| Stew-Cory's profileUnited Cycle Grassroots ...PhotosBlogLists |  Tools  Help |
|
October 30 Cyclocross Provincials - Awards GalaAlberta Bicycle Association Awards Banquet
Bow Cycle hosted the annual awards banquet which honored the best cyclists in the province in each of the respective disciplines and age groups. The event was well catered by a local Mexican restaurant and attended by the heart and soul of Alberta's cycling community.
Best All Round Winners
Congratulations to Tim Heemskerk who was presented the Overall Mountain Bike Cup Championship, Provincial Mountain Bike Champion, Overall Cyclocross Cup Champion, the Best All Round Senior Title (combined results for all provincial championship disciplines), and capped the weekend off with a decisive victory in the Cyclocross Provincial Championships.
Congratulations to Peter Knight who was honored as the Best All Round Junior after his bronze medal performance in the Cyclocross Provincial Championship. Congratulations to Wayne Long for finishing 2nd in the Best All Round standings in Master C.
Despite an amazing season full of training in the rain, racing team came up 3 points short again this season. Congratulations Juventus (255) who claimed the overall team standings this season. It is good to see that Edmonton cycling clubs dominated the standings this season occupying the top 4 positions.
Trevor Pombert was honored for winning the Overall Cyclocross title for the Sport Category, and set a personal best 93% average heart rate in the race Sunday. Congratulations to Chris Stipdonk who captured 2nd place and to Roger Clemens who placed 7th in the Expert Cyclocross Standings.
Provincial Cyclocross Championships - COP - Calgary
Keith Bayly and the Deadgoat cycling club designed another amazing course and put on a tremendous event despite the challenging conditions that they faced. When we arrived at the cross race there was a lot of snow on the course and we knew that this would make an entertaining championship event. Every race was filled with excitement and stories of hard riding, crashes and closely fought battles for each position. The weather and the spectator friendly course made for excellent viewing and those that came out to watch the action were treated to the best that cyclocross has to offer.
The Master championship was won by defending champion Peter Toth and featured numerous crashes in the still light and fluffy snow in the Off- camber sections on the course. Peter successfully held off strong challenges from Bruce Copeland (Juventus) and Pat Doyle (Deadgoat). In particular the two switch backs became known as the crash site of the course for attracting the spectators. Congratulations to Roger Clemens on a fine showing in the snow finishing an impressive in the Master B event.
For the start of the Master A event and the Junior race the conditions started to deteriorate as the snow on the track began to melt and the frozen tundra became exposed. As the water and mud cleared, the Junior Men category was won by Spencer Smitheman (Juventus), a very talented rider with great protential who is looking to perform well at Nationals next weekend. Spencer competition came from Master A winner Andre Sutton who will also represent Alberta very well at the national championships. David Larson (Juventus) and Peter Knight (United) were left to sort out the remainder of the podium spots in the Junior event. After an exciting race, David captured the silver and Peter Knight the bronze. The Master A event was won impressively by Andre, and more impressively Keith Bayly, the event organizer reeled off a silver medal after spending countless days preparing the site and organizing the event. Congratulations Keith! In a seesaw battle for the third podium spot, last years gold (Craig D. - Synergy) and silver (Lonn Bate - Terrascape) were forced to battle. In the end, Lonn kept his feet on the pedals long enough to open a small gap on Craig to seal the deal and capture another provincial cx medal.
The women's event was a terrific race between Master racers Loni Klettl (Freewheel), Susan Copeland (Juventus), and mountain biker extraordinaire Mical Dyck (Terrascape). Mical's technical skills kept her just out of reach of the hard charging Susan Copeland to earn her another provincial title and Susan held off Loni for an excellent result capturing the Master Women's gold medal with Loni earning the silver.
As the sun continued to shine the top layer of the grass/dirt began to thaw. You can well imagine how muddy this became and how slippery! The pecking order was established right from the first slippery corners at the start of the elite men's race. Tim and Ryan Hopping opened up a 20s lead on 3rd place rider Shaun Bunnin (Sask) by riding in the clear and picking the best lines. Then the excitement began with Tim performing and 180 degree slide and back sommersault. Ryan had a great view and grabbed a little too much front brake causing him to taste a little mud in the same corner. Wih their confidence rattled both Tim and Ryan followed this up with another wreck half a lap later respectively. These bobbles allowed Shawn Bunnin to close the gap and take the race lead! 2 laps later, Tim and Ryan were able to catch up to Shawn. Tim immediately took the lead and didn't look back. In the end Shawn finished 2nd and Ryan rode well to slip and slide his way to finish 3rd. After the race it turned out that everyone had multiple crashes, and clearly the riders with the best technical skills were able to move up easily through the field. Chris Stipdonk also toed the start line and found himself in a terrific battle with Elite Mountain Bike racer Dallas Morris (Deadgoat) and cx legend Per Strom (Bicisport). Despite a poor start, wrecking right in to the wooden stairs, and multiple crashes in the corners, Chris was able to distance himself from both Per and Dallas for his best result of the season! Congratulations on a good race Chris.
