Axel Merckx Penticton Gran Fondo Report

Penticton from the Naramata Bench. Photo: Robert de Rot

MY GOOD LORD!! Penticton is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I do not know why I have not spent more time there. The 2013 Axel Merckx Gran Fondo on July 7th, 2013 had to be one of the greatest organized events in one of the most beautiful settings in North America. Oh, and the ride? That was also spectacular: challenging, fast, and very, very fun!

2012 BC CUP Cyclocross Finals Report: The last race of the year I did not do....again.

AW hitting the run-ups. Photo: Matt Law

The last race of the season was a race that did not include me going elbow to elbow with my fellow mud wrestlers. I opted to announce the race, as I have for the last three years. Ever since I was unable to ride in the 2010 cyclocross season due to my fractured shoulder and broken body, I have continued to call the Daryl Evans BC CUP Finals. This year I was torn: should I try to salvage my season, do double duty trying to do both, or just call the race. My choice was more or less made for me.

BC Cyclocross Championships 2012: CX at it's finest!

Doug captures me looking like a giant on a children's bike.
2012 BC CX Champs, Mahon Park. Photo: Doug Brons

Yesterday was the 2012 BC Cyclocross Championships presented by Atomic Racing at Mahon Park in North Vancouver. Much like last year, the course was nearly the same, save for some minor changes. Key features remained: the infamous mud pit, the three sets of stairs, the gravel soccer infield. Jeff Van Mulligan and Atomic racing put on a fabulous race, again, one that lives up to being a true cyclocross event, and not the smokin' fast dirt crits that we have seen at all the races to this point in the lower mainland.

The Flanders CX gods have not been particularly warm to me this cyclocross race season. A sub par dismal showing yesterday has me re-assessing my situation to this point, halfway into the race calendar. Perhaps I am tempting them with my adulterous ways, always flirting with distance running and neglecting to get on my bike. Perhaps they are trying to teach me a lesson about my late night ways, and lack of early weeknight bedtimes and before the crack of dawn trail runs. Or maybe I am being punished for buying a second bike, and not keeping my bikefit an exact replica of my old steed from last season. Whatever the case, this season is going down as a forgettable racing year, and I am only 4 races into it, and have another 4 to go. Maybe I am being to hard on myself. Things can turn around, right? I suppose I can fool myself into believing that, but at this point, it is all I have to hold on to.

Those same cyclocross gods whom have bestowed the bad karma on my race season gifted us a very cold wet raceday to behold. One where the winner would more than earning their victory and be crowned with the title of provincial champion after coming out on top of the field in sloppy, mucky conditions.

Somehow, I managed to earn myself a front row call up based on my early registration--I think I was one of the first people on the confirmation list. I looked around for Matt Drown who has had a much better season than me to see where he was, and I thought why wasn't he in front of me? This call up was a blessing and a curse--happy to line up with Jason Fluckiger, my brother Aaron, team manager Jeff Hanninen, Martin Bojesen* (--MB started third row), Mike McArthur, and Jamie Cameron, yet nervous to keep things together in the opening laps of the race. This race would also prove to be the first time that Aaron and I would go head to head in years. This race was a proving ground to show which brother would be the finer CX racer of the both of us.

Called up for the start, but it would not matter....

At the gun, again, like the last 3 races, my legs had no jam in them. My 6th place going into the first corner transformed into 10th, 14th, and 16th in the opening 18 minutes of the race. The huge mud puddles, slippery off camber grass turns and climbs, the sloppy mud hole on the backside of the course, along with the small amount of climbing that this course offered was enough to make me suck. I was ahead of Aaron for the first two laps, when he caught me and we stuck together for a while, until I had a slight mechanical coming out to the mud pit. My shoe ratchet came loose, forcing me to stop in the mud, tighten it a bit too much, then I had to loosen it off after a few pedal strokes. At this time, Aaron took off from me, calling for me to stay on his wheel. I dropped all the way back to 23nd place, into a battle with all around good guy and my former UBC team member from 1999, Niels Steiner. We traded punches in our own little provincial championship's race-within-a-race. Somewhere during my chase of Niels I took a bacon handup. WOW!! Highlight of the race. That was amazing. The taste of breakfast during a CX race lingered in my mouth for a few laps. It wasn't my own breakfast coming back up on me. Magical.

Aaron and Niels battling just in front of me.

Aaron making the catch, then subsequently passing me. 

