Cross Worlds Y3 Report #8 (Last Report)

January 29, 2006

Wendy Simms
Well, just because you do everything right (rest lots, avoid pastries, follow your program, hydrate etc) for the World Championships doesn't mean that everything is going to go right....

It was -7C and crystal clear when we woke up so the biggest factor was going to be the cold. Saturday they had put lots of sawdust on the course so it wasn't very icy anymore just f-a-s-t. I was hoping to do my warm up on the course but I changed my mind after one lap when I realized that 30,000 people were watching my every move. I found a good little side road to warm up on (after passing thousands of fans walking to the course). Nothing left to do but race.

I was called up unceremoniously to the second last row. The gun went and I started out fine but didn't really seem to be moving up all that much - it might have had something to do with the tanned Italian chick that was slamming me into the gates/fence at every turn. I had to back off a bit for fear of going down. The descent was clean and I had a good spot going into the stairs and hill. I was "in" (at the very back of) the big chase group with Lyne Bessette (cyclocrossworld.com) near the front. I could hear people cheering Canada all over the place. I dangled off the back of them for the first lap but could not close the gap before the long open start/finish stretch so I was on my own in the wind. So close. A few girls were close behind but I was riding the twisty sections and downhill faster than most so I would get some breathing space on the uphill. I even caught the big chase group again but the wheel I caught was off the back when I got there. A few girls joined me including a Belgian girl that is dating Bart Wellens (big wig cyclocross racer) so all the fans know her from the reality TV show "Wellens and We." My cheering section could no longer be heard but at least I got some draft off her. Soon after (lap 3) my Kona teammate Ann Knapp rocketed past me and I jumped on her wheel. This was good. Except....my hands were now frozen and I couldn't feel my braking. I went into the downhill right behind her and bit it!! I thought I had been braking but apparently it was not enough. Lucky for me they caught it on TV and showed it on the jumbotron for all to see. I botched the second half of the downhill too and had to work the uphill as 5-6 girls had passed me. But I couldn't brake again going into the windmill section so I blew through the course fence and had to jump it to get back on. Two more girls passed me. I tried to beat some blood into my hands while trying not to lose sight of the girls ahead. The rest of my race was spent with Veerle (the Belgian girl with the big cheering squad) back and forth back and forth back and forth. It was a good battle. You would think it was a fight to the death between the two of us but it was really a fight for 22nd place. I managed to win the battle in a sprint finish.

So, not even close to my goal of top ten. I was pretty disappointed but I couldn't be too disappointed because other than losing the big group at the end of lap 1 and the crash I had a pretty decent race. I think I was most disappointed in my lack of improvement. Even if I didn't crash and have 7 or 8 girls pass me I doubt I would have had a better result than last year. And I had done everything right. I had done everything the same as last year. But maybe that is the point, I had done everything the same so why should I have seen an improvement?? Lots to think about on the long flight home but time to put it away and have fun for the rest of the trip.

Thanks to everyone who helped me get here. Thanks to Kona for providing with me with 2 incredible bikes that took me far this season, to Norm for being an amazing support spoke for me and a great team manager for Canada, to Pim and Beert our mechanics who had our bikes dialed for the race, to the Malaspina crew who covered for me at work so I could chase my dream of a top ten at cyclocross worlds (we have chocolate!), to Helly Hansen for keeping me toasty warm and stylish, to my brother Kevin who coaches me, to Robbie Orange for being the last minute go-to man, and thanks to the rest of the Canadian team who made this trip super fun and reminded me how big of a deal it is to be part of this event.

Rob Orange's Su perFan Report.
The nice thing about being over 40 is...you don't ALWAYS have to race...I'd decided on fairly short notice to check out the World Cyclocross Championships in Zeddam...quite something for a guy who 16 months ago not only laughed with derision at his cyclocross riding friends but vowed he would never race cross...so much for that...one race and I was hooked...here I am in Zeddam Sunday night chilling with what's left of the Canadian contingent...UNBELIEVABLE is about the only way to describe this entire whirlwind trip...I arrived Friday morning in Amsterdam, took the train to Arnhem, promptly found my hotel, put my bike together, hopped on it and made the solo pilgrimage to Zeddam...25km...shouldn't take that long I thought...welcome to Holland...as much as I took the milk route...it was worth it...what should have been a one hour ride took two hours...but I got to the race sight...watched some of the riders warming up, but as the temperature dropped I figured I try to find my buddy G Reain in Braampt...I did and that's where the fun truly began...it was nice to see Greg...looking chill as usual...he took me back to the Canadian team home cabin...so Canadian eh! Everyone was in a great mood and seemed quite focused yet relaxed. Friday was a quiet night...Saturday morning the place lit up with energy...I can't say enough about the organizational skills and calm demeanor of Chef de Mission, Normon...totally relaxed he took care of both Mike and Ryan on Saturday, and had the elite racers well taken care of Sunday...Mike had a great race...looked great rode well and and had a great finish...the best part was his mother at the finish line..." Son we are so proud of you!" His performance would have made any Canadian proud...but it didn't end there...Ryan had to overcome significant technical challenges to also represent the flag extremely well...both races had hundreds and hundreds of spectators...some places two and three deep...so cool...then came Sunday...three women in the morning Lynne, Wendy and Stacey and one man in Elite...the one, the only...Greg Reain...as far as spectating goes...I had the drill down pretty well this time...where to be off the start, then I bullied my way onto the TV platform for some wicked video footage of all the racers on the long stair runup...Sunday morning there were probably 6000 to 7000 people watching the women's race...and by the start of the men's race...easily 10,000...some spots on the course were ten deep...it was nuts...five HUGE beer tents,,,tons of concession stands...monster video screen...and RABID fans...superfan could learn a thing or two about commitment from some of the Belgians that's for sure!!! The best part of the whole weekend was each individual Canadian racer rode as hard as they could and represented Canada with pride and dignity...they were inspiring...individually and collectively...Of course I must give props to Pim and Bert...the two Dutch mechanics were so impressive, and proud to be a part of the Canadian Team...that should tell you something of the quality of people these athletes are...till next year.

Last word by Norm
Well we missed having Corey here this year! It has been pretty cool to see Canada go from two girls in 2004 to a team of 6 in 2005 with a Junior and then another team of 6 this year with a junior and an Espoir. What is it going to take to get a full Canadian Team over there?? Or at least our top 3 in each category? Come on! There is only one way to check it out and that is to jump in.

It has been an amazing trip (again and as always). I have never had to put on SO many clothes (4 lower layers and 6 upper layers) in my life! Great racing! Huge efforts by all the Canadian athletes. All forking out their own money to get over here and test themselves against the best in the world. It is truely an inspirational trip. It was great to get to know a few people for the first time (Mike, Ryan, Robert and Stu) and to get to know others better (Lyne, Stacy, Greg and Pim).

It is a team effort over here and everyone pitches in. We had incredible support from Bert and Pim who donated their time.

Behind the scenes in Canada we had Sean and Kris with his broken ankle getting our passes formalized and answering questions from the rookie team manager.

All our shop staff at Frontrunners covering me while I was away. My Dad taking care of our house and Marty and the crew at Malaspina making sure that Wendy was covered. No one goes to the world championships of any sport without support!

If you missed any of the other reports you can find them on: http://www.frontrunners.blogspot.com/
I will post pictures from our trip at: http://www.frontrunners.ca/gallery/ (it already has 21 hits but there are no pictures posted......)

Remember the Nationals (Qualifier for Worlds) is in Nanaimo on November 11, 2006......see you there!

Cross Worlds Y3 Report #7

Friday was spent attended to and doing some official duties.

Course
As you recall in Report #6 the UCI was holding fast on the length of the first straight away. We had it measured at 110m they said 180m and were not going to budge. I send a total of 3 e-mails to 2 people explaining my view on it.... gently. The e-mails I got back suggested that the course would not be changed. Last night at the end of the managers meeting the chief commisaire added very casually that the start would be pushed back another 40m. He then talked to me afterwards and said that he had another look at it and asked someone on a bike to measure it (if you know holland you know that the bike computer would probably be accurate) and they got 160m so he had them add another 40m. Pretty amazing considering everyone said that the UCI would never change it! Hopefully it helps our guys and girls take a few more spots before the first technical grass sections.

Team Meeting
As a race director, it is good to see that even at the top level of sport, a world championship, that all the levels of the organization still need to help out and work on mundaine level tasks. During the managers meeting the chief technical assistant was filling out parking passes for all the teams and labeling the pit passes with post it notes. You would think that this would have been done a while back. Perhaps that is how they have always done it but it was good to see that the top guys helped out on every level of the race.

