September, 25th 2007 - 11:59pm
Lucky number 13
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On my way to a win
Photo Vincent Lacombe |
Bromont, QC;
Imagine 50 people starting at the same time on a 6.7km downhill course with the objective of being the first at the bottom? This is exactly the concept
of the "Échappée Freeride" event and it was held last week end in Mt. Ste-Anne. The course was awesome, some really nice downhill sections, jumps, berms,
lots of pedaling sections, one uphill... name it, it was all there! The winner was determined by the best cumulative time of 3 runs... yes 3! We had
45 minutes between our runs, so it was physically very demanding.
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My Giant "Make-ready" Glory DH
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Jean Rouleau
I know I could do good on this type of race and I decided to put all the chances on my side. I requested the help of Jean Rouleau to modify my downhill
rig to make it lighter and pedal efficient. Jean is one of the most amazing high brand mountain bike technicians around and it's no surprise
if the Mojo Orange World Cup team asked him to look after their rider's bikes during the Ste-Anne world cup earlier this season. Jean works at the
Intersport of Bromont, so if you are looking for this magic touch on your bike, you know where to go now.
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| Jean's first "Make-ready" project |
Building the secret weapon
Jean was very excited by this project; he stopped by one night and brought with his tool box a Rock Shox Lyrik solo air. The fork allowed us to shave
2 pounds, while making the bike easier to pedal and more nible. I installed lighter tubes and replaced the 8 inch rotors for a 7 at the front and a 6
at the back. But I saved the best for last. Jean modified the rear shock by placing an internal spacer to reduce the stroke length which decreased
the rear travel to 6 inch while making the head angle a little slacker since it was too steep with the single crown fork. We ended up with a bike
4 pounds lighter, easy to pedal and so much fun to ride!!! I did some testing during the week and I was stocked with the results.
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The podium
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The race
The first race started on a flat portion followed by a little uphill before going down the mountain. I quickly took the lead, never looked back and
won with a time of 12m10s followed by Charles Alexandre Dubé (Cove bikes) and Louis-Philippe Léonard (Cycle Lama/Oakley/Base). The second race started
at the top of the uphill since most of the riders complained about the uphill (pussies...) So we started 50 racers at the same time immediately on
the downhill portion, it must have been something to see all those racers sprinting down the hill... Unfortunately, someone hit Hans Lambert who ended
7th at the jr. Worlds by the way, congratulation Hans! He ended up sideways in the track and I had to brake to avoid hitting him... 10 riders must have
passed and I had to catch up for half of the race. I eventually managed to take the lead and I won again. With a lead of 34 seconds on 2nd place Nick
Dignard, my plan was to ride safe and stay away from any mechanical problems.
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| A little chat after the race |
The final round
I got stuck early in the race in a massive chaos! Many riders crashed in a tight section and blocked the track. I lost precious seconds and meanwhile,
Louis-Philippe Léonard (Cycle Lama/Oakley/Base) flew alone in the lead. I spent the remaining of the race trying to catch him up and I only started
to see him near the botto. I sprinted as hard as I could and ended up 2nd, 2 seconds back from him. I still took the overall win with a 47 seconds margin
on the 2nd place that finally went to Louis-Philippe Léonard since Nick Dignard took a wrong turn and then blew up his tire. Oh, did I mentioned LP was
riding flat pedals!?!?! Quiet impressive, considering all the pedaling involved in this type of race!!! Congratulations to cross country rider Luc Proulx
who completed the podium.
The next race is the Chrome Fest in Mt. Blanc near Tremblant, where the winner will take home 1000$. I'll keep the same bike setup since the course
is short and mainly composed of berms. Take care!
| Échappée freeride, Mt. Ste-Anne QC Overall after 3 races (TOP 5) |
1 |
Dominick Ménard (Giant Bicycles Canada) |
35m38s |
2 |
Louis-Philippe Léonard (Cycle Lama/Oakley/Base) |
36m25s |
3 |
Luc Proulx (Xprezo) |
36m50s |
4 |
Hans Lambert (Sports aux puces) |
36m53s |
5 |
Vincent Tremblay (Devinci) |
36m55s |
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