Giver8er 8 Hour Enduro Mtn Bike Race

Sunday May 30th, race day in Calgary - MotherNature decided to remind Calgary’s bike racing community that she is boss by throwing us some cold temperatures, snow, rain, wind, wrenches, etc. Mountain bike racers and road racers did not let her win, by showing her we are the boss, and we will race. And racing we did. While Speed Theory’s racing team took part in the Incredibulus Velocitus 40km ITT, some of the members took part in the Deadgoat Giver8er – 8 hour endurance race at C.O.PSolo members who braved the greasy, muckfest included Thomas Y, Marcy K, Dan S, and myself (Shawna). We also had Charles B there on a Mixed Team of 2. To no surprise, the first half of the 8.5km course was slimy, thick mud with roots, tight tight singletrack, rocks, creeks with slippery skinny bridges, and lots of little steep climbs. The last half was a mixture of that, and some long hammer sections that dried out somewhat by noon. A lot of the course was tracked out by the 160-some riders who braved the event, enabling you to ride what you were walking earlier on.

Props go out to EVERYONE for this race, just for showing up and braving the conditions. SpeedTheory props go to Thomas Y for being the SS hero and rocking 10 laps on one gear. This gave him a 4th place finish, and he earned that 4th place finish by having a full on sprint to the finish line with another brave Singlespeed male with the same amount of laps as him. Thomas’Cyclocross moves assisted in this finish, as his jump off the bike and leap at the scanner like it was a barrier to scan the chip put the other guy in 5th.

Marcy K had 6 hard laps giving her 6th place, and again, with her heavy 29er front wheel to lift over the logs and up some of those greasy climbs. Marcy had to put her medical skills to the test during the race when she came upon another racer who got her foot caught in her spokes. Nice work Marcy! Marcy also helped me out when I was ready to pack it in after my 3rd lap. I was trying my best just to stay upright on my bike and realized on my 3rd lap that I hadn’t even finished one bottle of fluid. I ended up sitting out for about ½ hour, drinking, eating, and getting it together. If Marcy wouldn’t have come along and coaxed me out, I wouldn’t have completed 7 laps, giving me a 4th place finish. Thanks so much! During my 6th lap, my knee had an encounter with a tree, and the tree won, so I sat off the trail for 10 minutes before limping up to the top, where volunteers told me I had to ride for a photo. So I did, and moving it saved me, so I could get in my 7th lap.

Rumor has it, that Dan S was only able to get in 1 or 2 laps, as his derailleur had a fight with the course, and the course won. A busted derailleur was the end of his day. Apparently Dan was racing with his Trans Rockies (this August) partner to simulate a typical day at the 7-day stage race. Well Dan, I think the entire day was a great simulation of what can happen at that race. Preparation is good, and maybe you got the mechanical karma out of the way early!
Charles B was on a Mixed Team of 2 and they were able to get 4th place in their category. Charles was worried about not being on a mtn bike in a long time, so coming out in yesterday’s conditions hopefully changed that!

We also had some members out there cheering us on, and thank you so much for that. It was motivating hearing your name as you came through the transition area, and also when you were out there getting to the top of a grueling climb. Thanks Keith B, Shelly B, and Mitzy M (those are the people I saw) Rick M was marshalling a section and he was also a huge motivation as you came through two points that passed each other. I looked forward to that section as he talked you through crossing the bridge up the steep greasy climb and then again as you made your way back and had to do a greasy tight switchback climb. The day actually turned out better than everyone anticipated, and only a couple very light sprinkles fell from the sky. The black clouds moved in as soon as the awards were presented, and I’m sure the rain we were all very afraid of fell on C.O.P. after we departed. Thanks for the headgame Mother Nature.

Great job everyone!!! Way to represent Speed Theory at this event. Speed Theory had several shout outs by the announcer (Crazy Larry) as we all rolled through the transition area throughout the day, including the announcing of my picture on the cover of Get Out There magazine that was thrown in racer swag bags.


Next up in 2 weeks (after Pigeon Lake) is Cyclemeisters 5 hour Organ Grinder race in Canmore!

Incredibilus Velocitus 40km ITT RESULTS

RESULTS

Race report and photos to come soon.

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Pigeon Lake RR Registration now open.

Register here

Technical Guide here

ERTC is offering a Category 6 for people who do not want to do a longer race. Here are the details from the technical guide:

Category 6 (open to U17 Women, U17 Men, Paralympic athletes, Master Women 30+, Master Men 50+, Women B not wanting to obtain points to upgrade to Women A. No upgrade points given in Cat 6.)

So hopefully this will inspire some of the women who are new to racing to come out and race this fun course.