Bungalow Park.
Things are filling up around here and there are more and more people. Our little complex is now full and I think that pretty much the whole complex with over 200 units is occupied in the last day. Friday nights there were parties going on all over the place and we had to leave the main complex as it was so smokey as everyone was lighting up while they were drinking down. I was pretty smelly when I got back to our place and had to put my clothes outside in -5 to air them out. It really is staggering to see how many people still smoke over here.

Saturday Morning
Again and as always.....waiting for people to get up. We have Ryan and Mike's Bikes ready for Pim and Bert to arrive to give them one last check over. Mike bought some new tires yesterday to give him a bit more traction so Pim spent the day doing a glue job on them. They look perfect and straight. Years of practice. Ryan is using my Zipp Wheels with 34mm tires and he was pretty pumped about it yesterday in practice. They just have more traction that what he has been using. Mike is also using my bike as a back up incase there is a problem with his. He went to move the seat yesterday and discovered that we had exactly the same saddle height.


Saturday afternoon.
Mike's Report (JR Male)
Man what a race!! I wasn't to sure how I would finish after the Hoogerheide disaster last weekend (second last place). After some good nights sleep, some good training rides and some
really competitive bowling i was good to go. After riding the circuit yesterday I discovered supermans are not easy to do (I'm sure you will hear that story from Wendy or Ryan) and my Tufo tubbs where not going to grab on the frozen dirt, so i had to take a chance and change the tufos to Dugast less than 24 hours before my race. Our dutch mechanic Pim did a stellar one shot glue job and the tyres are stuck down good. It was not until after the race that Pim admitted he was a little worried. I now realize you don't need skills to rail slippery corners like the pros, all you need are some Dugast tubbs from cyclocrossworld.com. I was called to the line in the second row which was awesome because there was only 200 meters to the first corner (would have been 150 but Norm put his foot down at the managers meeting and would settle for nothing less than the rules). So my start was very good, I was 12th onto the dirt and rail'in my Dugasts through the corners. I learned quickly last weekend that you have to be aggressive and race with your elbows as well as your legs, make it really sketchy when someone tries to pass. I planned to have a good start and limit my damage throughout the race, and thats exactly what I did. I could not believe the massive amounts of spectators lining the circuit today. The constant noise pushes you around like an invisible force, it really is incredible. I heard my name all over the place. People here are super excited to see Canada out here racing cross, all over the the coarse I heard Go Go Canada. In the end I was 2 minuten and 19 seconds back in 31st place. Thanks to Pim, Bert and Norm my bike worked flawlessly, and Thanks to GRein's buddy Rob my feet thawed out nicely. 13 months after it's start, my season is finally over, and it's time to eat Fritter snacks and drink some Dutch beer with my parents who have become party hard cyclocross fans.


Norm's Note: the crowds were HUGE today for the Saturday races. Usually they are much smaller which means that they could be absolutely MASSIVE tomorrow!

Ryan's Report (U23 Male)
Coming later.

Cross Worlds Y3 Report #6

Early Friday Morning (before everyone is up....)

Course
We got a bit more of a dusting of snow again yesterday and the temperature has been hovering from -2 to +2 degrees. The course will be slick! Several parts of the course never see sun so they are the most frozen and rutted of sections. The 5 of 6 Canadian riders (Stacy has yet to arrive) rode the course yesterday at different times to see how things were looking, try out lines, check tire pressure and work their legs. Lyne was out early for her first walk over the course with Stu from Cyclocrossworld.com. They went out in the morning and then stayed out while Lyne did a few laps of the course. Greg and Wendy rode out in the early afternoon. Greg followed a few guys to see what lines they used and how they were handling the super slick corners. He said that there were several spots on the course that had hidden ice and that were so slick that you did not know which way you were going to come off it. Wendy played with tire selection and tire pressure. Pim and I were stationary (and I was freezing my nuts off) watching the action and seeing how everyone was doing. Some people were very relaxed and others were so tense that you could see that they were super concerned about the skill-testing conditions. Occasionally we would see a rider that was just riding around with a totally blank look on their face and we knew that they were pretty much petrified.

Ryan and Mike rode the course late afternoon. Ryan had been railing the downhill section each time he rode the course. Yesterday he was riding the paved downhill section after the technical dirt one. He is not sure what happened but all of a sudden he was on the road and laid out. He is a little bruised up and his bike a bit scraped so we will see how he feels today when he gets up.

UCI
The UCI is a funny little organization. They make a huge effort to write rules for each and every cycling sport down to the nth degree. When it comes down to the event....sometimes they just choose to ignore rules. For example; the rule used to be with the UCI that for a start at a UCI race you had to have a 400m straight paved stretch. Last year this was ignored or changed to allow for the start on the run track at last years worlds. This year the rule states 200M for the start. At the worlds course here in Zeddam the start is located on a straight stretch of pavement that is over 400M in length BUT the start line is only 110 meters from the first almost 90 degree left turn to dirt. This is great for those athletes that are starting on the front or second rows but for others it does not give much time before the first bottle neck of the course.

We hunted down the technical delegation for the UCI to bring up this inconsistency. They replied that it was 180 meters to the first turn (which it is 180 meters to the second turn by actually measuring it) and that they were satisfied with the start. I just find it so strange when they could easily move the start line to conform to the rules that they choose to basically ignore them. Well not entirely strange when you watch the DVD from the last two worlds and see who the fast starters are.......at least in the girls race. The last two years in a row Dutch racer Marianne Vos showed she is a rocket off the line. In the first 150 meters last year she already had a 50 meter lead over the next girls. With the course as slippery as it is to be out front and clear of everyone else will be a distinct advantage. It might just be a coincidence but never be naive and believe that there is not a lot of politics in every level of sports.

Bike Town
Late Wednesday afternoon we made a trip to BikeTown with Wendy, Mike, Greg and Ryan. They wanted to check it out as I had been telling them about it all week. We cruised the back way over to Bocholt about 30k away. As we found out their shop is 6000 square METERS. I am not sure how many square feet that is but it is HUGE. Ryan and I went into their wind tunnel that customers use for checking out Windstopper. However we were not wearing windstopper but actually our XL size Canada Team Jackets that are used by the mechanics in the pits over their regular jackets. It was pretty funny at 45k an hour simulated. IF we can get the gallery working I will link a picture. We looked around a bit and Wendy was asked in pointed German NOT to take any more pictures (although Mike and Ryan fired off enough shots).

The Poop
A little side note. Being a dog co-owner I notice things like dog care and poo patrol when I am away. One noticeable thing in Europe is that people do not "pick up". You have to watch your step everywhere. On the sidewalks. In the forest. The most dangerous spots are the small bits of grass or shrubbery in cities where there is literally a fountain of dog poo cascading on top of itself. It is disgusting.



The athletes perspective (by Wendy)
The week leading up to worlds is an odd one. You have tons of time on your hands (for once in your life), you are in a foreign country with lots of cool things to explore, but you aren't really supposed to DO anything. Rest. Rest. Rest. Well at least that is what I am supposed to do anyway. My first year at CX worlds I ate lots of baked goods, checked out everything in the area and was always on the move. It seemed like rest at the time but now I know that it wasn't even close. Maybe that is why I was 26th and a little disappointed with my results. BUT in my defense it was my first time in Europe, my first time at a major cycling event and I was just enjoying the experience because I wasn't sure if I would ever make it back. Last year at CX worlds I cut back on the baked goods, stayed off my feet more and had much better results. THIS year I feel more like a real athlete as I am doing everything prescribed by my brother Kevin who coaches me (well except for that meal at McDonalds last week but it was either that or starve to death!). And my brother has a lot of REST in my program.

So what does an athlete that is normally on the move do with all this down time? Well, you discuss the politics of your sport with the rest of the Canadian team, you watch a lot of crappy TV, you read, you go over and over and over every inch of the course in every possible weather condition with every other team member, you somehow piss away 3 hours waiting for your laundry, you eat lots of carbohydrates & protein, you think that this is your third year here so you really should have some signed cards for the fans (they take it personally if you don't have any...), you think about all the books you would like to read but are at home because they were too heavy for the plane, you talk a lot about bike parts, you watch a lot of Eurosport, you stretch, you avoid germs in every way possible and you rest. Norm is great because he gives me little homework assignments to keep me busy but still rested. Yesterdays homework assignment was to write down my goals, go over the course in my head for 15mins with the map then draw it from memory, stretch for 15mins and then think about the course in terms of what my heart rate will be doing. These little homework assignments help me focus on the race for a short period of time so I can get back to resting. Today our homework is taking video of the team on different sections of the course so we can keep our speed in the corners (and discuss it afterwards - obviously).

