tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32695119619053346942024-03-05T22:12:37.075-07:00Mical Dyck bikes, stories and lifeMical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.comBlogger417125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-20900009059375735162017-01-25T06:20:00.001-07:002017-01-25T06:20:10.240-07:00Hoogerheide WCIt's been a little bit of a different and slower season for me. I've decided to go back to my adult job again (thought I've quickly missed my freedom and my life) and have raced and ridden a lot less than normal....and definitely a lot less then I would like. I find I'm in a little bit of a tough position right now; I'm really excited for all the other things in life that I've missed out on with focusing on racing....but I still really love racing. I want it all!! <br />
<br />
This past weekend was the my third CX World Cup of the 2016/2017 season. My first WC in Vegas went a lot better then I was expecting, my second WC in Iowa ended in a long run due to a snapped rear derailleur/hanger and besides the amazing local series and Canadian Nationals it's been a slower race season then the past couple of years. I was sad to miss out on the Kerstperiod this season, though really happy to spend the Christmas season at home (however working over the holidays wasn't my first choice). So that left me really excited to be in Europe for the final World Cup in Hoogerheide and World Championships in Luxembourg.<br />
<br />
Having lost a lot of UCI points from not racing my start position was a bit of a kick in rear, but I've always enjoying racing from the back. This year Hoogerheide was unlike anything that I thought possible for this area of the Nederlands.......dry, frozen and extremely fast. I came prepared for a cyclocross race and was shocked to have to race a crit in January against the fastest women in the world. Typically I rely on my technical skills to make me competitive, but this race was pure fitness, something I'm sad to say has taken a little hit this year (could be all those pastries I'm really really enjoying this year).<br />
<br />
Fifth row call up wasn't horrible for a field of 76, but with a straight shot road start, it wasn't easy to make any spots off the start. I definitely burnt a few too many matches on the first lap trying to move up as much as I could.....panic sets in a little when you see the lead of the race five corners ahead by the time you hit the dirt. By the end of the second lap I managed to move myself up as far are top 25, lap 3 and 4 I had to dial back a little. When the Belgian Loes Sels who I ended up racing around a lot last year, passed me I was finally told myself to suck it up and get moving! In the final lap catching Caroline Mani going into a tight treed section, she dismounted right in front of me to run so I was left with no choice but to dismount as well. As soon as my foot hit the frozen ground I was on the ground. I really wish someone had a video of it because I think I was up and running again all in the same stride...I feel like it looked like I meant to do it haha. I managed to pass Caroline shortly after only to have to attack my running up the Red Bull stairs (remember to practice stairs in the future). Digging deep I grabbed her wheel through the last corner and attacked on the road finish to take 30th place. <br />
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Although this is my worst placing at Hoogerheide, I'm actually really happy with how the race went and it was an amazing way to blow out all the "gunk" from a month of working on a boat and jet lag! This week has been a great week of pastry eating, watching pre-rides of the course and some opener work for the legs. I'm really excited to see what the Luxembourg course has in store....it looks technical!!!Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-26065903096345271722016-10-17T22:37:00.003-06:002016-10-17T22:37:48.649-06:00Cross season is the best season!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-59878107368366098122016-01-28T04:18:00.006-07:002016-01-28T04:18:51.849-07:00More Mud at Hoogerheide WC <div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Hoogerheide mud is definitely the mudder of
all mudder races, it’s so hard physically and technically due to the mud, and
yet somehow ….fun?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From what I can
remember last year was really wet, having snowed the night before pre-ride, and
then melted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this year, I think was
muddier, with a good amount of rain on and off all week, there were some good
soupy sections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The majority of the
course was the exact same, however there had been a lot of construction along
the start straight, making the start a long sweeping uphill with a hard right
into some gnarly mud and ruts after about 500m.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">3<sup>rd</sup> row call again, love not
having to start all the way at the back anymore </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a great start, elbows were definitely
out in that first corner, but I managed to come through unscathed and
upright.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Past the pits, a couple of fast
corners and into a fast descent with a bermed (or maybe rutted) right hand
corner at the bottom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You could
definitely catch a lot of speed here, and if you played the rut at the bottom
wrong, you could easily end up in the trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Popping out of the trees into a long flat grass straight away past the
busy VIP tent, I found a great line out of the corner carrying momentum along
and moved up most laps along here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1JQyr6Hky_NK_BjE-a2T3MVVofB5BOh2X1Xf11RduVK_vXkn92sPSi2HCzodpAANOjeCsBoUkZLewe1I7cBwq5Mac5nuHOEm2fk-WUE6Ni1Ahrir_NAZ7-sFZGiJYTU9xn7jy5JmBNOk/s1600/12548974_10206736332819482_7194084535455201867_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1JQyr6Hky_NK_BjE-a2T3MVVofB5BOh2X1Xf11RduVK_vXkn92sPSi2HCzodpAANOjeCsBoUkZLewe1I7cBwq5Mac5nuHOEm2fk-WUE6Ni1Ahrir_NAZ7-sFZGiJYTU9xn7jy5JmBNOk/s640/12548974_10206736332819482_7194084535455201867_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo from <a aria-describedby="js_27" aria-haspopup="true" aria-owns="js_26" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=1009353301" href="https://www.facebook.com/marc.karien?fref=photo" id="js_28" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">Marc Deceuninck</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Sharp right hand hairpin at the end of the
VIP tent and the mud started to get thicker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A couple more flat corners and with each passing corner the mud would
get thicker and thicker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the
section that I seemed to struggle the most with this year, not being able to
find that balance point on my bike to get enough traction to move forward
efficiently in a straight line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give me
all the greasy corners and off camber, I rocked those, but muddy straight
sections were my kryptonite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once clear
of the worst of the mud, sharp little power uphill back into the trees, short
downhill with a 180 at the bottom and up the greasy climb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This one 9 times out of 10 due to the mud is
a runner, for me anyways </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Up the first pitch, the
course turns left out of the trees and into a flattish very muddy section….so
you just keep running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hairpin corner at
the top and you can finally hop back on your bike, hopefully getting clipped in
just in time to hit the first of 2 deeply rutted, very muddy and very slick
left hand corners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I proudly rocked the
big rut safely and somewhat quickly most laps, having to hop off and run up the
small incline the lap I messed the rut up and almost ended up on my face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second left hand corner had a lot more
options for lines and the main rut had a good “jog” in it half way through the
corner making for trying to stay in the rut an interesting exercise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Up a small slick incline and back through the
pits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_tFScPdysI6iB8vW72KcVN0jZjS-0QD84NtalE6Cbp6UYUVVTepDhz_LQurYbQXNWZz8hYzBPPmSOGNQ4wubPHxClSuZrGKvJRLfK8pzjVR1mHXmLCAA9cvh9IXAX6kKB18HDqbxD4lw/s1600/12646756_10206655385078121_7923731086789573582_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_tFScPdysI6iB8vW72KcVN0jZjS-0QD84NtalE6Cbp6UYUVVTepDhz_LQurYbQXNWZz8hYzBPPmSOGNQ4wubPHxClSuZrGKvJRLfK8pzjVR1mHXmLCAA9cvh9IXAX6kKB18HDqbxD4lw/s640/12646756_10206655385078121_7923731086789573582_o.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Luc Hermans </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">This short section seemed to be the least
muddy and you could catch your breath a little going through the fast
corners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Picking up speed, the mud got
thicker and deeper as you neared the next hairpin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This corner in particular is one that you
always see on video, for me it really stands out in my memory from watching
races, and it’s easily distinguishable with a huge tree and a giant running rut
around it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flying what feels like break
neck speed into the corner, trying to get off in the uneven mud, and trying not
to fall flat on your face because you’ve just jumped off your bike while it’s
moving faster then your legs can move, makes for some great facial photos at
this corner!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going into this corner
with anyone nearby spiced it up even more, having to look out for bikes and
feet flying you way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixIJ9WfF1TgBbPjZUCcsxZ3QjLChR-qdCG0jpGTbuu3JauvNiMTI4rpY7AfYQHt5W5ZJD9Sl2B0bBclv1i3ZBov8FN3P0Y8aSB1_N4urYmGF0r9pa0NgWfaLIHZCB_pXbqFzpsusbgi6k/s1600/12552729_1703766859880355_8149162422942410665_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixIJ9WfF1TgBbPjZUCcsxZ3QjLChR-qdCG0jpGTbuu3JauvNiMTI4rpY7AfYQHt5W5ZJD9Sl2B0bBclv1i3ZBov8FN3P0Y8aSB1_N4urYmGF0r9pa0NgWfaLIHZCB_pXbqFzpsusbgi6k/s640/12552729_1703766859880355_8149162422942410665_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo from <a aria-describedby="js_2a" aria-haspopup="true" aria-owns="js_29" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=100007411714588" href="https://www.facebook.com/ladyson.wheels?fref=photo" id="js_2b" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">Bart Raeymaekers</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Around the corner and running back up the
hill with your bike, hairpin at the top and try to get clipped in again before
the slightly off camber downhill with the right hand corner at the bottom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple more flat really muddy straights
with rutted corners and the course popped out a road climb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Old course had a fun series of really steep
and rutted shoots with steep run ups, but new course took us up past the start
and into a really hard off camber soggy sand section.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were two paths that were about a tire
width, and if you got off those you were essentially riding in what felt like
wet concrete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Power through that
section, tight right hand corner and a huge 44 set of concrete steps that were
built specifically for this race, OUCH!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And at the top, just when you were weak in the knees and out of breathe,
there was about a 100m of what again felt like wet concrete to power
through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Making it about ¾ of the way
through each lap I found it faster to get off and run at a certain point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pop out on the pavement and you have about a
100m to stretch your legs out and get ready to do the lap all over again!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got my new blue Giro Empires so dirty </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">L</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBu4WuRoiGiSAWdlEqxM54tgfcKSmwcsuSPQWhfK10afsgFAxjWKUvkTSJOb7eMXy9K7wy58xXpFxuPjdx71Z33wxiBcX1FyugZ_FsnQ3tk_YaSl65jHrGufcIDdt71YQQSj3OcnzKif4/s1600/12540727_10206655382838065_5569490582714287887_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBu4WuRoiGiSAWdlEqxM54tgfcKSmwcsuSPQWhfK10afsgFAxjWKUvkTSJOb7eMXy9K7wy58xXpFxuPjdx71Z33wxiBcX1FyugZ_FsnQ3tk_YaSl65jHrGufcIDdt71YQQSj3OcnzKif4/s640/12540727_10206655382838065_5569490582714287887_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo from Luc Hermans</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I’ve know for a while that I need to work
on pacing, but this race yet again has reinforced the fact that I love to go
out too hard…..but I do have a good start </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US"> I
battled with a solid group of 4 or 5 girls for a large chunk of the race, and
finished happily with a 24<sup>th</sup>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">One more week of rest and the last race of
the season back at Zolder!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-608796222748255642016-01-19T09:59:00.002-07:002016-01-19T09:59:35.240-07:00Ligniere-en-Berry World Cup<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Back in Belgium after a quick stop over in
France for the Ligniere-en-Berry CX World Cup, stop number 6 out of 7 on the
World Cup circuit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The course was held
at a Hippodrome, also known as a stadium for horse or chariot racing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beautiful venue in the French countryside, it
was a very flat area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The course took
advantage of every piece of terrain change available in the area, however with
a pretty flat venue, there were a lot of long straightaways, some sharp slick
off camber corners and more straightaways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Morning of pre-ride was a chilly -5 and snow, race day ended up being
sunny and just above freezing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sun
and breeze cause the ground to dry up a little and the course was fast!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Moving up slowly, I was the 18<sup>th</sup>
call up and landed myself a third row start for the first time </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US">. Long fast straightaway, and somehow I found a really nice opening
on the left side and managed to move up a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sweeping lefthander into a tight righthander, off camber into a tight
right uphill corner bottleneck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back on
the bike for a quick couple pedal strokes and up the first set of stairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quickly back on the bike, small downhill
trying to get clipped back in, and off camber sand section and more running. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">From there, back on the bike, up through
the pits and into a slow tight section with some good off camber downhill
corners, if it had been really muddy this would have been a blast!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Short straightaway, some more slow corners,
then a long….I mean loooooong, like 200 m long, straight away along the back
side of the course, followed by another tight twisty section, then another
looooong downhill straight away through the pits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was definitely the suicide pit direction,
you were going so fast it was nearly impossible to get into; I had tried this
side during pre-ride only to get completely run over by one of the juniors…..I
have a really good bruise on my rear end to show for it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Tight nasty weird corner at the end of the
pits in mud, which claimed a lot of people, followed by yet more straight
aways, tight twisty off camber corners, some running, some barriers, a fly
over, some more stairs and some really weird tight corners on sand, then off to
the finish straight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t your typical
European cross course, definitely not as technical overall, but there were some
corners that kept you on your toes for sure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Came through on the first lap in, WHAT, 11<sup>th</sup>
place!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First 3 laps I was in the mix,
battling back and forth, but I think I may have worked a little too hard to be in
this place because my fourth and fifth lap were painful. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Painful like when you get that empty heavy
