Season Recap 2011

After a whirlwind summer of traveling and racing all over British Columbia I am happy to have my first season of racing Elite under my belt.

My goals for this season were to make it onto the podium at least once in my first season of Elite, avoid any season-ending injuries, and gain as much experience as possible riding new tracks, new terrain and learning from my fellow racers. I knew this season would be a lot tougher than racing in Senior expert because there are some world-class riders racing at the elite level here in B.C. I was prepared to be at the back of the pack, but excited to compete against ladies that would push me to get faster, smarter, and better.

I was a little disappointed with my results early in the season, but as I raced more and gained experience I felt that my times improved and my confidence increased. I finished the season on a high note, coming 3rd at Mt Washington and 1st at Hemlock, the last two races on the BC cup circuit.

I am already looking forward to trying my hand at cyclocross racing in the fall, spending some quality time in the Whistler bike park, followed by some wet winter Vancouver riding.

Thanks to Rocky Mountain Bikes, CCN and of course my biggest fan, D'Arcy O'Connor, for all the support and such a fun season!

Marathon xc'ers are bananas.

This weekend I took a break from the DH bike and headed up to Pemberton for the Nimby Fifty. The race course was about 40 km, and ascended almost 1.4 km of elevation. What?! Good thing I didn't know that when I signed up.

When we got to the race start and started warming up I felt pretty good. That was until after warming up I stopped to put bit of air in my fork aaaaand the valve broke. So I spent the last 20 minutes before the race running around looking for a tool to tighten the inside of my schrader valve of my fork. I didn't even know those came loose! Anyway, Phil Mowatt and the CCN trailer saved the day and I was on the start line moments before the race began. Phew!

The race it's started out pretty smoothly, on a paved road, then on a gravel road, but as the pack thinned out and the switch-backs started I knew I was probably getting in over my head. At one point I remember saying to another racer behind me, "I'm pretty sure we're riding this backwards". He thought that was funny!? One of my favourite parts of the race was when an old(er -don't want to offend anyone) guy passed me in his spandex onesie and a hardtail with a seat higher than my head. As he rode by he kept repeating "Slow and steady, slow and steady..." Haha, I guess it does work. I'm not too sure that he won the race though.

About 2/3rds of the way though the race I had a bit of a crash, which I only vaguely remember. I'm guessing it was because I was getting really tired at that point and was having trouble squeezing my brake levers with adequate force. Anyway I went over the bars descending a rooty section and although my brand new white helmet took the worst of it, my knees started leaking and made for the rather sticky mess pictured below.

Anyway, all's well that ends well. I finished the race in 4 hours flat and finished 3rd in my Senior Women's category. I almost made it to my Acupuncture exam on time, and the grass and dirt stains on my new helmet came off quite nicely with a little Mr Clean Magic Eraser.

Maybe in a few months I'll forget about the switch backs and sign up for another one of these crazy races. To my spandex-clad mountain bike brethren, people say downhilling is crazy, but you guys are bananas.

Pictured below - People lining up for the Sufferfest and me Post-race enjoying sitting on something other than my bike seat.

FVMBA Toonie Race #3

Here are a few photos from the Fraser Valley Mountain Bike Association's most recent toonie race. The course was a 1 km fire road sprint to a whole load single track descent, and a short fire road sprint at the end. It was a really fun course and despite a few minor crashes on the way down I won. I'm doing all of the races on my Rocky Mountain Element, and it's been the perfect bike so far for anything the Fraser Valley has to offer. D'Arcy is back in racing form after a shoulder surgery in December. On Saturday he finished 3rd in his category in the Orecrusher in Squamish despite a hydraulic seatpost malfunction, and finished middle of the pack despite a twisted chain on Sunday.

More details photos and results can be found at www.fvmba.com.

Friday afternoon favourites.

I'm pretty lucky to have a career that affords me the ability to ride my bikes as much as I do. Three days a week I finish work around 1 pm, ride my road bike home, and then hop on my xc bike for a spin while most people still have a few more hours to put in at the office.