Trans Stony Video

Lap 1 of 12 at the Trans Stony Enduro...

Trans Stony Superhero Challenge 6 Hour Enduro MTB Race from Thomas Yip on Vimeo.

Acme ITT - Edmontonians

Is there anyone coming in from Edmonton for the Acme ITT? Any chance I can have you stop by the ABA and pick up my wheels? I left them in the wheel car at the Velocity RR.... I miss them even though they are a little overwheight and not very pretty.

email me: tom (at) mapitifirst.ca
Tom

Penticton – DONE!

The first official Speed Theory Bike Tour came to a close on Saturday with a stellar ride into and out of the US and a scoot up and down Green Mountain Road. After 220kms on the last day, Mike Healy commented, “I am now officially $**#@*!!’ed”. Ryan M, Mike H, Mike G., Trev, Carson, Mark, Natalie, Marylin, Harley, Simon F, Paul A, Krista, Bob, Frank, Jared, Lachlan, Diana, and Karalee from Speed Theory participated in rides throughout the week. We also had a few special guests from Calgary Cycle (Kobe and Dan) on the Mount Baldy day (most awesomest ride ever!). Don “locomotive” King and his traveling cycle maniac friend Ryan also braved the winds with us through the US. This kind of participation and the feedback I received from the group tells me if you weren’t one of those names listed above, you simply missed out.

According to Mike H’s bike computer, most folks hit between 900-1000kms over the seven days with more than 34,000ft of climbing. There were two days where we climbed more than 8,000ft per day. Other highlights of the week include Paul A soloing the Mt. Baldy-Osoyoos loop while fighting off lightning bolts from Zeus. Natalie leg-dropped Apex from the top ropes. Before the week began, Mark’s longest ride was 120km. He hit 170, 190 and 220km days over the week, which is more than Carson did. Marylin didn’t bonk. Unbeknownst to her, there was a handful of us calling for her to bonk at least three out of the seven days. Frank’s nose didn’t bleed while he was riding, which means he was holding back (that’s scary given what efforts he put in on the last day). Everyone attempted the Awesome-Rad category rides each day, which makes everyone awesome-rad. Finally, my wife grocery shopped and prepared all the food for the team BBQ, not to mention all the other meals that week for Carson, Mark and I. She is also awesome-rad.

A shout goes out to fellow Speed Theorist Sandra Yaworski, who led a group of 15 Krono’s triathletes on a cycling camp over the same week. With the extra day of cycling in Revelstoke before the week began and a few people staying for two more days of riding over the long weekend, Speed Theory hit it pretty hard over the past ten days. Until next May...

Trans Stony Superhero Challenge - 6 Hour MTB Race

This past weekend, Speed Theory’s mountain bike enthusiasts were in Stony Plain for the Trans Stony Superhero Challenge – 6 hour Enduro MTB race. Members who took part in the fun filled event as Solo Superheroes on the Monday of the May long weekend, included myself (Shawna), Marcy K, Thomas Y, and Rick M. We didhave one missing member, as well as a couple others from other teams. While organizers shouted out these names with hopes that they would sign on, this caused a 15 minute delay for the start time which ended up being 10:15am. Bueller? Bueller?

It was a chilly start to the morning with cloudy skies, but that was soon to change as anxious racers off the start line dropped immediately into the trees and onto some tight swoopy single track. With the tight pack of riders on the brakes so not to hit the racer in front of you, and racers who were on/off the bikes as the tires slipped on the rooty climbs, this brought the heart rate up enough to work up a sweat. The bottle necking stayed in effect until we got through the first half of the course which was some sweet single track in the trees consisting of lots of swoopy tight turns, with steep rooty climbs, as well as numerous logs thrown in that you had to hop your bike over right before the start of a steep tight climb. Then it all broke apart in the wide open field which led you into some longer climbs enabling those of us who had more than one gear to throw it into a larger one and stomp on it. Each lap consisted of about 6.5km and 120m of elevation gain, getting in as many of those as you could in 6 hours.

