Rob & Matt's Ride to Conquer Cancer

The past weekend while most of you were at Devon Rob and I took part in the ride to conquer cancer. Our team raised over $15 000 for cancer research! It also didn't hurt that we got to ride about 200K on one of the nicest weekends of the season so far. Rob has some videos he'll post sometime soon. I didn't take many photos but here are a couple. Trev you'll be happy to know that even though it wasn't a race we tried to get some training benefit out of the day. Rob pulled me pretty good as i tried to keep up. Both days he ended up pulling away but i wasn't far behind. Overall it was an awesome weekend and we both had a lot of fun.

POSSIBLE HUGE NEWS POSSIBLY COMING.

STAYED TUNED IF POSSIBLE.

POSSIBLY BE PREPARED TO GET IMPOSSIBLY PUMPED.

TEASER: THINK ROAD RACE WITH NO CENTER LINE RULE !!

TdF Start List

For those starting to formulate a team for the TdF pool, here is a startlist:
http://velonews.com/article/93739/2009-tour-de-france-start-list

NO CRITS TONIGHT !!

Noel emailed me and told me there are no crits tonight (due to Canada Day Crit in Ed.) or next Tues. (due to Stampede LRT parking).

TransAlps Update 2

Daz 1 and 2 of the Tour Transalps.

At the start, we were grouped together with all the Canadians which was prettz cool because we knew everzone around us bz this time. Looking around I couldn't help but notice the expensive accessories everzone was wearing. The gear is rediculous. $15,000 bikes. If was so cool to see so manz czclists in such a small area. Starting up I was a bit nervous but we spread out prettz quicklz. Tracz and I were prettz raring to go because we had been sitting around for 3 dazs waiting to race. We hit it hard on the flats because we knew that was where we were strong as a team. The climbs were another storz. Particularilz the last climb. It was 15km at about 12% grade. Lots of people were walking up this climb. Tracz is prettz new to this sport so she learned some tough lessons about hzdration. She is also still getting her czcling legs. I felt awesome until the climb but still managed to hit it prettz hard. Yeah, I think about 650 watts Lockie! Not. We were both prettz h-angry (hungrz and angrz or crabz) at the end of this stage. We stazed in a farm house and was prettz much forced to drink some plum schnapps when we arrived. Stiff drink is an understatement and not exactlz a good recovering drink.

Daz 2: We decided to race our own races todaz. I had such an awesome time riding with some Speed Theorz guzs from VAncouver. It was just like Penticton. I tucked in behind Trev (the ST guz here is Trevor too, crazy eh?) and held on for dear life. Thez dropped me at the the big climb though which is apparentlz the 3rd hardest of the tour. Someone said it was 14% on their computer. 20 km. I started questioning whether I was still having fun during this climb. I alreadz felt spent before I started up so I was prettz pathetic climbing to saz the least. Mz descent sucked too. Even if I did bust mz ass going up the hill everzone passes me going down. Zesterdaz I saw a guz that had crashed on his bike and he did not look good. I took that as a warning for me. Thez keep sazing here "Zou can lose the race on the climbs but zou can lose zour life on the descents." Tracz raced better todaz too so we are looking forward to racing together tomorrow.

Overall veiw of this race is it extremelz well organized. It is a great idea and someone should do it in Canada. It is insane. I can't even wrap mz head around Gavia and the other pass that starts with an S. Thez are harder than what we did todaz. I know I can do it but it is going to hurt...a lot.

Marilyn

Speed Theory Tour de France- Jason Lapierre Scholarship Fundraising

***FIRST 5 PICKS & PAYMENT RECIEVED GET A NICE LITTLE SURPRISE ***

Hi All Cycling Enthusiasts, and People Willing to Support a Great Cause:

**OPEN TO ALL**, spread the word!!

This year's TdF has the makings to be remembered as a Very Special One.

Three previous Yellow Jerseys to defend their honor, Sastre, Contador , and Lance (nuff said)..

What better way to follow some great cycling, watch history unfold, and support a great cause (Jason Lapierre Scholarship Fund) by taking part in Speed Theory's 2009 TdF Pool.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rbZdE4X2j4rD6RIHG2mrf6w&hl=en

Attached is the link (copy and paste, hopefully you can access it) to the Spread Sheet. if not email: he_man_91@hotmail.com Title : TdF Pool

Prizes will be awarded to top 5 (potentially more), with the Grand Prize being a FULL TAX RECIEPT for entire entry fees!!


Pick all stage winners, Overall GC , Best Sprinter and King of Mountain winner PLUS

the daily stage battle between Alberto Condator vs Lance Armstrong!!


This is the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, and soap opera on wheels!!

SUPPORT A GREAT CAUSE, enter for only $20, pool closes July 4

Devon recap and cat 3 RR

Super awesome racing weekend, both for Speed Theory, and just to be at a race that the community is so behind. Four races makes it worth the drive, big prize money ($6,000 total), some fun kids events (unfortunately I didn't get time to use the monster truck jumping castle), quick results, wicked Sunday lunch, and all done in time so that I got to have a beer and mow the lawn when I got home. One of the organizers was asking for suggestions to make it better for next year, and despite being gunned from a half-bottle of champas and a beer post-crit, I think I managed to coherently convey that having it right after Banff was tough on people's time and wallets.



Clarke told it straight, let me just give a shout out to Harlee, who buried himself pulling in the last few laps of the crit to stop anyone from attacking, nice work!!

Nice work Kelly - first race, right? Great to see another Speed Theory woman out.

Photo: Bill Quinney

Ok, cat 3 road race. Rain stopped just in time for roads to be almost dry, but the wind still sucked on the way out. Not too much action to the KOM, at which point Keith went on a flyer with 100 metres to go and crushed everyone. Keith and I covered attacks to the turn-around, except when one dude went on a solo attack and hung about 1 minute out in the howling wind for 30 km...funny/painful to watch. I got second on the second KOM, then Keith and the big diesel Blaine Richter caught up to the three of us off the front (me, Keith Batstone and a Cyledelia guy) and we took off, pace-lining like demons. I'll pretend I was thinking good tactics when I buried myself on my pulls, but I think my brain was just oxygen deprived. Blaine took it up another level for the final couple of km, and Keith stayed with to take second. Keith Batstone (a super strong dude that would probably fare a lot better if he could save his guns for key moments, rather than getting on the front of the peleton to show us all that we're pussies any time the pace dropped below 40km/h) pulled us other two wimps to the 200m, where we both out-"sprinted" him (I think we got up to about 45km/h...downwind) so I got 4th.

Devon GP Update

Some early results from Devon where Speed Theorists were ripping it up this weekend.