feeling in your legs, and every pedal stroke is a battle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Held on for an 18<sup>th</sup> place and my
first top 20 in a World Cup, so I do have to be happy with that!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Letting to body heal and recover and back
to Hoogerheide (my first European CX race last year) for a much anticipated mud
fest </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-39470647465351927572016-01-08T11:51:00.001-07:002016-01-08T12:00:54.707-07:00And BPost and Soudal Classic Races too!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">And that’s a wrap for my first Kerstperiod
(Christmas Cross) series in Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
been on the radar for a while, always getting up early to watch the races in
Europe, and this was the year to make it happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I opted out of two of the six races during
that nine day period because I knew doing a stage race at this point in the
season would totally destroy me…but watching those races from the sidelines was
really difficult </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US">. We finished off the week with a Friday race in Baal and a Sunday
race in Leuven.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The race in Baal is Sven Nys’ (literally
the king of cyclocross for those who don’t know) race in his hometown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being Sven’s last year of professional racing
I knew this was one even that I really wanted to attend and the crowds were
nuts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is typically a mudder race
with a lot of elevation, and this year did not disappoint, even though it has
been unusually warm and sunny this winter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I had an amazing start, sitting fourth or fifth wheel going into the
first corner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over 2 large barrier logs,
up and over the fly over and into the first time climbing up through the pits I
was sitting comfortable but pushing hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sharp left drop into a full on squirrely mud pit descent with wheel
eating ruts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are definitely
features that we doing get to practice in North America and European racers are
far superior at this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Skiing your way down the mud, there is a
sharp hairpin and then straight back up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Only a handful of people, including the men could ride this, so there
was a lot of running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back on the bike
and surfing down another slick, rutted out straight away, deep rutted corner at
the bottom, through some sloppy mud and grind back up the hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This one was a little more rideable, but
definitely had to hump the bike up over the top.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple more muddy corners, running in deep
mud, then hitting a pavement climb back up to the pits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second time through the pits is the ideal
place to pit, it’s slower and at the end of the pit you have to get off your
bike anyways to go up a giant set of like 20 stairs….OUCH!!!! The second half
of the course was a lot drier and faster then the first half, bombing downhills
and hammering climbs, a couple good rutted corners and back to the start/finish
straight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIJN_Av-tcpW_9YzmhFii9e-KUZtS42fuVVLXczB3P_giay795LTluoAFXuHH0wS7Xtg9x0agI1b20Fr1XrZj7VJi_vujbk93617tn4w6tlVr0Lp0jD9woAIYo97Wxuc38-TU2WJdWew/s1600/1004863_10203788289427892_3835754495629548513_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIJN_Av-tcpW_9YzmhFii9e-KUZtS42fuVVLXczB3P_giay795LTluoAFXuHH0wS7Xtg9x0agI1b20Fr1XrZj7VJi_vujbk93617tn4w6tlVr0Lp0jD9woAIYo97Wxuc38-TU2WJdWew/s400/1004863_10203788289427892_3835754495629548513_n.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sharpen those mud skills for Baal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US">I had a great battle back and forth with a
couple girls, going into the last lap I found myself gaining fast on the girl
in 9<sup>th</sup> place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dropping into
the first real muddy second on the lap for the last time I was just about to make
contact with 9<sup>th</sup> place and decided to make my move……only to end up
on my butt in the mud, much to the crowds delight </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t catch her again, and had to ride my
sideways saddle all the way back to the pits, but I did catch my first top ten
in a Belgian cyclocross race….yippee!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Rest day Saturday was much welcomed, the
mud and running from the Baal course left me with a lot of mystery cuts and
bruises and very sore all over!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leuven
on Sunday was a completely different type of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pretty much a slick road race with four of
five gnarly little a lap, a lot of rough bumpy ground, and a short really muddy
section with 3 steep uphills and 3 steep downhills in fast succession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">A second row call up allowed me a great
start again, scrambling around the first two hairpin corners and over this
weird double stair feature (two wide steps up and 2 wide steps down), over the
fly over and through the first two ditches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The ditches really spread the field out as there was really only one
good line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first time through the
bumpy pits was pretty near the position that I would end up in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a huge bottleneck at the short
technical section and everyone was off their bikes running up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once we passed the pits for the second time
and hit the flat section I worked really hard to catch the wheel in front of me
to be able to sit in a little and draft.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I quickly realized I probably couldn’t have picked a better wheel,
Christine Majerus, a road racer from Luxomburg, was driving hard and we quickly
opened up a gap to the group behind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was able to stay with her for the first 3 laps, doing work when I could, but once
we caught Sabrina Sultjens, the pace picked up and I had a harder time closing
the small gaps that would open, finally loosing contact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I finished the last 3 laps in no mans land, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>just over a minute down from the girl in front
and a minute ahead of the girl behind me……grabbing the 9<sup>th</sup> place on
the day!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Baby steps!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO_zVPVZUwupuJXKzVbCFO3meffk_WTwL_i4lU5_MT7JMDtO9ODgJ_YhQXKXLo4vErh_Z_SRvkZoJOJZK0Rr2-gRAS2naluqTxSG7Y9dc9qKIeauGR_pK3zCU6VG1vCf8CI_koBnJmWkc/s1600/12507158_10206612861852785_6635996811035728168_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO_zVPVZUwupuJXKzVbCFO3meffk_WTwL_i4lU5_MT7JMDtO9ODgJ_YhQXKXLo4vErh_Z_SRvkZoJOJZK0Rr2-gRAS2naluqTxSG7Y9dc9qKIeauGR_pK3zCU6VG1vCf8CI_koBnJmWkc/s640/12507158_10206612861852785_6635996811035728168_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Road tactics in Leuven</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">2 day drive through France to get to
Girona, Spain, and I’m putting in some fun miles on some amazing roads in the
sun, recharging my batteries and getting ready for the last push of the
season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Jan 17 – World Cup in Lignieres-en-Berry,
France<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Jan 24 – World Cup in Hoogerheide,
Netherlands<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Jan 30 – World Championships in Zolder,
Belgium<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibl_BOgOKLkrbhcIIsZiIl56bS9_xB5TJRbVB5wuA4wa1UskLCvCY3yvWmcwWewV4Cn4Izga_mRJ27NvFLEmfcpk1KyLDJrvxZM5EWjMkgq1EQaSIvJA-_OSRIPL1zcB-1mH366_BgSAc/s1600/12439253_10205236245522625_8315043223052056599_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibl_BOgOKLkrbhcIIsZiIl56bS9_xB5TJRbVB5wuA4wa1UskLCvCY3yvWmcwWewV4Cn4Izga_mRJ27NvFLEmfcpk1KyLDJrvxZM5EWjMkgq1EQaSIvJA-_OSRIPL1zcB-1mH366_BgSAc/s640/12439253_10205236245522625_8315043223052056599_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's so cool getting to know the locals once you do a couple of races in Belgium :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span lang="EN-US">Also, the pastries in Girona are amazing
and totally worth the drive!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-56533923654441262712015-12-30T02:18:00.004-07:002015-12-30T02:18:45.600-07:00World Cups and Superprestige Adventures <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhubf-2C2XS_d8ZsvpzuQ27ygLz8HYAoo7MxwaAty2UA5D6F0RtmSpCPgKOcizXEI5sIvK-jIJ24C4cUfe5POpWgjFvO0GlVim8ggFymDnQXYKTSxUacOT1PUHh27fMPcrMi0m-N3Xb_R0/s1600/IMG_0159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhubf-2C2XS_d8ZsvpzuQ27ygLz8HYAoo7MxwaAty2UA5D6F0RtmSpCPgKOcizXEI5sIvK-jIJ24C4cUfe5POpWgjFvO0GlVim8ggFymDnQXYKTSxUacOT1PUHh27fMPcrMi0m-N3Xb_R0/s640/IMG_0159.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awesome roads everywhere in Belgium</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">CX World Cup round number 5 of the season
in Zolder, Belgium was a full preview of the World Championships course at the
end of January….and I have to say that I’m really excited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The course is has a great mix of everything,
some fast straight aways, tight corners, sand, off cambers, roots, steep drops,
and some really cool history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Circuit
Zolder is an old F1 racetrack used in the 70s and 80s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Christmas day was a cold, wet pre-ride of
the course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wet, sandy muddy conditions
made the drivetrain unhappy within a single lap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is an interesting combination of sand
and clay, enough sand to keep things together and enough clay to make it slick
and keep you on your toes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though
Belgium has been having an unusually warm dry December and Boxing Day (race day)
proved to be warm and sunny, drying the course out throughout the day and
making it a very fast track.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Moving up to a fourth row call up, I had a
solid start, but I still have to learn to be a little more aggressive fighting
for spots with these European racers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Long
straight away on the track, and the field bottlenecked in the first hairpin
corner after about 200 m.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second hairpin
corner and through the pits, everyone is jockeying back and forth trying to
move ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through a treed section, I
hopped off my bike to run a backed up corner and found myself being checked
left into USA’s Ellen Noble by a Rabobank rider, things were getting rough!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Through the pits and accelerate hard into a
tight, slick uphill hairpin corner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two
lines here, if you can rail the corner hard enough and take the high line it’s
faster and smoother, but really hard to get to; most times I got shot to the
bottom and had to ride the mud to the off camber corner up to the
pavement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">First lap I’m sitting in pretty good company
and feeling somewhat comfortably uncomfortable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The long sandy clayey shoot is relatively dry and fast, with a couple
good ruts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hitting the bottom you have
about 100m to regroup then straight up a cliff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you’ve watched the past races this is a super steep cliff with steps
cut into the side…..this year they decided to move the track over a little and
there are no steps cut in, so it’s a free for all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Literally scrambling up, using my hands to
grab whatever I can while the front wheel if hitting the ground and the seat
hitting me in the head, throwing me totally off balance the whole way up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the top there is another small run then a
short flat section to smack the sand out of your pedals, clip in and hump it up
the long steep climb….if you can ride you will definitely pass anyone
running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOG1XHojKSM-m8I1wKhnDrnPsHglhEb4QyYdFD0dHueekMd3Lz8y_ZeIqqRtqf_DFhrEvMWpwZS7eWw1MiCEAR-CSzFMdAhsmtS6vODdhnBa3sYAZp1WLAucF9AYMaM8cJ1GVohC9vPUQ/s1600/940958_10201520471811256_2312291292028416940_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOG1XHojKSM-m8I1wKhnDrnPsHglhEb4QyYdFD0dHueekMd3Lz8y_ZeIqqRtqf_DFhrEvMWpwZS7eWw1MiCEAR-CSzFMdAhsmtS6vODdhnBa3sYAZp1WLAucF9AYMaM8cJ1GVohC9vPUQ/s640/940958_10201520471811256_2312291292028416940_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo from William Beerland - going into the steeeeep run up</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Loose off camber corner, couple steep
little drops and a huge flyover back down onto the track to the finish
line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lap 2, I managed to move into the
top 20, lap 3 I was apparently in 17<sup>th</sup> position……then just before
the long steep shoot I hear the dreaded “psst psst psst psst” of my tire
letting out all the air </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">L</span></span><span lang="EN-US"> (turns out to be a half inch cut in the side wall, nothing would
have saved that). I definitely let out an audible choice word and limp my way
to the pits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The steep downhills and
flyover are so sketchy trying to ride with a front flat and I almost end up on
my face 2 or 3 times so I decided running the drops was my best option….gaaaaah!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Loosing about 1 minute in lap 3 and at least
20 secs in lap 4 to just get to the pits, I move back in the high 30s/ low 40s…..and
I had my work cut out for me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trying to
stay calm but make as much time as I can, I slowly pick off a rider here and
there and move up to finish in 33 place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Definitely not how I wanted the day to end, but I am really happy with
how my body was feeling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Loved the IRC
tubeless Mud Seracs on my NoTubes rims at 23 psi on this track and was able to
rail the technical sections with ease!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Quick recovery and straight into my first
Superprestige the next day one of the oldest courses on the circuit, Diegem…aka
Cross Vegas of Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is an
interesting course, using some tight cobbled roads, through some back yards and
a lot of features around a soccer pitch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I made the full rookie mistake of putting Mad Alchemy Embro on my legs
(yummy) and then my chamois cream on……ouch!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvjPahOL1K4ZxIQPVM0fNPdapiRixcGl2R3XLR3ghkYeCD2ilY4vVpbDhQQpP1m1Rhb1fDJm5A0yT8erSoRWO26YnT40UdodNT8zROfZe_w2y2iegu9yAWDwQVts5c6Z2k9aiUPeBW_SI/s1600/IMG_0138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvjPahOL1K4ZxIQPVM0fNPdapiRixcGl2R3XLR3ghkYeCD2ilY4vVpbDhQQpP1m1Rhb1fDJm5A0yT8erSoRWO26YnT40UdodNT8zROfZe_w2y2iegu9yAWDwQVts5c6Z2k9aiUPeBW_SI/s320/IMG_0138.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Men's Race - that's Sven Nys!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Second row call up here, yippee!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m so close to those fast girls on the front
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a good start up the
long road climb (though definitely not as good as fellow Canadian Anna
Schappert who came from behind to a top 10 before we hit the grass!!!), through
the first couple of corners and into the slick off camber that jams everyone up
and I find myself in the top 20.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Around
the soccer field and past the pits we start to climb, first up and over a fly
over, around a corner and through an alleyway, then hitting the cobbles we turn
left and climb up a long climb (the TV definitely makes this look flat).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Short recovery at the top with some fun
