Last and not the less of the Series

Last Saturday in Squamish was the last race out of 5 events in the “Hell of a Series”. First off was the OreCrusher in May, then the North Shore Bike Fest at the beginning of June, then the famous and popular Test of Metal a few days after summer solstice. The Gearjammer was at the end of July and the new race in the series for this year: “Just Another Bike Race” was on August 21st.

Each of the events was really unique, testing the rider’s abilities at different levels and I have to say, that this last event was far from being the easiest! The course started at Quest University in Garibaldi Highlands and took us up the Garibaldi Park Road to the top of Half Nelson, a new bike park style trail that gives you the giggles from start to finish… The course then consisted of FSR climbs mixed in with lots of ripping single track, such as the rather challenging “Credit Line”, Roller Coaster, then up again on the FSR for the 3^rd time to Pseudo-Tsuga, then into the lower Power Smart and a then into a new trail to me called “Word of Mouth”… this one last trail was a blast.

It was a really fun 40 km race. Since it was the Series ender, the organizers went all out with the awards and the meal! The awards were not only for the race but also for the overall Series categories Champions. Awards were also given for the riders who raced in all 5 events. Congrats to my friend Michael who had another great race and won his category. He also did all 5 events and finished 1^st in every event he entered so he won his age group category of the Series! Congrats also to my friend Olivier who finished just behind Michael at the race. On my side, I was pretty happy finishing 1^st in my category and fastest time on the ladies side which also gave me enough points to win the 20-29 series age group. I guess crossing the finish line 1^st also drew some attention to my wound which I’m still nursing… which in the end gave me concert tickets, and a nice set of devil horns for being the Queen of the Series… thx for putting me on the spot Michael!… pictures to come soon!

For full results:

http://testofmetal.com/pages/jabr.php

First Xterra Experience!

I was thinking mmm... it would be fun to do something different like a multi-sport race, something challenging like swimming, something that involves endurance and being outside… and I always wanted to do a tri but I’ve never been really excited about the fact that most for the race is spent on pavement… So an Xterra sounded like the perfect objective for the summer!

The swimming I think is the part that creates the most headaches to athletes and it has been quite a learning curve for me specially when it comes to open-water swimming

But hey! I wanted a challenge so there! Unfortunately, during a bike training session the tuesday

before the race, I got in a fight with my bike and it won… as a result I ended up with quite a few stitches on my thigh. So I was really on the fence about racing and of course the swim was out of the equation. The option left was the duathlon…I nursed the wound as I could for a few days and first thing I knew, Andrew and myself where on our way to Canmore…!

The day before the race, we were playing with our gear a bit, practicing the switch from our stiff bike shoes to our comfy runners; which really reminded us of ski-mo. We biked the course and I also wanted to make sure that my gorgeous scare would stay sealed over the extended exercise. All the nice stitches stayed in place so I was thinking to myself: GAME ON!… but carefully on!

7am Rockies time, we were at Quarry Lake getting our mountain bike gear ready at the first transition. A different crowd then usual was present for the day, high-level athletes with high value toys…! It was really nice to see! We all gathered at the Nordic Center to get body marking out of the way and get the instruction for the race. We then wondered back down to Quarry Lake and Steve (from ski mo) was out to cheer us on! The duathletes were the first wave to start. At 9 am sharp, we sprinted around Quarry Lake for 3 kms before the first mountain bike transition. We then did 2 laps of about 10 kms on the Nordic Center trail network. The route was nice and challenging with a few long steep climbs, really muddy and slippery sections and nice little chutes. Then the second transition was at the stadium from mt biking to trail running. The run consisted of two laps of over 4 kms.

It was a really fun adventure and we both learnt from the experience and had a great race. Andrew took the overall men category and I won the female and 3^rd overall. We also agreed that next time, we would both do the swim…!

For full results:

http://www.winningtime.ca/index.php?content=10xterra

Thx to Skookum Tom & Greg and Giant for hooking me up with another Anthem while mine is getting all fixed up. Even if the remote fork lock-up on the handle bar is as sharp as a razor blade, I really like the ride!

First Toonie Race in Revelstoke!

Last Wednesday night was the first ever Toonie Mountain Bike Race in Revelstoke. The event was put together by Revelocity, cycling association which goal is to organize and promote road and mountain bike training and racing events in Revelstoke BC. Having spent 5 years in Whistler where the Thursday Toonie Races were events I religiously attended every week, I could not be more excited when I found out about the Revy Races! About 13 racers were on the start line on Wednesday and I would not be surprise if the number increases week after week since the 1^st edition was a success. The race started at the Beaver Lake Parking Lot and took us through some of the nicest trails in the MacPherson Network. There was a lot of great prices for everyone and it was just a really nice and social event. This race was the first of 3 which will be on the 11^th and 25^th of august.

Thank you very much to organizers and volunteers!

More Details at:

http://www.revelstokecurrent.com/2010/07/29/revelocitys-first-mountain-bike-race-was-fun-and-successful/

An other GearJammer

On July 24^th was the GearJammer, an amazing mountain bike race in beautiful Squamish BC. This race was the 3^rd event of 5 in the “Hell of a Serie” . I always look forward to this event since it’s a 47 kms race mainly on single track with very little logging roads. The trails were in perfect shape again this year; dry and fast! We quickly checked out the course on Friday night just to get even more excited about the upcoming event.

Saturday was blue bird and 28 degrees! And the

race started in the heat of the day at 11am. Everyone lines up at Alice Lake Provincial Park with big smiles up on their face ready to sweat a whole lot! The race course took us from Alice Lake on a short FSR to Ed’s bypass, Cliff’s Corner, fast downhill on Bob McIntosh. Up Mike’s Loop, up the Mashiter Creek ….(long climb), up to Skookup, Power Smart and linked to Recycle and Pseudo Tsuga… which to my surprise has been buffed a lot and was fast and nice! From there, we linked to the Garibaldi Park Road where we climbed to the famous power house plunge. From there, we were not done climbing! We connected to Crumpit Wood, Father Side and S&M Connector, Three Virgins (under the power lines… it was smoking hot!…), Seven Stitches and back to the subdivisions on Plateau Drive. It was a technical and challenging course but one of my favorite so far this year.

The race went very well with no mechanical and over all good energy!

Congrats to my friend Michael who won his category and had an amazing race. On my side, I raced 29 minutes faster then last year so I was pretty happy.

For more details on the results, check the following link.

Thx to all the volunteers involved in the race and to Jodi for being there for us as the feed station!

http://www.gearjammer.ca/pages/results.php