- Lachlan: 1st overall in the GC.
- Keith: 3rd overall in the GC.
- Kelly: 4th overall in the women's GC.
- Marcotte: 4th in the TT.

I look forward to hearing the details to these great finishes and results from other STers! Congrats guys!

Devon GP Update

It's a beautiful weekend in Devon with some great racing so far.

We started out with the Hill Climb on Friday night. I ended up taking 3rd in Cat 5 also with top Speed Theorist honours. Brutal little 750m climb. The stand up and hammer technique ended up working for me.

The ITT was this morning. Lockie took 2nd and Keith took 3rd in Cat 3 with some awesome times in a murderous westerly wind.

The Cat 5 crit just ended, which was based on points earned on two intermediate sprints and a sprint at the end for the big points. Our plan for Cat 5 with only David and I here was for David to lay the hammer down at the start to break up the race. He just turned into a beast and lead for almost three laps giving the leaders a 4 man breakaway. I owe him a beer. I ended up taking 2nd and 3rd in the intermediates and 6th on the last lap. That was good enough to get onto the podium again at 3rd place.

The Cat 3 crit was awesome! It was all Speed Theory all the time with Lockie taking first and Keith taking third. Great day for those two who are now looking for a GC win!

The Cat 5 road race was pretty eventful with David bowing out due to bronchitis or some other respiratory disease and Ale making a surprise appearance. Nothing really happened until the first KOM where Mark Franklin attacked to go for the omnium points. I countered and then held someones wheel until 300m to the line and sprinted for the line and caught and passed him right at the line take take the 3 points. Then Ale and I attacked at the second KOM and got passed by everyone at the top to take no points. But by that time 3/4 of the pack had shattered and we were on a 5 man break with one guy up the road. In the end we never caught the guy, but had good Speed Theory placings with Ale taking 3rd and me taking 7th.

Not sure how the Cat 3's did, could we get an update guys?

Also, it looks like I'll be in Cat 4 come next race....I don't know if I should be happy or scared.

Clarke

Mock 20km ITT - Updated with route

For those not going to Devon. I want Tanya to do a very hard 20km ITT on Sat. morning at 10:30am starting from the corner of Country Hills and Rocky Ridge road. We will ride the 10km circuit as warm up then hit it. It would be cool if a few guys came out to push her/ be carrots. If you are not going to Devon, this would be good to stay sharp. Slayer Dan will be there, but his mind will be on the Slayer/MegaDeath Canadian Carnage concert he will be going to that night. I think he will do the ITT in his 1990 Clash of the Titans concert shirt.

Here is the route of the ITT we will do 2 times on Sat. starting at 10:30.

TransAlps Update

Sport

The amazing thing about sport is that no matter where you are in the world, if you are doing a sport you have instant friends. I am writing from Sonthofen, Germany, a little town settled in the Alps. Today, we did a training ride with Ben who is cycling with Team Isreal. He was awesome riding down the middle of the road like he owned it, ignoring the cars leaning on their horns and grazing his shoulder as they zipped by him. Their lesson was lost on him. He was full of tips for Tracy and I. "Drink every 10 minutes!" as he led the way raising his bottle signaling it was time to take a drink. Ben is a true gentleman and at the end of the ride took us both for lunch. Something that I was totally impressive with about him was that he thinks men and women should start races together but on paper still compete against their respective categories. Cool thought. Incidently, this is the way they start the Transalps.

We have also been invited to Team Canada's party tonight. They are a group of about 30 guys from Vancouver who have been organized by a guy who holds 18 spots every year for this race. Something for Speed Theory to consider... So even though we are far from home, we have made some fast friends here and feel very at ease.

The riding is amazing here. Scenery breath taking. The roads are not too busy and the motorists are great about giving us room and waiting as we ride the corners on the switchbacks. They have these awesome pathways inbetween towns which makes it so easy to cycle from town to town. Lots of old people on their bikes here.

They love their carbs here. Holy cow, I have had more bread and pasta in the last 2 days than I have all year. I guess I am off my Berardi diet.

We get our accreditation tomorrow and get breifed on how things are going to roll. I can't wait to get going.

Truly, this is paradise. Can't believe I am here doing this race.

More to come.
Marilyn

Video from Banff

Hey

I thought you guys might like to see this quick video.

CLOTHING (the second sequel)

Because of the investment in clothing by a lot of our race team, I am going to guarantee that we don't change the kit for next year. So barring Champion-Systems going bankrupt or doing something totally lame, we will be keeping the same kit for 2010. Also, this is quite a drain on my time, therefore, if you want winter clothing, this may be the time to order it. I got the fleece bib tights with Chamios and they are really nice. The 'Winter' jacket on the spreadsheet is the one you have seen me in with little white dots everywhere. It is really nice and I have been happy with it.

Here is the spreadsheet. Follow the instructions

ASAP. The cut off is Thursday at 5pm. Forever hold your peace if you miss the deadline. This was a bonus round.

Midweek Awesome

This is less of a race report and more promotional material for the midweek mayhem races.

I did my first one last night and it was awesome. I think it will help in all aspects of my racing, it has high speed, pack riding, corning and even in my case ITTing it around while casing the pack.

So in setting a new personal best 14 laps, I know that I will be going back to try for 15. You can check out the action that was recored on my Garmin, http://connect.garmin.com/activity/7491238 .

So I hope to see all you other crit newbie's out there and giving it a go.

Scott

P.S. I am looking for some pics of me at either of the Banff Fest races if you happen to have taken one of me can you email a copy. scott[dot]gc[at]gmail[dot]com.

Third ultra quick clothing round.

I screwed up and got Paul R. three of the wrong size bib shorts. Champion Systems has agreed to make an expedited run of clothing as long as we have 10 'main' items. A 'main' item is shorts, jerseys, skinsuits, etc. Not gloves, knee warmers, etc.

Anyway, leave a comment if you want a piece of clothing. Once I get the names, I will send you a spreadsheet to order and you have to get back to me very quickly.

Also, the club has 3 XL bibshorts for sale now.

Devon SR - same courses as 2010 Road Nationals

We've barely got our bikes out of the car from the Banff SR and the Devon SR is already coming up fast.

According to the ABA website, these will be the same courses for the Edmonton 2010 Road Nationals, so you might want to consider attending this race if you are planning to attend Nationals next year.

http://www.albertabicycle.ab.ca/news/2009_06_22_Devon_Grand_Prix.php

I'll be going for the HC, ITT and RR. Anyone else going?

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.

A family thing.