singletracky corners and let the legs recover enough to hit the thick heavy
sand pit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is sort of a beat in
track in the middle of the pit, the farther you go the less of a track it is,
and if you get off of it you sink another inch and stop dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This effort really cooks the legs and if you
have to dismount and run, good luck getting clipped back in!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So much sand was jammed into my shoes and
pedals when I had to run that once I got in, I also had troubles getting out in
time for the barriers….that made it interesting a couple times </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim5pTK-v0qzsbyh5b3J0vp_M6t36KH66FS51sRhd1DB7zADf97XnZxVelWwLkwoVh2YpUVYT34aE1yDEe9h_Rf7hgDXKEi6LOfRVzyTZ2kqG3jBvPfPkY_4WWbt0KXURHHPpIOwYQ1dx0/s1600/IMG_0147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim5pTK-v0qzsbyh5b3J0vp_M6t36KH66FS51sRhd1DB7zADf97XnZxVelWwLkwoVh2YpUVYT34aE1yDEe9h_Rf7hgDXKEi6LOfRVzyTZ2kqG3jBvPfPkY_4WWbt0KXURHHPpIOwYQ1dx0/s320/IMG_0147.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yaaay for Arcteryx waterproof gear</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Fast downhill on cobbles with some good
curbs to hop, and into the last couple greasy corners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a really good battle with the girls for
13<sup>th</sup> place, but plugged my front wheel in one of the final hairpin
corners and she got away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was able to
make up some distance in the final mud put run into the stairs, but I didn’t
have the gas to close it on the final straight and finished in 14<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pretty cool race with an unbelievable number
of people watching!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s been said
before, but cyclocross is like the hockey of Canada, everyone pays good money
to get in and watch, they buy all the supporters gear, and make an evening out
of it drinking beer and eating meat on a stick, then they hit the disco tent
and things get crazy!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Washing my bike in
the pits after the race was an adventure and I didn’t escape the crowd in my
little skinsuit without getting groped and kissed by some Belgians…..next time
I’ll leave my bike for Regan </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Couple recovery days, though when I went to
watch AzenCross in Loenhout I really wished I had raced!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Getting ready for the Sven Nys BPost in Baal
on Friday (New Years Day) and the Soudal Classic on Leuven on Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-47472687943791123022015-12-21T03:21:00.005-07:002015-12-21T07:24:02.593-07:00Namur WC - Storming the Citadel<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The Namur Citadel is a pretty amazing place
to host a World Cup cyclocross race, I had to do a little research after the
race to find out a little more information on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The original structure was dated back to the year 937 and the current citadel that we see now was finished in the 1600s, though
apparently Napoleon had some of the walls dismantled in the 19<sup>th</sup>
century, and is one of the most fortified structures in all of Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could only imagine the tunnels and hidden
rooms in a building like this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2UAGFHzlWBEM0Txds9EH_fpJh6Mtbi9yiXhToYnQaUYcRIKBN7plRrc6_-wRt3Ruh6R1tfBEERCRBXHWJdbm-p8nOQzrUCVfAsOr32TXW844CnIWaBqtwJUL3hw238oBFMNF6TcoN2hs/s1600/IMG_0077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2UAGFHzlWBEM0Txds9EH_fpJh6Mtbi9yiXhToYnQaUYcRIKBN7plRrc6_-wRt3Ruh6R1tfBEERCRBXHWJdbm-p8nOQzrUCVfAsOr32TXW844CnIWaBqtwJUL3hw238oBFMNF6TcoN2hs/s400/IMG_0077.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The course has a lot of steep climbing and
a lot of steep shoots, some gnarly off camber rutted out sections and usually
tonnes of mud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After pre-riding on
Thursday for the first time it had just rained the day before and there was a
lot of slick deep mud……I love it!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We’ve had a very uncharacteristically warm, dry and sunny Belgian
December (which is apparently the general forecast right to the end of
January), so the course tacked up a lot making it really fast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">4<sup>th</sup> row call up, 37 out of 70,
was the best call up I’ve had a world cup, but with the big climb right off the
start, we bottlenecked really fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
the very top of the first climb it kicks up and there is a covered wood plank
on the transition to the road…..after watching videos of previous races I knew
this was a problem spot, and sure enough, someone on the right side of the
track ended up running into the post at the top and took the whole rest of the
group down….all it takes it one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not a
huge deal, my goal for this race was to not go out too hard, pace myself
because all the climbing and running really catches up to you fast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">At the top of the first climb, you have
about 50 feet to catch your breath before you dive back down a rough paved
section, then hairpin transition onto the track to power back up to the
top.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another small bottle neck here and
we were off and running back up to the top.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From the top of this there is some fast, rooty and technical descents, I
managed to straight line over the roots and make up two spots here and grab a good
wheel headed into the only flat sections through the pits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge4trBjMRFMpld-ZNl4V9r8brOl6Gm2KR7WMmx6kwmKVeht87g9W1spuE_9HcN3Nc_-5aAp7n-VUpwxaFDgPAFXFKjw84-NtYC7SIVBjZNhBnGhagmgAFhrgUALIT2spmusRi27EVeAz8/s1600/IMG_0092.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge4trBjMRFMpld-ZNl4V9r8brOl6Gm2KR7WMmx6kwmKVeht87g9W1spuE_9HcN3Nc_-5aAp7n-VUpwxaFDgPAFXFKjw84-NtYC7SIVBjZNhBnGhagmgAFhrgUALIT2spmusRi27EVeAz8/s320/IMG_0092.JPG" width="240" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Exiting the pits there is a huge drop in
which was getting progressively rougher due to braking bumps, shooting you out
on a slick mud road to climb up to the short steep run up with a 6 foot transition
at the top to remount and drop back down the cliff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the top of this climb I was so out of
breathe every lap it I felt a little cross eyed dropping back in, half the time
not even clipped in to my pedals yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From here we hit the muddy sloggy straight away to a hairpin corner and
into the infamous off camber straight away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s funny, if there were no ruts on this it would be totally fine to
ride, but with years of racing cutting ruts into this hill, and the ruts being
really slick mud, this section is deceptively treacherous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had this dialed the first 3 laps, but
really struggled the last 2, making some back decision and I really should have
run, but racer brain had me slowly struggling with the tripod….though at least
I didn’t crash </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Remount for a quick descent, and off the
bike for another steep run up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
section always felt really good until I remounted again for another short
downhill, followed by a little power corner climb and slick slog into the
bottom of the longest steep run up of the course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I fumbled this corner and slog pretty bad in
the last lap and got passed by two more girls here </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">L</span></span><span lang="EN-US">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This last run up was one of the toughest
(though Sven did ride it 2 times during the race) and I found that it was all I
could do to drag my ass up there the last 2 laps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having watched lots of video of this course,
I knew it was actually okay to walk this section, a fast walk </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back on the bike at the
top, short transition and one last big drop and one big rideable (YAAAAY) climb
back to the top, through the pits, through the finish and back up the first big
climb.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I thought I had done a great job of pacing
myself, I felt great coming through the first lap in 20<sup>th</sup>
position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second lap felt great, not
pushing too hard on the climbs, there was enough elevation in the course to
force you to go hard, but by the fourth lap I was really starting to suck wind
and make some silly mistakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My last
two laps were slow, and I lost a lot of spots in the last lap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I’m really happy with how I raced and I
know I left everything out on the course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My goal for the race was a top 20, so I’m definitely disappointed with a
31 finish, but what a race to start off my Europe Cross adventure!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">What’s next?? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">December 26 – Zolder World Cup <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">December 27 – Diegem Superprestige<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">January 1 – Baal – the Sven Nys race <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">January 3 – Leuven Soudal Classic <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">January 17 – Ligniere World Cup<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">January 24 – Hoogerheide World Cup<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">January 30 – World Championships, Zolder <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">February 1 – Fly to Canada </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span></div>
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Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-40974922053712919342015-11-06T13:13:00.001-07:002015-11-06T13:22:00.484-07:00October Cross Racing - Getting a little mud :)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">And just like that October is over and we
are on to November, and with that Canadian Nationals is done and dusted for
another year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After finishing off a busy
start to the season, I came home to Victoria after Providence KMC Fest for the
largest Cross on the Rock (COTR) race to date!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Topaz Park in Victoria also proved to be the muddiest race of the season
so far and with over 350 people in all categories, it was an amazing day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I opted to race with the expert men again
this day, and had a great battle with the fast dudes, sometimes just battling
to stay upright in the slick corners and off camber run up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Huge thank you from all racers to local
WD40-Bike rep Pete Creighton for spending the entire day attached to the power
washer cleaning bikes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">The long Horst Spikes in my Giro Empires was the ticket to staying upright here!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">With a weekend off in between Topaz Park
and Nanaimo, I set about trying to recover and get fast legs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flying to Winnipeg for Canadian Nationals, I
was dreaming of mud and rain, which we totally got for the Friday
pre-ride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The wet clay was so sketchy
and fun to ride on, and this course is so much fun that you could just ride in
circles for hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rain stopped
Friday evening and although the morning races were a muddy mess, the course
dried out significantly for our afternoon start with just a few really slick
corners to keep you on your toes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span>I had felt really good pre-riding on
Friday, but I like to be cautiously optimistic about how I feel going into a
race. Maghalie Rochette of Luna (was the
wheel to watch) got the early holeshot, and after slipping my pedal off the
start, I worked hard to get to her.
Through the first half of the course I stayed on her like glue, but it’s
interesting when you are feeling good, sometimes things feel a little
easy. Just past the pits for the first
time I decided to push the pace up a little, try to spread out the field a
little. Passing Maghalie I accelerated
out of a technical corner, looked over my shoulder and realized I had a couple bike
lengths gap. </div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Decision time here, do you keep pushing on
hoping to open the gap, or settle back in and save energy for later in the
race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given the chance, I will almost
always choose to push the pace till I blow up…maybe not always the smartest </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stayed on the gas and
slowly opened up my lead, through the 3 long sand pits and the steep run up I
was able to open up my lead considerably so never looked back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bike, tires, body, everything felt great on
the day, worked perfect, and I had a solid day on a fun course, winning the
Canadian National Champion jersey back after a 2 year hiatus on the back of a
mountain bike World Champion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Huge shout
out to the Shimano guys for sun tanning with my bike in the pit, thank you for
standing there in case I needed you, but totally glad I didn’t need you!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The organizers of Winnipeg CX 2015 did a
great job enticing a lot of fast racers from south of the border to come up and
race the fun “Wannabe Canadian Race” on Saturday, and then the C2 on
Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Day 2 was on the same course
under almost the exact same conditions, corners just slippery enough to keep
you on your toes but fast and fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out
of the gate, Red Truck’s Natasha Elliot was on a mission and took the holeshot,
but with an early bad cornering decision I passed her and put some time into
the field through the off camber corners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Again, faced with the decision to push or race “smart”, I pushed the
pace and opened up a lead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meredith
Miller was close on my heals but I seemed to have just enough pop in my legs
left to keep her at about 10 seconds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Near the end of lap 3 Maghalie, who had some anger watts from the day before,
caught up to me and together we were able to extend the gap to Meredith to
about 30 seconds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In lap 4 making a
technical error I lost contact with Mags and that was all she needed to attack and
pull away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I managed to keep Meredith
off my wheel and finished 2<sup>nd</sup> on the day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Stayed a couple days in Winnipeg to catch a
Jets game and ride with the volunteer shuttle driver for the event, then headed
east to the Cincy CX.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had never done
this race and was really excited to ride here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Day one at Kings Parks was a flat out dirt crit with a “big” hill in the
middle called the Camel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rain the day
before made the ground soft and watt suckingly spongy, but oddly not
muddy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Corners were fast with tonnes of
traction, and this turned out to be a really tactical race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The start was fast, with some wide sweeping
corners and quickly hitting the first hill in the Camel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found myself in really good company,
sitting in top 10.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Slowly, as KFC slowly
opened up the pace (good to see her back to old fastness), the field was strung
out a little more in each corner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sitting 4<sup>th</sup> wheel in the chase group the pace was really
high, and with little technical to break up the course this was a flat out
power and fitness course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt great,
but the pace really started to get to me, 3<sup>rd</sup> lap I lost contact
