Cat 5 Banff Bike Fest Report

As Lockie posted, a great weekend of racing was had by all who made the trip to Banff. Here's my completely biased report on how we Cat 5s faired:

93 Hill Climb:

Rob Woolley had the honour of starting BBF off, being the first rider on the climb. He held his lead for a couple of kms, when I took over for awhile. Then Pedalhead's Travis Eltom roared past me to take top spot on the podium. Rob finished the day 12th, Tom Kenny brought the style to end up 7th, Matt Mackay suffered to well earned 15th, and Andy Hill hammered to round out the ST crew in 18th spot. Yours truly was just out of the medals in 4th.

ITT:

While the higher Cat's were sleeping, we Cat 5's were out dodging bighorn sheep. Again, Rob Woolley started off, followed by me. This time Rob held me off, but Travis Eltom proved he should be racing with the 4's, blowing by Cycle-Logic's Lorne D, then me, then Rob on his way to his second win in two days. Clarke Ellis was top ST dude in 8th, proving that one doesn't need to throw down big cash on a P3C to rock ITT's. He was followed by Rob W. in 11th, Steve Pickett in 14th, me in 16th, Tom in 18th, Kelly-Lynn in 24th, Mike Healy in 25th, Matt Mackay in 26th, Mark Shand 28th, Andy Hill in 33rd, Rui Reis in 36th, and Scott G-C bringing it home in 39th. David M. missed his start (but that's a story he needs to share). Overall, a great showing by Speed Theory Cat 5s on what is probably the nicest ITT course in the country.

Crit:

This was the coolest crit course I've ever been on, and it was the first time Banff Ave. has been shut down for a bike race. Clarke E. proved yet again he's our man for the crits, staying with the finishing group for a well-earned 7th. By that time all the rest of us were cheering from the sidelines, unable to keep up with the pace Clarke and the other front men were pushing. Awesome work, Clarke. I think we all managed to stay upright as well, so Keith B. should be happy.

All in all, a great weekend in a great town. Good luck to all of you heading to Devon: I'm sitting this weekend out.

Slayer's Devon Weekend round up.

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Link to Dan's, Hanz'z, and Franz'z, race report from Devon.
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Cat5 Pigeon RR report

The Speed Theory cat5 team went into the Pigeon RR with a plan and 9 strong guys to execute it - ST would lay down the hurt, and Dan and I would suck wheel and sprint finish.

The race started out at a lively pace, and took the big hill in the opening km's at speed. But it's just the start of the race, and we can kinda take it easy, right? Errrr....no. A gap formed between the front half of the pack, and after a weak attempt at a ST paceline, Dan and I sprinted to bridge up, leaving Rob, Mark and Rui in the chase pack.

Most of the rest of the race was kept at a fast pace, with just one crash (interesting, one of the two guys to go down was the same young buck that crashed twice in the crit the day before while riding by himself). Despite some strong pulling by ST, very few racers in the front pack got dropped, one of which was Mike G, who was really just trying to keep a low profile with his 95 upgrade points. Mike of Hardcore Racing led up a couple of hills and sat about 100 metres off the front of the pack for a few km, and three ERTC guys ramped up the pace at the front, but other than that a uneventful race.

So what happens at the end of uneventful races? Huge field sprints! We came around the corner with 20 dudes ready to duke it out. The ST guys left at this point worked our way up through the pack ready to launch past the front markers and oh! There's a slow moving van. And oh! there's 50 cat-4 riders, and a bunch of people handing off stuff in the feed zone, and watch out for the cones! And then we crossed the finish line...

The official results posted by the ABA have me 4th and Dan 7th. There were a few DSQ's for ST guys, probably for centre line infractions in the last moments of the race, which is too bad because ST would have had a bunch more guys in the top 10. Mike of Hardcore Racing finished first, which really shouldn't have happened, since he was working hard during the race, but maybe he saw the cat4 pack and knew that he just had to catch them and he wouldn't be able to be passed? Anyway, good on him.

So was it a success? Well, Dan and I both finished in the top 10, so sure. Would we have done better if it wasn't for the unexpected gong-show of finishing as cat4 rolled through the start-finish line? Absolutely. Certainly that would have avoided probably all the DSQ's. But really, having a field sprint finish was not part of the plan - so Dan and I were thinking that when we saw the pack not have to work, we should have gone to plan B. If only we had one! :) Thoughts, anyone?

Hats off to all those ST guys who pushed the pace, and let Dan and I suck wheel all race, especially Mike G who gave it everything and had to drop out. You rock, Mike!

Overall results for the weekend:
Lockie 3rd
Dan 5th
Paul 25th
Mike 26th
Mark 32nd
Old-Rob 41st
Rui 46th
New-Rob, Andy and Carl DSQ

Devon Cat 5 Race Report

Ok, I want to keep this short due to Pete's Awesome ITU race report below.

This weekend I snuck up to Devon for the Devon Grand Prix hosted by Juventus. First off, Juventus did a great job and it was a riot. I only competed in the Hill Climb and Crit but this race is a must for us next year. The crit is flat, fast and wicked fun while the hill is short, steep and perfect for power climbers.

The HC was decent, I managed to finish 7th in Cat5. The Crit was good times. Without any backup I resorted to lurking for a few laps before launching a nasty acceleration to drive the pace up and help out the local favourite Austin. Austin may be the only person I have met to race in a t-shirt and aviators but he was wicked fast. After that I fell off and pulled for the chase pack until I was lapped.

