Calling all Girls With Bikes!!

The Alberta Bicycle Association Presents

The Alberta Youth Female

Learn To Ride, Learn To Race Program

An entry level program designed to encourage and develop youth female racing in Alberta, specifically aimed at youth individuals who have not raced before. This project will cater to the introduction, and progression of fundamental mountain biking skills and race preparation. Girls ages 12-18 will have the opportunity to improve and fine-tune their riding abilities in a fun and encouraging environment, before applying what they have learned at two Mountain Bike Racing Events in the novice category.

Program Cost: $25.00

What you get:

• Ride and Race Instruction from a qualified cycling coach.

• 15+hrs of “on the bike” skill development, and training

• Free entry and full coaching support at 2 Alberta Races

• Special Event Instruction and Activity at the Canada Cup Race Venues.

When and Where: THURSDAYS!

Starting Thursday May 21^st 2009 - Ending Thursday June 25^th 2009

6:00pm-8:30pm: Skill Development and Training

Meet Locations:

May 21^st – Terwillegar, Edmonton AB (main parking lot)

May 28^th – Terwillegar, Edmonton AB (main parking lot)

June 4^th – Terwillegar, Edmonton AB (main parking lot)

June 11^th – Argyll Velodrome, Edmonton Alberta

June 18^th – Argyll Velodrome, Edmonton Alberta

June 25^th – Wrap Up – TBA

Race #1 – Edmonton Canada Cup, Saturday June 13^th.

Location: Kinsmen Sports Center

Race #2 – Canmore Canada Cup, Saturday June 20^th

location – Canmore Nordic Center

To Register Contact the ABA @ 1-780-427-6352

For more Info: Email pepper.live2ride@gmail.com

Hooray For RACING!!

Hey Rockstars!

The latest scoop.

The sweet sweet 2009 Alberta Race calendar is underway. Thought it was about time to provide some "on the job" reading material. (   ;) you know who you are  )

I took some much needed chill time after worlds. Got back into work, coaching and super casual winter rides. Not to mention the loads of thankyou letters I had to catch up on. Yes, yours should be on its way soon if you haven't received it yet - and thanx again for the help.

The winter rides kept me on my skill game. Ice packed trails and snow drifts aren't hazards, they are trail features!! And a wired group of junior/cadet riders continuously endowing into the deep snow provides non-stop entertainment. Which was perfect. Winter rides shouldn't be workouts anyway, haha they are way too much fun.

I also had the opportunity to head out the the Okanogan for two weeks. The first week in for our annual spring road camp. I coach junior/cadet riders for Juventus, and we spend a week every spring in Penticton working the road skillz and putting on some base miles. Like always it was a BLAST. These kids are phenomenal! Were talking ages 14-17, rocking the climbs, the distance, the cold. No complaining, super-positive attitudes, full of energy and keen to learn. 

I stayed an additional week in Summerland at my Auntie and Uncles house (who rock!!). We got to come home to amazing meals, and fresh coffee all the time. It was like HOTEL AWESOME for Cyclist. Mangey and another ride bud (Mike Steneker) stayed with me and we rocked out a couple good days of distance. Had an epic 209km day that was nearly perfect in every way. haha, even showed mike that A&W is the ULTIMATE long ride food - that fast-fast man hasn't looked back since. I love the Okanagan, and really appreciated the riding that can be found both on and off road. It's also one of my only opportunities every year to spend some good quality ride time with my biggest fan (MOM aka Mangey). This year for the first time we explored the okanagan MTB haunts (on cross bikes!!) and were thrilled at style and mix of trails available. It's great to have such sweet riding reasonably close to home. 

Now it's pretty much summer... thats right, I'm calling it. Summer is here. Just finished a fantastic weekend of riding in Lethbridge. They did a combo MTB/Road race weekend which I thought was dang'fabulous. It was great seeing such a large turnout for Alberta's most southern race. I decided to bring only my cross bike for the mtb race, and road race. haha, it was SWEET. Plus Tara W. was ripping the mtb, and that was super-cool. The climbs in the mtb race were tough with the gearing, but there is nothing like railing sand dune single track with 700c wheels, and drop bars.  It really is a super-awesome feeling. 