with the chase group through the long deep sand pit and found myself in no mans
land for half a lap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t have the
legs to stay with the power in the second chase group, but managed to hold on
to 11<sup>th</sup> place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFhlVpqVueI_IBeZ4QW49uv3M_v9RijfF80eiOuPn7ZKgEGHbmurzlx6sP5ckGq5i539ySxTQ_B8x4DJVxJRs8nOzEXxUD4muFX7ebpw00tuFZr-A5VxjHyF840IvOVHJhYCBN92db6k/s1600/CSrU-MKWcAAjfBH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFhlVpqVueI_IBeZ4QW49uv3M_v9RijfF80eiOuPn7ZKgEGHbmurzlx6sP5ckGq5i539ySxTQ_B8x4DJVxJRs8nOzEXxUD4muFX7ebpw00tuFZr-A5VxjHyF840IvOVHJhYCBN92db6k/s400/CSrU-MKWcAAjfBH.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Day 2 in Cincy was the Pan American
Championships in Devou Park, and this was a legit European style cyclocross
course……HARD, VERY HARD!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
overnight rain made all the off camber sections and run ups that much more
exciting!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quick change of the tires in
the evening, yay tubeless and I was set.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This kind of really technical course suites my abilities and I love to
suffer on this stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not 500m into the
course was the first really hard off camber switch back that had everyone off
their bike and slip sliding around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
turned out that this section would be a major player in most of the races,
completely stringing the field out right away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I had a great start, coming out of this right where I needed to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple fast slick up and downs, sweeping
corners, and off camber climbs, brought us to the Pan Am plunge, which claimed
more then a few crashes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tight corner at
the bottom to a technical climb that bottlenecked, a slick run up, and my heart
was in my throat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a short road
section to recover and right into the Wall, literally straight up and slipper
clay (yaaaay toe spikes again).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trying
to catch your breath and legs at the top in order to survive the steep climb
behind the start, only to be faced with slow slippery uphill barriers before
the finish straight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>5 laps on this
course and everything hurt, but it was awesome!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had a solid race, finishing in 8<sup>th</sup>
place, and saw some heart rate numbers I haven’t seen in a while </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Thank you again for your continued support
and making my season happen </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "wingdings"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last local racing for me
this weekend, Tacoma UCI race next weekend and then the much anticipated
SingleSpeed Cyclocross Worlds right here in Victoria!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time to rebuild the engine after that and
tickets are booked to head over to Europe in December!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-54617618835678505192015-10-08T12:40:00.001-06:002015-10-08T12:40:23.252-06:00September Racing Adventures <div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Wowzars, the first month of the 2015/2106
cyclocross season season is already over and done with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a whirlwind of amazing races every
weekend, and even some competitive mid week races.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Wednesday night underground training
races have been getting bigger and bigger every season and my beginner
pre-rides are getting upwards or 20 people…..I need to work on a bigger outside
voice!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been so proud to sport my
new set up this year at all the events and training, and the sport of
cyclocross is blowing up on the west coast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">My season started off with a win at the
first V-CX-C (<a href="http://vcxc.ca/">http://vcxc.ca</a>) in Fort Langley,
with a hot dusty day of a good mix of totally not UCI legal singletrack and
strategically placed hub deep mud pits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This series has grown rapidly over the past couple years and it was
amazing to see over 300 people at this event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Next off to one of my favorite venues, the
COTR (<a href="http://www.crossontherock.com/">http://www.crossontherock.com</a>)
series always starts off with the Cumberland Coal Cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having had a morning shift of work I made it
just in time to heckle for the Waverly cross on the Saturday night, which is
possibly the only bike race in the world that takes you right through the
middle of a pub……yes, that’s right!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
took the win in one of the largest women’s field to date on the Island in
Sundays race through the campground in a course that sported a lot of tight
turns, gnarly loose gravel descents, a long beach section and a nasty run
up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Quick turn around, driving home and packing
up both my Naked Bicycles (<a href="http://nakedbicycles.com/">http://nakedbicycles.com</a>)
and flying out to Vegas for the first World Cup (<a href="http://www.crossvegas.com/25/index.php">http://www.crossvegas.com/25/index.php</a>)
of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gaaaah, so early!!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt strong and excited heading into this
event, and had some big but realistic goals of a top 15, but the pace and the
changes to the course ate me up and spit me out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having raced this race four times before, I
knew that if I went out too hard I was really going to pay for it…..but you
know when you’re right up there with the big hitters and you get all excited
and keep pushing above your limit….yup, totally rookied that race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After really suffering for the middle 2 laps,
I was able to find a second wind and make up 4 spots in the last lap and finish
28<sup>th</sup> (which is my best CX World Cup finish).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The events that push your limits, both
physically and mentally, are the events that you learn the most from, and there
was a lot to take away from this race.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZDOUL6SVoWr3cPNaD9NSahbtkcGPJ0EhU47L0QK6u-5Me64DpcYPiQKrMm60ogf863t_JkawxnKj8viiQV_EZNY1CFvNoVV6dRqgPKONFfXlcm35VzZvx5sKd09oqQPd6Xx6545Gi4ow/s1600/12042823_10207697782833744_7968195585536124230_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZDOUL6SVoWr3cPNaD9NSahbtkcGPJ0EhU47L0QK6u-5Me64DpcYPiQKrMm60ogf863t_JkawxnKj8viiQV_EZNY1CFvNoVV6dRqgPKONFfXlcm35VzZvx5sKd09oqQPd6Xx6545Gi4ow/s640/12042823_10207697782833744_7968195585536124230_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">To finish off a west coast holy cross of
cyclocross, I made the very exciting 8 hour drive north to Reno for the first CX
Reno (<a href="http://cxreno.com/">http://cxreno.com</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being a non UCI course, Teal Stetson Lee was
able to put in some really interesting features on course that reminded me why
we love this goofy sport so much!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nothing like a hay pit and a gnarly loose off camber downhill to spice
things up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to a long run up I opted
to pull my bottle cage off, but this proved to be a mistake….you know when the
little flapper at the back your mouth sticks to the top of your mouth it’s too
hot and dry…..it is the desert Mical!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After a blistering start tagging along behind the Luna girls I went down
in a corner after following too close to a Rock Lobster racer that went
down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jumping up to find my hanger
bent, handlebar and shifters rotated, I went for my first pit of the season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a comedy of errors I ended up having to
run a half lap with my pit bike to grab my start bike again (thank you to the
pit angel that straightened everything out for me), and charged back hard to
finish well off the pace in 11<sup>th</sup> place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The highlight of this weekend was the
beautiful post race ride up at Lake Tahoe with a big group of cyclocrossers and
mountain bikers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Next weekend brought us to another COTR at
the Tugboat cross in Ladysmith (the birthplace of Baywatch’s Pamela Anderson
for some UFI <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamela_Anderson">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamela_Anderson</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Easily the biggest cyclocross race in BC,
possibly in Western Canada, and maybe even in Canada??<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a huge turn out of over 360
people!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I opted to raced with the
Expert Men this race, and it ended up being a really fun and hard race battling
back and forth with a group of about 6 dudes through the tight grass corners
and long sand pit, finishing in 16<sup>th</sup> place making a pass in the sand
pit with 2 guys took themselves out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhU1Pv1JovOvcUjIck8rcoUuxyG7MvY-02eTJwRJIvC2X5UXW9Vv_ienzIyIL9vlOTkm1UfOG9d_7Y_8le7-IWy6tsZm0G0SVxpUkvHU0gQZ5hVNZ8ioNKypdM25FOT0_Z7T2F53hSMWs/s1600/safe_image-1.php.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhU1Pv1JovOvcUjIck8rcoUuxyG7MvY-02eTJwRJIvC2X5UXW9Vv_ienzIyIL9vlOTkm1UfOG9d_7Y_8le7-IWy6tsZm0G0SVxpUkvHU0gQZ5hVNZ8ioNKypdM25FOT0_Z7T2F53hSMWs/s640/safe_image-1.php.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">To finish off a busy month of racing I flew
back out east to catch the tail end of the true Holy Week and one of my
favorite US races at Providence and the KMC Crossfest (<a href="http://kmccrossfest.com/">http://kmccrossfest.com</a>), and the first
double header of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watching the
forecast all week I was really excited with the imminent rain and nasty
weather…..there was a hurricane scheduled to hit….and packed my mud tires and
wet weather gear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I’d like to be
a meteorologist in my next life, you can be wrong 90% of the time and still
have a job!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ground dried up and it
turned out to be hero dirt for the weekend….file treads were the tire of choice
on Saturday….not mud tires :$<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With pro
women’s fields of 65 racers, the atmosphere and energy of this weekend is
amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fast downhill road start, hard
left and right into a steep loose run up, lap one if you weren’t in the top 3
up the run up, I was at a stand still with the bike in front of me hitting me
in the head and the racers behind me pushing me and yelling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This bottleneck ended up stretching the field
out well and the rest of the race was a game of chase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a decent start and had some great battles
on this fun course, finishing in 16<sup>th</sup> place on Day 1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Struggling with my recovery after the hard
effort, Day 2 was a not a pretty race…..on a positive note, I did manage to
outsprint the super strong Crystal Anthony for a 22<sup>nd</sup> place
finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Thank you so much for the all of the
support this season, you have no idea how much this means to me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Getting ready for some lactate acid and VO2
Max testing today, gaaaah, and the final touches on my prep for Nationals in 2
weeks!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><b>Here’s what’s left for the race season, So
much fun!<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Oct 24,25 - Winnipeg, Manitoba (CN/C2)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Oct 31, Nov 1 - Pan American Continental
Cyclocross Championships – Cincinnati, Ohio (CC/C2)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Nov 7 – Beban Park (local)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Nov 8 – Arbutus Meadows (local)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Nov 14,15 – Tacoma, Washington (C2/C2)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Nov 21, 22 - SingleSpeed Cyclocross World
Championships – Victoria, BC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Dec 4,5,6 – Jingle Cross, Iowa (C1/C2/C2)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Dec 20<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>CX World Cup – Namur, Belgium (CDM)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Dec 26<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>CX World Cup – Zolder, Belgium (CDM)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Christmas Cross races<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Jan 17<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>CX World Cup – </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Lignières-en-Berry,
France<span style="color: #282b31;"> (CDM)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Jan 24<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>CX World Cup – Hoogerheide, Belgium (CDM)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Jan 30<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>CX World Championships – Zolder, Belgium (Worlds)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-84295195261199718782015-08-19T23:58:00.003-06:002015-08-20T00:00:06.820-06:00Horst EngineeringAnd of course every cyclocross racer NEEDS an array of the best toe spikes available for their shoes!!! Huge thank you again to <a href="http://horstengineering.com/industries/bicycle-components/" target="_blank">Horst Engineering</a> for giving me traction again this year! My first experience with these spikes was at World Championships last year in Tabor.....enough said!!<br />
<br />
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<br />
Available in Canada very soon!!Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-35043184780368277432015-08-16T20:28:00.003-06:002015-08-16T20:28:37.010-06:00Naked Factory RacingAs some of you may know, my plans for the cyclocross season were sidetracked earlier this year and I was forced to look for a new plan. I'm really disappointed that I won't be rocking the Stan's No Tubes carbon Valors this CX season, I've been racing with Stan's for the majority of my CX career, and it's like being a part of a family.<br />
<br />
So when the infamous and really rad Sam Whittingham of <a href="http://nakedbicycles.com/" target="_blank">Naked Bikes</a> came to me a program, I was blown away and so over the top excited to be riding these beautiful handcrafted bikes for the 2015/2016 Cyclocross season!! I mean, these bikes are truly a work of art!!<br />
<br />
Let me introduce my team!<br />
<br />
My Naked Bikes are going to be fully builds with <a href="http://bike.shimano.com/" target="_blank">Shimano</a> Ultergra Di2 and <a href="http://www.pro-bikegear.com/en-gb" target="_blank">Pro</a> cockpit. <a href="http://www.pearlizumi.com/" target="_blank">Pearl Izumi</a> is making the really cool kit that Sam designed (and will match my bike :) , and<a href="http://www.giro.com/ca_en/" target="_blank"> Giro</a> is going to protect my head, and cover my feet and hands. <a href="http://www.wd40bike.com/" target="_blank">Wd40-Bike</a> is going to take care of me and my bikes while travelling, and I'm really excited about the amazing local <a href="http://www.nourishkitchen.ca/" target="_blank">Nourish Kitchen and Cafe </a> are going to be taking care of some local Victoria hunger (this place is soooooooo good!!!!)<br />
<br />
Super excited to stay on board with <a href="http://ca.oakley.com/" target="_blank">Oakley Canada</a> and another local company <a href="http://www.drinkrumble.com/" target="_blank">Rumble Supershake</a> (can't wait to try the new Coffee Bean flavour) again!! Thank you to my local bike shop <a href="http://trekbikesvictoria.com/" target="_blank">Pro City Cycles</a>, especially Regan Pringle (repechage wheel works) for keeping everything running smooth!<br />
<br />
I'm so excited and proud to be working with all of my sponsors this season, and can't believe that Vegas is less then a month away (gulp). Going to be a busy year :)Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-11487613249186071482015-08-16T19:58:00.000-06:002015-08-16T20:00:38.527-06:00Summer LovingIt's been a wild and crazy and amazing summer and I don't want it to end.<br />
