied to my headtube.

On the top section, before the first descent, TYG and I thought we were running free of the frothing field behind us, but a quick scan back through the poplars reveled a rabid Burge machine-gunning over the root bed. I screamed back words of encouragement, but he didn't get on the train in time to flow the upcoming descent--a manicured section of course more killer than David Berkowitz.

I tried to recover, sitting on TYG's wheel as we slid our semi-slicks around the tight brush like rudders. After 5 glorious minutes of mini-skid pump-track stoke time we burst out onto the maple sugar road and then began the technical climb to the field. With TYG in 6th gear cruise control I clung to his wheel by my fingernails, managing to stay on him to the top of the long, buff doubletrack climb that followed the field. We tore into the descent like starved arctic wolves and soaked up the stoke provided by the days of raking done by Conor and his crew. No where else but Wentworth will you rip a swoopy 50km/h hard-pack descent; other than the foot-wide swath of manicured dirt aligned with our plates, the rest of the course was a blue and green smudge in peripheral vision.

After the next climb we worked our way to the bottom, tires skimming rocks and stanctions heating up like AK-47 hammers. With a perfect feed from Jeff Simms' GF, we embarked on the second trek up the brutal cart road, number plates pointed at the sky. Our gap increased steadily over the next lap, as Da Burge began to cramp in his calf.

Hitting the long, mid-lap doubletrack climb for the second time, I led TYG as we approached the top. This provided my lactate-drenched legs to roll their own pace, hopefully ready for his inevitable surge over the top. Well, this lap there was no surge, rather the whole grid got scorched by an electrical storm of first-testament proportions. I dug deep and bent the shovel on a rock bottom, but couldn't keep his rear Crossmax in sight, as it was surely being propelled by his big ring.

With Lespy stamping his family seal on the point series up ahead, I dug in to hold onto second place. My mantra became "feel the fear!" as I made repeated shoulder checks and hammered harder into the now silent hardwood--lest an Old Man or a rejuvenated Burge blow past me on a second wind. Other than a broken spoke as I pounded through a compression on the first descent, things were on "red-line cruise-control".

Rolling comfortably through the final descent to the finish, I had flash-backs to the Spokebender of 2000, when I first moved to elite to battle The Old Man. He got me in the sprint, but I was stoked out of my helmet vents to be there with him. TYG's summer of learning at the top of the sport, only to come home after the Canada Cups/World Cups/Canada Games and handidly stick it to us all, makes the memory come full circle with the present. Brace yourselves, for it is truly a new era!

Da Burge held onto 3rd, taking out Simms (4th) and The Ol' Man (5th). Marty rolled in 6th, followed by Gmoney in 7th. Randall had a KILLER ride, posting up to the staging area in 8th, ahead of Ed, D-Ral, and Robertson.

Our B-blaster Enid was taken out due to a pinched nerve in her back that made taking the start unbearable. Fans shed a few tears; men in cat. B relaxed and unstuffed their chamois. Perhaps we'll see some dual Graller power in action at Fort French Cove on the 20th.

CSD guest rider, Zuzka, celebrated her 31-days-on-a-mountain bike anniversary by throwing herself into the B race. She held it down for two laps--crash free (!)--and professes to have improved by at least 250% as a rider. The Editor is just as stoked :)

Repeatedly, the Hub Cycle crew shows the world how to put on killer, well run events. The course was just about perfect, shit ran on time, results were timely, commissares were great people and assets to the scene; even their prizes were awesome and appreciated. There was nostalgic talk about how races drew 200+ in the hay-days of "mountain bike on the roof of every 90s SUV", but with events like this the numbers could very well return.

I like to consider the point of racing not simply to satisfy some primal urge for chase or competition, but also to get closer to the point of true human potential under relatively harmless circumstances. Stories of a mother lifting the back of a car off her child, or someone benching a 700lb boulder off their chest after a landslide abound, yet most mope around the daily grind well within the narrow confines of comfortable exertion. Racing doesn't simply let you satisfy some innate urge to chase, selected by evolution to ensure bison or zebras make it back to the clan; it distracts and motivates you to the point where suddenly your window of exertion extends into that forbidden territory of the true bodily red-line. That, loyal readers (haha), is what physical fulfillment is all about--truly drawing from a psychosomatic well of performance that only approaches its real depth during exceptional circumstances. What happens when you drill that deep? Cramps, crashes, tendonitis, heat-stroke, the tearing of connective tissue, the shredding of bronchi and also a heightened sense of self-awareness that only exposing one's all, both to the mind's eye and to those of spectators and other racers alike, can provide.

Thanks, all, for a thoroughly well-lived and real day!

GOT Third at Canada Games RR!!!!

--Full report coming soon from the front lines--

In the meanwhile, we've provided the unadulterated reactions of NS locals to capture the glee that swept across the land:

--Unofficial sources are saying that local boy Makumsayunnhhh aka O2oole aka GOT aka Geoff saved his legs throughout the men's road race, moved to the front when the time was right and unleashed a scorching sprint just behind two Québec riders to plant his feet firmly on the podium for bronze!

Brace yourself for Saturday night G, the party is gonna be fierce.

---Killer performance GOT!

----Way to go Geoff!

----Very nice!

----Awesome! Congrats Geoff!

----5 out of 6 riders of the day breakaway were Maritimers! After it was brought back, another lobster eater took bronze! 5 in the top 15... good day at the Canada Games office!

----is happy someone from Nova Scotia finally podiumed the Canada Games Men's RR - congrats to Geoff O'Toole on the bronze!

---YOU KNOW IT!!! nice bike riding!!!

---Dude! Good job in the road race!!

----Way to rock csg man! Nice Ride

----YAY! GEOFF!! Congrats little brother!

