Niklas Group - 2010 Tour de Bowness

As I'm sure most are aware, the Niklas Group Tour de Bowness is happening this weekend. Road race in bearspaw, Hill Climb TT at COP, and the infamous Bowness Criterium in all it's Bownesian glory. This is always a great event and the Niklas group and others are offering up some amazing prizes. Plus we have the ever talented Michael Godfrey and Dallas Morris on the mic for the Crit.

Register here

Registration closes on Friday at 6:00pm.

All technical information is available here: http://www.tourdebowness.com/

Who's gonna throw down?:

Cat 1/2: Dennis B (All), Lockie (All), Jared (Crit)

Cat 3: Thomas (RR), Harley (All), Clarke (RR, HC)

Women: Natalie (All), Tanya S (RR)

Cat 4: Jason B (All)

Cat 5: Steve P (HC, Crit), David M (RR, Crit), Jevon A (All), Reinier P (All)

Volunteers Wanted

We're hosting one of the most amazing races Calgary has ever seen. A downtown Crit, an exceptional TT and a wicked Road Race. We're inviting riders from across the country and elsewhere to come to this event so we want it to go smoothly and need lots-o-volunteers. (I sent a note to Oxford and Harvard cycling teams...you never know... they might come....unless they're chicken).

Right now we need a few people to distribute posters at bike shops or anywhere where cyclists hang out. Plus we want to get the public out to watch so we need to promote it to potential "Spectators".

Send me a note tom(at)mapitfirst(dot)ca if you can spare an hour or two.

We'll start collecting volunteers for race day soon so start brown nosing to your spouse, significant other, in-laws or neighbors.

Quick update on Trev

I've heard through the rumour mill that I was in a bad cycling crash. Here is where I have really been..

A few of us went out to Sundre on the weekend (Sat.) to take part in the 5 Peaks Trail Race and then go film the Bergen Road Race course. We stayed up in Sundre that night since the plan was to ride long on Sunday since the roads around there are challenging, beautiful, in good shape, and not too busy (the road race is going to be AWESOME).

Throughout the night I was feeling pretty weird and broke out in a fever. Once the morning hit, I am glad I have some good friends to tell me to give my head a shake when I still insisted I was good to ride. Leaving Sundre I deteriorated and decided to hit up the hospital there. They said I was having a reaction to a swollen lymph node in my throat that I guess I didn't take seriously. They gave me oral antibiotics and told me if it gets worse to hit up another hospital. On the way home and back at the house I was a mess. We decided to go to Foothills where they put me on IV antibiotics and said some bug must have really hit me hard. Throughout the night in the hospital the doctor picked up a heart murmur. No doctor had ever told me that previously, therefore he was going to have to check it out. This could be an accumulation of bacteria on a valve, a serious condition. In the morning (Mon.) I went for an Echocardiagram and had blood taken. The echo showed something suspicious on one valve and some back flow. Then the health care wheels started turning in full force. I was admitted, lots more blood taken, and given a sexy gown. An internal heart ultrasound was scheduled for Tues afternoon and it was a waiting game of nerves. The doctors said it could be bacteria on my valve, but it could also be a lucky pick up if it was actually something wrong with my heart. Tues arrived and they collected more blood by adding a second IV line for more tests. The internal ultrasound was weird since they don't put you under physically, but mainly mentally. I 'woke up' talking cheerfully to the nurses and Marilyn. That was a strange sensation. I then had to wait until Tues evening to hear the news that the internal ultrasound ruled out bacteria on my valves or significant leakage, which was a big relief. The blood cultures came back and there was no bacteria in my blood either. A set of chest Xrays on Wed morning were also clear. So it all boiled down to a diagnosis of a psycho pharyngitis that didn't rear its head until it gave me a crazy fever and cramps. I just got out of the hospital this late afternoon and am happy to be outside and about again! Thanks to all those that found out and contacted me in the hospital, I really appreciated it .... oh... and the doctors said I can race this weekend.

Word from Champion Systems Clothing.

Just got confirmation that our clothes should ship on Aug. 9th. This typically means we'll get them about 4 business days after that. So those worried about not having them by the JayLap can rest at ease.

Announcing this year's Jason Lapierre Memorial!

Check out the Criterium. We got permission to hold a crit in DOWNTOWN Calgary! This is exciting for our club to be able to offer this and hopefully this will be embraced by Albertan, Sask, and BC riders. Please put this event on your calendar and we'll have details streaming in as we write up the tech guides.

