Perogy XC. Back in Edmonton

Back in Edmonton for a race, staying for some ...er.. weight reduction. It has been a nice change riding the trails that I grew up on, and everything seems easier, not sure if it is my new 29er gobbling up the roots, or my riding skills that have developed after a year in Canmore. Sunday was the Perogy XC, the Provincial Championships for this year, but for me, just another race.With some solid results and lots of riding in the past couple of weeks, I was feeling strong.

Course: The course was twisty, tight, and punctuated with some steep climbs. I think it was an awesome test. Although all of the elite field were on 29ers, I think with all of the tight cornering, a 26" bike might be better off for sprinting out of the corners, that is, if you can carry speed through the corner as well as you can on 29.

Engine: The steep climbs and constantly accelerating out of the corners really taxed me today and I was maxed out and could do nothing when riders rode away from me, except try to keep them in sight.

Technique: I think I rode great today, I focussed on riding smooth. There were some sections where it felt like I was riding terribly, but then I would emerge from the singletrack with a rider in sight. Carrying more speed through the corners could help me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sangudo/sets/72157634570021387/with/9253709730/

TSN Turning Point: Corners, corners, corners. Great course, you needed the engine for the steep climbs and you had to know how to ride your bike.

In the end, I rolled in as the 7th and last finisher, another DFL, but "only" 5.5minutes behind the leader, much closer than I thought. The field is deep that is for sure!

Pedalhead did a great job organizing, stepping up with a great atmosphere, great prizes, food and got some significant media attention.

http://globalnews.ca/video/699855/bmx
http://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=960859

Anyways, I'm feeling like standard road trip Pete, where I try to ride as much good trail as possible whenever I am somewhere different! GO

Fernie Riding

Well, we survived the flooding unscathed, and like many other people in Canmore, it took a little more than rain to keep us off the trails! The trails here shed water and drain like sieves, so we were able to get back on the trails only a couple of days after the major rain event. The trails avoided the devastation of Cougar Creek, Exshaw, High River, and Calgary, with just a few washouts that I'm sure will be repaired within no time!

Riding with Xprezo rider Matt Hadley. He's enjoying his S-650 . 27.5" wheels are definitely interesting. Do the wheels accelerate fast enough to make a difference? Can you still float over rough singletrack with ease?

Hitting the gym! Great place to work the core!

Town spirit was amazing. People volunteering to fix the trails and gut basements, offer up places to stay, donate items. The Canada Day parade was still a GO with huge cheers going out to the crews who helped Canmore recover!

After a couple solid rides on greasy dirt, everything was back to tacky on Thursday, about a week after the start of the rains. However, we were off to Fernie, where Bill was to race the TransRockies Fernie Enduro. I opted to skip this event: it was nice to have a break from racing, and while the timed descent stages and point to point racing creates fun racing, the entry fee was a little more than I wanted to spend given my current under-employed status. It was also nice to explore some different trails.

Fernie is a place that I don't normally ride, but where I need to ride more often. It is 4hrs from Canmore, putting it at similar distance to great riding in Jasper (haven't been), and Revelstoke (maybe my favourite place to ride). But coming from Edmonton or Calgary, Fernie is just as far away as Golden, and Invermere, which although they offer some great riding, I don't think it compares to Fernie! 

Fernie has a large variety of trails in numerous zones that are all accessible from town! Over the course of 3 days, I was able to ride a great sampler of awesome trails. I pre-rode sections of the enduro course: Verboten (steep, rooty, the hardest trail I rode), Project 9, Mushroom Head, Red Sonja, Hyperventilation/Extension, and then I added on a bunch of other great trails: Ridgemount, S-bomb to Brokeback, Swine Flu, Kids Stuff/Splitting Bears/Hessian. So much great singletrack was enjoyed and there are lots of trails to check out for next time!

Up high on the stupid traverse. The only thing stupid about this would be missing it on a trip to Fernie!

There were lots of steep climbs that definitely tested my ability to push my 26 tooth little ring. But they got me to the top very quickly and I was able to crush 500-600m vertical laps in under an hour! With lots of roots and steeps, dry weather is certainly a must to make the most out of a trip. I found that my Xprezo handled the trails fine.

I had a great time and I was able to ride in all of the zones. Bill also had a great time riding a pretty fun course, but his experience was marred by timing errors, getting stuck behind slower riders on the sections he really cared about (the timed descents), and a lack of draw prizes!