<br />
After a quick recovery from CX Worlds, we kicked the summer off with a really cool <a href="http://superproracing.com/" target="_blank">SuperPro Racing</a> gravel grinder race, Menso's Slo Ride from Hell.....aptly named, but when you get to eat pancakes and sausages and peanut butter pretzels and other great food during a race it's a great day.<br />
<br />
Front end heavy cross country season, racing some super fun local Island Cup Series races including the 12 hours of Cumberland I had the privilege of racing with a rad group of girls on Team No Nuts (thank you Emilly Johnson for setting that up), the annual and in my opinion not very fun Sea Otter Classic (though I was smarter this year and only raced the short track and cross country, no quadruple header for me), and the cool and high altitude Whiskey 50 (which saw me detonate and whimper on the long climb out of Skull Valley. <br />
<br />
Had a wicked adventure taking a <a href="http://www.harbourair.com/" target="_blank">Harbour Air </a>flight over to the Sunshine Coast for a Marathon race. Super sad to miss the Nimby 50, but was really excited to finally get the opportunity to race the 7 day Transylvania Epic in Pennsylvania with fellow Stan's NoTubes elite women's racers Sue Haywood, Vicky Barclay and Emily Shields. This was a whole different style of riding then I am used to and I was really impressed with how challenging the trails were.<br />
<br />
Oh, can't forget about my token annul road event, the Russ Hayes / Accent Inns Grand Prix!!<br />
<br />
My plan was to do a lot of Enduro racing this season, but with not being able to ride my bike until June, I missed a ton of early season events and the time to get comfortable on a 160mm travel bike. And in my typical arrive late, no pre-ride I had a lot of fun riding with some rad girls at the Dry Hill enduro in Port Angeles and the all women's Hot on Your Heels enduro in Squamish. Pretty disappointed that I didn't get the chance to go back and challenge the Whistler Enduro again, but after dislocating my shoulder last year and not being able to pre-ride at all, I opted the smarter route and stayed home to do some epic riding with Regan.<br />
<br />
Lots of camping, a kayak adventure, buying a van #vanlife, lots of sun and a relaxing summer job....I love not growing up up.<br />
<br />Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-65686646235821706922015-02-02T12:15:00.002-07:002015-02-02T12:15:17.085-07:00European Cyclocross Adventure<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">You ever regret a trip before you have even
gotten on the plane?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was regretting
the decision to go to Europe for CX Worlds the whole month leading up to the
project with dealing with the CCA….but that’s a separate story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once we got on the plane in Victoria, there
was nothing else to do or worry about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Take a sleeping pill that never works and watch 3 movies as you cross
the pond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s been a couple of years
since I’ve been to Europe, and this was my first trip for cyclocross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After watching hundreds of European
cyclocross races I was really excited to get the opportunity to be a part of
the circus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">My first Cyclocross World Cup ever in
Hooderheide, Nederland, an hour and a half north of our Canadian base in
Tielt-Winge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pre-riding the course after
a night of snow made me super thank full that it’s been a wet season with a lot
of muddy races.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also made me really
happy that I am running Shimano Di2 with hydraulic brakes that actually work!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">There wasn’t a lot of elevation on the
course, but there was a lot of mud and deep European ruts!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s a European rut you ask?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s about ½ a foot deep and scary when you
get stuck in it at speed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watch any of
the races on the front and I can tell you first hand that it’s definitely a lot
harder then they make it look!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back row
call up, my fate after struggling most of the season to get any UCI
points.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a 100m fast start straight
there was a hard left and down into knee deep mud had everyone but Vos off and
running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a great start, and moved
through more than half of the field within the first lap, actually working my
way up to the top 20 when I found myself riding with Katie Compton for two
laps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pure sustained horsepower
required to keep the bike moving through the thick mud and around hairpin
corners, and the long mud run up, quickly caught up with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Laps 4 and 5, I struggled to keep the pedals
turning, loosing 3-4 spots a lap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
last steep run up, steep downhill and little surgy climb to the finish straight
had me battling with a small Italian girl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was in the lead as we hit the pavement and with another position only
20 m away I wasn’t going to sit up to play games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end, she had more pop than me and I
finished my first world cup with a 29<sup>th</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Always wanting to have gone faster, I was
still really happy with the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My bike
exchanges went really smoothly, and it was a great way to blow out the legs for
Worlds after not having raced in almost 2 months.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">After a week of recovery, scouting out old
footage of the Tabor course and last minute prep and I was really excited to
race World Championships. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The course
was really well suited to my technical skills, a lot of really muddy and
slippery corners, with some short hard straightaways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ruts here were ten times worse than
anything I have ever seen, half a wheel deep in most places and frozen rock
hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Race day was overcast, even
snowing, and just around freezing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fourth last call up again, all my nerves kind of left as I was standing
on that start line….can only go up from here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The start was hairy, at the end of the long straightaway, the pavement
started curving right and downhill, so everyone was cooking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m really happy that I didn’t panic with not
being able to take advantage of my good starts and just sat in through the
first couple corners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not 20 m on to the
first dirt/mud section was the first carnage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Bodies and bikes laid out all over the mud, and I found myself getting
run into the side barriers….but stayed upright.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The announcer put it best as being as
slippery as butter on glass, with the thin lay of slick mud on top of froze
ground, it was so unpredictable and racers were going down on corners, hills,
straightaways, everywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow
keeping calm and dialing the corners I kept the bike upright, smooth was fast
here, up the stair run up, remount on a muddy uphill, down the off camber
rutted corners, and found myself sitting in good company coming through the
pits for the first half lap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out of the
pits, up the slow, awkward uphill barriers, remount again on a slippery, muddy
uphill to hammer the long straightaways with hairpin corners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recover slightly over the top, drop down the
steep short shoot, up short technical and punchy climb<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(which was mild madness on the first lap),
survive the fast downhill straight away into icy off camber corner, one last
rough, rutted corner past the pits and a hairpin corner onto the pavement and
that’s a lap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My tactic was to put a lot
of energy into the uphill straightaways, and recover as much as possible on the
technical corners.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Coming through the 3<sup>rd</sup> lap,
sitting on Caroline Mani’s wheel (who I love racing against…..every time she
passes me she says “Come On Mical Dyck! Stay with me Mical Dyck! …..makes me
smile), I cautioned a glance at the leader board and saw I was sitting around
16<sup>th</sup>!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WHAT!! I had some
really good battles with a couple of girls, but I love the feeling of passing
people….not getting passed!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last lap I
had Kaitliean Antonneau in my sites, with Mani just ahead of her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I caught Kaitliean shortly after the uphill
barriers and put in a big effort up and over the top.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Smooth through the last half of the course, I
came by the pits for the last time to hear my awesome pit crew yelling at me,
and a big smile on my face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Finishing 12<sup>th</sup>! about 30 seconds
out of the top 10, was a great way to end a long hard season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to send out a huge thank you to
everyone that helped to get me here, I definitely could not have even gotten to
the start line without you!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had so
many financial and emotional supporters from such an amazing community, and it
feels so good to have such a great race for everyone watching and cheering back
home!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Also a huge thanks you to my many
sponsors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stan’s NoTube Carbon Valor
wheels and Iron Cross Alloy wheels, run with Kenda Tires Kwickers at 23 psi was
amazing!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I honestly think I had better
traction then many people with uber expensive tubulars and sub 20 psi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My Shimano Di2 and hydraulic disk brakes
worked absolutely flawless the entire trip!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s really amazing in the mud and freezing conditions not having to
worry about the cables getting gummed up, and not have to worry about my brakes
failing…. interesting to note: I ran the same brake pads all year in a very,
very muddy season, couldn’t do that the last 2 years </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crankbrothers eggbeaters pedals were the
ticket in the thick European mud with my Horst Engineering toe spikes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lazer Helmets Z1 helmets were so comfortable
with my faithful and favorite Oakley Canada Radar glasses with photochromatic
lenses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mad Alchemy hot balm keeping my
legs toasty warm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And of course, my
Ridley X-Night frame and fork are easily the best bikes out there!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">One final shout out to the awesome mechanical
crew we had, Scotty Kelly, Adam Trotter, Derrick Chipping and my very own Regan
Pringle for keeping my bikes feeling brand new every time I grabbed my bikes!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Now home to my puppy and back to work </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-70523066527502117272014-09-30T14:47:00.002-06:002014-09-30T14:47:26.816-06:00Tis the season of small knobby tires again...Cross season has started with a bang and some high speed drag racing in Vegas with the most amazing equipment on the circuit. This year we are running the uber light and sexy <a href="http://www.ridley-bikes.com/us/en/bikes/4/214/109/cyclocross/x-night-30-disc-1501c" target="_blank">Ridley X-Night </a>, slightly more racier geometry then my beloved Ridley X-Fire, with <a href="http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/products/road/ultegra_di20.html" target="_blank">Shimano Di2</a> (finally hydraulic disk brakes that actually work!!!!! Now I need to learn how to use these properly) and of course my favourite <a href="http://www.notubes.com/Default.aspx" target="_blank">Stan's NoTubes Wheels</a>!! That one is always a super fast late night adventure that always leaves me feeling sick….not sure if it's the early season effort, the heat or the late night. No Island Cup races to prep me for this torture this season, first cross effort of the year was straight to the biggest race of the year. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel and off the gun I actually felt not too bad. Almost 2 blistering laps I hung with the lead group, and then I popped…….and I mean really really popped. Struggling with the finish, thank you to all the hundred of people out there cheering and heckling me to the finish, I managed my worst Cross Vegas finish to date…21st, haha, I'm pulling up my socks for the rest of the season for sure! On a flip side, teammate <a href="http://www.notubesracing.com/cyclocross/jake-wells/" target="_blank">Jake Wells</a> absolutely rocked it with his best ever Cross Vegas finish, 13TH!!!!<br />
<br />
Off to Boulder for the first double header of the season and the first snow of the season. Here we got to meet up with new teammate <a href="http://www.chloewoodruff.com/" target="_blank">Chloe Woodruff</a>, I'm super stoked to have this really nice and very fast lady apart of the team, starting the season off with a 3rd place :) Day 1 in Boulder was a flat rough course with some good sand pits, nothing super technical but rough enough that it was tough to get any flow. This was a good battle for me, up in the lead group, dropped back to 13th, battled up to finish in 10th. Day 2 at the Valemont bike park was a steep hard course, lots of steep climbing, steep descending and off camber corners. I had a wicked started and going through the first sand pit I was pushed into the tape. By the time I was able to sort myself out, I was 20 seconds off the back :( But I do like chasing :) Worked my way back up to finish 16th, picking off girls slowly the whole way around.<br />
<br />
Huge thank you to Rick Boethling from RAAM for whisking me off to the Denver airport after my race! Grabbed an ice cream in the airport (I had a craving I just could ignore) and was eating it as I was boarding the plane….doesn't cut it much closer than that!<br />
<br />
After almost 2 and a half years of a full time (often more than full time) job and multitasking, it's finally caught up to me….not enough training and definitely not enough recovery. It was a tough gig while trying to maintain a life. After some long hard discussions and a look at my life, I handed in my resignation to my job after returning from this trip…it was time for a lifestyle change (even if that means being broke again for a while….thank you so much for the support Regan!).<br />
<br />
After finishing my last day at work this past thursday, I hopped on the red eye flight to Boston, first time heading to Gloucester for the GP. I have never had the opportunity to do these far east coast cross races and I was really excited to experience the east coast cross love! It was absolutely amazing!!! Course, fans, racers. 65 women registered in the pro field, only a handful less than the men!!! Though it was substantially dryer and hotter then I was expecting !!! <a href="http://www.notubesracing.com/cyclocross/kenny-wehn/" target="_blank">Kenny Wehn </a>, despite still trying to figure out which button shifts which way, had a strong 5TH podium place finish on day 1.<br />
<br />
Both days played out pretty similar for me, sufferfest!! I'm holding on a little longer each race, and not fading back as much….it's getting there. Day 1 I found myself in a 4 person sprint finish for 10th place…an uphill drag race against the likes of Laura Van Gilder are always a hard battle and I finished 12th on the day. Day 2, I found myself settling in an uncomfortable position early enough to not fall far back. Sitting in 10th place about half way through the final lap, I was almost knocked off my bike and out of the course by a bad pass, and wasn't able to recover the time of position. With a large gap behind me, I was able to save the day for 11th place.<br />
<br />
