Final Report from Europe

Worlds Cyclocross 2005 Final Report

Normon

Sitting at dinner tonight with all the members of the Canadian team and the American refugee, Jonathan Page and Family, will be a memory I will cherish forever.

You have read enough stories from myself and Corey so we thought it would be cool to hear from each of the riders about their personal experiences in their races. We have had another awesome time over here with our trip. It was great to have more Canadian racers and support at Worlds. We personally hope that more people from road, mtb, triathlon or running try cross out and love it as much as we do. The race is something else and I struggle to explain how crazy the whole experience is. We hope to see more Canadians racing at the World Championships in Zeddam or Mol (Masters) in 2006.

Thanks to Rob, editoress, and Canadian Cyclist for posting our reports. We all hope that you have enjoyed them.

I will post even more pictures on the Nanaimo Frontrunners site in the next few weeks if you would like to check them out. (www.frontrunners.ca follow the links to Nanaimo and then to the gallery)

As always thanks to Frontrunners Nanaimo, Helly Hansen and Brodie Bikes.

Please take the time to enjoy their stories.

Wendy Simms
As a superstitious racer I had seen all the signs. The town was St. Wendel (my niece and nephew call me WENDEL with a southern twang), the Canadian team license plate was WS 22 (my favourite number), my legs felt g-r-e-a-t (thanks to my coach/brother Kevin), the 10ft “GO WENDY” stamped in the snow outside my room and the course was pretty much perfect for me as it was very technical. I saw all the good mojo but didn’t want to jinx myself.
I knew that I wanted a good start to get to the technical stuff early before any crashes, but not too good to blow up like last year. I had a decent start and left the track in the top 10-15. Legs still OK. I rode all the technical stuff and was passing girls as I watched them crash into the fencing, slide out around corners or just ride like they were terrified. The “special” tires that Corey and Norm had hunted down were amazing. Except for one ice corner, where I crashed and flashed the crowd a good portion of my butt, I cleaned the course. A couple girls would catch me on the false flat climb because I was in my small gear but I wanted to make sure my legs would last. One German chick even grabbed my shoulder and pushed me backwards to get by me! I was getting cocky and passing in the crud on the downhills when I flatted. I rode it to the pits and did a change from the pink Surly to Corey’s new Empella. Zippy Empella!...but the tire pressure was really low and the tires didn’t hook up as much so I wanted the pink Surly back. A second bike change and I was back in my comfort zone. A few girls had passed me (including Ann Knapp) but there was still some fight in me so I reeled a few back in. Back and forth, back and forth with some Belgian girl and German girl especially. Bell lap and my legs still felt good so I caught and passed the Belgian girl on the stairs, caught and passed the German girl in the pits. I thought I had dropped her on the track but apparently I was leading her out. A painful sprint finish in too small of a gear and I thought she had caught me but apparently we were dead even. Tied for 11th! I think that might be the best World Championship finish for any Canadian-will have to check…
I was hunched over sucking wind at the finish line when Norm and Corey came rushing over. They were SO pumped for me. They have been with me from the start. Helping me train through Xmas, keeping me mentally strong, keeping my equipment in great shape. I couldn’t have done it without them. They are my biggest fans. Thanks to my brother Kevin Simms who has been coaching me through Hardwood Hills and managed to peak me to perfection! Thanks also to my “soopah fan” Tim Goater who organized the Malaspina raffle which helped me get to Germany and all of my co-workers, students, family, friends who bought tickets. Thanks to Helly Hansen who has sponsored me for 2 years and gave me the best poofy jacket that kept me warm through this whole trip. Thanks to Frontrunners Nanaimo who keeps me looking good in a girly kit all year round and Sugoi for my custom skinsuit, eNVy and tufo who keep my bike f-a-s-t. And thanks to the Canadian cyclocross team who made Canada a bigger presence at Worlds this year and thanks to Kris Westwood and the adopted Canadian mechanics Jake & Josh who had our team dialed.

Cyclocross, the fastest growing sport in Canada- you should try it!


PETER MORSE (added later...)

Cross report from Europe. Sorry for the delay, it's been a week since the Worlds.

I have been in Europe for a month, training and racing cross in Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and finally St Wendel, Germany for the World Championships. With me, for most of the time, were Greg Reain and Tara Ross. In Germany we met up with the rest of the Worlds team; Samantha Nicholson, Wendy Simms and Joel Dion-Poitras.

It was awesome to be at the World's start line with all the big names of the sport. Greg and I started in the very last line, which was not so great, but expected. The start was on a running track oval. At the gun the boys took off like maniacs and had a gap of about 20 feet on both Greg and I by the end of the track. My original goal was not to be lapped too early, or at all in the race. A bad crash during an earlier training session took my confidence and my ability on the course and it was all I could do to keep the bike upright and hang on until being lapped and pulled at the halfway point. Even tougher was staying in the race knowing I was fighting a losing battle and feeling I was being ostracized by the crowd, which of course I wasn't as they were very encouraging in their support.

There were 40 000+ fans at some of the races. The craziest ones were the Czechs at the Worlds. They had an air raid siren, which two guys would hold while another would crank until it was screaming. They had huge flags and played drums, of course they had kegs of beer. The Swiss had huge cow bells strapped around their waists which gonged with every step they took. Overall, I had a great time in Europe, and hope to be able to make it to the Worlds again next year.

Thanks to everyone that came over to wrench for us or help with the necessary mundane tasks. Roces, for the NorthWave shoes and Chain Reaction Bicycles my new sponsor. A huge thanks to my friends and family who are my biggest supporters.

I have to mention and thank Kris Westwood, the CCA coach and catalyst for the selection process of the Worlds team. The significance of his understanding the sport of cross is a step forward for the sport in Canada. Hopefully this trip will inspire more to take up cyclo-cross which is a natural for Canada's climate, the condition of the Worlds course emphasised that. With our shorter season it makes sense to continue racing in the fall, for training or for getting seriously hooked on the sport of cyclocross.

Peter Morse

TARA ROSS

I don’t know where to start my report, I have learned more about racing in the last 3 weeks than 3 months at home! I was almost crying tears of sheer fright after pre-riding Thursday and taking a HUGE crash on a descent and at least 5 more trying to ride a short, off-camber, reverse shoot that left me covered in cuts, bruises, and lots of mud. Over the next few days, I focused on relaxing so much that come race day I had the best flow experience going on and nailed all the technical bits every lap. I couldn’t have asked for a better race. I still made some mistakes and got caught up behind crashes and sketchy girls on the first laps, but overall I rode to the best of my ability. I managed to hang on to a wheel for about half the race, but I started to blow and go backwards finally getting lapped going into my last lap. Getting lapped was the only thing I was disappointed at because I managed to get onto lead lap in a World Cup and C1 the weekend previous. But, the ladies were flying and it was cool just to be there. I am so psyched for next year that I have already made my goals to qualify for the 2006 team and come to Europe after the North American season is over.

I have to thank my sponsor Diet Cheerwine, from the bottom of my heart and the most organized and sincere Team Manager, Anne Boylea. Marty Lazarski for the Bike Pro bag, Anna Garnet who loaned me her cross bike to use as a spare, and my husband and trainer Neil Ross for the awesome program. My family, especially my Gramma, I am so lucky to have you! My friends at Thomas Street Middle School, who keep me working. Ann Knapp, whose special words of encouragement will stay with me always. To the Team Canada staff and riders, I had the best time with you, special thanks to Jake Frame who went above and beyond, Kris Westwood who taught me that I just had to ride the rut, Greg Reain and Pete Morse who let me hang out with them in Holland, Wendy and Sam for convincing me to come ‘for the experience’—you were right! I am leaving Worlds I better rider than when I arrived.



SAMANTHA “SB” NICHOLSON

Worlds 2005. After losing 6-months due to a major illness in 2004, I wasn’t sure that I’d be traveling to Europe for Worlds – however, after a great race at Nationals which qualified me for the National Team, St. Wendel beckoned and here I am! The icy, frozen rutted ground and snow covered course was just like racing back home in Alberta, where our ‘cross season is snow and ice bound 80% of the time! My new sub-18-pounds Scandium/Carbon Bianchi’s (pronounced “Bee-anne-chees” by the superfans!!) were awesome for the conditions.
After a great start, I was able to blast through the technical sections passing – what seemed like – dozens of racers. I was in the top half of the pack for the first lap then had some a bit of bad luck having to get off my bike to fix a derailed and locked front chain. I had the same dozen riders pass me while fixing my chain. Then, after bridging up to several riders, I realized that I really did have a flat tire – I swapped bikes in the pits telling our Super Star Mechanics “I think I have a flat”!!!! (HUGE thanks to Jake Frame and Josh!!!)
I totally loved the snow and ice and was super pleased that I was able to ride one of the most technical cyclocross courses in Europe. It’s a thrill to be here and should you find yourself in The Netherlands next January, come watch us Canadians at Worlds 2006! And, should you find yourself at Worlds, bring some cool “Canadian” loot to swap with the other pro teams (I’m now sporting a spangly Japanese jersey!!).
I couldn’t be here without the endless support of from all the Samantha Super-Fans: The Alberta Bicycle Association, Kevan and the The Bike Shop crew, Dirk Friel at UltraFit/TrainingBible.com, Shell Canada for the sponsored days off work and, of course, my friends, especially Ewan, Brian, Shona, Alan, and my coach.

