Provincial Cross - Brian Kullman Memorial - Calgary

Speed Theory Club put on Provincial cross champs in Calgary. The course was designed by Keith Bayley who sets trademark courses for good technical fun. (awesome photos courtesy R. Haskell)
Location was in the McKay schoolyard tucked underneath the colourful children's hospital with great views of the Edworthy Park hillside. Small but hearty turn-out for a spectacular warm autumn day. The winds made sure to pick up just in time for the Women's start.
Two dismounts for most riders that couldn't power up a hugely steep incline and the other was a long staircase. I was able to attack the stairs 2-steps/1-step. The height-advantaged men racers went 2x2 impressively fast. After a few swooping sections, the sandpit was all of 5 feet in length at the base of an off-camber steep descent. Easy to plough thru.
It was impressive to watch the men power up the steep incline cleanly, or battle each other when they toppled over each other!
Off the start (I am still shocked at how fast we go) I attempted to hang onto cross specialist Pepper's wheel for all of 400m(?). Fortunately, all the corners were wide and swooping so passing wasn't a concern.
I was breathing so hard thinking it must be due to my two past sleepless nights spending time with my cat recovering from surgery (kept bumping into the walls with the conehead!). I could see Shantel and Bridget very close behind and realized we all had similar positions from races past.

After two breathless loops, I chilled at a pace I could breathe and work the technical sections well. Once thru the long grassy straight sections, it was a fun fun course with full-on action!

nice legs shot! photo - R. Haskell

Beans 'n' Barley Cross - Calgary

First race was the Sport/Citizen race with alot of first time riders including -Dilbert-. The course had nice swoopy sections, with little technical spots, one set of barriers, a couple dismounts and some open fast spots.

stolen photo from United Cycle blogsite - thanks!

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Dilbert raced in flat pedals with work shoes i.e. not clipped in! Dogbert barked commands the whole time. It wasn't easy with Dilbert's big head all mushed into the cute flower helmet and his pants falling down. Dilbert looked pretty unravelled by the end. His pocket protector and 4 coloured pens stayed intact! The inserted Sportiva spikes in the shoes helped for the hike-a-bike uphills... with even more hills to climb than normal with loss of power of not being clipped in. It was awesome he didn't get lapped! and wasn't last. It helped to have a few downhill bikers in the race.
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Proof that Dilbert raced!

Officially Dilbert has no last name. Entered him with his cartoon creator's last name Adams.

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Unknowingly, Darcy got into the role of cyclocross racer support as I had 20 minutes to switch pedals on my bike, unzip-tie Dogbert from my cables --carefully--, and get into my race gear. Darcy had previous experience being my support for a Sea2summit adventure race so was used to my short chirpy commands. Thanks bud!

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With the adrenaline rush of adventure racing transitions, I was super pumped for my race. Off the start I was glued to Mical's wheel. It was quite fun to hang and tuck behind from the wind.

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Mical's Shadow

photo - Darcy Reynard

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Shantel descending into singletrack with the blinding sun

photo - Darcy Reynard

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Witch Alana powering with the hat in the wind

photo - Darcy Reynard

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Skeleton Mical

photo - Darcy Reynard

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Marg just hanging on

photo - Darcy Reynard

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Into my 3rd lap, I was overly aggressive on the fast mountainbike-like descent cornering hard on grass and leaves and almost had a nice washout. Saved it... then almost washed out on the other side... saved it... caught up to Mical and laughed. Moments later, I had a huge energy depletion... that was too close of a call... and got gapped. Chilled, rested up then put another effort into catching back up to Mical. All in all, lots of fun!

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Annie, Marg, Mical, Shantel

photo - United Cycle blogsite

Roving Race Announcer

Dilbert blending in with the fans enjoying the chili and hanging out at the firepit

Halloween Fun

the boys

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awesome costumes

Dilbert being cool with Elvis

Pedalhead Super "Sunny" Prestige Race

Sunday, the sun was out and it was a nice warm afternoon to watch the Expert and Elite Men's races after my race. The course was held at Goldbar park on the cross-country ski trails. It was a "fitness" course with sheer fast distance to cover. There were no demanding corners though lots of climbing and fast descents. Only one set of barriers I swear came up over my knees which was a good section to watch and get a few laughs at my style.

Caught a photo of Robin Baillie thru the very cool sandpit section that was rideable with speed and bodywork.

