Inception Cyclery - New Year, New Rides, New Start: Video

 

New Year, New Rides, New Start Video

20th Paris to Ancaster - Race Reports

Dan Dakin, Dr. Stephen Cheung, Jamie Schuman, and a small group of Niagara region racers headed to the Paris / Ancaster area to brave the always harsh P2A! Stephen has shared his experiences from the day.

Dr. Stephen Cheung

The best part of P2A, besides the fact that it was sunny/dry and there was a slight tailwind, was that we got the chance to channel our inner Sven Nys and really play in the mud! The two chutes are always slimy mud baths, but the recent rains made a good chunk of the single track slick and fun to play on too. There was one "what have I gotten myself into?" moment when I screamed into a mud trench way too fast, but I ended up going with it and just letting it ride and got to the end safely. Oh yeah, thanks again to the kids who put up the jump ramps halfway through, and to Inception Cyclery for the perfect race overhaul and adjustment!

Jamie and Stephen

Picture provided by Kyra Paterson

Niagara's Cold 2013 Spring - Dr. Stephen Cheung

This is an email response from Stephen when asked if he wanted to ride this past Wednesday (April 10, 2013). It's important to note that Stephens research specialty is humans in extreme temperatures!

Well, you missed Noah's Ark coming out for a sail last night, not to mention some fun with hypothermia for me. Seriously, I have not been THAT cold outside of my own lab for at least the last decade (after a race in Nova Scotia April 2002). Was caught completely under-dressed too and bailed after the first lap of the club race after attacking like crazy didn't warm me up. I was shaking so uncontrollably that I either couldn't grip the handlebars, or else when I did I had the worst case of top-tube shimmy ever, such that I thought my front end was going to snap off. That made descending Haist really fun, especially with wet carbon rims!

Spent about 30 min freezing in a hot shower and hyperventilating/shivering before I got remotely close to warm again.

I've got a few degrees worth of experience with hypothermia, and that wasn't fun! So needless to say, I'm staying indoors tonight!

Tour of Bronte Race Report - Dan Dakin

Lessons Learned

All I remember seeing was a cloud of dust, and then a CHCH rider lying across the gravel road.

This is going to hurt...

It was my third Tour of Bronte and I've enjoyed racing it ever time I've had the opportunity to do so. There's something about tearing off of the pavement and onto a gravel road that's incredibly fun. I still don't know how to classify this race. It's not really a road race considering there are only a couple of kilometres per lap of pavement. But it's definitely not a cross race. It's just the Tour of Bronte.

My day started with a bit of chaos when I realized - one hour before the start - that I had somehow forgotten to register for the race. I'd signed up for 3 or 4 races a while ago and was certain I'd included Bronte in the list, but as I sat in my car frantically going through my email and Visa statements, I realized the mistake was entirely my fault - Lesson Learned.

After some pleading with the race organizers they let me sign up and I was off.

The Intermediate Race had all of the elite women, a pile of Master 2, Master 3, Senior 3 and junior racers in it. It was the largest field of the day and I knew staying near the front would be key.

Right off the start the jostling for position began and within the first couple of laps I had found myself in the front half of the race when the pack split apart.

A group of three CHCH riders took off up the road and built up an insurmountable lead. With each passing lap more riders from our chase group were dropping off. Avoiding flats were the biggest challenge of the day and I knew I just had to bide my time and ride smart.

As the bell sounded for the final lap, I was in the front 15 or so of the chase group and figured I'd try to make a move with a few other riders with a couple of kilometres to go. I knew the three lead guys were long gone, but I thought perhaps a Top 5 or Top 10 was pretty realistic.

Unfortunately, it didn't work out.

Just over a bit of a bumpy bridge on the gravel section of the course, there was suddenly a crash about 10 metres in front of me. I thought about going left or right, but there were guys down on both sides. Instead, I hit the brakes and hoped I could avoid it. A big cloud of dust in front of me cleared and there, lying less than half a metre in front of my wheel was a CHCH rider. It was too late to even attempt a bunny hop. I just slammed into him and violently flipped forward. I slammed down on my hands and knees and looked around to see around 10 people involved in the day's worst crash.

I was in pain, but after checking to make sure nothing was broken, I stood up and looked at the bike. Shockingly, my reliable Giant CX bike was intact. Not even a twisted handlebar. The commissaries were asking who wanted to DNF, but I figured I'd soft pedal around to the finish alongside a friend of mine who had caught up with me on the course.

We slowly rode the rest of the loop, until the final 500 metres when I realized a large pack of 30 or so riders was flying up behind me. I knew I had enough of a lead on them that if I pushed a bit harder, I'd stay in front. "Gotta go," I yelled to my friend.

I managed to finish a few metres in front of the pack and finished in a respectable 28th. Not exactly my goal for the day, but I was happy nonetheless.

I learned two things - make sure you confirm your race registrations before going to a race; and just because you crash, it doesn't mean you can't still have a good result.

Dan Dakin