Trev

Bike Escorts for Ironman 70.3 Calgary

We are looking for a few riders to escort the lead runners on August 1st. We would like to have 6 riders (lead, second, third place male and lead, second and third place female) riding on the closed roads of North Glenmore Park and pathways of Weaslehead. It would be cool to have everyone in SpeedTheory Kit as the race will be televised on TSN.

When: August 1 ~9:00 - 11:30
Where: North Glenmore Park
What: 6 riders (mountain or cruiser bikes) to escort lead runners

Contact: Paul Anderson - ironmancalgary@gmail.com

Canmore Mountain Bike Championships

This past July 17-18th weekend, Canmore and the Rundle Mountain Cycling Club hosted the 2010 Mountain Bike championships at the Canmore Nordic Center. What an awesome venue to hold such an event. Saturday the Elite riders raced under sunny skies. It was pretty cool watching Canada’s top dogs and Olympians give their all on a course that we would be racing the next day.

Thomas Y and I (Shawna) raced under sunny skies yesterday, in the XC National Championships for Master Experts, as well as the categories that fall beneath. Thomas decided to enter in a category above the one he is (Master Expert), and good on him, as he was racing against a very strong field. It was a very tough course with lots of climbing, and not much reward in the descents, at 7km and about 225m of elevation gain per lap with most of the climbing in rooty tight singletrack. Luckily, after you got the brutal climbing out of the way, there was a little recovery through the flat rooty sections, short descents, and false flats (yes they do exist in mtn biking!) Thomas had 5 laps, and these are not go at your own pace laps, these were going as fast as the next guy goes laps, and they were fast. Watching these guys start at the pace they did, and all uphill, made me so glad I finished my race earlier on. As Thomas came through each lap, he would be working with another guy. Something I noticed the guys tend to do that the women do not, because of the number of racers.

My race was earlier, at around 10am. Out of 3 categories, there were only 11 women in total racing, so they had us all start at the same time. I have not done enough XC races which is the only wayto get points for upgrading categories, (the endurance race series does not count) so I was only racing so I could hopefully move up to Sport. With only 3 of us in my category, I wasn’t going to bother racing, since my entry fee was basically buying a podium spot. I was told I would be considered an upgrade after results of this race. Since we were all starting together, and Novice and Sport had the same number of laps to complete (2) I decided to pretend I was racing with the Sport category, which had 7 women, to prove I should be racing in that category. At the advice of others not racing, I decided to give it my all right from the start to get the holeshot, to the point of vomiting and seeing spots. Less than 5 minutes in, I was tasting blood, and seeing spots. Goal # 1 reached. I got behind the girl who was in 1st place of the 2 combined categories, and she became my carrot. I felt like I had a decent lead on the girls behind me until I started climbing the 2nd lap and saw them coming. I realized I was slacking a little, and turned on the hurt. Hurting I did, but I came in 2nd behind the girl who came in 1st in the category above mine so this put me 2nd out of 9 women. Goal #2 reached. This also put me in 1st place in my category, giving me a sweet Gold medal, and some prizes that far exceeded my entry fee. Not only did I get to stand on a cool Nationals podium with a cool medal around my neck, I also got some Sugoi bike shorts, and a Giant bike computer. I think I have also earned my upgrade to Sport, but I will leave that to the judges to decide. The last place finishes in all the road races and WNS is paying off :)

Awesome race, thanks Canmore and RMCC!!

Stampede RR pics

Speed Theory WNS July 21

Next Wednesday we will do a 3 or 4 up TTT. Harley, Simon and I tested the course on Saturday and it will make you suffer. Nothing like a few good hills when you are trying to hang on to your team. If enough people show up we will do a four person team with the third person's time counting but otherwise a three person team.

To get there, go towards Springbank airport but turn north a mile or two before the airport on Range Road 32, aka Springbank Heights Road. About a km up you will see a new development on the left called Aventerra Estates. There's lots of parking there, that's also the start and finish.

I will need a few volunteers to run this safely, please leave a comment if you can volunteer. Bring any bike you like, because of the hills a road bike might work best. Try to be there for a 6:30 PM start.

Who has the Crankmasters stopwatches? I'll need them for the race.



View WNS July 21 in a larger map

Though I'd let the Team know Kailee took a nasty spill this morning, she's ok overall, but... has a broken wing. She'll be in surgery tomorrow for some bionic commando parts installation.
- This would be a fractured Olecranon process, quite nasty, otherwise known as a 'broken elbow'.
Rest up Kailee ! See ya soon slugger.

