The Squeezer

Man what a day of racing. Yesterday was my first crack at the elite field in the Liberty Bicycles squeezer. I had a goal to make the top 5, but nearly every elite racer in Ontario decided to come out, so I would have been happy with anything in the top 10. Lining up against Ontario's finest in my home town was a very cool feeling.

I got my first ever call up; for being the fastest local, and started beside Etzie who is the fastest young local.

Morka pulled everyone along down Ontario St, and over the St. Paul bridge, and I sat near 5th. I got boxed a little on the bridge, but moved up to second wheel before the left turn. Hughes lead the first part of the gravel path, with myself on his wheel, then I lead up the small hill, putting in a good dig. I was off the front now with Mark Batty on my wheel. I pulled for a bit then slowed for him to pull through, but he didn't till we where almost caught. Glassford took over the front and I grabbed his wheel, holding second spot almost all the way to Decew road. I was feeling fantastic, a little uncomfortable on the climbs, but holding his wheel through the single track felt effortless. Going through the last bit of Marv's new trail, I clipped a small tree with my pinkie, and it steered me off the trail a bit. I came to a stop, and let the rest of the train go by to avoid slowing them down. Zandstra, Hughes, Batty and Wagler went by, and I slowly got up to speed with them still in sight. I caught back up, but was now red lined, hanging onto Zacks wheel for dear life. They slipped away a little before the road climb, and I hammered up that hill like a mad man knowing how important it would be to have a group to work with on top. I could not catch them. I felt like I was dying at the top, and took forever to get moving on the flats. I was gasping for air and my whole body felt like jello. Still though, no-one was in sight behind me. Before the first turn, I saw someone coming, it was Watson. I tried to recover a bit before he caught me, so I could grab his wheel and try to work with him. No luck. He came by at Mach 2 and I was closer to being blown over by his wind disturbance rather than tucking into it. So their I was, all by myself, truckin along, trying to hold off the strong men chasing.

I was alone all the way till I came out to Decew again for the long climb. Anton caught me there and helped me get up the hill quickly. I led through the singletrack, then he pulled me down Wiley Rd. He also pulled me along the reservoir trail, and I owe him a huge thanks for that. I was still trying to recover from earlier and was lacking power big time. Through the new bypass trail I washed out on some sticks, and Anton got a gap on me. I never went down, but my chain fell off, so it took a few seconds to get rolling again. I caught him at the end of Suzanne trail, and Morka caught me at the exact time. We each did some work, but the pace was not insane in the last km. Anton pulled to the hill, and Morka started to sprint there. I felt bad for Anton because he came out of his pedal going up the hill, taking him out of the sprint that he would have won, and deserved to much more than I did; but thats racing. I hung onto Morka's wheel and tried to come around him in the last few meters, but was only able to tie him. I think our photo is still under review, so I may be bumped up to 7th.

It was an exciting finish, and and we got the crowd really fired up. I was actually hoping to be in a sprint, because I had some friends watching, so it worked out perfect.

Can't wait for next year. A big thanks goes to Kurt @ Liberty, the volunteers and Marv/SHCC for the trail work. I'm stoked to have some new singletrack!!

Thats a wrap