It was business as usual for Thomas Y, and he did a great job with only one gear at doing 12 laps. The pinstriped business socks mesmerized his opponents allowing him some huge gains. Rick M might have looked like he was playing for the other team in his Deadgoat jersey, but we still allowed him to hang with us, which helped contribute to his 11 lap race. Marcy K fooled everyone with her chicken legs (I have her permission to say this) and heavy 29’er wheel by slapping down 9 laps, with only 2 rings in the front. Her 3rd ring wasn’t working for her, so she did what she could with 2. My guess is Thomas is slowly trying to get her to follow suit, and become one of ‘him’ in the Single Speed club. I had a goal of 9 laps and managed to dig out 11 laps. I don’t know where that 11th lap came from, but when I came through the transition area, the commissaire told me I had 36 minutes. I didn’t feel like I had 36 minutes in me, but the girl who rode behind me for the last lap seemed confident that she could pull out another one and make it count, so I had to go out. I stayed on her wheel for a while, until I passed her and we discussed our expectations of making this lap count. We made a pact to work together for this. I got her through the single track, and then when we came to the field of climbs, she got me through it. I was in a world of hurt as I climbed up the last hill to the finish line, as Thomas stood there yelling at me to stand up and hammer. I hammered, but there was no standing. When I crossed the finish line, I lay on the ground and stared at the black spots in the sky. The girl I worked so hard with came over and hugged me and we both agreed we couldn’t do it without one another. It was good to see her on the podium. Marcy had a similar last lap experience and worked closely with another guy to get that last lap to count. It just goes to show that if you really want something, you will have it.

When I first heard we were racing on Fern & Harvey’s MTB farm (all man-made 10 years ago strictly for races) in Stony Plain, I thought, 6 hours of lap after lap on a small Nose Hill. I was very wrong. Stony Plain was Stony Plain AWESOME.

Great race everyone, solid effort! This Sunday is Deadgoat’s 8 hour race at COP. See you all there!

BOB Cat 5 Race Report

So it turns out that Saskatoon is a long way from Calgary. However, the 7 hour drive was well worth it for the torrential downpour that greeted the Speed Theorists at the Bikes on Broadway race.

The Time Trial was a brutal affair punctuated with howling wind and blowing rain. 8 km of snot and spittle later Darcy pulled in 6th place in the Cat 5 time trial (you might hear something about him missing a start time preventing him from winning the thing... but we're not sure about that), with me a close 8th, Dave Holmes and Rob Welch were a minute off the pace, but still within striking distance of the top GC contenders.

The plan was to mark any breakaway attempts with Rob and Dave and if the pack came together I was going to go for the sprint finish. The Cat 5 road race started at a leisurely pace as few teams felt the need to work hard off the start. Speed Theory represented with all four of our riders near the front for the first 30km. The pace picked up a bit for the next little while as we had a nice tail wind. A few brave souls (including myself) attempted to make life interesting with a couple of half hearted attacks. The race knew that the ride back into the head wind would be nasty for any smaller group none of the attacks stuck.

After the turn around, Speed Theory spent some time at the front pulling into the headwind, but I decided that we were wasting too much energy and fell back into the relative safety of the pack. A sketchy rider took out one of the brave females who decided to ride Cat 5 and she crashed out in front of me. Fortunately, I did hit her and go down as well. The sketchy rider was then continually sketchy and I ripped a strip out of him after he almost took me down as well. Dave thinks I'm scary.

With about 20km left, Rob launched an attack off the front that had the potential to be a game winner. It was marked by an ERTC rider who was obviously not working for himself (working hard at the front of the ride) and I understand that he wasn't actually willing to help Welchie in the break. But did when Welchie told him that his wife was watching. Dave & I stuck with the pack allowing the other teams to work to attempt to bring back the break. The break was caught around the top of the hill, but another one form just over the hill. I watched as Dave and Rob were safely in the break and turned off the gas a bit not wanting to pull anybody else up into the break. A brave rider from Saskatchewan sprinted to attempt to bridge, and I marked him up. At one point he looked back and wondered if I wanted to do any work, at which point I said "I'm sorry, I have two guys up in the break" He seemed pretty cool with that and continued to haul ass attempting to bridge. On one of the last few hills I cracked a little and fell off his wheel. I was alone and finding a last second wind, managed to get back to him and nip him about 10m from the finish line. Overall, Speed Theory placed 3rd (Rob), 4th (Dave), 8th (me) and, back with the group was Darcy. I think it was a highly successful race from a Cat 5 perspective as we worked hard to ensure that the break was made and stayed away.

Tomorrow is the Crit and I am hoping for some good things.

The women's race went really well for Emilie as she kept with the pack for the entire thing except for the last 15km when she was pushed off the road and had a small crash. (Just a bent derailleur hanger to show for it, not even a small road rash) I guess that Emilie was then considered the "pack" as the wheel car followed her for the rest of the race. Emilie is extremely happy with her race, but was peeved about getting crashed out.

Registration Open!: Acme Incredibilis Velocitus 40km ITT

Click here to Register at Zone 4

Perhaps you can't volunteer but you have a Truck/SUV and a big empty freezer?

Here are 2 jobs for those of you that are racing...and can't provide a volunteer!