Dallas

Watching the Tour

What are people watching Le Tour on? OLN is only showing it 6:30-9:30am, right? What are the internet options?

Stampede Road Race July 18th

Stampede Road Race Is approaching fast & wanted to get a tally of Elite or Masters Speed Theory Members.

Elite Men- Clarke, Jevon, Kyle, Lachlan, Frank, Trev, Carson, Hooper, Jared, Charles

Masters A1- Harley B

Masters A2-

Masters B1- Tom K

Masters B2-

Masters C1- Jay R, Mike H

Masters C2-

Elite Women- Kailee, Natalie

Hopeless Holmes in breathtaking Bozeman

It seems I may have issues with getting places on time... No kidding, you might say, but when you're only in a town for 36 hours, and by the second day fellow racers are already congratulating you for making it to the race on time, there's a problem. :)

On Friday, I drove to southern Montana for the Tour de Bozeman. I was a bit concerned about doing the drive solo, since it was around 9 hours, but shortly after crossing the border, I was so blown away by the beautiful scenery that I spent the whole time gawking left and right, taking terrible photos of the scenery through a bug-splattered windshield, eating, and generally being an excellent driver, that I didn't get the least bit drowzy. If you ever have a excuse to drive south on Interstate 15, do it - it's amazing!

Got to my host's house late Fri night and was treated to the "west wing" of Amy's luxo house. Thanks again, Amy!


Sat morning I saw Bozeman in the daylight for the first time...as you can guess, amazing: mountain ranges in every direction. The TT was a fairly flat 20km. I made it with plenty of time, had a good warmup, and was able to chill on the steps of the start ramp for a bit before my start (doesn't happen very often!). Up to the holder, 3,2,1, go! I start, thinking 'this is some thick carpet on the start ramp!'...then I start rolling down the ramp, thinking 'wow...REALLY thick!'...then I hit the road and I'm still pushing crazy watts to keep moving. Oh... I jump off my bike, brake must be jammed on the wheel, push the brake off, back on the bike, no luck, off the bike again, release and close the quick-release, back on, still jammed...meanwhile other racers are passing me...I finally figure out the quick-release just isn't tight enough, go back to the start, no dice on a re-start, so I rode anyway. Not a bad ride, but it was a strong field, with "Freight Train" Fryckman laying down a 25 minute TT, and another dude just ten seconds back - wow - so I was last by miles.

Had lunch with Amy and Dave, then had a nap. That evening were the 300m match sprints down Main St. The tech guide said they'd be from 6 to 9pm, so I figured I wouldn't start earlier than 8. Rocked up at 7:30...to catch the end of the presentations for the sprint winners... Oops. Headed out on the town afterwards, to catch a little of Bozeman's surprisingly happening Main St, with some of the fun GAS team.


Sunday RR. The combined 1-2-3 field made for a good group of 20 or so, with a number of racers representing GAS and Montana Velo. An attack went almost immediately, with GAS and MV riders, but the peleton kept up a solid pace and they were brought back before the turn-around. More attacks on the hills at turnaround, on awesome Road To Nepal-like terrain, but nothing got away. Then on the way back north (and back up to 6,000 ft) another breakaway went, again representing the two predominant teams. I shared the pacemaking with a guy Charlie from the Radioshack junior/U23? team and they were brought back in time for the run up Battle Ridge. More attacks on the climb sent the pace through the roof on a painful 500m or so of 10%, and I could only watch through my tears as half the pack went clear. Fortunately we got a good paceline going and hit it hard to catch them on the descent.

Riding out in the rolling farmland we were treated to views of distant mountains. A solo rider went clear and good a good gap. On the return Charlie was on the front at least half the time, while I cowered mid-pack, and solo dude got reeled in. People
hit it on most of the hills, and at Battle Ridge, the race was on. It broke apart but a group of 4 formed at the top, getting clear of a chase group of 3, and then me and another dude. We pace-lined on the fast decent and flats, but didn't catch the next guys, then a turn off the main road and I buried myself for the final 500m and the kicker to the finish line to finish 8th. I hear Charlie looked to be enjoying himself as he crossed in first.

Back to shower and jam two bikes and 9 wheels into the buzz box, and a easy 8 hours had me home by midnight. Guys, definitely think about hitting this race next year...strong field, beauty drive down, killer race routes, great people...all round good times.

