Sunny skies and 10 degs greeted the 130+ riders as they gathered at Brock University to set off on a challenging 36km sprint around the rolling back roads and vineyards of Niagara. The first selection of the day came early about 250m from the start as we turned on to Power House Rd a hard pack dirt road that climbs straight to the top of the escarpment. After that hard effort and a muddy slip and slide through the single track of Two Bridges Trail a small select group of 8 emerged from the woods and charged up the gravel embankment on to Deced Rd.

The group contained Nathan Chown and Warren Tilbrook – Handlebars, Ben Perry – Rocky Mt , Ted Ingram – Angry Johnny’s/Cycle Solutions, Preston Wagler and Ty Wagler – 3 Rox Racing, Brandon Etzl and Justin Zotti – Planet Energy, a long look back confirmed that we had a solid gap. I yelled up to Nathan ,that we were clear with 8 riders, as he set tempo and turned west down a rough farm lane.

It was all hands to the oars as we held 34 – 36 Km/H , hopefully stout enough to keep anyone from bridging up to us , on the asphalt till we turned on to McSherry Rd at the 10 km mark. Nathan, sensing the lull, moved to the front as the paved road narrowed and headed down my favourite part of the course, the “chute” – a 30m plunge down the escarpment. I hopped on his wheel trying to get a clear view around him to the wheel grabbing mud puddles and ruts ahead as we careened down the sides of the chute hopping back and forth over the central rut.

Now the fun starts. We 8 have a solid lead at this point so now the attacks start. Softly at first just enough to see who is quick to chase and who lags. When the move happens it is so subtle I can see it now only with the help of 20/20 hindsight. Over the crest of a hill through a section of rollers Nathan, 3rd wheel, flicks his left elbow, his team mate Warren attacks sharply from the rear, gapping the group. We chased back hard, Nathan still tucked in 3rd wheel, when the lull happens as we finally cover the 1st attack Nathan lights off the real attack.The move was so successful only Ben Perry and team mate Warren Tilbrook ever got close to him.

Nathan Chown – Handlebars – 36km in 1:12 – 30Km/H Avg., Ben Perry – Rocky Mt – 1:12.52, Warren Tilbrook – Handlebars – 1:13, Ted Ingram – Angry Johnny’s/Cycle Solutions – 1:14.55, Preston Wagler – 3 Rox Racing – 1:14.56

Today marked 20 years of racing for me and I had an awesome day – made the break and then sat back and watched as the aggressive attacking and tactical finesse made Tour of Pelham one of the most interesting races I’ve done in years. Great to see more young riders at the front. 4th Overall equals my 2008 finish and, by being the only 40+ to make it in to the 8 man break I won 40+ literally by a country mile. Could not have asked for a nicer day, Tim and his crew at Lake to Lake events did an awesome job. Police at the major intersections and lots of marshalls made for a very safe and fun event. See you there in 2012.

Ted Ingram

He is remembered and missed by many friends and teammates.

News coverage of the accident is here, here and here.

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/137745/

The AJCC camp was the place to be both days with good food and good times being enjoyed by all. Terry Leimonis was up to his normal tricks fixing everything that moved and a couple of things that didn’t. I don’t think the race would go on if Terry wasn’t there fixing team bikes and everyone else’s as well. We are extremely lucky to have one  most respected DH’ers and top mechanic rolled into one in our corner. Thanks Terry!

Newbies to the team this year made their presence known.  Desmond “Pepper” Jones followed up two thirds with a second and Oscar “Pretty Boy” Andersen had his first of many podiums with a third place finish. Kris Evoy continued his strong season with a second place finish only one second out of first. Look for more from Kris as the season progresses.

Monika Luebuke placed second  as did Kevin Norris, look for more strong finishes from these two as they get familiar with their new rides this season.

 Look for”Big Blue” and the AJCC crew at Camp Fortune July 3-4. Hope to see you there!

Welcome to the Team!

Mike Andruszkiw, Kelsey Krushtl, Kyle Shultz, Monika Luebke and John Fisher Jr. competed in the Super D race on Saturday with John Jr. taking 1st in the Men Under 25 category.

In the Minime category Desmond “Pepper” Jones claimed his first podium in 3rd place with Raith Woods following him in fourth. Oskar Andersen, Logan Earhart, Dan Moriarity and Elliott Watson fought it out with 36 other riders in the cadet category. Monika Luebke had a great start to the season winning the All Female. Mike Andruszkiw and Dave Seibald placed 6th and 13th respectively in Master 30-39. Shane Joachim just missed a podium with a fourth place finish in Master 40+ followed closely by Scott Sinclair in 7th. New teamates Kris Evoy and Taylor Bruce gave us strong representation in the Junior Expert category, where we previously didn’t have any riders. Kris finished 4th and Taylor a respectable 14th. John “The Fish” Fisher added another medal to his rather large collection with a 2nd place finish in Senior Expert with less than half a second separating 1st and 2nd. Steven Gauci was there to represent us in the tough Senior Elite field.

It was great to see our team bond over the weekend with new riders fitting right in. Look to see the team in action at Horseshoe on May 29-30.

Logan Earhart flying down the course at 2010 DH OCup #1 (Kelso)

Per usual, the AJCC contingent was diversity personified with racers at all four start times, spanning Minime (13-41 year old) females to male and female elites to 60+ year old masters.

Notable results include Matt Kadey who placed second in masters sport 35-39, coming back strong from a broken ankle and consequently foreshortened season last year.  It was a closely fought race with Matt losing only by seconds after accidentally unclipping on one of the final corners in the ultimate lap.  John Fisher (2009 master 50-54 series leader) came fourth in his race, just 3.5 seconds off the podium.  Damian Wiechula, newly arrived in the 60+ category this year, showed he needn’t have worried about the sprint-like pace of his shortened (2 laps for the old guys) race, handily winning his race with a 3 minute lead.  Steve Baker, Mr. Plastiglas himself, made the podium in 3rd.  Laura Grad, joining us this year came 3rd in senior sport women.  Tabi Ferguson came 3rd in 40+ expert women.

Heather Gray placed second in senior elite women.  Other elite CSAJ racers today were Anton Varabei (11th) and John Slaughter (33rd at his first race in this category).

There was also an interesting wager and rivalry within the CSAJ senior expert men, the lap times of whom tell an epic tale.  But that’s another story…

Congratulations in particular to Logan Earhart who finished first among 11-15 year old males on the 60km course in a time of 2h 33m 8s and to Heather Gray who placed second among 30-something women on her old clunker of a mountain bike with the front derailleur locked in one ring and some of the slowest, knobbiest tires available (watch out though, Heather has a new bike for the OCup season)!  Linda Shin finished a respectable 7th of 38 in the same category.

By all accounts everyone else had a pretty good day at the races too, including some personal best finishing times.  The weather was fine with a cool start but sunshine and moderate winds later on.  The course was generally dry but that didn’t prevent one farmyard from having some of the stickiest mud any of us has ever seen.  The final hill, as always, was a killer.

Dusk is still early this time of year so bring lights.

Wear team kit if you’ve got it.

Guests from other clubs are welcome but everyone must hold an OCA race license for insurance purposes.

Call or email Stefan if you have any questions.

Sign up night with an informal ride is on April 29th and the series gets going on May 4th, ending on Aug 24.

Check it out at www.superflyracing.com

There are demo nights, BBQs and corn roasts throughout the year free to the racers. We will have lots of teammates going up every Tuesday so getting a ride and carpooling should be easy.

See you there!