With the end of the mtb race season looming, Ken and I immediately started thinking about our plans for 2011, and found out about a new race on the Canadian stage race scene. There is a nicely designed website up already, and with sponsors like Hammer Nutrition and support from Deadgoat Racing, it seems legit enough. But to find out more, I caught up with the man with the plan, Mark Kaltenbach, for some bikeridr Q&A. Here’s the low-down:

What made you decide to organize your own stage race?
I have a background in event organization, specifically in Triathlon. After doing the BCBR in 2008, I kept thinking about how great it would be to have a three day event that you could host over a long weekend. In Fernie, last September, it hit me that this was the perfect venue. Fernie has a multitude of trails of such varying terrain and all of the facilities that a multi-day race would need to be self-sufficient. The warmth and hospitality in Fernie definitely helps. It was then that I started to organize the Furious 3 multi-stage Mountain Bike Race. At first I thought that I would host the race in 2010, but I quickly figured out that it would be a rush to get it together and organized properly so I changed the agenda and decided the inaugural event would be on the weekend of July 1 to 3 of 2011.

How is the Furious 3 going to be different from other stage races in western Canada?
Rather than being a race that goes from one location to another, Furious 3 begins and ends each day in The City of Fernie. The goal here is to make a race that is ‘friend and family’ accessible. The racers can bring their friends and the whole family to support them and enjoy the race and the festivities surrounding the race. This also allows racers to choose how they want to experience the event. They can camp and eat hotdogs cooked over the camp fire or they can stay at 5 star hotels and eat at fancy restaurants every night. Our biggest mandate is to support the organizations such as The City of Fernie, The Fernie Mountain Bike Club and Trails Alliance, The Elk Valley Hospital in Fernie and all of the local businesses and the economy of Fernie that support us. We will also strive to have as much single track as possible, which really isn’t that hard to do in Fernie. There are so many unique aspects of Furious 3. We are a race for the person that doesn’t want to, or can’t take a week or more off , or just doesn’t have cash to pony up for one of the longer races. Although, I’m guessing, after doing a 3 day race, a lot of them will be looking at doing the longer races as well.

Do you see yourself as direct competition with the Transrockies, or BC Bike Race? If so, how are you going to carve out your piece of the pie?
I don’t see us as competition for the other multi-day stage races that are currently offered. In fact the goal here is to feed those races with more athletes to sign up for their races. Our date was partially picked due to its proximity to TR. Furious 3 will take place approximately 5 weeks before the TR. Thus anyone doing TR would be able to use Furious 3 as a warm up, or practice race to get ready for their larger goal. There are also a lot of people out there that want to get into doing longer races, but need that stepping stone to get them to where they feel comfortable signing up for BCBR or TR.

What type of a course can we look forward to?
The course will be predominantly single track with mostly Blue rated type trails, trails that pretty much any mountain biker can do without too much trouble. But for those who are looking for some challenges there are some more challenging uphill and downhill technical sections, all of which will be walkable for less experienced riders. So far the only challenge has been choosing from the plethora of available trails to use and how to link them together. The City of Fernie has been easy to work with and the locals have welcomed us and been more than accommodating. I can’t believe how many phone calls and emails I’ve had from locals asking how they can help.

Is there a reason you’re only looking for 200 riders in 2011?
There are a couple of reasons. It is our first year and I want to make this the best possible experience for the athletes without extending our resources. I also want to show BC parks and The City of Fernie that we want to build this as an ongoing event year after year and that we will maintain, rebuild and support the ecology and economy of Fernie and the area. Also one of the days will mostly take place on BC Crown Lands and we are currently in discussions about how many people we can have on the trails at any one time. If registration goes crazy then I will be able to show that we do have the interest and that we will be able to backup our mandate and we may be able to allow a few more racers either in 2011 and/or moving forward into 2012.

Registration opens in just a few days, Friday September 17^th, 2010. And, like Mark said, there are only 200 spots available. The race dates are July 1 to 3 of 2011. Check out the Furious 3 site here.