The road race was fun too, but where are the trees? It's a sweet rolling course, but man was it open and windy. Christina S. from Bici hauled up the first KOM (king of the mountain – its a race inside of a race to the top of a climb for points, prizes or time bonus), putting some serious strain on the pack. It was only Christina, Myself, and a determined little Alison B. from that point on. We worked enough to keep the chasers off, and I think bici seen it's first organized women team lead-out in a longtime for a well deserved 1,2 finish. 

Next up was the Velocity RR - which I opted not to do. I coach the Juventus junior women, and they were up for selection spots for Canada Summer Games, and I didn't want any political conflict. On the plus side it was fun to see the event unfold as a spectator for once. 

I did race the Two-Up team time trial with my mentor coach/friend Tracy Shearer. It was a hilly course but a fun one. It suited our team dynamics. Tracy frigg'n steam trained the flats, and I paced the uphills. We hammered to a sweet two-up victory. It was such a good time. Nice venue. 

This weekend I'm Stony Plain bound with the cross bike. A double header event. Mtb cup on Saturday "THE BACON BUFFET OF PAIN AND SUFFERING", and 6hr marathon mtb event on Sunday. Should be some solid mtb hours, and a good amount of GOOD TIMES!!! I will actually get to eat bacon as I ride through the feedzone on each lap. I LOVE MTB RACING. bacon and riding my bike at the same time..... life is sweet!

 

Pretty Fantastic! Cant wait till next year

THIS JUST IN..... haha, look at these fakers!

Hey Budz.
Most of you Internet Savvy result searchers already know. 31st out of 35 finishers and 38 starters. 31st EH? Yup Eh!

I want to get some pictures up - but there is no room in the skin suit for a camera, so I have to wait till I can gank some photos off of someone else.

How it all went down.
First of all - Being a competitor at this event is like being a celebrity. People asking for autographs, and when I was riding around the venue in full team kit, the massive crowds would just part way for me like I was the Pope (haha, there was a dude dressed up as the Pope - he actually looked awesome, but this is a bad picture. You can just see the hat in this photo).

Spectators would chuck their buddy's and friend’s outta the way to make sure I had a clear path. Photographers everywhere, haha, and beer gardens already half full (at 10am - Hooray for Belgians).
Warm Up - was solid. Because there were no category races before us, the course was all ours to warm up on if we wanted to. I’m thinking PERFECT - but most of the other countries opted for the wind-trainer. I’m not completely sure why, but I bet there are a few reasons 1)less spectators 2)controlled enviro. Not me, I warmed up on course, and Im pretty sure there were only 4 or 5 of us that decided to do so. By 10:30 there were already 100s of spectators lining the course, and they didn't have anything better to do yet then play their noise makers and cheer. So when I rode by it felt like everyone was cheering for me... I was pretty much the only one on course, but there was definitely lots of "oheh CANADA Go Canada!" Who would want to miss that? For the most part I was feeling great! Riding solid lines, and finding good tempo in my legs. My only issue was the chilly air that teased my cough when I laid down some hard efforts, but no prob. Its race day and nothing is wrecking my sweet Vibe!
The Start - KRAZY! first of all - I’m pretty much the only rider that didn't get onto the World Cup circuit this year and as a result had the lowest UCI points ranking (for the learners reading this - start order is based mostly on UCI ranking – I need to hit up UCI races to get points). SO - as a result I got the 2nd LAST call up. haha, I get to start 30+riders behind, ;) save the best for last eh.
They used Traffic lights for the start. Simple - Green means go. GO!! It was an uphill pavement start that went for about 100m before taking a right-hand turn. Naturally the start was fast, and my only focus was to move up as many spots as I could before we hit the dirt section. But there was carnage on the first corner, brakes skidding, and a rider went down taking the middle of the pack down. Bikes and riders everywhere, including fellow Teammate Natasha Elliot (WHO MADE A WICKED RECOVERY BY THE FINISH!). I managed a couple quick manoeuvres (narrowly missing Natasha's head) to get me in the clear. As a result I started my first lap in or around top 20. The pace was dang fast, and the course was dang fast, making for ridiculous fastness. I was sitting in a good spot, I struggled in the straightaways (pavement sections), that’s where these crazy fast girls could really lay out the power, but then I would Yo-yo back on almost every corner because they weren’t super technically good. I was jockeying for spots among a 7 girl group of Italy, Great Britain, Germany, Austria and Japan. Most of my attempts to grab spots came in the corners, then fighting to stay on in the straightaways.
3rd Lap - CRASHED! I let one of my corners sweep a little too much and my tires broke traction. I went down in a skid in front of a massive Belgian Crowd- haha, “OoooooOOoo!” in any language means the same thing. Went to scurry back on and try and catch the group I was riding with, but my chain had fallen off, and wedged into the back of my cassette, off of my derailleur pulleys. Some brightly colored Belgian fans were yelling a mass of gibberish at me while I was trying to fix the problem as quickly as possible. haha I thought it should have been clear that I didn't understand Dutch...they knew I was from Canada but whatever. I finally got it fix’d and got rolling. The brightly colored group let out a big cheer - so I wonder what they were actually saying to me. At the same time a spectator jumped the barrier and gave me a big running push to help me get going. THANKS BELGIAN DUDE!! - I LIKE YOUR BEER HAT! I lost a lot of time and spots in that exciting little kiss with the dirt, and spent the last 3 laps trying to catch spots. By then end I closed down a gap on an Austrian and Italian rider, but didn't catch them. SO CLOSE

