Another great one for the books. (UPDATE: with results)

Thanks to all the volunteers for making such a great event. Keith constructed an amazing course as usual and we had a great turn out for some solid racing.

Performances of note:

Shawn Bunnin destroying the field in Elite ... wow.

Katy Curtis getting 3rd in Expert Men.

A 38 racer Sport pack !

Here are the results to the race.

Trev

It's going to be awesome! Big turn out!

Here are our numbers for tomorrow.

Sport Men: 38

Expert Men (and Katy and Pepper): 23

Elite Men: 22

Women: 16

Pretty awesome! Make sure to come out and watch!

Trev

To our CX Volunteers.

First of all thank you very much for volunteering. We really appreciate the time.

If you have volunteered for or want to volunteer to help with course prep, please make your way to Montgomery school on Friday evening at 5pm and/or 8:30am on Saturday.

If you are going to be a course marshal, please be at the school by 10am Saturday and come to the registration desk and they will direct you where to go.

Thanks again,

Trev

Oct. 30th Cyclo-Cross race and Praire-Roubaix 2011

Brian Kullman Memorial CX race in a couple days !!

If you haven't registered for the CX race, sign up ! The weather looks like it is going to be perfect, Keith is designing the course, and it is the second last CX race in Calgary for 2010.

Registration is to the right of this post and the tech guide is there as well. Ensure to get there early to cheer on fellow racers and ensure you're not stressing out the volunteer signing people on. I can't wait to watch the action !

Prairie-Roubaix 2011.

Ask most racers in Alberta and a lot would say the PR2010 was one of their favourite races. The course was great, the atmosphere was contagious, and the racing was totally awesome. We hope to replicate this again in 2011.

I am in the process of doing everything correctly with RockyView asking them well in advance for permission to run this awesome race again. I think a big selling point would be if we could stage the riders and have volunteers parked on LaFarge's road (they were closed on the Sunday we held the race) on race day. The complaint we received was from a resident on Glendale Crescent. So it would be good to say we will have no activity what-so-ever on that small stretch of gravel road.

I am looking for someone to contact LaFarge and ask them if we could use their access road and maybe their parking area on Sunday April 17th. We have full insurance and they would be named on the certificate. We also wouldn't mind paying for an employee to be on site that day to ensure their interests.

A best case scenario would be if they got behind the idea of an awesome race and sponsored us somehow (maybe supplying the EMS or something) but for now let's target actually just getting permission to be on their property for a few hours.

Does anyone have any connection with this company? Or does anyone mind finding the right person to talk to and explaining our situation? The site were are concerned with is here.

Bag Left At Gold Bar Park

Howdy everyone,

Shawna did a great job summarizing the weekend's 'cross in Edmonton. I have to say I don't have much to contribute to the write-up: I was at the tail end of the sport races both days. However, I have a problem: I accidentally left my race gear backpack at Gold Bar Park. The fine folks at PRW found it, so it's accounted for in Edmonton, but I'm here in Calgary. So:

1. Are any ST folks heading to Edmonton this week? If so, could you pick it up for me?

2. Do any ST folks have friends or family coming to Calgary by the weekend, and would they be willing to act as a courier?

3. Are there any non-ST racers from Edmonton reading this blog (since the entire ABA seems to read our blog) coming down for the the Brian Kullman and Beans 'n' Barley races that could bring it with them?

If possible, I'd like to get it back for the weekend, as my race numbers (along with other needed bike stuff) are in the bag. If you're able to help out, please contact me at dgullacher[at]hotmail.com and we'll work on the logistics with Pedalhead Road Works.

Darcy Gullacher

Provincial Cyclocross Championships

This weekend Speed Theory racers flocked north for the last set of Cross races Edmonton will host for the 2010 season. Saturday was Provincials in Devon, put on by United Cycle. The course was definitely a power course, with lots of tight corners, one sand pit with a playground in the middle of it, and one climb with a super fun descent. Also included was the infamous Agitator which has riders racing into a spiral formation and then out again. When another racer was heading in or out, you couldn’t tell which direction they were going and it felt like you were going to run into them. This was definitely my favorite part of the course. At the end of the day, we had two podium finishes presented with Alberta Provincial Championship medals. Keith Bayly got 3rd in the Master B Men, and I got 3rd in the Master Women category. After the medal presentation there were some amazing draw prizes, and Darcy G scored himself a sweet New Balance watch, making the trip worthwhile.