Course marking of questionable quality

The enduro is certainly a cool format and it opens up racing to a completely untapped demographic. But there are some kinks that need to be worked out before I feel it is worth shelling out that kind of money: Verboten was the hardest descent but it came first. There were stories of a bit of waiting before dropping in so that riders could enjoy a clean descent, but still glory passes had to be made. It seems that timing errors led to one of the stages being cancelled in the results. As well, with the top 3 just a little over 30 seconds apart, one has to question the accuracy of the zone4 chip timing system with a supposed range of 15 meters. Accurate results and clean (well marked, great trails, free of both rider and other traffic) courses are really what separates racing from just going for a ride.

Skimo-er Niall. First MTB race?

Hardcore guys giving Bill the cold shoulder

The start. The riders going for the overall still had what looked like a relaxed start with no wacko (me) sprinting off the line. The "enduro" riders rolled off the line in their easiest gears.

North Shore Mountain Bike Association (NSMBA) has stepped up and all of their toonie races are the enduro format. It's pretty cool that they could get something going at the midweek level. It would be nice if someone here would step up and get something going. I'm slightly interested, but I'm more of an XC guy and wouldn't be a strong enduro rider.

Kootenay Krusher

I didn't have a great race last year: dropped chains, missed corners, and getting stuck behind slower riders on long singletrack trails. I was determined to rebound and have a better race in 2013.

I bet they got a good deal on that arch!

The course was almost the same beautiful but punishing course as in previous years, but with some added new sections, a new start loop, and  the removal of a short loop at the north end of the course. I think that the changes improved the overall rideability  (less ridiculously steep up and down) and raceability (better selection before the 1st singletrack) of the course. Conditions were very similar to last year with the short, steep descents being nice and loose!

The field wasn't as deep as in previous years, but good battles were still had. The singletrack sections are long, and it was funny to see a guy get heckled after he attacked on the hill leading into the 1st singletrack, but then held up a long train of riders while letting Mike S float off the front.

I was feeling strong on the singletrack sections and could take it easy on the climbs as I rode along with a chase group for the 1st lap of the race until they pulled off and were replaced by their relay partners! I was alone for the 2nd lap, keeping the intensity high with the hopes of catching Mike, while confident that being smooth over the singletrack and hammering the climbs would fend off any chasers. I guess I have to go harder off the start as I ended up in 2nd.

My Xprezo W-29 seemed to take most of the sting out of Nipika's notoriously rough singletrack and allowed me to enjoy the views of the Kootenay and Cross rivers and the Rocky Mountains, and find the flow in the trails. Overall a great event with great support from the community (sponsors, volunteers, venue).

After the race, we headed to Invermere, slayed some grocery store pizza (the BEST road trip food), and checked out Panorama's XC race loop. The trails would be nice if they weren't trying to build houses in the middle of them!

Bill was ogling the dirt chutes!

Sunday, we had an awesome ride in Invermere, slaying the Kloosifier and Johnson trails. Kloos' is a loop of some fast singletrack through a desert landscape while the Johnson is a little more shaded and technical. Both trails served up a great dose of canyon views, excellent berms and great descending considering how easy the climbs were. Highly recommended. Peter is tired!

The end of ski season...? Stoke dump.

I guess it's been a while since I last updated about skiing, other than my Wapta in a day experience. For those following along on Facebook, this is probably old news.

Spring felt fairly casual this year and we were able to ski some cool stuff.

Late March self powered Miner's Lap!

An exploratory ski into my favourite zone in K-country

Chris and Bill came up to Canmore for some Easter fun! It was really warm and it seemed like the skiing days were numbered

Skiing off a summit you can see from the highway and then into a fun glacier run?

Bill showing Chefren how it's done!

Booting up Narao left hand, but not quite topping out.

Then the storm rolled in, we retreated to a classic Kananaskis zone and continued to get some great skiing.

We were able to ski many neat variations. The lines are short so it is possible to ski lots of  them!

High winds, dumping snow, are you sure it is spring?

I was fortunate enough to be able to tag along on a multi-day trip to "check out the snowpack" for the summer nordic ski team training centre. Unfortunately, we didn't have the best visibility or conditions, but we were still able to get into some cool, rarely skied areas.

