iron fucking maiden. get some.

Thursday night was the Vancouver stop of the latest Iron Maiden tour, and being a fan of music, especially live music you can guarantee I was there. I bought six tickets the day they when on sale, not really knowing who I was going to take. The crew ended up being pretty sick; my mom of course (she's awesome, we've been to the stones, metallica, AC/DC, and fleetwood mac), a good friend of mine from work, Amelia, and her boyfriend; my girlfriend, Jocelyn and her brother Matt. The guy that owns the pub I work at has a condo right downtown van city and invited a few of us up for drinks and burgers which was siiiiccccckkkk. 20th story downtown van - unreal. Met the rest of the crew, who were slamming old milwaukee's and jagger in the parking lot across from the shark club, and made our way into GM place. Sick show, no complaints, however they didn't play a lot of their hits, just new stuff I'm not too familiar with. Went to the Cambie for drinks after with the rest of the metal heads. listen to iron maiden.

Cactus Classic BMX National

Another reason why my blogs get a little bit delayed is because I am waiting on or trying to find pictures to accompany my words, because lets face it no one likes to read blogs with out some visuals. Again I need to apologize for the lateness of this blog but it was because I was waiting on some photos(I will explain later). June 12-13 marked the Kamloops stop of the National BMX circuit and it just so happened that there was no conflicting mountain bike races; it also just so happens that I have a BMX bike that I use for my downhill training. I have minimal experience racing BMX, but I have manage to make it to a few of the Thursday night club races that the local track puts on every week. As this was my first 'major league' BMX race that I would enter I signed up for intermediate men 19-27. In BMX racing the goal, obviously, is to make it to the main, and in order to make the main you need to be 'transfered' by placing high in one of your heat races or 'motos'. Also BMX racing happens in Saturday and Sunday, not just Sunday like in downhill. As the race was in town I didn't take anytime off work because I know the track quite well, just my gates are a little weak but I'm not going to be able to fix that overnight. In Saturdays race, for my category there was a 2/3 transfer which means you need to place top two in the first moto or top three in the second moto to make it to the main. In the first moto I came third, which sucked, but my friend told me that the rest of the riders where way back so i should have no problem placing top three in the next moto. . . if only racing was that easy. Leading the pack going into the first turn, no one around me, I crashed!!!! UNreal, didn't make the main. Sunday, I was hella tired from work but still stoked to be racing. There was one less guy in my category so the transfer was 2/2. First moto was good, right up there with the fast boys and I managed to make a move and pass on the last turn for second place. Down the last strait I snapped my chain. FUCK!!! Got a new chain and kept it upright in my second moto won quite handely. My first main, third place. All weekend I felt I had the speed that was needed to win, however, I realized quite quickly how important the gate it. Every moto I was beaten strait outta the gate and no matter how well you can ride the track it is extremely tuff to make up that kinda time. Sick weekend of racing though, new experience, I loved it, you can count on me being at a few more BMX races in the future. As for the photo delay, the girlfriend came out on BOTH days to take photos. However, I was a little unsure of her photo skills and obviously felt kinda obligated to use one of them for this blog. She was busy finishing up some classes at the school so I didn't end up seeing the photos until yesterday, and to be honest, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the majority of them turned out. I never should have questioned her abilities, after all she is dating me. ha ha ha j/k. So a huge thanks has to go out to her for her support. unreal.