ITS ALL GOOD!
So yeah. My first World Championships - 31st.... Honestly I was gunn'n for inside top 30. haha, close, and certainly possible with no cough and no crash. But I’m ridiculously happy with my performance. It’s a very elite field, and these girls are very Race Fit. There is also lots of depth, with riders that have a very colourful record of successes in other disciplines like MTB, and Track.
I finally made my debut on the Euro Cross scene, and it has been a great experience. I’m overwhelmed by what I’ve learned, and I am really excited to continue building on it. I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback, and I am really looking forward to the next couple seasons. I know I need to keep hitting up bigger races, and try to put myself in a better UCI point position (maybe not 2nd last call up next time). Having witnessed firsthand the strength and ability of these riders, as well as the demand of these race courses I have a much improved idea about how I want to layout my rides, and season. I have the ability to be extremely competitive among this field of riders, and I cannot wait for the next races. For the next couple weeks I’ll be on a bit of a chill-out rampage. Then get right stoked back up again for the Road and MTB season (which now counts as prep for Cyclocross WOOP WOOP!).

Ps
After my race we went to the waffle stand. Mmmmm

BIG BIG BIG super thank-you to everyone who’s got my back. I really appreciate the support and that is the real reason why I got to come out here and give it my all. It is a dream come true to rock the Canadian Colors and race among such phenomenal riders as a representative of my home country. Thank you so much for helping me rock Europe!!!

Gonna be Wild!

I put the countdown clock on my blog for everyone back home, and all the time it's been up there I never really looked at it. In my mind I know I race on this specific day at this specific time. Today was different, when I was looking over my blog, I glanced at the countdown clock, and at that moment it said 1 day 22hrs. Then it hit me - LESS THAN 2 DAYs! I know my race is on Sunday at 11:30 - but seeing it in that format caught me by surprise. I guess in my mind, things move a lot slower. WOW!

I'm with the rest of the Team now in Hoogerheide. Small town- HUGE VENUE! There is a lot of hype surrounding this event. It starts outside Hoogerheide in every little town and village with posters and banners (mostly of Lars Boom). Then when you get to the edge of Hoogerheide, the first thing you see is this art structure set up on the center of a Roundabout. 3-sided, pretty cool (pics below). The last pic with the dude who has his winning arms in the air was shirtless the day we drove in, but someone decided to put a "jersey" on him sometime last night. Hmmmm I wonder who it could be? Orange Jersey eh... any guesses? I wonder if Rabobank is written on it somewhere. Haha, I like it... some artistic flare from a Boom supporter.