Playing on the Beatty bump

The next weather window came AFTER we got back and I had 2 really fun days at Chickadee.

Using the bike to pick up the car was way more fun than walking last year

Then I did the Dolomite circuit and Wapta in a day. Next a return to a fun line I skied with MT and Bill a couple of years ago.

Scott, another convert to the light(er) and faster game.

Spine powder 8's! Lots of slough!

Shut down by visibility/wind yet again on the FHR. There's always next year...

Oh, winter isn't done yet.

classic end of season Nakiska powder!

Yet another day at the Nob! 

Some great corn skiing days. I rolled over 100 days of skiing this season.

We really nailed Ptarmigan with great corn conditions. Maybe a little too soft down low.

The approach didn't suck with plowed roads up to where there was a reasonably supportive crust.

And winter is not giving up without a fight!

Getting some great turns on Eiffel

It was a great season. I raced and trained well, and I was able to ski some cool things. We had great conditions at Highwood. I had awesome races when it counted. Stability was good this year.The boards may come out again if rain down low means snow up high. I should have a video on the way if I ever get around to editing some of video I snagged.

The start of MTB race season

I've been enjoying my time on the new bike. It feels faster on the singletrack and the descents, but I do find that I need a bit more strength to get it going.

Coming off a long ski season and not really riding my bike from early November until the beginning of May, I knew the fitness and the base would be there, it would just be a matter of getting the high end power back into the legs. Racing has felt almost casual and pre race, I have felt very relaxed.

River Valley Rumble XC:

A classic Terwillegar course combining elements of the Fat Tire Tuesday courses (when they were still at Terwillegar). The race was almost entirely different than the riding that I had been doing in Canmore up to that point. Fast punchy climbs, basically an all out sprint for maybe only a minute, but lots of them. I found that I was able to put up a good fight here, I held my position through the race after working up from a weak start, and there has to be some training benefit to going hard up those hills!

Slaying singletrack on the new bike!

Canmore Toonie Races:

Canmore has a decent midweek series put on by RMCC with races every two weeks. Unlike the Fat Tire Tuesdays, the format is different each week. Unfortunately, I missed the first race, a drag race up the Spray Lakes climb, which could have played to my strengths. I did the 2nd race, featuring a couple of heats up the shorter Silvertip climb and I was able to put in the fastest time. The third race was based on the world cup eliminator style with a short 2min loop, all out effort. Again I was able to throw down some fast times to continue building the engine.

My hillclimbing machine!

Deadgoat Summer Solstace:

A little unsure of how the weather conditions would factor into the course, I remembered back to the Giver8er race I did 2 years ago and how the course seemed to survive the monsoon fairly well. This race was no different for us. While the roots were slippery, I had fun flowing the smooth dirt and letting the wheels slide a little in the damp corners. The climbs were longer than at Terwillegar, but they were steep, and I was just lacking the power to continually send them.

Revelstoke Toonie Race:

I love riding in Revelstoke, and they were planning on holding a 1.5hr toonie race, how could I not go? I crushed some singletrack in the early afternoon with my brother, then got ready for the race in the evening. I started hard to string things out, but people were hanging in there. Eventually I was out front with Marty Schaffer and Brendan MacIntosh (owner of Flowt). I could not drop these guys on the hills, and they were consistently putting time into me on the descents. I blew up and slowly faded before losing another 3 places on the last lap. There are some ridiculously fast riders from the Stoke! I felt great on my bike all day, and put in some solid efforts in the race.

Riding in Revelstoke always blows my mind. The Tantrum trail  holds some great technical singletrack.

Iron Maiden XC:

Honestly, I was not really looking forward to this race. My thoughts were that this was a good course for the wet weather on race day for the last 2 years, but it doesn't really use the trails and loops at the Nordic Centre that I enjoy and ride on a regular basis. Plus, that rock staircase thing, the "organ donor", or more accurately the "ass puckerer" scares the shit out of me. But I showed up to the start ready to throw down a solid effort. I was feeling awesome on the singletrack sections, and the "ass puckerer" was closed, so I didn't have to feel the shame of taking the 'B' line! The bike felt great on the singletrack and I was able to flow through sections that others weren't, and not have to chase back on the hills! That's a first! One of my best elite races!

I wasn't sure if it would be worth doing the Kootenay Krusher, but now I think I have to!

New bike: Xprezo W-29. How do I like it?

