Lost - Reward Offered

Lost - 1 pair of Cycling legs Respond well to intensity and racing. Clean Shaven with bad sock tan lines. Went Missing sometime between Canada Cup Hardwood and Albion Hills O'Cup. If located, or have an extra pair that you are willing to share, please contact me. Reward offered, or willing to trade for 2 small, active children with bad attitudes.

Albion Uh-Oh Cup

So... i proved to myself once again that i'm stubborn and overly-optimistic.... we had round #4 of O'Cups at Albion Hills.... a course that i have never really enjoyed or done well on... and i was just a bit tired all week... didn't sleep well, legs were sluggish, weight was up.... just an off week... but i pushed on and raced.... and discovered rather quickly that my body was telling me that i was overtrained and needed some rest... after a first lap that Jason Everaert made quite uncomfortable for me.... i let him go and settled into a pace that would hopefully keep me 2nd.. only to be blown away when 3rd and 4th caught me... couldn't hold their wheels and didn't really want to.... so it's been about 6 years since i've DNF'd.... but i had no desire to race and the legs were totally off.... so i spent 5 days doing nothing but resting... and caught a bit of a cold in there.... been working my way back into some daily endurance hours and had a nice ride in Durham Forest with Steve "Rango" Heck.... and next week i'll be hitting some tempo and building for Buckwallow and the 2nd half of the season... funny how your body tells you things and sometimes we don't listen.... i guess i can't hold a peak for 3 months....

Trek Store Canada Cup

So after the Pre-rides ... and a HUGE chinese food dinner... we all crashed in Orillia (thanks Barry) before heading back and rocking Hardwood in perfect conditions... the rain left the trails tacky and fast, the sun was shining and the temp hovered around 20+ degrees.... great conditions for a totally fast race... i did my usual "can't sleep before a big race" session... but still felt good once i lit up the legs... rolled a lot of the climbs with great power and LOVED being the first group out at 1:30 and having a clear course ahead of me....

felt great and strong for the whole race, rode the single track well and had great mental focus... plus i followed The Plan that i had in my head for the day...

Sit in 2nd wheel for the first bit and let everyone settle into a pace....

Don't let anyone get away from me by any distance...

Test those around me and choose my spot to attack....

Be leading by the end of the 1st lap...

Never look back and ride the same gear in each section each lap....

Mission Accomplished = Winning

It's easy to keep the motivation going with the rest of the Trek Canada Team cheering me on... and knowing that the guys who were chasing me have enough power to take advantage of any mistakes...

Sweet Header Pic, eh? Barnes Bustin' Air....

Trek Canada Pre-Ride Clinic

Roll out with some cool kids and eager adults on Saturday before the Trek Store Canada Cup at Hardwood Hills... had to put it off by an hour to avoid the rain and terrible ... but the weather didn't dampen anyones spirits and we had a great time... it's always nice to go riding with kids... although here's a funny story... Riding a Kid Clinic with Eric Orschel (High school HPE teacher and great guy).... Barnes "So how do you like spending your saturday rides with a couple teachers?" Owen (9 years old) "You guys are TEACHERS!?!?!? Man... this SUCKS..." Tyler (Owen's 11 year old brother) "Man... I wish my teachers rode bikes and were cool like you guys...." We also had a Meet and Greet with the whole team plus Emily Batty (Subaru-Trek) which is nice for the kids and grown ups... although i was approached by a (thankfully supportive) mother... "So.... my son says you told him that the Routine after Saturday pre-rides is the parents have to wash bikes...? I'm not sure i like that...." I'd love to see how many kid bedroom doors are decorated with Trek bikes and Riders now....

What's the matter with you....?

... where you raised in a barn? no this is not a visit to the Batty Wycrest Farms... Jake's Kindy class hatched some ducks and chicks and we got to bird-sit them for the weekend... fun, smelly and noisy.... this chick is actually sleeping in Luke's hands...

the chicks were learning how to fly... yeah... THAT was fun...

i hope this duck doesn't have to poop...

always exciting at the Barnes Household...