Labyrinth at the Devon Dairy Queen Double Dipper

The Labyrinth Snail

The Labyrinth cyclocross maze

photo - Mike Dickinson

United Cycle designed a unique course which included going into a Labyrinth for a few complete circles, turning and then exiting with another couple circles. It was dizzying the first time going thru. Each time it was more and more fun to see how much speed I could keep before the complete 180 turn. Check out video footage from Darcy Reynard.

Weather was cool at 5C, windy and spots of drizzling rain - not so bad when we were racing. The course was frozen in the morning and the muddy sections softened up by the time the women's race was on.

With my poor starts at last weekends race due to actually believing the starting commands.... "15 seconds... go" and meanwhile only 5 physical seconds go by... I was adamant to be ready this time.

Now, I was all ears and bursting to go after that first command... "15 seconds"... "10 seconds"... I'm really ready... "5 seconds"... Now, I'm chomping at the bit... "you can go when you're ready"... what the heck does that last statement mean, I was ready 10 seconds ago - whatever, I took off! Within two pedal strokes I could tell no-one else had taken off when I did. We expected a "go" or a "horn". It didn't feel good to have escaped early though I did what the command said... I was darn ready to go!

photo - Mike Dickinson

After the first chicane, I was leading only due to accidently blocking Pepper from passing me on the right. I then veered to the left as we both laughed at the collision. Ha, I laugh whenever I see these barrier shots as I can barely hoist my bike over!

Darcy impressively climbing the slick muddy hill in the Sport Men's race. The hill got even slicker for my race and I chose to run up every time. Good thing as no mud glued onto my tire for the immediate slimey descent.

Darcy descending the screaming slimey descent which was much like creamy peanut butter

with p o w e r the sandpit was rideable...
photo - Mike Dickinson

the gals - Bridget, Loni, Pepper, Marg, Katy

Fall-time running fun in Edmonton

Just ran the last fall x-c race tonight. This run series is one of the highlights of living in Edmonton. Seven x-c races in different locations each Wednesday night in the fall-time. It draws over 200 people, young and old, fast and slow. I think the first one I ever ran was when I was 16 years old and racing with the Edmonton Columbian Track Club. It's great to see old-time runners come out of the woodwork, and friends from all sorts of places.

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Rain, Snow or Shine - the race goes on!

Marg wearing Kahtoolas!

Photos - Allan Santos

Remington Cross for Kids - Calgary

The weather seemed cooler for Sunday. After pre-riding the course, I felt warmer with the higher humidity. The course was confined to a small corner at Canada Olympic Park due to COP already laying snow down. It was strategically designed with an awesome road climb then twisting all over with a few blind corners. It was nice to have a stair climb and a sandpit instead of barriers to hike over. Each loop, I tried to maintain more speed in the swooping corners. Definitely fun climbing sections for a climber! My hands got cold probably due to higher humidity. Glad it was only a 40-minute race!

Deadgoat Craig racing while the snowboarders descend in the background

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Contemplative faces at the women's start by the bobsled track

The course started with a pavement climb descending into twisty corners on the grass. I had a slow start on the climb (?!) and was working my way to catch up to Mical and Caeli.

focused - I only went thru the yellow tape once. The tape was abit mesmorizing!

Darcy running thru the long sandpit section
photo - Finn Pedersen

I hate putting my arms up!
photo - Finn Pedersen

Awesome riding my Ridley X-Fire!! Fit was perfect. I could reach the brake levers with added spacers
photo - Finn Pedersen

Blow Street Super Cross - Calgary

The Deadgoats set this fun race up in a small residential park. The course took great advantage of the whole area and had us ripping back and forth on the flats with some nice twisty spots around the trees. I played Superwoman before the race changing my race attire umpteen times. The snow melted during the Sport and Expert races before me and the temperature was increasing. Good group of women starters. Being my first cyclocross race since 2005, all I knew was to look for Mical's wheel (super-pro mtnbiker).

Squeezing into 2nd spot behind Mical just before the first corner
photo - Darcy Reynard (fisheye specialist)

Mical riding thru the evaporating snow
photo - Darcy Reynard

Marg swooping thru the corner before the hurdle-height barriers!

photo - Darcy Reynard

Julie cheering with bells... I believe she cheered "go away marg" when I passed by!

photo - Darcy Reynard, bells - Mical's mom

Smiling muddy faces - Marg & Shantel

photo - Darcy Reynard

1st x-c ski of the season Oct.15th!!

