Photos by Brad Chisholm
The full results from yesterday’s great racing can be viewed [here]
More photos from the event can be viewed at Dave Roberts’ flickr [here]
Provided by Sheldon Smart of Bikeridr.com
Last weekend was the Deadgoat, Summer Solstice Suffer Springs XC race in beautiful Kananaskis country. This race should simply be titled, ‘the hardest race of the ABA XC season’. I know there isn’t much of a ring to it, but it’s much more accurate. Over 1,400 meters of vertical climbing in just over 12 km. Now I shouldn’t make it sound all bad, because I mean after all, what goes must come down, and despite massive amounts of rain the week before and all the mud, the down part was more than worth it. Good times, good times.
For me this race was about three things: Ken, Sam and Gord. Simply put, I wanted to beat all three of them, haha… ‘Lofty, this goal was’ (as Yoda might say). I’ve never, ever beated Ken and Gord has been crushing me all season. Then there was Sam, who had laid a sound thrashing on me at the Bacon race. Beating all three was a long shot at best, and I knew that, but what’s life without goals.
When we took off, I watched Gord blast off the line and very quickly disappear, totally. Scratch goal number 1. Sam also shot off the line and took position 5 or 6 spots in front of me. It was a little while, maybe 3 or 4 mins before Ken rolled past me, with not so much as a word (bastard :-). I’ll point out here that I said something unique like, ‘good job, man’. But yeah, Ken ignored me and just rolled right by. I watched, helpless, my lungs were already searing as Ken caught up to Sam just at the beginning of the day’s first real climb. At this point, I felt like hell, and it was all I could do just to keep pace, never mind jump up on Ken’s wheel. So, it wasn’t long before Ken was pulling out of sight. Scratch goal number 2.
I knew more than likely, barring a crash, I wasn’t going to see Ken again. So I set my sights on Sam, who was still only a few spots ahead, and halfway up that first long, long climb I caught him, and passed him. I figured I might see him again in time, but for the moment I wanted to believe I’d managed to achieve 1 of my goals.
It’s a long and grueling race though, and strange things can happen. People can recover, find a rhythm and come back. Though I didn’t see Sam again after that first climb, toward the top of the second last climb, maybe 8km in, I looked up the hill and who did I see? Gord! I was shocked in a way. Mostly because he’d been out of sight, and out of mind for so long. On the other hand, I wasn’t that surprised because this was Gord’s first true mountain race, with real climbing. I had thought before the race, that maybe he’d have a harder time with it, and I’d be able to take advantage. So, there he was, not 30 meters away. Goal number 1 was back on the table! The bad news was he was near the top and I had a lot of climbing to do to catch him. I have to hand it to Gord here though, he saw me catching him and he wasn’t haven’t any of it. He recovered at the top and then put the hammer down. I tried to catch him, but when I got to the bottom of the last downhill, and saw he still had a solid gap on me going into the flats, I knew it was over. He just pulled away and by the time I hit the line, he had well over a minute on me. Gord took 10th, and I rolled in just outside the top ten in 11th place, once again… haha… Good times.
Big hats off to the Elites who rolled out 3 laps + a prologue. That was a tough, tough course and three laps of it is impressive, indeed. Thanks too, to Deadgoat and to Bow Cycle and the volunteers. It was a great race, and the weather was made to order.
Full set of photos here
June 15th
Team Cyclemeisters/ Bow Cycle
www.cyclemeisters.com
This past weekend saw the 3rd edition of Team Cyclemeister’s Iron Lung XC at the magnificent Canmore Nordic Center. In 2 days we saw over 600 racers take advantage of the sun and spectacular weather in 2 days of racing. New for this year was the introduction of the RMCC Little Lung kids race and the Organ Grinder 5hr Enduro on the Sunday following Saturday’s XC.
Along with the addition of the new races we also debuted the Nordic Center’s incredible new trail network. Laid out and cut by none other than Matt Hadley, this trail network was intended to be a race course from the get go. Racers were treated to a course the required every bit of technical skill and fitness that they could muster, but it also rewarded them for their intense efforts with flowy trails that could be ridden by anyone, but only ridden fast by those with skill. Giant grins were the order of the day on both day’s and although the course’s were extremely demanding they were just plain fun … goofy fun! Everyone was definitely ready for the fun to come back to MTB racing it seems.
I won’t go on, but “best ever course” is a pretty bold statement when you’re at the Nordic Center, but that is what was being said by old and new racers alike … perhaps another Canmore classic has been born!!
Cheers,
Team Cyclemeisters
Full results are available at www.zone4.ca
Photo’s at www.craigdouce.com
Rider race reports …
Dry conditions and summer like weather made for a great day of MTB racing in Edmonton, as 55 racers participated in round 1 of the Spring MTB Race Series. A big shout out the the Hardcore crew for putting on such a great spring series MTB race in Edmonton this past Sunday. It was a great in between a tuesday nighter & a regular ABA sanctioned event.
