24hrs of Hot August Nights

Albion Hills. Even though the title says Hot August Nights, it would be more appropriate to call this event "Rather Wet & Cool August Overcast Days and Nights". This so-called summer has been one of the wettest I can remember and for a mountain bike race team like ours it makes for some very sketchy riding. Everything is different in the wet. Your control, cornering and braking skills all need to be re-dialed. Then you throw in some night laps where the whole Point and Shoot theory becomes Point and - oh shit, I'm heading straight for that tree! For sure I was dreading my night lap but, in the end you take it a bit easier and focus on 'git r done!'

Our campsite, #162 was pretty sweet for sure. We practically had the whole site tarped and tented (or vanned), with a microwave, tunes, flood lights, bike stand to make camp life a little easier. All in all I can't imagine doing this stuff, even when the weather turns crappy, with a better bunch of friends. Thanks Jackf?&%s!!!


Dean and Ian at the start of the 1st lap. I'm assuming the Hurricane is strategically drafting here.


Marty going down the switchback so fast you can barely tell it's him. But it is.


I'm gonna eat you McChico. Mmmmmmm.


Jon was a little muddy after his 1st lap.


Damn!


Relay exchange between the Wild Thang and the Hurricane.

For more pictures, click here.

Yeah Mon - Black Fly in Jamaica

Well, it seems as though Black Fly's have gone international this summer! Sandy and I just returned from a beautiful trip to Jamaica where "everyting was irie, mon". No singletrack, but there was a bit of doubletrack. No wait, those were the roads!! Anyway, I thought this would be a fun way to include a little piece of our team while on holiday.

24 hrs later...

Upon closer inspection it was revealed that the bike I had lined up for the 24hrs had a couple of cracks in the BB area. Don't worry, no panic. Maybe they were just hairline cracks in the paint... or are they in the carbon itself? Unfortunately, the latter. I guess it wasn't meant to be. Sniff, sniff.

Captain's 24hr Ride

Oooooooooooooooohhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hardwood 8hrs

Summer 8hrs

Hardwood Hills. Finally we got hit with crappy weather. After 5 years of near perfect weather during races, the sky opened up on us. It was overcast at the start but as the day continued, it drizzled and then at about 3pm, it poured! You can tell by the pics, how muddy it got. Just a bunch of boys playing in the mud! We had 9 Black Fly's up at Hardwood on two teams and both squads finished in the top-10 under less than ideal conditions. Hopefully we'll have to wait another 5 years for weather like this.


"King of the Mud" socks


A couple of muddy finishers!

Small towner in the big city!

Tonight's Don ride with Muller, Fox, Tony and Marty took us from downtown T.O. into the "Upper Don" up to Sunnybrook and back down through the "Lower Don". All told, about 30kms of riding and of that, 15-20 km's of dirt. All in the middle of 5 million people. We even bumped into Denis "Wild" Thang, who was out for a post-work training ride. Giver!

Country Riding

Huron County. I always look forward to a ride or two in the area where I grew up. Nothing but blue skies, quiet rolling roads and a few local cows to cheer you on. A bit different from the busy city but a nice change, for sure.

Today, it's even a Greater day!

Allow me to introduce Muller's new pleasure!!

Lake to Lake

Niagara. M-U-D-D-Y. Ya, that's what you get when it rains for 3 days leading up to a mountain bike race. Don't get me wrong, it was tons of fun out there - slipping and sliding, jumping through puddles, getting covered head to toe with wet, unknown mucky dirt. Tony even described the conditions as "icy". Not too far from the truth.

For our efforts we were all rewarded with a dip in the lake, a huge plate of BBQ goodness, a nap in the park and for some, a podium appearance. Not bad. Not bad at all.


Six very muddy and very happy finishers!


The Drewman with his derailleur-less ride.


Happy Father's Day!


2nd Place - 2 years in a row!

Today is a great day!

tWell, it's been a long time coming, but today's the day I got my new ride. I just thought I'd share some pictures of the "opening ceremony".

Cheers,
Ryan

Greetings from the new team addition.

Ride for Heart

Today was a great day of riding for Marty, Cam and myself as we completed a 50km stretch on the Gardiner/DVP. The morning was a little cool but with continuous spinning our bodies quickly warmed up. A ton of participants as usual and saw a lot of little ones in their Chariots (can't wait to pull Justin next year). What a great way to spend our Sunday. They should close the Gardiner/DVP at least once a month...hmm, I'm pretty sure that wouldn't go over too well.

Spring 8 hrs

Mansfield. Yesterday Black Fly Racing was one of the best represented clubs at the event with 10 guys racing on 2 different teams. It was pretty cool knowing you had a clubmate out on the lap with you. Both teams worked hard all day and one of us even got on the podium. Marty, Ian, JonD, Denis and Dean were in 4th and 5th place most of the afternoon, and kept closing the gap until we overtook the team ahead of us for a 3rd place finish. What an effort!

The 11km circuit was challenging as usual, with an opening 750 metre climb straight up. The next 5km was fairly "easy" until about the 7km mark where we were hit with numerous steep climbs and technical descents down to the finish line. It was also a little sandy in some parts especially after thousands of sets of wheels went flying through the corners. This resulted in minor crashes by Chris H. and the Deaner.

Cabin #3 was our home away from home where a few of us stayed over on Friday night and the whole group hung out after laps. The weather was perfect with only a couple of drops of rain on Saturday afternoon. This event is defintely a staple in our season and who knows, maybe we'll send 3 teams next year.
Clockwise from top left:

1. Jonny D. at the start.
   
2. Dean flying down to the finish
3. Chris H handing off at the transition.
4. Stitt 1st race after nearly a year off.
5. Denis with his head down at the start.
6. Tony after his first lap
7. Mr. Muller is done.
   
8. "Dirt Face" (not a teammate of ours but a funny image nonetheless!)
9. Ian around the last turn.

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!