Rundle Mountain Stage Race... Roll call and car pool.

Hello Teammates!  I see that there is a bunch of us tackling the Omnium as well as individual events.
I was up until midnight watching the numbers on the confirmation list go up as people decided in their Stapede stupors to "just go for it"...
So now is your chance to connect on the blog and strategize how you are going to tackle that hill-laden road race as well as arrange car pooling (parking was tight last year at the nordic centre) and just say "Hey, I know I could be at Cowboys, but -No.  I am going to get up at an ungodly hour and race."
 See you tomorrow ~ MARIE and MARK

Calgary 70.3 Draft Marshals wanted.

The Calgary 70.3 is asking if there are any cyclists that would like to be draft marshals at the race this year? The position would be, that you sit behind a Motorbike driver and direct him where to go and how fast. You observe the field, yell at drafters, and penalize the worst. I have done this position before at the Sylvan Lake Half in 2006 and it was pretty cool. You can get to see the event from a different perspective and appreciate the distance differences between the pros and the age-groupers.

You can sign up as a draft marshal here if you would like.

Trev

Women's Race Report - Stampede RR

Sarah and Emily with some of the Crave team.

We had three STC ladies out for the Stampede Road Race today – Sarah, Andrea and me. After a great pre-ride with Marie on Friday, we were armed with some race tactics and were ready to go after a good warm up.

The guys ready to head out!

All Masters Women and the Master Men’s D and E started together, the last group to be sent off. After a few hundred of meters behind the neutral car, we were off on a downhill with a decent climb on the other side. Sarah, Andrea and I were together at the start in the first third of the pack, but were split up during the ascent, where hill climber Sarah was able to stick with the lead group and I ended up at the front of the second small group. The rest of the riders were strung out, but Andrea was still behind me, as was one of the Crave girls and a couple of guys who eventually pulled past us. The three of us agreed to work together to try and catch the lead group and it worked well – by the first corner we were about 100 meters away…and then they attacked on the corner and were off again! We rounded the corner on to the nice, new asphalt and continued to work as a group, but it just wasn’t happening for Andrea and the Crave girl, so I pulled off with the intent to try and TT it to the lead pack. As before, I was within 100 meters when they hit the next corner and attacked, and I suddenly seemed to lose 150 meters!

I rounded the corner and, as I was cresting the small incline, saw the wheel car pull over. As I passed, I see ‘good luck’ Sarah with her Betty White face on frantically changing her wheel while yelling about some guy that didn’t hold his line and broke her spoke. Not one to leave a teammate behind, I slowed and waited for her. By the time she got on, a group of seven (or five, I only remember it was an odd number) Crave girls caught up and we formed a nice group.

Harley came out to cheer in his wicked 2009 Team Champions STC kit!

Marie warned us on Friday that there will be exciting women's races, where there are attacks and lots of action, and there will be races where the ladies don’t do much. This one was a race where nothing much happened for the majority of it. Sarah and I tried to lead off with two Crave girls, but one of them laid it out for us, saying that most of the Crave ladies were doing their first race and they would be sticking together. Ultimately, Sarah and I decided it was better to stay with the pack and work together than try and lead out with just the two of us. In retrospect, I really think Sarah and I could have done it, but regardless, working with the Crave girls allowed us to have a good amount of fight left for the finish.

We rounded the final corner with about 6 km to go. The finish was a downhill then a steep uphill that levels out for 150 meters or so before the finish line. I told Sarah that I’d get in front and slow the girls down, and let her come around and push up the hill. We were all silent as we hit the final 1 kilometer, but my timing was perfect and about halfway down the hill I got in front of the pack and slowed right down. Sarah powered around the right, but two of the stronger Crave girls saw what was happening and passed on the left. It was a close fight up the hill and I lost sight as I was in the midst of my own battle with two other Crave girls. As we rolled up the hill, one passed me and the second girl was just pulling even with me when we crested the hill. I thought I had nothing left, but I found one more match, and lit it in the final 75 meters, pounding it out and finishing inches (Harley said about six) in front of the other two girls.

Men's Master B peloton hard at work.

In the end, Sarah finished with fourth and I finished fifth. Although Andrea bonked early in the race, she toughed it out and finished strong. It was great fun and a super supportive environment, and a fantastic day for a good ride. I think each of us learned something about ourselves – never give up, and you always have something left! We all hope to see some ladies out at Rundle Mountain and at future races. We will be a powerful force once we are all working together!