Then the town is littered with World Champ banners, and team Jerseys, Rider Posters. All the shops get on board by painting cross images on their windows or setting up a bike and jersey or rider shrine display. Saturday (tomorrow morn) the town is blocked off to public transportation, so spectators will have to park and shuttle to the race. They have re-routed traffic around the town center to allow for the venue set up. Haha, the restaurant we ate at warned us that their salads would have no cucumbers, because the Truck with the Cucumbers couldn't get into the town to deliver them. Haha, perfect! There is nothing like starving out the Hoogerhiede residents for World Champs. Fortunately Cucumbers are a B-grade vegetable (kidding – in case one of you is a cucumber crazy fan). And there is still a stockpile of stroopwaffel.

It’s really hard to describe the Big'Ness of it all. There are tonnes of snackshacks getting ready for Saturday, and volunteers in safety vest everywhere. Cords, Media Stations, Video Cameras set up on towers for TV broadcast. They even have a huge "Artificial" building that was set up especially for the Sponsors and VIP's. The course runs right by the viewing windows - where inside the 'big wigs' will dine on fancy set tables with fancy food while the race goes on in front of them.

The course is completely blocked off to non-paying spectators, and tickets for the event run at 20-25 Euros pp. Pretty Much 40bucks Canadian. And the rumours are they are expecting 20000 spectators for the men’s race alone on Sunday. I mean I heard the beer gardens are good, but they can’t be that good! haha.

Even the past two days there have been a great number of spectators out to just watch the riders (pros) pre-ride the course. We would ride by masses of kids hanging over the barriers with pens and papers cheering and begging for autographs. That was a pretty cool feeling.

THE COURSE
I love it! Finally a course that fits into my fantasy euro-cross image. The missing part - it's not muddy! It’s frozen, and the weather is forecast to be rain-free and chilly for the weekend, with potential snow on Sunday (yay me). Once the day wears on, the sun melts a bit of the top layer, things soften up and a few corners get slick - but overall we are talking frozen-hardpack-FAST! A Hurting kinda Fast. I’m figuring the men will be pulling off 6min laps. There are some bumpy sections, but my theory is it will smooth out with the junior/espior races tomorrow.

So what’s slowing people down? Well not much. Because of the conditions the course handles fast for almost everyone. The catchers are; One gooder downhill with a good hook left and 2 one-80's right after, and some downhill lollipop turns (that’s what Wendy calls them - what a positive name for these crazy little corners.). Basically 180's down and back up - so it’s about taking them fast, and not getting stuck behind a crash. The elements are fun, and the tight repetitive cornering keeps you busy. There are no barriers, but there are 5 steps, a ramp (if you go down it fast you can get air off the next dirt mound, but then it flies into a downhill lollipop... so never-mind), and a steep aggressive up that would be a run-up if it was wet, but everyone can ride it (Fun- like riding straight up a wall). Seems pretty smooth, but to be fair I didn't really rail to hard on the pre-rides, no need to push the cough hard into the lungs.

Today the three girls (Me, Wendy and Natasha) pre-rode the course at 11:00am so we could get a feel or idea of what the course will be like for our 11:30am start on Sunday. It was great! There was still a layer of frost in the shaded areas, and the ground was extra frozen feeling. As the laps went on, the more it warmed up and by the end of the ride the course had softened noticeably. Some slick corners and slippery hardpack. It was a good idea to get out when we did, cause that kind of condition change in a race changes how your ride the course later in the race, and for the super picky riders it changes tire choice for bikes in the pit. We also practice bike changes, so if I turn into a "picky need different tires" racer I can go ahead and change bikes. Wendy is really good at it; it's not Natasha's first time either. It was actually my fist time at that speed. FAST. and I’m pretty sure I almost killed Paul(pit dude #2) every time when I dismount and bulldoze (unintentionally) my bike into his open hands and body - then I’m running so fast from the dismount, that when I grab my other bike from Norm(pit man #1) and attempt to mount it's a miracle I make it on the saddle. But - they were Fast-successful changes so I’m good with that. Note below - Paul, the FANTASTIC CANADIAN PIT DUDE # 2 !.. and Wendy Simms Canadian National Champ on the side detailing some solid tire feedback. Dan (team manager) is the dude in the red jacket

