August 21, 2025The summer is almost done and I haven’t updated this site in ages. But that is okay. I’m fine with not having written. Really and truly.
This year I haven’t biked as much as I did last year. Part of that is because I’ve started volunteering once a week at Bike Edmonton, which takes up time. Part of it is just being tired, and demoralized for being slow. I took up the mantle of Mountain Bike representative for VCC which meant I missed a few ftt races riding alone in capilanopark instead. When I did get in a couple of races, I was oh so slow, even though I worked so hard. I didn’t make it out to the good mountain biking at all this summer. I didn’t ride to work as much as I wanted. Just generally a blah kind of year.
May 30, 2024 This week I’ve had some good rides. There was the Velocity social ride last Saturday in which I risked going with the fast group and I did not die. I was not the fastest in that group and I was working hard, but it went pretty well. It was my second fastest time for 50k.
I’ve been to both the (uncancelled) Fat Tire Tuesday races down in Terwillegar park and have been very slow on my mountain bike. I do tend to prefer riding that bike for the joy of movement rather than pushing pushing pushing myself, but it’s a good non-comfort-zone kind of experience. And getting smoked by teenagers gives me good practice for the cyclocross season.
May 30, 2024 Fat Tire Tuesday is a cross-country mountain bike race series in Edmonton. In 2024, all the races are happening at Terwillegar park. The races cost $5 and you can enter in three categories (the fastest do 4 laps, the slower people do 3 laps and the slowest only do 2). There’s a point structure and a group on Strava where the news of race results/cancellations happen.
Further reading of my personal responses with the races can be found under the ftt tag or in my season summaries below:
May 30, 2024 For me, mountain bike racing is not something I’m super into, so I wouldn’t pay much to do it like I do cyclocross, but the Fat Tire Tuesday races had always looked like fun so in 2024 I took the plunge.
- Race 1 2024-05-14: stravalink Started off with steep uphill on rocky surface. I got caught behind a couple of riders who went way slower than I could have, putting me in a hole the rest of the race. I was chasing a Hardcore Bike Club rider for most of the rest of the race. I gained time on the ups; he gained time everywhere else. There was one descent that was steep, kind of muddy and had a turn into a bridge right at the bottom. I had a tough time with it on my practice lap and managed to wipe out on it in Lap 2 (I’m a B-Group rider so I only did 3 laps).
- Race 2 2024-05-28 : stravalink There was a prologue to stretch the group out a little before hitting the singletrack this week. Loads of climbing on this course. I was following one rider for most of the first lap before a pedal strike knocked me to a halt and my lost momentum meant I didn’t see her again until the last third of the third lap. The rooty climb was tough, and I messed up the line on lap 2. In the end I was lapped by a lot of the fast group riders (by two of them in lap 2).
- Race 3 2024-06-18 : stravalink The organizers made this a shorter loop because the Oilers were playing a must-win game in the Stanley Cup Final, so they wanted us to get out of there quickly. I was chasing another B-group rider on the second lap who, when she passed me said “Don’t worry; I’m slow on the downhills.” So as she was opening more of a gap going down I tried to go faster and then a moment of inattention meant I clipped my bars on a tree and crashed. It hurt. I finished the race, but never did catch up with her.
- Race 4 2024-06-25: stravalink This was pretty much the same course as the first FTT race of the year (although for some reason, the segment says it’s longer). I wiped out on that same off-camber descent I had trouble with in May, but managed to hang onto 2nd place in the B-Group nonetheless. Climbing is definitely where I gain a bit of time in these races.
- Race 5 2024-07-02: Missed the race because of my kid’s soccer game. They had a Le Mans style start though, which sounded fun.
- Race 6 2024-07-09: Missed the race because I was in Valemount doing a little mountain biking. This was a team trivia race, and I have no idea how that works.