JOEL (aka “Junior”)

Premiere saison de cyclocross qui s’ acheve, avec comme 5e courses les Championnats du Monde. Je suis arrive en Allemagne en grande forme, avec une longue saison sur route derriere moi. J’avais comme velo de course, un “Bike de Tourring” modifie et un deuxieme velo prete par mon ami Bernard Vives. Par contre, j’ai eu la super chance que Wendy “ Super Star” me prete ses roues. J’ai fini 55e a 5min57sec de la tete et deuxieme nord Americain avec une crevaison et deux chutes qui mon lourdement retarde. Je tiens a mentionner que l’equipe des USA etait en sol Europeen depuis decembre pour courir. J’ai adore cette experience, ce parcour, l’ambiance, mais et surtout la belle petite equipe que nous etions.

L’an prochain, je vais mettre les efforts pour revenir en force et axer ma saison un peu plus en fonction du cyclocross. Un magnifique sport qui gagne a etre connu. Je devrais aussi revenir avec un vrai bike de cyclocross et non un touring.

Pour finir, je dois remercier plusieurs personnes qui mon permis de vivre cette experience. Sans eux, je n’aurais jamais eu les moyens de me payer cette experience. Merci a RONA, COWANSVILLE TOYOTA et la Compagnie de comptable a mon ami Yves Parcel, mes principales commnditaire. Merci a mon entraineur Dominique Lemaire, ma famille et ma copine Marie- Pier Bedard. Les magasin de velo Cycles St- Onge, Cycle Regis et Bicyclette Montreal Nord. Pour finir, un merci a tout es participants a mon brunch 2005 et tout ceux qui crois en moi. Alors, on se voit cette ete sur Route avec mon equipe Espoirs Laval….


GREG
OK, so I guess that I’ll try to keep this short given all the other stuff y’all are going to have to read about this race, so here we go. The whole World’s thing didn’t get off to a great start when our Dutch chauffer made sure we left at 4.30 am to get to St. Wendal from where we were staying near Utrecht in the Netherlands. For some weird-ass Euro reason he was thinking it would take 7-1/2 hrs to cover the 400km we had to do. Needless to say we arrived in plenty of time, but I guess that’s better than being late. I got to turn a couple laps of the course on Thursday, and was less than comfortable with the conditions. St. Wendal had received some snow over the previous week and the ground was well frozen, so everything was super-sketch. This was the first time that I had seen conditions like this and I actually found myself hoping for some good ol’ Belgian mud. Anyway, I got things pretty dialed in and all was cool. It was nice to hook up with the rest of the Canuck squad and swap some stories from home; it’s totally rad racing over here, but it’s still nice to hang out with some old friends. We also managed to convince a couple of Yanks to defect, and that was cool. Josh Snead and Jake Frame went nuts with the mechanic duties and made sure that the bikes were always clean and running tight. It’s nice to not have to stress about keeping all your crap going when there’s a big race hanging over your head.

I was trying to treat this as just another race, since really I had no expectations of pulling out a freak top ten finish but the atmosphere surrounding the Worlds is pretty unbelievable. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous on Sunday morning. It was definitely a trip to squeeze into a Canadian team skinsuit, and the red kneewarmers that Tara lent added that extra pro touch. Nice. Everyone seems to love Canada, and there’s always someone cheering for us even when we’re just warming up. The start was on a rubberized running track and I was really stressed about crashing, so I took it pretty easy and naturally got dropped right away. Starting from the back row didn’t help either, but that’s the way it is sometimes. I managed to stay upright on the first lap and move up a couple of spots to get into a small group, but then I managed to make my rear tire explode on a really sketchy downhill and had to take a spare bike (silky smooth, thanks guys). From that point on I was on my own and just trying to keep going forward, cause I was really hurting and obviously not on my best form of this trip. Regardless, the crowds were really enthusiastic in yelling their support and they even had start lists so they could cheer for us my name. They like it even more when you almost crash right in front of them. So in spite of the less than perfect form and my general unease about the race surface, I almost managed to make the lead lap which was rather encouraging. I got to watch Sven Nijs finally make it across the line first in the World Champs, followed closely be Vervecken and Vanthourenhout making it a Belgian 1-2-3. Basically the Worlds is just Belgian Nationals Part 2.

That’s about it. I fly back to Ottawa on Tuesday, then I get a bit of a break before going to Carolina to train for the next part of the season. I should really thank Kris Westwood for making this come together and sharing his wealth of cyclocross racing knowledge. Thanks also to Paul Haym of Great West Bikes (Challenge Tires), Dave Shirley of OGC (Mavic wheels), Kim Guntzel of Cycles Lambert (Time Pedals), Matty Stephens of Kona (Jake da Snake), Vince Caceres and the crew at the Cyclery, Ian Fraser and the Family at Cyclelogik in Ottawa, and everyone in Ottawa who helped me get my shit together and get over here to realize the dream. Be sure to check out the weblog at www.crazyfast.blogspot.com for the full details on my six weeks here and my season to come.

Thanks for reading,
GReain

www.challengetech.it
www.opus-bike.com
www.konaworld.com
www.cyclelogik.com



JAKE FRAME (REFUGEE MECHANIC- USA)
I’m not quite sure where to begin. My first full year on the North American Cyclocross scene couldn’t have ended better. When I agreed to help out team Canada at the World Championships in St. Wendel, Germany, I had no idea what I was getting into. When thinking of coming into the World Championships, you think about the biggest race of the year and the most uptight racers and management that you can think of. This presumption was totally inaccurate. My first experience with Team Canada was meeting them to get accreditation for the championships. Everyone was very relaxed and low key with no ego’s flying about. As the days moved along, I found a group of top level racers of the highest class who had nothing to lose and absolutely no expectations and just wanted to go out, represent their country to the best of their ability and have a great time. Working with Team Canada throughout this event brought the meaning of the sport of Cyclocross to the forefront of my mind. Cyclocross is about going out and racing your bike against worthy competitors while at the same time making the most of the experience and having a great time. Canada bleeds the atmosphere of Cyclocross, and I am glad that I was able to be a part of it and look forward to witnessing the growth of the sport in this country in the coming years! Because of the mindset of those competitors and the management whom I participated with this year, I am confident that Cyclocross in Canada will grow and prosper. I am looking forward to seeing where it goes and am very proud to have played a part in the successes of the 2004 World Canadian Cyclocross team. Congratulations to all and good luck in the future. I look forward to see you all soon!


Last note from Corey (Entertainment Director for the Canadian Team)

Well as Norm said at this point it’s about the racers and they all did awesome. You tell how much heart and soul these people have, spending their own money, fundraising and not having much support while they are here (Although more than last year). They gave it their all and I was proud to be a part of it. It was so cool to meet Joel here, I don’t think he ever didn’t have a smile on his face. I knew Samantha from last year and it was nice to see her again. The eastern crew of Tara, Greg and Peter are super people. Of course the main reason I’m here is Wendy, she rocked the race! I was going nuts in the pits and I am so pumped on her result knowing how hard she worked. We may not have the biggest team or the most money to spend but we do our best and we have a good time. Everything went smooth before, during and after all the races. Our pits were as good or better than any here. The term too many cooks comes to mind when thinking of the bigger teams. It’s been a great trip. Thanks to Kris, Caroline, Dave, Jake and Josh for being here and doing what they do best. Extra thanks to Norm for making me part of this. I hope the reports have been enjoyed and I can’t wait for Zeddam next year. Thanks

Women's Results from CX Worlds

OK we have the official results.They have Wendy down as an exact tie for 11th place. We are not sure if theywill go back and change this after reviewing the tape but for now she is 11th. HUGE result!!1. Hanka Kupernagel2. Sabine Spitz.3. Mirjam Melchers7. was Ann Knapp at 2:1611th Wendy Simms and Birgit Hollmann from Germany at 3:0619th Sarah Kerlin from USA in 4:3324th Josie Beggs USA 5:0125th Rhonda Mazza 5:2326th Barbara Howe 5:4337th Smantha Nicholson -1 lap38th Tara Ross -1 lap

Check out some photos from Germany in the C-X section of the Frontrunners Gallery: http://www.frontrunners.ca/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=c-x

Euro Report #5

World Cyclocross Championships Report #5

The night before the Elite races

Normon Thibault Reporting.
9:48pm Local Time.
Everything is ready to go. Corey and I have stamped “Go Wendy” into the snow outside our hotel window for Wendy to see in the morning. We have the bikes totally dialed in for Greg, Peter, Wendy, Tara and Samantha. The bags are packed and the whole extended team are just finishing up the pre-race meeting next door. We are pretty excited!

