Thebrysonclan’s Blog

After a long weekend in Quebec riding in rain and mud it was nice to get back home where the rain and mud usually is.

Here is a little slide show of our trip home and the Bear Race this past weekend.

The fort Buckwheat and I built so we could sleep in the Quebec City Airport

Buckwheat waking up on the plane, “where am I”

My bike fifteen minutes before I was suppose to ride on the day I got home. Where is Buckwheat?

Saturday morning at Bear Mountain. It was a beautiful sunny morning, I wasn’t use to it.

Forgot the stand so Buckwheat had to improvise

Tyler and his Ankle was there in full force

They stopped the awards for a marriage proposal. Dont worry he got dunked in the pond

Womens podium

Mens Podium. Ewen beat me by .15 of a second, pretty much the same time.

Then the fighting started

The whole field ended up all wet, it was the coolest I felt all weekend.

I want to give a shout out to all the Bear Mountain Volunteers this weekend. They put in a lot of their own time and hard work to make this weekend happen.

bryson

Thanks DHR for letting us use their pit area, in the end we took it over

Right now I’m sitting in Quebec City airport pondering my experience at this years Canadian National DH race. This years Nat’s was the same as last year in some ways but different in others, a different course but the same rain. Last year it was nice up until race day and this year is was raining up until race day. Again, I always wonder why I travel so long for only 3 minutes.

East Coast Mud

Buckwheat and I arrived in Quebec City Thursday night after a small delay in Vancouver and a stop over in Toronto. In total we were on the plane for 7 hours. When we arrived in Quebec City we met up with Brett and Nick, I walked over to Avis, picked up a Ford Ranger and we were on our way. Since this is the teams 2nd time renting a Ranger we are pros not only on our bikes but packing up the truck. We were on out way to Massif ski hill just outside the city.

A view of the pits from the lift

Friday morning we woke up and headed to the hill to practice for the day. I started out riding with Brett trying to figure out the course. The course was pretty fast at the top and with a couple of jumps, berms and off camber corners. Then it flowed into the super steep, rooty and rocky part of the course. This part was wicked because you don’t really see a lot of this kind of riding out east. The kind of terrain we don’t see out west is the big jumps. This course had a bunch of 20 foot booters and a couple smaller 10 foot ones. It sounds weird but it’s nice to get a bit of rest while you are flying through the air.

Buckwheat doing what he does best

At all the big races you get 2 days of practice with the second of those two having a seating run for the race the next day. We made it out Saturday morning so we could get a couple of practice runs before seating. This is a hard one for me, I never know if I want to go my fastest or go at a mid pace knowing I could go faster. Some of the guys play games during seating taking their time in some sections so the other racers won’t know how fast they can really go. In the end I always try to go my fastest. With a little bit of a mechanical I seated mid pack. Brett had a couple of crashes and seated way behind me and Nick had a wicked run seating up with the fast boys.

Gamut taking the brunt of it all, leaving me and my bike harm free

When race day came around we were all pretty mellow knowing what we had to do. We arrived at the race venue super early ready to go for practice at 9 am. This way we could get in a couple of runs before the big lull in between practice and our race runs. It’s good to get in as many practice runs as you can in the morning. This way you know the course and you aren’t wishing you did more.

Jump to the finish

All said and done I was happy to travel to Quebec for 3 minutes. I ended up in 10th with a $50 check and 20 UCI points (enough to race a world cup). Brett ended up 17th taking 38 seconds off his seating time. Nick got 18th right behind Brett feeling like he should have been able to push it a bit harder. I have to thank Nick for helping me out before my run. Nick has been racing at a high level for so long his experience is such a big help. Before my run Nick helped me out with a new lens and a tear off for my goggles. I was a bit hesitant doing this right before my run but he calmly took my goggles, installed a new lens and tear off before telling me to go rip it up.

We had such a good time we were the last ones to leave

Hans Lambert is the new Canadian Men’s National Champ. Clair Buchard is the women’s and little Luke Stevens is the Cadet (under 17) National Champ.

Thanks Buckwheat for staying up late each night making sure our bikes were in top shape. I would also like to say “it just isn’t the same without Tyler” get better buddy.

bryson

The course ended up right in the Village for all to see

This past weekend riders from BC and Alberta gathered at the Kinking Horse resort in Golden BC for the Western Cup Mountain Bike race. This was the second bike race of its kind and not to be the last. With the numbers almost doubling from last year I can only imagine what they will be like next year.
Picture of the pits – Wish I didnt give Buckwheat any time off

For those that haven’t been to kicking horse (like myself) its one big mountain. With an 18 minute gondola ride right into the alpine its decent is probably one of the longest in BC. I’m not to up with the vertical feet at kicking horse vs. the vertical feet elsewhere but it’s pretty long. The trails start out very rocky open alpine single-track and then flow into just about any trail you would like. If you are into the skinnies they’ve got that, if you are into fast open trails with jumps they’ve got that, if you like the steep tech they’ve got that too. For just under $40 you can ride all day, or until your body tells you it’s time to stop.

Since Buckwheat wasn’t there look who I had to help me with my bike

Practice day started at 10 in the morning just like any other race, with long line ups. It’s not that the line up is long it’s just that you want to ride your bike so bad it seems long. Since the mountain is so big you had to ride about half way down before you get to the course. This had its positives and negatives. The positive being a 10 minute warm up and the negative is too much time spent warming up so it takes time from the actual riding course in which case you get fewer runs in.

