Cat 5 Pigeon Lake Race Report

June 3rd is a day that will go down in history. June 3rd is the day that Speed Theory reared its head and roared at the rest of the Cat 5 field. And what a day it was.

Firstly a huge shout out goes to the awesomeness of Trev and Paul C. Trev wasn't racing but came up to cheer us on and take pics. Paul C made the trek up thinking he was going to unleash the fury but alas the ABA lost his registration in the series of tubes that make up the internet. Still, Paul offered his experience and made
sure to cheer us on with reckless abandon. The rest of the cheering section was rounded out by Shannon, Yvette, and Colton who kept the Speed Theory mascot (Monty the Chug) in check. The racers thank you all.






Sunday began with racers assembling from all points within Calgary and hopping on the highway. Groggily we all randomly met at the Timmies in Gasoline Alley. Kirk, Carl, Ernie, Rob, and Pete fueled up on the awesomeness that is timmies and piled back onto the highway to Pigeon Lake. The race begins with the selection of parking adjacent parking spots. Right from the get go people could see we were serious. While there were no UCI vampires taking our blood there were approximately 9 kabillion mosquitoes that were happy to ensure our hemocrit was below 50%. After sorting out plates, numbers and a last minute application of OFF we took off for a brief spin to wake up the legs. After warmup the crew assembled.








The Cat5 Pack from left to right:
Rob, Ernie, Kirk, Carl, Pete, Paul C, Mike G, Mike H, and Alex. So, it was time to line up for the start. After seeing the rest of the categories off it was our turn to roll. After getting sorted on the road the Speed Theory posse formed an imposing squad as we set about executing the top secret Williams plan. Kirk and Carl rolled out to the front to set some tempo and get the speedsters excited. Alex and Ernie lurked back around 10th wheel where they were casually marking people. Mike G, Rob, Pete, and Mike H stayed tucked safely in the crowd letting the occasional flyer cook on the baking hot asphalt.

Around the mid point, Rob and Pete moved up to the front to give Kirk and Carl a much deserved break. Rob launched a few wimpy attacks just to see how people were feeling. The pack was certainly dancing to the speed theory tune by this point and everyone was waiting to see what we would do. Strangely, the crowd was more nervous than usual as almost every turn was punctuated with that eerie squeal of a rear wheel locking up. The hills began at this point and for every roller the ST people pushed the pace hard. So hard in fact that Rob and Kirk fell off the back. Luckily Kirk is a monster and some hard pulls and they reintegrated. Ernie and Alex took a few pulls with Mike G at the front just to keep things exciting. Mike H, despite having tweaked his back the day before, kept rolling within the pack and making sure to stare down the young guns that were getting cheeky. At about the 50 minute mark Pete went up to the front and laid down a nasty pace. So nasty that when the pack hit the hill Rob fell off and Pete finally cracked.




Despite some surreptitious drafting behind Trev's truck Rob and Pete just tempo'd it in from that point. The real action was a minute up the road as Mike G was organizing the train. Alex and Ernie were sitting in the top 10 wheels as were Kirk, Carl, and Mike H. Alex, Ernie, and Mike G were ready and primed, Kirk, Carl and Mike H were still strong when disaster struck someone clipped Mike G who was right at the front with Ernie. What started as the ultimate Speed Theory sprint train derailed to the tune of popping tires, snapping carbon and screeching tires. Tragically, Mike G, Ernie and Alex overcooked leaving the sprint to Kirk, Carl, and Mike H.




1600m from the finish it was a scene of carnage. Rob and Pete rolled up to a visage of crumpled bikes and bruised bodies. In true cyclist fashion all three of our warriors reached deep into the suitcase of courage to sum up smiles for camera. Despite the crash this was a great day for the team. All of the athletes displayed traits befitting of champions, courage, calm, commitment, class and competition. It was a fantastic race. Once we get everyone healed up we'll be sure to do it again.