Get Your Granny Gear XC 2011

Over the past few seasons, a typical May long weekend for an Alberta XC racer involved heading west of Edmonton to Fern and Harvey's MTB farm for the All You Can Eat Buffet of Bacon, Pain and Suffering XC race and the Trans Stony Marathon. The Bacon XC is my most memorable course as it was my very first XC race. I managed to finish so far behind the rest of the pack that they started the next race before I even finished my last lap. I came completely unprepared - no training, no gels or energy source (okay, that's a lie - I did have some bacon in the feed zone) and I ran out of water just after my second lap. Never so much pain have I felt. It was a truly humble introduction to XC racing. The following year at Stony Plain I managed to knock 40 minutes off my previous year's time for my first podium finish. Sweet revenge. Ahh, the gamut of emotions when I think of the Bacon XC race. Sadly, Fern and Harvey sold their land; and with the sale of the land, so goes the Bacon XC and the Trans Stony Marathon. Although the Bacon XC race is gone, it will live forever in my heart. Sigh.

Enter the Get Your Granny Gear XC race at Terwillegar Park in Edmonton, AB. As the saying goes, out with the old, in with the new. And this race is definitely new. The XC race will take place this year on the Sunday but rather than a marathon on Monday, a time trial and dirt criterium have been added to the agenda on the Saturday.

Saturday, May 21st will start with a time trail run on Fireman's Loop - a long double track climb followed by a technical, single track descent. The concept is simple - each racer goes separately and the person with the fastest time wins. This is definitely a race that can be won on the climb and lost on the descent.

The dirt crit, which will follow the time trial on Saturday, will be 3/4/5 laps on, surprisingly, a dirt track.

Finally, the Granny Gear XC race on Sunday, May 22nd will be a standard ABA XC race. I will be competing in the Sport Men's category. If you are coming out to watch, I will be the one at the back of the pack - feel free to point and laugh.

Check out the technical guide HERE and register for one, or all, of the races HERE.  Anyone who isn't racing, please come out and cheer on those who are competing! 

Thank you to Hardcore Bikes and redbike for organizing this ABA event.

UPDATE - Here are my pictures from Saturday.  Please leave links to other photos in the comments!

Photos from Dave Roberts - please respect copywrite properties! 

Fat Tire Tuesdays

Here we go again for 2011!  This is my 3rd year participating in Fat Tire Tuesdays, which is definitely one of my favorite parts of the mountain biking season. The races are located at Terwillegar Park where there are plenty of options to put together a variety of courses so that races don't get stagnant.   There isn't many places were you can spend $5 and get the level of entertainment you can as here.  A short track MTB race, draw prizes, snacks and refreshments, and good friends is well worth the small fee. 

For those who ride mountain bikes but haven't tried racing you should come check out Fat Tire Tuesdays.  Even if you aren't into doing a lot of training, there are several categories of racers to test any skill level.  If you are interested in racing but you don't want to spend the extra money for a race license and the Alberta Cup race entry fees, these races are exactly what you are looking for.

For me, each year my family life gets a little bit busier and I find it more and more difficult to put time into training. Weekends will eventually be filled with transporting Lachlan to his events and there will come a time when I won't be able to participate in Alberta Cup races. Even though that isn't something I want to give up, I know I will still be able to make time to come to the Fat Tire Tuesday races to get my competative racing fix in. Judging by the ages of the more experienced participants who regularly attend Fat Tire Tuesdays, I expect to be racing in these for as long as my body will allow me to.

A big 'thank you' to the group at Hardcore Bikes for the organizing that goes into running this event every week.   Take a look at the poster for 2011 to see more details.

2011 Race Schedule

I had heard there was going to be some changes to the 2011 Alberta Bicycle Association Mountain Bike schedule from the previous two seasons so I was quite excited when I saw the new schedule for the first time last week.  You can find the complete schedule here, but the following are the events I will most likely participate in.

     Date     /     Name     /     Organizer     /     Location     

Sun 05/22     /     Hardcore XC     /     Hardcore     /     Edmonton

Mon 05/23   /

Edmonton Marathon  /

Hardcore/Redbike   /

Edmonton

Sat 05/28     /     Calgary XC     /     Dead Goat     /     Calgary

Sat 06/04 / Kananaskiker MTB Stage Race / Café Racers / Canmore

Sun 06/05 / Kananaskiker MTB Stage Race / Café Racers / Canmore

Sat 06/11   /   Iron Lung XC    /   CMC/Bow Cycle   /   Canmore

Sat 07/09   /    Perogy XC      /      RVC    /    Edmonton

Sun 07/10   /    Perogy XC     /      RVC     /    Edmonton

Sun 07/17   /   Mountain Bike Nationals   /   CMC/Bow Cycle   /   Canmore

Sun 07/24 / Edmonton Canada Cup / Alberta MTB Racing / Edmonton

Sat 08/27   /    XC Provincials    /    Freewheel   /   Hinton

I took a few marathon races off my list as they have not been my focus previously.   I did leave one marathon race on my list with hope that it will kick start my season.  With my goals this season being less aggressive from last year, I feel I can relax my training to allow some longer races.   Also, with this only being my 4th year riding, I finally feel like I actually have the fitness to complete an endurance race.

