The Dark Knight ‘Cross
24 Hours of Adrenaline – photo report
Many of you have asked for a forum to be added to this website so that the team communication can be a bit more open and visible. Let me start by saying that open access forums are a giant pain and we will not be having one on this site. By far the easiest thing to use is facebook as it is a secure location that does not require an administrator to respond to an endless stream of comments generated by computers trying to sell me things I don’t need. (my name is Ed, but I don’t have it!!)
So to that end, if you wish to communicate with your teammates then please click the facebook button to the right and it will take you directly to our Cyclemeisters page. If for some reason you are morally and ethically opposed to signing up on facebook then I would suggest that you offer up your services as an administrator for an open forum and we’ll see how quickly you adopt the religion of facebook.
2012 Membership
2012 is looking like another great year for the Cyclemeisters and if you want to be part of it you need to get your Membership forms into Amy as soon as possible. The link to our form and the ABA license form can be found to the right of the webpage. Please note that we will reimburse you for your ABA online membership.
THE NEW KIT!!
3 years is a long time and although the pink and orange plaid was starting to look normal it’s time for a change. So for 2012 we have a new kit. The guys and gals at Curious have come up with another winner for us and here she is. We’re still keeping the plaid of course and we’re adding a bit of Curious Blue to throw things off a touch. We’re hoping it’s still as noticeable in the pack and we’re sure it’s going to be a big hit
Along with the design change we’re also switching suppliers from Sugoi to Champion Systems. There were a bunch of reasons for this but the primary one is that Champion offers you a lot more flexibility in what you want to order. We’ve heard from other clubs that the quality is great and we’re looking forward to seeing what Champion can do for us.
We’re also ordering up some fancy helmets from Specialized that just so happen to match the kit perfectly. We’ll be ordering the S-Works Prevail Team issue in the 2012 Lampre colors so check the link to see what you think.
Order forms for the kit and the helmets can be found in the sidebar to the right and please remember that your membership entitles you to one new kit of a jersey and shorts.
NOTE: The deadline for ordering extra kit is January 13th so download the forms, fill them out, and get them into Amy with your cashola. We will also be having another Spring order but you may not see those items for the start of the race season so order early!!
Cyclemeisters in Oregon, Organ Grinder registration
Cyclemeisters Katy Curtis and Shawna Donaldson competed in the Cherry Blossom Cycling Classic last weekend, Katy’s report is an inspiring read to those of us who watched the snow fall instead..
The Organ Grinder registration opened April 1st, entries are capped, don’t miss it!
https://zone4.ca/onlinereg.asp?id=3826
Craig’s Canadian Masters Nationals Crit Report
This was the day I’d been waiting for! I was excited from the time I woke up and pumped to get out there and sprint like crazy.
After yesterday’s performance my body felt beat up but I was more worried about the fact that I was now a marked man and as such I knew that no one was going to let me slip away today. The plaid kit was going to make it hard to hide!
I don’t exactly have much experience racing as a marked man, but I use to train with some top criterium racers in California who regularly rode as the expected winners so I knew, in theory, what I was supposed to do.
What was I supposed to do? Ride really hard right from the gun!
I tried to get front row and was once again once partially successful (I don’t know where I lost this skill but I used to be able to get myself on the front all the time. Now? Not so much).
As soon as the race started I put in an attack and, luckily, was followed by a lot of really strong guys. The pace stayed high up to the first sprint and I was able to get 2nd. The pace remained pretty high up to the next sprint and I was expecting an attempted break-away after the sprint, but nothing developed. At this point the race fell into a rhythm of speeding up for every sprint and then slowing down – exactly like a points race on the track and as such right up my alley.
Things were looking excellent until 10-laps to go when team CIBC started to play some pretty smart team tactics on me resulting in me pulling around the pack for about 5-laps. The CIBC tactics were working great and their sprinter won the final sprint by such a large margin that he had time to throw up his hands in celebration. Good work on their front.
On the cool down lap I was feeling dejected as I was almost certain that CIBC’s final display of power was enough to secure the win so I was just elated to find out that I eked out the win by a single point.
The Crit jersey was in my sights since January when I began working on intervals in my basement and I couldn’t be happier to have it in my house.
Did I deserve this win? Today I feel that I can say Yes.
Craig’s Canadian Masters Nationals RR Report
Today was a shocking day for me as (a) I’m not a very good road racer and (b) I was flying solo in a race that, on paper, looked to be a classic strategic affair. Since my focus over the last 6-months has been squarely on the points race I figured I was entering the road race just for fun and I had no expectations.
- Paper View
The paper view of the course showed that there would be four distinct climbs on the course and all of them were medium in length and none with grade steeper than 4%. My wife and baby decided not to join me for the weekend so after waking up at 6am (No matter how hard I try I can never sleep in) I ate breakfast and decided to drive the course. I’m glad I did as it made me realize that the hills on the course had the potential to be selective, assuming someone decided to really push the pace up the entire climb. Driving the course also made me realize just how bad the wind would be.
