hey guys,
so 12 mile #5 was yesterday, it was fun and went pretty well. Finished in a tie for second place with teamate Justin. The run didn't go as well as it has before and i fell behind a bit. Then i got on my bike and stated to go. Started to sit in to a pack but then realized that Justin and Andrew were on their own up ahead so it was time for me to jump up to them. Caught up and had no problem holding on and working with them. I could have pulled but i just didn't, dont really know why. Then got into the trails and i was third behind Andrew and Justin. Things were going good. Then we got to the gravel road again and JC went for a pull, i sat in behind him then desided to jump him right before the single track but so did justin and he's a little faster sprinter so he won it. For the rest of the race it went sort of like that. Then we had a sprint to the finish and we tied on the corner of the bridge.
I feel like i could have pushed harder but i was stuck behind justin. He started to get tired and i noticed. However he still had enough punch to beat me in the sprints. Good race, lots of fun, looking forward to Canal days and having a great race there, and the next 12 mile.
Cover Photo
Thursday, 28 July 2011
Friday, 22 July 2011
kelso tuesday nighter
So on tuesday i went up to kelso with Katlyn for the weekly race they hold there. We had done a few of them last year before the O-Cup there and that was our plan for this year aswell. The went pretty good. Going in to it i was a little sore from the weekend's training. The plan was to practice pacing people in the single track and also passing some there too. First lap i just sat in to get an idea for the course (it was a pretty sweet one as always). Things went well. Second lap trevor and i started to pull away a bit. Wasn't pushing to 100% but still pushing a bit. He was a local to the area and so i thought i would hold his wheel through the trails and learn the good lines. Third lap i passed Trevor and started to pull. in the single track i heard Trevor fall. I held back to see if he was ok and and then it was my cue to drop the hammer. Ended up taking the win!!!
Good race, had a little trouble onthe climb with the loose gravel and sand. Also i found myself slipping around on some of the corners. I'm going to have to play with the tire pressure to find the right one.
Can't wait for the next one, and the 8x12 this week
Good race, had a little trouble onthe climb with the loose gravel and sand. Also i found myself slipping around on some of the corners. I'm going to have to play with the tire pressure to find the right one.
Can't wait for the next one, and the 8x12 this week
Friday, 15 July 2011
Buckwallow
This is the race and course that i've always had mixed emotions about. during pre rides i absolutly love the course but once the race starts things start to get sketchy. Last year when i raced here i had a few mechanical issues (ie. cracked frames and my seatpost dropping on me at the start). But anyways this year:
The tuesday prior to the race i went up with the lib boys and we got the lib school bus rollin through thoses trails for a good 3.5 hours of solid riding. This was a tone of fun, the course looked great and i thought i was ready for the race. I still had a little hesitation at one point in the elite section, West D' Nile, but this section was so cool.
Saturday made my way up with Andrew and met up with Justin at his cottage. We rode over to the course and did our customary 3 laps then rode back to the cottage. Later we rode over to a beach and gooffed off on a Tarzan rope for a while then rode back. i felt ok at the end of the day, but was a little worried i may have done too much work that day. We had a great pre race feast, as always.
Race day came with a cooler morning, but soon the temperature rose and became the scortching day they called for. Got a pretty good warm up in with andrew even though his knee was killing him. LIned up at the start and was ready to rip it up. I was confident and excited cuz i had a chance at podium because Bretton and Marc-Antoine were in Windam.
The start was great, had lots of power and settled in the a train of the top 5 guys : Dan, elliot, Corey, Dominic, and myself. Everything was going great, we were flying and i was keeping up no problem, we started to put a little gap on the chasers, then we came to West D'Nile and things were downhill from there. Unfortunately i had did a stupid screw, something that shouldn't have happened. We turned a corner and i went to tight and hit a rock and crashed, my chain fell off at the same time. I had to stop and put it back on. When that was all done i was in last place, and stuck behind these guys throught the rest of Wst D'Nile. We got out and i dropped the hammer in attempts to catch the others, i mannaged to catch the chase group of: Micheal G-P, Daniel HIll, and Ian Bagg, at the start of the second lap but by that time i had just blasted out the hardest lap ever in the hot weather. I was beat, my energy was dropping and so was my motivation. They dropped me again and that was it.
I managed to finish the race, i thought of dropping out a few times, but said "No i'm going to finish". I caught and passed Ian because he was cramping bad. I finished in 7th place ( but something like 11 minutes back) not my day for racing.
Oh well thats mountain biking for ya, unpredictable and crazy.
I'll come back at kelso and do great, i love that course and it suits all my strengths, that will be a great day for racing, hopefully!!
Catch ya guys later
The tuesday prior to the race i went up with the lib boys and we got the lib school bus rollin through thoses trails for a good 3.5 hours of solid riding. This was a tone of fun, the course looked great and i thought i was ready for the race. I still had a little hesitation at one point in the elite section, West D' Nile, but this section was so cool.