----3rd.... yaaaa buddy....ps you're still my hero.

----O'Toole!!! Congrats on the medal buddy! No wonder I lost to you at sign sprints this summer

----Good job Geoff!!!! Garrett too by the looks of the results sheet. Rock stars!

---Congrats buddy. hope to see that medal in the csd display case

--awesome ride man congrats on the 3rd place today!

----Shit yeah, Geoff killed it with a crushing sprint after gate keeping the Quebec chase for 5 laps. Solid riding by everyone on the team. Ryan killed himself for Gmoney when they were in the break--one of the most impressive bits of riding all day.

Live updates!

Me (4:59 PM):
Break on first lap. Two alberta riders, one sask, and i think a quebec. 1:20 gap with a bridging group of a bc, ontario and another sask coming up. No action from our boys yet...
Me (5:00 PM):
44 sec. Gap.
Me (5:04 PM):
Therault is in the break. Pace is lifting in the pack though. 45s.
Me (5:14 PM):
1minute gap now. 10km/h light wind. 30 and sunny.
Me (5:19 PM):
Break absorbed. Gagne on the attack through the start finish
Me (5:29 PM):
10 rider break including boivan and other big timers. No scotia... Ont, bc, sask,yuk,queb, man repped. Not good.
Me (5:32 PM):
Ns jersey on the attack in the distance... Ryan mac has bridged!
Me (5:35 PM):
Big break caught. Ryan and gmoney up the road alone w 3 riders bridging....looks good!
Me (5:39 PM):
Minute 40 gap!
Me (5:47 PM):
This is huuuge! 2:40gap! Gmoney, rmac, 3 others
Me (5:49 PM):
3:21! But quebec is chasing like columbia...
Me (5:52 PM):
Ont in break, with cormier! Plus ns and one other. Chemical brothers on the PA-block rockin beats. Geoff and lespy are sitting right behind the queeb train
Me (5:55 PM):
Gap increased to 3 30 despite quebec!
Me (5:58 PM):
60k mark approaching-57k to go
Me (6:36 PM):
quebec sur l'avant... 40k to go. 2:30 gap held last to lap..no, 1:50 gap bc helping chase...30k to go. Shit's tense. Bc rider trying to bridge now
Me (6:44 PM):
Down to 1:10. Bc chasing hard w queebs. Strung out huge
Me (6:49 PM):
Just up to 1:20! 25km
Me (6:54 PM):
Harison (bc) halfway bridged. Gap holding!
Me (7:01 PM):
20k/two laps to go! Owen harrison nearly bridged. Minute gap steady. Owen won the tt and will seriously increase their chances against a chasing french locomotive.
Me (7:02 PM):
Owen has made it. 50s gap.
Me (7:05 PM):
Ryan macdonald dropped from the break. Gap holding.
Me (7:08 PM):
38 seconds. 12k to go.
Me (7:17 PM):
Got caught right in front of the start fin. Damn. Tons of attacks. Lespy and geoff are fresh to death...
Me (7:20 PM):
10s gap 3 riders-boily qc, harrison bc, bell ont. Not good.
Me (7:24 PM):
Stuart a good pick for the sprint. He's been sitting tight. One rider off the front (group of 3 caught). Crash in pack! GOT THIRD!!!!!!
Me (7:26 PM):
Boily, boivan, AN DA G O T !!!