October 19 Cyclocross ResultsKeep up to date with the latest Alberta Cyclocross riding at the following links:
www.mikesarnecki.tk - links to Per Strom, Keith Bayly, and Shaun Adamson websites
Results for all cyclocross events, except Sunday October 29 are available at
Rundle Mountain Cross
Sport Men Expert Men Elite Men
4 Trevor Pombert 3rd Chris Stipdonk 2nd Tim Heemskerk
21 Stew Hutchings 9th Bruce Penner
11th Roger Clemens
20th Peter Knight
Terrascape Knobbly Gobbler Results
Sport Men Expert Men Elite Men
2 Trevor Pombert 2 Chris Stipdonk 1 Tim Heemskerk
11 Shannon Hein 8 Peter Knight
11 Roger Clemens
East End Super 'Cross - Calgary Courtesy Per Strom The second race of Calgary's double header cross weekend took place this past Sunday (October 29) at Penbrooke Park on Calgary's east end. The weather changed dramatically overnight with heavy snowfall and high winds making for challenging race conditions. Despite the sub zero temperatures a total of 36 riders contested the Alberta Cross Cup Series Final. A relatively flat course including numerous fast, open pavement and grass sections was highlighted by several technical features including two deep pea gravel sections and sectors of tight off camber switchbacks and chicanes. The Sport Men took to the challenging course first and established that many of the courses technical switchbacks and tight chicanes would have to be tackled on foot due to the extremely slippery conditions created by the heavy snowfall. Driving winds created snow drifts on many of the flat sections resulting in dynamic changes in course conditions from lap to lap. The Sport Mens race was taken by Lance Adamson (Juventus) in a tight finish with Trevor Pombert (United Cycle). In the Expert Mens event weather conditions remained unchanged and blew the group of ten riders to pieces early on. Lonn Bate (Terrascape) had established a healthy advantage and seemed clear to take the win until a dropped chain cost him valuable seconds in the closing lap forcing a sprint finish in which Roger Clemens (United Cycle) proved to be the strongest. Mical Dyck (Terrascape) opted to contest the Expert Men's race instead of continuing her reign of dominance in the Elite Womens field to better prepare for upcoming events. As a result of Mical Dyck's absence from the Women's field, the door was left wide open for a new talent to take the top step on the podium. Adrienne Tibbitts (GS Campione) proved worthy of the challenge and slipped and slid her way to her first Alberta Cross Cup victory this season. In the final event of the day 14 Elite Men took to the start. The opening laps were dominated by Shaun Bunnin (Cycledelia) who seemed to thrive in the challenging conditions. Although the field remained relatively compact in the opening laps the conditions and efforts of the day before proved too much for many as gaps opened around every treacherous switchback and 180 degree turn. Bunnin seemed poised to make his first appearance in the top 5 of the Alberta cross season at the top of the podium, however a charging Tim Heemskerk (United Cycle) narrowly managed to take the win in the final meters and remain the clear king of Alberta cross. Many thanks to the riders who supported the event despite the adverse weather conditions. On that note also a huge thank you to all of the generous volunteers who remained committed despite the cold and helped put on a very successful event especially James Purdy and Keith Bayly. Thanks to Alex Bautista for securing the many sponsors who pulled through on short notice including: Pedalhead Bicycle Works, Techno Sport, Louis Garneau, Cycles Lambert, Urban Baker, Metro Vino and Region 1 Airlines. Finally thanks to Carrie with the Calgary Parks for securing the Penbrooke venue on extremely short notice.
October 16 Red Deer and Roddi Lega gets marriedThe Red Deer mudfest!
Despite the socked in rain, 10 of us piled into the big van and made the trip to Red Deer College. We were all well aware what was in store for us over the next hour or so, and despite the odds the racing was fantastic. The clean up on the other hand was interesting. A few of us did forget to bring clothes to warm up in or clothes to change in to afterwards, good thing Wal Mart in Red Deer is open Sundays.