There will be one or two out of town races on here that I won't be able to make but at this point I haven't made a final decision which event I won't be attending.  What I do know is that a personal schedule with races 4 weeks in a row (and 3 weeks straight in Calgary/Kananaskis/Canmore) will not be wife approved.  With Lachlan's birthday falling in mid-June, the Iron Lung is most likely the one that will have to suffer for the third straight year. 

As for local races, my two previous best performances have been at the Edmonton Canada Cup so I am hoping that I can have similar results in 2011.  I think has mostly due to that the course suits my strengths; lots of roots and power climbs keep me out of the saddle for most of the race. 

As for the remaining Edmonton races, I am not too sure where in the city these will be held.  I assume that at least one will be held at Terwillegar Park but it is possible that both will be held there.  I would like to see one of these races held in Strathcona Science Park.  The Science Park was the home of the MTB race for the 2007 Western Canada Summer games so there is a suitable track available.  In addition, there is ample room for parking and compared to Terwillegar, users at the Science Park are almost non-existent. 

Finally, I was happy to see provincials at Hinton again this year.  I had a great time last year as the course was a real test of mettle.  The climbs were long and grueling but they weren't the hardest part.  The descents were punishing enough on a hard tail that I was begging to climb.  My arms and legs felt like I was riding a jackhammer as I tried to absorb the relentless terrain as we worked to the bottom of the hill.  I can't wait to try it again in 2011!

Potential Olympic Exclusion?

In a recent article on bikemagic.com, UCI President, Pat McQuaid, stated that mountain biking risks being excluded as an Olympic event if it doesn`t increase its appeal to television viewers.  To avoid the fate of softball and baseball, mountain biking must significantly improve its image. 

According to Peter Van den Abeele, UCI`s technical delegate, mountain biking is the most difficult and most expensive event to produce for television due to the nature of the sport.  A significant change to the traditional presentation is required to ensure mountain biking is more attractive prior to the 2013 evaluation which will determine if it should remain an Olympic event.

Hadleigh Farm has been selected as the mountain bike venue and the course has been designed with spectators and television audience in mind.  If you haven`t seen the plans for the XC MTB course at the 2012 Olympics in London, it is not what would considered a traditional mountain bike course.  The distance has been reduced to 5.1 kilometers and mainly works its way up and down an open hillside with only a small wooded section.  Don`t think that it won`t be technical though as there is a considerable amount of work being done creating several rocky drops which are expected to challenge even the best racers.

I am all about trying to maintain tradition, but if a change is required to retain mountain biking as an Olympic event, I will support it.  If this change helps popularize mountain biking and brings more people into our sport, then it will be worth the effort.

There is an excellent article from British Cycling that talks further about the past, present and future of the course at Hadleigh Farm.

Do You Single Speed?

So what is it that is intriguing about riding a single speed?  Is it the simplicity of having only one gear?  Is it the clean look with no derailleurs, shifters or cables?  Maybe it makes you feel nostalgic, bringing you back to the days of your youth or perhaps it is the lack of maintenance required.  Regardless of what drives someone to ride a single speed, we all see them out on the trails and most of us have praised a rider as we ourselves are gasping for air at the top of a tough climb, "Wow - that guy just cleaned that section on a single speed!  He's hardcore!" 

Improving Efficiency

As I am building up my first single speed mountain bike and getting in the mindset to pedal in just one gear for the first time since I was riding a BMX in 1992, I can't help but look for the benefits that riding a SS will provide me when racing my geared bike.  Single speeding forces you to work and improve on areas where you can 'cheat' with a geared bike and still remain competitive in a race. 

The first thing that comes to mind is the increased strength required to ride a single speed as you can no longer drop your gears and sit and spin up the hills.  You better get out of the saddle, mash your pedals and start tossing your bike side to side if you are dreaming of making those tough climbs.  I think I have that part down.  I prefer to stand up to climb and I typically try to push one gear under the tallest I can handle.

Another key to single speeding is carrying momentum.  The more you can maintain your momentum, the less you need to accelerate.  Less braking into the corners will reduce the amount of hard pedalling you need coming out of the corner to get back up to speed.  I have been working on this, but there is room for improvement.  For me, this comes down to trusting that my tires will hold.  I had my front tire wash out on me a few times last year trying to increase my speed this way.  I have since changed my front tire from a Kenda Karma 1.9 to a Maxxis Aspen 2.1.  With a little bit more bite on the side lugs the Aspens have helped me keep the rubber side down.

