Denis' Race Report - It's O cup full

I ’m the only BH member that hasn’t posted a post race write-up. I thought I might save up a few then have a race dump of info and pictures. After all; I am somewhat writing for 2. I haven’t been training the same as last year so it was a test to see what unconventional bike training would accomplish. Last year I put a lot of miles on the trainer, I ran tones and pretty much had a week full of hard efforts. Thanks to some newly founded training wisdom I’ve toned down the hard efforts and increased the easy efforts to avoid overtraining. I focus more on heavy lifting only about once a week.

Race Ritual
A little about our race ritual. We drive down Saturday morning from North Bay, register, pre-ride the course, clean up, go out for dinner, enjoy 2 or 3 cold ones, head back to the hotel for a race briefing before bed. If we are lucky there is a good movie on. The next day we get up Über early because Scott races @ 830, watch him race, race, cleanup, head out for late lunch or dinner for our liquid debriefing and someone capable drives us all home where we unpack but keep stuff close by so we can repeat next week.

OCup 1 – I was neither ecstatic nor disappointed with my finish. It was, for me, the season opener and a refresher in racing. I think I finished 12. My second time down devils drop I didn’t touch the brakes but I forgot my fork was locked out so at the end of the drop, doing about 42km, I blew the Chico tape. I think I took a picket in the disc brake as it’s permanently bent.
This is a big year for Amy. This year running is on the backburner and she has gone from the beginner cat to the sport cat. Her 8th place finish probably felt similar to mine. The first race is out of the way and we both didn’t come last!

Ocup2 – I love racing at Albion. I’ve probably rode that course over 70 laps between Ocups and 24 hour races. Dave and I won the Solstice Men’s Tag Team last year so I know what I can get out of myself and my bike on that course despite how different they make it each year. Maybe it was the cold weather and snow in the forecast but a few fast guys didn’t show and I found myself in 3rd by the end.
What shocked me a little is that unlike most races where I never see the leaders, I rode with them for the first lap and felt strong the rest of the way even after they peeled off. I tend to push too hard and blow up before the end… not this time.
I could tell Amy was having a better race. She was looking strong and held her position. She finished 7th this time with 6th place 4 seconds ahead. I’m betting there is a trend here. Up and up.

Ocup3 – I always do well at hardwood. It’s a technical course and most of the riding I do, and the entire burnt helmets do, is technical. Give us a technical course and we shine. Give us a flat smooth course and we’re just average (accept for Albion). I am certainly not going to win every race but I am going to make an achievable goal ahead of time so I’m racing for something. My goal was to point and shoot for the next guy up from me in the point’s standings. I achieved my goal, finished ahead of him and came 4th in the process. He is still ahead by 1 point so I still have to stick to the plan for the next race. It was a crazy dusty technical course with lots of double track to pass. I began the second lap evenly matched in speed with a guy in Dave’s category. He was fast enough that I couldn’t pass him in the double track and he held his own on the climbs. There was no point blowing up to get around him and it was motivational to try and keep up. When you are alone you get in a groove that could be slowing you down as you get comfortable. Keeping up with someone tends to increase your pace and take your mind off the pain. I caught my target by the end of the second and kept calm. The guy I was pacing made a move so I followed suit and we both dropped him on a climb. My legs were screaming but my heart rate was in check. I found a sweat spot and with the help of my impromptu riding partner put some distance on my competition. At one point the guy in front of me said “Don’t crash me, don’t pass me.” I honoured that to the finish and he crossed the line 1 second ahead of me. The finish was nuts anyway with all the loose woodchips.

Amy blew some of her competition away this time and came 4th as well. She may not believe she is improving but its clear the skill conditioning, the sprint training and avoiding over training is paying off. This puts her 4th overall. We both raced @ 930 this time and I didn’t have a chance to see her race. I wish I could have taken some pictures and watched her progress. That’s a great finish. She finished strong, avoided wipe-outs/ injury and I am proud of her.

Next Race - MountainView Midland. I get to start upfront with 1st and 2nd overall. All I have to do is make it up that ski hill with them (the leaders) and roll with what I got left for the rest of the race. I won’t enjoy this course for the single track ski hill climbs so I will be sure pace myself and make up lots of time in the amazing flat/down hill single track that Mountainview has to offer.

Beer update
I forgot to mention that we visited a small brewery, on the way to the last race. It’s a brewery called Highlander and it’s located in South River, ON. Highlander brews a wicked tasty pale ale that comes in a 500ml bottle. It’s my new favourite brew.

Wood chips were flying

Here is my race report from OCup#3 at Hardwood Hills.

We arrived at Hardwood Hills about 7:45am, in time for Scott to get ready and warmed up for this 8:30am race. This race our start time was 9:30am instead of the usual 11:30am. I wanted to get a really good warm up this time. I got geared up and started warming up on the gravel road beside the race course about 45 min before the race start.