Sunday morning we were greeted with typical Cross weather with a rain/snow mix. Pedalhead Road Works hosted the race at Goldbar Park in Edmonton – home to an excellent cross country ski trail system. By the time the course was open for preride, the precipitation was out of the air, leaving the course wet and a little mucky. This was an awesome course, with lots of flow. There was loads of climbing/descending in a section that was suited for mountain bikes – definitely my favorite part of the course. Two sand pits, and lots of fast corners. In the Women’s race, I had my first experience with staying on a wheel and using tactics, making it a really fun race. The only other Speed Theory racers besides me were Darcy G and Chris Hooper. Darcy and I both managed to take advantage of the only spot on the course that wasn’t taped in our races, and kept going straight, instead of turning left. After I went through, they realized it should be taped so I didn’t have to make that mistake twice, as I’m pretty sure I would have.

Despite the chilly temperatures, it was an awesome weekend of racing. This weekend is the last of the Calgary races, which are sure to be highly attended. Saturday is our very own Speed Theory race (Tech guide is found over to the right), and Sunday is the Beans N’ Barley Halloween race, hosted by Terrascape Racing – costumes are highly encouraged!!

http://www.albertabicycle.ab.ca/uploads/files/Beans%20and%20Barley%20Technical%20Guide.pdf

Can you give a hand on Oct. 30th?

Nice, we have our first aiders secured. Thanks Rick and Tanya.

We are looking for some course setup helpers, course marshals, and ABA helpers for this race as well, so if you are coming to the race to spectate or cheer on a friend or spouse, maybe get a hold of me and we can plunk you on a corner?

So far we have

Marshals

Brad

Lockie

Darryl and co.

Rob W. (after his race)

Bob W.

Simon F.

Course set up

Shawna

Thomas

Sandra

Marcy

Course take down/clean up

Trev

Marilyn

Rob W.

Midweek Mayhem Tuesday Night Crosstasticness

It Is now over for another year, and I’ve shed my small tear of sorrow.

For those of you unaware of this series, it’s a weekly (weather-dependent) gathering of fools and friends that runs from early-September to mid-October. It’s facilitated by Keith Bayly, who organizes it all and sets interesting, unpleasant and challenging courses in parks scattered around Calgary. It has introduced me and many others to the mondo-funness of Cyclocross racing and has allowed me to dial down the suck slightly this year. The courses make good use of the topography and infrastructural features of the parks in play and are designed to award power-mad riders or exceptional bike-handlers, depending. Citizenship in the Republic of Anaerobia is assumed.

Two groups go every night, sandbaggers (B’s) at about 6:00, and masochists (A’s) at about 6:30. If you win the sandbaggers race, you have to go to the masochist’s race in following weeks. If you ride the masochist’s race you’ll typically have the pleasure of getting totally chicked by Katy Curtis.

The vibe is remarkably mellow. Most of us (sandbaggers anyway) are aware of our limitations and try to stay within them. People crash. Other people stop to offer assistance or mockery. Crotches are damaged in high-speed mounts. FUN! My average speed in these races is typically about 17 km/hr. It’s astonishing how hard it can be to ride that slowly.

Last night’s race was an unusual format, but awesome (well, not awesome literally, but awesome in a kind of Awesome Chile kind of way). Keith set out an oval about 70 metres long. We rode circles as a devil-take-the-hindmost race. The last 3 riders were pulled every 3 laps until 5 were left. Matt Joss rode off the front for the entire race and stayed away to earn his upgrade to Masochist. I managed to hang with the top 5 and got to follow wheels with Matt up ahead. I still couldn’t jump past my group in the finale, but managed to generate a fine rattling cough after I was done. I have no idea what happened behind me with Jennifer, Darcy, Shawna (and others?), but I assume that they were kicking ass until the mechanicals. Thomas, Charles, Rick and Ian contested the Masochist’s race where Thomas hung in almost right to the bitter end. The gap got him.

