Playing Farmer...

Got the call this week from Rick Batty asking for help with the hay... Which means I got to spend the day driving his collection of tractors to pick up the bails and get them to the barn... 

Would you trust me with 600hp??

New friends in the Forest...

every year i get the same phone call from Barry... "Barnes.  We are doing a Trek Riding Clinic in Durham.  I need you to help out..."  and my answer is always "Yes Barry.  Anything you say..."
As usual, i took the Advanced Group (not only because i like riding fast, but because the conversations we are able to have about pedal position, cornering, sight lines, gearing etc are a great reminder for me also...) and had a great time - probably my best group yet!!!

we spent about 2hrs riding and stopping to talk about different aspects of riding and racing .... and it was great to have the different opinions and thoughts from everyone in the group.... we rode some great trails and all learned a few things.... and came out smiling!!!  I love the fact that our group was the first group back, and when i asked "Hey...  Anyone want to ride Burnt Toast again??"  the whole group clipped in and wanted to get another 20mins of riding!!

Thanks to Murray, Mike, Eric, Lisa, John and the rest of the Group for a great evening.... they weren't even upset that we missed out on the Clif Bar Door Prizes!!

Sir Sam's OCup report and Pics

Sorry for the delay... just realized that i didn't post a Report!!
So last weekend was the 3rd OCup in the series at Sir Sam's... and we were all expecting a good long climb and some fun technical singletrack... and we were not disappointed!!
After winding our way up the ski hill on some pretty cool switchbacks... we were treated to some hammering at the top before some wild chute descents that lead to yet another tough climb....
As was expected... Rob and I were off the front before the end of the 1st lap and were dealing with lapped riders and tight trails... made it tough for both of us to get away / get a gap... so we exchanged the lead a couple times over the next 2 laps...

on the way up the ski hill the 3rd time... i took the lead with hopes of charging and testing Rob's legs.... but continued to be thwarted with lapped riders.... at the top of the climb on the last lap, Rob saw an opportunity to take the lead back, and the door was closed for me to regain the lead - it would have to come down to a finishing sprint - again!!

"Come On Barnes... stay close and we can get around him..." ... "Darn... another rider to get around...".... "Ok ... after this corner..." ... "What? Another rider?" ... "Hey... there's the finish line!" ... "Arghhh... not enough Real Estate... 2nd again!!"
So 2nd again by a bike length.... but a great battle.... Not to brag but it's always interesting to see how many "younger" riders we can catch throughout the race and how our times compare at the end....

The kids were also racing Sir Sams.... and both had great races!!  Luke had a poor start but worked his way up through the group on the tight trails (not an easy job) to finish in 7th spot ... great effort and quite happy with his finish ... one of these days he will get all the aspects of racing to come together on the same day and it will be a great show!!

Jake "The Beast" has learned from his time at Hardwood that you need a strong start so you don't get held back by slower riders in the singletrack... and hammered his first climb to give him a great chance at moving up.... funny that he finished in 11th spot (only 4sec back from 10th).... he stopped to help another competitor fix his chain and then let the other rider get back on the trail first... passed him again but then went to the Finish chute, was confused and swerved back to the Lap chute and then back again to the Finish chute... only to be re-passed by the chain-dropping competitor!!!!  Ahhhh... that's racing!!!

Thanks Jeff Shikaze for the great pics - this is one of my favorites!!

we have a couple weeks off now before we make the trip to Sudbury for the next Canada Cup and then it's time for Nationals.... so it's a big couple weeks of training!!

I shouldn't have cleaned my bike...

You know it's raining hard when water comes flipping off you shoes every pedal stroke...

But at least I can save weight by not filling my water bottles!!

I get more rest at work...

Had a good weekend of racing (me and the kids) and then Sue left me at my parents place so i could help my dad build hIs garage extension...

I called this place the "Garage-ma Hall"...

Then one day at home before riding north (in the rain!!) to the cottage... 

Cottage Training Camp!!

10min at the cottage and already the Snake Whisperer had found a friend..

I Love Smart People

just saw this and it reminded me that smart people run the world....

very cool... i'd put it on my driveway!!!

Mansfield OCup Report

The annual OCup at Mansfield went down last weekend... and after a later pre-ride than planned (see Bunny Fun post below...) the Family slept in the Mansfield Cabins before race day.  The kids woke up and had great rides for each of them.... Luke finished up in 7th after just being caught in the last 1/2km and Jake rode hard and finished in 13th spot... only seconds behind the 2 riders in front of him.
As for me... it turned out to be a good day... I came into the race relaxed and feeling slightly tired (which usually means the legs will be good once i get them heated up..) and as expected, I was off the front with Rob and Eric by the top of the first climb.  I got a bit jammed behind people off the start, but got up to the leaders well and had a killer pace going for the first half lap....

At the top of the second major climb of the course, i put in a bit of an effort to get a gap and found one.... which just meant that i had a long way to go before i could relax my pace!!!  Rob is never an easy guy to get away from, so i dug hard for the first couple laps and built my lead before just riding steadily hard for the last couple laps.... The course was in great shape with some good punchy climbs and some fast singletrack.... i can't remember having average speeds this high in races!!!

The spectators always love the famous Exit Wound descent (looking for carnage.... and i'm sure some was displayed!!) which is a set of tight turns and jumps / root drops before shooting you out onto the sandy ditch... Turned out to be a great day for all of us.... tired legs and hungry bellies for the drive home but we all felt good about our efforts and races.  Next up - Sir Sam's OCup this coming weekend.... can you say "Climbing"??!!

Check out our Trek Canada Team webpage at www.trekcanada.ca for updates on the whole Team's adventures!!