But not everyone is resting. Its always interesting to see what other racers are doing for their worlds prep. Some people are off the bike completely while others are doing 3 hour rides. Some people are doing interval workouts and other people are just spinning their legs. Some people are doing lots of laps of the course while others are avoiding the course because they don't want to fall and lose their confidence. Some people are looking at what other people are doing and changing their program while others trust their program completely.

Rough life you say, resting for a week. Yeah it is great but you still have the big race in the back of your mind and it never goes away because you have all this time on your hands to think about the best case scenario, the worst case scenario and everything in between. But things after the race start creeping into your thoughts too. Like cross country skiing and snowboarding at Mt Washington, surfing in Tofino March 15th (what the hell was I thinking), how my grass is growing at Malaspina, the next lecture on the West Nile virus, Marty, my training camp with Velo Bella in March, the upcoming mountain bike season.....

Notes on Car Pooling for Mill Bay

Dear Bastion,

The Mill Bay 10K comes up this Sunday at 11:00 a.m. If you would like to car pool down, meet at the Tim Horton's at Southgate Mall at 9:00 a.m. This race is always popular and I would expect anywhere from 600 to 700 runners. A scenic course, the kind that race directors like to call gently rolling, a lot of runners surprisingly have personal bests on it.
Last Saturday's AGM was a nice affair. There wasn't so much as a scrap of food left over for a mouse. Our new president is Dave De Pasquale and I'm sure Davey D will bring his own unique political perspective to matters. Sherri must be working hard for we have not had an email yet this week, but she'll probably get around to it by this weekend.

Thanks,
Ross

Worlds Cross Y3 Report #5

Wednesday Morning.

Sitting in the bungalow waiting for Wendy, Barb and Greg to get up so I can make more noise. The past two days have been the calm before things ramp up towards the weekend and the races. Nothing official to take care of other than keeping track of who else needs credentials for the Canadian Team so we can have everything dialed in for the weekend. The accreditation center opens today to I will start to do more official duties this afternoon.

The Weather
It just started to snow for the first time since we have been here. It has been REALLY cold in the morning at -2/-3C with a wind and damp but the snow will add even more skill into the course as people try to stay upright. If the snow goes away it will make the course slippery. If it stays it will make the course slippery......it will be slippery! But thinking of every option if the snow goes away and then the course freezes the course will be super rutted, hard and fast. Tire selection is always one of the most important elements of cross races and I am in constant discussions with Pim to get ideas and learn about what to do.

Pim
Pim our Dutch mechanic came by on Monday to have a first look over the bikes. He fixed Ryan's rear brake and we looked over Wendy's bikes and wheels. He explained to the members that were here that he is there to help. We wash the bikes. He fixes the bikes. Don't touch his tools without asking and everything will be fine. We both went to the course on Monday afternoon as he had not seen it in a while and he wanted to know more about how everything will be set up and how the specific sections look. Pim is volunteering his time and even dragging along another friend to help. As he says, 'I like the stay with you guys!!! Ill hope to be a plus for the team and help to improve the results. That would be the best feeling for me. See you the next Thursday. Pim." He also said his head hurt from 2 hours of speaking so much English so we will have to go easy on the conversation.

Bowling
The past two night we have had Team Canada Bowls night at the main center of our accommodations. The first night is was Stu (the US mechanic from Cyclocross World that is here to help Lyne), Ryan, Mike and myself. Barb joined us for the second game. It became pretty clear that we were all pretty bad bowlers! The family that was in the lane next to us was just laughing at us the whole time. Last night we went again and this time Lyne and Wendy also joined us. It became a girls vs. the boys competition. Apparently Wendy can bowl and in the first game she had 4 strikes in a row. She said the last time she bowled was after she handed in her thesis and her and Erin got the boot from Mayfair lanes as they were "enjoying themselves" too much. Well she led the girls to double victory (in average score) by over 20 points in the first two games.

We still had some time left in our hour so we had a third game. Fearing that the racers arms would eventually fall off we changed it to a game of "granny bowl" between the legs and/or backwards. We had some other experimental techniques as well including the slide-push, the double ball, machine gun and others but granny seemed to work the best. Again the girls crushed us with Wendy leading the way with 3 strikes and a score over 150! She wondered if she could make more $ as a pro bowler than as a cyclist and i think Lyne snorted.

Sickies
The biggest worry right now is anyone getting sick for the race. The days are short between now and the competition so there is no time to recover. Lots of rest. Lots of hand washing and....Bleek used on everything around the house. "Bleek" you ask? Well Wendy sent me to the store for some Bleach to clean our bottles and the kitchen etc. Bleach here I determined was called Bleek. They had two kinds.....regular "Bleek" and "Dik Bleek" (I can hear Corey snickering right now). The "Dik Bleek" worried me a lot so I opted for the regular "Bleek". I know you can call us germ a phobics but we prefer "Germ Aware"!

There is a good dusting of snow now. Will keep you updated with at least one more report before the race.

Normon

Trail Bits 2006 #4

Trail Bits 2006 # 4

Saturday saw the usual 25 - 30 people show up for a run of the Humility Abyss Trails. The trail report was that the trails were in amazing shape considering the amount of rain we have had. On the same day a number of ROC Nanaimo members were seen snow shoe racing up at Mt. Washington on Saturday morning. The course was a 5k loop that saw the racers having to climb almost 1000 ft in the first 2km. What a fun little work out that would be. I am sure that everyone came home feeling a little sore and tight in their calf muscles as well as a number of the other smaller muscles that seem to get trashed when you snow show race. Speaking of snow shoeing, Kathleen and the Social Committee will be organizing a Saturday morning snow shoe outing for the Trail Group in the coming months. I think that it will be similar to when we went up last time, which was a price that included your snow show rental, a guide for two hours and a bag lunch back at the Nordic Lodge. This will be good chance for those of you that haven’t snow shoed to come up and try it. This will be a hike, not a run or a race. Kathleen will send out details at a later date.

Starting on February 4th after an extended period of no running, I will finally be starting up a walk/run program. If you have a friend/spouse/partner that would welcome an opportunity to get out and walk/run the trails with me, please let me know. The intention is to get myself and those that come out with me to the point where I/we can run with the main group by the end of March. It will obviously entail lots of hiking up and down hills, getting muddy and maybe even getting wet, but it will definitely not entail any whining. I will have the walk/run group out for the same period of time that the main group is out for their run and we will meet at the same location. Email me.
Ps. the walk/run is meant to be a training clinic so please DO NOT bring me your kids, your mom & dad, your grandparents or some visiting relative to baby sit while you are out for a nice run.

1. Mill Bay 10k – is this coming Sunday. Race time is 11:00. For those of you car pooling, people are meeting at the Southgate Tim Horton’s at 9:00am. Due to the large increase in the number of people racing in the Island Series (Pioneer 8km 2005 – 434 finishers) (Pioneer 8km 2006 – 729 finishers) you may need to get to Mill Bay early if you hope to find parking close by. Last year there were over 550 finishers at Mill Bay, so I would think it may have close to 800 this year.

2. Bike Repair Clinic- Arrowsmith Bikes is holding a Bike Repair Clinic this Wednesday Night, January 25, 6:30 at their shop located behind Earls Restaurant. Cost is $ 40.00 which includes a tool kit (Mini tool, tire levers, tube and patch kit) $10.00 with no repair kit. Learn how to fix a broken chain, change a tube, limp home on a broken derailleur, or a bent wheel. Call 758-6675 for more details or o book a spot.

3. Poop Patrol – a heads up that Malaspina University College will be applying Bio Solids in the forested areas in behind the Wastelands Motocross track up at the end of Dumont. Please avoid this area for the next while.

4. Oceanside Cross Country - the Oceanside Cross Country Race Sun. Feb. 5th. It is a very low key, fun event. The registration is day of race only at 12 noon in the parking lot behind the Ravensong Aquatic Centre in Quallicum Beach

5. Cedar 12k - this is Bastion Running Clubs big race of the year. Lots of volunteers, marshals and racers will be needed for this race. February 12th, please email Darrell Orosz at janddorosz@shaw.ca if you can help with set up, registration, marshalling. There are duties that will allow you to volunteer and race.

6. Bikes for Tykes (B4T) – we will be arranging a bike drop off day in the near future. Stay tuned for details.

7. Subway Island Relay – The organizers of the Subway Island Relay are in need of one or two bodies that would be able to commit to being the sweepers (in a vehicle) on the day of the Relay, May 27, 2006. The sweepers would follow the last runners as they make their way from Courtenay to Nanaimo. If you would like more information on this, please email me.

8. The RUN Details – Westwood Lake- main parking lot, 8:00 am for a run of the trails in Morrell and around the general Westwood Lake area. Hour & fifteen. Please let me know if you would be able to help with leading a group this Saturday. Thanks. Apparently the 5 minute late arrival rule has been removed; you need to be on time!

