May 20th 2008 - 1:58pm
Bromont Canada Cup weekend report
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| Thanks to Sebastien Desbordes for the pictures |
Bromont, QC;
For as long as I can remember I don't recall racing the Bromont Canada Cup in the dry. Chilly weather, rain, mud, waterproof gear and melting brake
pads are usually the common, but last weekend was different story. Mister Sunshine and Mrs. Blue Sky made sure that the track stayed dry all weekend long
and I didn't hear one single rider complain about it! The only guy or two who might have complained would have been my former teammates
Luke Kitzanuk (Giant Bicycles) and Geoff Pendrel (Devinci Pinkbike) because these guys are rad in shitty conditions! Unfortunately, they didn't
make the trip East this year.
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| Teammate Dylan Morley on his way to a 4th place in the Junior Ex |
So, who were the guys to watch last weekend? The first rider which comes to my mind is obviously last year's race winner Steve Smith
from Nanaimo BC. This 18 year old Cove rider and Red Bull athlete is by far Canada's fastest rider right now and seeing him riding during
practice proved he was definitely the guy to watch. Unfortunately, Steve crashed hard near the bottom and lost at least 8 seconds, finishing
2nd behind Geritt Beytagh from Morewood bikes USA. Geritt who finished 3rd last year in Bromont, is one of US's strongest riders.
Andrew Mitchell (Cove), my winter training partner and one of my favorites for this race, ended up taking the 7th spot. Drew had a tough
year in 2007, crashing and getting injured more than his share and I'm glad to see him slowly getting back to the top. Watch this guy this season,
he's up to something big.
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| Pro men podium |
My new teammates did really well this weekend too! Charles Alexandre Dube (Intersport/DHracer.com) took the 3rd rank while Justin Brown
(Intersport/DHracer.com) finished in 5th, leaving the 4th position to American Curtis Keene (Specialized USA). Let's not forget LP Leonard
who's riding Xprezo's new downhill bike, in 6th place. LP always does well in Bromont, for some reason this mountain fits him! Completing the top 10,
Mathieu Laurin (Lama Cycles/Morewood) in 8th, my roommate Dean Tennant (Primary/Devinci) and Christopher Herndon (Specialized USA)
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| My new colors for 2008 |
I wished I was up there with Charles and Justin, but it seems my racing switch wasn't on for that race. I had a pretty bad crash early on
Saturday afternoon, which resulted in some bruised ribs. At the
end of the day I went back up and tried to go for a run to see how it felt, but I was forced to walk some sections because it was hurting so much. I went back
home with my fingers crossed, hoping to get better for the race. On the following day I woke up in pain and at that point I didn't know if I should race or not. I
decided to give it a try and wrapped my rib cage with some tape, applied some 'Deep Cold' and took a few pills. I don't recall being affected by the pain
during the race, but according to my 23rd place, there was obviously something going on!
Too bad though, I was feeling very good on the track before the injury. I was having fun and I really felt like I could do well. Oh well,
it's a long season so I'll have plenty of time to bounce back from this one.
Fortunately, the race's after-party was sick!!! There were more than 65 people packed into one condo! Throw in some fireworks, even some mortalkombat-style
streetfighting and you have a crazy party ha ha.
Cheers,
Dom
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