Mont Sainte Anne World Cup

This may be a first in the life of the CSD blog, (Did CSD blog exist when Jamie was at the top of the world?), a world cup race report. It still blows my mind to think that I raced a world cup, several times while I was training on the course I just thought wow this is like as good as it gets for mountain bike racing, this is it!
So, I left Halifax at around noon on Wednesday July 22 and flew to Montreal and then after a short layover got on a Dash 8 to Quebec City. When I arrived I knew I was early so I took advantage of the free internet. The team manager showed up at around four and we were off to Mont Sainte Anne. The van was packed solid, it was full of race supplies, loads of front derailleurs and we had three bikes in boxes strapped to the roof. We later arrived at MSA with all of our bikes; nothing fell off, and got settled into our condo. We had a condo with just junior men in it; it consisted of Mitch Bailey, Tyler Alison, Evan Guthrie, Nicholas Tremblay, Antoine Caron and I. It was good crew and everyone got along during the stay. Thursday morning we had a meeting and the National Team clothing was distributed and then we went to the course, the coaches and managers want to create more of a team atmosphere on the MTB team so we warm up as a group together. All 20 or so of us went for a thirty minute warm up ride. Today I was to do the bulk of my riding on the course and really get a feel for it. We worked together as a team on our laps to try and figure out the best lines. Coaches were out on the course in key sections giving us feedback, which was really good. I did three laps all together and each lap I liked the course more and more. The course is a little different from previous years, the riding starts on the right side of the mountain instead of the left and there is a new tech downhill added. All the other features like the gravel road climb, the switch back climb and the connecting technical sections have all been preserved. It was a sick course, and it really suited our good technical riders, which was everyone because we’re from Canada. After seeing the course I felt really good about it. After the ride we got cleaned up, ate and then went to the waterfall that is below the mountain to get a cold bath. While we were there we found a few waterfalls and we figured we could jump off one of them. The terrain in there was epic; it was like nothing I’ve ever seen before, cooler than a canyon I was in when I was in Switzerland. So after we checked out the depth I started things off and did the jump. (Check the video). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9tiStRO83c Three others followed me and made the jump including a girl, Reb B. We then rolled home and ate and chilled. The next day was similar, did a warm up as a group and I did a couple laps and focused on a few key sections and dialed them in. Again I felt great about the course. After the training we went down to the waterfall for a cold bath, the legs felt great after this. Finally on the last day of training before the race I did one steady lap to just to feel really good about the course and then I did some activation sprints on the road to prep my legs. The night back at the cabin was pretty good ate a huge chicken and pasta meal and rested the legs.
The next day was race day, this is where it gets exciting, our race was at 9h 00 so we all woke up at around 6h 00 to get some food into us. There were 26 riders registered and there were racers from New Zealand, USA, Mexico, Australia, Canada and a few other countries. We rolled up to the race area about an hour and a half before the start and we were told by our coach to do a psyche out lap of the race area, in formation, riding by all the teams tents. This was fun and it must have worked. Then we checked out the start loop and got our transponders put on our bikes. Some warmed up on trainers and I warmed up on the road beside the mountain, I had a solid warm up with some good efforts on the hills. The start was going to be fast so I had to make sure I was ready. The called us to the staging area at ten to nine and then they called us to the line. I was the eleventh one called to the line so I was the first one in the second row. As soon as everyone got to the line they called one minute to start and I still had my vest and arm warmers on and I didn’t have my glove on. So I frantically got all that stuff off and my gloves on when he called fifteen seconds to start, it was close. The start was really fast and I had to make up places before headed into the woods. There were almost a few crashes in front of me and I think someone went down behind me, definitely one of the craziest starts I’ve done. Canada had a great start with Evan, Mitch and Tyler in the top three with a Kiwi thrown in there while me and Antoine were stuck behind an Aussie and a Mexican. After a little section of single track Antoine managed to get by the two of them but there wasn’t any room for me. On the next downhill left hander I took the Mexican on the inside and pushed him out of the corner, best passing strategy ever. Then I got by the Aussie on the next section and now there was 5 Canadians in the top 6 so we were in good shape. I was feeling really good and I went really well up the first two climbs. I then caught Tyler who was having some troubles, he has asthma and his lungs were bleeding after the start so he ended up pulling out of the race. I was now in fifth place and I could see forth in some sections. On the first technical rock section I had a little crash but I got it over with early and I didn’t have any more problems. One the next few laps I felt really good and everywhere on the lap there were people yelling go Canada or go Andrew, people I didn’t even know. It was awesome; it made you want to go as hard as possible. Another highlight of the race was when you came down the technical rock section and the crowd of more than a hundred went crazy for you. It made me want to go faster and smoother every time because the better you did it the louder the crowd got. On another note Bruce and Daisy were there as my Nova Scotia home town and I could pick them out of the crowd every lap and that was really nice. So the race stayed the same until the last lap when I caught up to Mitch who had had a serious crash in the rock section. When I passed him on the last climb he gave me a friendly push and I was off towards the finish. The last few sections of the course were the best; my position had been decided so I just rolled the sections with a huge smile on my face really happy about what I had just done. So I ended up forth in my first World Cup MTB race and my team mates won the race and got third so it was a really good day for Canada. It was only the top three on the podium so I didn’t get a podium picture but I’m sure I can at next weeks race in Bromont.
I’m in Bromont now and I rode the race course yesterday and I’m going to ride it in a few hours again. I’m looking forward to Randy and Enid coming up to see my race on Sunday and I’m hoping they get some serious cheering hard wear ready; cow bell NS flag etc. I would also like to thank those who have helped my to get this far; my family, friends, my coach Andrew Feen, CSD, Kona, Terry Tomlin and Oakley and everyone else at home cheering me on.

The Pass? Conquered.

CSD Gets Paid in Men's and Women's Events
The Closely Associated Press
7 July, 2009

Be they mountain stages of The Tour, Iron Man events or launchings of NASA's Endeavour, perhaps anything that must begin as early as 9:00am is destined to be monumental. Hub Cycle's inaugural endurance mountain bike race—Conquer the Pass—threw riders across 100km of blueberry fields, snowmobile and ATV trails, access roads and singletrack. Like Leif Ericson or Chris Maccandless surveying a new-to-them continent or psyche-scape, ashen-faced riders peered over mud-speckled number plates; each new horizon offered a new materialization of epic, prompting an effect last paralleled by the first data stream sent from the Lunar Rover.

CSD brought a sizable swat team to the battlefield: The Old Man, The Grallerz, Fresh Ben, Quadz, Da Burge, Marty, Ant'ny, D-ral, French Connec, and Chops. Notably absent was MAC-10, who reportedly got nervous of the prior weeks' rainfall and found a bachelor party to attend, excusing him from admitting to his fear of slippery rockies and rooties.

As per usual, CSD created their usual scene by pulling in and blaring the sound of asinine youth throughout the parking lot. Once kitted, second Camelbaks were taken to one of the awesome volunteers who drove them out to the 45km marker. With 5+ hours on the pain train in prospect, a variety of fuel management strategies were adopted. Chops hit Cytomax for the first 45km, accompanied down the hatch by 5 gels, before switching to 2 liters of straight coke/3 more gels for the final 55. Other riders rocked a mixture of Powerbars and electrolyte capsules. It was reported to the press that Lazza actually raced without water, relying on spray from the monster full suspension bikes ahead to hydrate. In place of H2O, he had a bladder filled with norepinephrine complete with a cerebrospinal shunt to his brain stem. This prototype Camelbak proved to have side effects particularly antagonistic to Ol' Marty, some of which nearly caught air off the dose-response curve—slamming Marty perilously close to a lethal dose. Lazza: Not to be Fucked With.