Upcoming Stuff

· GutBuster #1 – March 5th – only 5 more weeks until the inaugural ROC Victoria Chapter GutBuster

· Mill Bay 10km – January 29th

· Oceanside Cross Country – February 5th

· Cedar 12km – February 12th

· Hatley Castle 8km – February 26th

· Bazan Bay 8km – March 12th

· Comox Half Marathon – March 19th

· GutBuster # 2 Royal Roads - March 25th

· Sooke River 10km – April 2nd

· Whidbey Island Marathon – April 2nd

· Merville 15km – April 9th

· GutBuster # 3 Mt. Tzouhalem – April 15th

· Kusim Klimb - June

Cross Worlds Y3 Report #4

Reports #1, #2 and #3 are posted on the Frontrunners Blog: http://frontrunners.blogspot.com


I think I finally shed my jet lag AND I started getting psyched for my next race after watching Norm race Masters Word Championships on Saturday. He had the WORST call up (OK the fourth worst but close enough) but still managed to pull out a great race.

I didn't get a chance to ride the Hoogerheide course Sat because we arrived after dark. We decided to stay in town so I could get up early and check out the course and Norm could help fellow Canadian Mike Bidniak (Juventus) get organized for his Junior race. Apparently the hotel/castle/hostel that we were staying at was a refuge for roosters so we didn't have a problem with the early hour. The course was pretty similar to last year with a few changes that included a second run up, some mud and a few more turns but the major feature was a long open stretch on cobbles that passed through the start finish. Greg Rein (Stevens) and Mike were just finishing up their pre-ride and the fans were starting to show up. They were staking out the best spots on the course, they were hitting the beer garden, they were unfolding their Belgian flags, they were sporting their Sven Nys supporter jackets and the smell of waffles and frituurs was in the air. Ahhhh cyclocross in Europe. SO cool to be a part of it!

Norm pitted for Mike & Ryan so I will let him relay the race report and I am sure you can read more from Ryan at: www.hoppingalong.tk

Last thing I heard before the start: "Rip them a new one Wendy!!" Ann Knapp (Kona). And she looks so innocent!
I still don't have a great call up position on the world cyclocross scene but I managed to have a good start. I found a few little gaps and moved up quite well through the looooooong cobbled start through town. No crashes just a lot of bumping - they race super aggressive over here. Lyne Bessette (cyclocrossworld.com) was just in front of me so I knew she must not have had a great start (uncharacteristic for her!). So I decided to try to stick with her. We were taking completely different lines but both moving up through the group we were with - me cutting the corners tight, her powering the open stretches. I think a small group had gotten a gap but we were in the big chase group that was moving quickly (42km/hr according to the speed trap). I was trying to rest on certain parts of the course so I didn't blow up like last week but the group would get a gap so I had to keep on the gas. Lyne was moving to the front of the group and I was near the back soon to be dropped. But somehow I ended up pulling the next group around the entire open cobbles section (duh). They dropped me as soon as we hit the grass. I was in no-mans land by myself for a long time before a chase group that included Ann Knapp (Kona) and Christine Vardaros (Velo Bella) caught up. Ann always cheers me on when she catches me, but I never have enough breath to do anything but grunt. I jumped in behind Ann and am not ashamed to say that I took some rest behind her 5ft whatever wee frame. It was exactly what I needed to get some life back. I was starting to plan our finish (us Kona girls aren't known for their tactics....). We went through the last mud section together but all of a sudden I looked over and she was DOWN. It was a slick mud that did whatever it liked with you and then spit you out but unfortunately it decided to spit Ann out sideways on the last lap. Too bad because she was so strong at the end of the race and I had been working on our finish plan. I hit the cobbles first but didnt want to tow the pesky French girl on my tail up the hill and around the corner so I let up and she surged ahead. Again not so s-m-r-t on the tactics because I have to be moving fast enough when she passes to stay on her wheel. I spent the rest of the hill and finish chute catching her and trying to sprint pass her but was a few cms shy. 16th place in the end. Not the greatest race but a lot better than last week and a few things to think about for the next week. Cyclocross - always learning.....

1. Daphny van den Brand NED 38:39
2. Hanka Kupfernagel GER 38:39
3. Mirjam Melchers NED 39:08
4. Marianne Vos NED 39:35
5. Maryline Salvetat FRA 39:42
6. Lyne Bessette CAD 39:53
16. Wendy Simms 40:57
26. Stacy Spencer 42:01

Cross Worlds Y3 Report #3

Reports #1 + #2 are posted on the Frontrunners Blog: http://frontrunners.blogspot.com

January 21, 2005

MOL, Belgium. Masters World Champs

Post race. Simms and I decided not to do the long haul back to Zeddam tonight (and back here in the morning) and are in this great hotel/dorm up in Hoogerheide. This was a great investment.

This was my third year racing the World Masters Championships in Mol and every year that I have been here is has been exactly the same. The course has not changed. Starting with about 400m of pavement and then into the deepest and softest sand that you can imagine for 100 meters then a combination of a lot of turns, sand, 2 sets of 6-7 stairs and a narrow-narrow track with little to no passing room.

You pay your 12E and you are off to the race.

Despite what my final placing was I had a great race. The biggest part of this race is the start and I had a little bad luck at the start with a horrible call up 4th from last. This is totally random with everyone being called up in a totally mixed order. Great start from the back row and I moved up quite a bit before the chaos on the first sand section. There were endo's crashes and swearing (in four different languages). I was moving up most of the race but had one bad section where I made some errors and was passed. Wendy said that I was getting stronger at the end. I think I was in the 16to19th range but we could not stay for the final results. Bigger and more important for me was that I did not get passed by the first guys in the 30-34 group which leaves before us meaning I got to complete the whole race for the first time. I was pretty pumped. Did not ride the big sand section that I cleaned in practice as my handlebars kept slipping on the sidewalk to sand transition so it did not give me confidence. Was really pumped on my race though. The body really forgets how to suffer after not racing for 2 months.

Right after the race finished I found Wendy and we headed out to Hoogerheide to pick up race numbers and attend the managers meeting for the world cup race. We JUST made it in time and found Canadian Team member Ryan Hopping wandering around the parking lot hoping someone....anyone would show up from the Canadian team.

I decided to not race tomorrow at Wiljrik. The trip to the race without Corey as a navigator and with trying to fully help Wendy and the other Canadians it was just a bit too much of a push. My cross season has come to a close.

At the Mol race Wendy got Corey a great Flemish Lion Flag from a spectator.

Ryan has his own web site that you can check out his reports on his trip so far: www.hoppingalong.tk

You can check out a great photo collection from the Masters race in Mol at www.cyclocross.info There are a few pictures with guys just bailing in the background on the first sand section.

Oh yeah one last thing.....the rumour is that Masters World Champs may be held someplace in Canada next year after being 13 years in Mol. Do you think it would still be $12 if it is?

All for now.

Normon

Cross Worlds Y3 Report #2

Report #1 posted on our Blog already: http://frontrunners.blogspot.com/

Wendy and I stayed over in France one more night after the World Cup to try to settle the sleep monsters down. It did not work! Of no help was the fact that you can not get any food in France on a Sunday night....nothing is open at least in a small town. To our HUGE dismay we ended up hitting Mac D's and then hitting the bed at a late 8:45pm. Of course I was again awake at 3am.

Heading out on Monday we did a little detour to Vimy Ridge. This was a place that every kid in Canada learns about in WW1 History lessons. Canada was defined by the actions of our troops at Vimy Ridge. We did a tour of the grave-sites and then some of the trenches and information center. As Wendy said you don't really get it from reading it in a book. you really have to see it. One thing that was amazing was how close the front line was between the Canadians and the Germans. It was about 20 meters. Crazy to live that way for so long. The historic site is still pock marked with craters and mounds from explosives from 90 years ago. They are still digging out explosives out of the ground so you can not wander around too much.

Tour of the Bike Shops.
We checked out one of our favorite shops in Bergan-Op-Zoom on the way to Zeddam. This was a cool shop that we looked at with Corey last year. It is 5 stories high and has so much clothing that all the bike shops in BC combined would not match it. Driving around Zeddam we found a stand alone shop called, De Pedaleur, which was pretty cool. Probably close to 15 thousand square feet of retail space and everything really nicely displayed. Between the first two shops we thought we had seen it all. Then at the end of one of our rides we met a local guy who told us about this shop in Germany only 20k away. We hit it yesterday and it was not hard to find with lots of signs pointing you in the right direction in their town. Well this was the HUGEST bike shop I have ever seen. Probably close to the size of REI in Seattle or 2 times the size or MEC in Vancouver. It was CRAZY. They had pretty much every small part or wheel that you could think of. The only disappointment was that the bikes were all a house brand, Red Bull, and were not that great. One more bike shop....we headed to Hoogstraten after a pre ride of the Mol course on Thursday to visit our friends from the past 2 years, Frank and Johan at Ciclo Morello. This is a cool shop in the back of Johan's house. They did not know we were coming so it was a great surpize. Not as much gear as all the BIG shops but way more heart and we all know how important that is!

