24hrs of Summer Solstice

So, back in the winter we heard the disappointing news that there would be no Hot August Nights 24hr race this year. Our premier event of the season was cancelled!  Making lemonade from lemons is our specialty though and we decided to enter a team in the 24hrs of Summer Solstice.  Great decision!

The weekend was a great success.  Although our numbers were down (missing key riders like Stitt, Marty, Muller, Ian and Adam “the turn coat” Herring) and we weren’t able to secure a site with power or water, we all had a great time.  The course was VERY fast (but longer at 18km) and VERY dusty making the night laps a lot like driving in thick fog.

The icing on the cake was that we had perfect weather.  We dodged the extreme heat of earlier in the week and it didn’t even threaten rain until we were packing up to leave.  The only rain we had was chocolate ;) 

Next year we’ll be sure to be quick enough to get a powered site so that we can have those Xmas lights we keep yearning for!

Let’s make it a new ritual fellas!                

Lake to Lake 29er

Some BlackFly's before the race (on the left)

Yesterday a few of the Black Fly's embarked on the "new" L2L course.  We were all quite used to the previous 50km course across the Niagara Peninsula with the mix of road, gravel and singletrack so we weren't sure what to expect this year.

This new course had some sections of the old L2L course as well as parts of the Squeezer, albeit in a backwards direction.  The bottom of Hydro Hill was our start, which they made us climb twice.

The starting point was at Brock and the finish was only 15 minutes drive away.  This was a great bonus for the drivers as they didn't have to spend an extra 1/2 hr in the car.

It ended up being a great MTB course with plenty of great singletrack riding.  Hopefully they will run it again next year because if they do, I'm sure we'll be there again.

Marty in the start

Riders making their way up Hydro Hill.  No Black Fly's walking here.