Thank you to our most amazing hosts in New England for the hospitality and inviting us to stay the week. I totally got schooled today by our hostess on the trails behind her house :) Prepping for the Wednesday Night Weasel tomorrow night, have to partake in cross holy week fully, and Providence cross races next weekend…this is going to be awesome !!!! Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-84398451521238494182014-08-11T16:52:00.001-06:002014-08-11T23:32:20.968-06:00My month and a half in review <div class="MsoNormal">
Ok, July was jammed packed with a wide variety of
different events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not all racing
either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> Finished off June with 3
days of amazing racing at the <a href="http://fernie.com/transrockies/fernie-3/" target="_blank">Fernie 3</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was a hard fought battle against some fast women on some of the most
amazing and fun trails, but I managed to finish 2<sup>nd</sup> to World Cup racer
Sandra Walters.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitZhYsLUOxwLz6XXoojS2cPTuzoFLO11bcRv_crNm3JMTqeSb6th6lELPvaVRrFEi33ZpmP3OWOdqK8Vdpb-jMdTgK8i6lNhrBSqkbVunvyD-8lQSipJQm7NoQFOY3_o-AKOE8Z1f62r8/s1600/2014-06-28+07.37.53.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitZhYsLUOxwLz6XXoojS2cPTuzoFLO11bcRv_crNm3JMTqeSb6th6lELPvaVRrFEi33ZpmP3OWOdqK8Vdpb-jMdTgK8i6lNhrBSqkbVunvyD-8lQSipJQm7NoQFOY3_o-AKOE8Z1f62r8/s1600/2014-06-28+07.37.53.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
July started off with an amazing 7 day backcountry mountain
bikepacking trip from Durango Colorado to Moab Utah, the <a href="http://www.sanjuanhuts.com/" target="_blank">San Juan Hut</a>s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Approximately 250 miles of riding, with some
amazing singletrack options like Little Molas Pass out of Durango lead by local
Shannon Gibson, and the Whole Enchilada into Moab.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hitting lightning and hail and rain at 12000
ft on day one, to 113 degrees and dry lightning at on day five, it was am
amazing hut to hut trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The<a href="http://www.cannondale.com/" target="_blank"> Cannondale</a> Scalpel
was a great workhorse, turning her super lightweight racing machine into a
bikepacking machine with <a href="http://www.apidura.com/" target="_blank">Apidura</a> bike bags and <a href="http://www.notubes.com/" target="_blank">Stan’s</a> Crest wheels. I do have to say, the <a href="http://www.apidura.com/" target="_blank">Apidura</a> bags were absolutely amazing on this trip. They handled the single track like a rock star, standing up really well to most amazing abuse a bag could take! I would highly recommend these…..designed and tested by a hardcore chick that has ridden many long adventures including the Continental Divide!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNeIcOawptMjw57_2jIyDNig35Rd04WnjTAanAeFGBMQSaHViHvcadkV7dCV14AF3tP-WSA6bP_p-CeJSWIEZw6jtigEQHMuGhqfTvr08-bpZxWd-ZU5qrX16nSEFgnP_R5TrClJRrZGc/s1600/2014-07-05+19.36.10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNeIcOawptMjw57_2jIyDNig35Rd04WnjTAanAeFGBMQSaHViHvcadkV7dCV14AF3tP-WSA6bP_p-CeJSWIEZw6jtigEQHMuGhqfTvr08-bpZxWd-ZU5qrX16nSEFgnP_R5TrClJRrZGc/s1600/2014-07-05+19.36.10.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hut life</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNwmIJtdEFWW9YDk8h1TFgq9YFJq6CDjc2ga5lT0JEcOD1PDCG2GWl00OnGuHq2_HVl7Sclfds-i9fPeX_OSeGaMjxe5Qn7EP7sePBs5YZIY871gEKwNHnP5OR8PnSNeUTaIazqYsE2X4/s1600/2014-07-11+11.07.46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNwmIJtdEFWW9YDk8h1TFgq9YFJq6CDjc2ga5lT0JEcOD1PDCG2GWl00OnGuHq2_HVl7Sclfds-i9fPeX_OSeGaMjxe5Qn7EP7sePBs5YZIY871gEKwNHnP5OR8PnSNeUTaIazqYsE2X4/s1600/2014-07-11+11.07.46.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whole Enchilda</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After a marathon drive back to Victoria, I decided to
participate in a ramped up version of the Rapha Women’s 100, aka #badass200. With a small group
of women riding 2 days at a hilly 110km each day with camping gear and spending
the night at Fairy Lake Camp ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
camping vibes were complete with smores and bourbon. I outfitted my <a href="http://www.ridley-bikes.com/ca/en/" target="_blank">Ridley</a> X-fire nicely with the Apidura seat bag and frame bag. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1ajJyxKlH1aHHmAk-ervqfQlhpaZtaECCqVKmtxqp6-Mw7Y87N67Odik9hK1AtT0lZOYaCRy0am0zNV9oFQ51QMeN6v2n9vukVq8QhWjpFUKN_xT9NFttGxezGQ8LEyVFLMKTjmId8s/s1600/Badass+200+-+45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1ajJyxKlH1aHHmAk-ervqfQlhpaZtaECCqVKmtxqp6-Mw7Y87N67Odik9hK1AtT0lZOYaCRy0am0zNV9oFQ51QMeN6v2n9vukVq8QhWjpFUKN_xT9NFttGxezGQ8LEyVFLMKTjmId8s/s1600/Badass+200+-+45.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo <a href="http://arraworks.com/" target="_blank">Eiry Bartlett</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo <a href="http://arraworks.com/" target="_blank">Eiry Bartlett</a></td></tr>
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The following weekend <a href="http://singletrack6.com/" target="_blank">Singletrack 6</a> (formerly the Transrockies) started and I was joined by her teammates Shannon Gibson and Nina Baum
on this leg of my July adventures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>6
days of racing through the mountains with hundreds of other people that are
super stoked to just be on their bikes!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Doesn’t get any better than this. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <a href="http://www.cannondale.com/" target="_blank">Cannondale</a> Scalpel with Stan’s <a href="http://www.notubes.com/ZTR-Valor-Wheels-C142.aspx" target="_blank">NoTubesValors</a> was the obvious choice for this adventure. Day 1 in Bragg Creek was a
shock to the system, so much climbing, but so much descending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Day 2 in Nipika was the rooty technical fun
and punishment that is always expected of that area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Day 3 in Radium was a pure sufferfest for
me, I started the day off slightly dehydrated, and spent most of the day in
survival mode in the exposed heat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Day 4
and 5 in Golden were amazing fun, getting to ride the old school Mount 7
Pychosis and the fast flowly Moonraker trails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And Day 6 finished a very hot week on the awesome trails of
Revelstoke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After glorious 6 days of racing,
I finished 2<sup>nd</sup> behind Kate Aardal in the overall, but scored a win on the timed downhill section for the week.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Definitely not fully recovered from that adventure I grabbed my <a href="http://www.cannondale.com/per/catalog/product/view/id/32054/s/trigger-29-carbon-1/category/931/" target="_blank">Trigger 29er</a>, I am totally in love with this bike! and headed over to Whistler for the<a href="http://www.crankworx.com/" target="_blank"> Crankworx World Enduro Series </a>race. I consider myself a pretty good technical rider, able to hold my own on most trails, but this was a little easily the hardest course that I've ever tried to race. I was literally shaking in my shorts on a couple of the technical sections……only to have Anne Caroline Chausson, 14 time multi discipline world champion, come by during practice and school all the dudes standing there…..yup, that's what I was up against. Needless to say, I had a tough go this event and crashed hard on stage 2, dislocating my shoulder and ending my day. I am sooooooo happy I was wearing my <a href="http://www.lazersport.com/product/bike-adult-extreme/phoenix" target="_blank">Lazer Phoenix</a> full face (full face mandatory course) because it definitely saved my teeth!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsEploVlmPpwt66LcrFqHdIsYtXR9-lyo0fK_Z-6dDy6aXVtLjQZeH3gP5IZAGFdABsZhJsqx1SYv0lXsED4emyr5MrTZrkP6NgR9388odTWdHOsLBqA-isgxwjZ2mZO-3B1Xsc-YNXwg/s1600/Photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsEploVlmPpwt66LcrFqHdIsYtXR9-lyo0fK_Z-6dDy6aXVtLjQZeH3gP5IZAGFdABsZhJsqx1SYv0lXsED4emyr5MrTZrkP6NgR9388odTWdHOsLBqA-isgxwjZ2mZO-3B1Xsc-YNXwg/s1600/Photo.jpg" height="320" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre-ride Stage 4</td></tr>
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3 weeks off the bike to let the shoulder heal….guess I really do need some recovery time…..and finally update my blog :( And getting ready for CrossVegas on the trainer for now !<br />
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Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-35346298688950147952014-06-14T21:45:00.002-06:002014-06-14T21:45:44.721-06:00Apidura<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizxwDDRidf_haAKVVJJMtI6k6gk_ziJkP-SxVgfllUGlpF1STtM55Z3TTs1N2GMziTrgsfR2lEjg5NhDvHyR730P4c3-pG2fma4575AtxKeSHBh8jZvprXuwNI1OQFB_bcAhprRoJob1A/s1600/Apidura_black_large.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizxwDDRidf_haAKVVJJMtI6k6gk_ziJkP-SxVgfllUGlpF1STtM55Z3TTs1N2GMziTrgsfR2lEjg5NhDvHyR730P4c3-pG2fma4575AtxKeSHBh8jZvprXuwNI1OQFB_bcAhprRoJob1A/s1600/Apidura_black_large.jpeg" height="198" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.apidura.com/" target="_blank">Apidura</a> bikepacking gear!!! I really can't tell you how excited I am to try this new gear out! I like good gear and this is some of the best there is. Designed and tested by some pretty rad and hardcore adventurers!!<div>
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Bring on the new adventures!!!!!!</div>
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Thank you Tori!<br /><br /></div>
Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-47893498947413849942014-06-02T22:58:00.001-06:002014-06-03T07:36:11.423-06:00Nimby 50 and Bastion Crit madness weekendWhy do they have to be both on the same weekend!!!! Baaaaah, Nimby 50 and Bastion Crit, two events that I managed to snag the top spot in 2013 were both on this past weekend, and which should I do?? I think I have a problem, I really don't like to be left out…..so I signed up for both!!!<br />
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Super sunny saturday morning in Pemberton; snow tipped peaks with dry hot conditions. The organizers of the Nimby 50 do a fantastic job with this event and I am definitely a life timer for this race. 11 am sharp with mtb legend Brett Tippie yelling into the microphone, we took to the roads. Short neutral road section lead out by a firetruck soon turns to a steep loose gravel road hammer fest. With a prime at the top of the first climb before diving into the single track everyone is gunning for it. Chloe Cross nabbed the first prime, I just couldn't match her pace, but had to pull out of the race once she realized she had no back break….less than ideal for this course. <br />
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With Sonya Looney, Amanda Sin and Jean Ann Berkenpas right on my wheel we headed into the infamous Nimby 101 switchbacks. Yes, one hundred and one! And they get harder and harder as you go up. I felt strong and pushed the pace to stay with the group I was with, slowly opening up a gap to the other ladies. About three quarters of the way up, probably around switchback number 75, the heat and the effort really started to catch up to me. I was running low on water, had eaten a lot of sugar and was really starting to feel nauseous…but I couldn't see the girls behind me so I kept going. <br />
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Hit the Red Bull downtime at about 1:30 hours in, and this is when I really noticed that there was something not quite right with my fork :( Best place possible to realize you are getting only 2 inches of travel….ya, that was rough….how did I ever ride with a rigid fork!!! Survived the downtown, not very gracefully most moments, but kept it up right. By the time I hit the feed zone where my water bottle angel and hot dog were waiting for me, I was really starting to hurt. The bacon feed zone killed me, I really wanted to stop, but the smell at that point was not good for my guts…..very evil. Rolling up to Sphincter I was a little wobbly, but I had made this my goal this race to ride it, and the awesome cheering crowd pointed my to the perfect scary line to make my way down in one piece :)<br />
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The last third of the course if by far the most challenging, especially when you are more than I little tired and I was in full survival mode. Steep punchy climbs and technical steep rock descents. Managed to hold it together to defend the title, with Amanda closing in fast for second and Jean-Ann just nabbed Sonya for third. It was a Canada Cup podium of years past :)<br />
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Hung around for the awesome BBQ and podium (they are always late), after which I promptly ran to the car yelling "Start the Car! Start the Car!" Driving completely and 100% within the law the entire way, we just managed to catch the last ferry back to Victoria at 9 pm, and have a Pacific Lite Buffet post race/ pre race meal which consisted of salad and a lot of dessert.<br />
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Immensly thankful for the noon start to the Bastion Crit, I milked that sleep in for all it was worth….then slowly made my way down to the venue. I had it in my head that everyone would be just as tired as I was from doing the road race the day before…..but I truely think that the Nimby is far more taxing to the body.<br />
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I was a little slow off the start, and the first couple of attacks, it was all I could do to sit in or chase down. It was great having the Optum girls there keeping the pace high, they did a fantastic job of making the race exciting. The Red Truck girls added some excitement in the mix. I found myself sitting on the front a fair bit, working with Megan Rathwell to keep the race together. Half way through I started to come around and launched an attack or two of my own, snagging one prime. <br />
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Coming into the final lap, I found myself a little further back in the pack than I would have liked. I made a hard push coming into the last corner and moved up into an excellent position tight on the inside of the corner. My line was solid and I was feeling really good….until the racer beside me decided she needed to get a little closer then was necessary. It happened so fast, but I think it was a half chop half hit, but my heart was in my mouth while my back wheel was in the air. Everyone stayed upright and no skin was lost, but WOW, that got the adrenaline going! I hind sight, it probably would have been a much more advantageous idea to be further up before the final corner, but it's all learning :)<br />
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Hammering from an almost stand still in you hardest gear to the finish line is purty tough…haha, lost some time and momentum on that one and wasn't able to defend my title twice in the weekend, finishing 7th place.<br />
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Huge shout out to the organizers of the Nimby 50 and to Jon Watkins and other organizers of the Bastion Criterium, I had an amazing weekend and am more than a little tired today. While lugging around 50 pounds of water sampling gear today I had to keep telling myself that recovery days are for wimps right?? I wish I could be wimpy right now hahaha.<br />
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On to the next adventure!!!!<br />
<br />Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-3901263926529540952014-05-19T09:27:00.000-06:002014-05-19T09:32:00.834-06:00Is it really the middle of May already!Hey Regan, want to race this weekend? Sure! ……What I didn't tell him was that it was a 6 hour race :)<br />
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First 6 Hours of Maple in Duncan was probably one of the harder races I've done in a long time, steep fire road climb followed by fast, technical, rough and steep descending. You know it's a great trail when the downhill section takes twice as long as the uphill section!….though it's easy to forget just how much climbing there is on the downhill. A 9 km lap with approximately 400m of climbing each lap, you are either going uphill or downhill. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Regan with Laila on course</td></tr>
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Couldn't have asked for nicer weather for an event like this either. Lots of sun and a little sprinkle to keep things cool. 6 laps done (one with my puppy and half with Regan) and I couldn't hold on to my handlebars any longer. A day later and everything hurts and so stiff haha, but so worth it :) <br />
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This last month a bit, since Sea Otter, has been extremely busy…gaaaah, too much work and 60 plus hours of OT :( Definitely putting a crimp in my lifestyle! Last week I was in Burnaby for a work course and made the best of it bringing my road and track bikes :) <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tuesday Night Crit photo Matt Hornland</td></tr>