After the A race, Keith invited everyone left to one more go in the reverse direction, pulling one rider every lap. I didn’t hang around quite so long there, but I think I got pulled after Matt, so ha! A grand night.

Keith deserves buckets of praise (and beer) for the immense efforts he put into making this series happen. I doff my chapeau to you sir.

If you’re interested in checking out this crazy scene, I heartily recommend you attend the Speed Theory produced Brian Kullman Memorial race on October 30^th. Even better, let Keith know how much you want to help pound stakes and marshall the course. There’s no better way to figure out how the whole thing works.

Darryl Parry

Weekend Mayhem CX

Sunday Oct 17th was the Remington Development’s Cross for Kids CX race put on by our friends of Midweek Mayhem. To all you folks who were first time CX racers, this is what you can expect of a Keith Bayly course - lots of tight cornering, sketchy descents, forced dismounts, bits of sand, and technical climbs. Do not expect anything less. In my opinion, COP is definitely the best venue we have for CX racing with so many different things to do with a course. I also believe, the night before the race when temperatures were dipping to zero, Keith must have went to the section after the barriers and poured a bunch of water there to create a nice little ice patch that would force riders to think about which line to take, or be prepared to be forced ‘off’ your bike…something he strives for in any course design. It was placed perfectly in a spot that didn’t see sun for the entire day, affected almost every racer and became the viewing spot of choice for many spectators.

Huge props already went out to Thomas for his exciting sprint finish which gave him a 3rd place victory. I’m glad I got to see the start of the Sport race, because it definitely had the largest field of 50 guys. Thomas made the best move by being in the front, and staying in the front, the entire time. He even helped drag around the racer who got 2nd. Awesome job to all the Speed Theory racers!

In the Women’s field, numbers were down slightly from previous races, which would definitely have something to do with the lack of Edmonton racers as a result of the Saturday race being cancelled. The start of the race was fast, and became furious in a hurry, when there was a slight pile up at the icy off camber section that took many down throughout the day. Despite several warnings from many about which line to take, I realized too quickly that I took the wrong line when I went down, and had another racer crash into me. 2 racers, 2 bikes all tangled up, causing everyone else to put a foot down and try to get around us. I was last to get up, only to see my shifter twisted sideways, and my bike unable to roll with a messed up derailleur and chain stuck somewhere in the drivetrain. Bike over my shoulder, I started making my way in reverse of the course direction to go DNF. Andrew T with Bicisport was standing by the barriers, and he offered his help, even though my decision to DNF was already made. After messing around with it for what seemed like several minutes, despite my DNF requests, he had me back out there. Thanks again Andrew! I now had to redo the barriers, and the section that got me in this mess. At this point, I was certain I would get lapped, but somehow, I dug deep and started catching people. It caused some excitement amongst the spectators, and I had someone tell me after the race I was like Ms Pac Man out on the course. While I felt disheartened about how things unfolded, I am so glad I got to experience what it’s like to be that far behind, and see what I was capable of. Of all the races we have done so far, this was by far my favorite course.

This weekend Provincials are in Devon on Saturday, and PRW Super Prestige is at Gold Bar Park in Edmonton on Sunday. Tech Guides are available here:

Devon Provincials Tech guide

PRW Super Prestige Tech Guide

Weekend non-CX racing... hopefully to be followed by the Cross reports.