I tried out the kids jersey on this round of ordering. I didn't make it public as I didn't know what the quality was going to be. It is the funniest thing! It is a perfect replica of our jerseys.. it even has pockets in the back for My Little Ponys !! I will add this to the spreadsheet for the winter round of clothing orders. I also got the fleece bib tights with chamios to see if they were good quality and they are awesome too. So it will be worth doing a 'Winter Order' in August. So far I am really happy with Champion Systems stuff.

Banff crit photos

More photos of Banff, by Mark Kay, like this one:

A couple of photos by Bill Quinney of Saturday's Banff crit:

And just for the record... it DID happen. Mike leading DOWN a hill in a breakaway attempt. Zane was probably not entirely happy that only his bike was getting a small draft.

Ironman Coeur d'Alene

Jared: Swim 1:08, Bike 5:06, Run 3:49, All in 10:09. Overall position, 105th.

Chris: Swim 1:10, Bike 5:19, Run 3:28, All in 10:03. Overall position, 85th.

Good thing Speed Theory is not a swim team, or those initial swim results might be a little embarrassing! In our defense it was super windy/wavy...

Results aren't up to the point of being able to say for sure, but I'm guessing Jared had one of the top amateur bike splits on the day...

Banff Stage Race recap

Just back from a wicked few days of racing in Banff. I'll try to post some highlights, but I can barely keep my own shit straight, so I can't really do everyone's awesome performances justice. Comment or edit corrections and additions, please.

We had a great turnout for Thursday's hill climb on Hwy 93. 6.5km of undulating uphill. A great turnout of cat 5's, considering they weren't racing the following day. Stephen and Thomas had standout performances, coming 2nd in the cat 2/3 and cat 4 races, respectively, with Dennis also picking up cash for his 6th in 2/3. Frankie had the top ST performance in the invited cat with a 27th (out of 84), with Rod taking both the tail gunner award and nastiest sounding cough award. Trek Red Truck came out in force, taking 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th!

Friday started off pouring rain, but the sun came out in time for the start of the 80km "sprint" road race, on a majestic stretch of 1A from Lake Louise, almost to Banff, and back. First the invited race went, and at the turn-around, an attack went off with our man Keith, but was caught immediately, then another without ST representation, and that stayed away. Alex made a strong bid to bridge, but came back after a few km in the wind alone. In the end the break was caught with 1km to go, except for one rider, GC leader Jamie Sparling, who took the win. Frank again had a strong showing to be first ST home. In the combined 2/3/4 race, Stephen ramped up the pace for many a kilometer, and Mike G was in a break with a giant from H&R (photos will be posted), but otherwise the pack stayed together until the final kilometre of ascent to the finish. Dennis was just out of the money on this one with a 7th.

Saturday morning's ITT was littered with various herbivorous and carnivorous wildlife, and many STists had great races. Mr Kenny snagged 3rd in cat 2/3 (but still claims he shouldn't move to cat 2), while Thomas (2nd) and Handsome Rob (4th) picked up cheques for their wicked work in cat 4. Alex had a smoking 28:40 for the 21km course, but Kyle turned his bike into an orange missle to get a 28:03 and lead the invited ST crew. TRT again showed dominance with top three in the invited cat to retain GC.

Saturday evening was the criterium, and the organisers had a fantastic, safe course, with a big U-turn across 6 lanes, that saw a ton of action and pack separation, but kept almost all crashes to low-speed, single rider variety. Clarke led for ST in cat 5 to finish with the 7-man pack. Larry worked hard in cat 4 to help Thomas get to the podium in cat 4, Ryan was doing well in 2/3 until it was cut short by a solo H&R effort, and Sandra held her own in the women's cat. Another blistering pace this year in the invited men's race, and unfortunately we didn't have any ST men in the final pack of the invited boys, but Paul Tichelaar laid the hurt down for triathletes everywhere to finish in a 4 man break.

Sunday brought the women's and invited men's road race, held on a 13km circuit: through the edge of town, out on Banff Ave, over some solid rollers and down big steep descents. Marilyn represented in women's RR to finish despite chilly wet weather. In the men's invited race Alex traded pulls with the pro's to bring back a breakaway, while Frank showed great staying power to keep with the pack for 8 of the 9 laps. A TRT rider took the win, and Cyrus of H&R came second, while Jamie Sparling of TRT won the overall GC.

All in all, I think everyone had a great time at the stellar race. Clearly this is a gem on the racing calendar, and hopefully the success will bring more support and a full 4 day buffet of stage racing for all categories. Thanks to Trev for his support of the team throughout the weekend, and also for the support of Darcy & Godfrey on their non-race days.

IMCDA

Sorry, this post has nothing to do with RAW or the banff stage race. It has to do with chilling in the motel room all day watching golf.

The weather is holding in today and looks like it will be overcast with possible showers. Perfect ironman weather.

Our bikes are checked. Our bags are checked. All that is left is a final sleep, some morning feeding. A crunch or two. Then we will be off for our fun filled day.

It is great to see. There are speedtheory jackets and outfits all over the place down here. The logo is becoming very well known.

Photos and wheels. UPDATE: CLOTHING !!

Guys, I will be in Banff for all races taking as many photos as I can. Make sure to have your pain faces on and be off the front when I see you!! We* race aggresive and hard this weekend.

Also... ST gave me a pair of pretty light Dura-Ace race wheels for anyone to use this weekend. First one to Alex's truck today gets them.

ALSO>>> SECOND ROUND CLOTHING IS IN !!! If you ordered clothing in the second round, you can go pick it up at the store before Banff !!

*and by we I mean you guys

Dallas has won RAW

Velonews article

It's Official. Canadian Dallas Morris has won RAW. He made it within the time limit and can be proud of his ride. Well done Dallas!

Phone Convo with Dallas Morris
I gave Dallas morris a call as soon as I heard he won the race. Dallas, overcame great obstacles and had a lot of support from friends and family to compete in the Race Across the West. It was a lot of fun to meet him in Oceanside and watch him win his first real ultra-endurance bicycle race. Stone: Congratulations, we are all going to sing O’Canada and drink beer in your honor tonight. RAW Champion Dallas Morris: Thanks, Perry, we turned it into a bit of a ride. Everyone else dropped out so we pulled in at the top of the mountain last night and had a bit of a party dancing under the stars. Stone: You crazy Canuck, you should have drove hard for the net! RAW Champion Dallas Morris: Naw, I was pretty beat up, wanted to savior it, Joe Mann dropped yesterday and suddenly it was there. We are going to have a few beers today though. Stone: Great we are in Kansas covering the race between Robic and Wyss. It is an all out brawl. You should be in this next year. RAW Champion Dallas Morris: Maybe Stone: I’ll call you then, but not before. RAW Champion Dallas Morris: Bastard! Stone: Have a great time, you deserve it, you won a heavyweight fight, last man standing, Good on ya! RAW Champion Dallas Morris: Thanks, Perry

Leaderboard link:
http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/raam/rcrank.php


Dallas Finished: 1044.1 miles - RAW completed!!