The Week.
It is amazing that our days can be so full during a week that did not have too much training but we have been busy.....riding, me fixing the bikes, shopping for food, looking for "Broodjes", checking out the worlds course, checking out the Mol course, reading business books, Wendy planning her comeback tour, a few runs, no sit ups to contribute to the FR monthly quota (I promise next week), checking out local run stores, getting the new laptop to work with the internet, trying to figure out local shop open and closed hours, testing chocolates, and licorice (wendy spit one out into the sink....it failed) thinking about beer and two full days gluing, stretching and mounting 6 tubulars....still glue on my hands right now.

Tomorrow we are off to Mol for my race. I don't feel too prepared having not raced for over 2 months but I did get a boost in confidence with riding the crazy sand section 6 out of 8 times yesterday. Wendy made it look so easy that I had to try harder and I nailed it. I have ridden that course 4 times over the past 2 years any never made the sand section until yesterday. I am excited to race the bike; new bar tape and new tubulars.

Sunday Wendy races her second World Cup up in Hoogerheide.

We will write when we can.

Thanks to everyone at Frontrunners for taking care of everything while I am away (I am working on what I can over here...honest) as well as Brodie and Helly Hansen for the support they have given me over the last 2 years.


We will try to upload some pictures on Monday but with the new computer it is hard to say how that will go...will keep you posted.

Cross Worlds Y3 Report #1

Wendy Simms Reporting

It was Friday the 13th but it looked like our 2005 CX Worlds trip was not going to start with any bad mojo. There was no fog so we could fly out of Nanaimo and make our connection in Vancouver (unlike 2003) AND, better yet, the extra upgrade coupon that Peter Reid had given us worked like a charm so we were being served wine and cheese while those at our regular seats in the back had to buy crappy pre-made sandwiches for $10. SWEET! We watched movies, ate lots of yummy food and then stretched out our legs for a snooze. That is not to say that we slept much but it was a helluv a lot better than trying to keep the head upright using a blow up pillow. We were woken an hour before our flight landed with orange juice and a smile. I guess that is what the extra $3000 buys you in first class - expensive but if I had the $ I would do it every time.

Saturday the 14th was a little less smooth as our luggage did not arrive. I hacked my way through a french conversation to find out that it would not arrive until Sunday - would we like to leave our address so they could deliver it? Hmmmm lets see in 2003 Corey did not receive his bikes from Air Canada for 6 days so I think we will drive the extra 4 hours to come back and pick it up - merci. We drove north to our hotel and had a strong nap before we went to Lievin to register and walk the course. When we flew out Norm was bragging about how little carry on luggage he had, today he was pretty quiet as he had to borrow Barb Howe's (Velo Bella) salmon (read pink) coloured mini jacket and crazy tube with strings she called a toque. I think he will go back to max carry on luggage for our next trip. We set a goal of staying awake until 8pm and barely made it. Of course we cursed ourselves at 2am when we were wide awake but I am weak when it comes to sleep.

Sunday morning. Race day. But....we had to drive into Paris and pick up the bikes and luggage. I am not even going to try to describe the insane, inefficient baggage system they had at Charles de Gaulle airport but we got it all and arrived at the race course feeling a little frazzled. Norm got the bikes together in time for me to do a few laps of the course. It was mostly grass but pretty twisty and definitely hilly for a cross course. My Jake the Snake's felt great on the course and I thought my legs were OK but I hadn't done many hard efforts outside of my cheese sprints two days before in first class. The weather was perfect but for some reason I was freezing (my mom would say this is from lack of sleep). I had one of my WORST starts in history as I was still sitting on the start line at least a few seconds after the gun. In the end it didn't really matter because after the first corner onto dirt there was mass carnage and most of the girls that DID have a good start were on the ground or running. I managed to find a small gap in the bikes and bodies so I could ride the first hills. Ann Knapp (Kona) was right beside me. We pulled away from the pack but there was obviously a group that had gotten away off the front because they were rounding the next hill. Lyne Bessette (cyclocrossworld.com) was up there and I later found out Stacey Spencer (Symmetrics) had a great start and was up there too - go Canada! I tucked in behind Ann who races a LOT smarter than I ever do and tried to settle in. But it was pretty obvious who was stronger because I could not hold her wheel. Half a lap into the race and I was already going backwards. I was breathing heavy, I was suffering and I had another 37 minutes to go. Girls would pass me and I couldn't hold their wheel, even the Velo Bella girls (Barb Howe and Christine Vardaros) who were trying to lend me a wheel were too fast. The only positive part of the race was that I was riding technically well on my Jake the Snake. I limped in 27th over 5 minutes behind the leader hoping like hell it was the jet lag talking.

Thanks to everyone who helped me get here. Thanks to KONA for providing me with wicked bikes, Helly Hansen for keeping me warm and stylie, the Malaspina crew for covering me at work, Frontrunners for covering Norm, the Simms sponsorship program, and Norm for keeping me from getting too bummed about my first race.

Norm and Part 2 Soon.....

Notes from Bastion Ross (and Sherri Wade)

Dear Bastion,

Congratulations to all those who ran at Saanich on Sunday. While I'm sure everybody was hitting the slopes or getting a long bike ride in on a rare non rain day these brave souls enjoyed an absolutely beautiful day for running. Some of the ladies had some really unbelievable times. Remember ladies, no matter what anyone says, steroids and illegal supplements are not the a
nswer. Steve Osadiuk was so far ahead of everyone when we crossed paths I thought he started with the walkers.
This Saturday is the annual AGM at 10:30 a.m. at the banquet room at the back of the Millstone Restaurant at the Howard Johnson, downtown. This is a time for all of us to hobnob, converse and otherwise idle away a Saturday morning with a free brunch of the usual favourites you've come to expect. Bacon, sausages, hash browns, scrambled eggs, and waffles with plenty of coffee and juice. Lest any one think that you will have to volunteer for the Executive I believe all the positions are spoken for. Anyway, the only one who has do any work is the Treasurer, and he isn't important at all. No, the important thing is that you eat your $10 or $15 worth of the food. And if you pay your dues there then you get your money back immediately. There will be a few reports on the past year. We have established an annual donation to the Morrell Sanctuary and the Nanaimo Track Club, a Travel Fund, as well as an annual bursary to a Nanaimo student going on to post High School studies. The Cedar 12K race was another success and we will be back at it in a few weeks. Speaking of the Howard Johnson, we wish a speedy recovery to Dan Brady who has been afflicted with the trials of Job lately. If we're lucky he'll be around for brunch.
This is week two for Sherri at RCMP training in Regina. This week she gets her uniform. Now, if she can just keep from locking herself out of her room…

Thanks,
Ross

Hello all :-)
I finally have a second to pound out a second newsletter. I am just getting
over a cold (I am hopeful this is the last day) and am feeling like
myself again. I went to bed at 8:30 last night so I am hoping that will kick
it.

We are day in our uniforms. Everyone in the troop now looks the part and
while some have said I look like a "baby cop" I am hoping that I will grow
into my new duds.
We had our first drill class yesterday! We have the toughest drill sergeant
on base. Everyone has told us about her and when she walked in I heard all
of us take a deep breath. As she started to yell, I looked straight ahead
and thought "I have done Ironman, I have done Ironman...." It took us 18
minutes to count off (counting the number of people in the troop in order.)
I am lucky because being the shortest I am last so no matter what happens in
the middle, I just say the next number in that order. We have 30 in the
troop but kept saying 29 so we had to do sprinting and pushups (in uniform)
as punishment. I found though that it relaxed me quite a bit and while it
still makes me nervous, her troops apparently look the sharpest at grad. We
had a big laugh over dinner about the different things she said and we know
that all of us will come into her sights eventually.

We also received our guns yesterday. The men at the Firearm unit are
hilarious. They are very relaxed and do things (like swearing) that no other
teachers do. They take their jobs seriously but not too seriously. It will
be a very good balance from drill. They call me "granola girl" because I
come from BC and I bring trail mix to class.

Oh I locked myself out one more time this week! All week we have been
attending the morning parade to watch before we will participate. Tuesday
was the first day that we were in uniform and of course your rooms must be
perfect before you leave as they can inspect at anytime. In my hurry I left
my key in my lockable storage unit. I went with the troop to drill, and then
ran back to the dorm to get someone to let me in so that I could get the
keys and go to breakfast. It's a good thing that the dorm is only 800m's
away!