Fluid Ride #1 - Whistler

Again another delayed blog and again I apologize. The weekend after the Canada Cup in Mont Tremblant marked the first round of the American North-West series - the Fluid Ride Cup which was held in Whistler May 29-30. While most of the west coast racers that went to Tremblant chose to stay out east and race the high-proflie US Open, I thought it would be in my best interest to fly back and race the Fluid Ride as they would be awarding UCI points. After a whirl win week with flying back from Quebec, working for the three days I was back in town I left for Whistler on Friday morning. As soon as I got there I ran into the Marshall's whose youngest boy, Chayse, is a good buddy of mine and and a top junior rider. I reggied for the race and did laps with Chayse. It was towards the end of the day and I was following Chayse on the upper part of the course and he had one of the biggest crashes I have ever seen. He was in a lot of pain - we rode B-Line down and I took him to the hospital. Slight separated shoulder and a concussion. Chayse's parents Cathi and Trevor were kind enough to let me stay with them at there hotel. I rode by myself on Saturday morning and really found my rhythm. Saturday night they had a seeding run which I rode at about 80% with mild pedaling. . . 12 seconds back. I knew I had more in the tank and could really push on the pedaling sections but I felt that being down 12 seconds was too much to make up and I was a little concerned. Through a series of fortunate/unfortunate events, Chayse and I where given the 'sweeper' run of the downhill course. In whistler they give out 'sweeper' cards at the end of the day to make sure there are no injured riders left on the mountain. We jumped at the opportunity because we both felt that 12 seconds was a little off the pace. We took our time and compared lines. Towards the bottom we tried a new line in one the the corners and I ended up SMASHING my hand on a tree. I had smashed the same hand a few weeks prior up at Harper and this time I felt like I needed to get it looked at. I went to the hospital and had x-rays, not broken but defiantly extremely sore, swollen and bruised; they made me a small plaster cast. Sunday, Sunday Sunday - race day. I did two practice runs in the morning and felt good, however, I knew I would really have to let off the brakes and put my big boy pants on. WORST RACE RUN EVER!!!! I haven't rode that bad in a race run in a really, really long time. Lots of mistakes and once off the bike, 20 seconds back, 16th place, no UCI points. Frustrating, extremely extremely frustrating. There should be a couple seconds grace for those riders who have to pay for everything, work a full-time job, plan and organize their trips and still find time to train. Going back to Kamloops to reassess my situation.

Mont Tremblant. Canada Cup #1

I know this is a delayed post and I apologize. It is extremely difficult to work a full-time job, race every week-end, train/ride when you can and still hold down some sort of social life. Lesser priority things - like blogs, sometimes get put on the back-burner. However, with that being said I finally have some free time to fill you in on my racing. Two week-ends ago was the kick-off to the Canada Cup series and for the last couple of years that has brought us Quebec and the beautiful resort of Mont Tremblant. I flew out of Kelowna early on Thursday morning with plans to meet my budday, Jamie Biluk, in Montreal late in the afternoon. Jamie is a fellow downhiller from North Van with some serious skills - on AND off the bike, he would be my companion for the weekend. After meeting my 'boyfriend' in Montreal it was time to locate my luggage (which seemingly didn't happen to show up), car rentals and to get the fuck to Tremblant as it is a hour and a half drive from Montreal. My 'cousin' Joel, who works for Enterprise, hooked us up with a sweet deal on a car for the weekend. However, because my lover and I are under the age of 25 they could only rent us a small piece of shit, but the budday budday that was helping us HOOKED US UP with a gnarly full size van that could have housed the Beverly Hillbillies. It was sick. We located my bike and luggage, thanks Air Canada - we aren't happy, unless you're unhappy. Made it to Tremblant - found our pimp hotel, built bikes, went to bed. Quebec in notorious for torrential wet weather that doesn't letup for weeks on end. The last couple of years Tremblant has been good to us and blessed us will unseasonably hot, sunny, weather and this year was no different - 30 degrees everyday. Friday and Saturday were busy with walking the course and doing practice runs. Tremblant, I would argue, is the hardest track in Canada, super tech and gnar right off the bat and doesn't let up for the entire four minutes with a few pedaly sections thrown in. It sounds like a good time but you are never full flat out and pinned - hard to describe, and even harder to tell if you are riding like a Joey or on pace. I felt like a was riding like a Joey. Saturday night Red Bull hosted an event called Red Bull Monte Descend. It is a team event were an xc rider rides up, tags a downhill rider, who rides down and the team that can do as many 'laps' in an hour and a half wins. Red Bull athlete Steve Smith and his budday won. Speaking off Steve Smith - the pro turnout for this first round of the Canada Cup was huge. It seems that everyone is coming out of the woodwork and vying for points because of the World Cup in New York and World Champs at Mont St Anne. With 75 guys in the elite field and the hardest track in Canada I knew Sunday would be a challenge, however, with my sixth place finish last year I knew that I was capable of a good result. I put together a pretty solid run with only a few minor mistakes in the top woods (nothing to write home about) however, in the last wooded section I hit a rock that blew both my feet of the pedals in a crucial section of the track were carrying speed is vital. I got back up to speed and crossed the line with a 4:09, which placed me 9th in elite men and 10th overall for the day. I was happy with that. With the mistake I had and the field of riders that were in attendance it think walking away with a top 10 is satisfactory. Steve Smith won (4:00), Tyler Morland in second and Dean Tennant in third.
1 Steve Smith (Evil Bikes/Red Bull) 4:00.105 0:00
2 Tyler Morland (Rock Shox/Kenny Smith) 4:01.981 0:01
3 Dean Tennant (Dunbar Cycles/Sombrio) 4:02.774 0:02
4 Matthew Beer (On The Edge FRMS) 4:03.219 0:03
5 Hans Lambert (Primary-Trek) 4:07.771 0:07
6 Andy Thibodeau (Gravité Sports) 4:08.445 0:08
7 Franck Kirscher (Lama Cycles) 4:08.976 0:08
8 James Biluk (Cove Bikes/bondtraining.) 4:09.036 0:09
9 Tyler Gnitt 4:09.174 0:09
10 Rob Fraser (Primary-Trek) 4:10.533 0:10

