It started back in April this year with blue skies and it finished 4 rounds later with blue skies. Happy days! This years Powerbar Midlands XC Series has been the most ‘organised’ yet (we now manage more like 5hrs sleep the night before…), but it still takes heck of a lot of time and a heck of a lot of help to make it happen. Friends, family, riders, all play their part. Thanks to them all for their efforts leading up to the event and making race day such a fun, friendly and inclusive atmosphere!

This organising lark started back in 2007 because we wanted some local races, but after the first one we quickly (and painfully, damn cramp!) came to realise that you can’t organise and take part. Well, you can survive for the first hour, then it gets messy… That’s kinda annoying when you make so much effort to find kick ass race courses and only get to watch other people enjoy racing on them! I keep trying though, and one day I will get to the startline fresh even after course marking, admin, registration etc etc…

What’s weird (and worrying) now is that my favourite part of the day has changed from seeing UK Olympians (Oli and Liam) and other top elites competing at our local events, to the under 12’s and 10’s races. Aw, they are so small and cute, yet still so fast and keen! What is happening to me?!

With the series out the way now, the UK race season is nearly over, then there’ll be just enough time for some epic rides in October before the trails turn to s***, the Superfly gets a rest and the planning starts for next year.

Throughout the year, I think about this stupid race (I say that with love) more than any other race. I obsess over it. It’s a 50 mile tour through the mountains of Vermont with nearly 9,000 feet of climbing. This is the fourth time I’ve done it on a Single-Speed and I haven’t used the same gear twice. Someday I’ll get it right, I swear. Gearing and tire choice is always an issue, this year we had the added complication of inclement weather,  it was going to be 50° with a 100% chance of rain, the attrition began before the race even started. (more…)

I recently checked the rider list for the upcoming Pisgah Stage Race and saw that Christain Tanguy is showing up, this prompted an emergency call to my mom to see if I could get some babysitting.  Christain was illogically strong at the Shenandoah 100.  He nearly won after a flat tire and only lost due to horrible chainsuck.  Lucky enough I got out for a big ride yesterday.  The trails were riding great for the first three hours untill the rain hit at the top of Big Creek.  The drought is now a distant memory.  Not to worry though, this is obviously not the first time these trails have seen this kind of rain.  Rain can fill in holes and wash away rumble, a bit of dry weather and everything is good to go.  I felt suprisingly strong.  I’m optimistic that I’ll be able to build some critical fitness in the next two weeks.  The courses have been modified from the original plan and I’d say all in all it’s for the better.  It should be less of a survival contest and more of a race.  There will be plenty of challenge it’s just now you can plan on bonking once a day instead of twice.  Stage one . . .

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I took part of the Quebec Cup final last week despite a major cold. I was not sure if it was a good idea to participate with my condition but with some friends that came to race with me the DNS was not an option.

Sun was there and lot of dust also. The course was great with lot of ‘’switchy’’ single tracks with roots and rocks. Climbs were graduals as each lap we climbed to the top of the mountain. My start was pretty conservative to make sure to not blow after 15 min!! In the past, I was use to start fast so this time I tasted the frustration to be slowed by congestion in the first single track.

Maybe I lost time but after that I was happy to pass some competitors one by one until the last lap where I begun to fall down. I was 7th and in the last 10 min I lose 2 positions. I finally finished 9th. I was surprise to see that I finished only 2 min behind the 4th place.

Now season is finished but I enjoy the good time of year to ride and explore new trails. Also it is time for cyclo-cross!! Good fall everyone.

Well i’m not the wizard of words that Andrew is, but last weekend I raced and finished Crank The Shield as well. I can only repeat the words that Andrew spoke that anyone looking to due a stage race but not 5 or 7 days long, this race is amazing. This was my second time doing the race and although I vowed last year not to return(because of the amount of bog and mud) I could not help myself with the promise of dryer and a rerouted course. I was in 100%. This year I choose to do the 2 person category instead of solo, just to have some company on some of the lonly 80km days. I knew of only 1 guy up to the challange from my small city of Owen Sound. My friend and riding partner Scott “DiR.T” Thomson. After last year where he raced with his 18 year old daughter (Jane)to a second place finish in the mixed cat and was able to carry his bike and push her on her bike up some of the steep climbs, I knew this guy does not know how to fail.

Excitment and anticipation was high at the start line, we knew of at least 1 real fast pairing in our catagory, so our plan was to hold them as long as possible. At the end of a long uphill /downhill day were i struggled with leg cramps for the last 2hrs I was so happy to find we had finished in 3rd place in our catagory. Thanks to Scott who was the bull for our team and helped me work through some serious leg pain. Did i mention Scott is 49 years old? Now, I’m 36 and this guy pulled me all day. After a fantastic meal and awards assembly we retired to our HEATED cabin and an hr long session with the THUMPER to help relax my tired legs. Oh, and i forgot to mention I did flat on this day.

Day 2, 86km of back road, 4 wheeler trail and rail trail and after a very large breakfast and some KICKASS coffee, I felt great.  After a strong start to try to get away from the masses before we hit the first trail we were off with the leaders, holding on as long as we could we found ourselves alone and riding strong, then sssssss flat again. Are you kidding. Fix and off we go, then Scott broke a seat rail with about 25km to go. Just get to rail trail, that was the plan. Once on the rail trail Scotts back pain was really getting to him so i settle in to repay day 1 and pull us home. Thanks to some other riders who we hooked up with along the way only to pull away after a couple km. The finish was a welcome sight as well as the 2nd place we had ridden into. Another amazing meal and awards assembly and off to bed with ear plugs installed.

Day 3, Amazing breakfast and more KICKASS coffee, a 17 km neutral ride along a beatiful but cold road to the start line of day 3. A quick line up and were off. Feeling strong I led our duo out and past the leaders of our catagory, I really wanted a stage win and I was going to ride with everything i had left. SSSSSSSSSSS are you %*$#@#$ kidding, another flat. After i last fall later in the day and fracturing my FU finger, we came to the finish line in 3rd in our division, that was enough to give us 2nd over all in the combine age of 80+. A couple beers and some great chicken and ribs at the awards we were off to home to share our stories with our loved ones. Oh, thats after a major traffic jam on Hwy 11, fun fun fun.

Thanks again to Chico and Sean for an amazing event, top notch by anyones standards. I highly recommend putting this race on your must do list for the future. And bring the 29ers, they are perfect. BUT, go tubless. Congrats to Andrew and his partner, you guys are men of steel in my book. 250km and 1 gear, great job.

Cheers

Sean