3Day 18H 37 Min

11.52MPH

View Dallas Morris RAW in a larger map

Banff Start List

Hill Climb

ITT

MS Bike Tour

Steve P and I have been doing the MS bike tour for 4 years now. This year it was on the 13th and 14th of June. There's no real training here even though we do about 100km on both Saturday and Sunday. We had a team of about 15 people this year with a wide range of abilities, and the fun in the whole thing is to stay together with the slower people on the team, offer encouragement and generally have a good time going 20km/h and frying in the heat for 6.5 hours on the bike each day.

I ran in to Tom Kenny as the tour started and he quickly made fun of our "team kit" with the superheroes and the capes (one guy asked me if we were the tablecloth gang). I don't know what he was thinking, these were the sweetest jerseys out there. At least we got a lot of comments on them and a lot of questions like "do the capes help with aerodynamics". Of course the answer to that question is an emphatic yes!

Later on Saturday night when the party really began at Olds college, where we stay the night, I ran into Mr. Kenny again. This time he was bragging about how fast he got to Olds and how he got his massage and went out to BPs for a couple of beers already. We met again on the dance floor when we were all pretty hammered (I mean carbed up for the ride tomorrow right?). That was an awesome night!

In the end our team raised about $8500 for research to find a cure for MS and had a lot of fun meanwhile. I would definitely recommend doing something like this!

Phil Liggett and Speed Theory

My what a lot of posts today. Here's another one to add to the pile.

Phil was disadvantaged by jet lag and the change in elevation for the 55 km ride today, but once he warmed up he was able to drop a lot of people. Amazing guy with loads of incredible stories.

Team Elite Speed Theory (TEST) at Wasa

his past weekend was an excellent weekend for the Speed Theory team racing at the Wasa Lake Triathlon. Speed Theory dominated the team category with a stacked team consisting of Jon Bird (last name should be fish) for the swim, Alex Shaw (A-Train) on the bike and Darcy Bell (the ST manager who apparently runs). Jon led out of the water in his new Blue Seventy Helix wetsuit, but was nipped at the timing mat by eventual Olympic distance winner Andrew Russell. A-Train proceeded to lay down a staggering 53:59 for the 40 km bike. When he came flying into transition he hit the brakes and smoke could be seen bellowing from his brakes and his thighs! He proceeded to tag off to Darcy who ran all alone out front to a record breaking time of 1:45:13, over 30 minutes faster than the 2nd team. Congrats!

Originally Darcy challenged others to a flex off, but you can guess how that worked out.

Alex coming into T2

A-Train pulls into station and releases Darcy.

Team Elite Speed Theory member Jon Bird continued on from his great swim to lay down the 3rd fastest bike split on the day. His work this winter on two wheels and his Argon 18 E-114 seems to really be paying off. Jon broke the 1 hour mark for 40km and then headed out for the run. The temperature was perfect and Jon was running strong. Some people commented that Jon wasn’t looking good on the run, but I quickly reminded them that Jon never looks good! He held off some fast charging competition to a solid 3rd place finish overall. His finishing time was 1:53:55.

Jon mounting his steed

The women’s race saw absolute Speed Theory domination. Cat Brown and Tanya Salomon both had good swims, which set the up to lay the hurt on the bike. In impressive style, Tanya set the standard for the day by clocking the fastest bike split on her Argon 18 E-112. Cat set herself up to clinch victory with the second fastest bike. I am starting to see a trend in cycling abilities of athletes from Speed Theory….I wonder if it is because we are a bike shop, or maybe it’s the Louis Garneau TT hemets and shoes??? Once on the run, Cat was unstopable and confidently ran herself to her first big win of the season in 2:06:16. Tanya was also able to complete the task at hand on the run and finished a very strong 2nd, just 50 sec back in 2:07:05. What a great day!

Cat ready to roll.

Congrats to all the Speed Theory athletes competing at Wasa. All the best in the rest of the season.

Tanya on the run

Cat was also caught flashing the competition before the race began. The intimidation factor was huge!

Grant

Fan Guide for Banff

Some of you might have family members coming to watch a bike race for the first time. Here are some tips, shamelessly lifted from RoadBikeRider.com:

Helpful things to shout:

• "Your teammate is bridging up to you."
• "Four riders have a 15-second lead, but two of them aren't pulling."
• "Take turn 1 wide. I sprinkled carpet tacks on the inside." (Best said sotto voce.)

Unhelpful things to shout:

• "Go faster!"
• "You're getting dropped."
• "Boy, do you stink."
  

How to answer when bystanders ask why you're not racing:

• "I put the 'cry' in criterium."
• "I get dizzy riding around in circles."
• "I prefer it when my skin is attached to my body."

What's so great about Oakley sunglasses

Sunglasses are one piece of equipment that is often overlooked by athletes. I can’t count the times I’ve seen people with $5000 bikes, Zipp wheels and then cheap $20 sunnies. People are always saying to me “Why pay $200 for something I can get for $20?” Well, the answer is you are not getting the same product! Ever since it’s conception, Oakley has poured lots of time and money into making the best sunglasses on the market. The reality is that with Oakley’s, you are paying for the technology that went into making the world’s best sunglasses. Here are some reasons why Oakley’s are a great investment.

Lenses- All Oakley lenses offer 100% UV protection from UVA, UVB and UVC rays. Many glasses say they filter 100% of UV rays but don’t filter UVC, or only filter 30% of the rays. They can claim they filter 100% UV because glasses only have to meet the standard of filtering 30% UV light to claim 100% protection. This means that most other glasses will only filter 30% and may not filter out UVC rays. All Oakley lenses exceed ANSI standard for safety glasses. You can find video’s of their lenses being shot with a shot gun and not breaking. What this means for a cyclist is, if a rock gets kicked up by a car in front of you, you can be positive you aren’t loosing an eye!

All of Oakley’s recent sport specific glasses have interchangeable lenses. This allows you to pick what lens is optimal for the day’s lighting condition. Oakley also offers photochromic lenses. These lenses change with the varying lighting conditions to ensure that you always have the proper tint, no matter what Mother Nature throws at you. In my experience these lenses are fantastic for long rides in Calgary where the weather can change so drastically over a long ride.
Polarized lenses are also available. Polarized lenses means that light waves are only allowed to pass through the lenses in a single plane. This technology reduces glare and thus improves vision. Polarized glasses are excellent for any activity, but especially driving, water activities and cycling. Oakley pours all this technology into their lenses while still offering distortion free optics.
Hydrophobic- All of Oakley’s sport specific glasses come with a hydrophobic coating on the lenses. This coating helps prevent water from leaving streaks. This means that if you are a heavy sweater like myself, or are wearing them in the rain, you will still be able to see no matter what hits the lenses. This permanent coating also allows skin oils and fingerprints to be easily wiped off.

