Email City Concillors to Save Beaver Pond Forest!

Mike Abraham has been closely following the Beaver Pond Forest issue in Kanata and rallying troops in support of saving the Forest over the last 6 months or so. City council votes on Marianne Wilkinson's motion to consider purchasing the Forest from the developers who own it. The Forest is a key biodiversity corridor, which means flora and fauna both live in and move through this area to other refuges amidst out sprawling development. Destroying this natural endowment would be a loss for this generation and those to come, not to mention untold animals presently living there; this isn't just about what's good for us. Lets follow Mike's lead and email the councillors listed below, urging them to do the right thing: SAVE the POND.

Larry.OBrien@ottawa.ca ; Georges.Bedard@ottawa.ca ; Michel.Bellemare@ottawa.ca ; Rainer.Bloess@ottawa.ca ; Glenn.Brooks@ottawa.ca ; Rick.Chiarelli@ottawa.ca ; Alex.Cullen@ottawa.ca ; Diane.Deans@ottawa.ca ; Steve.Desroches@ottawa.ca ; Clive.Doucet@ottawa.ca ; Eli.El-Chantiry@ottawa.ca ; Peggy.Feltmate@ottawa.ca ; Jan.Harder@ottawa.ca ; Diane.Holmes@ottawa.ca ; Peter.Hume@ottawa.ca ; Gord.Hunter@ottawa.ca ; Rob.Jellett@ottawa.ca ; Kitchissippi@ottawa.ca ; Jacques.Legendre@ottawa.ca ; Maria.Mcrae@ottawa.ca ; Bob.Monette@ottawa.ca ; Shad.Qadri@ottawa.ca ; Doug.Thompson@ottawa.ca ; Marianne.Wilkinson@ottawa.ca

Mr. Cullen and Mr. Doucet, thank you for supporting Ms. Wilkinson's motion to consider the purchase of Beaver Pond Forest. To Mr. O'Brien, and others who do not support this initiative, I can assure you that it will cost you votes in the upcoming municipal elections.


This cherished land is a natural endowment we are responsible to steward for the benefit of future generations (remember what sustainable developments is?), and highly important to the vibrancy and health of our community. Don't let the Forest be destroyed on your watch.

Please consider this motion and the citizens who support it when you vote.

Regards,

2010 Fixed Gear Frolic

Its on: The 2010 Cyclocross Season Kicks Off With a Bang!

Today was a beautiful day for cyclocross in Ottawa, you know, in the sadistic sense cyclocrossers evince when talking weather. Steady rain all night, then a fine mist in the morning made for ideal conditions for those with a penchant for slip-and-slide and a good set of tires. The rain subsided early enough to ensure we'd get a chance to enjoy challenging conditions without having to worry too much about getting cold.

A full squad of Tall Tree/Steelwool Bicycles riders were on hand today, with Mike and Anna and Glenn letting loose in the first race. The format has changed this year, with all ladies categories running along with the Masters B and kids in the first race, followed by the Senior, Junior, and Masters A fields.

Beyond the sea of green, it was obvious that there was an very large turnout today (238 racers!!!), and many spectators as well littered across the course. I was extremely happy to see what appeared to be more kids racing than any other year, as well as special course modifications to accommodate their smaller bodies: a skipped uphill barrier and a lower barrier as well. After seeing some of the kids courageously dragging their bikes over barriers in previous years - AND returning to race again - these lowered barriers seemed brilliant. The more fun and accessible cross is for the kids, the better. I can't wait until my daughter is able to try a race, maybe another year and a bigger bike will do it.

The A race kicked off near 11am with a fast start. Rodd and Neil were both out of the gate very well, and I found myself in the top 20 not feeling like I was going tooo hard, which seemed like a good idea. The course was excellent today, with more turns that previous Brittania courses I've raced, and really good spacing of red-line and tempo sections. I consider a run-up a red-line section, as these are normally where I tend to come close to blowing a gasket, then have to recover from. I find the courses where you can hammer then recover and repeat the whole time more fun than those where you have to keep the pace more or less pinned all the time. When its technical the skills come into play more and everybody recovers more, so the race unfolds differently than more roadish courses, like Kanata tends to be. Good times.