Unicorn 5000 and 1.

Mother's day also marked the second annual Unicorn 5000 race, hence the name Unicorn 5001. The race is put on by the fine people at the Bicycle Cafe and is held on Harper Mtn. They cap the race at 100 riders and is super grassroots, which is rad because it allows people who might not race a chance to try it out in a super fun atmosphere. However this doesn't stop a lot of out of towners from coming out which make the race slightly competitive. The race course doesn't have a ton of elevation but is a hell of a lot of fun. Good flow at the top, GNARLY pedally section in the middle and kinda steep and fast towards the end; a good solid grassroots course that keep it fun for everyone. My mom took me for a few laps on Friday afternoon as I figured the trail would be less busy and I could just pin laps top to bottom. I was lucky enough to get four laps in but unfortunate enough to run into a tree on my second lap at extremely high speed. Bike was fine - right hand and shoulder where in a fair amount of pain. I could hardly pour booze at work that night. Almost went to get x-rays on Saturday morning but I could move everything so I figured if I could avoid the hospital I would. Saturday, I took it easy and did some gardening with mommy as I would be unable to help her on Sunday. After another night shift Saturday my roommate and I headed up to Harper rather late but still managed to get our one mandatory pre-run in. I put together a rather smooth run a hit all my lines and was hoping for a sub-five minute race time, as on Friday I did a 5:13 that was pretty flat out but I knew I had more in the gas tank for the long pedally part in the middle. . . 5:06. Nothing to complain about, it put me in first place where I stayed for the rest of the day. My last years teammates Nick Quinn and Jeff Bryson rounded out the podium with a 5:09 and a 5:14 respectively. This race is more for training, confidence and bragging rights then results, but I'm still super happy to walk away with this win, especially over my old teammates. Overall I think everyone had a lot of fun and a huge thanks has to go out to the cafe, the volunteers and all the sponsors. This is a super fun, relaxed event that I think everyone should make it out for at least once.

Mother's Day!!!

I know everyone out there claims to have the best mom in the world, but I truly do have the best mom in the world. Raising me by herself since conception, my mom has sacrificed unmeasurable things to give me everything I have today. Things that normal mothers just don't sacrifice; relationships, family, friends, opportunities, etc. There are often times when I pause to think, actually think, about the things my mom has done for me and I find it overwhelming. I will always be indebted and feel humbled and gracious for the the example she has set for me. I could never say enough about her. Mom, I love you and thanks for everything.

Boogie The Bridge 2010

The 2010 boogie the bridge was this past weekend, May 2. The Boogie is a local fun run/race that takes place every year in the spring to raise money for local charities. At the 11 hour a friend of mine asked me to do it, and I thought what the hell for $35 I could punish myself for charity. I used to play a lot of soccer back in the day but for the last 7 years the most 'running' i have done is 10 mins to warm up at the gym. I would however consider myself in decent shape as I ride a lot of cross-country and road. I asked a few people what a decent time would be for someone who doesn't train for runs and the general consensus was that if I could do it under an hour that would be pretty good. Now being the competitive guy that I am I figured I would try and run it in 50 mins. Well I ran a 45:35! Not to fucking bad for someone who doesn't train for runs. Out of about 550 people I came 29th. I couldn't believe it. I even impressed myself, which is rare. ha ha. There is the Terry Fox run in October and I think I might start training for it, see if I could run 10km in under 40, maybe even 38. We'll see. I wish I had a photo. Maybe next time.