Frame and fit- Oakley offers a vast array of frames (both men’s and women’s), to ensure you find one with the optimal fit. They use a 3 point fit (nose and 2 ears) each with a unobtainium rubber. This rubber actually grips more as it gets wet to ensure the glasses don’t move around.
Custom- If you’re a nerd like me, you always want your kit to match. Fortunately Oakley now offers most of their glasses in custom colors. This means you can pick the frame shape and color, lens shape and color, earsocks, icons and even get the lens laser etched with your name or whatever your heart desires.

If you have any questions or this has sparked your interest in Oakley, please feel free to come into Speed Theory and have a chat with me. You can try on some pairs and find the perfect glasses for you.

Happy training,
Grant

Banff Accomodation

Hey Team,

I've looked into a deal we may be able to get for Banff for the Friday and Saturday night The Banff Centre has offered to give us rooms for $150 a night which are much cheaper than their going rate and much nicer than what you would pay $150 for somewhere else in Banff.

I've asked for 8 rooms and I'm waiting to hear back from the hotel for confirmation on all of this but I need to know who would be interested in taking the deal. Leave a comment here as soon as you read this to let me know.

Google the Banff Centre and check it out...the place is classy, we'd look like a pro team for 2 nights.

Rob

Banff Bike Fest Roster

34 racers from one club !! Awesome guys...it's go time !

Let's get the the Banff Bike Fest roster going. Please comment if you're coming, and what events you're doing. Here's what I've been able to deduce so far:

Women: Marilyn T. (HC?, ITT, Crit, RR), Sandra Y (everything), Karalee O. (HC, ITT)

Cat 2, 3: Dennis B. (HC, 1A, ITT), Stephen K. (HC, 1A), Ryan Murray (1A, Crit)

Cat 4: Joel S. (HC?, 1A), Thomas Y. (ITT, Crit), Micheal G. (RR, ITT, Crit), Jason B. (HC, 1A, ITT, Crit), Rob L. (RR, ITT, Crit), Simon (1A, ITT, Crit?), Larry (HC, 1A, Crit), Ed G. (1A)

Cat 5: Matt M. (HC, ITT), Tom K. (HC, ITT), Scott G-C. (ITT, Crit), Andy H. (HC, ITT), Darcy G. (HC, ITT, Crit), Carl M. (HC?, ITT?), Paul C. (HC), Clarke E. (ITT, Crit), Rui R. (ITT, Crit), Rob W. (HC, ITT, Crit), Mike H. (ITT), David M. (ITT, Crit), Steve P. (ITT), Mark (ITT, Crit)

Full Stage Team: Keith, Kyle, A-Train, Lockie, Douche Rod, Frank

I'm sure there's a lot more...

Wasa Race Recap

Hey everyone,

The water at Wasa this year was really warm and clear. Pretty unusual for this time of year I think. Usually it is much colder I find. This year it is really shallow, not sure why that is. I would have thought with the climate change and precipitation increases we have had this year it would have been really high.

Anyways, this is an Ironman year for me so getting back into Tri mode is an adjustment. I was hoping to benefit from the strong TT results this year and lay some hurt on the bike course. Other then that, I had no real aspirations for the race with respect to results. Trev's race wheels looked super cool on my bike and I was going for a PB on the bike course.

At the opening of the transition area, people were swarming all over the place and new triathletes were setting up their bikes. I picked a spot on an empty rack and then started looking for nutrition. No one ever said I was a smart guy and bringing a full bottle of water or small snack food seemed to escape my morning routine. After stealing a half drank bottle from a sign in table I figured, if I get really thirsty I'll just swim with my mouth open and drink lake water. Remember I said "Not the smartest guy!" I was also told that taking that bottle was how Swine Flu was spread. I'm not sure if that is accurate, people were sick way before the ice was off the lake, so how can a volunteer water bottle be the start of that?

As I got back to transition zone I noticed that 3 new triathletes surrounded me and my bike with the contents of their car, backpack, home and cabin. When I asked them if they were planning of cleaning up "Tent City!" the confused look on their faces turned to frustration. "I can't leave everything spread out like this?" Tip to all athletes, keep your stuff organized and reduce your triathlon footprint, get your sh*t out of my way!

At the end of the swim there was the usual heckling when I excited the water, "Look how fat that guy is!" It was even coming from a Speed Theory teammate as Mike Healy was yelling at me. I just beat him out of the water and my exit title wave must have knocked him into the sand.

On the bike we go and I am riding like a wolf hunting down 3 legged sheep. Another tip for new athletes, move to the right. Don't block the entire road, I don't like it when I get pushed to the yellow line when you are squeezing 50 gels into your mouth. After I gave all of the blocking riders the usual Godfrey Good Morning Greeting (f-bombs followed by suggestions of cranium extractions from thy anus) I was out on the road.

One of the cool attractions of Wasa is the fancy cars that come out to check out all of the riders. I say lots of Ferrari's and Lamborghinis. Pretty neat cars for sure. I hope that I was watching their cars, they noticed how freakin cool my wheels looked! After seeing a flash or red and black go by I was able to guage where I was on the course. Alex was an absolute missle on the bike course. Great ride for him. The only person who past me on the bike was Fast Legs Frank and he also had a great race.

As we came into final turn back to the lake I saw Darrel fixing a flat tire. Pretty bad luck for him on the ride, he sure made up for it on the run. What a great come back for him.

As I started on the run course, I had to focus on the advice I got from Trev. "Race to your strengths, focus on the bike and relax on the run." As the jello legs started moving forward my heart rate spiked and I was not feeling very well. It then hit me like staring into the sun. The "Blinding Light of the Incredibly Obvious" was before me. This was my second run in the past 4 weeks, and the longest run I had gone out for in the past 8 weeks. I was in serious trouble and entering the "Pain Zone." I was approaching the first turnaround and suffering big time. At that turn I saw the boys behind me. Darrel was basically sprinting with no effort, Mike Healy was licking his chops seeing me as his last meal and other Cranbrook boys were tracking me down.