The riders started with a fire truck lead out provided by Wentworth's Conor Scallion. Brad Cameron drove the lead moto, having which was a first for Atlantic Canadian racing. With 4km of dirt road under their wheels, the pack burst into the forest with a blast of Conor's horn. Lazza grabbed the race by the vas deferens and stomped the first 400 meters of washed-out climbing in his old school xtr 46 tooth big ring. His effort crushed a pre-school's worth of KOM dreams, as only TT, Marty and Chops remained in contact. Chops screamed in vain for our favorite fireman, yelling out that it was 400 kelvin up at the front and that he needs to bring up another oxygen tank, but he'd decided not to contest the summit's $100 prime and was out of earshot. (He'd later take a wrong turn, and himself out of contention.) Soon the group dramatically lost some elevation, while TT gained steam. The Old Man blew past Chops and Lazza on a scree covered double-track descent, making use of every millimeter of his Stakh's suspension—a theme that would continually replay.

Starting the KOM climb only Chops remained on TT's wheel, with Marty and Lazza fighting to regain contact. Neither TT nor Chops knew where the KOM actually was, however it was Chops who reacted first to the sight of Jeff Sims waving the cash in the air like he could sneeze some Gs or cough a stack. (Chops told the press later that he decided he'd go for it with the idea that if his back went out later he'd still have something to show for the day.) TT, for the first time in the collective memory of journalists world-wide, then suggested that he and Chops "take it easy" and "ride social". The polarity of the Earth suddenly reversed, amid the downshifting of the moto. Marty and Lazza soon made it back to the front lines of the War of Attrition.

With the KOM out of the way, the group of four settled into a calm rhythm as they pounded across the blue berry fields. A paceline was established, but a sly Lazza soon began to skip the odd pull—knowing full well that TT would gap him on the descents and that he'd better keep his reserve tank topped up. Like a younger sister tattling on an older sibling, Marty was having none of it. "How long till we have to ream him like Carson?" exclaimed a jubilant Marty as he recalled the Halifax Crit. Chops nearly slipped a disc with laughter, while TT maintained composure/the pace. Lazza took Marty's number, and resumed pulling.

There were three hallmarks to the course: moisture, elevation and rocks. Turning back into the trees, the group tore down a fall-line ATV trail descent. Tubeless tires strummed the tops of wet baby heads, as lines were picked in the macro sense of apexing corners and using the banks of the wash-outs rather than paying heed to individual rim denters. TT lead the pack in what would become one of the defining moments of our reckless pursuit of shred and stoke—catching the moto. Brad looked back just in time to see TT and Chops barreling down on him and had to run clean off the trail to get out of their way.

200 meters after that highlight, however, TT fell victim to his own brutality. He slashed his rear tire and couldn't get it to seal again with his co2. Chops waited for a few minutes but left in pursuit of Lazza and Marty when the co2 couldn't hack it. TT had to wait a reported 17 minutes for a rider to come by with a pump so he could get his spare tube onto the front lines.

Greeting Chops in his chase of Lazza and Marty was an epic climb; it paralleled the Cobequid Pass at the section a few km from the toll—truly steep shit. Chops would later report that he could see the silhouette of Lazza waving violently at Marty as they rolled over the top two-up. At the top of that Atlantic Canadian K2 of a climb the crew rolled under the 104 through massive culvert tunnels, emerging into more blueberry fields. Chops made contact a few minutes later, and the trio began another granite minefield of a descent. Chops, likely needing to recover from his ego shrinking experience of chasing Marty, hit the front and mashed it as soon as it got rough. Martin sprang onto his wheel like a young Simba, only to have an old Scar claw him savagely upside the head, exclaiming "Don't EVER cut me like that again. On these bikes (hardtails) you actually have to ride and pick lines; I can't fuckin' see with you right there. Marty muttered under his breath about owning 4 hardtails and calmed his amygdala down until the next climb...

With the trail angling upwards once again, Marty opened a clip of maximal aerobic power on the washed-out trail, gapping Lazza heavily. Chops resumed control of the front lines and began to forge a cruise-control pace; something sustainable for both himself and Marty, yet fast enough to roll into the 45km check point looking like the tourdefrancers they are.

The check points were another highlight of the race. At 45km their second Camelbaks greeted them in a neat row on the ground, and kids swarmed them with jujubes, orange slices and granola bars. They were the first ones there, and the kids were probably on a sugar high. Lazza showed up a minute or two later, and begged they give an old man 30 seconds. Chops offered some chain lube as a peace offering. Marty burped.

Rolling away into the second half of the course, Chops slurped on his coke and rode tempo on the front. Lazza decided to roll his own pace and teleported to no man's land. At 60km, with thick forest to our sides and turbines wooshing overhead, a fissure opened in Marty's armor. He popped off Chops' wheel, but was counseled to bridge back up and not turn his back on UNICEF, lest he refuse a free ride to a larger gap on Lazza. He ate and drank up, and didn't let that happen again.

Coming through the start/finish area at 70km, Chops decided to put the hammer down. With 5 km of highway until the next (brutal) climb, Chops strove to make contact with the moto. Marty fell off once the pace lifted, and Chops reported that he heard Bruce Dickenson's voice crooning "I'm runnin' freeee, yeeah, na naah" from his tires as they buzzed on the pave. The course took a right onto a huge dirt road climb that paralleled the ski hill, just 10km further down the valley. It soon turned to snowmobile trail, a transition that was marked by a narrow bridge lined with sharp, rusty, hard to see rebar posts. Chops smashed his arm on one, causing endorphins and expletives to flow at 70 psi. A family in lawn chairs took him by surprise as he cursed that rebar out like Easy E.

Riders in the 30km category had started before the 100k crew made it onto the last section, and jumped off the course in a confused panic, as the roar of the moto shocked them before Chops said "on your left" followed by a "you too man, keep shit real." With one of the most brutally placed and longest climbs of the day behind the Camelbak, the second most brutal streambed descent greeted the field. Think 20 years of ATV-caused erosion, covered only by a diverted Amazon sent by the bike gods for extra lubrication and excitement as it coursed around tire treads and steamed against brake rotors.