Niels and I hung out together for the last 3 laps of 6. By lap 5, after the bacon, I ran out of brakes and had a tough time on any of the downhill sections of the course. With Salomon Flight Crew member Tom Craik quid pro quo-íng the heckling I dished out to him earlier in the day, and in front of other mud pit spectators, I careened into the left side fence post while letting out an "Oh S#it" howl, narrowly avoiding ending my day by slamming into it with my bike and body. I opted the next two laps to run it. It really came down to the last straight onto the finishing track stretch to the finish line. I managed to swing around him before the track, and sprint up to claim 22nd. A disappointing 22nd, after last years 12th place. Niels had a considerably higher placing last year, 10th place in 2011.

Martin, Chris, and Jason after the finish. Chris 1st, Martin 2nd, Jason 4th.

At the front of the race, 2011 Provincial CX Masters Champ Jamie Cameron had to settle for 3rd, behind the Kamloops crew, with Chris McNeil taking a sprint finish over Martin Bojesen. Again, that was a battle of shots with Chris hiding in wait while Martin and Jamie traded blows. Chris capitalized on a couple of timely mistakes, and rode a clean  (although this was a mudbath/mudwrestling) race to the win. My teammate Jason Fluckiger came 4th for the second year in a row. Great ride Jason!!

My number was not visible due to a crash and a the pins coming off of my jersey and my number flapping in the wind, so no lap times for me.

Post race, I met up with Dale Ewenchook and Rick Rodland, both very nice guys. Dale mentioned to me about his ride on Lummi island with one of my solid Saturday morning riding partners, Marko Diotte. Both Dale and Rick ride for Alliance, and bringing up Tyler Dumont was my way of meeting some more powerhouse riders. Dale managed to take the 50+ Championship race, gracefully, I might add. Thanks to Jeff Hanninen and the support of Daryl Evans Mechanical for making things go, huge ups to Jeff Van Mulligan and Atomic Racing for putting on a helluva race--hot showers and food = Respect! You guys did an awesome job, and thanks to the District of North Vancouver for letting us make some fun in your park--This is the best sport around, and without support from the municipalities, we do not have venues to race in like this.

What was left after the race. A thing of beauty. Photo: Jamie Cameron

So goes the CX season....

Some data from the race:

Things still are not where they should be. I can push my average higher....or I used to be able to.

So, after a bike wash, warm shower, and sandwich at Mahon Park, I came home to disassemble my crankset and BB to check out how much water had gotten into my frame. Pulling the cups out of the shell, a stream of chocolate-milk colored water poured out. I am pretty happy to have done that little bit of maintenance, and not at the end of the season, after riding in all the cold, wet weather we can expect to come. It would be a bit of a shock to have 400ml of dirtwater come out of the BB shell in a months time. I suppose that is what the drain holes are for, but they don't drain out everything.

Trying to find some mojo for me legs at the next race, I have already devised the perfect plan:

I have pushed my saddle forward 1cm.

Brilliant, eh?

I think that perhaps coming back to a more traditional fit that I had last year will help me feel more comfortable over the top tube, make me more efficient with my pedal stroke, bring me closer to the bars so that I am not hanging out so much over my rear wheel, and improve bike handling.

Balance over the bike. Time, and rides, will tell.

For now I have to ride.

Congrats to all the champions! Much deserved on this day. For the record:

Dale Ewenchook                50-59 Champion
Bob Welbourn                    40-49 Champion
Tyler Trace                         Elite Men's Champion
Sandra Walter                     Elite Women's Champion

Check out these beauty pics: Doug, Amir,

South Surrey Cyclocross Race Report: CX at it's most difficult



Side hill Mudslide. Photo: Doug Brons.

As the cyclocross season wears on, the races get more and more draining and difficult, week in week out. Fast races in September and October change like the autumn leaves into ugly, cold, slower races in November and December. November 12th was no exception.

Raceday Saturday felt like the longest day ever without any sunlight. It started dark and early for me at 5:00 am, when the CBC announcer blared into my bedroom. I put my contacts in, grabbed my gear and headed downstairs. This was just the beginning of a day that made me feel happy to be alive, grateful for warmth, good food, and beer.

Arriving at the bike park in South Surrey at 6:10 am, Brian Gunn, Ken Leggatt, and myself quickly picked up our wheelbarrow full of goodies, and headed out to mark our part of the course. This years course was easily the best cyclocross course we have had in the lower mainland, and it had everything: stairs, a FLY OVER (awesome) taking riders over a cedar fence, side hill /off camber grass, false flats, a little bit of a pump track, a run up, pavement, a huge mud puddle, and grass. We were in charge of the barriers/ stairs/ dirt jumps area.

One awesome flyover. 