Shannon Hein, Mike Kohlenberg, Stew Hutchings, and Peter Knight were first off into the rain. While the sport racers registered and changed the rest of us tried to stay warm and dry while unloading and putting together their bikes. Somehow Mike's bike was overlooked and his handlebars didn't get retightened and off Mike rode to warm up. Surprisingly everything held in place until the half was point on the course where the steep descent is followed by a sharp left hand turn. As you can well imagine, Mike made it down the hill and turned his bars to the left and to his surprise his wheel stayed straight ahead putting Mike right over the bars! Sorry Mike, wished we could have seen it though.
The new course addition was an eye opener, 3 beach volleyball courts worth of sand to run through just wasn't quite enough to keep the toes warm. Peter was in a 4 man battle for 2nd place. Despite a valiant effort in John Museeuw style with his arm warmers around his wrists, Peter ended up winning the sprint for 4th.
John Encarnacao wasn't pleasantly surprised to find out he had been upgraded to expert. He definitely fits right in there with Chris Stipdonk, Kevin Noble and Roger Clemens who lined up with him in the expert event. By this time the mud had really been stirred up and anything that was rideable at the start of the day definitely was not by the end of the expert race. While Chris was heading out on the bell lap making a charge for second, things turned ugly when his rear derailleur decided to jam into the spokes while he was accelerating. It was quite a sight to see a derailleur wrapped all the way around itself, and it ended his race 3/4 of a lap too short to collect his eventual 3rd place prize money, $10 by the way.
Almost a complete field of elite racers lined up to tackle the mudfest when the experts were finished. Right from the start it was clear who was comfortable in the mud and who wasn't! Racers were all over the course on the first lap jostling, bumping, and crashing their way down the hills and into the corners. While all this was going on, Tim and Mark Webster opened up a 50m gap after about 60s of racing. That was the last time most of us saw them until they lapped us later in the race! In the end Tim took home the $50 prize for first, Mark Webster the $30 for second, and Ryan Hopping the $15 third place prize. Cody Canning finished an impressive 4th place showing his amazing riding skills.
Wednesday Night CX Training
With this weekends Canmore CX race happening on Saturday, Tim is moving the training to happen on Wednesday night at 6pm next to the Kinsmen Sports Center playground. See you there!
Rundle Mountain "Kananaskiker" Cyclocross Race - Saturday, October 21 - Canmore Mr. and Mrs. Kathryn and Roddi Lega It's great to be able to say that. Congratulations to Roddi and Kathryn, this perfect couple married Saturday October 14 in St. Anthony Churck on Whyte. As you can imagine there was quite a party later that night in Radway! With Roddi's many extended families making the trip from Coco Beach, Florida, and his buddies from Vancouver and Victoria there certianly wasn't a dull moment. Below are a couple photos from the reception, we wish them both the best as they embark on another journey! October 11 Oktobercross Wrap Up - Cyclocross Thursday'sAn unbelieveable weekend of racing!
Race results and write ups are available at www.canadiancyclist.com and on www.albertabicycle.ab.ca.
It would have been impossible to put on an event without the help of many people. Saturday's set up was completed in record time thanks to the help from Caroline and Andreas Schwabe, Roger Clemens, Darlene Kowalchuk, Trevor Pombert, Michelle Ellis, Trent Loster, Rod Saurer, Stew Hutchings, Gary Ogletree, Adrien Regimbald and Kevin Noble. It was unbelieveable to be finished before the sunset, maybe we should have slowed down to prevent the young vandals from breaking stakes and tearing down tape during the night!
Race day was a terrific success. Over 90 racers lined up thanks to Michelle and Sharon registering the racers, Mike Sarnecki announcing the racing and of course Evan's Ipod blasting the tunes. The support while we were racing was quite encouraging. Mike Roth, James Turkington, Daisy Groff, Tony Fragomeni, James and Mike Russel, and Marylynne MacDonald from the store came out to be exposed to CX racing and cheer us on!
As well, the support from the Strathcona Market businesses is exceptional. Starbucks for warming us up, Save On foods, Bee Bell Health Bakery, Booster Juice and of course The Vitamin Guy for making it worthwhile for the athletes.
Cyclocross Thursdays!
We'll see everyone thursday night at the kinsmen sports center where training resumes! We'll get started with training at 6:00 pm sharp from now on to stay in the sunshine! |
|
|