Rodd's classic green Michelin Mud tire/wheel he offered me to use performed extremely well, confirming Michelin was mental to discontinue the tread. Confidence inspiring in the wet, fantastic! Since my Steelwool Truffle Pig is still under construction, I was on my Secteur 18 road bike we had built last year. Thankfully, the wet grassy mud was flowing well enough for clearance to the brakes not to become a problem, and the bike worked flawlessly. Sure, a tire sharper than my 30c Grifo in the back would have been nice, but that'll have to wait until I've got the TP. Two tubulars...crazy time it will be!

I managed to work my way up, contra my usual.......fade.....back 'method,' which was pretty fun to experience, that is, after the imploding feeling subsided post first lap madness. I found myself riding with Keirnan Orange, Warren McDonald, Steve Proulx, and Imad El-Ghazal after a while, and recall Greg Reain blow past us about mid-way in. Steve pulled away, and after some back and forth, including Warren drag racing down the finishing straight and flinging mud UP my nose(!), Imad and I ended up paired up heading into the last two laps. I turned on the 'jets' and attempted to shake him, but there was no doing, he was riding too smoothly and strong to break off. On the last lap I eased up and Imad passed, so I went into 'tactical mode' and planned to tail him closely and come around for the line. Well, I learned a valuable lesson, as a botched turn heading toward the final barriers allowed Imad to open a gap, and I simply did not have time to close it fast enough to come around at the end. We went for it full on, and I'm pretty sure I didn't bet closer than half a bike length away. Awesome sprint finish to a great race; it was good to work with Imad to get a bit of space between us and the others. I look forward to more battles like that over the season.

I'm very happy to report that my 10th overall spot behind Imad netted me my first cyclocross win evaaarr, which I am really excited about. I don't think Shawn Marshall is on form at the moment after weeks away in China wrenching for the US National Road team, so I'm pretty sure its going to take a lot of effort to have a hope of winning another. I was pretty uncertain about how my season of endurance riding would set me up for cross, and I'm both pleased and surprised to find that I am able to handle the intensity pretty well. As long as I keep learning every race I'll be able to improve each race, no matter what the results show. I also predict a number of the newer Tall Tree racers will be making big leaps in their racing over the course of the season. Their excitement and satisfaction at the end of these races really is the best thing about going. Well, that and the kids flying around on the course; that's the best thing, really.

See you all next week for the Madison! Then its time to Frolic!

Brad holds it down for the Tall Tree Beardos

Jamie, best finish ever?

Martin and Pascal rode well together.  Here Martin ATTACKS!

Rodd had his best start ever and ended up fifth in MA

BMX Jim had his first taste, and he likes it!

Neil, tight in the skinsuit, as usual.

 Here is a great shot by Sarah, Rodd had
no idea of the chaos behind him.
He ended up in a sprint with Glenn,
after he had dropped him,
then slid out on the second last corner. DOH!

Rob "Parsnips" Parniak. Check out the shouldering in the air!

J-to-the-P. Cool as a polar bear's toe nails, as usual.

Jay Heins was rocking the best horn, from a Dutch bike, I believe.  Excellent. 

Yep, this is what you do to avoid vomiting.

Then move to this. The modern man is not afraid to show vulnerability, right? I"m very modern. 

Neil, Pascal, Brad, Jamie (and that's me on the ground, grovelling). 

See what I mean, Pascal looks like a PRO Frenchman. BMX Jim, not so much, but he sure does look like he can kick your ass.

Imad and me, post race, all smiles. Great ally to have in the races, let me tell ya.

Creative re-enactment.

This is Rob's patented post race face. He doesn't tend to resort to flopping on the ground, unlike someone. No, he's just not that modern.

Post race coffee at Bridgehead. Oh so sweet.

Two Xtracycles in our camp today. Rodd's was full race-wagon. I can't wait to roll to races like this, hopefully next year. Much better then risking the tubulars on the way across town.

Thanks to Steve and Tanya for their photos. If you have a link you'd like to share, post it up in the comments.

Pics by Steve

Pics by the Vegan Vagabond

Pics by Sarah
Thanks ya'all!