Now we are double timing or jogging everywhere. People are getting sore
calves so I have been telling them to run in the centre of the foot rather
than on their calves.

Things are settling into a routine, somewhat, and that is making things
easier. Having a cold sucked because it's hard to keep your energy up when
you are not feeling well and you must stay with your troop unless you have
permission from the medical centre.

I should run, but I wanted to say hello and to let everyone know that I
appreciate your emails and while I may not write alot, there is never a day
that goes by when I don't think of home and the people there that make it
home.

Cadet Sherri :-)

Notes from Dan the Trail Guy #56

Trail Bits 2006 # 3

Saturday saw close to 60 people show up for the breakfast AGM. Thank you to all of you for showing up. The official minutes from the AGM will be passed along to you once the Board has had chance to review and approve them. I can tell you that Lisa Crucil is the New President of Runners of Compassion – Nanaimo Chapter, Charlie Burrell - Vice President & Trail beautification; Owen Carr – Treasurer; Ross Palfrey – Secretary; Dan Brady – Membership & Communication; Eric Sundby – Funds Distribution; Rod Croome – Funds Distribution; Ken Jones – Events; Bob Patrick – Half Marathon; Derek Riley – Trail Beautification. Couple of highlights are that we are in our best financial position ever. The negative side to this is that we still find ourselves in a position of having to really work at giving away money. We received a $1300.00 cheque from 24 carrot Catering, this is the company that makes the 24 Carrot Energy Bars. We receive a donation from every bar sold. I will send out a complete report on the AGM this weekend.

A couple of ROC & Bastion members had amazing races down in Victoria on Sunday at the Pioneer 8km. On the women’s side Janet Oxler ran 35:55 and Julie Benson ran 36:05 Both of these times are Under USTA&F ELITE Age-rated Guidelines. On the men’s side of things, Steve Osiaduk a new ROC member ran a blistering fast 23:39 This is better than the Elite Open standards set by USTA&F. This is also a personal best for Steve. Other ROC & Bastion members running in Victoria were Nancy Grovum, John Hannon, Tom Barr, Bill Benson, Barry Roscoe, Alex Berlingette, John Durkin, and Ross Palfrey.


1. The Yeti Snow Show Race- is this Saturday January 21st at Mt. Washington. If you want more details or are looking for a ride up please contact Stefan at Frontrunners. If you haven’t tried snow shoe racing before it is a blast. Yes it is a little bit tough, but hey, you’re a trail runner so you should be tough. 5km & 10km courses available.

2. Oceanside Cross Country - the Oceanside Cross Country Race Sun. Feb. 5th. I have also included it as an attachment. It is a very low key, fun event. The registration is day of race only at 12 noon in the parking lot behind the Ravensong Aquatic Centre in Quallicum Beach

3. Cedar 12k - this is Bastion Running Clubs big race of the year. Lots of volunteers, marshals and racers will be needed for this race. February 12th, in where else? Cedar. More details to follow.

4. Bikes for Tykes (B4T) – we will be arranging a bike drop off day in the near future. Stay tuned for details.

5. This weeks run – The Humility/Abyss Trail. 8:00 am at the yellow gate underneath the power lines on Harwood Mines Road. Please give yourself enough driving time in order to be there and ready to start running at 8:00am. Please keep the pace easy at the start. Directions - 5th Street to Wakesiah, Wakesiah to Nanaimo Lakes Rd, Turn Right; Nanaimo Lake Road to Harewood Mines Rd (5-6 minute) Turn Left. We will be under the power lines.

Upcoming Stuff

· GutBuster #1 – March 5th – only 7 more weeks until the inaugural ROC Victoria Chapter GutBuster

· Mill Bay 10km – January 29th

· Oceanside Cross Country – February 5th

· Cedar 12km – February 12th

· Hatley Castle 8km – February 26th

· Bazan Bay 8km – March 12th

· Comox Half Marathon – March 19th

· GutBuster # 2 Royal Roads - March 25th

· Sooke River 10km – April 2nd

· Whidbey Island Marathon – April 2nd

· Merville 15km – April 9th

· GutBuster # 3 Mt. Tzouhalem – April 15th

· Kusim Klimb - June

Notes from Dan the trail guy #55

Trail Bits 2006 # 2

If you are racing this weekend in Saanich or in any of the other Frontrunners Island Race Series races and you are not sure which club name to write down as your club affiliation please mark down Bastion. Bastion Running Club is the road racing side of the running in Nanaimo where as Runners of Compassion is primarily the trail racing and charitable side of racing in Nanaimo.

Car pooling to Saanich is taking place. I will let you know where from as soon as I find out.

As I sat in my car and waited for the first of you trail warriors to arrive back into the parking lot of Westwood Lake I watched a large number of people drive into the parking lot and literally scratch their heads in disbelief as they realized that they would have to park in “the back lot”. At one point just after 9:00am there were over 30 cars in the back lot, the front lot was full and some people were parking on the street. No, we didn’t have that many people out for the run, but there were still a lot. Probably close to 60 showed up to run. There was a group 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B and a group 3. The report I received was that the group got off pretty close to on time and that the dogs and their owners were fairly well behaved.

The Saturday morning numbers will now start to decrease a little bit now that a number of members are marathon training.

Have you renewed your membership yet, if not this maybe your last Trail Bits? I hope you have enjoyed receiving the messages that I have sent out and that you found some of the information I sent you useful. Thank you for being a member of Runners of Compassion. Maybe in the future you will consider joining us again.

Please email Kathleen if you are coming to the AGM. kathleenrichardson@telus.net We now have over 30 people coming for breakfast.


Now, A little humour.
You know you are still a Trail Running Newbie IF the following applies to you:

Shoe issues- You hate the very thought of getting your shoes dirty.
You wash your shoes in the washing machine after each trail run.You buy brown trail running socks only after you notice that all your nice white socks have already turned brown.."

Water Issues- Someone tells you to try using a bladder for carrying your water and you say "Pardon me?" After the bladder system is explained to you, you buy one and get drenched every time you try to make it work.

Distance Issues-You are always trying to figure out the exact mileage of your trail run. You estimate your mileage by your time, only to look at a map and discover the mileage was half of what you calculated. Then you get more bummed because once you've calculated the mileage you learn you are "running" a 15-minute per mile pace.

Terrain Issues-You still think you are supposed to run up and down steep hills. You feel guilty every time you walk up or down a hill. If there are more than two rocks per step on the trail, you walk (and feel guilty). You stop, and then try to go around, any standing water or mud.
You spend five minutes staring at a shallow stream crossing looking for just the right stepping stones. After you cross you stand a few minutes to catch your breath and congratulate yourself.
You turn around and head back to your car if the water is ankle-deep.

Finding Your Way Issues-You get lost at least once a week. You make a wrong turn at least once during every run. You look for what experienced trail runners consider "landmarks" and never find them. When you find the landmark you don't know it until you return and explain where you ran to an experienced trail runner. You don't have a clue when you hear other trail runners describe their routes.

Food Issues-You think you can do a three hour trail run after eating one energy bar. During an organized trail event you become mesmerized by the aid station food buffet choices and spend fifteen minutes at each trying to decide what to eat. You worry about gaining weight on your long runs.

Techie Issues-You have just stopped wearing a heart rate monitor and a chronometer.
You now carry a map and are considering getting a global positioning device. You wear a watch only to have an idea of when the sun will set.

Final Newby Musings
You wonder why the trails aren't littered with corpses.
Your frame of reference on the trails becomes the visor of your hat and the 10 feet of trail ahead.
When you stop to look at a view, you know why you are "out there" and you only feel a little guilty.
You meet a whole bunch of really nice, relaxed, helpful people who can't wait to convert you from a trail newbie to a full-fledged trail geek.
You wonder if you'll ever run on pavement again.


