Edmonton Mud
Friday afternoon we were checking the weather in Edmonton and considering whether or not do the 6 hour drive at all. It looked like the course was barely rideable. But then we thought about all the hard work and enthusiasm put in into these races by our friends in Edmonton. Mud is a part of the MTB racing package,so we decided to suck up the 6 hours in the car and took some DVDs for the kids for the ride.
Arrived to United Cycle to pick up the race package,and thanks to our friends up north I was honored with coolest possible number plate. The plate does come with extra pressure,but that is just a cost of coolness I guess.
Went and pre-rode the course. It was super wet,but not too sticky. At 20psi the Captain Controls were griping well on the roots,I even enjoyed the ride. But after 1.5 laps my drive-train packed up badly and I felt like I would risk a chain break if I continued riding. I was signed up for both the Masters and Single Speed race for Saturday,but considering the conditions I decided to only do the Single Speed race. You can call me Pudding.
On Saturday we could have slept in if our kids weren’t overexcited about the unexciting Days Inn hotel room. The usual story. After free brekkie at the hotel and coffee at Block 1912 we arrived to the race course and watched the morning racers. Boy were they muddy. It was a sunny morning and apparently this course gets a lot worse when it starts drying. The wet mud has become very sticky mud. If I had a choice I would have chosen more rain and wet conditions,but Mother Nature would not listen.
BIG thanks to Shawna AGAIN,this time for watching our trouble makers while we race. We even had enough time to mix our drinks and warm up! Luxury.
Both Bogi and I raced the single speed nationals category. The race started interestingly as we were asked to follow special instructions for the first lap. What made it interesting is that the instructions conflicted with the blue Shimano tape used to mark the course. No worries,somehow we managed to find the course and I took the lead with hometown favorite and brand new daddy David Roberts on my wheel. Had a little gap,just in time for me to go down and loose it all. Dave passed me as I was being really clumsy getting back on my bike. Dave rode the technical sections well,but I seemed to have better running legs today. Passed him back before a long running section and created a nice gap between us. The course was getting better by this time,the second lap I could ride more sections. Finished my shortest race of the year in about 58 minutes in first place.
Bogi also rode the muddy two laps. Unfortunately she had mechanical,and probably too much pressure in her tires (all my fault). No rear brake and bouncing tires did not make the ride fun for her. We need to convert her to Stan’s and maybe even to 29er if she keeps single speeding. She finished 2nd in the Single speed women category behind Alana Haise. Alana gets the “Toughest Rider Of The Day”award as right after she finished the SS race,she continued in the Women’s Elite field with the same muddy single speed bike!
2011 Canadian Singlespeed Champion Gnome
In the afternoon I was helping Graham Torrie and Gordon Jewett in the feed zone for their races. It was fun to watch the fast Elite race.
The awards brought us 60 cans of Kokanee,and the awesome champion Gnome!
To continue the good habit,I will do some trail running tomorrow. I will need that for the Bow 80 anyways.
Ride on.
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