Race report LPP #3: Soft, yet hard.

So, Carlington Hill is done. While everyone who attended the race said that it was a great course, it was a small crowd that raced, although we did have or first group of spectators! Perhaps the forecast of evening rain scared some off, perhaps the rapidly melting snow discouraged others but the night was beautiful, warm, and still. The one thing I did learn was that with weather like that, courses can change quite rapidly! While I was on the course Monday, I worked all day Tuesday. When I arrived to set the course on Wednesday afternoon, I found to my shock that the up-and-over I built last week, which looked fine on Monday, was still good on the north side, but had shrunk by about 8 inches in 36 hours on the south side of the barrier! Too late to add snow and compact, I gave everyone a heads up and advised those without bashguards to think twice before giving it a go.

The course, apart from the lemans start to retrieve bikes left a third of the way down the hill, was behind the sliding hill, and in the trails south of the reservoir. The trails were tight and twisty; with the melting during the day, it was critical that you found the balance of speed and control that kept you in the middle of the trail or you would sink. The course came out of the woods and crossed a road (that turned to black ice once the sun went down, which I discovered at the cost of a very bruised hip) and went down a sweet little descent to the bottom of the old toboggan hill on the east side. The hill was a slog; I think only Dollywood consistently made it up, partly due to the icy conditions and partly because there was an off-camber transition of the main hill to a side trail that seemed to trip up the non-fat bikers.

Four laps of this and everyone got to bomb down the hill via the snow-cover slalom course to the finish.

the top five:

Boobies

Fushia

Dollywood

Buttercup

Gabba Gabba Hey!

So coming to the series final at Kanata Lakes on March 11th (date changed due to a conflict with the WQW roller race on the third), here are the leaders for the overall:

Ozzy- 6.5 points

Fushia -6 points

Hot Pants, Boobies- 5 points each

1/2, Dollywood, 4 points each

That's it for now. next week I'll put up more info about KL, including a gps of the course; it's going to be sweet!

BTW, anyone want to help with the race on the 11th? Does anyone have some tiki torches and a hibachi they want to lend out?

-Flounder.

LPP #3!

Is going to be held at Carlington sliding hill. It's the sliding hill next to the old quarry that you can see off the Queensway near Carling Ave. You can park at the hockey arena on Clyde Ave. Meet at the top of the hill by 7:30. Preride and then start at 8pm.

Bring something to slide on.

Seriously.

-Flounder

Teaser for LPP #3

I went out today before work to do some prep for the third race. I thought I would have to do some packing down of trails with my snowshoes, but with the melt that is going on and a surprising amount of pedestrian traffic, no packing was needed: all the trails are nice and solid, even the jump on the twisty downhill is in good shape! The berms on the finale are actually starting to show dirt at the top of them due to the melt, which is not a bad thing, as last week the berms were so slick you had to go through them quite slow, and that defeats the whole purpose of a berm's existence...

The pic above shows today's work. I shovelled a lot of wet, heavy snow up against a highway divider to build and up-and-over, so those with the gumption do not have to dismount. I built it for two reasons: they are fun to ride and there are already two barriers most people will have to dismount for, a third just seemed excessive.

Now I wonder, with the clues provided above, can anyone figure out where the race will be?

All will be revealed Monday.

-Flounder

So, Brad and I were out yesterday at Kanata Lakes. On top of having great fun tearing around on prefect conditions, and being joined by Rob Kerr, we figured out where the course for the series wind-up on March 3rd.

It's going to be a figure 8.
It's going to from 8 (sharp: be there at 7:30 to sign up) until 9:15-ish pm. The start will involve a treasure hunt!
The finish will be a party complete with a few fire pits, hot dogs(both veggie and not) and a keg.
Prizes too.

Tell all your friends, and tell them regular mountain bikes are go; Rob cleared the trail on his 29er.

Don't forget, LPP#3 is next Wednesday!

-Flounder

Results from LPW #2

Hey all,

I would summarize this second, and last, round at Hampton Park with one word: sorted.

I managed to find the right balance of marking the course well enough that no one racing it went off course, and none of the other park users were distrupted by miles of tape cutting off paths. It all could've ended in tears however: I did a lot of the marking early Wednesday afternoon, so that I could arrive circa 6pm and only have to do the taping that would go across paths. Unfortunately, some douchetard decided to tear down a lot of the tape that I put up. As annoying as that was, what really burned was the fact that they left the torn tape on the ground or hanging off trees! I can understand tearing it down because you think it is an eyesore or so much garbage, but to tear it down and then litter with it?!? It makes you wonder...

