Austria Tomorrow!

I'm leaving for Austria tomorrow and I can't wait!!! It's going to an amazing 12 day trip, flying into Munich and taking the train to Saalfelden where the race is being held. I was in Austria a few years ago to race the World Cup in Schladming and it was one of the coolest places I have ever been.

Saalfelden

A Look at the XC course

 

A huge thank you to Sally at Sigvaris for these new compression socks! They will be a lifesaver for the overnight flight!

 

 

My last couple weeks have been busy, with a week long trip to Wisconsin for Trek World and the US Pro XCT Subaru Cup in Mt.Morris. I had never raced there before but it was a great course with lots of short, punchy climbs and some fun rock gardens. It was great to have a few Canadian teams (Team Quebec, 3 Rox) head down to do one last race before Worlds. I ended up with a 9th in the XC and 8th in the ST.

 



 

This past week I also had the chance to hook up with Andy from Trailburn.ca and he put together a great piece on me and my travels. Check it out Cayley Brooks- Globetrotter

I also want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped me fundraise for my trip to Austria. Your generosity is very much appreciated! Thank you! If you would like to make a donation the website is www.indiegogo.com/cayleybrooks

Buckwallow Ontario Cup

 Yesterday was my last O Cup of the year, but it was a great one. I didn't get to race Buckwallow last year and its always one of my favourite courses, so it was nice to be back. After a few days of rain, the course had to be closed on Saturday for prerides so that the trails wouldn't get ruined and everyone was worried that the course would be changed to all doubletrack. After the first lap my worries were gone and it turned out to be an amazing course! I had a strong race and finished 2nd with my third O Cup podium of the season.

I also want to say a huge thank you to Chico Racing for a generous donation to the Ontario athletes who have been selected to race at the World Championships. It is so amazing to have the support of our province to help us reach our goals. We couldn't do it without you!

Thanks to the Bailey's for the pictures!

Big News!!! And some ECO 2012

I got some super exciting news the other day that I'll be heading to Austria this September to represent Canada at the World Championships! This has been one of my main goals this year and I am so happy to have achieved it. Last year I had a tough season and wasn't where I wanted to be in my racing, so it is extra special to have improved enough over a year to compete for Canada again.

I have started a fundraiser for my trip to Worlds Here. Please donate if you can or share with your friends! There are some cool perks for donating like hats and t-shirts!

Here are a couple pictures from the East Coast Open at Blue Mountain. Peter and I both finished up in 3rd place.

Racing and some more racing (Windham WC and Sudbury OCup)

So I have a couple more races under my belt now. I managed to better my 9th place at the Mont-St-Anne World Cup with an 8th place at Windham World Cup. The course was very similar to last year, all on the side of Windham ski hill, with one long climb and descent back to the start. It was another hot race day, which I've started to get used to, and the course was bone dry. It was an easy bike choice for this race, with the fairly smooth course the Superfly was the bike for the day. Overall I'm very happy with my race and I was glad to have improved on my result from last week.

Heading up the climb

Apparently I was too sweaty to hug

After one week home I was headed up North to the new Sudbury Ontario Cup. I had never raced there before so I drove up Saturday morning to check out the course. I made the decision before-hand to bring only my Superfly hardtail (which ended up not being the wisest choice). The course ended up being the roughest, rockiest course in Ontario and my back would have appreciated a full-suspension. That being said, Mitch won the Elite Men's category on his Superfly Pro and Mikaela Kofman won on her hardtail 26", so I can't really use that as an excuse haha. I finished up 3rd and I'm looking forward to the Canada Cup there next year.

Mont Sainte Anne World Cup 2012

After a disappointing Nationals last weekend, I was looking to have a strong race on the very challenging course at Mont Sainte Anne. I had a solid week of preriding and learning the course and I was ready for the punishment MSA always dishes out, and it’s a good thing I was. Just before our 4:30pm race, it poured rain and totally soaked the mostly dry course. I luckily had time to change my tires and the race went really well with no huge crashes, but lots of slideouts and some running. I ended up 9^th and got my first top 10 in a U23 World Cup, which I will hopefully be able to improve on this weekend at the Windham World Cup.

On the startline

Check out more photos and our team report at www.trekcanada.ca

Canadian MTB Nationals 2012

Back on the road for our second roadtrip of the year, we made the 1000km journey up to St. Felicien in northern Quebec for Nationals. This was my third trip to St. Felicien and not much had changed since I had been there for Nationals in 2009 (it's still a small northern Quebec town with a zoo). The whole week leading up to the race was hot and sunny which made for a great, dry course. It was a similar course to the one we raced in 2009, with a some new sections and a few sections taken out to shorten it to 5km. My race was a tough 4 laps and I was disappointed with my 6th place position after having a great Canada Cup season, but it was definitely a learning experience and I will be building off this race for the upcoming World Cups.

U23 Women Start

Mitch had an amazing race, finishing 2nd in the U23 mens race after a tough battle with local Leandre Bouchard. Peter also had a great race finishing 6th in the elite mens category. Jon Barnes won his 2nd national title in the Master's 30-39 men category on Sunday after a very close 5 lap race.

Champagne showers

 

A huge thank you to Trek, SRAM and all our supporters! Check out Trek Canada for more updates and photos!

Hardwood Canada Cup #3 (It's gonna get crazy)

Wow, Hardwood can actually get muddy! Who knew? After almost 2 months of super dry conditions, no one really expected it to be a wet race (at least I didn't). Fortunately the rain held off for most of the weekend and we even had a little sunshine here and there. The Hardwood Canada Cup is the biggest XC race in Ontario, with over 700 racers and many more spectators. This year it was also the last of the Canada Cup races for 2012.

The weekend started off with a youth preride with Trek Canada team and Emily Batty (Subaru-Trek). We had an awesome turnout with almost 40 kids joining in on the fun! After the preride we headed to the Subaru tent to sign "autographs" and give out Subaru cow bells to all our supporters.

Almost 40 kids joined in on the Trek Canada preride!

 Once again Sunday rolled around quickly and just as I started my warmup, the rain started coming down. The first few laps were fairly dry, but as the race went on the rain didn't let up and the course started to get interesting. There were a few super slippery spots in the singletrack, but the Bontrager 29.1 tires turned out to be a perfect choice, giving me some much needed traction, but not slowing me down on the hardpack sections. The Superfly 29er was also a great bike for the course, flowing easily over the rock piles and down "boneshaker." I had a strong race to finish 6th in elite and 2nd U23. Emily Batty took the win (on her Superfly), beating the Canada Cup series winner Sandra Walter by just under 3 minutes.

A huge thank you to Trek and Subaru for the great support over the weekend, and to all the fans who toughed it out in the pouring rain to cheer us on! I knew our home crowd was hardcore!