There were over 60 guys in our start pen this time, as they started my and Deny’s master sport categories together. We were the second wave to go at 9:34am. If you’ve never been to Hardwood Hills, the start of the course is all on wood chips. The weather has been pretty dry and hot for awhile, so the result of sending 60 guys racing down the course at top speed creates quite the dust cloud – I’ve been in some dusty races, but I’ve never seen that much dust before at the start – it was like a fog, I could barely see the riders up front for awhile. Someone crashed right in the middle of the pack; thankfully I avoided the pileup and continued on. I didn’t want to be at the back of the pack before we hit the singletrack, so I pushed to keep up. I guess I was doing ok, cause when we got into the singletrack, I saw Deny only about 4-5 riders in front of me (usually he’s gone out of my view by now!).

A rider in front got hung up on a rooty corner and took a few of us out – we were all pretty close, so this hold up ended up letting a bunch of guys get by and that’s the last I saw of Deny. That sucks, but that is racing so you deal with it and move on. It’s why it’s so important to get the hole shot on the start lap.

The rest of the first lap went pretty well for me, I started reeling in guys from my category and I was feeling great - I am not saying it was easy, but I wasn’t dying out there so I think my warm-up certainly helped this time. I struggled on the larger climbs, but I paced myself and got back into a groove on the singletrack. On the double track sections I made the extra effort to pass guys – in the past I would usually take time to recover and drink on the doubletrack, but not this time and I think it worked well for me.

2nd lap started up those dam wood chips again. Scott was in the feed zone handing out our bottles to us – he was easy to pick out in the line-up of feeders with his fancy white shoes. This lap went well, I could tell I was tiring, but everyone was I think and I just kept motoring along. Jenn was out filming and I saw her as I was flying down the ‘coffee run’ – I let out a ‘woop’ to let her know I was having fun. I was starting to catch up to some of the women who started behind me. They only had to do 2 laps, and I was obviously not thinking straight when I said to one of the ladies ‘you’re almost done!’ and she looked at me and said ‘I still have one more lap to do DUDE!’ – I obviously can’t count during a race, she was still on her first lap. I had a good laugh at myself, but I was just trying to encourage her as she looked to be struggling.

3rd lap started up those damn wood chips again, grabbed my last bottle from Scott. I was riding up the trail, and this guy up front was just slowly pulling away, and I thought if I could just push a little harder I’d catch him – I clicked down one more gear and it was enough to catch up at the top of the next climb. The guy had a cool number plate – he got the number ‘888’, which I hadn’t seen before, I had no idea what category he was in at the time, cause I was in the 300’s.

I passed a few more guys, putting the effort in on the double track to be in front when we hit the single track sections again. There was one guy whom I could not quite pass, he was not in my category, but I still wanted to pass him. I instead just tried to stay close to him and then I would try to pass him on the final stretch to the finish line. I hugged his wheel going down the bmx track, and as soon as I got on the wood chips, I put the bike in big ring and started to sprint around him – he wasn’t gonna give up easy though, he heard me coming and started sprinting too – we went right to the line, wood chips flying up behind us and I pipped him at the line – I beat him by 4 tenths of a second – ½ a wheel I believe.

For me it was a very satisfying and fun race. I finished 15th out of 37. I am looking forward to the next race, OCup #4 at Mountain View in Midland.

On the trail again... just can't wait to get back on the trail again.

The Burnt Helmets are off to OCup #3 this weekend at Hardwood Hills. Weather is looking good for the race - we're racing at 8:30 and 9:30am on Sunday. I am trying out some new tires this weekend - Maxxis Aspen's. I've used the Maxxis Monorails for a few years now, and I thought I'd try some new tires out.

Race report coming on Sunday (or Monday).

Here is a video from our local group ride we attended from May 20. There is a group ride ever Thursday, starting at the Nordic Ski trails parking lot. This is just from the start of the ride, video taken using a Go Pro HD camera attached to my seatpost

Ocup #3 (Canada Cup) Hardwood Hills (Midland) May 30

Dear Mr Weather Man,
While normally you forecast the rain on race day Sunday you seem to be absent from your post. Looks like its going to be sunny and so on behalf of the BH team I will forecast the MOON! to you! How do you like them apples!

Hardwood Hills (Midland) Weather

Burnt Helmets Campsite Summer Solstice 2010

The BH team requested the pine pavillion and we got it.
Site 196 is nice and quiet, has access to power and should be dry if it rains.

OCup 2 - Warm Ups are Necessary

So here is my account of this past weekend's Ontario Cup moutain bike race. This was #2 of the series, held at Albion Hills.