Today I left work at noon and headed out to Belcarra for a ride. Something about the fact that it was finally sunny and warm, or maybe that it was a Friday, whatever it was, it felt really good to be in the forest. Belcarra is a neat place to ride because there's trails pretty much everywhere, you can get from the top to the bottom at least 30 different ways, but they're all really fun, and there's lots of big rock faces to ride down... my favourite.

Here are a few shots from my afternoon.

Race the Ranch BC Cup #1

This weekend was the first BC cup race of the season. Kamloops was hot and dusty, and the race course was fast and well, also dusty.

Here are a few photos from the weekend. It was a lot of fun, finished in 4th place in Elite women's. Not that great but something to build on. Oh, and check out the sweet race plate number! Looking forward to the next race... next weekend on the Sunshine Coast!

650b, I'm in love.

Bikes with 29 inch wheels are all the rage these days, so my guess is that if you ride cross country and if you haven't tried one yet, you'll probably try one sometime soon. Some of the qualities that have attracted riders to the world of 29ers are increased tire patch on the ground, faster rolling, lesser angle of attack when rolling over roots and rocks leading to a smoother ride. There are a lot of reasons why as a cross country rider a 29 inch wheel might appeal to you. But what if your inseam is 29 inches or less? Then what, you ride it like some sort of circus balancing act? You make sure you always stop beside a log or rock so that you don't topple over? Here was my dilemma. I wanted to try the 29er because many of my friends are singing their praises, but I struggle with the idea of finding a 29er that's small enough to fit my mini-legs that is not a hardtail. Luckily, I happen to live with a bike engineer which means a) you'll never know when you'll come home to find your bike in pieces, b) you get free repairs, and most importantly c) you get the opportunity to try some of the more rare bike set ups that are available (and an education in how it works).

Most mountain bikes either have 26 inch wheels or 29 inch wheels. But there is middle ground available, it's just not so common. 27.5 inch wheels, better known as 650b, are basically right in the middle providing all of the same effects of a 29er wheel, just on a slightly smaller scale, and still allowing me to stand over my top tube. I am 5'3" (with a 28.5" inseam) and I currently ride and extra small (15 ") Rocky Mountain Element MSL. With 26 inch wheels my bike is set up with 120 mm fox suspension front and rear. In order to change my wheel size to dual 650b on the front, it's pretty simple, there's enough clearance with a regular front fork to accommodate a 27.5 inch wheel, nothing really had to be done. On the rear, I had to switch my shock from 120 mm travel to 95 mm travel so when at the end of my travel the larger rear wheel doesn't touch the seat tube. Due to the unique design of the Element, the rear suspension can be changed by simply switching out the rear link to the shorter version from the Element RSL. With the shorter linkage and the 95 mm travel the wheel fits and works perfectly.

I've been out for two rides on the new set up and so far the my reviews are nothing but positive. It rolls faster on the descents, it rolls smoother over roots and rocks and the little bit (0.75 inches) of extra clearance in the BB means effortlessly cruising over larger obstacles. Riding some flowy traverses on the shore the wheels felt grippy and fast. Every rut felt a little smaller and the bike felt fast and nimble in the berms.

I'm not sure what the future is for 650b wheels, whether they will make a resurgence in the mountain biking world, or they will stay in relative obscurity. I know they will stay on my bike for a while and I'm looking forward to putting more miles on them and figuring out just what they're capable of. For all those smaller riders out there balking at the 29ers because you don't have quite enough leg to swing over one, I definitely suggest giving 650b a try.

West Coast Super D

It was a cold, wet one this Sunday out in Belcarra for the West Coast Super D. There was still about 75 riders out for the race despite the inclimate weather. I forgot my booties, and briefly considered it when Phil Deguise (who was checking out the race on behalf of CCN) suggested that I tie plastic bags around my feet. Yes, it was raining that much.