Earlier today.
After the Junior race Corey and I sent Wendy and Samantha back to the hotel. We sent our report and then had the opportunity to watch the under 23 race. This race is one of the best to watch because they race so hard and with far less tactics. It is just full throttle from the beginning until they each reach their limits. The crowds were even bigger than the junior race and we joined them at various parts around the course checking out the lines and making mental notes to pass onto the “drivers” in tomorrow’s race. Along the way we stopped for some local spindle meat and “beverages”. It was a great race and even better was the atmosphere of the place.

Earlier Tonight.
Jake, Josh, Corey and I debated one last time about tires to start on and what we would be doing for race day. All the bikes got one more once over and finitely tuned. We debated about putting a Canadian Flag onto Johnathan Page’s bike as he is staying at our hotel since the US team forgot to get him a room at theirs.

After dinner the owner of the hotel got out the biggest arabian water bong and started smoking with anyone that would try it.

It has been a great day.

RaceDay

OK. I can’t hold back any longer! I am sitting outside the press area. 12:25 local time. The girls have just finished racing and my head it pounding and I have a HUGE head ache. What an AWESOME race!! I am sure that Wendy will replay it in her head a number of times over the next hour, day, years. As will Samantha and Tara.

I will focus a bit more on Wendy’s race from the pits and try to get all the riders to recount their races for a future report.

ANYWAYS….I am waiting for official results but we think that Wendy was nipped at the line for 12th or 13th place. She had awesome start…but not too awesome as she is usually inclined to go out too hard. The course was in great shape as the crew was sanding and sawdusting the course all night. BUT it was snowing!! The temp. was -6.

Wendy was right in the mix on the first lap. At the end of lap one we could see that she had dirt on her right hip. She had gone down on the far section of the course as it was super slick. Half way through lap 2 she pitted as she had a front flat. She grabbed her back up bike, Corey’s Empella, but was finding the tires on this bike were not hooking up quite as well as the “secret” tires that we put on her bike for the snow. Jake worked on getting her bike dialed in again putting on a spare wheel and checking everything. All the while Corey and I were watching for Samatha and Tara. Somewhere in there Samantha flatted her front tire as well and pitted for her second bike. On lap 4 Wendy was in a solid group of girls from 10th to 14th and she pitted again to get back on her pink Surley.

I have to tell you that She never looked better in a race. Totally solid. Looking for places to pass. Not following. Making moves. Her last move was just a slight error as she got on the track with 200 meters to go she was in a bad position and leading out the sprint. Wendy does not lose many sprints but this girl had just a little too much and nipped her at the line…..still waiting to hear the placing.

At the finish area she was totally spent. Her hands were numb. Her face was actually frozen a bit and she was having trouble moving her lips. We can download the HRM data and post a graph later if anyone is interested!!

Several people came up to her afterwards to congratulate her on her performance. In Europe this usually does not happen if you are not in the top 10.

Samatha and Tara I think finished together or in order with one lap to go having been lapped by Hanka on her last lap. I have not had the chance to talk to them yet about their feelings on their races but will try to post their reports later.

A HUGE thanks to everyone for their support for Wendy. I know that she really appreciates it all.

Still waiting for retults….
Thanks to www.HellyHansen.com, www.Frontrunners.ca, www.BrodieBikes.com, Tufo and eNVy.

Euro Report #4

Europe Report #4

Junior goes to race.

Normon Thibault Reporting.

Corey and I are just sitting outside the press area right now having a few beverages and avoiding the sandwiches with the weird stuff on them. Let me get you up to date….

It is COLD out there….really COLD! We rode the course with the girls yesterday and everything was frozen. The course is one of the hardest I have ever ridden. One of the highlights of our ride was when we were just going up to the barriers and Hanka was getting interviewed at the side of the course. I cleared the barriers and heard a huge BANG behind me….it was Corey hitting the barriers and going DOWN. Right in the middle of Hanka’s interview…..she just looked over with a scowl.

On one of the steepest downhills a girl from Japan crashed at the bottom just as I was going over the top. I missed running over her head by inches. There were juniors and girls that were just walking sections…scared out of their wits.

Corey and I spent the afternoon finding small parts and some special snow tires for Wendy’s bike. I went to the manager’s meeting with Chris while Corey went back to the Dutch Camp in search of more parts….just in case and to be ready for all conditions.

Last night I was up until 11:00 working on Wendy’s Surly and Corey’s Empella (Wendy’s back up bike). Jake and Josh (the borrowed Mechanics from the USA) worked on Joel’s bike getting them totally dialed in. We were not totally satisfied with the pimp factor so I put my Zipp’s on his #1 bike and it looked SO good!

Early up. Breakfast and load everything up. -10 degreed outside. The warming trend is not happening and we are leaning our preparations more and more towards a frozen, hard, slick course.

On Site
When Joel saw his bike when we unloaded it at the race site he was so pumped! While he did his final preparations Samantha was getting her first look at the course and Wendy was dialing in tire pressure and checking over sections riding her back up bike.

We got every last detail sorted out and headed over to the start. Joel was pretty relaxed considering this was his 5th or 6th cyclocoss race ever. He handled everything fine and did his own preparations in his own zone.

Race #1 Juniors
Like all c-x races and particularly world championships this race started very-very fast! There was a crash just after the start that took a few riders down and Joel managed to just avoid it. Corey and I both commented on how he was not riding pace with anyone else and always trying to pass and try different lines. About half way through he got a front flat and then crashed on a downhill. He made it back to the pits and stitched to his back up bike but had lost a few spots. It was great to see him attacking anyone that was around him and trying to pass in the more technical areas. He caught one more rider from the US on the last time up the stairs and they had a good battle until the finish where Joel won the sprint. Afterwards he was pumped but totally spent! A great effort for his first worlds.

We took a bunch of photos and are painfully sending the 12 best from this morning via e-mail. Enjoy!!

Normon OUT

Thanks to Helly Hansen, Frontrunners Nanaimo, Brodie Bikes and eNVy.

Europe Report #3

Worlds C-X Trip 2005
Report #3

Mid Week Adventures

Wendy reporting in the back of the van at 150km/hr
(and getting passed like we were standing still!)

My favorite street name in Nanaimo is Bergen-op-Zoom. It’s not the prettiest street in town, I just like the way the name rolls off your tongue. When we were mapping out our trip and realized how close the town of Bergen-op-zoom was we had to go! Besides, Hoogerheide pretty much shut down after the cyclocross race and I really needed to eat….

The town seemed deserted Sunday night. We drove around trying to find a restaurant but only a few fry shops were open. Norm decided to do one more pass when we found ourselves in an older part of town. We decided to park and head towards the church (always a good landmark for the center of town). As soon as the engine was off we heard a band playing and there were people everywhere – it was like a disorganized parade with everyone dressed up but no theme. They had big white “scarves” around their necks and funky hats, necklaces and masks. It was like we were in the middle of some crazy Beetlejuice parade! Norm grabbed the video camera and we followed what we thought was a parade but it turned left and went into the bar. People were everywhere laughing and singing, playing instruments, wearing crazy outfits, throwing confetti and of course drinking beer!! Finally Corey stopped some people and asked them what the deal was.

We were in the middle of “Carnaval” a month long celebration (of what we are still not sure…). Every weekend for a month they party from 2pm until 2am. The last weekend is a 5 day long party. I guess it is big in many parts of Europe but the Bergen-op-zoomers were bragging that they had the best party of all. The curtains around their neck were their trademark (still not sure why…). They paid 20 euros and got a bunch of beer tickets that were good at almost any bar so it was one giant pub crawl. People had different bits of “flare” to their costumes. My personal favorite was a couple with necklaces made of markers but nothing seemed over the top. I had to eat so they took us to a restaurant that started with a shooter and ended with a shooter! Then we squeezed into a pub to get some video footage. It was packed (definitely not up to code!). Kids were playing in the windows, some clown-like guy was miming with cards (I think) and trumpets were playing somewhere…some ladies spied Norm & Corey immediately and started talking to us about Carnaval while she snuck a goose or two. Everyone was hammered! We stayed for a bit and then had to leave before Norm got his face licked by one crazy close-talker lady. On our way out a new group was going in with a full sized Christmas tree as their “flare”. NUTS. We asked a guy with a trombone (padded so as not to hurt anyone in the bar) to play us this years Carnaval song (apparently it changes every year) and almost lost Corey to the bar again. Kids were playing in the street trying to get cars to drive through their ribbons and as we drove through the music faded behind us.
To think that if we hadn’t made one right turn I might have found a new favorite street name in Nanaimo……


Corey
Meeting Pim, The Empella Story and Zeddam (Site of the 2006 C-X Worlds)

We finally found Zeddam on the map. Not Zaddam or Zandam which I think are also places in the Netherlands, it took many questions and many maps. It seems that the World Champs are always in very small towns, not always on the maps. We saw that Zeddam was close to Arnham where our friend from last year, Pim the Dutch team mechanic lives so after a phone call we were off.