Bursting out, saturated, onto a fast banked-corner dirt road descent to the LaFarge gravel pit was most welcome at this point in the race, as any time spent with relaxed hands at 40km/h was making time—riders told themselves that "it can't be long now at this pace". Chops followed Brad out onto the highway and tucked on top of his bar for the 70km/h descent; motor homes crept by; gawking kids squealed. The climb up toward the Hostel followed the highway section. Passing htgir fo yaw, Chops prayed to the gods of high modulus carbon fiber to keep hamstring cramps at bay. The course took a right and dove down the fall-line right before the Hostel, careening through the hardwood over the last baby head section of the day. This took the crew out to a highway, where Brad stopped the moto and yelled "take it home!" to Chops. The last 2km was spent winding through single lane grass paths, manicured by the provincial park to the standards of the PGA Tour. 4:50. 21km/h average speed. Sun-drenched satisfaction.

Chops cleaned his shit up and began to blast Girl Talk (official sound of CSD), and TT rolled in. He'd overtaken Lazza and Marty (who pinched a UST tire—christ allmighty) and made up metric tons of time after his tire slash debacle. Who knows how things would have turned out had he not flatted? Chops remarked that he was feeling great, and was deeply saddened by the misfortune of others. (He's just a sucker for pain and wanted to get pushed harder. —Ed)

Graller Power crushed the women's field by over 50 minutes (with a detour off-course) to balance CSD's load of ice for the haul home. She began snuffing bitches out right at the beginning, as she also snatched up the Queen of the Mountain's $100. Truly a heavyweight performance driven in part by the numero uno on the front of her Era. Randall finished equally stoked on his life, remarking that he'd searched his soul and found reflections of his entire life out there in them hills. Holding your bike above your head? Old School Cool.

Quadz had a vision quest of his own, disconnecting himself from the field in the beginning along with D-ral. Quadz remarked afterwards that it was probably the longest ride of his life, and how killer and surreal it was to be riding stuff at full gas that you'd never consider subjecting your cherished race bike to otherwise. D-Ral was likewise stoked on it, having never done that sort of epic long-haul off-road randonneur shit before. He and his 29er held it down and will be back for more.

In closing, Chops remarked to everyone within earshot that it was a day well, well lived. The definition of quality time. Lying in the sun after the race, the crew discussed the dissolution of the conscious mind in the face of such sustained effort and preoccupation—walls are broken down; back of the head thoughts ebb and flow with the mud, clouds, fork oil and ferns. Hitting kinesthetic potential in the area of evolutionary adaptedness fulfills at the level of the hindbrain.

The stoke afterglow is going to last for days.

Thanks to Bruce, Brad, Daisy, Conor and all the volunteers who made it happen!

-CSD

Upper Clements Wild Ride - More Valley Than Valley

Yo playaz, it's ya boy 'Chops postin' up with another story of how CSD's big guns blew a hole in the troposphere. Hold onto your Cytomax!

Martin, Christophe and yours truly blasted out of D-town bright and early, setting the car on auto-pilot (so I could send shit talking texts) for Annapolis Royal - a most quaint locale deep in the right ventricle of the Valley. Even the team car knew that today we were business men calling collect, as WOT passing ensured that those with kleenex in their rear window saw only a flash of number-plated carbon overhead before we blipped over the horizon a la Deep Space Nine.

Team Car 2, piloted by Quadz, carried The Grallerz - who's roadside enuresis wasn't helped by a departure early enough to permit a stop at JustUs! in Wolfville. Da Burge occupied the cockpit of TC3, with co-pilot Young Gun sitting shotgun and Robertson tail-gunning.

The course was directly across the road from the amusement park, and CSD made sure to thoroughly amuse the parking lot as we hauled in sideways behind Da Burge, popped the trunk, slathered the chamois cream and ran bass while airing up our tires.

I hadn't raced UC before this season, and I'd heard horror stories of the massive fall-line ascent that greeted lost souls as they sped off the start line. I was expecting a Martock-like death march, and warmed up in a panic as I thought TYG would be out for blood like Dracula with OCD popping SSRIs. I guess much of the climb of yesteryear was peppered with bits of new singletrack, as Sunday's course rocked harder than De Beers. The climb was about 10 minutes of middle ring for the A category, with two steep pitches interrupted with some false flat woods road and one section of singletrack. Following this was 15 or so minutes of awesome singletrack; "more valley than valley" is what I declared it by the day's end.

I was last getting to the line (nothing new) due to my massive warm up, and following our tradition of amusing bystanders and fellow riders, locked it up and slid in sideways between Da Burge and The Young Gun on the front row. People laughed. The Young cheered. 20 seconds later we were off and TYG actually let me take the lead. Da Burge tried to snipe the holeshot into the singletrack but I swerved at him like Maverick and reached for his front brake.

I led up the climb and into the singletrack at a steady pace, fully expecting TYG to gaze down at his kids' polaroid before punching the afterburners. Everyone was happy for me to maintain front-control, and I began yelling for Burgess (who had a bad climb), hoping my motivational messages would carry through the canopy and empower him to make contact. With Marty on my wheel shit talking flew into high gear; In the spirit of Chris Cornell I yelled back to him: "what does a rooster make?" (Martian/rooster cawing ensued). "What does a hyena make?" (Martian/hyena yipping ensued.) "What does a BURGESS make?" Martin began an infantile cry but was almost immediately interrupted by a stampeding Burge - the crew was back in formation.