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Thanks for checkin’ in! Team bikeridr is out on the trails racing in the TR3. Wish us luck!

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As I’m off to Fernie this weekend to race in the TR3 and currently busy with packing, bike tweaking, and home renos, etc…, this week I just wanted to post up something, well, easy. One of the hardest things I always find about bloging, is deciding on the topic. This week, as usual I had a few post ideas rolling around in my head, so to save myself the anxiety-ridden trouble of decision making, I’ve decided to just write a little on all three. In this post, I’ve got Matt Hoffman, BMX big-air guru, the average age of the Transrockies, and the curtain call of my cycling hero and cancer fighter extraordinaire, Lance.

Matt Hoffman

Flipping channels the other day, I came across a show on TSN, featuring BMX vert, and big-air pioneer Matt Hoffman. I’d seen him compete at the X-Games and knew he was good, but I really didn’t know his back story at all. Essentially, Hoffman was to BMX, what Tony Hawk was to skatebording. There was an entire decade, beginning in the late 1980s, where Hoffman reigned supreme. He was the full package, offering not just the riding skill and flare to pull off the wildest tricks of the day, but also the guts to simply do it bigger, and higher than anyone else. Hoffman is credited with the creation of over 100 unique tricks, including the 900, being the first to ever do one in competition. Never mind all that, what blew me away about this guy was his obsession to go big! Hoffman went as far as building his own stronger bikes, and own bigger ramps, and attaching them to what looked to me like a 3-4 story building so he could get enough speed to launch up the other side of the half pipe. Going further still though, he eventually built himself a 20 footer, and invented the tow-in, which is essentially being pulled in by a motorcycle. I’ve attached the famous shot of him, launching himself more than 20 feet above the ramp coping! Later on, he went even further, building a 24 foot ramp and hit an official world record at 26.6 feet of air, for a total of over 50 feet above the ground below. Can you say, insane? I think this guy is amazing! Here is some video of those world record attempts:

The Average Age of the TR

Reading an article about Gretchen Reeves, it mentioned that the average at the TR is 40! I wasn’t sure if I was surprised by that stat, necessarily, but it took me a minute to think about. First thing that went through my mind was, ‘Great! I’ve got 5 more years before I’m 40… I’m still a spring chicken compared to the majority of my fellow racers out there this coming week.’ I found some reassurance in that thought. Some momentary comfort. But then I reminded myself that most enduro racers are quite a bit older than me, and lots, if not most of them leave me in their dust, haha… It seems that the metal needed for successful enduro racing really comes around for most of us when we get a little older. Ken calls it ‘old man strength’.

When I mentioned the average age of the TR to my wife though, the first thing she said was, ‘Well yeah, those are the only people who can afford it.’ and I had to admit, she’s probably right. I mean, though a regular enduro race like the ABA Trans Stoney, the Givr 8r, or the Bow 80 don’t really cost much, the TR takes a bigger bite out of the ol’ pocket book. Fully supported, world-class racing in remote parts of the Canadian Rockies just doesn’t come cheap, and yes, although in my experience most enduro racers are middle-aged, they are admittedly very likely the only ones who can afford an epic race like this. It will be interesting to see what the TR3 field does to the average though. Most of these racers that I know are actually all younger than me, including Ken. So, in this case, woe is me. I’ll be hoping for some of the so-called ‘old man strength’…

Lance and the Final Curtain?

We’ve known this was going to be Lance’s last TDF for a long time now. He said it before it even started. But, now that the race is run, I think his fans are still struggling with the realization that, yes, that was his last Tour. Looking back now, I think it was his last one not just because he’d decided it would be, but also because he knows he just isn’t quite the Lance he used to be. Sure, there is debate over what might have happened if he’d had better luck out there. Really, he had some terrible luck. Personally, I’d like to believe if he’d had no mechanicals or crashes, he could have won, but Stage 16 and Lance’s bid for the stage win might have said it all. In the interview, I felt like I could hear it in his voice and see it in his eyes. It was sad to watch, but a champion like Lance owes nothing to his fans in my opinion. It’s going to be interesting though, to see if he does actually hang the Tour shoes up. I mean, he’s clearly still capable of racing with the elite of the elite, and it’s hard to imagine he won’t still have several good years on the bike yet. I’ll be really interested to hear him speak with he comes to Edmonton.