We usually drive down to the races on Saturday to pre-ride the course. We woke up Saturday morning to a snow storm in North Bay - on May 8th. There turned out to be a record snow fall that day of 9.2cm apparently. I checked the race website in the morning while I was packing the truck, and Chico said preriding was closed till 2pm as they were fixing up the course after the deluge of rain they have had. So we decided to not leave so early as there was no point in preriding. We've raced there many times, so the course would not be much of a surprise.

We got rolling down the highway about 11am; I had to put the truck in 4 wheel drive for the first 60 or so km down the highway for safety. The bikes on the rack where getting a good coating of snow and ice on them. We stopped at Albion Hills to register - no snow here, but we could see that it had rained alot. We registered for Sunday's race and then headed to our hotel and then to go get some dinner.

Sunday morning we awoke to some chilly temps - I think it was -2c. I was kinda happy about this cause it meant there would be no blackflies to bug Jenn. Deny and I watched Scott's race at 8:30, and Amy's race at 9:30.. shortly after Amy was done I looked at my watch - 11am! dammit, I wasnt leaving myself much time to get ready and warmed up for my 11:30 race start. I rushed to the truck to get dressed and get my bike ready. When I was done, I had about 8 minutes to warmup and get to the start line - definately not enough time for a warmup - I did a couple sprints up a hill by the truck and headed to the startline. I had enough time to get there and in the start pen, as I was in the 4th group to leave I think.

The start gun goes off and I hold my line to get to make sure I got the best line up the hill. Everyone quickly files into their 'spots' and and we formed a paceline up the hill and towards the singletrack. By the time we got to the singletrack, I was near the end of the pack, which is what I expected for my fitness level (this was only my 5th time on the bike this year really). I then set about trying to get warmed up but for the first 3/4 of the lap all I could think about was quitting. I was not having fun at all. Near the end of the 1st lap I started feeling alot better; I think I almost smiled, and decided not to quit.

2nd lap goes alot better - I am able to knock over 3 minutes off my first lap time. I start catching guys, whom I can only think were in my category. The expert ladies are catching me now and I ride with one for most of the rest of the race.

3rd lap goes even better and I knock another 30 seconds off my 2nd lap time. I am climbing the hills now in a larger gear and passing a few people. Near the end of the lap I see 3 guys just about to crest the top of one of the larger hills, as I am hitting the bottom of the climb. I stand up and use whatever power I have left to try close the gap on them as it was the best return on effort for me. My legs were not happy, but I am able to pass one guy before the next singletrack and I catch and pass the next 2 guys shortly after. I don't know if they were in my category or not, but they were my targets regardless. I soon see the 1km to go sign and I start giving all I have left and I see one more rider ahead of me. I pass him on the grass just before the finish line. Thankfully Amy was cheering me on and told me to go to the right - to the finish line, as I had my head down and was headed to the lap line - that would of been embarassing!

So its three weeks till the next race, at Hardwood Hills. I will try to get some structured training in before then, I know it can only help. I have a powertap on my road bike and  I plan on putting that to use, as its worked for me before. I will also make a point of getting a really good warm up before that race, as Hardwood can be a little tougher for me with its short punchy climbs.

Oh Ya, I'm wanting to ride again!

The thought of spring weather, sunny sky, thick cool air - just makes me buzz with excitement to do a road ride. Living in Northern Ontario our cycling season isn't short but certainly comes to a halt once the snow piles up.

Much to my amazement, I have seen many a bicyclist this winter pedaling along on the sidewalks or roadways in snowy weather not fit to walk in. I'm not sure if I am simply looking for bicyclists or if more individuals are continuing to bike in the winter - for whatever reason: economy, price of gas, or fitness - which is my reason. Just not during the winter, as I don't want to ruin my equipment riding due to all the salt used on the roadways. That and my wife says I already have enough bikes (yup, three - not that I think that is enough.) so a winter beater is outta the question. For now.

The first Ontario Cup race has been and gone. I finished 15th out of 20 riders, somewhat disappointing for me personally but in retrospect it was my best opening race for a season and in comparison to last year I'm starting about where I finished in terms of fitness. Unfortunately, the field of riders also remained about where they finished last year too.

The next race is this weekend. I'm intending to try something new this race - so I'll let you know how it goes! Thanks for spending your 30 seconds with Scott!

WTF (What the forecast) Rain on Sunday Ocup # 2

WTF (What the forecast). No Seriously WTF!!!!
There seems to be a reoccurring weather theme with Sunday Race day.
Now if you recall 2 weeks ago I displayed an image of the forecast for Ocup #1 and our friendly weather man holding up his finger either to point out the rain in the sky or to suggest some other meaning. He's doing it again this week, Sunday, for the Albion Ocup # 2 near Bolton.

I won't knock on wood because I'm not a superstitious dude (besides all there is around me is plastic) but hopefully the weather man is just joshing us like he did last race since there wasn't a drip of rain for Ocup 1. I didn't even sweat.
I'm not complaining but instead of washing my bike off because of mud, I was blowing it off with compressed air form all the dust. No complains... Albion will be so fun if its dry.