You also need to carry more momentum into hills otherwise you will burn yourself out on the climbs.  This means you will need to pedal hard into the hill as well as hard up the hill.  This is definitely something I don't do.  I generally try to recover going into the hill and then start hammering when I get to the base of the hill.  This worked well for me as I usually passed quite a few people (in my category) on the climbs around Edmonton, but I am certain carrying more momentum into the hills will only make me faster. 

The big change for me will getting out of my comfort cadence zone.  I typically ride with a cadence between 80 and 90 RPMs.  I have no problem dropping to 50 RPMs and powering up big hills, but where I fail miserably at is on the flats trying to pump out a cadence of 110+ RPMs.  My heart rate skyrockets and breathing gets out of tempo, which is a real bad combination.

Taking it To the Next Level

It's bad enough that people think that trail riding on a single speed is fun, but then there are those who take it to another level: racing.  That's right, people purposefully choose to handcuff themselves into one gear that is rarely going to be the most efficient ratio for the circumstance that they will be in.   Races can be short with XC races being 1.5 to 2 hours, or considerably longer with a marathon race such as the 24 hour solo events.

In case you don't think it's difficult, here is a graphic quote from a single speed racer:

Single speeding is the art of harnessing desperation. You are constantly backed into a gear ratio corner, down to your last match; wolves of anaerobic threshold, mockery by your peers, and personal defeat constantly circling. The gnawing oxygen debt, the vacuous gasps of one's lungs, the sudden deafening roar of gravity and the heaviness of everything without air. Breathe like your car has plunged into a lake and hopelessly sealed inside you gulp vast breaths, each fearing to be your last, that each might be the one breath you will have to bring you back to the surface.

You must learn to claw, eyes bulging, lungs aflame, raw metallic taste in the back of your throat to the top of climbs, and make all these things secret. The world at large must only see a crazy man, a mutant, a cyborg atop a bike with only one impossible gear. And they will stare and shake their heads and wonder how you got to the top first, never knowing, never understanding that it was the only way up, that you could not have made it any slower, that all the drive train handicaps they presume you to burden yourself with are the very advantages that have made you fast and hard as coffin nails.

Sounds like good times, sign me up!  Others who race single speed don't think it is quite that difficult.  For every one person who feels like racing a single speed is death on two wheels, you get other people like this:

I’m a fraud. I’ve been riding and racing a single speed mountain bike for many years and thinking I’m pretty cool. I’m not.

I’ll be the first to admit that I love passing someone on a geared bike and having them say, “Damn! Dude, that is hardcore.” It feels great. there is no denying it. Here’s the thing though, it’s not hardcore. I have suffered way more on a geared bike than I ever have on a single speed. Yep, it’s true, single speeding is easier than gears. You get more breaks and recovery time on a single.

It’s time to abolish the single speed category at all mountain bike races. I think you should race whatever category happens to be your ability but race it on your single speed. There doesn’t need to be a separate class for single speeders. It’s not a handicap nor a badge of honor. We need to get over ourselves. It’s fun and we know it's special but we don’t need our own class. That’s just dumb.

And this:

Pretty much every race I’ve ever raced, a spectator or fellow racer will comment on the fact that I’m on a single speed. I just kind of smile and cruise on by. It makes me feel cool and like a fraud all at the same time. The dirty little secret is that in a lot of situations it’s actually an advantage to be on a single speed.

Maybe it's not that hard?  Now I'm confused.  I plan to try my hand at racing my single speed in one of the local Tuesday races but I already think the first quote is more likely to be what I will be feeling rather than the latter two.

Races to Keep an Eye On

The upcoming season will bring the spotlight to single speed racing in my neck of the woods as Edmonton will be hosting the 2011 Canadian Single Speed Championships, which will be a part of the existing Edmonton Canada Cup on July 23, 2011.  The Edmonton Canada Cup is already a hugely successful event organized by Mike Sarnecki and Evan Sherman of Alberta MTB Racing and it attracts many of our country's best XC mountain bike racers.  The addition of the Canadian Single Speed Championships will only enhance the excitement on that day. 

The cream of the crop for those who race with only one gear is the Single Speed World Championships (SSWC.)  This is not a sanctioned event but there is a lot of pride in winning this race.  But this is more than just a race, it is an annual party on two wheels where shortcuts are available if you chug a beer and the winners are scarred for life, literally.  The winner is actually tattooed with SSWC, the year and a design chosen for that year.  This fits perfectly into a quote from The Replacements, "Don't do anything great if you can't handle the congratulations."  There are some familiar names sporting ink work due to winning this event, including Carl Decker, Adam Craig and Heather Irmiger.  Check out the results and highlights from the 2010 SSWC and you will see just how much fun the SSWC is.