Now, back to packing, or painting/hanging blinds…

Related posts:

1. Lance Armstrong in Edmonton
2. LINK PINK Lance Armstrong For Breast Cancer
3. Lance Armstrong – Comeback 2.0

For the most part, I don’t know what I’m doing. I haven’t been racing long enough. For example, I don’t know how I should feel before a good race, versus how I feel before a bad one. I’ve thought I felt great, and raced terribly, and visa versa. Sure, I’ve read a lot, and talked to a lot of people about this stuff, but for me it’s still just guess work.

Last weekend at Nationals in Canmore, I had a good race. Best result of my season for sure, coming in 3^rd. It was a great experience landing on the podium, and one I’d like to repeat. But now with only 2 races left this season, I’m convinced more than ever, repeating that is going to be something that’s a lot easier said, than done…

Kabush signing my jersey

A seasoned racer who has a pre-race routine, a specific pre-race ritual concerning training sched the week before, favourite meals, knows measured volumes of fluid intake, their sleep patterns and so on, might be able to confidently repeat a performance. Me on the other hand, I’m still learning about all this, and about myself. That said, I have learned a thing or two about me. None of these are ground-breaking, but very likely, many of them may apply to you as well:

I really need my sleep. I am an 8-9 hour a night guy, day in and day out and I know this. If I get less than 8 hours sleep one night in the 2 days leading up to a race, I will do worse. Case in point, most of my races in 2009. Excited about the race, Ken and I would normally go out the night before, have dinner and stay out and have a few beers, only allowing for 5-6 hours of sleep. For me, this is not good.

That leads me to my second observation, beers the night before do not help me. 1, or 2 is fine, though likely not beneficial. Any more than 2, and it has certainly proved detrimental. Not only does alc dehydrate, but for me, now a 35 year man who drinks almost never, I feel like crap in the morning after any more than 3 beers.  So, I need to shut it down after 1 or 2 the night before if I care about how I am going to race the next day.

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate… And by this I don’t mean drink a couple glasses of water before the race. I mean stay on the water for a couple days leading up to a race. It can take up to 7 days for your body to fully hydrate, meaning, absorb into your deep tissues. Drinking a bunch of water quickly, and then peeing clear is really only a sign that your body has taken in more fluid than it can absorb at that time. Both alcohol and caffeine will dehydrate, so I need to keep them both to a minimum.

On the podium

Stretch. I am terrible for this. I don’t enjoy it. It hurts and most often I will come up with some reason not to do it. When I do, though, my legs feel soooo, sooo much better. They recover faster between rides, meaning I can train more often, but if nothing else, stretching before a hard effort like a race wakes my legs up, and gets the blood flowing. I’m also less likely to cramp, or injure myself – which are both things I am on board with now that I’m getting older and hopefully wiser.

Eat 2 hours before the race. Eat 3 hours before if you can. For me, oatmeal with a handful of trailmix seems to be a pretty good meal. Easy to digest. Good carbs, and the nuts provide fat, which is great long burn energy that I’ve found is optimal for me, versus just straight carbs. Further to this, make yourself eat, and drink during the race. It’s hard, I know… You’re breathing hard and chewing food, or drinking just interrupts your already laboured breathing even more. But, this is key to making sure you have the energy to ride strong the whole race, and not just the first lap or two. If you can only do one, choose to drink. Find an energy drink you can tolerate that will give you energy, electrolytes and hydrate you. I’m still fiddling with this. Last race, my drink of choice nearly made me puke. Not because it tasted bad, but because it just wasn’t sitting that well. Top of the climbs on lap three, it was a close call. This might just have been because I was drinking too much at once, and not just sipping at it over the race. I am still trying to figure out how to do this.