Starting the third lap Jeff Sims of Hub Cycle (who's riding great this year) stepped up to the plate and smashed some fine china - leading up the climb. Reminiscent of Marty on a WBL, once Jeff found himself in front of CSD he hammered dangerously close to the Danger Zone, and came over the top with the tach buried in the red. I shaved a thorn bush and sniped at the apex of a left corner onto a false flat section of the doubletrack, and led into the upcoming section of single. In a clearly audible spasm of upshifting XTR, TYG was on my wheel in three or four heartbeats.

I put it down in the singletrack and we ran hard like Kowalski , quickly gapping a now-recovered Burge and co. With Lespy still glued on my wheel coming over the climb, I put everything I had into the descent and following singletrack, gaping TYG by a few seconds. Heading into the climb I knew his sinewy young carcass would catch me inevitably, and put it on cruise to stay ready for the devastating attack that would surely come. He caught me just before we hit the "halftime singletrack", but like a strangely patient piranha, let me set the (albeit recovery) pace. Tension was running high when we burst back out onto the climb, and TYG let a few more meters flow beneath our Crossmarks (hoping I'd cowl over in fear) before emptying his clip on the steepest part. He gapped me immediately, but I dug in, convinced I could go the distance and made it back on his wheel by the top. In classic Tomlin fashion I immediately attacked and took the initiative on the descent, and hammered with reckless abandon through all the singletrack. I'd joked about us coming to the line together halfway through, and it was looking increasingly like a two-up drag to the line. I hammered the big ring (heartlessly cross-gearing) with 500m to go and got ready to do what I've been doing best. I led around the final turn and then with only 75m to go we threw our javelins and clawed gravel.

Our loudest and bestest grrl held it down to smoke 6 big burly men in the B category, finishing 13th. Enid also held steady with The Corporal - propz. Honorable mention also gets thrown to our chief messenger playa. He threw a brick through Rob's Escalade to set the Halifax pecking order into a fury of beaks and large talons.

Thanks go out to Heidi for her gracious donation of mad photojournalism skills - you rock.

Till next time, crew. Stay strapped with stoke and keep your hearts dirty :)

-'Chops

Chops: 1:23:11
TYG: 1:23:12
DA BURGE: 1:27:08
Jeff Sims: 1:27:21
Marty: 1:31:50
Fast "Married Man" Eddy: 1:32:47
D-RAL: 1:36:35
Roberstons: 1:37;25
The Corporal: 1:42:25
French Connec: 1:43:37
Smyatt: 1:43:54
Quadz: 1:48:26

-------Pics are cut off. Click 'em for complete version--------

Nations Cup

Its been another couple of weeks now of racing out here for Zach and I, heres another more formal race report update on things. We had a double weekend in BC 3 weeks ago, that was setting up very well for the team. Zach was in the early break and our guy Shawn for the finnish just sat in all day, I was covering moves till about half way when we started riding tempo to bring back the break and then I was on the front with Andrew Pinfold and some other teammates for quite a while, till there was a selection and I was the only one from the team left other then Shawn. Then 2 guys got off the front so it was back to the front of the group for me chasing with one other guy and when we hit the final roller I got dropped and cruised in just hoping Shawn had enough left to take Zach Bell for the sprint for 3rd but unfortunately another rider took him down with 300meters to go and so the team ended another race without the real result we have been looking for. The next day was a crit, the race was less attended unfortunately but looked like a good opportunty for us to get a little win. The race started well with Zach and Adam Thuss of red truck being the move, which was perfect for us to have the break one on one with Trek. Next Dave Vukets bridged up with me and Marsh Cooper, making it 3 on 2, not as good, but still okay, Zach and I were feeling strong so I thought it was still a good move for us. Then Jamie Sparling, another trek rider bridged up and it was 4 on 2, and a few laps later the attacks started the 4 of them constantly attacking for a half hour until Zach and I both got dropped from the break with Adam, leaving a break of 3 team time trialing away for the win, and us just getting in the top 5 with Shawn in the sprint, who had unfortunately been crashed again that day.
The weekend after we went down to Enumclaw, a classic weekend stage race on the washington calendar. I wrote a little report for the team website www.teamhrblock-kona.com if you would like a detailed race report, we had an okay weekend and got Cyrus in 5th overall I did finnish unlike the results say, far back though despite feeling pretty good all weekend, but I did a lot of work on the front in the road race and crit.
The tuesday after I flew to Quebec for the nations cup, which I was really excited for, doing a world cup race in your own country is an awesome experience I was really looking forward to. Unfortunately the morning I went to the airport I woke up feeling very sick with a fever, headache, bad cough and it didnt get any better by the time the race started on thursday. Its a bit of a wierd spot for such a race, Sanguenay kind of like Abitibi, you drive to Quebec city then head north through the middle of know where till you think your going to fall off the edge of the earth and then theres a town, with a world cup bike race. I was okay to sit in the pack on the flats even when it was going 60+ but we hit the first kom right after another climb. I started the first climb near the front so I could drift back but didnt get back up in time for the kom one and was just off the back over the top, but the commisaires barraged the caravan to make sure I never saw the group again and I was dropped for the day coming in out of the time cut ending my week just where it began. After the stage the director sent me to the medic who immediately drove me to the hospital where I stayed for 5 hours to get a blood test and chest x-ray without eating anything after the 140km stage. Luckily I didnt have phnemonia or bronchitis its just a viral lung infection or something that has triggered my asthma and made it a lot worse. I am getting better now, just have a bad cough, but am hoping to be well enough to race the BC cup this weekend in Kelowna. After that we are headed to Calgary for the Banff stage race next week, where I was really hoping for a good result, but now may just be looking to get some last minute fitness before flying back to quebec for nationals. This was another pretty unexciting report, I promise the next one will be more entertaining, thanks for reading.
Garrett

Hometown Hell-Raising: The Halifax Crit

Wow. Like, for real. It's been a long time since I've gotten in from a race day as stoked to be alive and crawling around my speck of the globe as today. Think absolutely perfect weather, my favorite people on earth, freshly paved closed roads and a thoroughly unprecedented good vibe surrounding the whole event. A CSD victory on top of all that pretty much overfilled our stoke tank!

