Training For The Squeezer

It's hard to believe the Squeezer is upon us. I've been training for the past couple of weeks. I went with Shawn and Jay to Kelso and to the Short Hills with Shawn, Pete and Chris.
I think I'm ready to knock some time off of last years time.

Here's a Vid from Kelso

Sad News

Michael R. Collins

February 14, 1944-July 24, 2009

Most of the people that know me, know that my Father was battling Cancer for the past two years. I am deeply saddened that on Friday July 24th at 10:00 pm he passed away. I will miss him greatly for the rest of my life. It's hard to believe he is gone.

This year I won't hear him cheer me on at Selena St. in the Squeezer but I know he'll still be watching from above.

I love you Dad

Race Update

Its hard to believe how fast this season is going by. We have had seven 8x12 races already.

Race 1

May 13th finished 123th with a time of 1:01:54

I had a hard time with the run. The course was unfamiliar to me so I just wanted to do the best I could.

After that everything went for a crap!

I came down with a terrible case of lung congestion. I couldn't breathe at all. I was sick for a month.

Race 2

DNS due to being sick.

Race 3

June 10th finished 138th with a time of 1:01:50

Still sick but able to breathe a little better.

Race 4

June 24th finished 124th with a time of 1:07:53

Started to feel like my old self again. I was having a good ride and I felt stronger. The only problem was that my rear tire went flat 3/4 through the race.

I was upset by the flat but happy because the speed was coming back.

Race 5

July 8th finished 97th with a time of 0:54:54

Now I'm feeling faster. 7 mins faster than the first race. I also had my personal best run so far. Usually I'm almost last in the run but this time I was about mid field at the start.

Well the season is past the half way point and I'm finally riding the way I was at Easter time.

I'm going to give it all I've got for the rest of the season and maybe we'll pull off some decent

finishes.

Race 6

July 22nd finished 88th with a time of 0:55:49

The race course had some greasy spots due to rain but it felt good. Until I hit a spot on Suzanne Trail that looked good but had no traction at all. My bike slid out and I hit a tree with my handle bar, my neck, my shoulder, then landed on my back. I was a little bruised, and my bike was fine.

It's probably a good thing I'm not really fast.

Race 7

Aug 5th finished88 with a time of 0:54:05

Not much to say about this ride except that I kept thinking about my Dad. I was hoping he was watching from above. I just wanted to get through the race with a decent time and get home safe. Enough said.

Race 8

August 19 finished 94th of 126 with a time of 0:51:42

Best race of the year! This was the last race so I pushed myself as hard as I could. I thought I was going to puke a couple of times from climbing hard. I knew it was going to be a good time and I'm quite happy with the improvement during the whole season.

Tour of Hamilton

Happy Easter:

Due to the fact that I have a very supportive wife, I was able to get in a ride this morning. I started from home and headed to the lakefront. Basically I did an around the Bay ride, but when I get to downtown Hamilton I head for the escarpment. Then I head East to the rail trail that takes you to the top of Mt Albion Falls. From there I take the Red Hill Valley Trail home. I have no idea how far it is but it has to be at least 45km's. I did the tour in 2hr5min. I felt strong through the whole ride. In fact I think I could have put in about 15 more km's without feeling like I over did it.
The Paris/Ancaster Race is coming and it looks like I won't be making it. I'm not too upset about missing it.
The good news is I will be competing in the Liberty! Bicycles 8x12 Series in St. Catharines on Wednesday nights starting in May. I registered this week and I'm excited about it.
The schedule looks like this:
May 13 & 27
June 10 & 24
July 8 & 22
Aug 5 & 19
If you're in the area stop by and enjoy the fun.

More race dates to come. I'll keep you posted.
Steve

Riding with Stitches

Hi everyone: This week I had an unfortunate accident. Cutting my left hand on the web between my thumb and index finger. The result was five stitches. It was very difficult to grab and hold onto things. I knew that riding would be painfull but I was more concerned about pulling a stitch. I decided to ride as far as I could. With a little help from the good people at Advil the ride went smooth. The only time I had trouble was shifting in and out of the chainrings.

I rode with some people that I met on the trails today. A couple of them sounded interested in the organizing a club for group rides. I hope that we can get something started. Riding in a group is a lot more enjoyable than riding solo. We have a lot of choices of where to ride so it isn't always the same route. Getting together and sharing the reasons why we ride mountain bikes as a club, makes for a strong community minded organization that can do more to help others.

Hope you like the picture of the goofy looking guy and his new bike. There is a certain type of joy that can only come from hitting some muddy trails!

So long for now,

Steve

Hi everybody! Training is going well but this little cold snap outside has me a little down. Oh sure I could go riding but I started getting used to not having to wear three layers of clothes.
I found this video that was taken at the start of the '08 Squeezer. My cousin Ron is the guy on my left. Sometimes I feel like I'll always be trying to catch up to him. One thing's for sure, I'll always keep trying!

I like this picture taken at the 2008 Off road sqeezer.

This is a '98 Devinci Cameleon. I've had it for several years but a knee injury prevented me from riding for quite a while. Last Spring I decided to get back on and see what I could do. Four months later, I was 50 lbs lighter and headed to my first race. The 32 km race was challenging and fun. My race time was 1hr 59mn. I was extremely happy with my finish. The most memorable part was hearing my dad cheering me on at the last hill before the finish line. I didn't see him but I sure did hear him. After I crossed the finish line and came to a stop, my dad, his wife Colleen and my wife Cindy all gave me a big hug for finishing. It is a moment that will stay with me forever.

The 2009 Squeezer is going to be the big annual event for us. Although I will now be riding a 2007 Specialized Stumpjumper. This new bike is awesome! I can`t wait to race it. This bike handles like a dream. Pictures are coming soon. See ya soon. Steve.

Upcoming Races

Hey Y'all: Race season is starting soon and the training is going well. Long distance rides are feeling strong now. Technical rides are better than ever. I don't know if I'm going to make any races in April, but when May hits we'll be racing for sure. It's amazing that I'm planning a season of races since I've only been doing this for about ten months!

The whole family is excited about this summer. We are looking to have a lot of fun.

Update coming soon for the first race of the '09 season for ICU Racing.