Darrel past me like I was standing still, wait I was. What a great runner. Heading to the final turn around I new the boys were behind me gaining ground and I was pretty much delirious. The volunteer support is so good at Wasa, kids every where handing out drinks and lots of old friends there to cheer you on. Sometimes they all know the exact right thing to say to keep you going. Cherie Cooper took great pleasure in throwing the cups of water at me to wake me up. Sometimes you really do need a shock!

As I got to the finish I saw the time was not going to do a PB for me. I was hoping to have a ride time of 1 hour and hopefully a couple minutes on either end for transitions and I was pretty close. I took 4 minutes off my best bike time ever. It was definitely one of those rides where you felt much better then the clock displayed. My run was awful, as I mentioned the blinding light of the obvious, if there are no miles in your legs, there is speed, EVER!

All of the Speed Theory boys and girls looked super strong and happy on Sunday. It is great to see all of the jerseys out there and how fit the team is.

Great weekend guys and to those that are going, have a fun time in Banff.

Slayer Dan

Stung in the face

There has been much talk of the Bee Colony Collapse Disorder. Imagine my surprise when a bee and I collided on the 1A and the little stinker stung my lip. Please enjoy this cautionary tale and let the mockery begin.

BANFF BIKE FEST THURSDAY CARPOOL

Just a reminder that Tom Kenny and i are headed up to Banff on thursday for the hill climb and have to drive back into town after. We have room for two more guys (+ their bikes) if anyone would like to carpool with us. We are meeting at 11:20AM SHARP! at the HWY 1 Petrocan. leave a comment if you'd like to come along with us. First 2 get the spot.

YOUTH SUMMER CYCLING CAMPS

Hello Speed theory riders:

The ABA is putting on youth cycling camps at the start of july. These camps will expose participants to all 4 disciplines of cycling (Road, track, BMX and MTB). If any of you have kids that may be interested please fire me an email at danielle@albertabicycle.ab.ca as well if you know anyone that may be interested please feel free to give them my contact info. Additional information can be found on the ABA website: http://www.albertabicycle.ab.ca/news/2009_06_04_ABA_Summer_Camp.php

Thank you and good luck with your season

Danielle Kenny

w:403-210-7984

The Crits Are Coming

Summer is here and that means crits!
Banff, Devon, Canada Day, Bowness.
Don't miss out on the action.
Still a little nervous about REAL bike racing?
Get to Midweek Mayhem's Tuesday night races and learn, practice and prepare.

Wasa Triathlon... keep the tradition going

Congrats to all those who participated in this weekend's Wasa triathlon.

In the relay event, Jon Bird set the pace in the swim before handing off to Alex who rode a stupid fast 40k time trial. Alex handed off to Darcy Bell (Speed Theory Manager) who ran it in for the overall win.

The individual triathlon (1.5km swim, 40k bike and 10k run) was as always a strongly contested event on the new course (maybe the swim was a little short).

Cat Brown won the women's overall overall. Tanya was a close second. Kelly-Lynn O'Toole (soon to be Marcotte) was 9th overall. Former Speed Theory team member Jen Alexander was 8th.

In the men's race, Speed Theory employee Jon Bird was 3rd overall. Steller performances from Frank (I don't swim) Woolstencroft, Mike Young, Mike H, Mike C and Dan were noted. Bart was out there coaching his Kronos crew (closely related to Speed Theory). I apologize for those Speed Thoery members whom I might have missed.

The "Team Contest" composed of the top three men and two women's times was also won by Speed Theory team members. In doing so, they won and donated another $200 to the Jason Lapierre Scholarship at the UofC. GOOD WORK!!!!

Event info and results can be found at: www.rmevents.com

C4 Airdrie ITT

Warm and very light winds today - perfect for an ITT from the good folks at Calgary Crankmasters Cycling Club. Gideon from H&R block was the ringer and was trying out a new setup for Banff. Len, Rick, and I represented Speed Theory.

http://www.calgarycycling.com/documents/2009/Club%20Race%20Results/Airdrie%20TT.xls

Two Chicks Racing In Some Very Big Mountains

Hi, Marilyn here. I am writing a little bit about my cycling racing I am going on. Tour Transalp. Before I start, I am looking for someone to ride with tomorrow that will make me work hard and go for a long time. Any takers? Back to Transalps. A seven day stage race through the Alps. A very lofty goal for two girls with little to no cycling racing experience. Riding in teams of two, the 882km race starts in Germany and winds through Austria finishing in northern Italy. There are 18,366 altitude meters to be climbed. As I write out those stats and think about the type of climbs we are going to be doing (like Passo Gavia) I start to think…gulp…yeah…bring it on!

About two months ago I did what every Calgary girl should do if they want to kick some ass in cycling, I joined Speed Theory. Great move! Thanks Cyrus for the direction. As one of the few women in the sport of cycling I have to commend the support I have received from ST. My experience has been full of cheers during races, racing tips, warm up rides, the most amazing training camp in Penticton and fashion advice. Everyone I have met has been amazing. Trev is the heart and soul of ST and has provided me with continuous support. Mostly he is contagious and makes everyone laugh and enjoy riding.

Tour Transalp is a team race and lucky for me I have a ringer of a partner. Tracy Cameron is a bronze medalist from the summer Olympics in Beijing in the Light Weight Womens Double (rowing) for Canada. We have only been training together since the end of May because she has been in New York at cooking school. Together, we have been on 4 rides, one of which was Race the Ring ITT last weekend. You would think that eating food for six months in New York and riding around Central Park would slow a girl down but nope, Tracy was the second fastest girl on the course that day. She has a fifth gear that I can’t help but admire. As for me, my base training was cross country skiing in the winter and riding as much as I could in between snow falls in April, May and June. You are probably gasping at how little we have trained for this type of a race. Trust me, I am shaking my head too. It was kind of a last minute decision in March to do it.

Team dynamics. Well… we have different personalities. I like to be organized well in advance, some might say anally retentive and Tracy is easy going and, things will get done when they get done, kinda gal. I like to communicate (is 10 e-mails in a day too much?) and she likes to hang back and pretty much disappear. I like to know, through talking, that my partner is training even if she is a freaking bronze medalist and she likes to show up to a time trial and kick my ass and show me that she has been. Interestingly enough we refer to ourselves as a finely tuned machine because we have come together with very little communication and hit the ground running. One thing we do have in common is drive so when we are out there riding we trust that we are both working as hard as we can. So there is a mutual respect.

Why are we doing this race? Well…I love a challenge, riding and I LOVE FOOD (if I cycle more then I can eat more). Tracy wants to get in shape for rowing again. This was a rare opportunity where we both had time, fitness and the means to do a race like this. For me, this is the perfect vacation. Exercise, beautiful country and awesome FOOD! Why wouldn’t we do it!

