Almost put it all together

Rolled out to the nation's capital for my final CX race of the year... and the Provincial Champs.... loved the course right from the start and had legs that felt strong once they were lit up.... but of course there is a story to accompany this generalization of fitness..... So I says to myself: OK barnes, the legs feel good, the course is great so let's let it roll.... wow that was a fast start on some sketchy kitty litter... phew, Mogg went down and i snuck up from 5th wheel to 2nd... just sit here for a bit... crap, went down where Mogg went down and now Tristan is ahead of me and Mogg has a gap.... just sit here for a bit and we can work together to catch him.... oh man i hate it when i clip a pedal.... stay on Tristan's wheel in the headwind... oh man another pedal.... get back up to his wheel.... OK, Tristan got past this guy - call for a 2nd passer and get him after the U-turn.... Hey, I'm taking the outside line!! Give me some space!! Hey, where did my bike go? I feel like Superman... better tuck and roll... hey, i can see the sky again... Whoa, here comes my bike!!! Ouch! Man that was confusing and weird, am i ok? is my bike ok? look at all these people passing me.... Thought continues.... "at least i'm getting over the barrier and NOT looking like a loser... Look at those pretty clouds.... GET YOUR HEAD BACK INTO IT BARNES!!! Ok... time to catch that train of people... man they're going slow... next train... too slow... catch Craig Hawkes and sit for a bit... going a bit slow for me but oh well.... wait - Craig was in 6th... i could be back in this!!??! get around him... get around another... Hey - there's Matt Surch, he's 3rd... GET HIM!!! closer... closer... closer.... not enough real estate.... but i gave him a good scare!!!" so when i checked the results... my lap times (aside from the Crash Lap) were all faster than Matt's and most were faster than Tristan's (who finished 2nd).... we could have totally worked together and caught Mogg and made an exciting race... too bad i rode like a complete Beginner for the first 2 laps... "What could have been might have been..." 4th and almost on the podium...

Albion's Esteem CX

Another CX race as i prep for Provs in Ottawa... had a good couple weeks of training (trainer, outside at night and on the Batty Classic Course) and felt a bit tired but good... a totally fast course that i rode well but was never really aggressive enough to take the lead.... followed Tristan Smit for the last lap, never got around him or close enough to really be in the sprint...

Andrew Croutch was strong as always.... but managed to break his chain right by the pits (coincidence?) which left 2 of us to hold him off...

Tristan had some great power on the road climb.. and consistently laid the boots to me on the road.... but i caught up every lap on a high speed corner when he recovered...

a nice looking bottle of Beer held by a bunch of guys with UGLY 'staches...

Thanks need to go to Paul Greene... i had a horrible start as you can see until Greener blew the first right hander, tore the tape and we all followed... being farther back gave me a chance to duck under the tape back onto the course and shift before the steep hill... 9th spot to 3rd... Sweet...

How the Big Dogs Roll....

Small photo gallery of the Elite Men's and Women's Races... Adam "The Man" Morka rolling in 7th spot...

Emily started smart, chased, caught, and rolled through Mical and Pepper.... Congrats on the Nationals Jersey!!!

Mitch "Diva" Bailey faught for 5th in the U23 race... not bad for a guy who has been reading books for the last 2 months...

"Paleo" Peter Glassford coming into his own on the CX bike... a solid 11th and a great ride for him....

And in what was probably the most exciting battle i've seen in years.... Mark Batty was leading the Man Train at the head of the group for 4 laps, had a slip out and lost the wheel of the eventual winner... Mark attacked hard all race, drove the chasing pace high and gave it everything.... so amazing to watch his skills, fitness and aggression... didn't end up winning but got 2nd in an uncontested sprint....

still the winner in many people's eyes... mine included....

Time to lay off the stuffing...

on what was probably the warmest day ever for racing CX.... we rocked and rolled at Heber Down for the Durham CX event... a great course with some tough climbs and a fast start.... rode really well and strong sticking with Andrew Croutch for a few laps until i decided it wasn't fair that he could Bunny Hop the barriers and i had to constantly chase to catch up.... hopped back on after a barrier to a Crack sound.... i guess i had a bit too much Thanksgiving Turkey the night before.... or i can validate it with the 5 years of riding the lead up to the too much Turkey and barrier hopping...

Movember Week !

week 1 of Movember is done... and it almost looks like i'm growing a mustache!!! maybe by Week 4 it will be noticeable... although that will draw even more attention to my already ridiculous face... Have you ever heard a wife say "Hey honey... i think you would look good in a mustache... why don't you grow one?"

CX Nats.... not a bad day...

Thought i would rock and roll at the CX nats this past weekend... legs felt good pre-riding but a bit flat on race day....

bigger problem was that my head was not really in the game... unwilling to really suffer and dig deep... not sure why but that's the way it rolls sometimes....

tough course with some tough climbing and a tough grunt run up... the young Kids were riding it but i opted for running.... not easier just safer....

had a great start hitting the single-track in 4th spot.. Peter Mogg took his gap quickly (expected) and we had a decent group of 4 chasing... a fair number of dabs with slippery corners that shattered out group while 2nd and 3rd got away.... was riding well in 4th until "Hey Barnes... we started pretty hard.... time to recover..." Matt from Ottawa pulled through and raised the pace with 2 to go and i just let him walk away from me.... that's the lack of Head Focus that i'm still upset about....

rolled in 10sec behind Matt and 12sec ahead of Tristan.... kicking myself for letting them go and not digging deep... Excuse #1 - The legs were flat ... Excuse #2 - The head was out of it today..... Excuse #3 - 3 times up the hill each lap made it tough.... Excuse #4 - i was saving my energy for yelling at the Elite race...

Not just for Friday Nights...

Playing the part of my Alter-Ego in the Cross Country "Bunny-Man" outfit... it's some of my favorite times on the bike.... cheering on the best runners in the area, leading them through their fans, and pushing them to their limits.... It's hard to listen to the coach when he's wearing Bunny Ears...

.... and a full Pink Outfit....

It's good for my ego though... the instant i put on the outfit, i become Rock Star Famous... at least with elementary school kids!!!!

'Tis the Season...

So Movember 1st has hit... and it's time to upset the wife again... Time to grow a Moustache in support of Prostate Cancer... A blank page... a clean slate... an empty canvas... what to grow?

So many styles... i think i'll see how much fuzz i can grow in the first week before i commit to a "style".... Might try to look "dignified" this year and go Business Man....

Late... and out of order

yeah... been a long time... sorry... been stuck behind school, report cards, kids hockey, training, and the rest of life... got a few CX races to update but will post them out of order once i get more pics... But here is the story of Hardwood's CX race this past weekend... super tough course with lots of climing and a good few spots of off-camber... bike and body responded well to a weekend off racing and hitting some tempo and longer rides...

recognized the part of the race where i could have won or come 2nd... and was willing and able to work hard enough to bridge up to Paul Greene (Chain Reaction) and roll through to take a lead and then stretch it out.... had a lot of strong parts of the course where i felt like i could lay down the power and some hurt...

the Sand Pit was definately not my strong part... rode it only once out of 7 tries... and thanks to Jack from HH for announcing my missed attempts.... legs felt strong on the longer climbs and was able to make up for my lack of sand skills....

Unwritten Hardwood Rule #1 - always raise arms carefully at the finish line... bark chips can bite.... my facial expression is a "WWHHhoooaaaa" rather than a "WHHEEE"....