Kicking Horse rents Specialized

There wasn’t too much pedaling at the top of the course. It started with a couple pedals into a left hander and then it was time to hold on. It was a single-track ride pretty much the whole way down. For those who know Kicking Horse, the track starts in Pioneer and by passing all the big stunts go right into Claim Jumper, then finish off into a new section of trail called Prairie Rose built by a bunch of Albertans. The new section of trail was built to join the bottom part of the track into Kicking Horse Village. I thought it was great to incorporate this new piece of trail, mostly because I think there should always be a bunch of pedaling in a DH race and it was a long traverse. This new section was built to combine to bottom of the course to the village.

In the end I think the BC riders won with the3 fastest times but that isn’t how it all added up. We had a Golden local get the fastest time and won the junior category, the 2nd and 3rd fastest times were 1 and 2 in the pro category. First place was Luke Nelson and myself in second place. They end up adding up points from the results using the top 5 in each category. Alberta ended up with 105 points and BC ended up with 47. I think after I finish preaching to everybody I know BC will be in full force next year.

All the Albertan’s that helped beat BC

I thought this event was really well put together, the organization was top notch, the course was top notch, the party/race meeting on Saturday was top notch and everyone seemed like they were having a great time except the commissioners. For some reason they can never smile, I guess you’ve got to be grumpy to be a commissioners I’m going to be back next year with a BC contingent ready to race.

The clan 2 and 3 on the podium

I wanted to give a shot out to the second place woman – She crashed, broke her wrist, smashed her bars back into place and finished the race

bryson

We fell asleep to super Quebec rain coming down, and then woke up to a cloudy sky that could unleash at any minute.

A view from the top

Since Tyler broke his ankle in practice yesterday it was up to Brett, Nick and I. Race practice was rain free for the most part with little spits here and there. We all checked our lines from the day before plus a couple new finds. With the course extra clean from the super Quebec rain the night before, all the rocks and roots had lots of grip for our tires. I guess the Bromont track is use to this kind of rain as it soaked it all up perfectly.

Super muddy loose rock section

After a couple of runs with everyone clogging up the course; few being able to do a clean run, we waited around until pro practice. It was good for all of us to hit our lines with speed. After that run we all felt confident. Now it was time to clean off the bikes and let Buckwheat work his magic.

I got to see Sam Hill go through this section – pretty wicked

This is the part of racing that some people hate but I think we all love. Now its time to chill out, watch TV, listen to music, clean up and get ready for your race run. Again, it’s hard to think that the next 3 minutes when I’m on my bike are what I traveled here for.

It was raining pretty hard all day on and off. When it was time for us to all head up for our race run the rain was defiantly on. Timing your race run for when you get to the top is pretty hard. You end up waiting around at the top for about 15 to 20 minutes; some people take this time to warm up some take it sitting around. When its time to get in line for your run you get your game face on.

This is where the rider watching convention was during the race

In the end our race runs went pretty average. Nick would have had a wicked run but close to the end of his run he slipped out and went down. Brett and I had clean run but I guess we didn’t have the zest of the French riders. Everyone ended up mid pack when all was said and done. At a race like this when there are lots of riders and lots of rain you never no how well you will do. If you don’t do well you have to use it as a learning experience and focus on the next race; never a super fun experience but necessary if you want to succeed. In two weeks it’s Nationals and it’s on a course that is closed to the public all year except for the race. I think this will put everyone on an even playing field.

Picture of my new shoes

Sam Hill came out to this race so he could get some practice for the world cup in a couple weeks. He wasted the field by 10 seconds making everyone feel like we, as racers, still have a lot to work on. The fastest Canadian and 4th fastest time of the day was Calgary Cycle rider Luke Stevens. Luke’s line choices, calm approach and dedication to riding fast is going to put him on the top one day.

Finish line

Last but not least I would like to thank John Henry bike mechanic Buckwheat for coming out to the race and making not only our team’s bikes but Luke Stevens’s bike work like clockwork. I guess you can say he is the fastest Canadian mechanic.

Until next time

bryson

A look through the pits

Before leaving for this Canada cup I thought to myself, why do I spend all this money, take all this time off work and my regular everyday for 3 minutes. In the back of my mind I know it will be all worth it in the end. .

We arrived to ride the track a little late because we decided to catch up on sleep from our red eye flight the night before. We basically had to roll out the door because the course and event area is just down the street. At a big race like this everyone seems to take a long time to get going. The event organizers are behind, the riders are anxious which makes the line ups long and you can never seem to get into your kits (pajamas) fast enough.

Buckwheat relaxing in the pits

We walked the course the night before and found our lines so now all we have on our minds is making them work. Run after run we take turns training each other down the track taking turns leading talking about the lines we choose and how we can improve on them on the chairlift up.

Nick ripping the last section of course

After about 5 runs I have my lines all set in my head so I call it while the rest of the team Nick, Tyler and Brett go for a couple more. I went back to the hotel to shower and change so I can walk the course a bit and see what if anything I am missing. On the way up I take my camera so I can get some shots of the course and maybe my team mates. Luckily I got to watch Nick and Brett come ripping by, unluckily I got to see Tyler come down the course on a Quad with his bike strapped to the front of it. Tyler broke his ankle in the rock garden up at the top of the course caboosing the train. For a guy that just broke his ankle he was in pretty good spirits.

Tyler on the Quad getting a free ride down

I spent the rest of the day in emergency going over my lines with Tyler before heading back to the course to pack up the tents, clean the bikes and get some din din. We are now chilling watching “The Tipping Point” bike video getting our mojo going for tomorrow. While Buckwheat our team mechanics sets up a mud flap on my bike.

Tyler with the broken ankle……Tyler

Practice day done.

All the best Tyler,

bryson