The 4 Lap results can be found [here]
The 3 Lap results can be found [here]
The 2 Lap results can be found [here]
More photos from today’s spring training race can be found [here] and [here]
Thanks again to Hardcore for hosting the event and we can all look forward to a double header weekend of spring MTB racing next weekend, with United Cycle and River Valley Cycle set to host round 2 & 3 of the Spring Racing Series. See you then.
Provided by Andy Holmwood
Records fall at Mt. Norquay ….
A combination of pristine new asphalt and warm, calm weather led to fast times up the Mt. Norquay Road on Sunday (September 13th).
Records, kept since 1991, were broken in four categories on the 5.4 kilometre course: Samuel Beaudoin of Edmonton’s Juventus club broke the record for Under-15 Men for the second consecutive year, setting a new mark of 15 minutes, 28 seconds, over one minute faster than his 2008 ride. Other records fell in the Masters’ categories where three Calgary riders set new best times. Sonia Utting put up a new best time in the Master Women 30 - 39 category, Mitch Klassen did likewise in the Master Men 40 - 49 category, and Pat Dodge (The Bike Shop) improved on the record in the Master Men 50 - 59 group.
Men and Women in the elite categories riders were able to crack the top-ten fastest times list; however records, held by Matt Anand and Danelle Kabush respectively, were not to be challenged. Edmonton’s Cody Canning (ERTC/Revolution Cycle) almost broke the 13-minute barrier - a feat not done since 1998 - with a winning time of 13:04, while Calgary’s Nik Vogler won the women’s competition with a time of 16:18, good for 10th place on the all-time list.
Local Rundle Mountain Cycling Club members were well represented on the podium. Junior riders Andrew Spahr and Sean Qi finished first and second, respectively, while Darren Anderson continued his fine season, placing third in Category 3.
The event was hosted by the Rundle Mountain Cycling Club.
Full results can be viewed here: norquay-results-2009
Provided by Race Organizer & Provincial XC Champ Cory Wallace
Last Sunday the Alberta Provincial XC Championships took place out in the wild hills surrounding the town of Hinton AB. Not only a race, this was also a wildlife tour as riders pre-riding the course were seeing grizzly, moose and a black bear with cubs. The organizers were hoping to put out jars of honey to attract more spectators for the Sunday race but the higher ups shot down the idea.
With close to a hundred racers/spectators camping onsite a game of glow in the dark frizzbie broke out late at night with Crazy Larry from Banff leading the charge. After a bonfire with riders trash talking each other, things were finally put to rest as everybody wanted to save a little extra juice in case one of the bears out on course got hungry on race day.
Sunday morning racers awoke to sun and blue skies with the temp reaching a high of 28 for the race. After the youth raced around a 6 km technical course in the morning the Elites lined up at 12:30 to tackle the single-track dominant 9.7 km course. The tough course was designed by Nathan Froehler back in 2001 when he hosted Provincials, and it had been grown over, but with a bit of work it was ready to go on race day and was sure to cause a lot of suffering. With fast flowy single track descents including a 6 minute arm burner and then a fast 16 minute quad path/single-track climb back to the start the course was rough on the riders as only 200 meters by the start/finish area was flat.
With a case of Big Rock on the line for the winner’s of the 1 km prologue loop the game plans for a couple racers changed as Jon Nutbrown decided he would give up his chance of a provincial medal and instead emptied the tank to claim his case while Pepper Harlton would out sprint Loni Klettle (Freewheel Cycle) to claim the Women’s case. After the prologue sprint the Elite men would settle in for 4 laps on the pure mountain biker’s course. Cory Wallace (Freewheel Cycle) rode away on the first climb with Cody Canning (ERTC) staying close for a couple laps before succumbing to the relentless course and eventually coming in 4 minutes behind Wallace to claim Provincial Silver. Roddi Lega (Pedal head) and Brian Bain (Bow Cycle) would duke it out for the final podium spot with Lega using his diesel engine dump truck to gap Bain on the final lap.
In the Women’s race local rider from Jasper, Loni Klettle (Freewheel Cycle) would out battle last year’s winner Pepper Harlton (Juventus) to take the Gold medal. Harlton, who is well known for her cyclocross riding was already preparing for this year’s season by riding her cyclocross bike in the race. Apparently the rough course took its toll on Harlton as Klettle was able to gap her enough on the descents to hold her off on the long climbs and came in over 10 minutes ahead. Claiming Bronze in the race was Shantel Koenig (Redbike) who was having a blast ripping down the endless descents while being able to work on her tan lines on the long climbs.
After the race riders were awarded their Provincial medals and then the annual Moustache competition took place, awarding the best male and female staches in the Alberta mountain biking community. With the winners walking away with jumbo sized cans of Heineken all the other riders were jealous and already talking about starting to grow there staches for next year’s event… which apparently may expand to include a night crit and marathon race.
Overall the race weekend was a great success thanks in large part to announcer and volunteer extraordinaire Crazy Larry who made sure every racer coming across the line had a smile on there face thanks to one of his smirky comments. Crazy Larry who is well known for announcing at the 24 hrs of Adrenaline races in Canmore kept the racers going throughout the day and singlehandly transformed a peaceful wilderness race into an ongoing high energy comedy show. After the race he was seen heading out with his backpack cycling back to Banff through the night.