Saturday made my way up with Andrew and met up with Justin at his cottage. We rode over to the course and did our customary 3 laps then rode back to the cottage. Later we rode over to a beach and gooffed off on a Tarzan rope for a while then rode back. i felt ok at the end of the day, but was a little worried i may have done too much work that day. We had a great pre race feast, as always.
Race day came with a cooler morning, but soon the temperature rose and became the scortching day they called for. Got a pretty good warm up in with andrew even though his knee was killing him. LIned up at the start and was ready to rip it up. I was confident and excited cuz i had a chance at podium because Bretton and Marc-Antoine were in Windam.
The start was great, had lots of power and settled in the a train of the top 5 guys : Dan, elliot, Corey, Dominic, and myself. Everything was going great, we were flying and i was keeping up no problem, we started to put a little gap on the chasers, then we came to West D'Nile and things were downhill from there. Unfortunately i had did a stupid screw, something that shouldn't have happened. We turned a corner and i went to tight and hit a rock and crashed, my chain fell off at the same time. I had to stop and put it back on. When that was all done i was in last place, and stuck behind these guys throught the rest of Wst D'Nile. We got out and i dropped the hammer in attempts to catch the others, i mannaged to catch the chase group of: Micheal G-P, Daniel HIll, and Ian Bagg, at the start of the second lap but by that time i had just blasted out the hardest lap ever in the hot weather. I was beat, my energy was dropping and so was my motivation. They dropped me again and that was it.
I managed to finish the race, i thought of dropping out a few times, but said "No i'm going to finish". I caught and passed Ian because he was cramping bad. I finished in 7th place ( but something like 11 minutes back) not my day for racing.
Oh well thats mountain biking for ya, unpredictable and crazy.
I'll come back at kelso and do great, i love that course and it suits all my strengths, that will be a great day for racing, hopefully!!
Catch ya guys later
Monday, 4 July 2011
Road Nationals
So this weekend i decided to race at Road Nationals. I thought it would be as race just for the experience, and that's what it turned out to be. Unfortunately I could finish the race, i only finished 3 of 10 laps. There are probably many reasons for it but i don't want to be a complainer but i dropped mainly because one of my spokes on my front wheel. As well i was trying a new energy drink and it didn't taste good so i didn't ddrink much and so i was most likely dehydrated.
So the first lap was going fine, i was in the peleton holding on well, on the climbs i was keeping up without much problem. then on the way down i think is where the breaking of the spoke happened. And so my wheel was no longer straight, it was rubbing on the brakes. At the bottom of the hill the group started to pull away on the flat. When a hill came i caught up again and was back in for a bit, until the next flat. So i think that the rubbing and the dehydration may have had something to do with that. However they were pretty strong.
I got dropped at the top of the first bigger climb where there was a flat section on the second lap. After that i was on my own.
For the rest of the second and third lap i was on my own and start catching up to a few people who were being dropped of the back of the group, and passing them. I was noticing that my spoke might be broken at the end of the first lap and the start of the second. I didn't want to quite then i thought, no way Jose am i going to quite yet, i wanted to a least finish half the race. But i was being passed by all the groups behind me so i thought i'm going to get nowhere.
It was cool to be there, it was also fun to watch the rest. I was upset i didn't get to finish the race. I thought that i would be able to hold onto the group for the whole race, and it was disappointing to have to DNF. Oh well lesson learned, dont try a new drink during a race.
Congratz to Katlyn for an AMAZING race, finishing 5th overall. (her second ever road race). Also congratz to Etzl for a super race, unfortunately his gear failed him at the last sprint. Congratz to all other racers!!
Now i'm back in the MTB business for a while!! With Buckwallow this weekend. Tomorrow i'm going up with the team LIib guys for a a few hours of riding!!
Peace out guys
So the first lap was going fine, i was in the peleton holding on well, on the climbs i was keeping up without much problem. then on the way down i think is where the breaking of the spoke happened. And so my wheel was no longer straight, it was rubbing on the brakes. At the bottom of the hill the group started to pull away on the flat. When a hill came i caught up again and was back in for a bit, until the next flat. So i think that the rubbing and the dehydration may have had something to do with that. However they were pretty strong.
I got dropped at the top of the first bigger climb where there was a flat section on the second lap. After that i was on my own.
For the rest of the second and third lap i was on my own and start catching up to a few people who were being dropped of the back of the group, and passing them. I was noticing that my spoke might be broken at the end of the first lap and the start of the second. I didn't want to quite then i thought, no way Jose am i going to quite yet, i wanted to a least finish half the race. But i was being passed by all the groups behind me so i thought i'm going to get nowhere.
It was cool to be there, it was also fun to watch the rest. I was upset i didn't get to finish the race. I thought that i would be able to hold onto the group for the whole race, and it was disappointing to have to DNF. Oh well lesson learned, dont try a new drink during a race.
Congratz to Katlyn for an AMAZING race, finishing 5th overall. (her second ever road race). Also congratz to Etzl for a super race, unfortunately his gear failed him at the last sprint. Congratz to all other racers!!
Now i'm back in the MTB business for a while!! With Buckwallow this weekend. Tomorrow i'm going up with the team LIib guys for a a few hours of riding!!
Peace out guys
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