CAT 5 - 4 ever

The Jason Lapierre event was a fun Road Race for us lowly cat 5ers. Before I begin, I want to put out some thanks to a bunch of guys who did a lot of work at the front. There were a few gentlemen from the Nilkas Group that did yo-mans work at the front. Jeff from Rundle Mountain, Smiling Carl from Speed theory and a handful of others kept taking it on the chin for the rest of us.

The race started of very slowly. For the first couple of minutes I thought that we were in a neutral zone for some reason but once I learned that there was no neutral zone, it was time to ‘giddy-up’.
Depending on where you were in the pack, it seemed like we either going very slow or very fast. At the front, the surges would come on with regularity and I had to put the hammer down, but if I was in the pack, a surge just meant my HR had to go up a few beats.

It was very difficult to make any sort of break away stick. The flat course with a large bunch of riders at roughly the same level of fitness meant breaking away would take a Herculean effort. Some tried valiantly. I tried on a couple of occasions to sneak up the side and launch off the front either by myself or with a team mate. Usually someone would see me lurking and would latch on before I made the front, or the front guys would hammer up quickly and haul the pack with them. It was fun but they took their toll.

There were a few really hard attempts made by others. Alan O. made an impressive, albeit suicidal, attack near the turn around immediately after an attack that caused some good pain and suffering around the interchange. I imagine I wasn’t the only one feeling the hurt. Jeff from Rundle Mountain and a few others made some attempts to shake us loose on the home stretch but the pack would not let anyone go no matter what. There were a few dicey moments when the pack would shift violently to one side of the road then to the other. I thought I was going to be taken out (or take someone out) on a few occasions. I hope I didn’t cause any scary moments for anyone.

The finish was interesting in that we start cranking up the pace quite some distance from the finish line. As the group started to splinter, my only thought was to get back up towards the front before the final sprint. I was concentrating on NOT doing anything stupid, like say take out half the pack by hitting someone’s wheel when all of a sudden we were 20 meters from the finish line. We were at full speed but I still had some horse left in the tank. It was all but too late to make use of whatever I had left in my legs when I crossed the finish line.

12th place is not anything to write home about but I know I have it in me for top 10 or better.

It seems that every race I learn something about racing and about myself. The camaraderie between riders sure makes it fun and I get to meet some interesting people. I’m way more capable than I ever thought I was so look out next year; I’m gunning for number 1! (but, can I stay in Cat 5 forever?)

TK

[Editor: The first photo is of Handsome Rob winning the Cat4 JayLap RR and moving to Cat3 !! The second is of Paul's win in the Cat5 event.]

Cross Bike Skills?

Would any of our uber cyclocross riders be interested in leading a "learn how to cyclecross" clinic?

Jason Lapierre Memorial Cycling Weekend RESULTS

The results are posted to the right in the list of our focus races this year. Also here.

Thanks to everyone who worked together to make such a great weekend come together so well. All the hard work is payed off when I see our club host such a quality event.

Midweek Mayhem Crits Cancelled

FYI, from the Midweek Mayhem website:

"Due to some serious concerns passed along to us by Shell (the owners of the building/parking lot at the Research Park that we stage the Crit series out of) about some incidents on the road in recent weeks and throughout this season, we have been forced to take the step of canceling the remainder of the 2009 Midweek Mayhem Crit season.

"Participants are reminded that our races are run on open roads. Participants have also been reminded throughout the season that when catching up to vehicles from behind, racing should be neutralized until the vehicle has cleared the course. Under no circumstances is it permissible to engage in ANY kind of confrontational and/or abusive behaviour towards drivers on the course."

I hope this doesn't put future use of this course in jeopardy. Keith, Dallas, Brent, Noel and the rest of the Midweek crew work hard to put on the races every Tuesday, and it would be a shame to see a great midweek race series come to an end, even though I suck at crits, as Keith reminds me every week...