Know yourself. Are you a racer that can blast out of the gates, be first to the singletrack, gap the field and hold on, or are you more like me, and need to start out moderately? Two weeks ago, at the Edmonton Canada Cup, I chased Ken and Gord for 2/3 of the first lap and blew up after lap 1. They were too fast, and I cracked, leaving me to struggle just to finish in 20th. Last weekend at Nationals, I went out more slowly, paced myself and tried to build up speed as I went – to push hard, but stay steady. The result was 3 moderately fast laps, and luckily, a spot on the podium.

Lastly, pre-ride the course. I never used to do this. I figured I was always just following people anyway so I didn’t need to know where I was going… But pre-riding the course is about more than knowing where you’re going. It’s about knowing what’s coming, and having a game plan. You know where you can push hard, because you know how soon you’ll hit a section where you can recover, or you know where to surge and catch someone’s wheel so you’re in position to pass when you get to the wide section coming up. In Canmore where the trails can be super technical, you’ll know better which line to take, or how fast you can go without crashing. These are just examples, but you get the idea. Knowing the course is a huge advantage.

Gord with the pull

These are some of the things I’ve found to really make a big difference for me. In the end, though, you can do all of this stuff and more, but still fall short in a race, because circumstance plays such a huge part. In my race at Nationals, I was ready physically to race well, and I did, but several circumstances played into my 3^rd place finish. Some of these circumstances were that we raced in the morning before it got hot. I race better in cooler temps. The course was set up to my strengths. It had long, grueling climbs, and tight, twisty, singletrack descents. Had the course been different, with less climbing, the result would have been different. I also had a teammate to ride with when I caught Gord on lap 2. Having him push me just that little bit to stay with him, helped a lot. I wasn’t willing to push myself to the point that I’d blow up again, but he definitely helped me out there, and encouraged me to keep up. Thanks Gord! I owe ya.

So many things come into play in a race, from how hard you’ve trained, to the course design, what you ate, the weather, the field of racers that shows up, to the state of your bike’s mechanical integrity. I mean, blow a tire, snap a chain, and there you go, end game. I guess, that’s why as little, or as much as I know now about racing,  as much as I can control about my diet, sleep, training etc…, you never really know what’s going to happen on race day. You can race smart, but in the end, no one knows how it’s going to play out. I guess it wouldn’t be much fun if we did know, though would it…?

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3. Smart Bike

As you might have heard, a certain well-known Texan cycling legend, 7 time Tour De France Champion and prolific cancer fighter is coming to Edmonton this August…

Why Edmonton, you ask? The quick answer is, to lend support to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. But for me, I’m still left asking the question, why Edmonton? I mean, if you want to do something like this in Western Canada, why not Vancouver, or Calgary for that matter? My answer is, Edmonton is an event town. Edmontonians come out and support things in a big way. We are known as the festival city after all. So, I wasn’t that surprised when I spoke with the CBCF at the beginning of July and found out that the limited number of spots available to ride with Lance, were near gone.

Now I only say near gone, because there are still some spots available.  If you’ve been sitting on the fence at all, jump on it soon. It really is a once -in-a-lifetime opportunity to not only ride with a cycling icon, but also to raise incredibly important funds for the fight against breast cancer!

Lance will be in town for two days. August 25th, there will be a Link Pink Lance Armstrong for Breast Cancer luncheon held at the Shaw Conference Centre. Master of ceremonies will be none other than the official voice of cycling, Phil Liggett. August 26th is the ride. A small group of dedicated fundraisers will get to join Lance on a 100km ride and post-ride dinner in beautiful Jasper, Alberta.