On Sat. several SpeedTheory Cyclists headed out to Banff for the Ekiden relay. This is a unique event set at the Banff Conference Center and one that I always try to attend. It is a marathon split into 5 unequal legs all starting and finishing at the center (yes, at the top of that brutal hill). Our SpeedTheory team consisted of Jeff Krar, Ken Myers, Marilyn, Trev, and Fast Legs Frank. We were completely discounted by the elite Strides and Bow Valley Harriers (BVH) teams, however, after one of them actually told us so, the fire was lit in our bellies and we all had solid legs. Jeff is on fire these days and laid down an insane first leg (7.0km) and came into the hand off area first. This set the stage for the 4 remaining runners (me included) to leave everything on the race course to preserve the lead! The nervousness set in as Ken went out for the second leg (the longest of them all at 13.8km). Ken is a pure runner with pure talent and enviable palmares. I used to race Ken in the XC winter race series and it was always awesome watching his leg turn-over as he widened the gap between him and me with relative ease. The only reason I know what his face looks like is because of the chili lunch after the events. We knew Ken would be coming into the hand off with the lead maintained. Next it was up to Marilyn to do battle with the Strides and BVH male runners (both these teams were all guys). She rose to the occasion and didn't let their runners overtake her on the 4.3km leg. However, the Strides' team was now only 20seconds back! Next it was my turn. My leg (5.4km) started (just like leg 1 and 2) with the drop down surprise corner as the first kilometer! I spun my legs as fast as I could and eventually arrived at the bike path along the river where I ran out of pure fear of hearing the breathing of another runner. Luckily I made it to the hand off area with the lead intact and we now had 55seconds on the next team! I passed off to Fast Legs and screamed encouragement through the taste of blood and coughing. The wait was excruciating. Frank's leg (11.3km), being the second longest, was estimated to take at least 40min. We had no idea of the battle that was being waged out on the road. The Strides team had saved their best for last and we could only hope our team had given Frank enough of a lead to hold off 'The Fairmont Firestorm'. As the crowd cheered like crazy, the Strides team came through the finish only 20seconds up on us in what would be a hard fought victory for them and a great race to 2nd for us! It was great being part of such a solid team.

Sunday was the Confederation park relay. This was 3 person teams with all legs running over the same 3.5km XC course. The route included two creek crossing and enough off-camber hill running to fill your seasonal quota. I was on a team with Fast Legs and an excellent XC veteran Curtis Sampson. We had a pure ladies Speed Theory Cycling team (running as 'Undercover') represented by Tanya Soloman, The Hopper, and Marilyn. For our open men's team, we had to contend with Jeff Krar's astonishing leg 1 opening time, but our consistency as a team prevailed and we took the win! Our ladies team lead from start to finish and easily secured the Women's division. Other ST Cycling members there included, Ryan Murray, Carson, Bob Woodward, Shelley, and I am sure I have forgotten several more.

So an exciting weekend of racing of the non-wheeled kind, let's hear some stories of what we're all really interested in!! Cross !! Shawna? Keith? Rob?

Trev

Cross'giving Weekend Race Report

Thanksgiving weekend, Speed Theory had good representation in each category at the Argyll Velodrome in Edmonton for the doubleheader Cyclocross races. Thanks goes out to Juventus and Red Bike for both doing an excellent job at creating a fantastic venue and a course that was loads of fun, and designed to be as much fun the 2nd day when it went in reverse direction. The course had technical sections, big ring hammer sections, short steep uphills with room to take a run at, and fun barrier sections. All of the action was located in an area for spectators to give their best cheers, shout outs, Keith Bayly heckling and loads of cowbell. I was able to provide entertainment for the crowd on Sunday by going way too fast in a downhill corner, busting through some tape, knocking out a stake, trying to overcorrect it, and hitting the ground. Thomas Y gets props for going over his bars in a technical hairpin descent, getting up and back on his back so fast it’s like it didn’t even happen.

Speed Theory racers earned some points, including a 1st place podium with a champagne pop that I clearly need to work on. Good times were had by all, and more are to be had this coming weekend with the Remington Cross for Kid’s race to be held on Sunday Oct 17 at COP. Tech guide and registration details can be found here:

http://www.albertabicycle.ab.ca/uploads/files/Technical%20Guide%20_%20Cross%20For%20Kids%202010.pdf

River Park XC head cams.

