OCup Racing 2010 but without the Racing

Burr... and now for the off-season!

As you might have heard - Northern Ontario really only has two seasons, winter and summer (or as some say winter and not winter). The flurries have flown, the cold is setting in - there has been frost nearly every morning in the last two weeks. The wind chill makes cycle outdoors a bit of a downer, more so than in the spring as then at least the days are getting warmer.

So, yes - the off-season is upon us Northern Ontario Cyclists. So what now? Well, we move inside and start off-season training. This includes, spin classes ( **which I have to tell you is quite different from riding a bike and well, listening to music while doing it is also quite inspiring** ) and primarily core work as I don't want to lose the form I've developed this past race season but rather improve on it.

So I've got a goal, now just to plan on meeting that goal for the start of next year's racing season. Based on discussions thus far - things will be different, perhaps a little more selective in the races attended but its early and still quite a lot of off-season between now and April 2011.

Anyway, from all of us at Burnt Helmet Racing - Thanks for following along this season - we appreciate the support and to our sponsers thank you for ensuring a safe, strong and enjoyable race season!

Thanks for spending your 30 seconds with Scott!

Dave + Deny finishing Crank 14 hours and 8 minutes Total

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Crank the shield Stage 3

Well its all done. They said it was going to be the easy day but far from it.
There were some monster climbs, unridable, unbelievable. The day started at Sir Sams and in classic style I was late for the start. By the time I finished my morning business and got outside all 250 riders were gone, even my tag team partner Dave. I put on my helmet, grabbed my bike and furiously road the road and ski hill climb until I joined up with Dave who claimed he was lollygagging until I caught up. Then we unleashed the crankin. There are some excellent climbs and fast single track. Then a super fast 13km road ride in which Dave and I demolished, cranking all the hills stand up style.
The middle of the stage had some nasty climbs.
In the end we crossed the line in 3:53 and in 7th, our consistent placing. We finished seventh overall too. Scott his short course in 3:18 and came 5th in his group.
It was the cleanest ride of all the stages.
We were greeted by our spouses and some hot food and Beer.
Can't wait to do nothing for the next few days. Ya!


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Crank stage 2 - dirty boys

Soggy shoes, wet gloves, smelly helmet. That was before we started stage 2, a 76 km swamp ride. Scott had to take an honorable dismount under advise of the medics as his leg took a gash. Dave and I finished in 5 hours 7 minutes, a good day time. We both road strong reeling in the riders ahead. It didn't matter if it was swampy, muddy, rocky, hilly, what ever. These are trail a 4 wheeler would have a tough time with.. We're done, got new break pads and ready for stage 3.

Here is a pick of the dirty boys.


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Survived Stage 1 of Crank

Well day 1 is done.. Dave and I finished 70km in 5hours and 6 minutes Scott finished 64 in 5hours and 12 minutes.
It was crazy muddy in most off road sections. Often the best line was straight through the puddles and swamps.
Sorry no pics during the ride but I do have a post stage pic.
We are all showered up and now its off to the food cabin for some grub.

Talk to you all tomorrow after stage 2, 80km,


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Off to Crank the Shield

Deny, Scott and I are about to depart for the Haliburton Forest, for a 3 day mountain bike race called Crank the Shield.

Weather is looking ok for the race, though alot of rain is falling today, so its gonna be a muddy race I think.

We'll try to check in, in the evenings depending on cell phone coverage out there. If not we'll post some reports and stories next week after we get home

Dave

Ocup Lucky Number 7 (Denis' Report)

Saturday (Aug 21st) pre ride was fun and fast. Thanks Chico Racing for keeping the Ocup circuit interesting and adding new courses such as Woodnewton.
But all weekend I had been crunching the numbers trying to figure out if it was at all possible to be first overall in Master Sport 30-34. Ocup 5 (flat tire) Ocup 6 (no legs) both writeoffs… disasters, and I was down to second position. Unless the 1st place rider finished behind me a few spots there was no way I could catch up. That said I was OK with 2nd overall so I set my focus to take the win for this last race.
During the warm-up I was all nerves and big time stressed out trying while trying to decide on a strategy. Do I lead out? Do I draft the leaders? Do I attack on the first lap or wait for later?

