saturday and sunday - what else are you going to do

wildwood recap

this weekend saw cross race #2 in the manitoba series. the temps were a little cooler and leaves have started to turn colour so it is definitely starting to feel like cross season. before the formal racing began we started with black tie race in honour of dainel (one of manitoba's stronger racers) and sydney. daniel and sydney showed up at the race for pictures (the ceremony was later in the afternoon) and so that daniel could participate in race which daniel won taking home a tidy sum of money collected from all of those who participated in the race.

gianni

start of the black tie race

following the black tie race it was time for the b race. numbers have picked up from the civic cross and a good group of riders showed up for the b event. the course was fast and and quite the aerobic challenge.

b race start

jonny g

the a race saw one of our larger fields outside of provincials. 45 minute plus 2 was the order of the day and because it was mostly on grass we were all quite out of breath by the end of the race.

a race start

dave d, brian s and tomek

middle of the a pack

gianni

tomek

lindsay

results should be up soon. next week is double cross - stay tuned.

Cross Lab - Sept 23

Another solid skill session at Omand's Creek, this time with a few new faces - great to see. If the skills these cyclocross first-timers showed off at the end of tonight's ride is any indication, folks better look out come race day.

This Thursday's ride, graciously headed up by Coach Dave, will meet at Omand's Creek, but then will likely head off towards Assiniboine Park for some speed work. This means be on time, people (I'm looking at you Tom).

A nice workout on Thursday will get you all set for this Sunday's race, hosted by Woodcock Cycle, at Wildwood Park. If the course is anything like last year, be ready to go fast and really open up your lungs on some long straight stretches, and also be ready to push hard through some tight corners. They say cyclocross is won in the corners, you know. See what you think after Sunday's race.

more photos

Flickr slide show including photos from Gary Sewell

cross #1 - civic park

cross is back, and the first race of the season was well worth the wait. this year's course was about as fast as it's every been for civic park. wherever possible we utilized the gravel paths while still incorporating the hill for a two grueling climbs: one, shouldering the bike; the other a tough cross the face uphill which was definitely a challenge for the single speeders in the group (dave d, alberto, dave l, tomek, and tinker tim). instead of a timed event we went with lap counts: 5 for B and 10 for A (could have added one more lap for B and one less for A).

the B race was won by tim turene. of note, apparently liam tossed his cookies in an effort to lessen his weight for the final lap. i would have had some pictures of the B race, but i did realize that my camera was on movies mode and i managed to take a lot of bad movies rather than good pictures.

the A race saw 13 racers: 10 male and 3 females. not sure how many laps to call for, tom chose 10 over 9 thinking that it would be a good way to start the season - one filled with pain. the race started tight with a solid A train making its way through the first third of the course as a tight knit group - that ended as soon as we hit the first barrier. dave d, phil from out east, don s, and tomek separated themselves and the rest of us were left to try and catch up. we never did manage to catch up but we did enjoy our own race. 10 laps translated into over 50 minutes of racing of pain for the men and well over an hour for the women - perhaps a bit much.

here are some pics from the event with more to follow.

throw down

seems like there was some interest in a throw down event this wednesday (sept. 17) @ omand park. once cross starts there is no holding it back.

final jersey images

here are the final images: skinsuit, long sleeve, short sleeve and shorts

Cross Lab report and getting Psyched Up

Due to work conflicts I was only able to drop by the cross lab for a few minutes last night, but it looked like Coach Dave was working people good (thanks Dave). Some new faces and some nervous-but-excited talk about this weekend...

Which leads me to... race specs for the Sunday cross race are up on the MCA site - Civic Park will let you know how fit you are, that's for sure.

And this Saturday is the Festival of Belgian Sports - a funfilled afternoon of Belgian sports and culture. For anyone interested in trying a cyclocross race - show up at the pole archery grounds (Mission Street just east of Archibald) at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday with $10, your bike, your helmet, and your sense of fun. Should be a blast.

Saturday Cross Lab Report

Worked alone in the lab this morning, while most of the MUCRers wander off to Saskatchewan for what I hope is a great 8-hour MTB race. And everyone else slept in... ? Cross racing starts next week people! It's going to hurt bad enough as it is --- don't you think you ought to get some rides in beforehand!?

This coming Tuesday (and Thursday, I think) will be your last chances to find your cross feet, tune your bike and polish your skills (or learn some new ones, if you're just starting out). Despite what the calendar says, the ride will start at 6:30 p.m. at Omand's Creek (I'll try to fix that...)

This morning's workout was a series of 2 and 3 lap pushes on the Alter Ego Psychocross course. The recent rain (and freshly cut grass) made for some slippery sections.

I wandered by the Belgian Club after the ride to ponder the course over there, and discovered that the City had graded the backlane that has traditionally been part of the circuit -- no more potholes! Awesome timing for the November 2 race, and I'm sure the residents and businesses there are pleased. As a side note to the Belgian Club race, I had a very nice conversation with folks from the Club yesterday about using their sign to promote the 'cross there -- as always, they were generous and supportive and said MUCR can post something the week prior to the event. Hopefully we can get even more community involvement this year as a result. See you there!

these are the daves i know

cross lab achieved season highs with 7 riders showing up for the ride. of the 7, 3 were daves - what are the odds (follow the link on the blog title)? gianni did not ride, claiming that he was giving blood - my suspicion is that if we look in his fridge we'll find bags of blood he is saving just so he can inject them back into his system just prior to provinicals.

cross labs moved

cross labs are now happening on tuesday evenings. this week we will start at 7:00, next week we start at 6:30.