East Coast Open

The racing has been furious all summer long, and what a better way to end the month of July with Canada's first East Coast Open at Blue Mountain Resort, Ontario. The team has been busy, with riders travelling from Ottawa, to BC, to Ontario's cottage country, and back to Collingwood. With team riders travelling to train in Whistler, and others needing a mental or physical brake from the race course, the team was not out in full force this weekend. However, our top elite riders were there to make business

happen and to have a shot at winning their share of the $2,500 prize purse!

The event was a success in it's inaugural year. A solid track, flawless organization from SirBikeAlotRacing, and a fantastic event for racers and spectators, puts Blue Mountain back on track. Years to come look once again promising for racing at our province's only lift access resort.

A wet and sloppy Saturday challenged most racers bike handling abilities, conditions that allowed the top riders skills to shine. A few casualties were caused by the off-camber, clay hard-pack Saturday, but those who were able to avoid the trees were having a blast!

The track dried Sunday, and the racing got fast and furious on this 3+ minute course. Monika Luebke beat out the locals to take the win and a $250 cheque in the Womens field. Your mens top 5 are as follows: 5th Sid Slotegraff (Lapierre/ Raceface), 4th Matt Zdriluk (Lapierre/ Raceface), 3rd Taylor Rowlands- $250 (Independent), 2nd Harold Woolnough- $750 (Silent Devinci Racing), 1st Rob Fraser- $1500 (Primary- Trek).

The race was a huge success, and the team thanks everyone involved. Don't miss this one next year folks, it's sure to grow as Canada's premier event!

Thanks to Marc Landry for the photos!

The team finds Provincial success!!

The team has had a very successful provincial campaign in 2010. Jamie Tice, Nick Kesik and Harold Woolnough have all taken a win in their respective categories- U16, Junior Expert and Elite Men, and are all in contention for top 3 Provincial overall rankings!

Keep your eye out for these riders at the Ontario Provincial Championship and the 3rd stop of the Canada Cup series as they battle for top spots!

Ontario Cup #2- Horseshoe Valley

After travelling to Mt. Tremblant the previous weekend, racers were glad to be racing once again close to home. Everyone was thrilled to be racing a brand new track, the built headed by series veteran Shane Joachim. The track was short and pedally, offered racers plenty of sandy and off camber corners, which meant the winners had to be explosive, but able to smash corners and stick to their lines. After a successful first round, the team was looking for a repeat, and it happened!

Harold puts his suspension to work

With many racers away at the US Open, Nick Kesik was able to capitalize with his 1st Junior Expert win in only his 2nd Junior Expert race! He sits 2nd in the overall. Adam Finlayson got back on track after his disappointing start at Kelso, and finished 2nd in Senior Expert. Kyle L was not happy with his run, finished 7th but is now 3rd overall in the series!

After going over the bars and qualifying in the 70's, Harold was out of Sundays final at the US Open in New Jersey, and with the Provincial overall ranking in mind, jumped in the car and drove 9 hrs to race Horseshoe. With 4 hrs sleep and little practise, Harold was stoked to finish 4th and hold onto that #1 overall position.

The series overall is calculated with your best 5 out of 6 races at the end of the season. With many racers missing 1 of 2 races thus far, our athletes must keep pushing for podium results to remain on-top!

Jamie Tice with the win!

Jamie T. continues to show he is on form this year. After a strong winter of training, it is evident that he will be a force to reckon with for the remainder of this season and 2011 in the U16 category. He has a 5 point lead in the series overall ranking.

Despite many of the young elite racers away at the US Open, it was great to see old timer Justin Brown (Cycle Solutions) take the win, over Lapierre Canada rider Sid 'The Kid" Slotegraaf and Texas boy Caleb Cambern (Primary- Trek).

The weather was great, the track was a blast, racing was tight and a good time was had by all.

The team looks forward to Rd.3 in just under 2 weeks time.

Thanks to SirBikeAlotRacing and Shane J for putting this one on!

See you on the trails!

RedBull Monte/ Descente

It is the 2nd year that Redbull Monte/ Descente was put on during the Canada Cup weekend at Mt. Tremblant, and what an event! The race consists of 40 teams, an XC racer paired with a DH racer, that complete combined laps in a relay format through the village.

The race takes place at night, down the ski hill and through the village. The DH course consisted of drops, ladders, wallrides, stairs, rock shoots and even some climbing to separate the fit from the unfit and to provide plenty of excitement for the spectators. The course was lined deep with spectators as the athletes took off!

Kyle L. and Harold W. were both late entries, but were stoked to participate and had strong XC partners. Harold was paired with Specialized factory rider Francis Morin, who had won the Canada Cup U23 elite race that day!

The race was on, and the bad luck was just about to begin. After coming out of the "Lemans" start first, a timing issue kept Harold from dropping in until about 30 riders had gone ahead! Kyle was off to the races, coming out of the "Lemans" start in 3rd, but the lights he had thrown together would soon die and Kyle was left to race down the technical track in the dark until he had to call it quits! Harold flatted on his first lap, but with his quick pit crew, he was back up and running. Meanwhile Francis managed to take us from 30th to mid 20's in just one climb! Another crash for Harold, but Francis continues to show his strength and keeps on passing riders! On the 4th lap, Harold had a horrific crash, and rips the bolts out of his stem, and the race was over.

Regardless of the results, you could not wipe the smile off both these racers face afterwards. Harold woke up on race day Sunday with a bike that needed some serious attention. Thanks to the boys at Devinci, Shimano, and Jeff Faulds, he was up and running in no time.

Check out the video below, and spot Kyle and Harold in their blue Dakine outfits!

http://www.redbull.ca/cs/Satellite/fr_CA/Video/Red-Bull-Monte-Descend-2010-021242854377684

The boys are eager for another shot next year!

Canada Cup #1- Mt. Tremblant

This weekend was the much anticipated return of the infamous Mt Tremblant Canada Cup track. The vibrant village atmosphere always gives this event a special feel, and this year was no different as the weather was spectacular for the long weekend!

Tom K and Alistair enjoying a refreshing Beaver Buzz at the team pits

The track is long, rough and physically demanding, it has not changed since we've started racing here. It was the first Canada Cup race for our new team members, thus a big learning experience for Jamie T. and Mike O. Jamie was able to overcome pre- race nerves to finish a strong 10th in the U17 field, an exciting result for Jamie who will still be racing U17 next season!

Alistair looking pinned through "Slick Rock"

Photo: Jeff Faulds

In the elite class, Harold managed to place 28th and Tom 45th. Mike O. finished mid pack despite coming off his bike in the Junior Expert field and Kyle a little ways back after having issues in his race run.

The team splits next weekend, with our elite racers off to New Jersey for their first ever US Open and the remainder of the team racing the 2nd Provincial Rd.