races

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.

the range gravel race 2024

July 20, 2024

cycling

gravel, races, claresholm, race reports

Race Info #

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.

pigeon lake road race 2024

June 29, 2024

cycling

road, races, edmonton, ertc, plrr, race reports

Race Info #

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.

fat tire tuesday race series

May 30, 2024

cycling

ftt, races, edmonton, mtb

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:

my 2024 mtb racing season summary

May 30, 2024

cycling

mtb, ftt, races

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).
- 5/6 for 6 points
Race 2 2024-05-28¹ : 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).
- 9/10 for 2 points
Race 3 2024-06-18² : 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.
- 4/6 for 7 points
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.
- 2/4 for 9 points
Race 5 2024-07-02: Missed the race because of my kid’s soccer game. They had a Le Mans style start³ 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.

There was no race on May 21 because the radar showed rain, but it never came. I got a ride in that night anyway, since I hadn’t been able to check Strava in time. ↩︎

watching cross

February 2, 2024

cycling

technology, tv, cx, races

At the end of 2022 I began actually watching cyclocross races. My kid still had “naps” on days when he wasn’t at school and I discovered that YouTube could show me what had been going on in Belgium that morning. It was ‘kerstperiode’¹ so there were a pile of races to get thoroughly immersed in. I’d watch most of a race and then get the final lap queued up for when C could come out of his room and we would watch 15 minutes of muddy bike racing.

my 2023 season summary

February 1, 2024

cycling

aba cx cup, crit, cx, races, road

In 2023 I was hoping to be a better racer. I spent the winter actually using the gym we have at work, doing time on the stationary bike so as not to lose all my kilometres in my legs. They say you should do strength training and I tried but it’s a pain.

The other thing I did was join a club. Velocity Cycling Club is my new bunch. We have a coach and club jerseys and it’s all a bit more community-building than the lone-wolf cyclist thing I’ve been doing. I went on a couple of group rides and they were fun. The first was about 60km and easy riding. I self-selected to the slow group, and was the only person in it (along with the bunch leader). But it was good. I got to learn about some of the group riding norms and hand signals. Old Paul was very welcoming in general and did a good job showing me how to get close to people in the bunch.

cyclocross

January 27, 2024

cycling

cx, races

Cyclocross (also cyclo-cross, ‘cross or cx) is my favourite discipline of riding bikes. In its contemporary form you ride your bike around in a field and sometimes have to get off your bike and carry it because the hills are too steep or there are stairs or someone put a bunch of boards across the track. I often think of it as the least efficient way of using your bike. It’s awesome.

crossbow semiprestige 2023

November 11, 2023

cycling

cx, races, crossbow semiprestige, cyclemeisters, aba cx cup, rutland park, calgary

Race Info #

Tech Guide
Location: Rutland Park, Calgary
Course: stravalink

I missed out on writing this up at the end of the 2023 CX season, and now that 2024 has come around, I don’t have a bunch of the data I like to put in these race writeups. Nonetheless, here’s what I can find (thankfully I did do my CrossResults upload back when the race happened).

This race was postponed from earlier in the month because of some freakish weather. There was supposed to be a second race on the Sunday but with the rescheduling, that didn’t happen.

Race Info #

Results #

Open Women #

Open Men #

Expert Men #

Sport Women #

Sport Men #

Novice Men #

My Results #

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