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!

Baie-Saint-Paul Canada Cup #2 (No Mud?)

We started our Trek (hah) out to Baie-Saint-Paul on Sunday to get in a solid week of riding on the CC course. Last year the race was a mudbath so it was great to get there and find out that the course was super dry (and not much rain in the forecast). We also found out that there isn't a whole lot to do in BSP other than ride, eat and watch movies (which we did a lot). The week went by pretty fast and before I knew it it was Sunday and we were lined up ready to go. I had a strong race last weekend and with a few riders back from the World Cups in Europe I knew it was going to be a tougher race, but I was ready and excited. The race went really well and I finished 6th overall elite and 1st U23, which I was very happy with. Mitch also had a great ride finishing 5th overall elite and 2nd U23. Adam and Peter both had strong rides finishing 7th and 14th respectively. I'm really looking forward to the Canada Cup final this weekend on our home course at Hardwood Ski and Bike!

On the start line

Coming through the feed zone



Trek Canada

Tremblant Canada Cup #1

After Woodnewton, we had a few more days at home before heading out to Quebec for Canada Cups 1 and 2. Our first stop was the Mont Tremblant Canada Cup which is definitely one of my favourite courses. We had a couple days to ride the course, which never changes much from year to year, and get it dialed. Tremblant is fairly rocky and I decided to race my Trek Top Fuel 9.9 full suspension, which turned out to be a great choice, especially for the long downhill. There was no rain before the race which made for a dry, fast course. The sun was shining on race day as well and the temperatures were up in the 30s. The race was shortened from the usual 4 laps to 3 laps to keep the race times a bit shorter this year, which was nice considering the heat. I had a good race, finishing 5th and getting my first Canada Cup podium in Elite. Mitch and Peter had strong races finishing 9th and 11th, and Jon Barnes took the win in Master Ex!


Here are some pictures from the weekend thanks to the Bailey's and Taylor!


Women's Start

Through the village lap 1

Finish

Podium

Trek Canada's Setup

"They're Cheering for both of Us"

After a not-so-hot race at Mansfield, it was great to come back with a win at O-Cup #2. The weather was a beautiful 22 degrees and sunny, (unlike last year when we froze to death). The new course, built and designed by Sean Ruppel, was super fun with some great flowy singletracks, but still challenging with some tough climbs. My Trek Superfly 29er was the perfect bike for the day. I duked it out with local Haley Smith for the first 3 laps, then got a gap on the 4th and final lap to take the win. It was a super fun race and riding together, we weren't sure who everyone was cheering for (Haley and Cayley sound very similar).

In the men's race, Trek teammates Peter Glassford and Mitch Bailey took the top 2 spots on the podium after a great battle. 

And last but not least Trek Canada's Jon Barnes finished a strong 3rd in the stacked Master Expert category. It was a great weekend for Trek Canada!

A huge thank you to everyone who was there to support us over the weekend and make it a success! And thank you to Momma Brooks and Momma + Papa Bailey for the great pictures!