Pim’s great, really funny and full of good insider info on the course, tire selection and his picks to win. Richard Groonendal, but he might be bias. He also let us know that the Spookey shop was just down the way as well as the famed Empella shop. We had brought Pim a six foot Canadian flag, they celebrate the Canadians who parachuted in to Arnham during the war and his girlfriend wanted it to hang out the window during the week. Pim also spotted Norms Canadian flag touque and we knew he wanted one and we knew he needed one. Seeing him wearing it while driving the Rabobank van when we drove into St. Wendal was sooo worth it!!

We went to Zeddam first and Wendy was skeptical that we would find the course but it had only been two weeks since the Dutch champs were held there. If you’re ever in Europe and you’re looking for something always, always, always head for the church unless there is a windmill!! This was the best windmill we had seen all trip and it also lead us straight to the course. We felt like anthropologists following grooves in the sand and mud looking for directions of tire tracks and the best lines. We got some good pictures and video of next years course and headed for Erp, land of Empella.

I don’t know what I expected to find, while we’ve been here I’ve been scoping out bikes not really expecting to buy but you never know. I wondered how hard it would be to find the shop but as we pulled into town it was like Mecca at the first round-about but it was closed. Of course it was Tuesday, what isn’t closed on Tuesday? Disappointed I walked up to the window to peer in and oh ya the doors parted. Good omen one. It was dark but we walked in yelling hello, hello. Out from the back walked the owner Ad van Empel. Almost every top rider in the Netherlands and Belgium has ridden his bikes at some point. He was younger than I thought he would be and super friendly. He seemed pumped when we told him we were from Canada and we had searched him out. He offered us a coffee and was going to let us hang out with him on his day off in the shop. I didn’t see any frames just built up bikes so I asked if he had any. The first one he picked up, a 56cm, my size. Good omen two.

I couldn’t help myself, sorry Melissa, I’ll sell some bikes when I get home, please don’t sell any before then!

Then Ad offered to switch all my parts from my old dented Fuji so I could ride it. On his day off!! I couldn’t refuse letting Ad van Empel not only sell me a bike but build it as well, while we hung out, drank coffee and rooted through his warehouse of parts, frames and tires. Oh ya, and cool photo albums. Norm and Wendy brought in their bikes for Ad to check out, He liked Norm’s Brodie quite a bit except for a small tube behind the bottom bracket which he said would collect to much mud. He joked that Wendy’s Surley must have been made ten years ago because it’s steel but after weighing it he was impressed. Norms got it down to just over 17 lbs. Not bad for a 4+ pound frame. We were late getting back to Dusseldorf and I felt really bad because our hosts Gisela and Wolfgang have been so good to us but what an experience. All and all another great day on the road.

P.S. I now also know where the name Bonfire comes from. Maybe I should wait until next report to tell you. Nah, we already have too many good stories for that. Bonfire was a 4 time Olympic champion horse from his town. I love it here!

Normon

We have left Dusseldorf and Gisela and Wolfgang behind. I am sitting, banished in the hallway of our hotel, awake-early-again. Everyone else should be up in an hour or so but I just can’t sleep later than 6am so I wait in the bathroom, hallway or closet until Wendy and Corey get up….too excited.

We drove down to St Wendel yesterday and hooked up with most of the Canadian team. There are three more members to arrive today but so far everyone is getting along well and finding their places. Greg, Peter, Wendy, Joel and Tara did a ride on the course and I think all of them crashed at least once. One of the neat things about cyclocross is that each course is SO different. This course is really-really tough. Tough combined with a few technical sections that are seeing a lot of people crash and a number of girls walking. There are some really slick, short uphills, steep downhills and fast corners.

There is one element that not everyone is prepared for or wants….SNOW. It is about -5 out and every once in a while it just starts to sprinkle. The only dry point is where the course it goes through a huge 150 meter long beer tent. Usually there is no separation between the riders and the drinkers but this time they have a massive see through wall.

We will try to take some pictures of the course and post them on Canadian Cyclist tonight as we are getting good at poaching a local wireless signal near the course.

After cruising to our hotel that is currently occupied by the team, helping with the bikes, having some dinner Corey and I headed out to find our friend Pim and the Netherlands National Team. We got lost in the snow but eventually found their hotel. They have one dinning room set up with tarps over the floor and bikes everywhere. Richard Growendal was dropping his gear off which included 3 Colnago C4 Cross bikes not even available to the public and 28 wheels. We spied some different things on his bike including a hole drilled through the carbon seat tube and seat post to allow the rear brake cable to pass through the frame….DO NOT TRY THAT!! There were piles and piles of expensive Dougast Tires with all sorts of tread. Pim hooked us up with a few secret little mechanical items and then brought out the swag; a L/S National Team Jersey, hat and skinsuit. We are under strict orders not to show ANYONE until after worlds as the items are only for their National Team and not available to anyone outside of that.

Well people are finally starting to wake up around here so I will get off the computer and get to work.


Thanks to Frontrunners, Brodie Bikes, Helly Hansen, eNVy and of course Pim the Netherlands Mechanic.

We are trying to post some pictures on Canadian Cyclist.com so check there.

Notes from Dan the Trail Guy #9

Bits & Other Bits of News

1. Okay all you ROC members out there, The Bastion Running ClubCedar 12k is on Sunday February 13th and we need to show our support.The Bastion RC has always been quick to help us and step forward to lendguidance and assistance when we need it, so please try and free up timeto either run or volunteer at their race if you can. Darrell still needs8 more course marshals. Please contact Darrell Orosz atjanddorosz@shaw.ca if you canvolunteer? If you are volunteering orrunning can you please let me know, as I would like to be able to letthe Bastion Executive know how many ROC members attended..thanks

2. Last Saturdays run in the rain or was it a swim in the rain, notsure? Those that ventured out on a very wet Saturday morning havereported back to me with glowing reviews of the run.. Here are a fewquotes from those that went: "Waist deep? For those of us that venturedto go through the 'Gunner Shaw'-type puddle... same length... samedepth... just not the rancid smell of the good old Gunner pond. Somerunners found a little round-a-bout and for some unknown reason thoughtthat they may remain 'dry???' for the run.... I believe that most of uswere soaked before we passed the yellow gate at the beginning of therun. We gingerly ran attempting to avoid the mud and puddles for aboutthe first five minutes and then just gave in...The run was great - lotsof different people leading us on a few of the known loops -RottenRooter and Space Balls were my favorite"..... Yes you missed the run ofthe year. Water up to my crotch on 3 sisters, slippery roots on RottenRooter, snow on Space Balls and mud on Bonsai. It was an epic struggleof strength and perseverance"... "We were thinking of you while we werewading - you would have loved it! Pissing rain, snow on the trail, andpuddles were over the knees on several occasions. We started as onegroup in the dark, and after 40 minutes through middle cut and rottenrooter we split into 2 paces. A really great time!"...!So, next time you are lying in bed, listening to the rain pound on theroof, wondering whether or not those "crazy buggers" will be runningtoday, you now know the answer. YES we will be, so get your sorry buttout of bed and come for a swim with us!

3. Marathon & Half Marathon training Clinics - still room left, sodon't delay any longer. You won't want to miss the great long runs westart to do on Saturdays as we increase our weekly mileage. Don't forgetthe regular Tuesday Clinics at Frontrunners, only $ 2.00 drop in fee.

4. Once the training clinics get underway, we could need to havesome "new leaders" step forward as some of the regular Saturday morningleaders will be taking the clinics and will be starting to lengthen thetime of their runs. What we have done in the past and what worked wellis I start to refer to the groups as The Long Distance Group and theMiddle Distance Group. The Middle Distance Group will be the group forthose of you that want to keep the distances of their runs in the hourand 20 minute range. The Long Distance group will start to lengthentheir runs up to increase their runs to about the 3 hour plus rangeeventually. The run schedule will be a little confusing as we get intothe later part of April and into May and those getting ready for PortAngeles need to do some Road Runs. I will try and make sure that we arestill able to offer a trail run each weekend.

5. Mill Bay 10K is this Sunday, 11:00am. Great 10k out and backalong the water. Good luck to all of you racing. Remember to register asBastion - ROC

6. LINLEY VALLEY - is the location of this weekend run. Lots of youasked for me to leave it in the run schedule, so weather permitting weshould see a good turn out. We will meet at Burma Rd at 7:30. For thoseof you that don't know, Burma Rd runs off of Lost Lake Rd. DIRCETIONS:Take Rutherford Rd to Vanderneuk, turn onto Vanderneuk, it quicklybecomes Lost Lake Rd. Follow Lost Lake Rd to Burma Rd, turn right, youwill see us right away.