4 hours worth of taping the course, and the DE crew had brought Jeff Hanninen's vision to reality. This was a huge effort by our team to make this course happen, a course similar to previous iterations. By 10 am, everything was in place. I took 60 minutes to get dressed and get warm at my in-law's house close by. Getting back to the park at 11 am, I started my warm-up only to have the rain begin to tease us. Warm-up is a misnomer, as there was nothing warm about riding around the course before the race.  The weatherman got it right today. Nailed it down exactly. The forecast called for rain beginning at noon. The day started 3 degrees and dry. You can imagine what 3 degrees and soaked to the bone felt like...

In the Masters 3/4 race, there were upwards of 31 starters, a really good sized group. I had a cherry call up position, again called first due to my 42 points. Taking the line, I talked to Simon Pulfrey, who was off of his full suspension from Vanier CX, and riding a borrowed CX bike from Kim Steed.

If I were new to cyclocross racing, the race today would have been my first and last race ever. Mud, water, muddy water, rain, cold, and cold. Did I mention it was wet? So wet that my hands stopped working. I could not feel the shifters or brakes, and had to look to see what I was doing. Water logged shoes, water heavy clothes, mud everywhere-- this race was a proverbial war of attrition. Just staying upright on the bike was effort enough. Going fast was difficult due to the bitter, brittle cold wind and rain pelting the riders and course.

Cold, cold, cold. My shoulders tell the story.

I had planned to follow John Irvine and Simon, then Tyler. I did not see or hear the super fast James Cameron called to the line, but he was there. Settling into fifth wheel as the gun went off, I was happy with the position I was in. But after lap one, it was clear just how big the gap was forming at the head of the race.

All tactics went out the window once I managed to crash on the off camber-mud-side hill, get up, and crash immediately after that. On the second crash I injured my left calf, hobbling my run along the muddy side hill. The most spectacular crash I witnessed was at the north end of the course. Coming off of the curb into the 180 turn around/road section, Alex Cojacaru went over the bars, slid along the ground face and chest first while still clipped in, and had the bike come over his head and land on his back. It looked horribly painful, but as I passed him, he told me he was okay. He finished a lap down--I bet it was due to some serious pain he suffered in that spill.

James Cameron, director of Avatar and Titanic and eventual winner of the race, had no problems with the sidehill. He, Irvine, and Pulfrey laid down a a serious tear on the first 3 laps to make everyone chase. After my crash, it was all about staving off the racers behind, and trying to chase wheels in front. My fall pushed me out of the top 5, and into the top 15. Over the next 4 laps, I listened to my good friend Nick Gill on the sidelines give me little challenges to pull me back up in the race.

On the straights, uphills, and descents, I managed to gap riders behind, and pull up to those in front. But I was slow in the corners--something I need to work on in wet conditions. Pushing hard on the straights allowed me to get back some positions, eventually catching Ryan Newsome (who was having brake problems), and finally the clean-leg-shaven Ian Hoffman right before the finish line. He must have been using an embrocation on his legs. That is the only explanation there is to be able to wear shorts on this day. I ended up in 7th place, well back from winner Cameron by about 2 minutes. I am happy with this hard fought result, especially because I had no mechanicals, and I fought back from 15th to 7th. Satisfied to finish this one safely, without too much hypothermia.

Not my hardest effort this season, but the conditions dictated the day.

To say that this race was hard is an understatement. Punishing, torturous, painful, character building, debilitating, crappy, awful, bone-chilling, and horrible are just a few words I would use to describe what we all shared as racers on the 12th. My hands were so wet and cold that 10 minutes in, I could hardly feel the shifters to downshift and brake. One of the hardest races I have ever done.

On a tire note, my Maxxis front Raze and rear Mud Wrestler gave me no troubles this time at 42 psi. A bit high for the mucky conditions in part, but I had no problems. I swapped out my Vitorria's CX Pros for Mud Wrestler's all around on my pit wheelset that I didn't have to use this week, thank goodness. I really can't wait for hydraulic disc brakes to come stock on CX bikes. This race took some major life out of my rims.

Special thanks to Jeff Hanninen for all his work on getting this thing up and running. the Daryl Evans Racing Crew, Matt Hornland and the Mighty Crew for taking over the running of the race, Nick Berry for the food--chili and smokies--these were very much welcomed, and Nick Gill for cheering and helping me out of my shoes after the race. And to anyone else who braved the conditions. This was a day that we will all remember--hardcore european cyclocross at its best.

Sorry to the old bitty in the parking lot who caught me in my knickers, post race, as she drove past.

Official Race Report at South Surrey CX
Report at Cyclocross Magazine

Photos are at:

Doug Brons' Flickr site
Daryl Evans Racing Flickr site