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Monday night track night at the Burnaby track, scary!!! 30 km/hr minimum rolling speed just to stay on the track is a little disconcerting…but it was super fun and a great workout. Tuesday night crits in Burnaby kicked my butt….raced the women's (finished 2nd to a fast sprinter) and hopped in the men's cat 3….nothing like 70 km in under two hours :) And topped the week off with a fantastic 3 and half hour tour around the greater Vancouver area with Isabelle Deguise on Thursday night….and she even fed me :) Not bad for a work week!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMxMNw2onw16hxDl2MjRiWMPbpQyqr_4GtGTDc8FZSpBIllLwPy9b3Qh55yhRXSG53U9GlHox2Yy6UnK4XRttIbEsO-XmBU5mZZ5vi60KR7-rVjVDxTp-dlmvhwOpwKwyNKEM-Sht72Hw/s1600/photo+1.PNG.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMxMNw2onw16hxDl2MjRiWMPbpQyqr_4GtGTDc8FZSpBIllLwPy9b3Qh55yhRXSG53U9GlHox2Yy6UnK4XRttIbEsO-XmBU5mZZ5vi60KR7-rVjVDxTp-dlmvhwOpwKwyNKEM-Sht72Hw/s1600/photo+1.PNG.jpeg" height="320" width="317" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks Isabelle!</td></tr>
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Recovering and getting ready for Cumby 50 next weekend….thinking my Trigger 29er may be fun for that course!<br />
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One month till San Juan Huts!!<br />
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<br />Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-82483063046382777732014-04-15T23:01:00.001-06:002014-04-15T23:10:08.575-06:00Harder OtterYes, this was definitely one of my harder Sea Otters…..but I suppose it was mostly my own doing…mostly. Lets start at the beginning of the experience with just getting to Monterey. If you don't want a good laugh, skip ahead 2 paragraphs.<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> </span>All flights were going smoothly, scheduled to arrive in Monterey for 11:30 pm. 11:45 rolls around and the pilot comes on to tell us that we are unable to land in Monterey due to fog and the runway lights are out….back to San Francisco…better than those that had to go back to LA. So, back to SFO we go, and the entire plane is loaded into three passenger vans and we are shipped down to Monterey….nothing like a 2 hour drive stuffed into a van with a bunch of strangers in the middle of the night. 3 am and the Monterey airport is closed, there is not a cab in sight and the shuttle drivers basically toss all of us out on the sidewalk. We manage to bribe the drivers (or they extort us of money) to drive us to our respective accommodations. 5 dolla you, 10 dolla you……oh 25 dolla for you (ya, that's me). Half an hour later I'm tossed out of the van with my two bike boxes again in front of a dark house; I have an address but I've never been there and everyone has their phones turned off…. lets face it, it's 3:30 in the morning at this time. What I thought was the team van turns out to be a car port……haha, yes, it was dark! A moment of complete panic…do I have the right house, what do I do, 5 % left on my phone battery and all I want to do is sleep! I drag my bikes up the driveway…yes a rental van! This looks promising, and it's open!!! Back seats are down, must have been bikes in the back! I go up to the house, using a cell phone flashlight I peak in the front door but don't' see any shoes or bags or anything that I recognize. What to do!!?? Back to the van I crawl in and prepare myself to sleep in the van. Looking at the house I say "Screw it!", and find the front door open. I think "alright, I'm doing this" and drag my bikes into the house. Quick look around, I find a couch and a blanket, fully clothed I lay down and pass out with the hope that I am in the right house……and that I don't get shot!<br />
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5:30 and I completely startle Susan (the owner of the house that I've never met before) as she's getting ready to volunteer at Sea Otter…but yes, I have the right house. That could have been awkward. 2 hours later I wake up to a big tongue on my eyeball…..how did the dogs sleeping in the room next to me not get up and bark at me as I broke into the house? I'm so happy they are mellow dogs!<br />
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On to the racing, something possessed me to enter for four events this weekend; I do kind of miss the old Sea Otter days of the four day stage race. So I signed up for the short track and enduro for friday, and the cross country and cyclocross on saturday. <br />
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Short track was hard like it always is…nothing like 20 some minutes of full gas to blow your legs and lungs out. I was actually really surprised with how I felt and fought hard for 6th place.<br />
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Wish I could have pre-ridden the enduro course, but sometimes things don't always work out the best. Suited my Scalpel and Stan's carbon Valors up with some Kenda Honey Badgers and hit the downhill course. Stage 1 was the DH course, nothing super scary but definitely slow riding the course blind :) Stage 2 and 3 were parts of previous cross country courses and very pedally…..which was perfect for the XC bike! I actually cracked on stage 3 from the climbing, but snagged the 3rd place podium by a narrow margin.<br />
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Cross country has changed almost every year at Sea Otter, so this year was two laps of an 18 mile lap……with most of the descending on pavement or gravel roads. Not my favourite courses, but it was super fun riding with teammate and complete animal Nina Baum for almost the entire race! She cheered and sang and pushed me hard around the course….then dropped me on the final climb out back into Laguna Seca :)<br />
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2.5 hour XC race, 3 hour nap, then chamois up for the cyclocross race. I definitely had more than a few moments of "What am I doing!". I was actually very surprised once we got going that my legs didn't feel as horrible as they should have. Had a good battle for the entire race for 4th place…I think I was going as hard as I could just to be finished faster at this point :)<br />
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And alas, the whirl wind weekend of bike fun with my awesome team was over just like that. It always goes by way too fast and I have to head back to reality….I do miss being able to do this every weekend! 90 min flight delay in SFO again, this time due to fire extinguisher paperwork….yes, paperwork, and I missed my connector in Portland….turning my 8 hour travel day into 14 hours…..par for the course with my flying experience for sure! And back to work…..is it still a recovery week if your working 12 hour days in the field again??? <br />
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Huge thank you to all the team sponsors that make all this racing fun happen!! We definitely have the best sponsors!!! #shredpinkMical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-26003041727880745762014-04-05T19:37:00.001-06:002014-04-09T09:48:29.669-06:00Full SwingIs it still a recovery week when you are working 12 hour days in the field?????<br />
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Mountain bike season is in full swing with three top spots, and I'm getting excited to meet up with my Stan's No Tubes teams next weekend in Sea Otter and pick up my new Trigger!!! 2014 is the year of making things happen…I've just decided that.<br />
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The past three weekends have been a whirl wind of local Island Cup Mountain Biking goodness…some of the best courses and trails around, I absolutely love this series and the people with it. Starting the season off with the Hartland XC in my own backyard. It was good to see Dan Proulx bring his U23 national team riders out for the races and good motivation to ride hard. Always chaos off the start with all expert riders, men and women, taking off at the gun, but that's the best part, getting to ride with everyone. Had my first win of the year taking the coveted first place cookie (it's a monster….and soooooo good!), with Andreane Lantheir Nadeau in second and Katie Button in third……. it does feel good to be able to still stay ahead of some national team racers :)<br />
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Then we moved to Englishman River Falls just outside of Parksville for round 2. This was definitely more of a fitness course with a long steady climb followed by easily the sweetest section of continuous flowy downhill that I've experienced in a while. Off the gun, Haley Smith took off and found a good position a couple of spots ahead of me going into the first single track. Once we hit the single track it was a slow steady march with little chance to pass. A couple people dabbed and I soon found myself right on Haley's wheel. Spinning out on a log I managed to squeak by her. From there I pushed back and fourth with a couple of the men. The climb was just painful enough, kicking up a little at the top, but that downhill was definitely worth the effort.<br />
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Third weekend, last weekend, was Cobble Hill….lots of steep climbing and steep fast downhills. Nothing like 1100 m of climbing in 2 hours to get some climbing miles in. Good battle with Carey Mark and Luna's Danelle Kabush, but I was motivated for the first place handmade pottery mug :)<br />
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Now I'm trying hard to get a little recovery in before I head south. Something possessed me to register for the short track, enduro, cross country and cyclocross race….all in two days!!! Yup, this is going to hurt a little. Kicking the season off in style :)<br />
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photos courtesy of Colin Wilson<br />
Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-73194011569832848492013-11-27T22:06:00.001-07:002013-11-27T22:13:32.945-07:00Quick and DirtyThe quick and dirty update….requested from Regan, nagged by Regan, pestered by Regan…that I update from the weekend. Haha, okay, not that bad :)<br />
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All this overtime is taking it's toll on my system and it's taking a lot longer then I would like to recover from every workout. Managed to take thursday and friday off, and a four day weekend was exactly what I needed. Actually a 10 day weekend would have been perfect, but you take what you can get. We loaded up the car and headed over to Vancouver for the V_CX_C race in Abbotsford. First big effort since getting back on the bike, and when I saw Catherine Pendral and Sandra Walter at the start line the suffer score just went up, like 40 fold!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJk0lWwRQe-U1Tbq8iL5Q-DzXyr3qSLr4Tzdkae9Na2N-sCILo1aR7sr_5Hwu0ZOEOTxO1fE854E6n0qwxOPhMQgRprQcVAYNYzgzvfqtX8p7U_FOQN1R4meM9bKDmAdSfAgMQ7-nFejw/s1600/dyckWCalder.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJk0lWwRQe-U1Tbq8iL5Q-DzXyr3qSLr4Tzdkae9Na2N-sCILo1aR7sr_5Hwu0ZOEOTxO1fE854E6n0qwxOPhMQgRprQcVAYNYzgzvfqtX8p7U_FOQN1R4meM9bKDmAdSfAgMQ7-nFejw/s640/dyckWCalder.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo from Regan Pringle</td></tr>
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Had my typical great start, always have to lead out, and quickly found myself in a lead group with Catherine and Sandra. The long straight course with big climbs didn't suit me to begin with, but throw in a World Champion training full time and I was in a world of hurt. Going into the fourth of seven laps Catherine really pushed the pace and I was dropped off the back of the group, suffering and finishing in third place….race to fitness this weekend!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo from Regan Pringle</td></tr>
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Back to the island and up to Shawnigan Lake for Island Cup finals. Most amazing venue ever, and super fun course with some very rad singletrack :) All cross races should have single track! Opting to race with the men, Wendy Simms and I had an epic battle within a battle! It was so much fun switching back and forth, some sections I would ride faster, some she would ride faster. I was feeling surprisingly decent considering how trashed I was from the day before, and was looking forward to fighting it out to the finish. Three laps to go I hear the distinctive sound of a tire burping behind me and Wendy disappeared. Two laps to, the race running over an hour for me, my body started to shut down a little and I managed to just settle into a slightly uncomfortable pace to finish off the race…OUCH!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo from Regan Pringle</td></tr>
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Trying my best to recover this week, getting ready for Nationals this weekend!! Really wish it would RAIN!!! PLEASE<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc12WvI8pEZdPgc9nkbZD6pbyojPWYb8I5OWpFfpvKD8FgKLrp7qnN0tReCG6Q9OwvAFTb1VhZiL3nc6yDoih_fVg_AdOeY4ViTROCF2uJ7qg2MbBiA4fi18yqomDSJRd9euSNFi_RkyU/s1600/lailawitty.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc12WvI8pEZdPgc9nkbZD6pbyojPWYb8I5OWpFfpvKD8FgKLrp7qnN0tReCG6Q9OwvAFTb1VhZiL3nc6yDoih_fVg_AdOeY4ViTROCF2uJ7qg2MbBiA4fi18yqomDSJRd9euSNFi_RkyU/s640/lailawitty.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laila!</td></tr>
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<br />Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-76647659522264988362013-11-12T14:29:00.002-07:002013-11-12T14:29:27.857-07:00Gateway CupI'm falling behind again, but now it's time to catch up a little. Two weekends ago was the St Louis Gateway cup, and my first race with the team in a couple weeks....this work thing is really getting in the way of my riding!! Finished up my friday workday, hopped on the 9 pm flight out of Victoria and somehow survived the red eye flight into Toronto.....the nice little first class upgrade definitely helped with that. Landed in St Louis at 10:30 am absolutely cooked, my only saving grace was the saturday race was a night race :) Passed out for a couple hours and really had to struggle to pull myself together to get myself ready to race.<br />
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UCI points from last year gave me a second spot call up, yippee! Off the gun, I hung with the leading group for the frist half of the race. The flat, untechnical course created a full on dirt crit style race, and lots of drafting. I was feeling better then I should have, and hung onto the back as the fifth in the breakaway. Half way through the 3th lap, things started falling apart a little. I couldn't match the accelerations and popped off the back of the group. Struggling in no mans land for a couple laps, I was really happy to see my teammate Amanda Carey gaining on my quickly. Three of us in the chase group worked really well together, this gave me just enough of a brake to catch my second wind. At one point, we managed to pull the lead group to within 30 second. Coming through the final couple corners, I put myself into a good spot and pinned it, putting a gap between myself and 6th place, finishing 5th in my first UCI race since Vegas....definitely happy with this.<br />
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Halfway through supper at Whole Foods I completely cracked, having slept maybe 3 or 4 hours total in 2 days really caught up to me hard! Thank goodness Sundays race was a later start as well, as I don't think I moved in 15 hours!<br />
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A nice slow start on Sunday was exactly what I needed, though I definitely was struggling with the fact that I had to race again...haha, amazing what a dramatic lack of sleep can do to the body. Again I had a good start, and found myself in the lead pack again. The pace felt a lot faster this day, and I popped off the back again... so I was really thankful when I noticed Nicole Duke coming up behind me. I was a little unsure of how things would play out, but we managed to work very well together and pulled the lead group to within 8 seconds! Going into the final lap I found myself out front pulling, and it was obvious Nicole had not intention of going around me, so I just kept the gas on. With only a couple corners to go, just accelerated past me, but I managed to hang on and grab her wheel. Coming out of the last corner onto the final straight away I pinned it, passing Nicole and taking 4th place by maybe half a wheel length....that hurt!<br />
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My Ridey X-Fire and Stan's Iron Cross wheels were as always to most amazing equipment to race, I am always so happy when I ride these bikes! Kenda has released a softer version of my favorite Kommando tire, which really feels like a tubular tire. It's amazing, you actually get that kind of squirrelly feeling in some corners that you get with tubulars. My Oakley Radars with clear lenses and Lazer Genesis are always my favorite choices for cross or mountain or road.<br />