Bits
1. January 14th – ROC AGM – 10:00 AM, ABC Country Restaurant – $10.99 Breakfast Buffet available. Proceeded by a run of the Duomont Trails.
2. Oceanside Cross Country - the Oceanside Cross Country Race Sun. Feb. 5th. I have also included it as an attachment. It is a very low key, fun event. The registration is day of race only at 12 noon in the parking lot behind the Ravensong Aquatic Centre in Quallicum Beach
3. Cedar 12k - this is Bastion Running Clubs big race of the year. Lots of volunteers, marshals and racers will be needed for this race. February 12th, in where else? Cedar. More details to follow.
4. More Ab Classes – Susan Briggs and North Ridge Fitness are offering Ab Classes to ROC members. Eight sessions for $40.00 starting on January 10, February 7 & March 7.Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:30 a.m. (half hour class) or, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. (half hour class) (Susan teaches this one). Anyone interested can register by contacting Northridge at 751-0505. Between Susan and Sean classes this means you can now work your ABS Monday AM, Tuesday AM, Tuesday PM, Thursday AM and Thursday PM
5. Spinning Classes – The big news is that Sean has rented the spinning studio at North Ridge Fitness Center. This means people will have the option of bringing their own bike and wind-trainer OR just using the spinning bikes already there. I’m hoping this will allow more people, especially beginners to come out and get in some cycling training. Classes start Wednesday, January 18th at 7:15PM. The clinic will run for 8 weeks and cost $50. Drop in will be $10. There is limited space however. Contact Sean at seanlunny@shaw.ca
6. Water Running –Sundays, at 10:30 a.m. The class will be 45 minutes long. It's geared to ALL levels of fitness.
7. AB Classes – Thursday Nights 6:30PM Starting January 12 and Monday Mornings 6:30AM Starting January 16 - The cost is $20 for five sessions, and the classes run in five week blocks and are one hour long. To register people can Sean at seanlunny@shaw.ca
8. Island Race Series – race # 1.
Central Saanich Pioneer 8K Host: Prairie Inn Harriers
Sunday, January 15, 200611:00 a.m.

Saanich Fairgrounds, 1528 Stelly's X Road, Saanichton

$15 early registration fee, students $10, $18 for everyone after January 10, $20 day of race

Optional New Balance Long-sleeve Technical Tempo Top for $24

Race Director: Sylvan Smyth
email: pioneer@vira.bc.ca
phone: 250-480-7869
9. This weeks trail run for January 14th is a return to Dumont. 8:00am start from the Yellow Gate. As usual it will be about an hour and 15 minutes in length. If you are coming to the AGM afterwards you may want to bring extra shoes and socks. Directions – From the NORTH End - Take Duomont Rd off of Metral Drive, go past the Black Bear Pub and keep on driving for at least another 5 minutes. You will come to a T Junction in the Road. This is Biggs Rd. Turn Right and head up the hill. Drive until you come to a yellow gate on your right hand side just before the Wastelands Motto Cross. This is just as the road starts to flatten out. - From the SOUTH End– Turn left at the Jingle Pot/Mostar Exit. Quickly turn right onto Biggs road and head out past the Correctional Institute. Follow this road past the Brannon Lake Campground and head up the hill. Stay on this road all the way up the hill until you come to a yellow gate just before the Wastelands Motto Cross, this is just as the road starts to flatten out.

Upcoming Stuff
· GutBuster #1 – March 5th – only 7 more weeks until the inaugural ROC Victoria Chapter GutBuster
· Mill Bay 10km – January 29th
· Oceanside Cross Country – February 5th
· Cedar 12km – February 12th
· Hatley Castle 8km – February 26th
· Bazan Bay 8km – March 12th
· Comox Half Marathon – March 19th
· GutBuster # 2 Royal Roads - March 25th
· Sooke River 10km – April 2nd
· Whidbey Island Marathon – April 2nd
· Merville 15km – April 9th
· GutBuster # 3 Mt. Tzouhalem – April 15th
· Kusim Klimb - June

Late notes from Dan (including Bikes for Tykes)

Late Additions

A couple of things for you.

1. Bikes for Tykes – Arrowsmith Cycle (Robin Dutton), Runners of Compassion, Nanaimo Boys & Girls Club and the Nanaimo Daily News are going to partner in a new program called BIKES for TYKES. The Bikes for Tykes Program is going to be a program that will see people drop unused bikes at Robins shop (good shape or bad shape it doesn’t matter). Robin and his staff will salvage parts from some bikes to repair others and he will provide new parts when and if necessary. The Boys & Girls Club will be given the refurbished bikes to distribute to tykes in need. The Daily News will be the media partner. The role of ROC in this four way partnership will be to try and help donate bikes to the program. We might also have an opportunity to provide some funding if the program becomes so successful that it starts costing Robin and the shop too much money in parts. Pretty simple and neat program. Take a few old crappy bikes, fix them up and then give them to some kids in need. I will send out another email “Officially” announcing the start of the program along with the where and when for the bike drop offs.

2. Run Times & Dogs – a gentle little reminder that the runs are now starting at 8:00 am. That means the group leaves at 8:00am. Please try and be at the run location on time. In regards to dogs, please remember to either run at the very front or the very back of the group with your dog for the early portion of the run. It apparently has been a little chaotic at a start of a couple of runs in terms of the dogs running in between peoples legs. It seems that once we have been under way for a while and the dogs have had a chance to settle down into the run everything is okay.

3. Word Attachment – I have attached a Press Release for an upcoming performance at the Port Theatre. Bill Hicks, one of our members is one of the driving forces behind this concert. If you are looking for a fun night out, here is something for you to consider. Produced & written by local musicians Joëlle Rabu and Bill Hicks, this fundraising and community awareness event aims at eliminating the stigma attached to mental health issues by offering an evening of powerful entertainment that is sure to touch everyone’s heart and soul.

AGM is next Saturday – Jan 14th , remember to email Kathleen if you are coming.

Have a great weekend.

Dan

Oceanside Cross Country Race

Hi -Below is the information about the Oceanside Cross Country Race Sun. Feb. 5th. I have also included it as an attachment. It is a very low key, fun event. The registration is day of race only at 12 noon in the parking lot behind the Ravensong Aquatic Centre in Qualicum Beach. Hopefully, this local race will be well attended by our mid island runners. It is open to those as young as grade three and includes a new Elders category for those born in 1940 or older. There are also 10 categories for children, Open, Premasters, Masters and Veterans (over 50) categories.Come on out and enjoy our Civic Centre trails!

Thanks,Laurie

OCEANSIDE CROSS COUNTRY RACE


SANCTIONED BY: B.C. ATHLETICS

DATE: Sunday, February 5, 2006

LOCATION: Qualicum Beach Civic Centre, Qualicum, BC, 737 Jones Street
Take the Qualicum exit from the Island Highway bypass toward Qualicum; turn left on Rupert Road and right onto Jones Street. Turn left into Ravensong Aquatic Centre/Civic Centre parking lot.

REGISTRATION: 12:00 noon on Sunday behind the Ravensong Aquatic Centre.
Preregistration is not required. Course maps available at that time.

FEES: $5.00 for BC Athletics members
$8.00 for non-members

COURSE: A course mainly set among the trails with one moderate hill.

CONTACT: Laurie Ritchie @ (250) 248-4455 or by e-mail to: jlamritc@telus.net

AWARDS: Ribbons for 1st to 6th place in all age categories.

PARKING: Main parking lot to the left of the Civic Centre or behind the pool.

SCHEDULE:

Race #1: 1:00 PM START 1.8 kilometers (1 loop) 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993 F
Race #2 1:10 PM START 1.8 kilometers (1 loop) 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993 M
Race #3: 1:20 PM START 3.6 kilometers (2 loops) 1992, 1991, 1990 F/M
Race #4: 1:40 PM START 5.4 kilometers (3 loops) 1989 and earlier F/M

Yeti Snowshoe Demo Day

With the Yeti Snowshoe Race on January 21st approaching this weekend is the perfect time to try out snowshoes at Mt. Washington.

This complementary Snowshoe Demo is Saturday, January 7th at the Raven Lodge on Mt. Washington. You can sign up for a session between 11:00am and 12:30pm.

Sign up now!

www.theyeti.ca
Yeti Hotline: 604-599-3840

Bastion AGM

Due to an oversight on my part, the Bastion Running Club Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday, January 21st at 10:30am instead of Saturday, January 14th! The reason for this is that Runners of Compassion had earlier announced they were having their meeting on the 14th at 10am. We will still be providing a breakfast buffet and please remember to RSVP Judy Orosz at janddorosz@shaw.ca or 754-5139 no later than Tuesday, January 17th so we can advise of the number of attendees.

Sorry for the confusion and hope to see you then...Steve.

Spin Classes with Robin and Kim

Hello All,

Could you please forward the following information onto your members.

Thank you

Robin and Kebble
Arrowsmith Bikes Nanaimo
460-2980 Island Hwy North
Nanaimo, BC
V9T 5V4
PH: 250-758-6675
FAX: 250-758-6676



In-store Trainer Sessions

Do you want to become a stronger more powerful cyclist?

Do you hate doing trainer sessions alone?

Join us at Arrowsmith Bikes Monday nights or Friday mornings for group trainer sessions in the store.

Lead by Kim Gagliano and Robin Dutton

Focuses - Power, spinning and endurance

Workouts start January 30th at a cost of $30 per month or $50 for February
and March, or if you are really brave $50 a month for two times a week.

