2009 Year End Wrap-up

So 2009 is now the past and it's time to reflect on the season and learn as much as possible from it. Last year was the first season I took racing seriously and actually raced the full MTB O-cup series. My winter training prior the season consisted of snowboarding and playing beer pong. Nothing else. I said I was gonna do a core workout daily, but when I got sick around Christmas I stopped, and never started again. Sure snowboarding is very physical and does take a lot of leg strength, but even when I'm shredding hard my heart rate remains fairly calm and I can't remember ever breathing heavy. I did walk up and down the learning run hundreds of times while teaching lessons as it's faster than riding the carpet, but the elevation change at the top of that was like 20ft.

So that aside, when I moved home from Blue Mt. I felt fresh and very eager to get back on the bike. I rode strong right from the get go but I remember having shity endurance and thinking I was gonna have a heart attack after riding up Sailors Hill the first time. Luckily I didn't and with plenty of free time to ride before work picked-up, I got fit quickly and made a top 20 my goal for the first O-cup in Mansfeild. I set my goal low because was my first race in Senior Sport, the Field was huge and I had little confidence having only been on the bike for 3 weeks prior the race. I managed to lead the pack up the opening climb and thought holy fuck I can win this. My weak lower back quickly reminded me I was in poor shape and others started to get by me. I still finished 5th which I was proud of, and I learned what I had to do if I wanted to get faster.

O-cup #2 at Albion was basically a repeat of #1. My back still hurt, I finished 5th again and Zach Tatem dominated again. The only difference was that it was a lot muddier and I finished stronger. I gained 4 positions on the last lap and finished very strong. My endurance was better but I was still not riding as strong as I knew I could. With another 5th and such a strong finish I wanted to make the upgrade to expert. All I had to do to get the upgrade points was ride the 3rd O-cup like I did in the first two and I would have plenty.

O-cup #3 (Canada Cup 3) at Hardwood hills ended with the worst crash I have ever had. I was not riding smooth at all in the tecky stuff and I went down when I clipped a tree but I was back up in no time and no others were around. Not long after that in the singletrack right after the huge boulder with the crate on it was where my race ended. As I rode the boulder I passed a guy taking the detour and carried as much speed as possible to put a gap on him. Next thing I'm rounding a turn and I hear a loud snap and I'm suddenly flying through the air. I was in the air long enough to thing "was that my fork that snapped? was that my wheel? was that my frame?" When I landed I looked back and saw my frame folded in half like a Dahon. It was my frame and my race was over. I looked down at the big root that caused my crash and wondered how I missed the damn thing. A couple minutes later another rider in my cat hit the root as I did and flipped over the bars. He and his bike were fine though.

My frame broke clean in two at the down tube and top tube. I guess the root was to high for my fork to absorb at all and the force got transferred right to my frame, which couldn't handle it. Luckily my injuries were only scratches and bruises, but the bruise on my right thigh was pretty bad. When my frame snapped my leg went into the down tube leaving a big scratch in the shape of the tubing and causing the bad bruise. I could hardly walk for a couple days and all I was thinking about was if I would be healed to race the next O-cup (a week later) and which bike I would ride. I was good to race and Ben from Liberty! hooked me up with his Kula Supreme frame (same as the one I snapped) which I rode to 2nd place, and got the points to upgrade.

After Hardwood hills I steadily improved my riding and my results got better and better. I had some great performances at two Ontario Marathon races and finished 5th at the Ontario championships (senior expert), but my best performance of the season was at Paul's Dirty enduro 100km.

I started the Enduro slow and found the first 40km of the race to be the most difficult part where I hovered in the top 6. I felt like I wasn't riding well, but kept thinking how long the race was and waited patiently for my legs to find their rhythm. It took about 35km till I felt good and I started ramp it up. I past some riders and just before the 40km feed zone I saw Ben Dawson, the leader. He was still a couple minutes up and I lost time as well as a position when I stopped to fill my bottles and remove my arm and knee warmers. When I jumped back on the bike I felt warmed up and was ready to put the hammer down. I figured I would catch the guy in second in no time, which I did, but Ben would take a while. I think it was about 1/2 an hour till I saw Ben again, but I kept riding calm and efficiently slowly closing the gap. When I caught Ben we rode together for a while and chatted to pass some time. I lost him a couple times, once when I stopped to fill my bottles, and once when I flatted my front tire. I was going tubeless and luckily the sealant plugged the hole and all I had to do was top up with a CO2 cartridge. That flat happened right before a feedzone (I think 60km) where I stopped to fill my bottles again knowing I was losing more time. When I got going again this time I was frustrated that I lost Ben again and figured he would ramp it up to build his lead. I was riding strong but not smart now and clipped a tree or to and went off the trail multiple times where it was leafy and hard to see. Although I was riding shity I caught Ben again on some doubletrack while he was eating. I past him and led him down a long fast hill. At the bottom I looked back and he was not there. I looked ahead at the big climb coming and told myself "I going now" and I went. At the top I checked back again and no one was there. My legs kept going strong for the rest of the race and it was just a matter of riding smart to take the win.

When my Cateye said I was 90km in I knew the victory was mine. Then shit hit the fan. The course went along a gravel/sand road with some good climbs and descents on it. The road kept going, and going and something felt wrong. I started to go down a long descent but rode it slowly looking for arrows telling me where to turn. I saw none. I saw cars parked at the bottom and knew I was at the starting area. At the bottom I saw an arrow and followed it; it took me to the finish but it felt wrong. I celebrated the win anyways, but the timers where not even ready for the leaders yet. I told them what happened, and they confirmed that I missed a turn. A lady brought me to the guy in charge of the course. He grabbed a map and we found where I went wrong then he got a guy with a ATV to show me the way to the trail. Riding back up the hill sucked, but I felt better when I was joined by Tim Carlton who was leading the 60km race and a couple others. This meant that the turn was unmarked and not missed. I asked Tim if he had seen Ben, and he hadn't, so we put it together that Ben Had made the correct turn before Tim caught him. Lucky for Ben he knew the turn from having won the race so many times, and took it. I had lost way too much time to catch Ben again, but I gave it everything I had to make up time and ensure second spot. The ATV driver stopped at the turn to direct the rest of the racers into the trail. Race organizers assumed that Vandals tore the arrow down and said that if I had slowed and looked down that trail I would have seen a marker ribbon 100ft in; but what race leader is gonna slow down enough to see a ribbon 100ft away down a trail that wasn't marked? Fuck'n way she goes. I still got recognized at the awards and have a free entry for next years race. No one was to blame, no feelings were hurt, and I will prove that I am the real king this year.

Other highlights of the season were: winning FallFest at Holiday Valley, Winning a Sprint primium at the Welland Twilight Crit, Finishing Second overall in the Ontario Marathan Challenge series and crashing four times (two where less than 10m apart) at the only Liberty! 8x12 race did. Oh and of course taking the team title at the Squeezer and crushing our rivals the Trail Hogs.