Fall Spin Class signup

Speed Theory (the store) just sent out their monthly newsletter and included a link to the spin class structure and sign up for this fall and spring. I don't want to catch any team members out that planned to sign up for this like usual, here is the link. It would be great if we had a very similar group to years past since the environment is fun, relaxed, and painful and I love it that way. New ST Cycling members are of course encouraged to sign up as well. In years past, the team has really hit the ground running after really getting to know each other over the winter.

Admittedly, it is hard to think of regularly spinning indoors already after the 11 real days of summer we have had. The spins don't start until October though, so you can either relax through Sept after a great JayLap weekend and overall race season, or hit up Cyclocross to bridge the gap.

Trev

Speed Theory coverage on CTV and more photos

I just saw Kyle's interview on CTV/CFCN. The segment was a couple of minutes long and had good footage of the various categories and some ST and H&R Block riders. Great stuff!

Now if I had only taped it... hopefully it will be on the evening version or their website.

You can always relay on Bill Quinney taking great shots, they are here.

Mark Kay (Heather Kay's husband) took some great shots over the weekend. They are here.

Photos from Bill Hodgetts are here.

Also, Phil Pickett was taking shots and his sets are locted two posts down.

What a great race weekend

Congrats to all the racers, volunteers and Speed Theory members for hosting such a great race weekend. It was such a tribute to hold this wonderful event in Jay's name. For those lucky enough to have known the guy, we know that he would have been humbled by this amazing event being held in his name. A special congrats to Trev on leading the effort.

ST Criterium Cat 4/5 photos

UPDATE (RR):

Phil came out for the RR today as well - click HERE for the photos of everyone.

(Crit):

My brother Phillip Pickett has his camera out at the event today - click HERE for some photos that he took.

Thanks to the other volunteers today too - what an awesome day! Congratulations to all those that raced and gave it their all!

ITT Start List

ITT Start list

IF A CLUB MEMBER READS THIS IN THE MORNING.. PLEASE BRING ICE ..LOTS OF IT!! Comment if you can so someone else doesn't as well. We need about 10 bags. We will remburse of course.

Great turn out for the event!

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Press Releases

We are starting to get great press for this event:

Here is the story on the front page of the University of Calgary

Here is the official press release that has been distributed by Stoney Trail Constructors to all media outlets.

Thank you to Leanne Yohemas for getting these together !

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Jason Lapierre Memorial Cycling Weekend

Technical guide here.

Registration here.

NEW BIG NEWS:

Westjet is donating a flight for a silent auction in the Jason Lapierre Tent with proceeds going to the scholarship fund! Thank you Westjet !!

OTHER COOL NEWS:

Speed Theory is donating a pair of Rudy Projects for a prime !

Niklas Group is donating a weekend in Canmore for the 'Most Exciting Rider' for the weekend.

Useful and awesome crit primes are being donated by PeakPower, Motion Chiropractic, and Taylor Made Pilates !!

Photos from Provincials.

Nicole Burnham took some shots from Provincials that she would like to share with us.

Found here.

Thank you very much Nicole !

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Jay Lap Weekend Roster

Since I'm bored and nobody else has done it yet, let's put together a roster for the Jay Lap weekend.

Cat 1/2: Trev (all), Dallas (all), Alex (all), Dennis (TT, RR), Lachlan (all), Jared (Crit), Kyle (TT)

Cat 3: Harley (all)

Cat 4: Clarke (all), Mike G (all), Rob L (all), Thomas (all), Rick C (all), Jason B (RR), Joel S. (Crit, RR), Simon Williams (All 3), Larry Welsh (RR)

Cat 5: Ale (all), Mark (TT,RR), Darcy (all), Rob W (TT,crit), Carl (all), Tom (TT, RR), Steve P (Crit,RR), Paul R (all), Peter V (Crit,RR), Andy (TT)

Women: Kailee (TT,RR), Tanya (TT, RR), Sandra (all), Amy (Crit, RR), Marilyn (all)

Citizen! Sue (TT)

I'm in trouble

My Cycling Fairy has been arrested. Something about a trampolene, some unruly women and a jar full of sausages... no details yet but I think he's out of action for the weekend.