You will need your own bicycle and trainer.

For more information about the clinics or cycling contact Arrowsmith Bikes 758-6675 ride@arrowsmithbikesnan.com

Notes from Dan the Trail Guy #54

Moderation, everything in moderation!

That is my resolution for 2006. I will still continue to bring to your attention the usual and unusual runs and races and the more challenging events such as 50km Ultras, snowshoe races, Half Marathon Trail races, etc. Don’t worry, I will still be promoting all the usual crazy crap that most of us all love, the only difference will be that I will be approaching the participation side of things with a little bit more laid back style.

Even though the later part of 2005 was tough in terms of personal injuries, the accomplishments of ROC in 2005 helped make it a fantastic year.
2005 was a banner year in terms of the number of things; we had lots of new members signing up. ROC – Nanaimo Chapter now has 177 members as of my last count; we raised more money for charitable works than any of the past years; the Nanaimo Daily News Harbour City Half Marathon & 10km Road Race grew both in the number of runners we attracted and the amount of money it raised; the Westwood Lake GutBuster grew to become a measured half marathon distance trail race, which drew rave reviews from all of those that had the opportunity to race it and 2005 also saw a large piece of Mt. Benson purchased for park land.

The Saturday morning trail runs of 2005 were consistently attended by in excess of 30 people and quite often we had over 40 people show up. Even a large number of the die hard road warriors now show up to get a little dirty. I would especially like to thank all of you that faithfully show up on a Saturday morning to help with leading the groups. Without the help of Brad, Kathleen, Derek, Dennis, Mark, Michael, Tim, Phil, Ken, Stefan, Janine, Sat, Tammy, Russ, Owen, Lloyd, Norm, Karen, Linda, Monti, Ross and a few others that I have probably forgotten (I apologize) it wouldn’t be possible to do what we all love to do.

Most importantly though in 2005 was the fact that the number of people who offer to help with the charitable initiatives that we under take continues to grow and the positive affect that we are having in our community continues to grow. Owen is preparing a document which we will present to you at the AGM which will show you the number of children, adults and agencies that that we have been able to assist in Nanaimo. You will be amazed!

Out with 2005 and in with 2006
I need your membership renewals in please. January 14th is the cut off date. If you wish to renew your membership, simply fill out the form, attach $10.00 cash or a cheque and give it to either myself, Owen Carr, Kelly Mckee, Kathleen Richardson, Ken Jones, Eric Sundby or Ross Palfrey. You can also mail it in or you can drop it off at Frontrunners. Lots of ways to renew. If you aren’t a member of ROC, but still want to receive this weekly email, please send me a reply email prior to January 14th and let me know. Membership in ROC is not a prerequisite to receiving the weekly email nor is it a prerequisite to enable you to trail run with us on Saturdays….we just tend to be more compassionate towards you on the run if you are a member!

After January 14th I will be reformatting the Trail Bits data base and I will be removing anyone that I have not had a response from or received a renewal from. There are 87 members that still have not paid out of a total membership base of 177. We either have a lot of forgetful, lazy members or we are going to experience a dramatic reduction in our membership. Hopefully, it is like last year and it is laziness and forgetfulness.

Couple of more new things to bring to your attention. Again, most of it is physical in nature…..sorry!
1. January 14th – ROC AGM – 10:00 AM, ABC Country Restaurant – $10.99 Breakfast Buffet available. Proceeded by a run of the Duomont Trails. Please attend.

2. Tuesday Night Clinics – Tuesday night clinics at Frontrunners start again, Tuesday January 10th – 6:30pm – $ 2.00

3. More Ab Classes – Susan Briggs and North Ridge Fitness are offering Ab Classes to ROC members. Eight sessions for $40.00 starting on January 10, February 7 & March 7.Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:30 a.m. (half hour class) or, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. (half hour class) (Susan teaches this one). Anyone interested can register by contacting Northridge at 751-0505. Between Susan and Sean classes this means you can now work your ABS Monday AM, Tuesday AM, Tuesday PM, Thursday AM and Thursday PM

4. Spinning Classes – The big news is that Sean has rented the spinning studio at North Ridge Fitness Center. This means people will have the option of bringing their own bike and wind-trainer OR just using the spinning bikes already there. I’m hoping this will allow more people, especially beginners to come out and get in some cycling training. Classes start Wednesday, January 18th at 7:15PM. The clinic will run for 8 weeks and cost $50. Drop in will be $10. There is limited space however. Contact Sean at seanlunny@shaw.ca

5. Water Running – Denise Miller recently went down to a "Water Running" clinic in Sooke and is pretty excited about having classes out of NAC. Maurya Tatler (Aquatic Programmer) and Denise are starting classes on Sunday, January 8th at 10:30 a.m. The class will be 45 minutes long. It's geared to ALL levels of fitness. Tri-Athletes are welcome too as some of the moves in the class will be sport specific. Denise would like to invite any ROC members to the pool during this time slot. She will permit a maximum of 30 people in each class - so first come - first serve. Her hope is that runners in particular, will start incorporating the "Water Running" and "Tri-It! Water Running" classes into their weekly workouts. As a lifeguard/fitness instructor Denise sees many individuals that she knows from running clubs and Tri-Athletes who show up at the pool to do water running. Most of these individuals are there because of an injury. She would like to promote injury prevention and she believes working out in the water with proper form and technique will help with some of those injuries incurred in training.

6. AB Classes – Thursday Nights 6:30PM Starting January 12 and Monday Mornings 6:30AM Starting January 16 - The cost is $20 for five sessions, and the classes run in five week blocks and are one hour long. To register people can Sean at seanlunny@shaw.ca

7. Malaspina 5 km – Is January 8th If you are not racing in the Island race Series and want a local run, here is one for you. It starts at 10 am from the Malaspina Gymnasium (Bld. 190) and runs around Colliery Dam and then heads along Wakesiah to 3rd street. Then it goes around the back side of the track along the Parkway and back to the gym. It is free and will have some great prizes and coffee from Jumpin' Java. Click on the link below for the route. http://www.nanaimo.ca/uploadedfiles/Site_Structure/Corporate_Services/Corporate_Administration/WalkRun.pdf

8. Island Race Series – race # 1.
Central Saanich Pioneer 8K Host: Prairie Inn Harriers
Sunday, January 15, 200611:00 a.m.
Race Brochure

Saanich Fairgrounds, 1528 Stelly's X Road, Saanichton

$15 early registration fee, students $10, $18 for everyone after January 10, $20 day of race

Optional New Balance Long-sleeve Technical Tempo Top for $24

Race Director: Sylvan Smyth
email: pioneer@vira.bc.ca
phone: 250-480-7869

9. This weeks trail run for January 7th is a run of the Saddle. 8:00am start from Westwood Lake. About an hour and 15 minutes in length. Don’t forget we always head back to Starbucks for coffee after our runs. I just hiked the Saddle on Monday with Maureen and Danielle it was beautiful. Lots of water rushing around everywhere, lots of fresh smells and lots of mud!
Upcoming Stuff
· GutBuster #1 – March 5th – only 8 more weeks until the inaugural ROC Victoria Chapter GutBuster
· Mill Bay 10km – January 29th
· Cedar 12km – February 12th
· Hatley Castle 8km – February 26th
· Bazan Bay 8km – March 12th
· Comox Half Marathon – March 19th
· GutBuster # 2 Royal Roads - March 25th
· Sooke River 10km – April 2nd
· Whidbey Island Marathon – April 2nd
· Merville 15km – April 9th
· GutBuster # 3 Mt. Tzouhalem – April 15th
· Kusim Klimb - June

ROC AGM January 14th

of Compassion - Nanaimo Chapter is holding its Annual General Meeting

Date: January 14th Time: 10:00 AM Location: ABC Country Restaurant behind Chapters
The AGM is being held shortly after the regular Saturday morning run of the Duomont trails that we have scheduled for that day.

Attending the AGM will allow you the opportunity to vote in election of our directors. It will also allow you an opportunity to provide feedback and input to the Board on the charitable work that ROC does in our community. We hope to have the meeting over and concluded with in about 90 minutes.

We have arranged a NO HOST breakfast buffet (pay for your own) to be available, but we need to give the restaurant some indication of how many people they should expect. We also need to make sure that we have booked a room that is large enough to hold everyone. So, if you can spare an extra hour of your time for ROC we would love you to attend the AGM.

If you are planning on attending the meeting, please email Kathleen Richardson kathleenrichardson@telus.net by no later than January 7th indicating if you will be attending the AGM and whether or not you will be eating from the breakfast buffet. The cost of the buffet is $ 10.99 (plus tax & gratuity) buffet cost does not include beverages.

Hope to see you at the meeting.

Runners of Compassion
Board of Directors