Fall Fixed Gear Frolic: Sunday October 3rd!

Hi all, just locked down the date for our third annual Fixed gear Frolic this morning: next Sunday, October 3rd.

This year has posed the greatest challenges of any other for scheduling both the Frolic and Double Cross. These events are just too well loved to skip, so I knew we had to find a way. With an intense cyclocross schedule locked down, including more three double race weekends, things were looking pretty grim. However, I think we've come up with a good solution.

Running the Frolic next Sunday gets us in before daylight savings. I didn't really want to run it on a Saturday, as too many shop folks would be cut out, so Sunday was kept, following the Brittania cross race. Racing will end at about 11:30, so racers will have time to run home, change clothes and bikes, and meet at Tall Tree Cycles for 2pm to roll out. Since we want people to make it home for dinner, we're going to do a Tour de Recreational Paths, covering pretty much all the best chunks of path in Ottawa-Gatineau, including Lac Leamy, Gatineau Park, the Voyageur Trail, Pinecrest Creek, The Arboritum, Vincent Massey Park and more. The route will be about 80k, rolling, and really pleasant.

We'll figure out a mid-way coffee stop. Apres ride, folks can opt to catch drinks/food as they like. I figure many will want to head home for dinner.

So get your fixed gear rollin! We'll ride rain or shine, so fenders might be golden.

More info to come. Here's the map:

Tall Tree Cycles Fall Fixed Frolic 2010



http://www.bikely.com/

Double Cross will be held on Thanksgiving Monday @ 09:30

2010 Paul's Dirty Enduro: "What doesn't destroy you makes you stronger"

At first blush, the quote above verges on trite. But a bit of thought, given it was delivered in the context of stage racing by a Pro Tour rider, reveals substance below the surface. "Destroy" needs to be operationally defined, because if we take it literally, its equivalent to 'kill,' right, except more violent. In this context, 'destroy' means thrash, trash, empty, cook, bake, fry, toast, crack...completely deplete. In cycling, completely emptying yourself might win you a battle or two, but you won't win the war if you do it all the time, especially when it comes to stage racing. This is because recovery is essential to actually maintaining form, let alone improving. So destroying oneself is ok at select times, given you have time to recover. That can take anywhere from a day or two to a couple weeks, depending on the sort of destruction you've wreaked

I headed to Paul's Dirty Enduro with a clear intention not to destroy myself. After all, my cyclocross season is about to start, and I committed myself to improving on my 2009 results way back in the winter. Yet, as September hit I was still signed on for endurance events, which I knew would mean I would not have much chance to tune up for cross until October. Oh well, Hastings is awesome, and I've wanted to do Paul's for years. As long as I didn't destroy myself in the process it would be all good.

Step one was getting there, and as no other Tall Tree riders were signed on for the race, I had to scramble at the last minute to find a ride to Ganaraska Forest. With not a bit of arm twisting, Peter Mason and Mark McNab, of Big Ring Racing fame, granted me a spot in their car, and away we went Friday night. Conversation abounded on the drive to the venue, and we were there before we knew it, Zen navigation and all. My start was at 8am, theirs 11, so they dropped me off at the venue, helped me set up my tent, and rolled off to their motel 20 minutes away.

There is something comforting about sleeping with your bike next to you. And your shoes, cause they make good clubs in the case of a bear attack.

"Everyone has a plan...'till they get punched in the mouth" - Mike Tyson


Before I knew it the clock had struck 11:45 and I was ready to sleep. Or not. As it turned out the 100g of chocolate I'd pigged out on at 5pm had other designs for me: insomnia. Not exactly to plan...more like a punch in the mouth. Ah well, I've had my share of insomnia this year, so I don't stress much. I'd slept well Thursday night, and that's always the more important sleep.

Ugh, this is my face at 6:30am. Not pretty.

Day breaks, and its time for breakfast in the tent and suiting up for the race. I didn't have a clue about their feed zone practices, so after sussing that out I placed a bag of bottles in a truck that would stop at two feed zones, and placed another couple 30 feet from my tent, where we'd pass by at 40k into the race. Then it was go time, but first, call ups/attendance: "Yada yada, Ben Dawson, yada yada, Hatt Surch." "Matt, its Matt," I said, and under my breath "or perhaps 'ass-hat,' guess we'll find out.' Go.

