It was off to the Liberty Squeezer on Sunday, September 27, 2009. My partner in crime for the day/ right hand women/support/photographer was Kim. The Squeezer (as it is known), is a point to point 30 km mountain bike race in St. Catharine's, Ontario, approx. 3.5 hours away from home.
This was my first time ridin' in the Squeezer and I really had no idea what to expect. I was told that it is mainly a combination of gravel, paved roads with a little bit of non-technical single track mixed in to keep it a mountain bike race.
We arrived around 10:30, signed in, and then chilled for a while. The race was divided into waves. Waves B-F went off in different groups beginning at 11:00. My wave, a mass start of expert/elite men and women combined was sheduled to go at 2:00 pm.
The area received a good amount of rain the night before and judging from the bikes and the appearance racers from the earlier waves the course was muddy. Kim went and did some scouting around about the shape of the course and came back with some scoop. Based on her opinion I changed my tires to something with a little more bite but still fast enough for the road.
I started my warm up at about 1:20 pm which was ten minutes later than I wanted to. Last minute bike prep. kept me off the bike. Stu (Norco) gave me the heads up on being at the start line at least 10 min. before start to insure a decent start position. The warm-up went well and the legs felt good.
I arrived at the start line early enough to get a front row spot next to Stu. Looking around I knew the women's field would be strong. Emily Batty, last year's champ was there lined up to the left of me. Stu would have some good competition in the men's field as well.
When it was time to go I had a clean start and the group rolled out on the road opener at a decent pace. I held with the lead group for about 10 minutes but began to lose them at the first set of single track. I knew Emily was with the front group so that left me sitting in 2nd, with 3rd right on my wheel.
I dropped into the first set of single track and well it wasn't pretty! It was slippery, real slippery and my tire choice may not have been the best. I apologize now to the riders that were behind me because I was all over the place!! After taking 3 total wipe outs, I just did what I could to keep the bike upright. I resorted to riding slow but steady looking forward to some dry ground. Soon enough we were out of the single track and on the road climb. Phew!! I felt strong on the road sections and was able to pull away from 3rd. The feeling was short lived however because not long after I was back in another leg of slick single track. Eventually the course would open up again, through a vineyard, down a gravel road and wait... more single track. Where did all of this single track come from? Based on the info. I was expecting a lot more open double track and gravel roads. Luckily, and to my surprise, the final sections of trail were pretty dry and I could find my flow once again. We reached some pretty technical descents and then looped our way back into town where we were greeted by a final quick but deceivingly steep climb, cheering fans and the finish line.
In the end I took 2nd place, behind Emily Batty (Trek Toronto Bike Store) and 3rd place went to Jenny Brown (Bikefit Sunflower Bike Squad). I'm a little beat up after the wipe-outs and I think it is going to take me some time for me to heal. To lesson my discomfort, I received a nice payout, a large size novelty cheque, cool plaque(street sign) and a bottle of wine (with a long sleeve T). For those riders that did make the podium there was an hour worth of quality draw prizes one of which a was a complete Kona Cyclocross bike.
The event was allot of fun and extremely well organized. Kudos to the promoter and the volunteers that helped out.
The course was awesome and I now know what to look forward to when I come back next year.
Thanks to Kim for her support. The 3.5 hour drive there and the 3.5 hr drive home flew by, Kim and I are never at a loss for words!! ;) Great race, very well run, great day, great fun!!
Cheers,
Sue
This was my first time ridin' in the Squeezer and I really had no idea what to expect. I was told that it is mainly a combination of gravel, paved roads with a little bit of non-technical single track mixed in to keep it a mountain bike race.
We arrived around 10:30, signed in, and then chilled for a while. The race was divided into waves. Waves B-F went off in different groups beginning at 11:00. My wave, a mass start of expert/elite men and women combined was sheduled to go at 2:00 pm.
The area received a good amount of rain the night before and judging from the bikes and the appearance racers from the earlier waves the course was muddy. Kim went and did some scouting around about the shape of the course and came back with some scoop. Based on her opinion I changed my tires to something with a little more bite but still fast enough for the road.
I started my warm up at about 1:20 pm which was ten minutes later than I wanted to. Last minute bike prep. kept me off the bike. Stu (Norco) gave me the heads up on being at the start line at least 10 min. before start to insure a decent start position. The warm-up went well and the legs felt good.
I arrived at the start line early enough to get a front row spot next to Stu. Looking around I knew the women's field would be strong. Emily Batty, last year's champ was there lined up to the left of me. Stu would have some good competition in the men's field as well.
When it was time to go I had a clean start and the group rolled out on the road opener at a decent pace. I held with the lead group for about 10 minutes but began to lose them at the first set of single track. I knew Emily was with the front group so that left me sitting in 2nd, with 3rd right on my wheel.
I dropped into the first set of single track and well it wasn't pretty! It was slippery, real slippery and my tire choice may not have been the best. I apologize now to the riders that were behind me because I was all over the place!! After taking 3 total wipe outs, I just did what I could to keep the bike upright. I resorted to riding slow but steady looking forward to some dry ground. Soon enough we were out of the single track and on the road climb. Phew!! I felt strong on the road sections and was able to pull away from 3rd. The feeling was short lived however because not long after I was back in another leg of slick single track. Eventually the course would open up again, through a vineyard, down a gravel road and wait... more single track. Where did all of this single track come from? Based on the info. I was expecting a lot more open double track and gravel roads. Luckily, and to my surprise, the final sections of trail were pretty dry and I could find my flow once again. We reached some pretty technical descents and then looped our way back into town where we were greeted by a final quick but deceivingly steep climb, cheering fans and the finish line.
In the end I took 2nd place, behind Emily Batty (Trek Toronto Bike Store) and 3rd place went to Jenny Brown (Bikefit Sunflower Bike Squad). I'm a little beat up after the wipe-outs and I think it is going to take me some time for me to heal. To lesson my discomfort, I received a nice payout, a large size novelty cheque, cool plaque(street sign) and a bottle of wine (with a long sleeve T). For those riders that did make the podium there was an hour worth of quality draw prizes one of which a was a complete Kona Cyclocross bike.
The event was allot of fun and extremely well organized. Kudos to the promoter and the volunteers that helped out.
The course was awesome and I now know what to look forward to when I come back next year.
Thanks to Kim for her support. The 3.5 hour drive there and the 3.5 hr drive home flew by, Kim and I are never at a loss for words!! ;) Great race, very well run, great day, great fun!!
Cheers,
Sue
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