My Xprezo W-29. Pretty much stock, except for my seatpost, saddle, and handlebars.

Let me start out by writing a little bit about myself. My vision of the ideal race bike has changed over the years. I started out on a 26" hardtail with a narrow 580mm handlebar. I noticed that everyone was riding past me on the downhills. I then moved to a 26" wheeled 4" full suspension and got some 710mm handlebars. I still noticed that everyone was riding past me on the downhills, and I started to notice that the bike also wasn't carrying speed well and I getting bucked around on singletrack climbs. ort travel 26" bikes were slowing me down.

When I felt it was time for some change, I did some research and riding. A lot of people figure that the suspension and the larger wheel sizes take the sting out of the descents, which they do. But equally important is taking the sting out of flat or uphill singletrack sections, allowing myself to rest and carry speed through these sections.

I rode a couple of 29er hardtails. I think they are great if you want a low cost race bike or a ridiculously light race bike, but they are still a hardtail. I rode a 5" 26er and I loved it. Take a 4" race frame, add another inch of suspension travel, you can run your suspension softer and you have a faster bike. And of course I tried a 4" 29er full suspension which I loved as well. When riding the 29ers, I didn't really notice any of the complaints that most people have about them: weight, slow steering, not stiff, and I definitely noticed the benefits: smoother ride, increased braking/climbing traction, and momentum. Okay, I did notice how they made riding a little less playful*, but who cares, I was going for speed! Going faster and not getting bounced around as much can be more fun!

You can probably guess from the title that I ended up going with a 29'er full suspension. Enter the Xprezo W-29. Xprezo is a CANADIAN manufacturer making their bikes in Bromont, CANADA. They have fully jumped on board with all the wheel sizes (26, 27.5, 29) and have a wide range of bikes from steel hardtails all the way up to downhill machines. I even had a choice of paint and some SRAM build kits. While deep down, I am a Shimano/Fox guy, why not try something new.

Build: 

-X0 build: brakes, drivetrain. I love the double crank, though the gearing is a little tall considering all of the steep singletrack climbs around here.

-Cockpit: heavy Truvativ stuff. The 20" frame is as large as they come, but the stock seatpost was not long enough, so I grabbed a Bontrager RXL off my old bike. I put an Easton Haven 710mm handlebar on as well.

-Fork: Rockshox Reba fork: still getting used to it. I'm running it at the recommended pressure, but I have the gate cranked all the way "+" to get any sort of suppleness out of it. Remote lockout is a bit of a gimmick. It's annoying that you have to run the lever and cable to keep the fork active. If you crash and digger your remote into the dirt, your rattledness will now have to contend with a locked out fork! I have removed the remote and rigged it so that it is always open. 15mm thru axle adds some stiffness up front.

-A nice Fox Float CTD boost valve in the back. As I've implied earlier, suspension needs to be active on the descents AND on the climbs, so I've been running this in the softest "trail" setting, or heaven forbid, in the "descend" mode.

-Wheels: Nice to see some race ready hoops right out of the box. Stans Crest wheelset is light and it is ready to go for tubeless. The LUST Crossmark tires are anything but lightweight at 835grams claimed, I could easily drop a pound by relegating those to some beater wheels and Stans-ing up some normal tires!

Frame: My Acid yellow/green frame is beautiful. Steel/aluminum single pivot rear end paired to an aluminum front end. Tapered head tube, some internal routing, direct mount front derailleur, 142x12mm rear thru-axle. Feels stiffer than my old bike.

Weight: 26.6lbs, I think I could get it down to 25.5lbs easily with some lighter tires. Keep in mind, many of the other 29er FS carbon wonderbikes out there are coming in above 24lbs, even with the super high end builds.

So in summary, stiff, flashy, and fast. I have already been setting some STRAVA personal bests on climbs and bombing down some rock slabs with ease. This bike gobbles up singletrack better than my previous 4+4 26'er: The geometry feels dialed in the corners, the bike is stiff and confident in the rough and steep stuff, and the rear single pivot suspension feels like it is tuned perfectly. Some may scoff at the lack of multiple linkages, but let me assure you, it feels really good, and I'm sure the simplicity is something I will appreciate when it comes time to maintain it...

*there are definitely lots of riders just out there to have fun but I don't see how anyone who normally rides a 6-7" bike on a cross country trail could complain about a 4" 29er being less "playful".