Durham Forest

October 2014.  A little late season mid-week trip to the legendary trails of Durham Forest.

Ian & Marty

Weekend Warriors

A rare opportunity yesterday for a few BlackFly riders to get together and ride through Durham.

Despite getting poked in the eye with a branch (hence the squint) at the 1 k. mark and riding the rest of the 25 k. with only one eye, a great ride.

And if you look real close, you can still see the red Shiraz at the corner of Dean's mouth from the night before.
Way to go Hurricane!

Enjoy the summer rides everyone and make sure to bring your camera along and contribute to the blog.

Good 'ol Durham

Durham-Glen Major. Not a cloud in the sky today on a sunny, yet cool day at Durham Forest. It's been over 3 years since I rode here for fun (except for races) but for Stitt, it's his new backyard. Lucky guy! We started out on the Glen Major side, went all the way to the bottom before we worked our way back to the cars. After a short break we tackled a little more of the Durham trails and then headed home for some family time and good eats. Nice day!

Icebreaker 2009 Podiums

Black Fly Racing - 2nd place, Team Challenge!

Dean - 2nd place, Men 40-49 and our old teammate, Keith in 3rd

Denis - 1st Place, Men 30-39

The Icebreaker

Durham Forest. What started out to be a very cold morning ended up being a fairly warm day - thanks to the sun. I think all of us were overdressed because of the early chilliness and during the race we were trying to peel off some extra layers when we could. The course had it's snow and ice patches requiring some extra patience and skill but overall it was pretty "floaty".

The Black Fly's were out in full force today bringing home lots of early season hardware: Our 5 person team came in 2nd overall, Dean finished 2nd in Men 40-49, and Denis won his Men 30-39 category. We also welcomed Ian into our team and he kicked some butt today even after racing in the Tour of Pelham the day before. Good job fellas! For the full results, click here.
Clockwise from the top:

1. Derrick and Drew before the start.
2. Dean, Marty, Justin and Ian enjoying the sun after the race.
   
3. Marty, Drew, Denis, Dean and Jody are ready to race!
4. Marty finishing.
5. The Vanderhoek's
   
6. Jody finishes (on a cross bike!)
7. Ian looking at the end.
8. The Hurricane is blowing through!
9. Post race chat with Dean, Marty and Jody.
   

Durham Durango

September 10, 2006. Uxbridge. Some cold drinks and an outdoor BBQ at Deaner's place was a nice treat after yet another afternoon of racing, this time up the road in Durham Forest. Sadly, this event hasn't been organized since but when they do I'm sure we'll be there. Dean and I both earned 3rd places in our categories and were able to ride together for most of the race. Stitt had our team's first in-race mechanical with a broken chain but was able to fix it and finish the course. Nice job guys!

The Icebreaker 2005

April 10, 2005. Uxbridge. Yup, we started on snow and ice. I guess that's why they call it The Icebreaker. I haven't been back to this classic since but I mean to. A pretty cool race through the trails of Durham and Glen Major to kick start the Ontario MTB season. I remember seeing my first cyclocross bike at this event and thinking "are these idiots actually riding road bikes?" Now that I think about it, riding CX would work pretty well on this course since it's not too techy and there are some long stretches on the gravel roads. Hmmm. Now that I have my own cross bike...




It was a fun day and even though it was early in the season, the temps got up to around 20C. I imagine most of us were completely overdressed. Hurricane Dean even stormed in for a post race visit.