Little 40k Jaunt

Just Marty and I doing a quick 40k or so on a Sunday after Broomwagon closed for the day. This was at the lighthouse on the Leslie Spit.

2013 Steaming Nostrils

That. Was. Tough.

Marty finished.  Thank God.

Marty and Adam

Adam & Marty

Chris L.  Don't crash hotshot!

Ian & Mike P.

Ian and Mike

ChrissyB

Amongst the Amish

Karl, Mark & Theo

More wintertime riding

Keep it coming so called winter...

It was snowing before the ride and we went out anyways.  

It got worse as the ride progressed.

The motorists must have thought we were crazy.

But what do they think when they see a cyclist actually enjoying themselves? 

After the ride in Brooklin, Jan 2013 (Stitt & Mart)

Fall 8hrs at Hardwood

Yesterday in what was probably the last race of the 2012 season, 5 Blackfly's + our team photopgrapher, William, went up to Hardwood to continue the tradition of the Fall 8hr race that was started last year.  Overcast sky's were in order but luckily it only rained for about 5 minutes but it made the roots and the rocks rather slippery.  It was a thinking-man's course, for sure.

Since it was a little cool and breezy, most of us used our cars for naps and incubators which is why we came up with a new category besides the fastest lap:  Who can stay awake the longest.  Nobody won.

The always smiling Drew-Man at the start.

Blazingly-fast ChrisL (The Lungs)

ChrissyB eating up the course!

Why so serious?

Thinking of the incubator...

Victoria's 100

This was from the Victoria's 100 at Mansfield on Sunday Aug 19th where Adam did the 80km in 5hr 9min and was 3rd in the 40+ age group.

"Felt not too bad, there are some nasty climbs at Mansfield that we don't see in the 8hr." - Adam, during the post-race media scrum.

2nd Annual Perch Run

Yesterday, 6 Black Fly's set out on the 2nd annual Perch Run with a 100km jaunt from Cam's house near Burford to the sunny beach town of Port Dover and back. The run down to the lake was very fast as we made the distance in 90min.  Coming back took a bit more effort since it was uphill and we swear the wind changed direction on us.  With the exception of a couple of douche bag drivers who must have been extremely inconvenienced by our little bike ride (remember, don't be a douche - ever!) the ride went off without any major issues.  Next year, let's get everybody out!!!

Perch Run 2012

Tour de Caledon

Had to share some of this amazing ride with everyone.  The below pic was taken at the top of Mt. Pleasant Road just a few roads east of good old Albion Hills.  You might not be able to make it out very well, but in the far distance IS the skyline of Toronto.  We left the city around 6:15AM, parked in King City and road over to Bolton and back along some of the most beautiful, rolling roads there are in the GTA.   About 90km in total.  A big thanks to my riding companions, Anthony & Nigel!    

 

SUMMER 8HRS

The Blackflys returned to the Summer 8hrs after a 2 year absence and came back with 2 top 10's including a 3rd Place!
The weather was perfect summer racing conditions and the course was very dry and dusty (name of the game this year) and as Hardwood always is, technical with lots of roots & rocks and twisty singletrack. 
Unfortunately, this caused a bunch of endo's including 2 by Hurricane Dean and a rather hard one by Mario.  Heal up, lads!
Young Justin entered his 2nd career race, this time choosing the running bike and runriding his way to a brand new Nerf football.  He climbed the 1st half all by himself and then coasted down to the finish.  Way to go, bud!

Cheers for a great time, guys!

Summer Epic 8 Hour Relay, Hardwood Hills, July 21 2012

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.

Black Fly Racing, Spring Epic 8 Hour Relay 2012

Broom Wagon/Black Fly group ride

From our group ride on Sunday.  We started at the shop, headed down to the Lake, rode west until we ran (haha) into the marathon.  We doubled back to the Spit, out to the lighthouse and back, up the Don path, and climbed Pottery.  In all, about 45km and the average speed was 25-35 kph.  The plan is to have a ride every Sun, leaving the shop at 9am.  No ride this Sun since it's Mommy's Day.