Be Original....

 Nino Shurter - 2012 World Champion Finish Line Celebration....

Jon Barnes - 2012 Canadian National Champion Finish Line Celebration...

Nino could have at least come up with his OWN Finish Line Salute... some people have no originality.... next time i will patent it....

Crank the shield Day 1

Day 1 of CTS was wet and very muddy... got to hang with K-Bomb on the start line and rolled with the Big Dogs for most of the day before losing them on one of the many climbs ... the rain forced a course shortening to only 68km that took 3:30 for Team Smart / Trek Store.... landing us 7/8 for the day and 1st in our category by +25min... glad to be the first to hit the showers and had a nap before seeing some people roll in with times of 7hr plus... yikes....

Trek Store Rock Star Treatment was the best money spent... totally tired, cold and hungry but got to hand over the bike to Taylor, Zack and the many talented Wrenches to make it work beautifully for the next day.... although Taylor is looking a bit confused in the photo above, he does actually know what he's doing!!!

Decided to move away from the Top Fuel for a weekend and roll the big wheels on Adam's Superfly 29er... and it was a great ride..... rolled over the countless rocks and roots beautifully and held the speed on the rolling / road sections...

Trek Store Mechanics worked long into the night to repair / prepare all the Rock Star bikes for Saturday.... i handed in my bike, showered, had a nap, went for a visit, had another nap, ate dinner, had another nap, went for another visit before finally turning in at 10:30 and the Boys were well on their way to a 4am night... i think Zack went 1-for-1 on the Cofee/Bike Ratio....

Dropped off Late Night Mechanic Fuel for the Boys before turning in... after 8hrs of washing, adjusting, replacing and it was only 10pm, this tray made me the Trek Hero!!!

Not the only one...

 So i'm not the only Barnes Boy rockin' the MTB courses around the province.... Luke just finished his first season of racing, completed 5 races and earned a bunch of O'Cup points!! Check out those MASSIVE QUADS!!!

 All smiles after Provs in C-wood.... and glad he didn't have to push the bike up "Son of a Pitch"...

Jake "The Beast" is always rocking the Kids Races... and is no longer afraid to pass the Rabbit and ride his own race.... they will both be Trouble on Wheels in a few years.. looking forward to next year already... although the 9am and 1:30 race times don't work well for my sleep schedule...

Provincial Party

So things worked out well for the weekend playing in C-wood with Scott Holmes and the crew who made the best course in Ontario.... lots of fun and really hard to race ... but Provs is supposed to be harder.... Had a pretty good day on the bike but couldn't really get my HR high but had good power, so i ran the Diesel for the day....

 Had my usual Pretty Good start... never seem to lead it out any more but am always in the front group... and from the start Matt Martindill made it clear he wanted a shot at the Title.... attacked about 4min in and i had to jump around a few guys to try and catch up... never really got onto his wheel and was hoping that he would fade from such a fast start...

 the famed Son of a Pitch climb was actually perfectly tacky after a Saturday that was attacked by rain to the point of cancelling pre-riding... but the course drained really well and the sun helped make it a perfect day..

 the Rock Launch was always a highlight... and as Scott Holmes said... "I figured that we counldn't NOT launch of that thing..."  ... fun..

 Seated power was good enough to ride away from 3rd and 4th all day but never had the top end snap to catch Martindill..... he had a consistent 45sec-1min on me for the whole race... until he flatted half way through the last lap and i caught him...consistency is part of racing, right?

 Sometimes you're strong, sometimes  you're good, ... and sometimes you're lucky... and i was a bit of all... captured my 8th Provincial Champ title in my 10 years in Master 30-39... not bad for an old guy...

Chapeau to Paleo Peter Glassford for winning the Battle Royale with Andrew Watson to capture his first Elite Provincial Title.... saw him at the line and he was COOKED!!!
Next up.... Crank the Shield!!!!

More Reasons to love Trek

Just found these pics from the Wisconsin Trek World / USCup trip from August.... thought i'd share them and take another trip down Memory Lane...

Barry "the Man" Near made it all happen...

Trek Canada Team getting ready to ride... and Cayley sporting some attitude!!

"Do you have any Damone's to ride"..."Yeah... we got a few....."

the Glassford / Bailey Pump Track Battle....

Team Damone Road Ride.... smooooooooooth....

More food... a whole freezer of ice cream!!!  too bad i hadn't raced yet...

Trek Factory.... where Dreams Come True...

Provs pre-ride

Got a chance to roll around the Provincials course with Scott Holmes and it looks like another amazing course. Lots of fun to ride but will be a true test to race on it.
Race details to follow.

Wicked new Sketchy Sandy Switchback

Last year - Podium.... This year - Launching Pad

Quite possibly the toughest and best stop on the OCup Circuit

Stopped by after riding at the C-Wood "Muscle Beach"

A promising future of Girl Chasing...

Locked and Loaded

Got the bikes and legs ready for the 3-day epic rise known as Crank the Shield this coming weekend. Decided to ride the 29er this weekend to take advantage of the smooth speed of the Big Wheels on the Superfly Pro. Steve "Rango" Heck and I are a good team of Singletrack Smoothness and Flat Road Power, so it could be a great weekend... Legs feel good. Bikes are ready. Weather looks nice. Guns will be Blazing!! Also going to enjoy the Rock Star Bike Loving provided by Trek Store so that I can enjoy all the wonders of Haliburton on and off the bike. Can't wait to start!!

Peak Anniversary

Congrats to Peak Health and Wellness for their 2nd Anniversary. I have enjoyed many re-alignment sessions with Dr Keber and she is a big part of why I can continue to abuse my body the way I do. Went to enjoy the Anniversary Skate with the Peak Crew and many others. Here's to many more years!!

C'mon....it's for the kids!

Did the annual Bottle Drive collection for the Ride for Karen tonite and I'm glad to see our neighbors are still heavy drinkers. Thanks to all those who donated. The ride happens this Sunday but since the OCA can't seem to get the schedule right, I will be at Provincials instead. If you still have the desire to send a kid with cancer to Camp, you can sponsor the recipient of our Bottle Drive money and search the RFK website for Eric Sirois. Cheers to the kids who just need to be kids...

It's official

All Hill Repeats and Intensity has been replaced with Strava-busting activities.