Things kicked off after work on Saturday with Downtown's going away party. (Basic Training.) We hit Mac-10's crib hard and got our drank on. Alcohol is what dragsters burn, right? Maybe our tubular-draped bros of yesteryear were onto something... Our girl K-balls also dropped in from T-dot to see her fellahz and grlfrnds - planets don't align for such a heavy partyosphere like this more than a couple a' times per lifetime. I think there were as many empty jager bottles as Coronas - there were more bombs launched from that kitchen island than the USS Nimitz.

Post Mac-10's, we posted up at the ol' dirty-aka The Dome. Cheers was first sessioned, and more fuel was heaped onto an already roaring fire. Most kicked it upon the stroke of two, but CSD's finest simply saw them off with a bum-slap and promptly took root on the dance floor like a venus fly-trap growing out of a moldy ki. Oh yes, race prep was in full effect.

Getting to bed at 4:30 doesn't do much for the old MAP, but memory(ies) on the other hand? With our crew that shit's in the fine print. With 5 to 6 hours of sleep slathered on top of our club legs we sauntered into the armory and got our lovely bristol-board sized BNS numbers. Picture this: We're behind the chain-link parallel with the sidewalk, beside the armory. Most are on their rollers/trainers hammering like rabid hamsters. I'm shirtless, sitting on the curb fucking with my numbers. Lespy's car is pulled up, and it's blasting Girl Talk. People are walking by and staring at this display, while getting slapped in the face by Rick Ross mashed with Stevie Nicks. As the kids say: "yeeeee - das it".

On the line sat all of CSD, the PEI Canada Games team, choice players from NB and all the usual suspects from Nouvelle-Ecosse. Probably 30-40 strong; the pack won't be larger this season. The first move that stuck was a painful (for me) break of TT, Lorenzo, myself, Carson and McKewian. I cracked after 10 minutes of that brash warm-up, as did Carson. It was absorbed and some smaller moves took off. Our boy Geoff went out and hunted down a preme. The NS Canada Games team, headed by Geoff and Lespy, held shit fairly in check. That they did so in front of all the world to see is still warming my heart. Coming into the last few laps, Brian and Geoff were still off the front, and tension was high in the thick of the peloton. The chase was on but Geoff attacked an unresponsive Brian to stay out for the win. BAM.
Brian held off the charging field for 2nd, with TT winning the field sprint for 3rd. Not bad for a 41 year old piece of hungover meat. ;)

After the awards we hit the course again to take in more of the sunshine and awesome vibe of the "street party". HRM Bike Week? Mardi Gras? Yeah, pretty much. After the kids race (which was awesome, especially TT motivating his progeny with engine noises :) came the fixxie race where TEAM DYNAMAX crushed all comers with their mad strength and skill honed on the banks of the London velodrome to the Prospect Rd. DeeRal took 2nd thanks to our polite cheering from corner 4.

With the fixxie fix sewn up we headed to Dairy Queen to people watch and soak up more sun. I told D-Ral that a cone was the only option befitting of a man who enjoys the purity of a clutch-less, lugged cycle. The crew concurred.

What could serve as a finale to such a fulfilling day? I suggested we get our floraphilia taken care of, and mainline some singletrack. We met at Spider for 7 to cram as much living as possible in this 24h chunk of our lives; breathing deep in the damp air of the slightly moist forest, one now bursting with a green seemingly unseen since our days of poaching the Appalachian Trail. Ashley rode Skull Trail for her first time, and Da Ral hitched onto the pain-train.
That's what I'm talkin' about - step up, or step off.

Life is for living, crew. Even Rihanna says so!

Chops is getting some sleep. Pics to come.

BC racing

So this is another less entertaining more formal race report, but hopefully it at least makes sense. Zach and I have been out in Vancouver for almost almost a month now racing with team H&R BLOCK-KONA. Things started out hectically running around getting bikes put together for our first race out here as well as trying to find a place to stay for the summer, hooking up the internet etc etc but were finally all settled and focusing fully on the racing. The first weekend was the Race the Ridge BC cup I didnt have high expectations for myself as I was quite sick but Zach and the rest of the guys were looking for a good result, but it wasnt a great weekend in the end for the team. The next week we headed to penticton, which is pretty much the canadian dessert, we had some nice warm days and put in some solid rides with amazing climbing, my first time ever doing climbs so long, I think the longest was around 24km but each day included a few major climbs, and a little motor pacing one day as well. The next week the weeknight crits were cancelled due to rain, but Zach and I still managed to do a big week, finnishing it off with a the triple crown ride saturday (climbs seymour grouse and cypress) for a 6 hour day, and then 3hours sunday followed by an hour behind the boss Alistair on a Scooter for some pacing and sprints. In the end it worked out to about 1200km in 10days so we had much higher expectations leading into our next big race feeling much stronger. That next week Zach won the thursday crit, increasing the motivation even more before our trip down to wenatchee for a weekend omnium race. The TT didnt go so well for me, I had some bike issues and couldnt get into a rythym at all, and Zach flatted so the overall already wasnt looking so good, our best guy was 10th giving him one point. The twilight crit was a little better for us with Zach being super aggressive off the front all the time, and another teammate being in the major break for the day, I gave a few efforts one with a lap and a half to go but didnt get much of a gap and it was all back together a half lap to go. The next day was the big day our whole team was much more suited for, a tough 110km road race with 2 18km climbs. An early break started by a teammate went super early, and then it was just basically try and hold Ian Mcissik’s (2009 paris roubaix finnisher) wheel up the climb as long as possible one of our guys stayed in the front group of 5 with Zach and I and another teammate leading the second group over the climb. It was a super hot day making it even tougher. it never came back together after that first climb and I rolled in 14th but the team had a much better day getting a 5th and 9th as well. Overall it was still a bit of a dissapointing weekend as we were really looking to get a win but all the big races are still to come, we have a long road trip for the team finnishing up with nationals starting soon. I’ll be heading back to quebec in a few weeks for the Coupe de Nations with the national team as well, it should be a good month of racing to come!

