Getting ready to Hammer....

You know it's going to be a good ride when you have to pull out multiple Hammer products... HEED, bars and Recoverite for when I get home....

Special Shout Out to Hammer for all their support of Trek Canada this year!!!

What else is new...?

Hanging out at Tremblant with the Team... Did some laps in the rain and wet... Need some Hammer to recover and then it will be time to light the Fire up through the Village tomorrow... Should be fun!!!

Let's get this started!!!!

The annual start of the OCup season was last weekend at Woodnewton... close to home and always a great course to test the early fitness.  With the "usual suspects" in the starting corral, we headed off to a very hilly and Full Throttle race where every corner was important and any errors were costly....
As always, the Trek Canada Team was fully taken care of with our amazing Superfly SL bikes (a few 100's in there for those who wanted dually's...) and another great collection of Bontrager parts and tires....
Our Theme this year is "High Viz"... gloves, socks, bikes, helmets, and arm warmers sure make us hard to miss!!!

Anther great battled ensued at the front of the group, and after much effort to catch up and instigate said battle, i did my best to push the pace and snap the elastic.... which unfortunately did not happen... leaving a sprint to the top of the Spectator Climb - which i was just nudged out of... 

Very little passing opportunities remained, and I lost the sprint to the finish.... a close 2nd but very happy with how my legs responded to the long effort, hills and speed....

It was also the first race of the year for the kids... both of whom had pretty good rides... but intensity is something that you need to learn to love... which showed on their faces at the end of the day...

Next up.... a weekend to get some long hours in before heading to Tremblant for the first Canada Cup of the year.. and then off to Kelso for another OCup.... looking forward to it!!!

P2A Party!!!

So.... the first REAL throw down of the year happened last weekend... with the largest single day cycling event in Canada... the Paris to Ancaster Race!!!  Over 2000 participants (70km, 40km and 20km categories) lined up to roll through some tough gravel roads, farmers fields and much chutes as they raced for the finish line...
I was lucky enough to get into the Elite Group and stared first, and even snuck my way into the first couple rows with Pete Glassford... it's all about who you know!!!
But that is where my luck ended.... and i had my bars bumped within the first 10 pedal strokes and almost crashed (lost a bunch of spots).. and then as we were averaging 42km/h along the river, someone decided to take my line and pushed me halfway to the river.... i dodged a few trees and made my way back to the pack (in a huge gear going WAY slower than the group) ..... but i made it back in one piece!!

Trying to make up for lost spots, i pushed hard on the first sections of gravel road to bridge between groups.... and can now easily spell  N O   M A N ' S   L A N D..... and i can also spell BLEW UP!!
Dropped a few gaps until i finally found a group that contained the winning Female and some riders who were willing to stay together and work...
As we approached the base of the Final Climb, the rest of the group seemed to drop away, and i tried to catch a few spots on the way up.... passing a Blown McSneaky and Blown Lespy.... only to be forced into a few running steps by my cramping legs, steep pitch and over-sided gears.... there goes my ability to brag about beating McSneaky and Lespy!!!
Made it to the top and gulped oxygen for a while before enjoying the great finishing atmosphere that P2A is famous for....

Shout out to P in the G for his great performance finishing up in 10th spot in a very tough front group.... dry conditions make for a different race when all the Roadie Power comes in to play....