As expected, course was pretty muddy by the time race runs started, but there was still lots of loam to be ridden. The first half was a fun technical descent and I made sure to make lots of big ruts in the corners for Dan Webster to fall into (which must be why I beat him). Then there was about 4 or 5 minutes of climbing, followed by a little more descending through the woods and a short uphill sprint to the finish.

I was the fastest girl of the day, 57 seconds ahead of the next female finisher. My time was 14:41. The fastest time of the day was Chris Johnston at 10:26, which was pretty impressive. Full results can be found here.

For more details on the race and results check out the West Coast Super D website.

Sorry no pictures yet, hopefully a couple to come.

Sumas Super D

This weekend was the 2nd race in the FVMBA toonie race series. It was a good turn out and decent weather for a rip on the flowy trails of Sumas Mountain. I've never ridden there prior to the last couple of days, and I was really surprised and impressed at how fun the trails were. The race went pretty well, it was super greasy at the top of the course because of some snow on Saturday, but the second half of the descent was really fun. I finished 3rd in the Open Women's category after a rough start in the mud, it felt pretty good to pin it down through the last single track descent.

I would highly recommend checking out the trails if you're ever in the area. A trail map for Sumas Mountain, and other sanctioned biking areas around the area can be found at www.fvmba.com.

FVMBA XC #1

I can't describe how excited I am that race season is finally starting. Although there's no DH races for another month or so, I am just as happy to get out on the trails for some 'just for fun' cross country races. Last weekend myself, Cheryl Moore and Alex Dove as well team manager/cheering squad D'Arcy O'Connor trekked out to Mission for the first in a new series put on by the FVMBA of 6 races that span the season. There are XC, Super D, and All mountain races in the 6 and an overall points winner, as well as a special category for those who are using one bike (and fork) to race all six races.

I'm going to try to make it out to all of the races if I can, and will be racing all of the races on my 2011 Rocky Mountain Element with a 120 mm fox fork. If there was ever a 'bike to rule them all' for XC and AM I'd have to say that this is definitely it.

The first XC race was a super fun greasy course with a healthy dose of climbing though Heritage Park. I was happy to come a respectable 4th place in the Open Women category and am looking forward to working on my climbing and fitness a bit more in the next few weeks. Best parts of the day were definitely a tie between the final steep loose descent in the race, and the Swiss Chalet chicken feast that we partook in after.

Saturday Afternoon...

Yesterday D'Arcy and I spent the afternoon hanging out close to home. D'Arcy had shoulder surgery in December so he's been off the bike which means free shuttles and filming for me. This is probably the only time I'll ever ride circles around him, so I have to take advantage while I can. Here's a little video from the day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfuam8q1M34

Fromme in the Snow - with video!

I woke up Saturday to a bright sunny day, and in Vancouver sun in the wintertime is definitely not something that is taken for granted. It seems that I wasn't the only one thinking that because there were lots of bikers and hikers out on Fromme when I got there at 11 am. Not entirely surprisingly despite the sun everywhere else in Vancouver, it was snowing pretty hard on the mountain. We rode up past the snow line which was around the 4th switchback, then rode down Leopard and Krinkum Krankum followed by a couple laps of Bobsled to finish off the day. Here's a short video of the snowy scene on Fromme this weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2JFB1J3Yt4

Winter XC

It's the new year, it's 3 degrees, it's raining... it's time to ride some xc. I'm so stoked to have my brand new Rocky Mountain Element in my bike room. It just arrived last week and I'm such a lucky girl, Santa brought me xc shuttle rides for christmas day. I can't wait to get in a few more rides on the shore and Burke to tell you how much I'm loving the new ride.

Many thanks to my good friends Terry Brown and Dan Webster for making this website so pretty, and for reminding me to update my site all summer (which I already know Dan will do). Hopefully I'll have some new video of me out on my Element to post on here soon. Happy New Year!