For more information on the luncheon, and how to get your spot on the ride with Lance, contact Tracy Sopkow, Director, Marketing & Communications, CBCF – Prairies/NWT Region, T: (780) 452-1166, E: tsopkow@cbcf.org

Related posts:

1. Lance Armstrong in Edmonton
2. Lunch with Lance
3. Lance Armstrong – Comeback 2.0

All last year, I went to bike races put on by other groups and clubs, like Alberta Mountain Bike Racing, United Cycle, Hardcore and so on. I showed up and rode my bike, then ate some food as I waited around impatiently for results, podium and draw prizing. After, I went home. This year, through RVC I’ve helped put on two racers, and let me tell ya, I was completely taken back by the amount of organization and work that goes into these local races…

Course design is fun. You get to ride around and pick what trails you want to ride, or force other racers to ride. There is a certain diviousness that comes into play here, haha so yeah this part is cool. But then getting the course GPS mapped and into a ‘created from scratch’ tech guide is something else. Then you have to mark the actual course so the racers can pre-ride it in the days leading up. This can be easlier said than done. We ran our racers in Terwilliger, which is an open to the public park and a very popular dog park. So between the 5 Peaks running race that was scheduled for the day before our event, then some random haters that decided to tear down staking and taping we’d done, come race morning the course still needed a lot of TLC. Thankfully it all got done in time, so no big worries.

Registration needs to all be set up on-line, and we did this through Karelo. This is a super functional website for sporting event sign up, but I think it was a little bit of a pain actually getting our event up there. Once it is though, you’re good to go. Except, us racers sure aren’t shy about leaving it to the last minute. We were watching the sign-ups just trickle in. This is alittle unnerving, as you’re out there spending money on infrastructure, racing materials, food, beverages, etc… But in the end, this year’s Perogy had a huge turn out. I was told somewhere around 140 racers. Bigger than last year, so not to shabby.

We also had a great showing of volunteers come out, which was awesome and I have to thank them all again here! We had to get 30, and in the end I think we had near to 40. Again though, this was a moderately stressful component because a lot of folks didn’t sign up until the last couple days. Personally, I think we have the weather to thank for this. We couldn’t have asked for better volunteers, or weather!

So, for the volunteers, there had to be an information packaged created with descriptions of roles and expectation, race times, course maps, and driving instructions on how to get to the park itself. Then there was also the food. We packed up 40 bagged lunches, with Subway sandwhiches, fruit, granola bars, jelly beans and beverages. This was, of course, on top of the racer food, and the PEROGYS!!!! Yes, when the name of your race is The Perogy XC, you better cook up some perogys. So yup, we served up 400 of them, with all the fixin’s. I snuck one or two myself and they were damn good.

Organizing the timing, race result, and prizing and working with the commissaires to be sure everything meets ABA standards is a whole other kettle of fish. Then there is making sure you have tents and a PA system and music so the atmosphere is more fun for everyone. Lastly, there was tear down and clean up! All in all, it was seriously a lot work, and I’m not getting into it in details. There was lots of help to go around, great support from the shop, which was great but Kirk Hamilton from RVC did 75% of it all himself so hats off to him for sure. I can certainly say that now that I’ve been on the other side of things, I’ll be a lot more appreciative of the race organizers. It’s a big job!

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So what do you think of when you hear the words ‘Paris, France’? You might say the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame, or maybe you’ll think of something more gastronomic like fine cheeses and delicate Bordeaux wines… I certainly think about all those things, but I also think of BIKES. Yes, I think of Parisians riding home from work with a bottle of red wine and a baguette under their arm, and of course the Tour de France!

My wife and I recently spent just shy of two weeks in the City of Light, and let me just say, what a city! But beyond all the romantic Parisian experiences that we managed to enjoy, like walking along the Seine River, sitting under the Eiffel Tower, sipping café crème in little Brasseries that people like Hemingway or F. Scott Fitzgerald once frequented, and dining in some of the most incredible Paris restaurants, I wanted to see the real European cycling scene! I wanted to browse in incredible boutique bike shops, and oogle over the finest road racing machines Europe had to offer. I mean, after all, Paris and the Champs Élysées is where the Tour de France finishes up! This is a cycling Mecca, right?!

Yeah, well, maybe not so much… Paris is certainly a cycling-friendly city. It has an impressive bike lane system. Seriously impressive in fact.

I had to try them out. The 3 speed grip shifters were a nice touch I thought.