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I had a special thank you to send to <a href="http://absoluteblack.cc/" target="_blank">Absolute Black</a> for their CX chainring!! This thing is super cool technology and I am totally sold! I have almost never used my large chainring in a cross race, except for starts, but the prospect of the single ring has kind of scared me.....I know, I have some werid fears. The narrow-wide design of the ring holds the chain really tight so there is no need for a chain guard or chain guide. I've tried it out with the SRAM X-9 mountain derailluer with the clutch and there was zero issue, but I also ran it in St Louis with my SRAM Red derailluer with not even a though about the chain or ring while racing. And to top that off....I dropped over a pound off my bike :)<br />
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Just finished a couple 80 hour work weeks in Kitimat, missed BC Provincials (not very stoked on that), but I have 3 weeks to get myself in top shape for Canadian Nationals....OH MY!Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-53683719795722279382013-10-15T23:35:00.005-06:002013-10-15T23:43:58.136-06:00Cross is on a RollOh my goodness, do I have a couple of races to tell you about! Now that we are a quarter of the way through the season, it's more then time to do some recaps. Starting the season off in style with the classic Marymoor velodrome venue for Starcrossed. Probably one of my favourite events; great venue, beer gardens and rad fans. After loosing touch with leaders Gabby Day and Courtney McFadden in the third lap, I found myself in a head to head battle with Sue Butler and fast track racer Jessica Butler. Half way through the final lap Sue and I managed to put a gap on Jessica, and coming through the last couple corners I out manouvered, then out sprinted Sue (closing in fast on Coutrney) to pick up third place and my first podium of the season :)<br />
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Back to work for two days, then down to Vegas...ugggh, I definitely have a love hate relationship with this event. Love the event, don't like anything else involved with Vegas. I could get two days off work, so I flew down Wednesday morning, napped all morning and afternoon, then headed to the venue for our 8 pm race. Best way to break in a bike is race it hard haha. Being a full on fitness course I new I was going to suffer but I always seem to forget just how much this course hurts. I found myself moving backwards and forwards through out the race, and finished with a very forgettable 19th place. <br />
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They have managed to knock about a pound off off the Ridley X-Fire this year, while keeping it just as stiff and nimble......Love this bike! Pair with the new SRAM hydraulic disk brakes, Kenda's ever faithful Komandos and Stan's lightweight Iron Cross wheels, this is an uber fast race bike this year.....rider needs some work to be worthy of this bike!<br />
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Home for a couple of weekends, first double header of the season, in the worst weather and conditions I have raced in in a while. New Brighton Park on Saturday in Vancouver was raining so hard....it was beyond words!!! Well not quite but it really put my bike and my Kenda Kwickers to the test, and they never disappoint in the mud, taking my first win. Sunday in Cumberland for the typically hot dry race, was again cold and wet. The rain let up a bit and the deep mud slowly turned into peanut butter....slow grind. I decided to race with the men, get my hour of intensity in, and I suffered! Third lap I decided to take the short route and go over the jump, saves about 5 seconds....if you land it smoothly. I landed it no problem, but hit a little too hard and flatted....that was a loooong run to the pits. Finished DFL...but still finished :)<br />
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Work unfortunately has been a big deciding factor for my race schedule this season and I've had to pass up a lot of events that I would really like to do. I just finished almost 2 weeks of drilling on a barge in Kitimat, BC.....that's always really good for the training program....NO IT'S NOT! But I do have to admit it's a cool experience.<br />
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This past weekend was the second Cross on the Rock race for 2013, right here in Victoria, and we had to largest turnout to a cyclocross race in Canada I believe, 278 people, plus 32 kids!!!! And this is on a small island, cross has gone bonkers on the island! After bonking 20 mins into my ride the previous day, feeling really jet lagged from a couple of 13 + hour days of work and really not sure how everything would react.....and the prize money put forth for the event, I decided to race in the women's category. The legend Wendy Simms and super fast Dawn Anderson are always really good competition, and it's always a good battle between the three of us. I was surprised how good I felt and I really enjoyed the course. Thank you Pro City and Binab Reality for hosting such a great event!<br />
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Huge thank you to all my sponsors, Stan's No Tubes, Ridley Bikes, Laser Helmets, Oakley Glasses, Kenda Tires, SRAM, GU Energy, Rumble and Pro City for all of the continued support! St. Louis Gateway cup in 2 weeks, here I come!</div>
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<br />Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-30144973273566768072013-08-11T22:36:00.001-06:002013-08-11T22:43:50.350-06:00Transrockies 2013Wow, the end of the Transrockies Epic 7 day Stage Race....my 6th year racing, and it was absolutely amazing yet again. I've raced the the coed 3 times, twice with the super fun Mr. Tubby Butt (aka Jeff Neilson), twice in the TR3 (3 day edition) and my final time in the solo 7 day....grabbing my 5th Transrockies win. Really sad to see it come to an end, but really excited for the 2014 Singletrack 6 that is being spawned from the race. New format, new venue and exciting new trails! It's going to be so rad...I already can't wait!!<br />
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The first 3 days were in the beautiful Fernie, BC, easily my favourite place to mountain bike in the world! TR3 racers started with us, and this was a stacked field, keeping the pace for the first 3 days really high for all us 7 day'ers too. Day 1, I had a tough battle with Jean Ann Berkenpas to the finish line, attacking on the last long climb and running scared for the 20 mins of downhill back into the finish, opening up a 28 second gap. Day 2, Pork Blue, is never a great day for me....the hour 45 climbing kicks my rear end every year!! I can hold on for about an hour, then I start to crack. Petra Tlamkova, the European climbing machine living in Whistler crushed the day, beating most of the men to the top! I limited my losses to around 4 minutes, making up some time on the steep downhill, and Jean Ann took the leaders plate. Day 3 started an finished up at the ski hill and encorporated some classic singletrack.........love, love, love. Super steep climbing and very fast right singletrack descents. I had a great start, slotting in between some men into the first singletrack downhill and rocked it! I really enjoyed this day and was riding strong. My Cannondale Scalpel was climbing like the billy goat it is, and I was holding on for dear life on the descents...using the full power of the Magura brakes! The last looooooong, and I mean never ending climb, I looked over my shoulder to see Jean Ann working hard to close the gap. She caught and passed me as we laboured up the climbs....my legs burning, praying for the end of the climb. Hitting the Mega-Sore-Ass with 2 guys between myself and Jean Ann, I watched the first guy crash hard on the wet wooden bridge right at the start of the trail....great way to start a technical downhill. Cyclocrossing around him as he yelled is was okay, I hammered the downhill...wahoooooooooooooo, so fun, and crossed the line 2 seconds behind Jean Ann :)<br />
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Due to the major Kananaskis flooding, the route was drastically altered and we ended up staying 2 days in Blairmore...camped out beside the busy railway track. It's been a number of years since I've ridden the Crowsnest and I was really excited to see what Crowsnest Coffee master, Troy Misseghers had in store for us. Day 4 was a short fast day, I had a great start, managing to stick with the guys on the long road start, which made for a world of difference through the single track. Once we hit the super long steep hike-a-bike to the back side of Pass Powderkeg, the local ski hill, all that was left was to enjoy the fun new switchbacks into town. I had a great day on the bike, putting in 3 mins on Jean Ann and taking back the leaders plate. Day 5 brought back some memories of the more classic Transrockies days....longer with lots of climbing, epic views, and wide open descents.......55 km our longest day of the week, which is about half of the typical long TR day...crazy!! (can't believe I did those 100 plus km days back to back). I had another solid day, just staying out of reach of Jean Ann, just over the next hill and just around the next corner, surviving the gnarly loose sharp and moving babyhead rock field....thank you Stan's NoTubes and Kenda tires for not flatting!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Day 5 - Gibson Pictures</td></tr>
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Day 6 was a long day, long transfer in the morning to Kananaskis, and big climb backwards on some classic big mountain trails. Honestly, I've never even considered riding up Cox hill downhill...it's such a fantastic downhill......and it ended up being a lot of hiking and slow steep climbing. I got dropped pretty quickly on the road into Cox hill, left my legs in the Crowsnest Pass, Petra was gone, but I managed to keep Jean Ann in sight. We ended up climbing a long time together, but I managed to slowly put a little gap between us. 1 hour to the top, with some refreshing cold mountain rain, I was really hurting at this point. Once you hit the top, there are still a couple really good hard climbs....which I never realized having always ridden in the opposite direction. Once I hit the downhill I was in no mans land the rest of the day, a sorry place to be when I hit the road. Again, due to flooding, there was a major reroute and we ended up having to finish on 8 km of road.....and it just so happened to be sleeting and hailing and raining and windy and miserable....and I suffered the whole way in. Petra put some good time on my, but I held onto the leading position for the night.<br />
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The final Day 7, from Deadman's Flats to Canmore was TT style, with 20 second gaps. Starting with some tight slow singeltrack, it was a grind to get the legs moving on day 7. Really big climb to the highest point on the nordic centre followed by some Canada Cup/Nationals fast technical single track......sooooooo fun! Long rolling hills out to the last check point and the slow log back into town. I took the win on the day, securing my first 7 day solo victory!!<br />
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It's funny, racer brain kicks in pretty quickly, just about when we are sitting around the table at the banquet watching the footage from the week....can't wait for Singletrack 6!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Day 7 - Gibson Pictures</td></tr>
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My recovery week has been more then a little off this year, heading straight out to the field for work, lugging equipment around the forest taking water samples in 30 degree heat....yes, it's taking me a little longer then I was hoping to get my legs back. Planning on starting some cross intervals this week, it's that time of year again!!!! So legs, hurry up!!!!!Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3269511961905334694.post-27262431920971228682013-06-30T16:49:00.005-06:002013-06-30T19:07:05.581-06:00Cameron Law Cycling Weekend I would just like to start by saying thank you To all the organizers and volunteers that made this such an awesome weekend of racing all over the South Island. Events like this fizzle and die without your continued efforts and support....So Thanks!<br />
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Friday night was the kick off, The Rumble Dallas Rd. TT. Now this is not my forte, especially when trying to set up the ole' pink flame madone. "Regan, make it faster" was my plea the night before. So he slammed the front end low, I mean on the race of the bearing low, to get me as low as uncomfortably possible. And I broke out the Stan's NoTbes cyclocross skin suit to make myself as aero as possible. Just under 8 minutes and I managed to snag 3rd place! Late friday night at the shop, Regan changed me back into road bike mode...best mechanic/boyfriend ever! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rumble TT - photo from Morgan Turner</td></tr>
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Saturday morning, up bright and early, I rode the hour and a bit out to Metchosin for the start of the road race. A little more of a warm up than was necessary, but I was definitely ready to rock. Off the gun there was a suicide attack that stayed out for a full lap or our 8 lap race, but no one was really worried as the pack easliy brought her back in. After 3 laps the pack had whittled down to only 6 women, the steep climbing taking it's toll early on lot of legs. For 2 laps the 6th girl rallied to stay on and had to play catch up a couple time, but half way through the 5th lap she was just gone.<br />
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Trek Red Truck had 2 women in the pack, and with the 3 solo riders, it was pretty interesting to see how tactics where unfolding. It was very clear that Megan was the strongest climber of the group, and the only race tactic (not my forte either) was to try and split that team up, which didn't work. it came down to a 5 person sprint....which I'm not too bad at. Rolling into the bottom of the last hill, myself, Nik and Megan were dead even. Megan went first and I didn't have the jump on the uphill finish to close the gap, but grabbed second place in my first road race in.....................I think 6 years.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Westhills Road Race - Photo from Morgan Turner</td></tr>
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Nothing like an hour ride home to cool down and blow the crud out of the legs. But after well over 4 and a half hours on the saddle in the heat I was a little cooked. Regardless of the long cool down, I still needed a 90 min easy warm up just to get my legs "open" for the Sunday crit. 45 laps of the historic Bastion Square makes for a very fast paced and very spectator friendly race. <br />
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After a very hard lesson last year, I quickly learnt that being the most aggressive rider just means that you really have no idea what your doing, haha. That's definitely not to say I'm at all keen on sitting in the entire race, but I am willing to accept the fact that launching 47 attacks and riding away from the group is probably not the best race plan. Maybe being tired from the day before gave me the right amount of smarts to race a really good crit finally.<br />
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Shortly into the race I went for the first prime, winning $50 in a very close sprint. I settled into a good groove, making a handful of hard attacks and chasing down a number of hard attacks, but definitely not wasting a bunch of energy. The pack stayed together a lot more this year, which made the whole race dynamic really interesting.....and a lot of yelling.... which seems to be typical of road racing. <br />
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With around 10 laps to go I went for my 2nd prime and the best prime ever, $50 to <a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/317/1494726/restaurant/Vancouver-Island/Downtown-Victoria/Choux-Choux-Charcuterie-Victoria" target="_blank">Choux Choux Charcuterie</a>...our local bacon supplier. After that last spring, my legs were ready for the finish. Half way through the 2nd last lap, I attacked, stretching the pack out a bit. Megan came around me and kept the pace high.<br />
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Coming out of crash corner for the final time, I attacked, but couldn't shake Megan from my wheel. One last corner and we were both heads down sprinting neck and neck for the line. If it was an inch I'd be surprised, but I nabbed the win! Have to say I'm very honored to be added to the list of all the names that have won the Bastion Crit....and 2nd overall in the Omnium. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bastion Crit - Photo from Morgan Turner</td></tr>
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Top Step - Photo from Donna Marie</div>
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Followed that weekend up with a super fun 12 hours of Cumberland with Regan, finishing 2nd on some of the best trails around...though the 18th time down Space Nugget was really hard. Thank you to all the amazing sponsors and volunteers at these amazing events on the island.<br />
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Just under one month till the Transrockies! <br />
<br />Mical Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01645898331206202629noreply@blogger.com0