Mmm, layered Clif gel. Mocha/Vanilla, repeat. I fit 6 packs in here and consumed about two thirds. Kinda gross, but effective.

"Healthy Energy" apparently. Hey, why not try this stuff for the first time before a massive race? Sure, sounds good. Pretty much juice, FRS seemed pretty good. I think I will experiment some more. FRS, wanna send some samples?

If you'd expect a fairly mellow start to a 100k mountain bike race, you'd be right. Group ride pace would be right. The faster guys moved up right away out of the 20 or so rider field. I knew who to follow, Ben Dawson, reigning King, so I did just that. However, a few others had other ideas, so they moved up, and started falling down. After the second or third time this happened, about 5k in, I instinctively took advantage while second wheel, and surged ahead. This created a gap I maintained for about 10k. Then 5 came back to me after a long slog through very sandy singletrack. As it turns out, motorcycles ride a chunk of the 100k course, and have clearly been doing so for some time. The top soil is long gone, and the trail is up to two feed deep, forming a channel. While the motos clearly contribute to some interesting trail features, such as whoops and berms, I can't help but wonder how their riding can be considered sustainable? From a cyclists perspective, the sand sucks, literally.

Hanging with the others felt good, so I was happy. By 40k in there were just four of us, Ben, Andrew and Alex. Alex had won before, as had Ben, numerous times, and Andrew apparently lost it last year after being misdirected. Rolling out of the 40k checkpoint it was just Ben, Andrew and me, so I figured my odds were looking pretty good.


It was clear how Ben won numerous times: he was steady and smooth. It was pretty clear that Andrew had a bit more go from my perspective third wheel though, so I kept a close eye. Then I took another punch to the mouth. On a quick descent about 58k in, I clipped a tree with my bar on the right, saved it, but careened into another, which I could not avoid. Down I went, handlebar turning 180 degrees and requiring the jaws of life to turn back around (its a 29er thing). Andrew had asked if I was ok when he heard me go down, always nice to see that sort of consideration. I was ok, but they were gone. Ok, so, protect 3rd now. At the 60k feed zone I fixed my shifter and brake lever positioning, and got rolling again.


"Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever." - Lance Armstrong

My chain was squeaking. Pulling a total rookie move, I'd only applied a thin lube, Pro-Link, at home, and after going through a couple puddles it was gone. Sure enough, chain suck followed, then a broken link. I always carry a spare master link, so in that went and I was rolling again. 3rd place, hold it. My pace was steady, and felt pretty good. I'd come into the race with tender hamstrings, so I'd been taking it easy on them, and walked some really loose steep climbs to preserve my legs. That was the smart thing to do, and I needed to be smart. After breaking the chain I knew the granny was a no-go, so any steep climbs should be run. That worked really well, and felt pretty good too. Cross training, I thought, cool. Then the unthinkable: I spotted Dawson! Ok, how long until I get to where he is? I wondered. About 3 or three minutes it turned out. Wow, big surprise. We were about 70k in. Soon I hit a feed zone and asked where he was. One minute ahead. Wow, ok, thanks folks. I caught Ben about three minutes later, and confirmed that he was completely cracked. I offered a word of encouragement, and he indicated Andrew was long gone.

A choice had to be made: chase or maintain. In my mind, holding steady was akin to quitting, to giving up the fight; I had to chase. There was no telling how far ahead Andrew was, so I simply had to ride as hard as I thought I could. Agony ensued. After consuming Shot Bloks and caffeinated gel all morning, my chest felt like it was imploding, while my neck ached immensely and, quite frankly everything from the waist up just plan hurt. But my legs were fine, so I just kept them going and tried to savour each tic of the computer. Descents at 35kph were a gift, eating up the distance. Mental gymnastics were required to stay positive and gain satisfaction from each meter gained. At 90k in I was prepared for the last 10. The hills did not stop coming over the last 20k, but in fact increased in length. I was thankful to be able to stay on top of my 34x34 and avoid walking. I figured my computer was a little under in total distance, as it had been visibly missing some of my rolling, but I was not prepared to find myself riding toward the start/finish area at just under 94k in. Would they have my bypass the finish, rode another 6k, then finish? That’d be sadistic, wouldn’t it? It would. A short looparound had me pointed at the finish line and delivered one of the highest points of elation I’ve experienced in a long time. Katie thought I wanted more when I remarked on the 94k total, mistaking my joy for disappointment! I’m sure my intonation in that nearly-destroyed state hardly sounds joyous. Andrew was way ahead, about 16 minutes away, so that was that. I ended up rolling in with a total time of 5:52, and my computer showed 5:36 of that was spent rolling. With an average speed reading just under 17kph, I hit a high of 50kph; my 34t big ring was more than sufficient.