They also have that great automated Rent-A-Bike system in place, and the coverage is nothing short of amazing. I kept an eye out for these ‘bike-banks’ and they were literally everywhere, and well used. Bikes and cars in Paris live in a beautiful harmony. And something I found really quite refreshing is that all types of people used them: old, young, businessmen in suites, women in dresses, it didn’t seem to matter. No helmets though. I noticed that on the first day. Helmets don’t seem to have caught on there. Messes the do, I suppose.

Beyond these bike-banks, there are lots of other bikes on the roads as well, and exactly the type you’d imagine. They are the upright vintage cruiser style, and from what I could find, these are the only reason any bike shops exist at all in central Paris. If you have lots and lots of bikes on the road, you’re going to need some bike shops around to repair them. Makes sense, well enough. But, to find no ‘new’ bike shops anywhere, was really pretty surprising to me. I could only assume that the bike shops I had in mind had to exist on the outskirts of Paris closer to the picturesque rolling roads of the French countryside. And, this was confirmed by a friend of ours, Richard, who oddly enough, we met on the 2009 Transrockies and then ran into while we were in Paris.

Giselle, Kirsten, Me, and Richard at Les Deax Maggots.

This was one of those truly super-strange ‘it’s a small world’ experiences. Richard saw on Facebook that I was going to be in Paris, and it just so happened, he and his fiancé Giselle (also a TR 2009 finisher) were going to be in Paris at the same time. So, yeah, we all met up in Paris for drinks at Les Deux Maggots on the Blvd St. Germain des Prés, which was great. It really can be a small world.

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This weekend was my very first road race. I had been looking forward to it for weeks. The Prairie Roubaix, hosted my Speed Theory in Calgary. Racing in Calgary is always nice. I mean you’re in the foothills, with great views of the mountains just west, and of course I get to see my buddy Ken.

I drove up Saturday morning so I’d be there in time for a ‘funzies’ ride put on by Dead Goat. Tim set up a course, starting from his place it led us all over. Me, not being from Calgary, I was lost a lot of the time, but I didn’t care at all. It was 23 degrees, sunny and I was riding a brand new carbon Lapierre Xelius 200, courtesy of Edmonton’s friendly neighbourhood River Valley Cycle. What a machine! Super stiff and responsive. The bike literally surges with each pedal stroke. It was nuts how much I loved this bike. And, I have to give it credit where credit is due on the hill climb challenge we did from the bottom of Canadian Olympic Park (COP) up to the Tea House. I flew up that steep, switchback road, cranking over that 42 tooth inside ring to just eek out a win in the A group. My closest rival, Ken Hurd of course, just 2 seconds behind me.  This might be the only thing I beat Ken at all season, so good times, indeed. Hill climb victory aside, Sunday was going to be the real race.

After an entire winter goes by, and you haven’t really ridden against your buddies, it’s a little nerve-wracking that first big ride, or in this case, race of the season.  You wonder if your training paid off. If you did enough to stay faster than people you were faster than, or if you did enough to catch the ones who you chased all last season. I fully anticipate Ken to still be faster than me though, and well, he didn’t disappoint.

Sunday morning, Ken and I were at the start line, near the front of the pack. I was nervous. I didn’t really know how this was all going to go down. I mean, I’d read a little about strategy, drafting, etiquette, etc… But reading is one thing, and doing is always another.

We took off. It was an uphill start and the pace was high. I wasn’t surprised. I got in behind the front 5 riders until we reached the top of the hill where I looked down at my heart rate to see it was 189, or 101% of my max. Yikes! I decided to try and slide out the back door and settle down before I died of a coronary. I wasn’t sure how to do this though because there were about 10 riders right around me, including Ken. I didn’t see a way out. But as I let up on the speed, they all just whoooshed around me like water.  I then fell in with another group (all Speed Theory) and watched Ken spin away. I was hurtin’, but my heart rate was back into the 160s and my breathing was coming back down as well so I decided to try and hold on to this group and see what happened.