Have a great week everyone.
Dan

GutBuster Registration

This is a reminder that the early-bird cut off for registration for the GutBuster Trail running series is January 31st. Registration can be found at www.gutbustertrailrun.com

Europe Report #2

World C-X Trip 2005 Report #2

Sunday. Muddy Sunday

Corey’s Report
The next day we raced again and I now know about the Belgian mud, sticky and deep. Norm and I raced the masters, 34-44. The masters30-34 started a minute before us and the 44-death behind us by a minute. Some of the 44+ past us before the first half lap and about three or four laps in Santa’s slightly slimmer brother past me in the muddiest section. It was also a cool course, at an old fort full of bunkers and brick buildings. It cost us eight euros to get in, the same as spectators but we got five euros back after racing. Pretty decent, I wish we could make our races that cheap and charge people to watch. On the down side, it did cost us five euros for two litres of water at the race. We thought about drinking beer before, during and after the race instead since it’s was a third of the price. Thanks for reading, that’s all for now.

P.S. The best thing about being a master racer is the van has more pastery crumbs than mud on the floor!!

Wendy’s Report
We left our friends Frank and Johan in Hoogstraten, Belgium to be closer to the Hoogerheide and Wilrijk races for Sunday. They gave us some Ciclo Morello arm warmers because the forecast was calling for S-N-O-W. Luckily, the Italian team had jammed on their reservations so we got a nice hotel close to the World Cup race in Hoogerheide. We were all pretty fried so we just wanted a good night sleep to get back on track. Norm has been getting up at 3:00am and anyone who knows Norm knows he just can NOT stay still very long so we have banished him to the bathroom so we can get some sleep.

Sunday morning we got up early for our meat & cheese breakfast (Corey added chocolate sprinkles so if he puked again we would have had no sympathy!). The boys took off early for Wilrijk and I went to check out the World Cup course. It was totally different than Heerlen-fast and hard-packed grass, dirt and sand with lots of cobbles & pavement and only one short run-up. There was only one really technical section: a steep dirt downhill with an immediate right turn where all the “neuwelings” (juniors) were trying different lines. The huge man-made ramp that the euros love so much was slick with frost but I was hoping that would warm up by my 1:00 race. With such an open course and big field (34) of world class girls I decided I would race smart and start conservatively, trying to stay with the first pack of girls. Most of the US girls were there too along with Canadian Tara Ross so I would have a few familiar jerseys to pace myself since I seem to be too stubborn to do it myself.

The announcer called us to the line and I am happy to say that I had a good conservative start. No screaming legs. I was still in with the top group of girls for the first corner and even sprinted ahead of a few into the technical descent. The big wigs broke away pretty quickly but I managed to keep a comfortable pace without too many people passing me. Ever-friendly Ann Knapp passed me early on with a cheer (thanks Ann). But I started to notice that when I was passed it was in the grassy sections where I was bumping around and couldn’t seem to hold my power. Girls would pass me in the off-road sections and then my Xmas workouts would kick in and I would hammer the paved/cobbled sections to catch them again-only to slowly lose their wheel in the dirt. What the hell? I am supposed to be a mountain biker!! This “strategy” (I didn’t seem to have much choice) was fine until the last lap when 4 girls passed me (including Barb Howe) and my legs were just too tired to catch them on the pavement. I ended up 17th at my first World Cup cyclocross race, third North American (unfortunately Tara had a mechanical and had to drop out). I wasn’t ecstatic with the race but I was glad that I had raced smarter, I was much closer to the leaders (2:30 down on the winner, 1min down from top 10) and my legs felt pretty good even if it was only on pavement (thanks Kev!!). I just need one more lap out of these “sticks”!! No 70 euros but I will take the baby steps forward any day. One week to worlds!!

Women Results
1 Mirjam Melchers (Nl) at 36:34
2 Daphne van den Brand (B) at 0:11
3 Hanka Kupfernagel (G) s.t.
4 Marianne Vos (Nl) at 0:46
5 Laurence Leboucher (Fra) at 0:48
6 Ann Knapp (USA) at 1:06
7 Anja Nobus (B) s.t.
8 Hilde Quintens (B) at 1:08
9 Corine Dorland (Nl) at 1:22
10 Arenda Grimbergen (Nl) at 1:30
14 Barbara Howe (USA) at
17 Wendy Simms (Can) at 2:30
20 Rhonda Mazza (USA) s.t.
21 Sara Kerlin (USA) at 2:47
25 Josie Beggs (USA) at 3:48

Norm’s Report
Trying to fit in 2 races this year has required a bit more planning than before. Corey and
I wanted to experience a different smaller race than Mol and we found one south of Antwerp on Sunday but it meant that we would have to plan our escape carefully to be back in time for Wendy’s race.

The race went OK. We now know why on the tapes of Euro C-X races the guys always have their feet sticking out around corners as in the mud your brakes become useless. I had one major crash and my gears were still skipping as I had not figured out the problem yet but it was really fun. I ended up getting lapped with about 1.5 to go and it was no suprize as the locals were riding the mud SO fast compared to me. I did get announced a couple of times as being from Canada so that was pretty cool.

Corey and I canned the warm down in order to get in the van….logging the chamois time and head back up to catch Wendy’s race. It was going fine but we took one wrong turn and ended up missing the entrance to the “ring”. Thus when we arrived back, quickly got changed and headed to the World Cup course a block from our hotel the race was under way and we had missed Wendy’s best part of her race.

Back in the pits of a euro cross race….it was like we never left!

Thanks to Frontrunners Nanaimo, HELLY HANSEN, and Brodie Bikes.

Europe Report #1

World Cyclocross Trip 2005

Report #1
“Lowered Expectations”

Part 1
(Normon Thibault Reporting)

Everyone knows that getting onto a plane to leave on a trip is one of the biggest battles. When you are traveling with 3 people, 3 bikes, 5 sets of wheels, 3 HUGE gear bags…..well we all knew it was not going to be easy. Surprisingly it was not as hard as we thought as we arrived to our beloved YVR after making a trip on the 7:45 Duke point to Tswassen, traveling out to White Rock to pick up my dad who would be taking care of our training partner, Marty, and our house, popping in to Helly Hansen to say “hi” and pick up some Fall 2005 Prototype jackets to block out the elements in Europe and then onto the Airport. Our travel agent had booked us highly anticipated upgrades with our Air Canada certificates but checking in at the Air Canada counter for the flight operated by Lufthansa (in small print) we were informed that our certificates would be invalid and we would all be in “economy”. This was the start of the theme of the first part of our trip; ”Lowered Expectations”.

We soon found the second supporting event for the theme when Corey was denied entrance into the Air Canada Lounge with his special certificate, again because it was an Air Canada flight (in small print…operated by Lufthansa).

Returning to Europe one year later to race cross has been on the forefront of my mind since we left 50 weeks ago. It has gotten under my skin and I can not say that I have gone a week without thinking about it. Our trip would be a little different this year with Corey and I planning on doing 2 races back to back on the first weekend (Mol, Belgium Masters World Championships then a Masters race in Wiljrik, Belgium). Wendy also had two races planned “to warm up her legs”. The first one a UCI race in Heerlen, Netherlands and then the second one a World Cup (that isn’t a world cup except for elite men?...screwy UCI) in Hoogerheide, Netherlands. IF we timed everything well Wendy would be able to catch the end of our race on the Saturday and Corey and I would be able to work the pits for Wendy on Sunday. It was going to be tight!

Also different would be the number of Canadians over here. Last year it was just Wendy, Samantha racing worlds with Corey, Ewan and Myself doing support, managing, coaches, mechanics, drivers and planners. This year there has been a number of Canadians over racing cross through the winter. Peter Toth came over with his family for a “vacation” and to race the Masters Worlds. David Coughlin, Benoit Simard, Bruno Lafontaine, have been here since December. David is still here (Somewhere). Racing local races and then worlds are Greg Reain and Peter Morse. Joining Wendy on the girls team is Tara Ross and Samantha will be returning just before worlds. Also SOMEONE, a junior will be here to race Worlds. The crew is also larger, with every one of them paying their own way to help out, myself and Corey with 5 others and a mechanic. Managing us all will be Kris Westwood from CCA.