Wednesday, July 21

Its a rest day on the tour, the day before the Col du Tourmalet. The day in history Floyd erased his 8 minute tour defecit. Its also another Speed Theory hosted Wednesday Night Race Series. What would you like to see in a race? We could repeat the hill climb that was not well attended in early June because of the weather. We could run a 3 or 4 up team time trial, or just about anything. Add a comment and let me know your ideas. A little gravel perhaps?

Go Ryder Go!

Third place in the TdF overall standing - awesome!

It's been a long time since Steve Bauer and Alex Stieda got the yellow jersey, and I'm pretty sure there's never been a Canadian on the podium at the finish.

Tour de Bowness is now the Niklas Group TdB

I just got an email from Bob at Bow Cycling with this message:

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The Niklas Group Tour de Bowness is coming soon. Obvious with the name change we have a title sponsor for the event and will be upping the prizes on the webpage shortly. Speed Theory put on a great showing last year with a few strong cyclists managing four events in three days! We hope to see many of you out there on the August long weekend. All the details can be found at www.tourdebowness.com "Weekend in Canmore for top omnium cats 3-5, women a/b. Sponsor Casel on 17th. Cat 1/2 one week stay in Mexico at Casita Adelaide"

_______________________

[editor] Bob is referring to Sandra and I trying to compete in the entire TdB and the Calgary 70.3 all in the same weekend. For me, this ended with getting dropped on the neutral lap of the crit and getting a bunch of 'Keep fighting!' and 'Good try!' comments from the crowd as I battled through 2 more laps before getting lapped!! :)

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Note: The Tour de Bowness is a great event and always very well organized. We are hoping to emulate their crit organization for our event in late Aug. So, just so you have these dates on the calendar, there are now two huge races in Aug. that need to be attended. The NG TdB and the JayLap Memorial, both with awesome crits.....

One step closer....

Well, it was a good meeting today with the Police, Transit, and the City's liaison. Unfortunately, with the timing of the meeting being plunked down the day before the Stampede Parade, two of the decision makers were understandably not able to attend. However, we have an encouragement that it should only be 'process' now. But we can't announce anything at this time.

However, please ensure to keep Aug. 21st open and plan to race a totally unique event that will bring cycling straight to the heart of our city and put it on display! This first year's event will be similar to Banff Bike Fest's first years where they had to rely on overwhelming support from the cycling community to solidify what is now an amazing annual spectacle for the city and the cycling community. Please ensure your club's get pumped for the Jason Lapierre Weekend as a whole, but focus on Sat. evening as a race you can not miss. Your participation in an event as public as this will not only be exciting and fun, but it will do a lot for the cycling community in general.

BC Bike Race 2010

Congrats to Speed Theory member Simon Williams and his brother Mark for finishing this years epic 7 day mountain bike stage race - BC Bike Race - last week, and coming in 6th place overall
in the Team of 2 Open Men category!! Having done this 7 day mountain bike stage race last year, I know how difficult it is, so I give you guys huge props for doing so well!
Way to go guys!

Road Race Report from Master's Nationals

Evening everyone,

Good showings by all Speed Theory racers at Master's Nationals today. The course has a tough headwind heading out, which meant a nice tailwind coming home. Results are here under the "Results Junior/Master" tab.

Speed Theorist Results:

Master Women: Shawna Donaldson, 14th., Laura Bennion, 11th.
Master A 30-39: Harley Borlee, 13th; Thomas Yip, 20th; Darcy Gullacher, 32th; Slayer Dan, 33th.
Master B 40-49: Dennis Bland, 15th; Keith Bayly, 17; Charles Bougie, 44th.
Master C 50-59: Michael Godfrey, 18th; Rick Courtney, 26; Carlos Salas, 28.

Congrats to all the winners!

ITT Results From Master's Nationals

Hey all,

Some Speed Theory members that are little more, um, mature and experienced are in Devon this weekend for the Master's Nationals. The ITT was today, and results are here.

Of note:

Master 50-59: Rick Courtney, 8th; Michael Godfrey, 15th; Mike Healy, 23th; Carlos Salas, 25th.
Master 40-49: Dennis Bland, 10th; Keith Bayly, 12th.
Master 30-39: Thomas Yip, 8th; Slayer Dan, 10th; Darcy Gullacher, 13th (.4 seconds from 12th...)

Tomorrow are the road races.

TdF contest

Quick reminder that tomorrow is the last day to get your entries in for our TdF pool. 100% of the entries go towards the pool winner's choice of charity. The main win is your bragging rights as being the most knowledgeable cycling fan.


Visit calgarytriandbike.blogspot.com for details or email dukyle at yahoo.ca or Trev for entry forms.