We leave June 24th for Germany and start racing on the 28th. Banff Fest will be our last chance to race (Tracy’s first road race). We are cramming for sure. I think we are both praying that our fitness from rowing and cross country skiing will kick in. You can follow us online if you want. Our team name is called NordicRowers. http://www.tourtransalp.de/englisch/ Cheers. Marilyn

Interlude

Tuesday Night Crit

Hello

A friend of mine was out taking pictures a couple of weeks ago at the Tuesday night crit, you might want to check them out.

http://photoflow.wordpress.com/2009/06/09/university-crit-calgary/

Scott

Banff Bike Fest

Just wondering who is headed up to Banff for the Banff Bike Fest weekend (18th-21st)? Is there anyone going up for the hill climb race on thursday (18th) that is coming back to calgary after? i need to head back into town for work on friday morning and wondering if anyone wants to carpool. Just leave a comment if your interested in arranging this...

Race Across the West

Hi! This is Dallas. I'm one of the newer 2009 ST members, I've been cycling for a couple years in Alberta and I definitely don't know everbody on the Team yet. I started racing bikes in B.C... well lets see, my first event as a kid was in 1983. But my first 'serious' race was in 1989 ( mountain bike). I've since been Road Racing since 2005, have never done a Triathlon, ( one day maybe ). I'm also a former Director of Randoneuring (Ultra Cycling) as well as Mountain Bike Director, Race Organizer, Trail Builder, Coach... etc. Bikes are cool, plain and simple.

Most of my 'success' has been racing Mountain Bike at Elite/Pro Mens level since 1998 with a brief stint of Sponsorship and bikes from KONA. Although I consider my real success in Organizing, and giving back to the Cycling community.

I'm writing this little blurb to raise some awareness about a little event I'm starting next week. It's called the Race Across the West, also known as RAW. The RAW is the first 1/3 of the Race Across America (The World Toughest Bicycle Race) and I have a time limit of 92 hours. My event starts in conjunction with the RAAM Solo Men, and is 1000 miles, or 1680km, vs. their entire Trans Continental 3000 mile event. One day, I hope to be able to compete in RAAM.

Last year I focused some training into some Enduro Mountain Bike Race's and I did quite well, winning the Giver8tor, and the Salty Dog, and placing Top 10 at the Adrenaline 24 Hour Worlds. So in the fall of last year I flew down to Texas to take part in a different kind of event, Ultra Cycling on the Road Bike. The Texas Time Trials was the proving grounds of my determination to suffer, as I rode the 500 mile/ 805km event in 27 hours 14 minutes total. Winning 1st making a new course record, and a very heavy trophy that I hauled all the way back to Canada.

Hence my attempt at the Race Across the West. Although about $20,000 cheaper logistically, than the full RAAM, I am funding a Team of 3 required support people and a rental mini van to get our Team to the Start line in Oceanside California for June 17th.

Please feel free to follow another Speed Theory Ultra Cyclist, ( after Steve Kenny ), and check our results and updates via the Official RAAM website. The Race starts next Wednesday the 17th at noon Pacific time.

And if you are able to support our charity of choice, The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada, we accept donations, no matter how small via a secure Pay Pal link on the 2nd page of our Team's Website. We will be issuing Tax receipts after the event is finished and our proceeds are submitted.

Thank you respectfully to all who have donated already :0) And wish us LUCK!. We leave on Friday.

Dallas.

Second round clothing

Just heard from Champion that they expect the clothes to ship June 15th. I will let you know immediately when your clothes are ready for pick up.  Marilyn has been using my jersey since Velocity RR and I am not sure if I want it back. Anyone want to buy a Medium full-zip :)

.

Lord of the Ring (Road) ... updated with photos

Congratulations to Chris McNeil (H&R Block/Kona) for winning overall with authority over teammate Gideon Krishtalka and Speed Theorist Alex Shaw who rounded out the top three.

Tanya Soloman (SpeedTheorist) invited all to 'Step into the Ring' and slayed all the women to post a time that would have got 3rd in Cat 3. She beat the next women by an astonishing 5minutes.

Very notable times were Joshua Krabbe from Cat5 who was all about suffeRING today and would have received prize money for 3rd in Cat2.

Results

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Great photos from Satnam Sidhu here and Torin Segstro here. Also photos from Nicole Burnham here. Thanks to Satnam, Torin, and Nicole for taking such awesome shots of our event.

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Calgary Herald article here.

The Burning Ring of Fire

Trev et al. Nice job on organizing the TT this weekend . The weather was awesome, well, not awesome but the two hour delay was a good call. The timing for the day could not have been better. The hail storm at the end was perfect.
I had a great time and I think it went off without a hitch.
Now if I was only as fast as I am in my head.

TK

FINAL DECISION on RACE THE RING ITT

.

THE RACE IS A GO!!! (Still delayed 2 hours)

Here is the official start list.

The sun is peeking through the clouds in the Northeast!

Trev

It's looking better !

The forecast is looking up. Sweet. Lorie drove the course this morning and said it is looking good. It is being swept.....in entirety !!!... this afternoon.

On a personal note, I am having complications from the road rash and concussion, and won't be too mobile tomorrow, so don't ask me to race over to your bike to help pump up a tire or something. I may spontaneously burst into tears from having to pull out of Banff, but just tell me I was probably going to suck there anyway or something :) I am excited for this event and hope we offer a quality experience. I want to see lots of extreme effort out there tomorrow !!

Here is the site plan... This is what I gave our parking marshal, Cam, M&M, and all those involved in setting things up. You can see the Country Hills Bridge on the top of the picture.

Here is the structure of the north turn around. This looks tight, but it isn't in any way. Remember we have 5 lanes !! There is tons of room, I just drew big so it was obvious. There has a problem with the east highway's paving so we are just using one.

The damn f***'n weather.

Andy Holmwood (our chief commisaire) just sent an email to the other commisaires saying that due to the nature of the race (short, and not mass start) we will only be cancelling unless the roads are deemed unsafe to ride. I can't believe this forecast, it is making me feel defeated after all this work Thomas, Alex, me and a bunch of volunteers have put into the event. Let's all follow Marilyn's lead and close our eyes tight and use our internal energy to ensure a good day.

So as of now, we will only cancel if it is unsafe. Cold is no problem, rain is not really a problem unless it is 2 degrees and storming sideways or something. Snow or freezing rain is a problem.

We will keep you posted.