Thankfully, Martin and Tayna were there early and offered to help repair and finish the course marking. I want to thank both of them profusely for being there and Martin gets special thanks for helping to build the two new obstacles. I would also like to thank everyone that helped with tearing down the course afterwards. It made the morning cleanup so much easier.

With all that said, the crowd of racers did stay on course this round. It was quite a sight to see serpentine lines of light moving throughout the park's woods and fields. Racers tore through the hard, icy conditions, the new obstacles, and the addition of a brutally steep 'gut-buster' of a climb/run-up, which only Punk Ass cleared, once. The only incident that I heard of someone going off course was when Manmeat took a corner too fast and slid under the course tape. Several people did take the corners too hot and slid out, notably Dollywood, who wanged his knee and threatened to sue.

Whatever; it served him right for not respecting the ice. He was quickly appeased with booze anyway. He's easy that way (and several others, if the rumours are true) .

The partial results:

Harriet 1st

Hot Pants 2nd

1/2 3rd

Teapot 4th

Manhunter 5th

Punk Ass

Dollywood

Egghunt

Manmeat

Fushia

Gertrude

Sausage,

and so on...

... until we hit Pokey (DFL), whose light conked out just before the start. He rode three laps by chasing other people's lights, until he had enough and stopped for bourbon. In my books, stopping for bourbon is always a good call. Bonus points for pushing 1/2 over during the Leman's start!

So, since there are prizes to be had for the overall series winner(men and women) and other random categories (I'm not telling until the end of the series), there are points being taken. Here is the breakdown of the system:

1st= 5 points

2nd= 4 points

3rd= 3 points

4th= 2 points

5th 1.5

Everyone else gets a point for participating. Since the first race was somewhat chaotic, I just gave everyone a point, except for Harriet, who got another .5 for having done a Leman's finish complete with a snow angel. That shit was classy.

The top 5 are as follows:

Harriet: 6.5 points

Hot Pants: 5 points

1/2: 4 points

Manhunter: 2.5

That's it for now. The next race is new location on the 22nd. All I will say for now is, bring a crazy carpet or something to slide on, and make sure it can carry two people.

-Flounder

The Conditions...

...will be smooth, hard and fast. With the exceptions of the snow field, and the obstacles, any bike could be a contender tomorrow since we have gotten now snow recently and the course has been well packed by pedestrians and dogs. I will stress this: some of the sections are both off camber and icy. You will want to keep that in mind on your first go around, especially if you are riding clipless as you could very quickly find yourself on the ground!

I really hope someone shows up on a unicycle.

LPP #2!

Everyone,

The race will be happening at Hampton park again. I have some unfinished business with that course, and just to make it less boring for you folks, I am tweaking the route and adding two new obstacles.

Be there by 7:30 to get your nameplates (or bring your own if you remember your name and have a plate), pre-ride is at 7:45 and race starts at 8. Drinks afterward chez moi.

Spread the word!

-Flounder

Video from the first race.

Now that this has been posted on the Ottawa Citizen cycle blog, I figured what the hey, might as well let everyone who hasn't seen the video from the first race get a chance to. As well, let me take this opportunity to remind everyone that the second race is this Wednesday, Feb 8th. I will announce the location Monday night.

Enjoy the weekend!

Click here to see the video

It's on.

Mooney's Bay, eight pm. Try to show up a little early and do a couple of laps to help pack down the course, which hasn't seen any work done to it since Saturday.

Calling the madison

Hey Everyone,

I am going to call the race around 4, yeah or nay. If it is really icy out there and or is really wet and raining by then, I will cancel: the whole point of the madison was to take advantage of a pre-packed, short, fast course, and to go whipping around and have some fun while taking corners all moto-style. Powering through wet, soupy trails with a chilling rain falling is not what I was intending for today, that is part of the four original races.

Sorry if this sounds flaky, but I feel I am allowed a certain amount of latitude, since this event was not on the schedule to begin with.

Thanks.

Race 1.5 this Wednesday!

Tricia Spooner and Tall Tree Cycles had a fat bike demo yesterday at Mooney's Bay. Overall, it was quite successful, with about 50 people signing up to try out the bikes on a course that was twisty, well-packed, with a gentle drop and climb. While at the demo, someone (can't remember who: Matt, Sean?) suggested that the course would make for a fun gathering/race. Someone suggested a Madison so I am thinking ...

Low Pressure Wednesdays #1.5: Assured Madison Destruction!