This will be a favourite memory
Today while we were pre-riding I was riding the course with Wendy and on one of the lollipop downhill corners she decided to run it (because it’s a potential area for high congestion/crashes so running it may be faster/better choice in some circumstances). For those of you that are picking up on this 'cyclocross stuff' I’m talking about, when you dismount your bike to run a section - it means dismounting into a run from a moving bike position - it's all about maintaining speed and momentum - minimal time loss and sometimes competitive advantage. Anywho - her first attempt was a miss and didn't look to graceful- but no problem, it hardly goes perfect on the first attempt. That’s why we pre-ride. The best part; this Old Dutch spectator had seen the attempt, and thought it best to provide feedback. He Yelled to Wendy (with a very serious facial expression) "Not Good... Again!" as he motioned for her to go back and do it again. He said it 3 or 4 times beckoning her to go back “Not Good...Again” haha. I got a real kick outta this guys side line expertise and Drill sergeant approach. Wendy tells me they aren't scared to be critical. Haha she translated his comment into "you suck... do it again." Poor little critical Dutchman should know that Wendy Simms knows what she's doing! Still, thanx for the advice - haha cute- just wanted to pack him up and take him home.


After the ride I met up with my family and we went to check the out ‘Fa Hopmans,’ the biggest bike shop in Western Europe! This baby had 4 floors! Photos don’t do it justice, but here is the wall of BBB parts.. Just BBB parts

And in this photo - all those boxes at the back. For those of you who care, that’s all campy stuff. All of it!

Not to mention the thousands of jerseys and team kits they had in there. Hundreds of cycling shoes, tonnes of white leg/arm warmers! QUICK! TELL DAVID L. And they actually had a chain catch for me, two- free! Five bike shops later...This means no more duct tape on my bike, so I like these guys.


weeeeeeeee! When can we race these?

If you haven’t yet, send some race vibes to our Espoir boys. They race tomorrow at 2:30, so while you’re dreaming at 6:30am your time...Dream lucks for these boys.
Andrew getting pin'd by Brian. haha. GO CANADA GO!

THE SKIN SUIT FITS!

Trying on the Team Wear - Feels Good!....for a skin suit

Quick! Get me some Hot Sauce!!

Two nights ago I went to bed with a fever and a cold sweat, and spent all of yesterday fighting a fever and shivers, accompanied with a hard cough. The fever finally broke last night, and I am currently stuck with a loose cough and stuffy nose. BOOOURNS! I never get sick. I can usually account for 2 or 3 times out of a year that I might have a stuffy nose or scratchy throat. My poor dad came across the pond with a bad case of whatever I have now. He definitely got the worse deal; Sore Throat, Hard-Dry cough, fevers, and migraines – and it’s lasted 5days for him. I did my best to avoid contact, but we travelled to Zonnebeke together and it’s pretty hard to avoid one another when you’re cooped in a Minivan for 6hrs.
LESS THAN 5 DAYS TILL WORLDS! Why did my immune system decide to be such a baby a week before worlds? It’s gotta be the family bloodline, or maybe the fact that my hot sauce consumption has gone down since I’ve been here (haha I’m pretty sure hot sauce keeps you healthy...haha, seriously TRY IT. And lots of jalapenos too. Just be conscious of the fact that hot sauce usually has a high salt content. J). I did some detailing on my Sexy Louis G’s today and got out for a light spin. I wasn’t about to push my cough deeper, I need all the lung capacity I can get for Sunday. I just made sure I was going at a decent enough speed not to get passed by people on commuter bikes- cuz that’s just a hard pill to swallow.
My body is already bouncing back, and at this rate I’m confident that I’ll show up at the start feeling pretty dang good. If not, I’ll make it work even if means I have those cute little snot lines that escape your nose when you’re full of mucus and trying to race hard... Smile for the camera Pepper! Either way the excitement is building. I can’t wait to get out and pre-ride the world’s course. They have a digital version of it online, but it lacks detail. If you wanna see it here is the link – but you have to imagine more texture I think. http://www.wkhoogerheide2009.nl/en/parcours.aspx
GO CANADA GO!

FINALLY - some more high class reading material

Hey Budz! Just got my blogs up... sorry for the delay.