(The F-Bomb was included in the title so Frank and Rob would think I was cool)

C4 Team Race Report

We all knew that it was going to be an intense evening of racing when Simon set a blistering pace (Simon was talking like it was a Sunday ride, while I had to catch my breath between each word) and Lockie laid down an attack on the warm-up lap. After some quick calculations, the race teams were announced based on our blistering TT times (some course records were apparently set). Jared tried to slip into the B event by hoping that Trev would not notice a calculation error, but this was quickly protested.

The B event pitted Team Orange, led by Marilyn, versus Team Purple, led by Mike H and Team Pink led by me (yes, ha ha, team pink ... yes I know ... I am okay with it since I already shave my legs). Props to Rui for attacking on the first hill of the first lap ... not once, but twice. The second lap team lead sprint saw Mike with a huge lead, followed by myself and then Marilyn. On the final lap Marilyn started talking smack (I don't know why???), especially when she gathered up enough riders to lay down the hurt and win the race. I must note that even though team Orange won the event, Team Pink was the first team to have all five racers cross the line (am I grasping at straws here). In the end Team Orange took the evening with 12 points, closely followed by Team Pink and Team Purple, both with 11 points. Thanks to all of my Pink teammates for putting in such a great effort (along with all of the other racers). It was definitely competitive, but a tonne of fun.

As for the A event, all that I heard was Jared and Joel attacked on the first lap and were never seen again.

Thanks to Trev, Kyle, Mike, Kaille and Thomas for volunteering (sorry if I missed someone) and the Crankmasters for continuing to welcome us to their racing series. Trev, you put together a killer evening!

P.S. Rui, we both know who has bragging rights at this point ... even if your team won the race. ;)

Pigeon Lake - Cheesey videos

I had a great day of racing with the CAT 3 team even though I was not of great help and sufffered greatly just to hang on. I was able to watch things unfold and it was really exciting. Let me know if you want me to keep posting these videos. The only thing I can guarantee is that they won't be getting any better in creative quality. It also never dawned on me that there may be some individuals who don't want to have their face on the NET.

Pre- Race http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXoRa4hLxig

Race action and post race http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYxyML5b6Vw

I can't join you this weekend as I'm heading south but have fun and suffer greatly.

Stephen

Just looking on the Registration List for June 6th.

One new registrant just put in the comments:

"This is my first bike race ever :D  "

Awesome. Makes the hours and hours of organization worth every second.

.

PowerBar on board for this weekend.

I just spoke with PowerBar and they are going to provide each racer with 2 bars and 1 gel for the event, which is totally awesome considering I told them about it a few days ago and there are probably going to be over 100 racers. We will have the goods at the BBQ table.

So now racers and volunteers will enjoy FREE Tim Hortons, FREE BURGERS from M&M, free PowerBar stuff, a pro DJ courtesy of Fuel FM, a start ramp, closed highways, wicked timing courtesy of Carol Mayne, .... honestly.. are we missing anything?

Do It Yourself hospital care in south Edmonton

Trev was whisked off to the Grey Nuns hospital in south Edmonton after his crash on Sunday afternoon. After sitting around half-naked, half-skinned, fully ignored, for numerous hours with festering wounds, he decided to take matters into his own hands with a bit of DIY hospital care. Picture most of the patients/family in emergency looking on in disbelief/curiosity. When one of the nurses walked past, she did a double-take....then got him a mat to catch the saline solution he was pouring on himself.

Cat 5 PLRR Recap

Well Cat 5 had an eventful race and most important of all we showcased our improved bike handling skills and did not crash ourselves or crash anyone else. Hats off guys, your improvement was great.

Our strategy was different this time and I will be bold and say it was successful. Our main goal was to get Clarke and Ale to the finish line to hammer the sprint and they did so placing in the top 10 or very close to it (can't find results yet). Our wildcard play, Joel, hammered an excellent race and I don't think we supported him as much as we could have but he still brought it in third which is stellar. Joel, you're a monster. Darcy gets a huge props for filling the role of captain for the team on the last half of the race and rolling with the main group at the finish.

So the rest of us, what happened? Well, we all did our jobs. Rui and Aryeh were patrolling for the first third of the race. Unfortunately a weird rythym change (brakes on the uphill) on a climb knocked these guys into tough spot. I lost track of Carl but I assume he was powering the mid section of the race with Alan. Carl and Alan are machines, it's frightening. I watched Jay and Joel power up to the front on the descent in the first lap, awesome work Jay. I lost my marbles at the midway point and got dropped on the descent (which is pretty embarassing) but hey, what can you do? I chased David for awhile but then lost contact and hung in there with MikeH to the finish. MikeChui dropped his chain at some point and it was a moment of comedy as nearly everyone yelled at the poor guy to go left and get out of the pack, he caught back on though. AndyH was just behind us I think and he rocked a solid race too. Mark Shand was showing some wicked legs too.

Tactically, the race was ok but I think there are some things we could do differently. I noticed the other teams are bolstering their cat5 ranks. While we outnumbered the other teams we were still out foxed by a break. Those hardcore guys live up to their name. Bici and ERTC were each rolling with 4 or more bodies which is a good thing to note. Also, the fact that a break has worked two races in a row means it's time for us to start working that way as well. Our training rides are going to change as we ramp up the suffering. We had an offer to work with some of the dudes from CrankMasters and I think we dropped the ball there a bit too. Sorry CM, we'll get it right eventually.

I know there are some dissappointed feelings out there in cat 5, don't get too down guys we'll use it as motivation and come back smarter and stronger for Devon.

In case I missed anyone please let me know, my memory sucks sometimes.

Pigeon cat 3 recap

What a race! Firstly of course, I hope Trev and the other guy at the hospital, Andrew Davidson, heal up super quick. The other dude had a broken shoulder blade with some other complicating fractures...crap.

The Speed Theory cat 3 team had a great race. The game plan formulated by team chief Keith was to cover attacks and make other teams work more than us, resting Ben and I for the finish. Worked like a charm! Keith, Stephen, Jason, and Ryan did some great work at the front, getting in breaks and not working, and having other teams surge around the peleton to catch up, while we rolled up to them.

"Saving it for the finish" means something different to Ben and I: when Keith asked Ben to go to the front to help Jason, who'd be doing some hard yards at the front, at around 40km to go, Ben promptly attacked and went on a solo breakaway for the win! What a machine!

I duked it out with a couple of dudes on the home stretch, getting beat by two guys (Bill Quinney (Synergy) and according to the ABA results, Kobe Davis (Cafe Racers)) to take 4th. I'm stoked to have a half-decent finish finally, and super-stoked that our team got the win as well...hats off to the hard work of my team mates!! Big shout-out to Jason, who had the guns on game day and worked his ass off for the team the whole race.

It's great to hear all the different reports of each category, so get posting!