After a scrub with poison ivy neutralizer and cold water, staggering to my tent, cleaning up some more and lying down for a bit I was ready to return to the world. Tents sure are great to have around post race!

Post race food was excellent, featuring wonderful volunteers serving up both veggie and carnal chili, salads, buns, apples and drinks, along with a coffee stand and beer. While waiting for Peter and Mark to roll in I had opportunity to really soak up the vibe of the race after spending so much time alone over the course of the morning.

I ate more than twice this amount of food, then repeated when I got home at 8:30. The veggie chili was great, as was the rest of the fare, especially the pasta salad here. Thanks cooks, this was all much appreciated after a day 'eating' space food!

Lots of families and kids, this was a great grassroots sort of race. Everyone seemed to be in a great mood and enjoying themselves.

Peter and Mark came in with three minutes between them. Aside from feeling like puking for the last 10k or so, Peter was lovin' it. Mark was going strong until about the same point, when he faded a bit, but still finished strong. 9th and 12th in  the 40-49 category. Well  done guys!

Peter rocked the one cog like a champ!

Chattin it up with a fellow Hastings Hilly Hundred rider I met the previous weekend. He figured he'd make his 7th mtb ride a race, why not? That's the spirit, biking rules!!!!

Katie, event organizer extaordinaire and super cool lady, delivers a bit of Shakespeare to the crowd. Or tosses bottles, your pick. Katie is an awesome MC, no question. I'm sure she's a total hoot to ride with.


The Big Ringers are sponsored by beer. Yep, beer, Steamwhistle specifically. They had to pay for these, as they forgot their 'get beer free' cards at home, but Peter did have his PRO-issue bottle opener handy. After one of these Peter's nausea subsided; neat huh?


Damn, talk about a pants catastrophe. Mine are so droopy I look like a spaz, and Ben's...well, I'm hoping they were meant to be ironic. Yep, ACDC. 

"The King is dead, long live the King." Andrew Decal and Heather Gray. Congrats on awesome races folks!

Super cool booty! I'm holding a handmade tile I'll have to work into a backsplash, an exercise ball (I've been wanting to get one for a while; yes, I'm serious), Ergon grips (which I've wanted to try for a while, but refused to because of their offensively wasteful packaging), and polka-dot Sugoi arm warmers in XS! I figured my daughter would like them as leg warmers, and I was right! They are darn cool.  It was nice surprising her with a prize back at home.

Big thanks go to Katie and the Paul's volunteer crew, who put on a heck of a great event with a really positive atmosphere. I'll be back, and I'll try to bring some friends along. A big thank you also goes to RE:FORM Body Clinic, specifically, Katie, who fit me in last Monday to cash in the massage they donated at the Hell Climb. I'm certain my legs would not have felt nearly as good had I not had the opportunity to benefit from the massage therapy RE:FORM provided. And last but not least, a big thank you to Peter and Mark for helping me out at the last minute to get to the race, and for being such great travel companions. I look forward to more opportunities to hang with you guys. 

Ok, so that's a wrap on my endurance racing season, and it is now time to turn full attention to cyclocross. With an exciting Steelwool cross bike due any day for field testing, I'm psyched to get racing and keep on learning and improving. With so many Tall Tree riders and friends taking up cross this year for the first time, it's going to be a really fun atmosphere at the races. We'll continue to do what we can to liven up the vibe, cowbells and all. Hope to see you all there; bring your kids if you have 'em and get crazy for cross!