With the first 15km lap complete, I’d managed to just stay with them, but I was dyin! Like a good little roadie, I tried to take my turns up at the front and pull, but it maxed me out and then I could barely hang on after, even tucked right into the draft. By this time I had lost Ken entirely, and a small voice inside me said, ‘crap…’. Then, I slid off the back of this group too.

Now I was in total no man’s land, fighting the hills (of which there were many) and the wind all on my own – my white shell flapping madly and loudly along my arms. I knew this was no place to be, but at least now I was riding at my own pace for a bit. I checked my heart rate, 164, and then looked behind me to see who was going to come to my rescue.

It wasn’t long before 3 riders came up on me and I was able to latch on. ‘Finally!’ I thought. ‘This is my speed!’ And it was a solid pace, one that kept that Speed Theory group insight. We pushed along, all taking turns at the front, until we hit the third lap where I, for some reason, suddenly felt strong. I can’t really explain it. Maybe it was what people call your ‘second wind’, but yeah, I pulled for quite a while, and turned back to the group and asked if they wanted to try and catch that Speed Theory group, who were then only about 250meters ahead. The answer that came back was ‘we can try’, but soon I was dropping them, and needed to fall back a bit to regroup. Emily (also a Speed Theory rider) said, ‘if you think you can catch them, go for it.’ And so I did. I pulled away and started to shoot the gap…

I felt good. Sure I was tired, but I felt like I had quite a bit left in the tank. I glanced down at my heart rate. I was in the high 160s, so I kept pressing, and the gap was shrinking. It was shrinking, until I hit the last paved section, which headed straight into the wind. Here I put the hammer down, now with my heart rate well into the high 170s again. I recall seeing 177, and thinking, ‘this is pretty stupid’ but I was just givin’er! haha… Alas, the gap didn’t shrink anymore. Instead it grew and I felt my legs turn into wet noodles just before I got to the gravel section at the beginning of the final stretch.  I looked ahead and could still see the Speed Theory group, but they had disbanded, and were drivin’ it home, leaving me in their dust. It was then that I heard the sound of bike tires just behind me. I turned to look back and it was Emily! She’d caught back up. I was both surprised, and not. She followed me for maybe a hundred metres and then surged in front, offering a shattered rider a gracious pull in, but I’d spent it all. I was done, and as we rode on, despite every grimace and grunt I had left, she slowly but surely dropped me and when we got to the last hill climb, she jumped out of the saddle and that was that. I tried to respond, but there was nothing there at all. I rolled it in on fumes, just happy to be done.

So yeah, at my first road race, I got schooled. But, it was so much fun and a lesson learned, I hope.  Don’t be a hero and blast off on your own when you can ride in a group, unless you’re sure you have it in ya. We’ll see if I remember that at the next one.

Related posts:

1. Speed Theory Presents: The Prairie Roubaix
2. Summer Solstice Suffer Springs XC race report

Ken bought himself a new rig, and a road rig at that. I have to say, I’m pretty stoked for him. He was the first to move to full-suspension, and then the first to move to cyclo-cross and now, although I already have a road bike (it’s more just a training tool)  he’s the first to jump headlong into the roadie world. As you can see, it’s expensive keeping up with Ken. Everytime you turn around, it seems he’s adding to his quiver. It might be categorized as an addiction, but I’d have to call it a healthy one.

So in the last bikeridr post, Ken challenged me to see if I could guess what he bought, based on the few closely-cropped photos he provided. I accepted the challenge and now beers at the Prairie Rubaix are on the line. (Insert pressure here) The photos didn’t really gave away too much, other than the bike is really, really red, and kitted out with Ultegra, and a Mavic Ksyrium wheel set. So, what did he buy? What’s my final answer?

Knowing Ken, I know he has a soft spot in his heart for Specialized, so I immediately needed to start there. I know too, that Bow Cycle in Calgary caries Specialized and that’s Ken’s home shop. The Specialized Tarmac Expert on the Bow Cycle website sure does appear to fit the bill in a lot of ways. It has the Shimano Ultegra kit, the Mavic wheel set, and from what I can sort of tell from one of the photos, it also has the same stem. Though, based on the photo Ken provided, that’s a tough one.

