Deep inside the Pain Cave at Canadian Cyclocross National Championships

Apparently handups are verboten at National Championships, so we enjoyed the lack of responsibility and spent the day ringing cowbells and cheering everyone through the mud. Geoff Kabush and Mical Dyck dominated their races, winning their National Championship jerseys by a good margin. There was lots of great head-to-head racing, and big cheers for the (very) few who were able to ride the sidehill mud climb – endless entertainment! It was raining and windy but an otherwise fun mud-filled day. I didn’t bring any camera flashes and it was pretty dark and gloomy, but here are a few photos anyways – I can’t seem to be content just spectating! Enjoy…

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Escape Velocity Grand Prix of Cyclocross 2012 from Formula Photographic Inc. on Vimeo.

With snow in the upper parts of the North Shore, and crisp bite to the air, cyclocross weather had arrived just in time for the BC Cyclocross Championships on October 21, 2012.

Held in Mahon Park, North Vancouver, racers were greeted with a muddy course with lots of standing water to keep the chilly toes wet. The course was great for spectating, as it looped back and forth through the park, past the pit area, and off around the ball diamonds. The off-camber grass proved to be extremely slippery – and later on quite muddy – which kept everyone on their toes (if not on their wheels!). BaconHandup and Republic Bicycles had the grill fired up to help provide some warmth and tasty bacon treats on the later laps. It took a while for the first group to grasp the concept, but the bacon was soon flying off the grill as fast as we could cook it! A great day of racing, and new provincial champions crowned! We’ll let the photos tell the rest of the story… Full Results HERE, and a great race recap from Joshua Weiss.

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A video from the day by Dustan Sept:

“Barney and Oscar Films” also posted a short video from the event on YouTube:

Photo: Doug Brons – Flickr

I haven’t had pre-race butterflies in over 10 years – ever since I stopped racing downhill mountain bikes – but they were fluttering in full effect for two days leading up to Sunday. I was genuinely nervous of what was to come. While I had been riding my road bike a bunch this summer to get back some fitness and lose some weight, I had a sneaky suspicion that long, slow rides weren’t the right training recipe for cyclocross. Adding to the excitement was the arrival of my new bike on Friday evening. Nothing like building a bike on Friday and racing on Sunday!

Photo: John Denniston – SportPix.ca

I arrived early and whipped off a few practice laps while registration was set up. The lap started with a series of three long gravel straightaways, leading into a sandy barrier run with uphill remount. Upon entering the trees, there was a tricky root that acted as a barrier for the majority of riders followed by a steep run-up. Only the very un-tired and skilled of riders were able to negotiate the root and ride the climb. At the top of the run-up was the reward, however…a section of fun singletrack that descended back to the start area.

One thing I enjoyed about cyclocross was the difference in skillsets between riders. While I was struggling to keep up on the fast power sections, my mountain biking background helped me make up some time on the descent. I kept thinking to myself that this course was like old school mountain bike racing. To add to that feeling, I kept running into old friends I used to race mountain bikes with in the pits! I kept joking that it was like a reunion tour for old school racers.

Photo: Steve Pukesh – Flickr

Sure enough, my so-called training did nothing to help the suffering, although I’m sure the suffering is never any less, you just go faster. I think I will be embracing the beer-drinking side of this sport more than the performance side, at least for the foreseeable future! Maybe next time the Brandy Handup will be up and running during the early races!

Photo: Steve Pukesh – Flickr

I ended my Cat 3/4 Men’s race on foot, as I was one of many folks who succumbed to a flat tire in the rocky gravel sections. Mine happened near the start of the last lap and it would have been easy to pull off into the pits, but I figured it’s always better to finish DFL than DNF. When results were announced, I was surprised to see my name 4th in Class! Perhaps others suffered mechanicals too. Needless to say, I’m hooked on ‘cross and really excited to have my old friends, the butterflies, back!

After my race I grabbed the camera and shot some video of the later categories…enjoy!

Fort Langley Cyclocross Classic 2012 from Formula Photographic Inc. on Vimeo.

Filmed & Edited by Warwick Patterson / www.FormulaPhoto.com

MUSIC: Foo Fighters “Wattershed”

For bike people, its always a time of excitement when the shop calls to say, “Your new bike has arrived!”. There’s a sense of anticipation and anxiety before you swing your leg over it for the first time. Will it feel as good as you’re expecting? When my new cyclocross bike arrived at Republic, I thought it would be fun to make a short film about the build. With Armand spinning the wrenches, and a few wobbly pops cracked on the bench, we spent the evening “unboxing” a new Norco Threshold SL. Cyclocross season is here!