April 17th is the Paris to Ancaster 60km race. I hope to see some other member
jerseys there. Last year Dave Harris even
did it on his road bike although cross or mtb with slicks is the prefered steed.

Greg

>
>
> Happy Spring everyone. Welcome to the new season of the Oakville Race Team.
>
> 2005 Oakville Race Team members are:
>
> Greg Andre-Barrett
> Geoff Banner
> Dave Campbell
> François Faust
> Jeff Ferguson
> Ian Fisher
> Chris McCart
> Brad Nickorick
> John Sandre
> Gary Scully
>
> All of us are eager for what the new season will bring. I don't need
> to remind everyone what a long and miserable winter we've just had.
> Sufficed to say, we're glad it's over and can come out of our basement
> torture trainer chambers and feel the warmer wind and daylight on our
> faces again. In fact, our first two road races were cancelled due to
> weather and the first MTB race was a postponed a week, so it's time.
>
> This past weekend the stars were in full alignment and the team got
> off the ground for the first time this year.
>
> Greg includes his thoughts from the 1st MTB race of the year – and the 1st
WIN!
>
> The Uxbridge Icebreaker, April 10th
>
> "1st in the long course 50+ age category and reasonable placing
> overall. As the race's name indicates there was a good
> mixture of ice (managed to keep the rubber down), snow (a couple of
> long sections of running), and mud. But the
> conditions were slightly better than last year."
> Oh, yes. We will take that as a first race for the year. Thanks for
> opening the account Greg!!
>
> And some of the road racers were at Mosport for the opener. Here are the
goods;
>
> First up, François...
> "Glad to say that after three attempts I finally finished
> with the pack at what I consider to be one of the tough races in Ontario (18
> laps, 1100 metres of climbing; great gadget this Polar HRM). I started to
> cramp up a bit at the 12th lap but managed to hold off full-blown cramps
> until the end. It gets better every year so, at this rate, I should get on
> the podium within 4-5 years."
>
> Brad…
> "Not a lot to report from this guy ... Vet B race had a good pace,
> solid climbing pace ... lots of riders, and my fears that a lot of the
> top Vet Bs would move to other categories was unfounded ... there is
> going to be some great Vet B racing this season ... I hung in the
> group and finished in the top 25 I believe, was not a player in the
> race ... season opener ... good to see the gang. I was riding near to
> Geoff for the last couple of laps, and on the last lap sprint he gets
> ready to hammer and out drops his left crank!! ... I don't know what
> he's been eating ... never seen that before ... maybe those Bounty
> candy bars... "
>
> After reading what Brad had said about Geoff's luck, I asked Geoff for
> comment and if he was riding his new Red Cinelli, which looks fast
> standing still. The "red rocket" as I call it.
>
> Geoff…
> "Well on Sunday it was the "red lemon"...the thing was unraveling beneath
> me, kilo by kilo. First hint of problems came going up the climb to the
> finish. Halfway through the race I decided to give the small ring a try and
> the thing derailed so, the only resistance was air. Somebody yells out
> "chain off" however I had enough momentum and I managed to rail it back
> again and replied with a "chain on". Approx three laps later I decided again
> to shift down and this time the thing lets go with a forceful whiplash
> sending the chain in a 360 degree loop hanging off my rear pulley, so
> shifting back on in this case was impossible. As I jumped off the lemon and
> reached back to unravel one of the race support technicians asked if I
> needed a push.. I managed to reply "yes" in amongst a hail of obscenities
> directed at the lemon. Got going again and at this time the pelo was just
> over the brow of the hill and I put the head down and gave chase gaining
> contact a half lap later...if you leave these pursuits too long you may as
> well kiss the pelo good bye. So every thing seemed fine and dandy again but
> little did I realize what final betrayal the lemon had in store. The last
> lap things were bunching up just prior to the final climb but I managed to
> maintain good position and did a fairly normal climb still feeling fairly
> fresh for this time of year but not very confident of my fitness ( I have a
> about 350 Kilo's of road miles YTD ) but still managed to crest the hill in
> about top 15 ...so I start giving it fairly hard and the lemon decides enough
> is enough and responds with a decisive left crank releasing blow. I managed
> to stay upright with my left foot dangling in the breeze and drifting to a
> stop some 300 meters from the finish. Coasted back and retrieved the crank
> threw the lemon in the car and finished off the day by reporting
> a "DNF" to the commie to forgo a $5.00 fine."
>
> Dave…
> "At the start yesterday between the juniors and Sen ''s there would
> have been 200 riders - it was a massive start. The pace was very fast
> and I'm guessing that within the first few laps we lost over half the
> field (average speed at race end = 39km/h). I felt ok but for some
> reason the legs didn't have any jump in them and felt a bit sluggish
> all day. I was usually in the top 15 for most of the day and took my
> turn up front for a couple of the climbs etc. The last lap was the
> crazy part where there were 4 serious crashes all at different points.
> The one 400m from the finish was right in front of me which had me on
> my brakes and swerving hard to the outside to miss it which pulled me
> back in the field for the finish. At the finish there would have been
> about 60 left in the main group (no one could get away, it was too
> fast) and I just couldn't seem to get into a decent position for the
> sprint and ended up about 16th. However, at the end of the day I have
> to say that it was a wild rush and I loved every minute of it!!"
>
> So the results for our somewhat reduced ranks:
> Brad Nickorick – 25th, Vet B
> Francois Faust - 50th, Vet B
> Gary Scully – DNF
> Geoff Banner – DNF (brutal luck, huh?)
> Dave Campbell – 32ND Sen3.
>
> Not too much on the teams agenda until May. So, it's back to training
> for some, ramping up the intensity for others and continuing on the
> path for all of us.
>
> Till next time.
> Ciao,
> Chris.
>
>
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