At least someone in the family is racing...

so jake kept me company at the UCI race in Toronto a few weeks back... a great weekend for racing the biggest CX race in North America.... and it was great to watch (but better to ride)... jake did the kids race... had a great time....

rippin' it in the sandpit....

slammin' the sidehill.... and of course collecting his medal and waterbottle.... my knee is doing pretty well.... time to build some hours and save on gas by commuting...

Back at it

YAY!!! i'm riding again.... much to the dislike of my wife.... but the knee is back to about 85-90% with some endurance rides... i'm thinking that part of it now is just a lack of strength and imbalance between my legs.... so it's time to start building the easy hours... and avoiding the Sign Sprints!!! i was welcomed back to commuting by a beautiful sunrise .... at 7am in -3 degrees.... somewhere east of Scarborough... a good start to any day...

So... Um.. Where's Barnes?

yeah... so i was feeling good enough at the end of the season to committ to racing 'cross again this year.. especially since we have Nationals in Toronto.... but my knee has had other opinions. Spent some time (and got a parking ticket!!!) at Urban Athlete to get my Patella Femoral Syndrome fixed up... sounds fancy but it's just an imbalance in my quad muscles that make my knee cap track incorrectly when i bend my knee.

So it's now been about 4.5 weeks... and i'm dying to get back on the bike!!! started doing a bit of really easy spinning on the trainer last week to test things out, and it felt pretty good. I also got a new 'cross bike... a super-upgraded Trek XO1 (thanks barry!!) and wish that i was racing 'cross.... but it's better to look at the big picture and remember that it's a long winter of training before next season starts up....

so on my "off-season"... probably the first one i've ever taken.... we've been having some fun... camping, playing hockey, fishing and getting started into the school year.... but now that things are settled... it's time to get it going again.

Sue says "Boy... this trail is pretty steep and rock... it's tough to walk up"... Jon replies "Yeah... this looks like the singletrack downhill at Bromont"... and then Jake gives 'er up the trail...

Luke actually sitting still.... wow...

I'll be down at 'cross Nats this weekend... and i'm sure i'll come back with no voice... should be a good show...

Duke's Epic 8hr

An 8hr race... sounds like fun... i've done them before solo and thought that i would share the ride with Steve Heck... he might be fast enough to hold his own.... started off okay but didn't feel "snappy" right from the gun.... but the weather sucked all day... cold... windy... changing between raining and blowing mist.... yuck.... i also had some knee troubles (that i've been fighting all summer) that felt like scraping on the inside of my knee cap on every pedal stroke.... stole my power and much of my enjoyment of the day.... in the end steve and i finished up 2nd.... i did 8 laps (80km) with an average lap time of 30min... not a bad effort for a couple old guys....

congrats to Barry Near and the other "Old Cranky Men" for winning their division...

and of course the day finishes off with the nicer weather coming out....

Ride for Karen 2010

September 11th was the annual Ride for Karen charity ride that the team .... and a bunch of great people... do to help raise money to send kids with cancer to camps in the Muskoka's.... and it was a great day. We had over 300 riders from all abilities levels riding on the roads around Maple Ontario... and we were all greeted back to the Start / Finish area with great cheers and applause. This year we raised just over $200,000 ... sending dozens of kids to camp and continuing to fund a really neat program called "Ooch on the 8th"... where Camp Oochigaus has created a camp-like atmosphere on the 8th floor of Sick Kids Hospital... very cool for those kids who can't actually leave the hospital. It was also a special year because Kirk and Kris (the 2 sons of Karen and the organizers of the ride) also lost their father Kal to cancer a month before the ride.... i can't imagine how hard it was for them. It was great to see the title sponsor ScotiaBank commit to another 3 years of sponsoring the event.... to the tune of almost $75,000 for the 3 year... i rode up to "Big Wig" from Scotia who is also a great rider... put my hand on his shoulder and said "You're awesome..." and then i faded back into the sea of jerseys.... It was a great day for a great cause, and i'm glad to support the Ride for Karen and everything that it represents... Great job Kirk and Kris.... (Donations can still be made at www.rideforkaren.com)

Ontario Provincial Champs

So i got my legs back for provincials.... a few days of rest, a few days of easy hours and then hitting them hard a few times and VOILA.... i can ride again.... good thing... there was only 1 flat spot at Woodnewton and it was through the start / finish... and it was a false flat that you could blow yourself on....

had a good start... rode very well and strong... but i got a bit lazy in the 3rd lap and let Eric Jobin lead the whole thing... should have kept the pace high since i noticed we were slowing.... so i attacked about half way through the last lap... was riding really well on the flat rolling stuff but got caught behind someone in the single track so i lost my gap... had to lead the last climb into the short field that was really the last place to get past anyone.... and i came into it a bit lazy... should have hammered it so that Eric stayed behind me but i didn't, he got around me and i had no more chances to pass...

finished up second for Provincials this year.... can't be unhappy with how i rode... just how i thought.... but i still got the Overall Title....

Hanging out after the race with the rest of the team.... Not sure if Peter is afraid of kids or if Jake is sitting in the wrong spot....

hanging out with Adam and Emily before she heads to worlds, with Barry "The Man" Near and Emily's Grandpa...

always a good day when you get to watch your kids rip it up in the Kids Race, ride well and then hang out with the rest of the team and enjoy some laughs... we don't get together enough as a team so when we do it's always fun....

Rip it up!!!!!

Just wanted to throw out a HUGE good luck to Emily Batty (Trek World Racing) .... she's out in Mont Ste Anne right now getting out some of the last butterflies before she races at 10am.... fighting for a spot - and hopefully the top spot - on the podium in the U23 race. We wish you all the best Em... the country is cheering for you...