Stampede Road Race -- Roll Call

Who's In?

Darcy Gullacher (Men A)

Last Chance for Sunday's Stampede Road Race!

Time is running out for registration for the Stampede Masters Road Race!
Registration closes at 11:59pm tonight.  This is a great race - short and sweet.  Burgers at the finish line.
Since there are no points awarded, it doubles a perfect time to try out those race tactics you've been wanting to unleash but were nervous to try.  It also gives you a chance to race with your age group (aka your buddies in different Categories whom you normally would just catch pre/post race.)
There are already a few STC racers registered, but let's get a good group out there!
Ladies, don't forget to check the training ride forum as we have a small but enthusiastic group heading out to pre-ride tomorrow!
Marie

Congrats to Tom Kenny!

Tom Kenny has been working to get out of Cat 5 for quite a while now, and with the current point awarding structure and low amount of races, it can be quite difficult. He has officially upgraded !! Congrats dude!

Clothing Order #2 and some STC inventory to get rid of.

I am about to unleash Clothing Order #2, however I have some jerseys, jackets, and shorts that have accumulated in my basement the last 2 years from me making a few mistakes while ordering. The club will fire sale these (mainly to get them out of my basement) and then I'll open up Clothing Order #2 a few days later.

UPDATE !!

OK, here is how we can do this. Here is a link to a shared document. If you want something shown, DO NOT change the quantity, just put your name in the column on the right. If there is more than one available, you can put your name more if you want more, or someone else can put their name in the next column. Also indicate what size you want, so people know it is spoken for. Please DO NOT change the values in the quantity columns!

UPDATE, I have the clothes down in The Engine Room.

I have the clothes down at The Engine Room with an envelope and you can pick up the clothes and put your cheque (made out to 'Speed Theory Cycling') or cash in envelope during store hours.

Trev

Results to this morning's Downhill, Cross-Tail, Straight 7.1km TT

Great turnout! 18 cyclists and Marie came out to volunteer! Thank you Marie!

I will post some photos as soon as I download them!  Thanks to everyone who came out, it was fun!

Trev

Big Club Ride !! Sat. June 28th at 8:45am

For those not going to the Provincial Championships, let's all get together Saturday morning for a fun tradition we do with the club and friends!  Usually the TdF starts with a short Time Trial called a Prologue. It serves the purpose to establish a position of every rider, since the next several days are usually sprint stages and end in groups. It is usually around 5 - 9km. Last year, the Tour of Alberta started with the Prologue for example.

Last year we all met at the Timmies on 85th St. and 9th Ave and we rode down towards the Edge school by the small Airport. We have a course set up we have used on multiple occasions that is 6 km long and is usually with a tailwind and is predominately downhill !!

Let's meet at 8:45am and meander down to the course together. We will explain how it works and set everyone off one by one.

This is a casual affair and meant as much for a big club get together as it is for a solid interval. So don't be intimidated to come out.

If you don't feel like doing the 6km Interval but want to take part in the ride, that is totally cool too! and if you want to drive out there to cheer, we may get you on a clock for timing!

If you are NOT an STC member but like the sound of doing something cool on Sat morning, come out for sure as long as you belong to another ABA club! It would be cool to get several Crankmasters there!

See a lot of you Sat!  and if you are doing the Provincial Championships, GOOD LUCK !!

Our very own Trev Williams wins Victoria Gran Fondo - The Doppio

It's only fitting that Trev won this, Victoria is where he first developed his love for riding.  The total event was 265KMs with the race portion covering 231kms of the event.  After the 231km mark it was a neutral ride into the city.  Trev covered the 231km's in 6:52:50 and what's interesting he did this with basically no time off the bike.   It's my assertion that he learned the technique of flying in and out of feed-stations/controls/rest stops while Randonneuring with the hardy men and women of Arizona.   Regardless, a very impressive feat given the terrain and a big congratulations to him.

It should also be mentioned that Markus Navikenas,  Scott Bratt, Nelson Whitmore finished the tough ride in 9:34 an impressive feat in itself.

You can see the results here Doppio

Stephen

Survey for Jay Lap Weekend

STC folks, ABA folks, and anyone else reading this blog, friend or foe,

We're in the midst of planning the epic 2014 Jay Lap weekend, and before we get too deep into the process we'd like your feedback. Please fill out a (very) short three question survey here.