Need someone to go pick up the BBQ & Burgers on Friday and return the BBQ Sunday after the race. The BBQ would fit in the back of an SUV. There would be 2 boxes of burgers which would need to be kept in a freezer until the race. (the boxes are pretty big so you would need a somewhat empty freezer/deep freeze)

Also calling for expert BBQ cooks that will flip some burgers after the race. Most important job of all: cause everyone's going to be hungry!

Still Need 8 Volunteers for Velocitus!! May 30th

96 Speed Theory Members and can't get 8 More to volunteer? C'mon guys/gals, step up!! Don't you have any friends?

Races cannot happen without volunteers, and I need 16 of them for May 30th. Calling all partners, friends, super moms, crazy dads, siblings, grannies, ex’s, whatever it takes!

It’s going to be a gorgeous day (for sure right?) – a few hours of time PLUS you get to watch an awesome race, spend time outside, enjoy a BBQ and cheer on the racers.

If you are not racing PLEASE come out and help – after all, when YOU race others have given some of their time for you!

New Racers/Women’s team: want to see what TT racing is all about? Now’s the chance to figure it out so that you can be ready for the next race ;) No excuses!

--> Volunteers will need to be on site tentatively 30min before race start i.e 8:30am. A few may be required earlier. Details to come.

Email Emilie elangevin (at) gmail.com if you are available to come out and help – or if you have an incredibilus volunteer for us!

… Alternatively we just might pick at random from those speed theory registered racers to volunteer instead of race? Wanna take that chance?? …

Mt. Hood Cycling Classic

ST Racers,

Christina Smith, another Alberta women's racer, would like to head down to Oregon to take part in the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic June 1-6, but would like some company on the drive down. She already has tentative accommodations lined up but, but could see about finding suitable digs for a ST racer if they want to make the trip.

The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic's website is http://www.mthoodcyclingclassic.com. If you can go, this looks like a great race.

Need more information? Please contact Christina at cm.smith[at]telus.net. She'll be able to answer any questions better than I can.

Darcy

Salty

So I guess this is why it's the SALTY dog...I won't go on as Shawna seems to have summed the race up rather finely...

However, it was a great race, a wicked course and a super effort by all. Such a relentless course... if you're not powering up steep pinches through the switchbacks on the way up, or stomping a big gear up the fire-road, you're rattling your teeth out on the fantastic, twisty, turny singletrack warp speed descent, chuckling with delight at the absurdly wonderful event! Nice work Rick, Shawna and Thomas... although Thomas neglected to bring any gears or rear bounce to the event which is admirably crazy in itself on such a course!

See you all at the Trans Stoney!

News From Penticton

Nice work on the mountain bike tour boys. Way to represent. Mark and Carson swear they saw you guys tearing through Revelstoke Saturday morning when we were coming back into town from our ride. Day 0.5 saw Mark, Carson and I trying to ascend Mt. Revelstoke until we hit snow. We made it to around 12.5km (half way), which is great because last year Jared, Jeff and I made it only 5km.

Day 1 was the Anarchist ride. We started out with nine riders. (Krista made a short but sweet appearance for the first 30kms) The weather was great as Carson took top points for King of the Mountain, followed by Harley and then myself. Kudos to Mark and Natalie for making it to within 500m to the Sasquatch (turn around point).

Just so you know, this 175 km ride was 40km longer than those two had ever ridden before, which brings us to Day 2 - Ironman Loop/Apex!!! Duh, duh, duuuuuh...

I'll just say there were casualties. The score was Apex: 3, Speed Theory: 5. At least we came out on top. Again, Carson "Human Power Meter" Bannon (he snapped his chain TWICE on the descent from Apex) won the King of the

Mountain, followed by Mike "Who-Would-Have-Thought" Healy and Ryan "Pottie-Mouth" Murray.

Marilyn "Fly and Die" Taylor took it out hard, inspired by her playlist, but couldn't hold off the final surge by Ryan. Natalie "I'll-Just-Do-The-Whole-Ride" Cormier (Official Speed Theory Dark Horse, BY. THE. WAY.) gave Speed Theory the win! Today was exhausting. Mark "I-Think-I-Just-Saw-Jesus" Shand officially had his first ever bonk. He knew it was over on Richter's, which means he still had 90km to go. Kudos to Paul "We're-Doing-The-Ironman-Loop-ANNNNNND-Apex?!?!?!?" Anderson

and Simon "Off-The-Front" Forman for rescuing and escorting Mark back to Penticton. Mark is currently on the coach beside me sorting it out. Once back in Penticton, Mike logged today's ride at 190km and 8200ft of total climbing. Yessssss.

I'm going to bed. Harley, we missed you today. Hope to see you out tomorrow!