Guys, I have a fun video put together of the River Park XC race last weekend. Carl's son, Matthew's view is super fun to watch since it is from his 9 year old perspective. I love how at the beginning he is moving through all these tall people and passing like crazy! The river crossing from his perspective is fun too. Way to go for him to race this race while most of the 9 year old regulars sat this one out because of the water height !

The video is located here.

Results can be linked to on the same page.

Trev

Team Photos ordered, Cross wickedness, Spin Classes and Indoor Race Series.

I processed the order for the photos! I switched some of the photos to 8 X 12 size to reduce or eliminate the cropping required. I think they are all going to look great! Once I receive the order, I will make a post on how to come pick them up.

Cross season is in full swing and is as exciting as ever. I really encourage anyone who has not come out and watched an event to make it to the Oct. 17th race here in town. I will post details as soon as they are available. Also, our club is hosting our final race of the season Oct. 30th. It would be great to have a bunch of ST Cycling jackets lining the course and cheering every competitor. Bring cowbells, triangles, and/or cymbals !

The spin classes have started up and are in full swing already. It is great to see some faces I haven't seen in awhile, listen to good music, and get in a great workout. I have been slowly and methodically collecting Computrainers for use for the club (actually Paul has been doing the collecting, I have been providing the encouragement!) and have a grand idea of hosting a super fun indoor race series from Jan - Apr. With our 6 computrainers, we can hook them all up together and race each other using multirider software. We can set handicaps of 'lots of draft', 'no draft', etc, when pitting different abilities together for an indoor road race, or we could simply have a 6 mano-a-mano ITT go off in waves if we have 18 dudes or so. Great way to keep up the motivation when the weather gets nasty. Leave a comment if you would be interested in something like this. It is a significant time commitment setting it up and running it on my part, and I would like to get a feel for if it would be used.

See you soon,

Trev

Weekend 'Cross Racing

Speed Theory had great representation at the Dark Knight and Oval 'Cross races held last weekend at COP. The CMC/Bow Cycle crew laid out some fantastic courses, and good times were had by all. Of special note is Matthew Joss' 2nd place, Darryl Parry's 7th, and Shawna Donaldson's 10th in group C at the Dark Knight. On Sunday, Thomas Yip came in 7th and Matthew Joss in 1oth in the Sport class, and all the women did awesome in their race.

Alberta Bison's 508

Looks like Dallas is in fourth place, 417 miles into the race at Time Station Kelso. He is 1:37 back from the leader, 26 minutes behind second and 3 minutes behind third. Go Alberta Bison! He should be finished around noon.

Team BBQ on Oct. 15th

Please RSVP to Tom if you plan on coming to the BBQ. Email is on the invite.

We will have a little 'awards' section, where we like to either highlight something cool someone did throughout the season, or poke fun at something someone did (like me getting dropped on the neutral lap of the Bow Crit last year!!). Please send me an email if you have a good idea, or want something highlighted that you saw a member do this year you thought was cool.

Trev

.

Over the weekend events.

Mike Godfrey is heading down to the States to compete in the 'Huntsman World Senior Games'. This is a huge affair with over 10000 athletes !! The cycling component includes a Hill Climb, TT, Crit, and RR !! Pretty cool to offer all those disciplines! You can have a look at it here. Good lluck Mike !!

Dallas Morris is competing in the Furnace Creek 508. The total distance is in the name. 508miles ?!?! Here is a link to the course, and apparently there are over 75 athletes competing in this craziness. You can get updates on Twitter if you want. Also, there will be a webcast going that will apparently keep us updated as to Dallas' progress and whether he is winning or not. Good luck Dallas !!

Dark Knight Cross race at COP !! Fun to watch, fun to race, action starts at 8pm and ends around 10pm Sat. night.

River Park Classic XC. The perfect warm up to the cross race. Takes place in River Park on Sat. and is super fun running through the river and racing some fast dudes! Action starts at noon. Come watch an eclectic crowd racing on a course only nightmares could dream up!