September 6, 2025
- Tech Guide
- Location: Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary - Cochrane
- Course: stravalink
My first race in Sport Men had 30 people signed up (and I got call-up number 25). Ahead of the race I waffled on driving down the night before but decided to just do a big driving day on Saturday instead of sleeping in my car. It worked out fine!
July 19, 2025
- Tech Guide
- Location: Claresholm, Alberta
- Course: ridewithgpslink
In 2024 I did my first gravel race. I crashed but managed to do the final 40km with a bent up handlebar, finishing in under 6 hours. So in 2025 I decided to come back and I’d be sure to do better, right?
What ended up happening was not that. It’s actually kind of a shame because the weather this year was so much nicer than 2024 (when it was super-hot). A high of 22ish Celsius, no howling winds, rain the day before so it wasn’t too dusty, all super good attributes. I did the same thing I did the year before and stayed in a motel the night before (the Lazy J this time). I ran basically the same bike as last year except for the replacement handlebar/bar-tape and a different front tire (tubeless Renee Herse Steilacoom to match the rear). What wasn’t the same was my training for the year.
October 20, 2024
- Tech Guide
- Location: Location: Argyll Park
- Course: stravalink
Provincials!
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Another race in Argyll Park and this was a fun one. The runup pictured above was super steep and I was so happy we were going up it. A few years ago this was a downhill section and one person broke a collarbone. I ran down it that year because I am not a confident descender at the best of times.
October 19, 2024
- Tech Guide
- Location: Argyll Park
- Course: stravalink
This was the race put on by our club so I went out to do at least a bit of help with the setup on the Friday night. Because last year our race got smoked out, people got half price entry for this year. And socks!
My race was forgettable because on the very first lap there was an off-camber bit and my tire went flat[^1]. I hadn’t brought anything to the pit to keep myself going, so I put it up on my shoulder and ran for a couple of kilometres until I got back to the finish line and withdrew from the race.
September 28, 2024
- Tech Guide
- Location: Voyageur Park Devon
- Course: stravalink
The first time I raced CX in Devon, I loved it. Last year I was injured beforehand so it turned out to be my worst race of the season, but it was still such a good course it was hard to really be down on it. This year I wasn’t hurt and just came in to have a good time.
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September 22, 2024
- Tech Guide
- Location: Capilano Park Edmonton
- Course: stravalink
Part two of the first Edmonton race weekend saw way more people (in my race at least). The course went backwards compared to Jim Horner the previous day. This was good for me because it meant we had a non-technical climb right after the start, and that’s something I’m pretty decent at. It also meant that the switchbacks we’d been climbing on Saturday were now a descent. I’m never super great at these kinds of things and in the pre-ride lots of people were testing and re-testing the lines1. After one wipeout when I was trying to cut it too close, I settled on unclipping my inside foot and dabbing a touch as I went around the steepest part. The best part of this feature was that it would be at the end of the lap so it wouldn’t be a huge mass of riders hitting it at the same time.
September 21, 2024
- Tech Guide
- Location: Capilano Park Edmonton
- Course: stravalink
The Jim Horner Grand Prix of Cyclo-cross was my first Edmonton race of the season, and it went well. Unlike last year we had clear skies with no Air Quality warnings so all the races happened.
Being in Novice Men, I had an early start while the grass was still dewy and wet. The course opened with a bunch of twisty turns including an uphill off-camber thing (see the picture above of the Sport Men tackling it). I did that switchback okay in practice, but on the opening lap I totally wiped out, delaying a bunch of people behind me. Once that was out of the way though, I had a good race. I was following some people and eventually passed them. I couldn’t quite get in touch with the leaders of the race but I had a pretty good run.
September 7, 2024
- Tech Guide
- Location: Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary - Cochrane
- Course: stravalink
The ‘cross season has begun and I was there. The Deadgoat Supercross took place in Cochrane and we weren’t smoked out or anything.
The course was on the seminary grounds (just up the road from Cochrane BMX) and I was impressed with how twisty it was, especially how they fit the course all together without needing to cross any roads. While there were the requisite barriers to hop(/dismount and carry over) it was not a very technical course at all. By the afternoon it was going to be hot (30C), but my race was in the Novice class at 9:30, when there was still a tiny bit of the overnight chill in the air1.
July 20, 2024
- Tech Guide
- Location: Claresholm, Alberta
- Course: ridewithgpslink
Back when I was thinking about the bike riding I wanted to do this year, a gravel event was on my mind. The idea with a gravel race is it’s a long route on dirt roads away from traffic. There’s a mass start and though there are fast people “racing” the event there will be far more just out there doing the ride, trying to finish and have a good time1.
June 29, 2024
- Tech Guide
- Location: Sundance Beach (Pigeon Lake) Leduc County, Alberta
- Course: stravalink
I hadn’t planned on racing Pigeon Lake this year. I’d been waiting on my race fee reimbursement before entering the Stieda Classic again, but that came kind of late. A couple of people from my club mentioned that since I’m a bit better climber than a big powerful guy, I might find Pigeon Lake more suitable. I debated a bunch, but I’m glad I tried it out.
