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