Part 2
First Races

Wendy Simms
After I dropped the boys off for their race in Mol and left Corey puking in the parking lot (his stomach didn’t like the order of his breakfast: chocolate-meat & cheese-pastries-egg) I had to find my way to Heerlen. Anyone who knows me is aware that I am navigationally challenged and perpetually 5mins late. Mapquest directions said the drive would take me 1hour and I had 55mins to get to registration. Of course I was late for registration (after surprisingly few wrong turns) but I shouldn’t have worried so much because no one really cared about the women’s race…..I got my number and put my spare wheels in the pit. Easy to locate as it was the only single set of wheels in the pit-everyone else had at least one spare bike and I am pretty sure a few people were laughing at me as I left.
Thirteen girls lined up at the start-not a lot but I heard Sabine Spitz called to the line (bronze medal at the Olympics this summer), Marianne Vos from NED and I recognized at least one other face from 2004 Worlds. Fellow Canadian Tara Ross was there and Barb Howe from the US. I had a rockstar start, first or second off the line-way too fast for someone who hasn’t raced for 2 months. I fell in behind a girl from the Netherlands and we had a small gap on the pavement. I thought I would settle in but then we hit the mud. The mud here was thick and slick. One of the volunteers was bragging about how it had a special kind of clay that is only found here and in China. I couldn’t seem to go anywhere in it. I was grinding through the bog but the other girls were moving faster and moving past me. The course was mostly mud with a few pavement sections in between. There was three run-ups one right after another with the last one having monster steps that were hard for even me who feels like a giant female cyclist at 5’10. In my own pain I had time to feel sorry for Tara who is shorter. I started to think I should have done more running….I got dropped almost immediately and was riding on my own for awhile. A couple of girls passed me and I tried to stay on their wheel but I couldn’t match them in the mud. I would catch and even pass them on the paved sections but eventually dropped off their radar on the last lap. The crowd would just look at me as I passed them. I got a few (drunken?) cheers on the last run up from some Belgians (who I thanked) but other than that just hundreds of eyes watching you suffer. The Euros are fanatic about their winners and I wasn’t one of them. I wanted to be put out of my misery but then I flatted right after the pit. I didn’t want to trash Norm’s Reynolds Stratos wheels so I had to run the longest 400m of my life. At least I got a few sympathy cheers at the finishing stretch. 9th place out of 13 girls, 5+ mins behind the leader Sabine Spitz, a stupidly fast start, doubts about my mud skills and screaming legs – I was pretty bummed. That is until they gave me my 50 euro appearance fee and 20 euro prize money and then I started to look at it as the race to get all the crap out of my system. Lots to think about while I was trying to find my way back to Mol……….late as per usual….

Corey’s report

Yes, I believe Norm got it right with lowered expectations. I was excited about being back in Europe but nervous about racing after missing the last half of the cyclocross season due to injury. Our season is too short to start with. It doesn’t matter, I just love being part of this trip. It was cool racing the Mol course because it didn’t change much from last year. A good way to reference past experiences. As Wendy said my stomach wasn’t reacting well to something, I think eating a boiled egg after a huge pastery filled with custard and topped with chocolate is a very bad idea. Oh well, Norm had a good race. By the way Mol is sand, sand and sand!

Norm’s Race Report
When you have a race that you don’t do so well at it sometimes burns inside of you. Such is the burn that I have felt since my first race at the world c-x champs last year. I have thought about that race almost every day. It has motivated me to do tough workouts. To get out there and train when you would rather be sitting on the couch. Even double workouts on Christmas day.

Sometimes factors that effect the race are totally out of your control….

5 minutes before the start of my race in Mol, after warming up with no problems for 1 hour, my bike started to skip gears on the rear cassette. I checked the derailleur adjustment and played with the barrel adjuster but I could not fix it. I would just have to live with it skipping. (I later found out that the free hub body was unthreading from the hub and that is why nothing would work).

The second factor that was out of our control was at the roll up. They have a good system where they pick a “random” number and then call up from there. The random number they drew was 21. I was number 15 and Corey was 20. SO I was 5th from last of 44 starters and Corey was dead last. In some races this would not matter so much but in this race the first selection is made 300 meters in at a 100 meter DEEP sand section followed by beach, more sand, single track, and more sand before your first passing area.

Like almost all c-x races the race started at warp factor 5. The next 40 minutes were a blur of clunking gears, blurry vision, sand, NO cheers (with the exception of from Peter) and an average HR of 181 and a max of 194. I was totally pumped to not get passed by anyone in my age group during the whole race but was passed by 2 guys in the lower age group with 2 laps to go and then everyone finishes on the finishing lap of the leaders…in this case the lower age group. I was really happy to not get lapped by anyone in my group but was bummed to again not finish all the laps. Wendy found us as we were washing the bikes having missed our race. We had a quick chat with Peter and I grabbed the results on the way back to the van. I was in shock as I ended up in the exact same finishing spot as last year; 26th despite all the training, experience and effort. Better performance….same result….hence the finishing touch on part 1 of our trip; “Lowered Expectations”.

Onto Hoogerhide and day 2 of racing.

Results from our races can be found at us: http://www.cyclocross.info/index.php?selectie=results&taal=en
Using the pull down menu to locate each race.

New Triathlon Clinic

Join IronMan triathlete and personal trainer Gillian Goerzen for this sixteen week program. Clinic start date is February 24th and sessions run Tuesdays from 6:30-7:30pm, Thursdays from 7:00-8:00 pm, and Saturday from 11:00 - 12:30am. The clinic is run out of Northridge Fitness Center and more information can be obtained by phoning NR @ 751-0505 or emailing Gillian at gilliangoerzen@shaw.ca

Cost is $272 for members and $292 for non-members.

Yeti Snow Shoe Race Postponed

Unfortunately due to lack of snow, the Yeti Snow Shoe race scheduled for this Saturday January 22nd at Mt. Washington has been postponed until further notice. Check out the race website at www.theyeti.ca for more details.

Kevin's Pioneer 8k Report

Hey guys, I just got back from Saanich, it was quite the adventure. I woke up this morning to the new snow and that cancelled out me driving down, I then called Bill Hollingstead who had decided he wasnt going to go but told me that there might be a few bastion guys meeting at the tim hortons to go down, I went there a few minutes early and thought I recognized a guy there. I was right, although I didnt know his name, it was Tom, and then John arrived and then Ted arrived. the four of us sat there for like 15 minutes deciding if we would go, and finally it was a go. And I can say that I am really happy we went. The course was alright, a bit of slush the start was the worst. I was really happy with how the race went, I listened to your advice Stefan and took it out a bit easier than everyone else, I pretty much came from behind the whole race catching guys. At 4k I split 13 mins even, which was ok but there was a pack of 3 about 25 seconds ahead of me I wanted to catch, I managed to catch one guy and then almost the next but this was at the finish line. My overall time was 26:05. It was good I cant say the conditions slowed me down that much maybe a few times around corners, and the fact that it was pretty cold. I was surprised to win an award though. Anyways guys thats how the race went, I hope everythings good with you, Take care
Kevin

The Yeti is coming to Mt. Washington on January 22nd.

What is the Yeti? The Yeti is Canada’s first true Mountain Snow shoe racing series.
* According to statistics, Snowshoeing is the fastest growing outdoor winter activity
* Snowshoe racing is accessible to anyone who can hike and its popularity is on the rise
* Winter outdoor adventure is in demand!
* Freedom to explore open terrain, an appreciation for the outdoors and simplicity of the
sport, all lend to snowshoeing's mass appeal

Be a part of The Yeti mountain snowshoe series.
Six events, each with a 5km and a 10km course - terrain for both beginner and advanced level athletes. For the best cross-train and the most fun you can have on snow,

LOCATIONS* Mount Washington - January 22 Silver Star - February 5 Mt. Seymour - February 19 Sun Peaks - March 5 Cypress Mountain - March 20 Final Yeti Whistler Blackcomb - April 2Ultra Yeti 25km and Half Ultra Yeti 12.5kmManning Park - April 16Yeti #1Mount

Washington
Pre-reg online $35 Race Day $45 Registration opens at 8am at the Raven Lodge and closes at 9:45amRace starts at 10amAwards at 12:30pm
There is a 5km and a 10km courseWe will also give every racer a free bottle of Sleeman’s beer!

Notes from Dan the Trail Guy #8

Trail Bits & Other Bits of News

1. The Bastion Running Club Cedar 12k is Sunday February 13th. Bastion is still in need of course marshals. Please contact Darrell Orosz at janddorosz@shaw.ca if you can volunteer?

2. Last Saturdays run in the snow: The group started out with 14 people but was quickly reduced to only 5 as we headed onto the less used Morell trails. Let’s just say that most of you missed an opportunity for a really good work out on the trails in Morell. Lateral movement was the motion of the day. Surprisingly when we ran through Morell though, we didn’t have to stop and do any debris removal. Nancy Grovum, who was venturing out on her first run in the snow can now proudly boast of now being a group leader. Nancy was the wise one who very easily persuaded 7 others of the group to follow her on a run on the snow covered trails around Westwood Lake. Way to go Nancy!

3. Strength Training Clinic for only $ 15.00 : Sean Lunny in partnership with Frontrunners is offering a core strength training work shop. Sean, who is a personal trainer, will focus on core strength and stretching for runners. The start date for the clinic is this Thursday January 20th and will run 6 weeks, ending on the start of the marathon run clinic (February 24th). Start time will be 6:30am at Frontrunners for one hour. The sessions will be limited to 20 people, and are now being offered on a first come first served basis. Sorry for the short notice, but it has just been put in place and we need to make sure we fill the 20 spots to cover costs. A commitment must be made for all six weeks, and will not be on a drop in basis. Cost will be $15.00 for the full six weeks and payment must be made prior to the first clinic to reserve a spot. Please bring a mat or a towel to lie down on and a band or belt to help make some of the stretches easier. You can email the store at canrun@islandnet.com , or please phone Frontrunners at 729-8200. If you have any questions please feel free to email Stefan (snjakobsen@hotmail.com) or Kari (macintyreka@hotmail.com)
There is still room in the marathon and half marathon training clinic that Kari, Stefan and John are putting on. It starts February 24th.