I think Frank and Steve may have hammered out the ITT on Sunday but I was happily sleeping in.

Cat 5 Pigeon Lake Race Report

June 3rd is a day that will go down in history. June 3rd is the day that Speed Theory reared its head and roared at the rest of the Cat 5 field. And what a day it was.

Firstly a huge shout out goes to the awesomeness of Trev and Paul C. Trev wasn't racing but came up to cheer us on and take pics. Paul C made the trek up thinking he was going to unleash the fury but alas the ABA lost his registration in the series of tubes that make up the internet. Still, Paul offered his experience and made
sure to cheer us on with reckless abandon. The rest of the cheering section was rounded out by Shannon, Yvette, and Colton who kept the Speed Theory mascot (Monty the Chug) in check. The racers thank you all.






Sunday began with racers assembling from all points within Calgary and hopping on the highway. Groggily we all randomly met at the Timmies in Gasoline Alley. Kirk, Carl, Ernie, Rob, and Pete fueled up on the awesomeness that is timmies and piled back onto the highway to Pigeon Lake. The race begins with the selection of parking adjacent parking spots. Right from the get go people could see we were serious. While there were no UCI vampires taking our blood there were approximately 9 kabillion mosquitoes that were happy to ensure our hemocrit was below 50%. After sorting out plates, numbers and a last minute application of OFF we took off for a brief spin to wake up the legs. After warmup the crew assembled.








The Cat5 Pack from left to right:
Rob, Ernie, Kirk, Carl, Pete, Paul C, Mike G, Mike H, and Alex. So, it was time to line up for the start. After seeing the rest of the categories off it was our turn to roll. After getting sorted on the road the Speed Theory posse formed an imposing squad as we set about executing the top secret Williams plan. Kirk and Carl rolled out to the front to set some tempo and get the speedsters excited. Alex and Ernie lurked back around 10th wheel where they were casually marking people. Mike G, Rob, Pete, and Mike H stayed tucked safely in the crowd letting the occasional flyer cook on the baking hot asphalt.

Around the mid point, Rob and Pete moved up to the front to give Kirk and Carl a much deserved break. Rob launched a few wimpy attacks just to see how people were feeling. The pack was certainly dancing to the speed theory tune by this point and everyone was waiting to see what we would do. Strangely, the crowd was more nervous than usual as almost every turn was punctuated with that eerie squeal of a rear wheel locking up. The hills began at this point and for every roller the ST people pushed the pace hard. So hard in fact that Rob and Kirk fell off the back. Luckily Kirk is a monster and some hard pulls and they reintegrated. Ernie and Alex took a few pulls with Mike G at the front just to keep things exciting. Mike H, despite having tweaked his back the day before, kept rolling within the pack and making sure to stare down the young guns that were getting cheeky. At about the 50 minute mark Pete went up to the front and laid down a nasty pace. So nasty that when the pack hit the hill Rob fell off and Pete finally cracked.




Despite some surreptitious drafting behind Trev's truck Rob and Pete just tempo'd it in from that point. The real action was a minute up the road as Mike G was organizing the train. Alex and Ernie were sitting in the top 10 wheels as were Kirk, Carl, and Mike H. Alex, Ernie, and Mike G were ready and primed, Kirk, Carl and Mike H were still strong when disaster struck someone clipped Mike G who was right at the front with Ernie. What started as the ultimate Speed Theory sprint train derailed to the tune of popping tires, snapping carbon and screeching tires. Tragically, Mike G, Ernie and Alex overcooked leaving the sprint to Kirk, Carl, and Mike H.




1600m from the finish it was a scene of carnage. Rob and Pete rolled up to a visage of crumpled bikes and bruised bodies. In true cyclist fashion all three of our warriors reached deep into the suitcase of courage to sum up smiles for camera. Despite the crash this was a great day for the team. All of the athletes displayed traits befitting of champions, courage, calm, commitment, class and competition. It was a fantastic race. Once we get everyone healed up we'll be sure to do it again.

Cat 5 Bici Sport Crit Race Report

Saturday was the Bici Sport Crit held at the infamous Race City Speedway. The Cat5s of Speed Theory were well represented. In the Pic to the left, we have (from left to right) Mike 'Chewie' Chui, Alex 'The A-Train' Shaw, Ernest 'the E-train' Wyder, Mike 'the Heater' Healy, and Rob 'El Twitchy' Woolley. Facing a brisk headwind, the ST boys piled up at the front right off the start teaming up with Mike from Cranky's. In the first laps MikeC suffered catastrophic chain failure and coasted to the side. The Heater (MikeH) drifted to the back but gamely pulled two other riders around the speedway for the ensuing 30 minutes. A gracious guy, MikeH claimed the work was shared well among the chase group at an estimated 90% Mike, and 10% the other guys. A BowCycle rider full of spirit launched a flyer several laps in. Cranky'sMike and Rob had to hold the A-Train back with repeated shouts of, "STAY 5 BACK!". Coming into the wind, this left the bulk of the heavy lifting to the E-Train. Ernie could be found almost every lap pulling the entire pack into the wind on the back straight. Rob was clearly being a pest leading the pack on the tailwind straight and doing his best to knock Steve(independent) over. Thankfully, Steve kept Rob on the straight and narrow until the second last lap when Rob attempted an ill-fated flyer into the wind. Coming into the finish it was up to the big guns Alex and Ernie who did an extremely good job.

Results:
Alex Shaw - 8th
Ernest Wyder - 16th
Rob Woolley - 20th
Mike Healy - 22nd
Mike Chui - dnf