Our director Alistair gives twitter updates at races when he can if anyone wants to follow from our team website: http://www.teamhrblock-kona.ca

thanks for reading and ill make these less condensed and more often now that we have internet,
G-Money



we also hit the skate park testing out the sweet new Konas during team camp

Baie-St-Paul: Canada Cup #1

This year I decided to focus on mountain bike racing instead of doing a bit of both road and mountain. To achieve my goals in XC racing I have to race the Canada Cup series that take place all across the country. I will be doing most of the races in Quebec because it’s just so convenient. So there was the first Canada Cup of the season last weekend, May 17, and it was in Baie St Paul which is a small town about 45 minutes from Mont Sainte Anne. The town was very nice, as you arrived in the area you were greeted with a fantastic view of the town with a nice 6 k decent into the town. When we arrived we went right to the place we were staying, the Auberge Maison Otis, which is apparently an upscale joint. We had a condo there with three bedrooms and a great kitchen. As soon as we got there we went for a super chill ride around the town for 30 minutes to just get the legs moving after the long 12 hour drive from Nova Scotia. On the trip we have CSD’s own Ben Bschaden, the up and coming Ryan MacDonald from Pictou County and me. For staff we have the CG coach Andrew Parsons and the assistant coach for the project Tony Corbin. The next day a pre ride was planned and we later found out that it would be at 3:00 due to a Contre la Montre (Time Trial) that was taking place on the course. At a little before three we were on the course riding it together slowly just checking things out. Andrew would stop us occasionally to talk about a specific part of the course, and give some tips for the race tomorrow. After the first lap I wasn’t too crazy about the course but that changed a lot when I hit it at speed the second time. After the first lap we all rode a lap together at out own pace, I decided to do it a little more quickly to see what some of the sections would be like at race pace. At the start of the lap I noticed what looked to be an experienced rider ahead so I caught up to him and rode behind him. He was riding a carbon Scott full suspension with the seat mast so I figured he was a good guy to follow. I found out the next day that it was actually Derek Zandstra, the winner of the men’s elite race. After the second lap I had fallen in love with the course, it had everything a cross country course should have. It had open climbs, technical climbs, open down hills and technical down hills, a running section and open roads re fuel and rip up. I felt really good about the race and with much encouragement from the bro’s back home I thought I could reach the podium. After the pre ride the staff made us dinner, and prepped the bikes. That night we tried not to think about the race too much and we went to bed early. The next morning I had the usual pre race food, oatmeal and juice followed by the hotel breakfast we get as well. We drove over to the course at around 10:30 for the noon start and we found a good spot and started running bass to make us feel like we were back at home with CSD. The play list included choice tracks featuring Girl Talk and various other fine artists. The music was definitely too loud but we weren’t too worried about it. We then got ready and warmed up. On the ride we ran into Emily Batty and we met her and she wished us good luck, probably the highlight of the day. We arrived back for 11:40 to be in staging 15 minutes before the start. Waiting by the start I got really nervous, just looking at all the other riders, I think I kind of second guessed myself for a second. When the start was delayed I got out of there and rode around away from the others and that calmed my nerves a lot. We started lining up at about 12:05. The elites, including Ben were to start 2 minutes ahead of us. All of us, not having CC points from the previous year were lined up in the last row, which makes for a quite a battle off the start if we want to rub elbows with the leaders. As soon as my race started all the anxiety that I had before the race went away and all I could focus on was racing. The first thing I had to do was make it to the front so I wouldn’t get held up when the race went in the woods. So after the start I passed most of the field of 40 to make it into maybe the top 10 or top 8 when we went in the woods. From there the pace was going really steady and I could see the leaders ahead. I rode at my own pace picking off riders in the technical section until I was in fifth place. After someone crashed and was off their bike I gained another placing and Leandre Bouchard and I were riding together. On the first lap I caught up to him in a really fast section and I thought that was a good section for me. So on the next lap, I made a move on the downhill before this same section, it was like fast technical double track through the woods, and then opened up a gap. I held that gap until the end of the race. For the rest of the laps I rode hard picking up many of the slower elites in the process. At the end of the race, probably in the last 300 meters I saw Nicolas Tremblay, who was in second, he must have blown up hard when Mitch hammered another minute gap on me on the last lap. So I finished third, 6 seconds back so I was really happy with the result. After the race we had a “family photo” with a couple dudes from the junior race who were really stoked on the race. Then I headed back to the car, called the bro’s at home, did myself up for the podium, which was really good, and drank a well deserved Coke. After the podium presentation we went back to the van and as we were leaving I ran into Emily Batty again and we congratulated each other on our results, probably the second or third best part of the day. It was a great race, my favorite so far I think. I couldn’t have done it without support from my family, coach and friends and from the project staff Andrew and Tony.

We’re now in Mont Tremblant living it up, staying on the mountain and we’ll give you an update on that soon.

Perhaps this isn’t the post you’re used to but I was going for the formal race report as apposed to the metaphor filled entertainment our boy Jamie writes.


Andrew L: TYG