Back from the Mud. Four of seven days in the rain. I have always had great respect for the determination and strength of character it takes to finish this challenging MTB ride through Canada's wilderness. Each and every Team from the pros down to all who enter for the challenge deserve the same respect. There are  a lot of emotions involved for riders, tears to smiles, disappointment to elation are always present. Being able to ride this year in a support role was a wonderful experience. From helping some finish a stage with small parts or encouragement to getting those in distress out by bike or vehicle was a new and rewarding for Simon, Jim, Matt and myself. Matt came in cold and provided the mechanical expertise that got us all through the tough days of riding. Thanks Matt you are a great team mate for the Ambassador program. We had a lot of great feed back to the Ambassador program this year and hope to improve on it next year.
Thanks to Jim Seethram's family for their support. Yvonne, Elise and Navine were always there to feed us, wash bikes and clothing as well as keep our spirits up with cookies and noodle bowls.
Stuart Dewar and Rob Cameron finished 16 th in the Men's open category. They represented United Cycle well and rode strong each day. As first year riders their  ride was a great accomplishment. Thanks Guys.

Cory Dickenson (Cat. 3), Clayton Stafford (Cat. 5) , Ryan Hopping (Cat. 1/2) and me (Cat. 1/2) represented United Cycle Raceteam at the Tour de Bowness last weekend. Saturday evening Hill Climb up COP, Sunday afternoon and evening the fast and furious criterium race and on Sunday a Belgian style Kermisse or road race on a lap of 5 km.

Hill Climb results:

Clayton Stafford: 34th place in Cat. 5 in 5 min and 17 seconds

Cory Dickenson: 8th place in Cat. 3 in 4 min and 4 seconds

Ryan Hopping: 18th place in Cat. 1/2 in 3 min and 36 seconds

Tim Heemskerk: 3rd place in Cat. 1/2 in 3 min and 23 seconds

Criterium Race results:

Clayton DNF; Cory 27th, Ryan Hopping 14th and Tim Heemskerk in 5th.

Road Race results:

Clayton 26th; Cory 17th; Ryan Hopping DNF and Tim Heemskerk in 2nd place.

Overall Omnium points results:

Cory 16th, Ryan Hopping 21st and Tim Heemskerk in 2nd place overall.

-Tim.

Recovery time from the Intermontane challenge is on going after 2 days. The 5 day stage event went for 355 kms with average temperatures of 36 C and up to 45 C on the last day on the exposed sections of the course. The trails were fast moving single track connected by up to 12 km road and double track climbs. Heat exhaustion took its toll and several sever crashes took out some of the pro riders. I managed 4 out of the 5 stages and had to take a medical day off for heat exhaustion. One stage had the results nullified due to sabotage on the trail and poor marking to compensate for the change in course direction. The facilities at the University were great and the meals excellent. The race management needs work however the race director has taken to heart all the advice given. Next year not sure??
Velo News

This weekend is the 24 hours of Adrenalin in Canmore and the Tour de l"Alberta. Next week I will be in Kamloops to check out the Intermontane Challenge.
It is a five day MTB stage race. Jim and Yvonne Seethram will also be riding the event and I hope to get updates on twitter and our team page.
Aug 1-3 for the Tour De Bowness.

A great race put on by Hardcore this weekend. Trail conditions and course were ideal for the event.
Tim won the Elite mens competition and Ryan competed in his first race of the season. Roger ,Mark Clayton and Adrien filled out thr mens sport catagory and Steve and Stew rode in the novice group. Results up on ABA.
James entered the Single Speed event and finished 5 grueling laps on his single speed. Tough enough race to do on your geared bike. Way to go James.

With little on the race schedule over the weekend I entered the Great White North Triathlon in a team with our MS Bike Tour Manager Keltie and her husband Ian. We were all in it for the first time with Ian doing the swim (2 KM), myself on the bike(90 KM) and Keltie doing the run(21 KM). I think we competed well as a first time team and everyone felt great about the experience. Thanks to Keltie and Ian for being on our team " United to end MS". No results posted as yet.

Great day for the Crit. Tim put on a Clinic in the Elite men's winning with some of the best Strategic racing you will ever see. Cory raced in that group as well. It was a combined Elite, Cat 1,2 and 3. Competing in Cat 5 were Chris H., Steve and James, Garry and Stew rounded out the field in the Master C+.

 

 

1st Geoff Kabush (Rocky Mt.), 2nd Derek Zandstra (Scott), 3rd Andrew Watson (Norco), 4th Tim Heemskerk (United Cycle), 5th Matt Hadley (Exprezo). Picture made by Marc Bailey. Check out www.timheemskerk.com

Both events were well attended and successful for United cycle riders. Alysa Barker has been moved up to Expert women and finished fourth in her first expert Race. Lauri Wischoff raced her first MTB event this season and finished 6 th in the novice category. Michelle and Steve were  our club representatives as Commissaries. Thanks to Josh for helping us out setting up for the Market Place. His help made everything work for the rest of us.
Trevor and Mark were 9th and 16 th respectively in the mens sport. Tim finished 4 th in the Elite mens. Stew was 17 th in the novice mens.
Canada Cup Results
In Banff Shannon and Cory showed well with Shannon (Cat 4) finishing 10 th in the 1A sprint and 3 rd in the ITT. Cory(Cat 3) was 4 th in the ITT, 3 rd in the 1A sprint and 4 th in the Hill Climb. Well done Guys. Stew and Cory represented United Cycle at The Bike Fest Market Place in downtown Banff on Saturday afternoon.
Banff Results
Great racing and Team camaraderie this weekend. Thanks to all.

 

The race is well named I felt like I could have use one to regain my heart rate. Congratulation to Tim for finishing first in the Elite Men and Alyssa for her third place finish in the sport women. Great ride by Lukas in the elite category as well. Good turn out in the sport men Trevor , Marc, Shannon, Cris, Clayton all finishing strong. Results are up on ABA.
This weekend will be an exciting one for Mountain Bike Racing in Edmonton with the first edition of the United Cycle Canada Cup.
Thanks to Alberta Mountain Bike Racing for all their work in organizing this event . You can find the info to race or help out on their web site.
Alberta Mountain Bike Raceing
A number of us will also be riding in the MS 150 Bike tour this weekend to help end Multiple Sclerosis. Thanks to Karen, Steve, and Chris for your community efforts.

It was an interesting race this weekend with a new course and some considerable cross and Head winds. The cross winds caused an unusual crash in the Cat 1&2 race. Tim survived the crash to go on and finish however his bike sustained a crack in the chain stay. Lucas was victim of an unfortunate center line violation and was DQ ed but finished unhurt.
All our riders in Cat 3, 4, 5 finished. Times are posted on the ABA site. For the most part our riders did their share pulling and finished well but lost out in time to larger teams protecting their riders.
Congratulations to Chris Hubick for his finish in the Giver'8 er in Calgary men solo catagory. Chis is a steady and compeditive rider in enduro events.
Next weekend we will be in Canmore on Sunday for the Iron Lung.