The rules: -Two people, one bike. That's right, you share a bike (think of it as the demo day continued). Find someone with a fat bike or a mountain bike with wider tires, find a seat height that mostly works for both of you, and pedal! If you don't have a partner, or want to partner up with a fat bike, show up early and we'll see what we can do. But just in case, bring your own bike.

-Body contact is allowed (we have a score to settle, Mr. Johnson). Rest assured, you are not going to hit anything: the course is on an open field. That said, don't come with the intention of playing smash-up derby; that shit will get you thrown to the curb.

-Race is 45 minutes and a lap.

-Have lights.

-Race starts at 8 pm. Every team throws in a toonie, winners takes all, unless someone's bike get damaged. Meet at the 1st parking lot in from Riverside and Ridgewood intersection.

1st race recap

About 17 folks paid their 5 bucks (and two people poached-you know who you are, punks) to see what I came up with for my first race as an organizer. Generally, I think people liked it and there is a good race report here that summaries the general chaos and fun.

However, as enjoyable as the chaos was, there is room to improve.

The course needed to be better marked. What seemed obvious to me in the daylight, on a course I walked a half dozen times and rode double that was, for a pack of riders in the dark, going fast on a strange course, not so obvious. Everyone at some point got confused and missed sections. It didn't seem to detract from the fun folks had, and most of the big sections of the course were ridden constantly, except for maybe the log barrier, which a few folks said that they never saw again after the pre-ride. Oh well.

For what it is worth, here are the top results, although how accurate they are is anybody guess.

Harriet -1st (and the only one to do the Lemans finish; loved the victory snow-angel)

Hotpants-2nd

Manhunter -3rd

1/2 -4th

Ozzy -5th

Zero -6th

Orange -7th

Fushia -8th

My Little Pony -9th

Egghunt -10th

Vlad the Inhaler -11th

Bubbles -12th

After that I just stopped taking names.

The next course will be marked a bit better, and I am not going to try doing the painted snow method again. What I sprayed in the afternoon was faded by the evening and only worked in a few places where I REALLY laid it on thick; to do that for the whole course would take gallons of liquid. So I am going to use way more course tape and do it at the last minute, hoping that it doesn't get torn down just before the race.

As for the course route, I'll make the next courses more straightforward as well. No loops within the loop.

I have an idea for a picnic-table pump track, provided we get some more snow...

-Flounder

Someone took pictures!

Thanks to Will from Tall Tree cycles for coming out and taking a bunch of pictures.

Here's the link to them:

I'll write more tomorrow, when I am not working and hung over.

Course conditions

Four words: Hard, lumpy and icy.

To elaborate: during the melt, folks were walking on the trails (as is their right) and as the snow got soft, feet went through the surface and either created holes, or unsettled the snow. Now that the snow is hard (and I mean hella hard), there are ripples and holes all over the place, despite trying to flatten them with my snow shoes this morning. As well all the hills are now quite icy, which should make the up-hills interesting. The down-hills should be fine, as they are routed to go down uncompacted trails.

Set your tires on soft folks, and be ready to dab.

First race

Is going to be held at Hampton Park, off of Kirkland and Carling ave. Meet at the baseball fields.

Arrive before 7 45 for the pre-ride/tour; to sign waivers and get a pie plate with your race name on it (mine is flounder).

Location?

To be announced Monday the 23, after 2:30.

Poster!

Thanks to the talented Greg Cosgrove for the art! Everyone, please copy and paste, paste, and paste!

-Flounder

Stunt it!

The pic is kinda crappy, and it is buried under snow, but this a tease of one of the obstacles on the course. I used the wading pool in the park; riders have the option of using this step down (about a 18" drop) to get into the pool and then get up to speed and use the jump on the other side of the pool to get out. It's totally doable: I've already done it several times. For those who would rather not, there is a bypass that takes you around, down the stairs and back up them, out of the pool.

But if I were you, I'd stunt it.

After the storm,

So, I went out this morning for a couple of hours on my snowshoes, and walked the course route to pack it down. I'll try to keep the course pretty firm, except in a few places where I won't, just to make it a bit harder for you all. Some sections will be wide enough to pass on, other sections, not so much.If it snows a lot between now and the 25th, expect soft trails, but if it's dry and/or there is a melt, these trails will get much faster...

Registering

Hey folks,

If you are pretty sure you are going to show up for any of these races, it would be great to let me know in advance, that way I can know what I am dealing with. Also, I can give you your race number and have it already marked on a pie plate for you. Yes, there will be plenty of zip ties.

Send me your name and what dates you were thinking to lebindle@gmail.com. I'll get back to you.