Deny

OCup #1 - Had some Fun

Last year I tried racing in the Master Expert category. I was always in the bottom part of the pack. This year I switched back to Master Sport, were I am usually mid pack. I haven't been able to train this year and I just want to take a more relaxed, fun approach to racing this year. Sport category is 3 laps instead of 4, and starts earlier.

I started up 'the hill' at Mansfield, trying to hold my position in the pack. I got about 1/2 way up and realized that I was not going to be able to sustain that pace, so I slowed to a pace I knew I could maintain to the top of the hill. Lactic acid was building up in my gut. By the time I got to the single track, there was only 1 guy behind me, so I settled into my pace and started working on catching guys in the singletrack sections. After the first lap, I caught a couple guys in my group and by this time, I was caught by some of the top expert females who started behind us. I tagged on to one of the ladies who was setting a good pace for me and we started reeling in more people. Every time I got to 'Devils Drop' I had someone in front of me, so I never really got to open it up on the downhill, but I wasn't really slowed up much - as you exit the forest at the bottom of the hill, if you time it right, you can pass on the inside of the right hand turn and I got the pass I needed each time there. I leaned into the corner too much one lap and my tire folded over, but thankfully it held and didn’t burp its air out (running tubeless). At the end of the second lap I caught up to two more guys in my category, but I could not bridge the gap right away as we had to climb 'that hill' again to start our final lap. I tried to keep them in sight up the hill, but not blow up at the same time. At the top of the hill I set a goal to get past them before the first singletrack, as I knew if I could do that, I could put some distance on them before the next hill. I got by one guy, the other one was a little faster than me so I settled into a grove in the single track and tried to reel him in. At the next doubletrack section I was right behind him and got around him before the next bit of single track. I started big ringin' the sections I could to get as much distance on him as I could. One of the expert ladies was right with me and we kind of worked together I think to keep the speed up. Near the end of the last lap, I could see one of the guys from Team Speed - he isn’t in my category, but I knew he was in Deny's category that started about 2 minutes before I did. I set another goal to pass him. I wanted to get around him before Devil's Drop so I could have a clear line to the finish, but I couldn’t bridge the gap in time, so I settled in behind him to set myself up for a pass at the bottom of the hill on the right hand turn. It worked out and I sprinted to the finish where they were handing out chocolate milk to everyone.

I felt great with my race because I had fun. I know I didn't have a great finishing place, but I finished smiling and feeling strong. I don't know what was up with the results, I know they had some issues in the timing tent, but my first and second lap times are messed up - my second lap was just over 8 minutes apparently. I felt stronger as the race went on, but I can't tell if I actually was, because the lap times are messed up.

All in all, I had a good time, and I am looking forward to OCup #2 at Albion

This Sundays Ocup 1 2010 Riders

Mansfield Ocup 1 - Race week

This comming Sunday is Ocup #1 @ Mansfield.
I'm starting a tradition that on the race week I will post an image of the weather.
Look at Sunday... its no surprise.

Season Begins - Thanks Sponsors

The cycling season is upon us and the Burnt Helmets have done new things this year in preparation. We started this website and ordered our own jerseys which are expected to arrive anytime. We also asked some local businesses if they would like to help out with the cost of our Jerseys in exchange for some Jersey real-estate. More on them a little later…
Our Jerseys are from Jersey53 (www.jersey53.ca).
They have been super friendly and accommodating. All of our custom jersey needs were met, the Jerseys look amazing and they were at an affordable price. Did I mention no minimum order required.

This will be the first year that we support the efforts of a female rider as she competes in the sport category. This is also the first year that 3 of our riders will compete in Crank the Shield which is sure to be a challenging 3 days of riding. In total we will be at 9 cross-country events throughout Ontario this summer. There may be a few impromptu races and perhaps a triathlon. Are we serious? Ya but it’s always been fun before fitness. If this year is like any in the past we will notch a few victories or learn a lot from defeat. At least we will look good sporting our new colours. Let’s hope for a good fun year of doing what we love… to ride and to race.

I would like to give out a huge thanks to Body Back in Motion, Cycle works and SS Automotive for helping out with our team member’s Jerseys. Your logos look great on our jersey - thank you for your support. For what it’s worth, via this website and when we wear your logo, you are getting a little exposure here and abroad.
If it wasn't for SS Auto my car would be so broken it wouldn't be able to drive me to Body Back in Motion to fix my calves or so that I can pickup my bike parts at Cycle Works. You all make it possible! (I know that was a little Cheesy).

Site visitors please visit our sponsors' websites or better yet visit them in person for service. They are the best in North Bay!

Sincere thanks from the BH!