OCup #7 - Scott's Race Review

Well, the seventh and final race in the Ontario Cup series for this season has come and gone. This season definitely had its challenges, but I did realize many improvements in riding ability and fitness.

This season saw me with 3 top ten finishes with my best finish only 2:57 behind first place. For this last race at Woodnewton in Uxbridge I finished 10th at 4:30 behind first place. So what's the rest of the story...

We arrived Sunday morning at the venue to find overcast skies but the rain held off - at least for my race. I had a good warm-up and arrived at the start pen with about 10 minutes to post. As we began rolling up to the start line I picked my position behind the wheel of my nemesis. The gun went off (well, not really but it sounds better than 'Adam yelled GO') and we were away - I was right on the wheel of CSB down the long double track straight-away as we rounded the bend nearing the first hill we pasted a couple riders and a couple more on our ascent. We entered the first bit of single track and CSB gaped me but once exiting the single track we hit another hill and I had his wheel again. As we passed the half way point in the lap I was feeling good and so I attacked on the big double track hill and didn't look back. I never saw CSB during the race again. During my last lap I kept the pace as high as I could sustain and caught the rider in front of me. We played cat and mouse for the last few kilometres but I wasn't able to break away and he was able to dropped me just before the last single track leading up to the finish. I put a big push on to the finish line to come in 10th at just 40 seconds behind 9th place.

Looking back, it was a good race season - but plans for the upcoming off season are in the works to include a little more serious training. At this point, I'm looking forward to Crank the Shield and then some relaxed fall MTB and road riding to enjoy the fall colours. Thanks for spending your 30 seconds with Scott!

Keg night before ocup 7

Gotta eat before the big day tomorrow so it might as well be the Keg.

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Where is Steady Eddy?

There has been a lot going on lately. I have continued to cycle quite a bit and will update everyone on my results from this last OCup race. I did miss OCup #5 (Buckwallow) as my Dad passed away in early July at just 67 years of age. It wasn't unexpected but perhaps sooner than we thought. Many of you know that my Dad had been experiencing health issues for sometime (dating back to July '09). It simply progressively got worse and his condition deteriorated substantially over his last 3 months or so.

Fortunately, I was able to spend quite a bit of time with my Dad in the months leading up to his passing. Thank you everyone for your support and words of kindness!

So what happened at OCup #6 - Kelso?!? Well, as typical we headed south to Milton on the Saturday morning - making a couple stops along the way (to pickup those wobbly pops Deny mentioned in his post). We arrived at the race venue around 3:30pm and proceeded to do our pre-race ride of the course. Aside from the steep climb up the Ski Hill access road, it was a fast course - and once you got to the top, well it made the climb worthwhile with all the sweet flowing single track. IMO - a much better layout than last years course even though the course changes were relatively small.

O Cup 7 2010 Provincials Soon - OCup 5,6 Race Reporrrrr

This weekend will be it for Ocup racing in 2010.  I am looking forward to the Ocup 7 Provincial Championship race... and the new Woodnewton venue. It should be fun.  I have my legs back so I am looking forward to redeeming my once mighty race footprint.  Its a battle for 2nd and 3rd overall with 1st likely not an option. If I have a good race there should be a final standing spot for me on the pode.

I haven't talked much about the last 2 Ocups likely due to my disappointment in the outcome of both.

Mountain Training at Sea Level

I decided tonight to head out and rip my legs off. I had lots of energy to burn off for some reason and I wanted to test my legs to see how I am feeling for this weekend's Ocup at Kelso. I was going to go mountain biking, even got my bike all prepped, but ...

Blackberry Cronicals - nordic group ride

Nordic/Bill/Bull trails.
First to arrive at 6:10 but its raining.
It cleared within 10 and Dave and I are good to go.
Met up with the rest of the riders about a K into the trails then head to the pipeline. We made it to bulls trails for a loop up top.

It got dark so we booked it back down.
Dave had some tire trouble with a few burps and a flat. Many Co2s and tubes and he was back on track.

Great ride. Dave change those tires soon.

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