We had only a few inches of snowflakes fall the last couple days. I quickly took the storage wax off my skate-skis and went to Victoria golf course in the morning. There was just enough snow to glide over the manicured golf course grass. It helped that coach Corey already set his own tracks the night before. Super sweet to be on skis again! A couple hours later, the snow was all melted.

Dust off the Cross Bike

Last weekend, it was fun watching the Canadian National Cyclo-cross championships in my hometown. The sub-freezing snowy conditions made it treacherous for the racers. I was super motivated watching all the women persevere. Enough so, that I traded my "massive" Lemond frame in for a spiffy 41cm Ridley X-Fire. Thanks to Guri at Pedalhead Road Works. Off to race a double header in Calgary this weekend. Last raced cross in 2005. Hope I remember how to dismount/mount correctly!

Ain't she sweet...

Farewell Okanagan

My last few weeks have been filled with awesome rides with strong riders in the Okanagan valley. Long distance rides with Leah Goldstein who is off to storm the ultra race Furnace Creek 508 this weekend. Wicked fast rides with lots of elevation while glued onto the wheel of pro-Ironman athlete Scott Neyedli.

Marg & Scotty at the IM-Canada famed spot in Keremeos

Dipping into the lake was a treat after any of these rides. The great Sunday road group ride and very social Tuesday night mtnbike rides were awesome ending with a good meal with the mtnbikers after. I got one last epic mountain bike ride in with an old Edmonton rider Andrea Bergen. We were in awe of the fall colours and the wicked singletrack.
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A few cool sitings... sitting in the chalet, movement outdoors caught my eye. Three bears strolled into the yard!
The little black bear warned his mom I was watching so she had both of the cubs climb trees. The brown one climbed 30 feet and the black one climbed 50 feet - amazing to watch up close! Mom stayed guard below.
Later I caught them leaving on the beautiful rock face next to the chalet. It was cool to see them though I'm tired of cleaning up their poop!

My least favourite uninvited visitors are the raccoons who now come in little packs of adolescent teenagers at dark. They party it up, create havoc until I chase them out with the broom. Other sitings were California Quail and deer. No mice seen this year, yay. The coyotes howl in the early morning on a regular basis - pretty wild to hear.

Length of the Lake

It was awesome to take a day off as a spectator as I went to watch the Length of the Lake race. It started at Kin Beach in Vernon, had pitstops in Fintry, Bear Creek, Peachland, and Summerland before hitting the end of the lake in Penticton around 100-km later. Years past, I had wanted to do this race as a solo surfskier though never had the chance.

teeny OC6's barely seen in the top corner view

1st speedy change-over at Fintry

off go a fresh crew...

What a day the paddlers had with major winds churning up through the day making a long paddle seem even longer! OC paddler Shirley Benson - weary and smiling!

I loved sitting out on the dock watching the change-overs, either outrigger or surfski changes. Some solos went by. Watching the paddlers go off into the huge windy waves put a smile on my face... I guess remembering the good paddling a few years back and mostly loving paddling into the waves.

Intuition or Whining?

After a great race in Tahoe, I thought it'd be cool to get in the epic Bow80 for some more great riding. The Bow 80 is the utmost greatest race course I've been on in all my races around the world, right in my own backyard... well, it's Alberta. The conditions had been super dry and fast. I made the 7-hour drive on Sat and hung out in West Bragg Creek with the Hughes family, getting a kite airborne and enjoying the wilderness surroundings.

Super early race morning it was raining. I was optimistic that the forecast for 1 mm was going to pass. Hanging out at the race start pre-daylight, I was wide-eyed wondering if the rain was going to let up. It was probably 5C at 5000'. I tossed around the pros and cons of going out to race in the rain wondering if I was "whining" for not wanting to go out! I've done enough "survival" events and really wanted to ride the excellent trails... health was a concern and lack of body fat! As the rain came down harder... conclusion... get the car running! My drive back was brilliant with autumn colours as well as fresh snow on the mountain peaks. I wondered how the race was going as I drove off...

Awesome recaps of the race:
Dallas Morris - "Wow"
Gabor's "Pedal for your life"
Cory Wallace - "Double Header Gongshow" (the Snow80!)
Old lady intuition wins out on this one!