- Handlebar View
As always I tried my best to start as close to the front row as possible. I waste a lot of energy doing this but I find that I waste just as much energy starting near the back and stressing out about my positioning that I might as well waste the energy on the front. There were a few attempted breaks, only one of which I was able to get into containing two CIBC/Quebec racers and two ERTC riders. I did not feel confident about the composition because without any Calgary Cycle guys present it was obvious to me that the break would never succeed so I played my role, albeit poorly, until the peloton caught us. The wind was pretty strong at this point so everyone seemed content to wait it out.
Once the course turned left onto the main Highway a few my guys tried there luck and looking back I found it funny (by funny I mean instructive not laughable) that the break did not form in some dramatic attack but rather by guys just rolling off the front, very casually, almost like they were just fooling around. Before I knew it 5 guys (2 Calgary Cycle, 2 ERTC and 1 CIBC/Novabrik) had pulled this intelligent move and were 30 seconds up the road.
At this point all of the guys left in the peloton knew that they had made a mistake and really wished that they too were in the break. When this happens it means that no-one is going anywhere because as soon as a move is made everyone jumps on the wheel in hopes of the free ride up to glory. Obviously I was one of those guys.
We rolled along pleasantly for some time until I made a fake move off the front right before the feedzone to ensure that I had enough space to get a feed. I’m glad I did because as soon as I got my bottle a CIBC guy put in a hard attack and I was lucky enough to have my new bottle in the cage and was ready to respond. A good portion of the peloton was not so lucky and as a result lost their feed opportunity. In the ensuing minutes the pack decided to sit up and shout insults at the CIBC guy all the while the break continued to work like clockwork and put in more time. I was starting to feel dejected about the missed opportunity so I put in some more attacks in the hopes of getting a small group organized to get up to the race, but with three teams represented in the break it was hard to find folks with the same agenda.
After the turnaround I continued to try and get a group going but I soon realized that each of my attacks were attracting less and less interested parties. A Manitoba guy went with me for awhile but we shut it down after gaining no more than 5 seconds. Finally I went and no one responded. I felt a little stupid sitting out in front of the Peloton as no-mans land in no place a sprinter like me wants to be.
What was going through my head? I was telling myself that I was throwing away any chance of success and that at any moment the pack was going to come screaming past me and I would get dropped and roll in 20 minutes down on the winner. My only comfort was that I truly didn’t care about the race and was really just looking forward to the crit the next day.
As time passed I realized that I was actually making time on the peloton and the lead group was becoming clearer and clearer in my view. At one point an official came by and said that I was 40 seconds behind, which meant that I had made it half way across the gap. I was starting to feel cocky at this point and thought that I’d make it to the group before the right turn back onto the main highway – I got close, probably 20 seconds, before they accelerated again and I nearly died inside. For another 20 km’s I chased – I went from feeling like a machine to feeling like dog crap. More than once I turned around to see the peloton in the distance thinking about how much time I would have to rest before they caught me.
Just before the drop into the River Valley I finally made it into the group. After a few missed turns I regained my composure and started to take pulls. There was no way I was going to put that much effort into making it into a break without trying to make it stick. To be honest I thought the peloton would be on us in no time so I was completely shocked when an official rolled up and said that we still had a 1:20. I rolled through with increased vigour. In the last feedzone I picked up a watered down coke and once the caffeine and sugar hit my bloodstream I knew that I was going to be able to finish with some gas in the tank (I don’t care what people say about Coke I personally think it’s the best energy drink in the world – maybe not the best “watching movies” or “Driving Truck Across the Country” drink but the best energy drink ever created.)
Everyone in the break realized that there was no way we were going to get caught and with this excitement in hand we all continued to roll towards the finish. Just for clarity but “all” I mean the ERTC and Calgary Cycle guys as the CIBC guy was doing a fantastic team job of sitting-in as he knew that his team sprinter was in the peloton and that a re-group was the best thing for his team – Kudos to him for putting up with all our insults and attempts to manipulate him. He was a good team player and I wish he was on my team!
Some cat-and-mouse ensued with 5km’s to go and Blain Ritcher of ERTC put in a VERY HARD effort right before the line but Lady Luck was on my side and I, with the tailwind in mind, I pulled out of the slipstream early, with probably 200 meters to go and drove for home.
That’s it.
Did I deserve the win? No. I just rolled the dice and it could have easily ended with me not making the break and finishing DFL. There were some fantastic sprinters in the field and to beat them I would have had to have all my energy at the end. It just goes to show you that results don’t always tell the entire story of a bicycle race as all those guys in the pack, and behind, may just have tried a crazy move that didn’t work out.
Iron Lung/ Organ Grinder
I’ll keep this message short as I’m starting to come ‘down’ from the weekend and my thoughts aren’t very coherent. But I just wanted to thank all the volunteers who helped put on this event. I get a lot of the credit for these things, but truthfully, the credit needs to go to those who willingly give up their time to play along with my crazy ideas. The event was an unbelievable success and the Cyclemeisters are gaining quite a little rep. for putting on great shows … so again, thanks to everyone who helped out. I’ll post a race report sometime today but here’s some other pictures that people may be interested in. Cheers, Ed
Iron Lung and Organ Grinder Results and Pictures
Results:
Pictures:
Some awesome shots of the saturday morning races from Carlos Bonilla
Incredible pictures on David Roberts’ flickr
