Pigeon Lake Road Race

Is anyone else doing the Pigeon Lake RR this weekend? If so, where are you staying and when are you traveling? I am going up on Saturday evening (not doing the crit.) and probably staying in Leduc (a half hour from the race). Send me an email at mark.perry at shaw dot ca if you planning on racing and we'll try to arrange carpooling or meet up before the race.
Mark

Not a Mountain Biking Powerhouse

With the Millarville race cancelled and the ABA road series taking a break I thought I'd report on my second attemp this season to attain mountain biking greatness. Although, I'd settle for mountain biking mediocrity. I did the Perogy race a couple of weeks ago and was given a harsh lesson on technique and the importance thereof. The Bacon race near Stony Plain is a little less technical and more for the engine, or so I was told. It isn't, at least not when it rains overnight. The pre-ride went fairly well and the roots and rocks and trees, etc provided a bit of a challenge but nothing insurmountable. Then it rained overnight. Roots get very slippery when wet and it is a constant battle to pick your way through tight singletrack. Needless to say, it was very tough and slow although not that punishing on the legs. Anyway, instead of being 17/22 finishers in the Men Sport race I chose to ride Master Men and finished a 2/4 a good seven minutes back which suprised me given the fact that I was certain I had lost seven minutes in about 2km on the first lap. Anyway, it was a ton of fun, very well run, and the weather was really quite nice, warm and dry. Props to the organizers and keep up the fun. And yes, there was bacon in the feed zone.
Come on out on Wednesday for the Merckx TT and let me know if you're heading to Pigeon or Devon. I'll missed Pigeon as I'm in BC riding, but I am going to Devon for the whole shebang.
Stumbling towards mediocrity, Jamie

Getting Into The Season

Time to ride, time to plan, time to race. And the weather is cooperating! or at least for the time being. Looking at my calendar, I'm full up with cycling for the next 8 weekends. I think it is time to start looking at some of the bigger races that we should think about participating in this summer. I'll go in order:

May 24-25 Track - Spring Clean Up - Fun for the trackies.
May 25 MTB XC - Bacon Buffet of Pain and Sufering - Stoney Plain mountain bike XCtastic. I only mention it becasue I'll be there.
May 25 Road (Club) - Millarville Marauder - Perfect for new racers and veterans alike. Close to town and a really good race.
May 31/Jun 1 Road - Pigeon Lake - Now with omnium power. Great race and now with a crit. Not far to go and a must for Calgary racers. Go to http://www.ertc.org/ for details.
Jun 7-8 Track - Velocity - Stop 2 on the Journal Cup Series.
June 14-15 Road - Devon Grand Prix - Another most important stop on the ABA circuit this year with something for everyone. http://www.juventus.ab.ca/ for details.

I would strongly recommend both Pigeon Lake and Devon as must do races for road racers in Alberta this year. That being said, I'll miss Pigeon Lake due to my training camp in Osoyoos but Devon is squarely on my calendar. Leave a comment in the blog if you're heading up and perhaps we can organize a group of people together. If you're available this weekend, give the Millarville race a go.

The Wednesday Night Series is moving forward with a road race this Wednesday. We'll race rain or shine as long as it is safe. Visit the blog for details (www.c4racingwns.blogspot.com).

Weekend Racing

Congrats to those that braved the sunny and dry conditions on Saturday to get in the TT. Props to Ryan Barr as the fastest C4 rider and to all those that rode and special thanks to Mark Perry for the course and putting it on. I think I was the only other C4 racer out on the weekend where I did the Perogy XC mountain bike race in Edmonton. Let's just say that 17th in Open Sport wasn't last but wasn't great. THe race was excellent though and a heck of a lot of fun. I think I hit half the trees in Terwillegar park at one time or another but the perogies were tasty and plentiful (even in the feed zone).
Details on Pigeon Lake are up and registration is commencing soon with field limits so if you're interested, check out the ABA (www.albertabicycle.ab.ca) for further details. Further on in May is the Millarville race (May 25th) and the Stony Plain MTB race on the same day if enyone likes the knobby stuff. Pigeon lake is in early June and then Devon in mid June which would be great to get a few riders together for as we did well last year and it promises to be a good race with 4 stages from Friday night through Sunday.

Racing this weekend!

There are two good opportunities to get in some racing this weekend. The first is our rescheduled club TT in Airdrie Saturday morning at 11am. The second is the Perogy mountain bike race in Edmonton on Sunday morning so if you like fat tires AND perogies then this is the weekend for you. Thanks to everyone who attended the Wednesday night series meeting last night and we are on track to start next Wednesday at 7 at the Dunbow TT course. I didn't see any names from the Velocity results but we're working on getting our racers out to these events. If you're heading to Saskatoon in a couple of weeks, leave a comment and we can make sure people can hook up.

Race Series meeting tomorrow night at 7pm

Just a reminder that we are having a Wednesday Night Series (WNS) meeting tomorrow May 7th at 7pm and the Priddis Meeting Spot. Details are on the WNS blog at www.c4racingwns.blogspot.com

Breaking Away Bearspaw Club Race

This is a really good opportunity to get the racing crew out and shake the rust off the road racing tactics. Conveniently located right in this very city, and mercifully not too early in the morning it should be a good ride. To ensure this we are in real need of volunteers to ensure that things go off smoothly so if you don't feel like racing, drop by and lend a hand, we could use it. Details are on the main page (www.calgarycycling.com). See you Sunday and good luck to those heading off to the Velocity Stage Race in Edmonton this weekend.