P.S. If you are interested in volunteering, the volunteer sign-up page will be available soon.

Ladies Race Report!

This weekend Jenn, Erin, and myself travelled up to Devon for our first ABA road race.  It was a BLAST!

All of three of us were nervous, probably more than we would admit about what to expect.  Having two other familiar faces at the start line helped to calm our nerves I think.

After a warning from the commissaire about the massive potholes on the road, we were off.  Things seemed good as we tucked in the middle of the group.  The next thing I knew, I had hit a huge pothole and my front tire was flat.  I could hear Jenn and Erin saying they were sorry as I grabbed a wheel from the wheel car.  Thankfully, this was only on kilometre 3 and the ladies at the front weren't pushing too hard so I TT'd back up to the group.

As we turned onto the highway, we knew the Cat 3 women from Bici would attack, but we were ready and held on.  We stayed together until the first climb where things got spicy with another attack from Bici.  Just when we thought the climb was over, there was more attacking as the road meandered along a false flat.  Jenn and I managed to stay with the peloton and Erin who was only seconds back worked with a few other girls to try and bridge back to us.

The group seemed to ease up in between rollers which was a nice little break.  Just before the turn around, ladies started dropping off the back as the wind changed. At that point I looked around and realized my teammates were no longer with me.  As we looped back to start the return, Jenn made an amazing move to join me and Erin, still working to catch us was close behind.

We hit the second climb on the way back where QOM points were awarded.  This was around kilometre 45 and my legs were screaming.  Despite our best efforts to keep up with the Cat 3 women, things got pretty split up after this point.  I worked with two ladies from Edmonton to try and catch back on, but to no avail.  I came sprinting through the finish line, with what I am told was a "smile" on my face...really it was a pain face (think Andy Schleck in the Tour) and Jenn and Erin not too far behind me.

I am very proud of us for getting out and representing the women in STC!!  It was a ton of fun.  I hope that some of the ladies out there who are nervous or unsure of this whole race thing will come and give it a try!!  We would be so happy to have you join us.

And as a side note, the more seasoned racers were very respectful and kind to us newbies :)

A BIG thanks to Marie who hosted us at her place for an intro to racing night last week.  Many of your tips and suggestions came in handy this weekend.

Victoria Gran Fondo tomorrow as well! Sat June 21st.

A few of us from the club, Scott, Nelson, Markus, and I, are doing the Victoria Gran Fondo tomorrow. I have wanted to do this event since 2009 when it was first offered. The logging road from Port Renfrew to Lake Cowichan was paved the year before and of course, some cyclist like ourselves thought... 'Hey.. that would be a crazy awesome loop!.

Here is a link to the course route. It is 270km, but on there is says 263km due to some route discrepancies.

The official end to the race portion is at the top of the Shawnigan Lake climb about 225km into it, then it is neutralized down the Malahat and into town. Last year Fast-Legs Frank crushed it for an 8th spot in 7 hours 34 min, just 2 min behind the winner. Then made it to the final finish in just more than 9 hours.

The race director emailed out that the support vehicles and motorbikes will have SPOT satellite devices on them and that friends can watch the progress of the groups throughout the day. No promises, it may not work, but here is the link that should come live tomorrow at 6am Victoria.

Devon Grand Prix is this weekend!

Hi Crew!  Just starting off a roll call and room sharing blog for those who are making the run up to Edmonton this weekend.
We have 4 brave ladies heading up and staying in Devon (some of whom this is their very first race!)
This is a great intro race, as it's short and sweet for all categories.  In light of Pigeon lake being cancelled, let's support our Edmonton race organizers and teams.  While you are there, you can hype up the J-Lap!
~ Marie

[Update by Trev:]  Here is the link to the technical guide for Devon. There is a Criterium and a Road Race. The Crit is on Sat afternoon and the RR is on Sunday morning. A lot of the racers stay at the Airport Hotels in Leduc. Tom or Ernie, can you post the hotel you are staying at?

It looks like there are a good group going up. Tom is staying at the Executive Express hotel in Leduc. There is a Boston Pizza at 5309 50th Ave. Tom, Ernie, and Dan will meet the club there Saturday night at 6:00 for Pizza. The club will pay for the Appy's and Beer for a group dinner on Sat.
If you have never raced before, there are a good showing of Cat5's from our club there, so this would be a great opportunity!