Test Ride in Tahoe

Within a week span, I had a dust-laden 2008 Scott Scale 10 shipped from a small bike shop in Oakville, new brake set put on by Evan down at Gregg’s Greenlake Cycle in Seattle so I could run Stan’s notubes ZTR Race 7000 wheelset… and zipped off south to Soda Springs, California at 7000’ elevation. Nothing like testing the bike out in a 100-mile ultra-endurance race in Tahoe country!

My old trusty Trek had been stolen when my car was stolen back in June. Since then I have only put around 4 hours of mountain bike time on my first race bike from 1995, an 8-speed Stumpjumper. Thanks to all who helped with parts (Ed, Di & Al) and offers to lend bikes (Trevor, Cindy). The thought of my lack of mountain bike saddle time scared me just a little for this race!

The course started with 8 miles of mostly descent. I was surprised to maintain a quick pace amongst the men and didn’t even think of the crazy speed we were taking on this bumpy forest road together. I stuck with a strong looking woman ahead of me and realized it was Louise Kobin, my TransAlp race partner from 2005. Wow, Lou has since gotten amazingly more powerful and dominated the pace for the climbs. She was dropping the boys like flies!

Looking at the course on paper, there were a lot of fire roads and only 2 sections of single track. In reality, the first 10-km single track was plenty long and brutally rocky. I was pretty beat after descending this long technical section. As I rode by a prickly high alpine brush, I was left with little welt marks and winced each time. The scenery high up was outstanding which I mostly took in peripherally as to keep my focus on the blazing trails.

Elevation gain 12,500 feet - long jarring descents

The feedzones were a welcome sight and I partook at almost all of them. The volunteers were awesome grabbing my camelbak to fill it and lubing my dry chain with oil. The course was ultra dusty. I was caked head to toe in dust.

The 2nd singletrack section was part of the Western States 100-mile running race. It was amazing following a cliffy ridge line. I chilled, took my time and enjoyed it. This was only 55 miles into the race. And it seemed like a longgggg way to go yet.

Lots of climbing left. I cried when there was yet another descent. My neck/shoulders biceps/triceps hands/fingers were just -aching-. Yeah, I loved using my new Formula R1 disc brakes a lot, maybe a little too much on the descents! New to the disc brake world, I was wowed by the control they gave over the speed of the bike. I had a few twitchy moments where I thought I lost it… though the bike worked with me and I was upright the whole time.

The Selle Italia SLR saddle on my bike was sweet, comfy, though was cut slim. It had no outward part to rest the thighs during descents. My inner thighs were whipped on the long bumpy descents as I tried to brace on the nothingness of this saddle. I may have to switch it out for endurance races.

The last 10 miles to the finish was a slog for me. Eating bits of HoneyStinger berries and dates helped keep me going. Dates are my new favourite energy food - taste like carmel candy with the bonus of quick glycogen energy.

Weather was perfect with an overcast sky keeping the blazing sun toned down. Most of the course was shaded in the trees. I finally made it to the finish 9 hours 22 minutes. Lou finished 25 minutes ahead of me. Tinker Juarez won the race and Canadian Cory Wallace from Jasper came in 2nd. Cory has been getting into incredible adventures with great stories on his blog.
I stayed at the Clair Tappaan Lodge a couple miles away run by the Sierra Club. Inexpensive like a hostel and has awesome chef made meals. A group of online guitar members got together for a Groetsch guitar specialty weekend. Nice to hear the jamming of music as my weary body got some rest.
Going to this race was a highlight for me... the scenic drive down, the frantic prep getting the bike together, visiting friends on-route in Seattle and Ashland. Most of all, it was my first mountain bike race in 2 years since my health got quirky in 2007! I was thrilled the whole time riding being back in action!!

Post-race sand & sweat covered - my new bike!! ...all 18.5 lbs!!!

Thanks to Mike at Notubes for sending me the wicked Race 7000 wheelset. I've run Stan's notubes system since 2003 and I won't go back to using tubes again. My new ZTR Race 7000 wheelset is only 1225 grams! I set them up with Kenda Karma tube tires with a couple scoops of Stan's sealant inside. Had my first experience with blowing a tire off the rim using a footpump... the ringing in my ears had me flop on the bed for a few minutes. I will never overinflate again! With Stan's setup, I run my tire pressure at 17 PSI in the front and 20 PSI in the rear. The lower air pressure gives me alot more grippy tire to ride and lets me rip faster descending (as long as I remember to let go of the brakes!). I have no fears of punctures as the sealant does it's job sealing the puncture if it happens. I haven't flatted - I haven't noticed!