4. Pioneer 8k: was held on Sunday with a dozen or so hearty soles from Nanaimo venturing down to Victoria to run. Go to the Prairie Inn Harriers website http://pih.bc.ca for the full results.

5. How to split up the trail groups (without hurting feelings!) : one of the topics that came up for discussion at the AGM last week was how to break up the trail groups so that all people can come run the trails and go home satisfied with their run. A suggestion was also made at the AGM that the groups shouldn’t be labeled as the fast group, slow group, intermediate or elite group, but rather the groups should be designated and broken up, based on pace such as a 5:00 min and under pace group and a 6:00 min and over pace group. Some what like Frontrunners does with Group 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6.

I know it works with Frontrunners, but I don’t think that it necessarily will work with us. The main reason being that Frontrunners has numerous leaders, which are paid to show up and are told to lead a particular group. Conversely, with our trail runs, all the Saturday morning leaders are volunteers and the number of leaders whom have the required trail knowledge is very, very small. Also, the wants/needs of the individual leaders in terms of the pace they want to run always has to be taken into consideration when we break the group up. Therefore it isn’t always possible to break the groups into the pace groups which makes everyone 100% happy. I/we (ROC) try and do the best to accommodate all of you that show up for the trail runs, but sadly I/we can’t guarantee that the pace of the group will always be at a pace that you will all be comfortable with. I do try and advise all of you in advance as to who the leaders will be and what sort of pace/time/distance they will be running.

My main concerns are dealing with the location of the runs, ensuring that I have enough competent leaders and that we have a sweeper for all groups…….speaking of which, don’t be shy about volunteering to hang at the back of the group. It seems like it is always the same people sweeping. Remember the rule, we never leave anyone to run on their own and I would like to ask all leaders to remember that. We recently had members get off course in Morell after the group left them on their own and didn’t leave a sweeper in place…Bad!

If you are interested in further developing your skills and knowledge to a point where you will feel confident leading one of the groups, the easiest way to do that is to run at the front of the group and let the leader know that you want to lead. The leader “should” allow you to take over the lead and will call directions to you if you are making the wrong turns. The only way to learn the routes is to actually be at the front and having to make the decisions of which way to turn.

6. This weeks run: if the weather cooperates for this Saturday’s run, it should be the first opportunity to get the whole group out for a run in almost a month. The run this week, as per the earlier schedule I sent out will be a run of the trails in the DUMONT RD area. We will meet at the YELLOW GATE as per out usual time of 7:30 am and will run for approximately 1:20. Two veterans of the Dumont area; Mr. Derek Riley and Mr. Owen Carr will be your leaders this week. Derek will take out the faster paced group and Owen and I will take out the not quite so fast of pace group (is that politically correct?). If you don’t know where I am talking about in regards to the location, please email me and I will send along directions to you.

Notes from Dan the Trail Guy #7

Trail Bits & Other Bits of News

Lots of stuff to share with all of you. So the note will be a bit long….!

Runners of Compassion AGM: Was a great success with well over 30 members showing up with lots of good discussion and questions taking place. The new Board of Directors is as follows Eric Sundby, Lisa Crucil, Ken Jones, Ross Palfry, Inga Makepeace, Owen Carr, Kelly McKee and I, Dan Brady. Kathleen Richardson has agreed to stay on and look after the Social Committee. Further correspondence and more information will be forth coming once your new ROC Executive meets next Monday night.

The Bastion Running Club Cedar 12k is Sunday February 13th. If you are not planning on running the Cedar 12k, but are available to volunteer I would like you to please consider volunteering an hour or two of your time to help Bastion Running Club with the race. Bastion has always been a large supporter of ROC since our inception as a charity organization here in Nanaimo and a lot of ROC members are members of both organizations. The members and Executive of Bastion have always been quick to offer their help, guidance and support whenever we have had an occasion to call on them and they are big supporters of us when it is Half Marathon time. A strong show of support both in runners and in volunteers from ROC will be greatly appreciated not only from Bastion, but also from the Executive of ROC. I hope to see a lot of us there. Please contact Darrell Orosz at janddorosz@shaw.ca if you can volunteer?

Running Club vs. Running Based Charitable Organization. There is a difference? Bastion Running Club is what their name states, a running club, where as ROC is a charitable organization. Yes ROC does run as a group on the weekends and a lot of us do register our selves as Runners of Compassion when we are running in races such as the Gunner Shaw, GutBuster, Port Angeles Marathon, etc but we are still first and foremost a charitable organization which raises funds through staging running events. The funds we raise go towards charity work, where as a club such as Bastion is able to use their funds for such things as equipment purchases and other items. Why I am rambling on about this, well here are the two reasons……1). People are starting to ask me about ROC training clinics for the spring and the fall. The staging of clinics is not what ROC does, that is left up to clubs like Bastion, organizations such as Frontrunners, Women’s Pace or people like Kari, Kim, Stefan, Sherri, Ference and John. ROC will do all that it can to promote and participate in the clinics but we will not stage them. At this time our energies are all directed towards fund raising through staging running events…… 2) If you run in any of the Island Race Series you should register your self as a member of Bastion, not as a member of Runners of Compassion. ROC is a member of VIRA, but not in terms of gaining points in the Island Race Series. Bastion is the Nanaimo club that is the member of VIRA and is the club that gains points from you each and every one of you that runs in the Island Race Series if you register under their name. So please try and ensure that Bastion and Nanaimo gains as many points as possible by registering under their club name. You can contact Bastion, through Darrell at the above email address about membership. Hopefully that all made sense to you, it sort of makes sense to me when I read it. The main point is we (ROC) are a charity and Bastion is the running club, same city, but two separate organizations with two separate reasons for being in existence. We seem to compliment each other.

Trail Steward Ship – Norm and I have run a few of the different trails around town (Westwood, Morrell, Linley, Humility) this past week and I can tell you that other than the main trail around Westwood and the Rocky Knoll, Lake trail and Alder Trail in Morrell most trails are still in real bad shape and deep with snow. As recently as Tuesday afternoon, I was the first person to run along the power lines trail. I wouldn’t actually call it running. It would have been great if I had snow shoes. The recent snow fall has had a devastating affect on all the trails we run. There are branches down, trees down and a lot of low hanging branches bent over the trails. We are going to need to do some trail stewardship if we want to see the trails back in the shape they were before the snow fell. I would like to ask that all of you bring along one of the following items on the next few Saturday runs; pruners, clippers and small branch saws. With the number of people that are running the work will go quite quickly and can be made to be like a fartlek workout with some of the group leap frogging further a head to the next spot while a group stops and removes debris. The trails won’t clean themselves up. Norm and I will organize further work parties to remove the bigger stuff (chainsaws) once the snow goes away.

This weeks run – I really don’t see that we have any other choice than to return to Westwood and Morell this weekend. The Humility/Abyss is still to deep with snow, as would be most of the other areas. If we head into Morell we can do a clean up of the Alder, Rocky Knoll, Tranquility, Lower Maple and the Beaver ponds and still get a good work out in.. So I will hopefully see you at Westwood Lake 7:30 am (it can’t be dark). Please bring your tool, water and gloves and dress warmly in layers. It is forecast to be really cold -10. Not a good time to be a brass monkey.

Comedy Night – Sorry, but I need to do one quick advertisement. Tacky I know, but oh well! I have brought in a pretty major Comedian for this Fridays Comedy Night in Spanky’s January 14th. His name is Johnny Johnson or Johnny Bag Pipes. Johnny has done network TV spots both here and in the states and normally plays only the larger comedy clubs in the states. He has family on Island so I was abler to get him fairly reasonable. If you need a good laugh and want to see a top notch comic come see Johnny on Friday night. Tickets are $10.00 for this show. I do have a dozen freebies if any of you want to come and see it. Email if you want to go. Doors are at 8:00, Comedy starts at 9:00 and dancing follows at around 11:00. a fun night out.

Cedar 12K

We are about 1 month away from the annual Cedar 12km Race.
The race this year is on Sunday Feb 13.

Once again we will need help on race day. I have had a few people volunteer but still need a few more.

Ross Palfry has agreed to head up Registration and he will need help for the same day sign up. This is a good spot for folks who want to run can help before the race.

Mike Jorgensen has agreed to head up the parking. Another spot for some folks who want to run the race can help before the race.

Steve Gagliano is heading up the race Marshals. We will need about 20 people so if you do not want to run the race this is a good spot for you.

Steve Middleton is heading up the finish line crew. We need 5 adults at the finish line.

Jennifer Frost is heading up the food and will need help on Saturday Feb 12 in the afternoon 6 people to help prepare the food.

