Ramping it up

So i finished my much needed rest week... although it was a busy time at school still. I was away for 3 days with the Gr. 8's on their year end trip... means no riding but lots of being busy... and a little short on sleep. I had a good week last week with building some hours again... nothing hard, just some nice endurance. So now it's time to ramp it up with the harder rides and finish getting ready for Bromont and Nationals in a few weeks. So here is the start to my week... Mark Batty: "Hey Barnes, wanna go out for a few hours with a bit of hard stuff on Monday?" Jon: "Sure... i'll call you when i get home and we'll head out" .... Jon: (after seeing Mark on his TT bike) "Uh oh..." Mark: "I'm in a bit of bad mood from a long day of cutting hay... " Jon: "Uh oh..." Mark goes hard. Mark keeps going hard. Mark is still going hard. Jon is getting tired. Jon is getting really tired. Jon wants to stop but remembers that there is no shame in sitting on Mark's wheel and just staying with him. Jon: "Hey Mark... puff.. puff.. can we stop now?" Mark: "Yeah... I guess." So after what felt like hours of Mark's race pace.... and about 10 sign sprints.. only 1 of which i won because Mark didn't know it was there.... it was time to head home for some dinner and rest. As much as i dislike tired legs... i know it's good for me. No fun but those are the rides that make a difference...

Boler Picture Post

Emily and Barry took some good pics after the O'Cup at Boler Mountain last weekend... Any sweat stains? Podium with Jason Everaert (2nd) and Eric Jobin (3rd)...

Me, Adam and Emily sporting the Red Neck Hardware.... Me, Barry, Emily and Adam "sharing" the top spot on the podium... but Barry and Emily are occupying it for a reason....

Just finished my rest week... phew.... and now it's time to try and peak again for Nationals in 4 weeks... I'll keep you posted as to how things are developing...

Boler "Mountain" O'Cup

Just recovering from stop #4 in the Ontarion Cup Series... Boler "Mountain" in London.... probably the worst drive in the circuit and possibly the least interesting course. I did well there last year (first win after getting over pneumonia) and i was feeling pretty tired going into it. I was peaking for Hardwood last weekend.. and now i was just trying to hold onto some of that peak for this last race before some rest. Being busy at school and having a sick wife never makes it easier... A few of my bigger competitors were not attending, so as much as i wanted to have an easier race... Andrew Croutch and Jason Everaert decided to show up and make me work. Not a bad thing, but i just had to get my head in the game. Andrew flatted after 2 laps and Jason still doesn't have his race fitness after some knee problems, so i was able to get away on lap #3 and stretch out a gap. Funny story of the race for me... along what may be the least enjoyable section of trail on ANY race course... going along the back rutted, dried out, rough, slightly uphill and dusty straight away.. i was hating it every time. The only good thing about the section was that that finish line was 1km away. And of course Barry Near (sponsor and cycling massochist - he loves to see us suffer) was at the end of this section. Last lap.... coming into this piece i thought to myself "Ok Barnes... just get it done... go hard... stand the whole thing... big gear... impress Barry with a strong finish".... which quickly turned into "OK Barnes... Barry's not here anymore... just sit down and take it easy".... How quickly we lose our momentary enthusiasm. I almost started my recovery week before i crossed the finish line.... So that makes it 4 for 4 with the O'Cups... a good start to the year... but now it's time to build another training block to get ready for Bromont and Nationals.... should be fun.... Congrats to the Trek Store Team.... 1st place for Elite Women (Emily), Elite Men (Adam) and the Old Man Category (me)...Emily has some good pics on her camera.... i'll post the as soon as i get them.

Hardwood Hills CC Pic Post

Hey there... i found some pics from Hardwood's Canada Cup last weekend.... Following Sean Ruppel's wheel for the first couple laps... Heading down the "Boneshaker" ...

Done at last... a long and cold day... but a good day...

Still smiling?... i must not have gone hard enough!!

Hardwood Hills Canada Cup

So i just finished a busy weekend up at Hardwood Hills... one of my favorite places to ride and a course that i usually do well on. The Trek Store Toronto team was having some fun on the Saturday with a group pre-ride that people could have signed up for, some photo shoots and just a good time getting together... it can be somewhat stressful racing every weekend, so it's nice to get together and laugh when we can. After a great day Saturday, the weather turned a bit ugly for sunday's races... i was driving up and came across "hail" (it was really snow.... but i refuse to use that word so close to June) falling and blowing across the snow... and the temperature didn't get above 8 degrees. It felt more like 'cross season that the middle of mountain bike season. The course was amazing and very fast, so off we went. The Ruppel brother, Sean (the anaeorbic animal) and Adam (a former national level racer) decided to step out from behind the microphone and join the race.. and they are always fast. It took a while to shake off Adam, and i found myself riding with Sean for a few laps. He was riding great until i got a bit of a gap and he crashed on the 3rd lap, and i just kept the pressure on. I was feeling pretty good, although Hardwood is so hard to race if you are not in great shape. The rolling hills and power never let up, so it's tough on your back and legs. In the end, i finished up beating Sean by almost 2min, which i was quite happy with since i haven't seen Sean that fast (or ripped) in a long time. I don't have any pictures of the race to post right now... my family (and camera) decided to stay home and keep warm... probably a better choice considering the temperature and the wind. Even though the weather did not agree, it was a great race, well run by the crew at Hardwood, an amazing course and nicely put together by the one and only Barry Near from the Trek Store... just one more reason why he's the best. So now i'm getting ready for another O'Cup in London this weekend, and then a few much needed weeks off. The Canada Cup at Bromont and Nationals are the next big focus, so it's time to create another training block so i can be ready for those big races. I'll do my best to get some pics and post them soon.