There are some things that don’t match up though and that’s, well, irksome. The headset is wrong, for one. Stock, according to the Specialized site, the Tarmac Expert comes with Aheadset, and not a Cane Creek. There is also the glaring problem of the paint job. Nowhere could I find a bike, under any brand, that matched that paint job, including of course Specialized…

I made a quick trip to Revolution Cycle and checked out their Specialized stock, hoping in a small way to just walk in and see it on the rack. No dice though, and unfortunately I didn’t get a ton of help. So, I left empty handed. Not deterred though, I decided to call what I guessed to be the source – Bow Cycle. I talked to the sales department and asked a few careful questions. And, after a bit of banter back and forth with a helpful fellow there, I felt I had my answer.

So, wrong headset, and paint, was that enough to make me think it’s anything except a Specialized Tarmac? Nah… If it is, then I can’t wait to find out what it is, but based on everything else, the headset is something anomalous as bike companies will sometimes need to swap out a component or two based on availability or whatever. And, as for the swanky red paint job with the slick white striping, that’s going to be a demo model paint job put out by Specialized making Ken’s new rig very cool, and unique indeed. Can’t wait to see it, and take it for a spin.

Final Answer: Specialized Carbon Tarmac Expert.

Related posts:

1. Bow Cycle 2010 Bike Expo

If you live in Alberta and you’re a cyclist, you’re likely aware of the two big rides happening to raise money for the fight against cancer. The more established one, the one we likely all know at least one participant of, is of course, The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer. The other is new. It’s the Ride with Lance Armstrong. Both are going to be vying for your cycling and fundraising efforts this summer, so just how then is a rider to make the call. Which ride will you choose?

For me, ethically, or morally, there really isn’t a wrong choice here as both clearly offer the chance to raise money for very worthwhile causes, so I wanted to take a moment and check the tale of tape, as I see it.

Starting with The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer, if you’ve seen the commercials you’ll know this is a BIG event. Hundreds and hundreds of riders take part in this 2-day, 200km ride through the Rocky Mountains. You’ll be fully supported, well fed and cared for and get to test your metal along with other impassioned cancer fighters while enjoying the amazing scenery. To me, this part sounds like a lot of fun. And then your hard work and the money you raise will go to support the Alberta Cancer Foundation, which is great as well, because the ACF is the sole fundraising organization for both the Cross-Cancer in Edmonton and the Tom Baker in Calgary. If you, or someone you know has been treated for cancer here in Alberta, it was more than likely at one of these facilities. The ACF offers fundraising opportunities for Albertans, in Alberta – I’m behind that. Your minimum entry is to raise $2,500, which is a challenge but still very doable for most people making this event fairly accessible to anyone who wants to join in.

On the other hand, there is The Ride With Lance Armstrong. This as well, will undoubtably be a great event, offering Lance fans and cancer fighters alike the chance to ride with Lance for 1-day, 100km through the Edmonton River Valley and Edmonton area. This sounds like a once in lifetime opportunity – I mean how often does Lance Armstrong come and ride in Edmonton? I’m guessing this will draw out huge interest for participation, though I’m also guessing, from what I was told, with a minimum donation of $25,000 this might weed out some of the masses. I’ll be interested to see how successful this will be. I suppose though, if just 20 people pony up, the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (another fantastic organization) will benefit to the tune of $500,000, and that’s not unreasonable. Who knows, they might get a lot more people than that, and personally I sincerely hope they do.

From what I can find, there is no webpage up yet, but for those seriously interested, there is an information session on the ride and the whole event, including the gala dinner and so forth at the Royal Glenora Club. You’ll need to RSVP to Courtney if you want to attend though. Click the Ride with Lance Armstrong image to view the invitation.

Related posts:

1. Lance Armstrong in Edmonton
2. LINK PINK Lance Armstrong For Breast Cancer
3. Lunch with Lance