I do not have any one to head up the water table yet will need 4 people.

Thank you to the folks who have all ready offered to help but we need to firm up more. This is the major fund raiser for the club so all the help we can get will be great.

Please let either myself or Ross, Mike,Steve G, Steve M or Jennifer know you can help.

If you have any question give me a call or e-mail

Darrell

The Yeti

The Yeti is coming to Mt. Washington on January 22nd.

http://www.theyeti.ca

What is the Yeti? The Yeti is canada’s first true Mountain Snow shoe racing series.
* According to statistics, Snowshoeing is the fastest growing outdoor winter activity
* Snowshoe racing is accessible to anyone who can hike and its popularity is on the rise
* Winter outdoor adventure is in demand!
* Freedom to explore open terrain, an appreciation for the outdoors and simplicity of the sport, all lend to snow shoeing's mass appeal

Be a part of The Yeti mountain snowshoe series. Six events, each with a 5km and a 10km course - terrain for both beginner and advanced level athletes. For the best cross-train and the most fun you can have on snow.

LOCATIONS*
 Mount Washington - January 22
 Silver Star - February 5
 Mt. Seymour - February 19
 Sun Peaks - March 5
 Cypress Mountain - March 20Final Yeti
 Whistler Blackcomb - April 2Ultra Yeti 25km and Half Ultra Yeti 12.5km
 Manning Park - April 16

Yeti #1Mount WashingtonPre-reg online $35 Race Day $45
Registration opens at 8am at the Raven Lodge and closes at 9:45am.
Race starts at 10am.
Awards at 12:30pm.
There is a 5km and a 10km course.
We will also give every racer a free bottle of Sleeman’s beer!

Raffle Results

Thanks to everyone who purchased raffle tickets to "help send Wendy to Germany" to represent Canada at the World Cyclocross Championships!

And the winners are.....
NOEL GOATER: won a Dinner for 2 at the Discovery Room kindly donated by David Drakeford
BILL CLARK: won a pair of dog walking shoes kindly donated by Frontrunners Nanaimo
ROB WAGER: won a dinner for 2 at the Discovery Room kindly donated by Patrick Ross
DAVE DeGEAR: won a lunch for 2 kindly donated by David Thomas
LORNE WALLER: won a breakfast for 4 at the Millstone Eatery at the Howard Johnson kindly donated by Dan Brady
ALLAN GIBSON: won a $40 gift certificate for the Malaspina Bookstore kindly donated by Carol Tyre
PAT GOOD: won "a night under the stars" kindly donated by astronomer Bill Weller

Special thanks to my good friend and biggest fan Tim Goater for organizing the raffle which raised $1205!!! Maybe his Dad will take him to the Discovery Room next time he is in town....

Thanks so much for all of your support!! I leave next week but already have my Malaspina hat packed. I hope to do you all proud-wish me luck!!

Race reports will be posted on the Frontrunners Nanaimo "blog" http://frontrunners.blogspot.com

Wendy Simms

Tuesday Night Clinic for January 11th

Hello everyone....unfortunately the sidewalks are still not clear from our recent snow SO we have to cancel the clinic for this week.

Hopefully we will back next week; sidewalks permitting.

Normon

Norm on www.Triathletemag.com

A friend of mine is now working for Triathlete Magazine and he asked me to write a weekly column for their on-line publication; www.traithletemag.com

The first article which has HEAVY editing is located at: http://www.triathletemag.com/story.cfm?story_id=9265&publicationID=92&pageID=1705

We are going to try to find a place to post the original article on our site somewhere each week as well.

Normon

Adjusted Trail notes from Dan

The forecast for the next few days is for snow, snow, snow

Friday... Periods of snow with local blowing snow over southern sections. Amount 5 to 10 cm. Windy. High minus 1. Wind chill minus 12 in the evening. That is dam cold.brrrr

Saturday... Periods of snow. Windy. Low minus 4. High minus 2.Sunday... A mix of sun and cloud. Low minus 6. High minus 1

Monday... Periods of snow. Low minus 5. High zero.

Therefore, in the best interest of all concerned I think it best that I"officially" cancel this Saturday's run of the Humility/Abyss. Itdoesn't make sense to take a bunch of you into an area than can be exposed to wind and potential wind fall. We will reschedule the Abyss for early February..sorry! For those crazy fools who want to get out and experience a run in the snow, we can try and give Westwood or Morell a shot at 7:30. Far moresheltered and more established trails. I might even wear pants if it is cold enough.Enjoy the winter we are about to experience.

Dan

Notes from Dan the trail guy #6

TIDBITS & OTHER BITS

1. New Years Day Run
Amazing!!! A dozen or so of us (where wereyou?) managed to pull our sorry butts out of bed and run in the fresh snow along the power lines trail and through Morell on New Years Day you missed an amazingly beautiful run.... Let me tell you, 9:00am is a very late time to start running, it through my whole day out of whack.

2. Run for Relief
As some of you may or may not know, I was trying to arrange a run for Runners of Compassion to raise funds for theTsunami victims. My original intent was to try and stage the run in time to take advantage of the federal governments offer to match private donations dollar for dollar. With this program scheduled to end on January 11th, I simply won't be able to stage the run in time.Therefore I am going to hold off staging the Run for Relief until sometime in March. I am sure that there will still be a large need for fund raising efforts at that time. In the mean time if you were thinking of donating funds for the relief victims, try and do it prior to January11th, that way your monies can be applied to the matching funds program.

3. Run Rotation
This week we return for a run of the area known as the Extension Ridge or as the Humility Abyss, same area, two different names. Either way, please be at the power lines on Harewood Mines Road by 7:30 am. Directions are below. The run includes part ofthe Trans-Canada Trail. The run should be an hour and 20 minutes inlength. For those of you that haven't run in this area before, the trails are great single track with no large hills (This is Nanaimo and it is a ridge run so there is some elevation gain, but it is minimal) I think Steve Laird refers to it as "undulating". A still to be announced speedster will lead the Greyhounds on a quick run. Apparently some of you speedier folks have a need to burn off some post Christmas energy. Well this person will do his/her best to accommodate you, and will ensure that you are out for the requisite hour and 20min or so... I on the other hand will lead a far more moderate pace group run.
Here are the directions to get to where you need to be, assuming you are coming off the Parkway.
Turn on to 5th Street - Malaspina College and head down thehill
Turn Right on to Wakesiah
Turn Right on to Nanaimo Lakes Road - Travel for 4 -5 minutes
Turn Sharp Left on to Harewood Mines Road drive past animalshelter
Travel for very short distance.
Park under the Hydro Lines

SNOW, we might have snow this week, so if on the Saturday the roads are clear and there isn't more than an inch or two of snow, we will be a go. If it is nasty out and the snow is deep, stay home, stay in bed and stay off the roads. Enjoy your chance to have a sleep in.

January 15th - Lantzville Foothills
January 22nd - Dumont Rd Trails
January 29th - Linley Valley
February or March - I will try to get Snow Shoeing organized..details to come later....all tentative and subject to weather, trail conditions and mood swings.

4. Help send Wendy Simms to the World Championships
Wendy has qualified to represent Canada and Nanaimo at the World CycloCross Championships in St Wendel Germany, January 31, 2005. Because CycloCross is not an Olympic sport, there is no financial support available for theCanadian team, so all funds required must be raised by the individual athletes. In order to help raise funds and lessen the financial burdenon Wendy a raffle has been organized which will help to off set some of Wendy's expenses. Tickets are $5.00 each and are available at Frontrunners.
Prizes include;
Dinner for two at the Discovery Room (Malaspina University - College)
Dinner for two at the Discovery Room (Malaspina University - College)
Lunch for two at the Discovery Room (Malaspina University - College)
Gift Certificate for Malaspina University - College Bookstore
Family Star Gazing Night with M.U.C Dept of Physics and Astronomy
Breakfast for 4 in the Millstone Restaurant (Howard Johnson - Nanaimo)
Shoes from Frontrunners

Draw date is January 7th

5. Runners of Compassion - Annual General Meeting
Monday January10th is the date of the Runners of Compassion - Nanaimo Chapter, AnnualGeneral Meeting. The meeting takes place at 7:00pm and is being held in the Nanaimo Hornets Rugby Clubhouse on Dover Road.

6. Training Clinics
Lots of options - Train for either PortAngeles (June 12th) or Vancouver (May1st), train either in the morning or in the evening... your choice! Now that Christmas has come and gone space will fill up quickly.So Don't Procrastinate or it may be too late!Details available from Kim Gagliano, Sherri Wade, Stefan Jakobsen, KariMacIntyre, John Lowen or at Frontrunners

Clinics

Frontrunners famous Tuesday night drop-in run clinics start again tonight (January 4th) at 6:30pm. 6 levels that progress from walking (group #1) to fast running (group #6). $2 dropp in fee at the door. No need to pre-register but your must sign a waiver if you have not done so before.

Hope to see you out.