Special thanks to Kona, Freewheel Cycle, Lakeview Inn and Suits, IGA, Coco’s Cafe and Morad communications for making this weekend happen!
Elite Results:
Men:
Gold- Cory Wallace (Freewheel/Kona) 2:15:16
Silver- Cody Canning (ERTC) 2:19:22
Bronze- Roddi Lega (Pedalhead) 2:26:49
Women:
Gold- Loni Klettle (Freewheel Jasper) 2:09:07
Silver- Pepper Harlton (Juventus) 2:19:18
Bronze- Shantel Koenig (Red Bike) 2:21:04
Full results can be viewed here: hintonprovincials09results1
Provided by Hardcore Racing
It was another great day of Alberta cross country bike racing. This stop on the ABA race circuit was in Devon for the Dust Up. In addition to being the last cup race before the geared provincial championships this race also saw Single Speeders duke it out for the right to be named Provincial Champ. Racers from all over the province showed up to brave the leg busting climbs and the fast as you can go flats. All 7.5 km of the course had ideal conditions as a few days of rain had made it nice and tacky. New this year was the start area, which took place right in the middle of the Devon Lions campground and provided great viewing opportunities for friends, family and a fans.
The first start saw the biggest group of the morning Novice Men tackle the course. It was a tough battle for victory in this category but in the end independent racer Alistair Hill took the win with Redbike’s Chris Ring in second, but only down a down a second was Jason Reid from The Sean Fahlman Experience. Sport Men was another large category and saw the top three ride away from the group and finish within about a minute of each other. ERTC’s Neil Reid finished first, Brian Loewen of Mud, Sweat & Gears was second and Hardcore’s John Clark (who later volunteered as a course marshal) finished third.
The rest of the morning results were as follows:
SPORT WOMEN
1.Bogi Gyorki-Deadgoat
2.Elizabeth Boschma-Pedalhead Racing
NOVICE WOMEN
1.Karen Fedoruk-Hardcore
2.Ramona Hill-Spin Sisters
3.Clare Neville-Spin Sisters
YOUTH SPORT WOMEN
1.Erin Middleton-Juventus
2.Sara Witzke-Juventus
YOUTH SPORT MEN
1.Graham Todd-Juventus
The afternoon saw the temperature rise as the Experts, Elites and Single Speeders sought glory. The women’s expert field was a battle for podium spots and after the dust had settled independent racer Judy Harlton had won the day with Amy Barnett of Cyclemeisters/Bow Cycle in second and Hardcore’s own Sandy Anhel was third. The expert men’s filed was a filled with quality riders and it would be a tough race but in the end Hardcore’s Peter Knight claimed victory and independent racer Alan Reain in second closely followed by Cyclemeisters / Bow Cycle’s Ryan Corey.
The Elites had the longest race of the day 6 laps of the 7.5 km course for a total of 45 km. Tim Heemskerk of United Cycle Racing/TREK/ GEAX TEST TEAM took the win. To celebrate his win Tim rode the 50 km back to Edmonton, just another day at the office. In second was Manuel Fehlmann of Pedalhead/Balance Point Racing who has not been a regular at the xc races this year but when he does show up he hands out the beats and rides hard. Hardcore’s Andre Sutton claimed third spot, as usual he only took half bottles in the feed zone which is a weight saving practice that seems to be paying off for him.
The Elite women’s race would be a battle of the top two women in the province, Juventus’ Pepper Harlton and Freeskool’s Loni Klettl. Pepper who was looking to claim back the points leader position had a solid start but the relentless climbing proved too much for her cross bike and a mechanical forced her out of the race. The day then belonged to Loni who took the top spot. Second on the day was to Shantel Koenig of Redbike followed by Katy Curtis of Cyclemeisters in third.
The true heroes of the day were the single speeders. They would be vying for the bragging rights of Provincial Champion. Eight men lined up at the start and by the time the dust had settled Gabor Csonka Deadgoat - Wiseracer.com won in 1:56:02, in doing so he passed most of the expert field despite starting 2 minutes after them. Last years champion Peter Yez from Mud Sweat and Gears spun his way to second while Derek Anderson Freewheel Fatties claimed the final podium spot. In the women’s race Lisa Lepoole of Terrascape was the lone competitor but that didn’t stop her from putting in a solid effort and definitely earning the right to be named 2009 Single Speed Provincial Champion.
This year marked the second bike give away. This give away recognizes youth leaders in the Devon community. The lucky recipients this year were Liam Armstrong and Hayley Marie Hicks. They got to take home a sweet new Gary Fisher Tarpons.
A big thanks has to go out to all the volunteers, some of whom raced and volunteered. Without them the race would not have been possible. Also thanks has to given to Hardcore Bikes the main sponsor. The Town of Devon, Devon Lions Campground and the Devon IGA also were key contributors in making this event a success.
Results from the 1st start can be viewed [here] and the 2nd start [here]
Check out more photos:
See you all next year for more dust and definitely more ups!
Velonews Pez Cycling News Cycling Tips Blue Collar Moutain Biking Chainlove Commute By Bike The Bike Lab
