Ore Crusher 2009

This past weekend played host to the 2009 Ore Crusher mountain bike race in Squamish and myself, Sizzle, Martin, Stu and Churchy all lined up at the start to test our fitness and bike handling prowess.

The gun went off and we ran through the Le Mans style start to our bikes and then we were off. Martin had a superb start, I believe leading our age group into the trails and riding strong. The first few laps went well and for the first time this year I really felt like I was riding well on both the double track and the more techincal single track sections which was a really nice feeling! Usually, and I guess it's from the increased amount of road cycling I've done over the last few years, I start strong and then when it gets technical, people reel me back in and make up the time on me there. However, this race I was still catching people through the technical sections so I was really thrilled with that.

Unfortunately I got a flat on the third lap which sucked but to be honest it didn't matter that much since I felt like I was racing so well...I was still really happy in the end. I was also extremely impressed with another thing, and that was the level of class of so many of the racers. Obviously as each of my friends went flying by they all queried whether I was ok and had everything I needed, but the number of strangers that asked the same thing was stunning! I think it was even more evident to me because of the experiences I had at the road race in Seattle with Cam the previous weekend, where many riders (Cat. 4) apparently thought that they were going to get picked up by a pro team and were being obnoxious in the peloton swearing, shouting orders and elbowing others...what a joke.

One person in particular exhibited what I thought was top-notch class and that was the race winner, Rocky Mountain's Martin Lazarski. He lapped me right before we dove into some downhill single track and instead of barking at me to move aside, he politely requested if he could pass before we got into the single track. Of course I moved over and slowed and as he passed, I recognized him and shouted encouragement...he moved so fluidly over the natural obstacles on the trail, it was no different than watching a rock climber on a well rehearsed route or a dancer performing a choreographed routine to perfection. Well done Marty and congrats on a well deserved win!

Also huge congrats to Sizzle, Stuey, Mart, Megan and Churchy for excellent races...Sizzle came in 5th in his age category and Megan destroyed her competition by 18 minutes I think! Also a special thanks to Stu who was basically getting off his bike to get in there and start helping me fix my flat until I told him repeatedly to hurry up and keep racing! Har har har, very cool...

Next up is the Test of Metal and I think this race fuelled the fire for uping the ante; I think we're going to see some good results on June 20th...