It’s official – The 2013 Offroad Ontario’s XC season has begun with a very well organised and fun course hosted by The Northumberland Trail Riders (NTR).
Hamming it up before the start of the afternoon race.
As always, I thank you very much for stopping by my blog and hopefully reading it, saying hello on the trails and for your support. Your purchase allows me to service my photography equipment – nothing is impervious to dust and rain – as well as to help me get to the next race. I take my photography very seriously and I strive to capture the essence of riding and racing while showcasing our beautiful province. Photography to me is an art form and riding is just plain fun!
Over 175 riders came out to the first OO race of the season.New timing system that even allows us to check out the action live via mobile device!While pre-riding Saturday night this friendly horse came up to me and posed for a short photo session after he had his fill of nuzzling my helmet. Guess he was looking for carrots!Tucking in the bikes for the night.Emily Head getting the hole shot until a gopher grabbed her front wheel. Bad gopher!Ripping up the trails with Ladies A rider Jill Carney.Racing through a barn makes this one classic, and fun, event. Thank you to the Cochrane’s for inviting us over to your beautiful property!!
As always, kudos to all the OO, NTR and countless other volunteers for having made this race a reality. Rider feedback was very positive with quite a few saying this was their favourite race venue!
It was a busy day at the Ganaraska Forest as OCMC, ODSC and Trail Tours held three different schools on May 11, 2013. CGP was on hand to catch the action for all three groups.
All event photos can be foundHERE. Click on the 2013 album and find the appropriate album according to your instructor.
If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to ride a bike and don’t have the equipment you owe it to yourself to check out Trail Tours. Steve Weycamp, owner, and his staff offer excellent instruction catered to the beginner right up to the seasoned rider looking for tips on how to become a more efficient and faster rider. This weekend, Trail Tours hosted ODSC as well as their own group for on-hand riding clinics.
OCMC Enduro School Rider, James, learning the secrets to riding like a pro.
OCMC also offered a clinic geared towards the enduro rider. Brian Wojonarowski, John Head and Blair Sharpless led riders through various skills teaching the finer points of riding enduros with the ultimate goal of becoming a faster competitor. This was a perfect lead into Sundays Mini Pine, an 85 km enduro and second race of Offroad Ontario’s Provincial Championship Enduro Series.
Eager Trail Tour Riders waiting for instruction and their Honda ride.
As for CGP, well I ended up racing the Mini-Pine as I realised I forgot a key component to my flash as I was driving along the 401 Sunday morning. In reality I could have taken photos without the flash but I knew we’d be deep in the woods and really wanted the colours to pop. And, frankly, I don’t do half-a$$ jobs so if I’m going to do something I do it right. Making my decision to race an easy one. And boy, did I have fun!! Plus, my friends, and fellow off-road instructors Jamie Kowitz, Tammie Wilson and Allison Grummet were there in full action. These ladies can shred!
Kudos to the Offroad Ontario and OCMC crew for putting together a great race. I believe over 200 riders came out regardless of the wacky weather and were greeted by lots of rocks, roots and whoops. Fun stuff! Although I will admit that my triceps are sore from the deep whoops.
Photo Credit: Mark. Mini Pine 2013 Ladies A – Tammie, Cecile, Jaime
Next up is the first XC race of the season in Colborne, Ontario. Check out NTR’s website for more race information. CGP will be on hand with camera this time so clean that bike and gear and smile for the camera!
Jordan Szoke and Dan Johnson are numbers 1 and 2 respectively in Canada, and I was stoked to have them as my trials instructors this past weekend.
Organised by Bob Billyard, the skills clinics were held for novice to advanced riders and included a mixture of young, and the ‘young at heart’. The advanced session was held Saturday while the instruction on Sunday was reserved for children, and novice trial riders. Although I consider myself a seasoned veteran with some decent skills on the trails I would not classify myself as an advanced trials rider, and so chose to attend Sundays instruction. I have owned a trials bike for over 10 years (funny enough – it used to belong to Jordan’s dad) and have dabbled with trials here and there. The majority of the time though I simply love to ride my trials bike through the trails for it light weight, excellent traction and fun factor.
Canadian ‘Trials des Nations’ and No.1 Canadian Trials Rider Jordan Szoke
The ratio between instructors to riders was high insuring participants a high level of learning. I did not know what to expect and came into the clinics wishing to boost my confidence level and up my skills, especially clutch control. Combined with a great practice area and a high quality of instruction I was able to achieve my goals. The track set up was great – allowing us to grow with each new set of drills. There were easy lines and more challenging ones – logs, hills, rocks, boulder, sand, off-camber lines, more logs, tight tree turns were some of the obstacles for us to use.
My personal hang-ups was the log at the top of the short but steep hill which caused me to flip my bike with me tumbling back down the hill breaking my kill switch and ripping off my rear fender in the process. There was also the rock face we had to climb – it was a small rock but large enough to spit me off my bike. Despite this school has never been so much fun.
Lunch was included and during our water breaks Dan and Jordan turned on the heat and gave us a wicked side-show. The only better ones to watch were the young kids zooming, and hopping along on their OSSA electric bikes. It was cool to see both our current and our future riders in action.
A huge thank you goes to Bob Billyard for organising the clinics. Bob is a distributor for OSSA trials bikes, and a vast assortment of trials gear such as top-ranked Gaerne boots, and Airoh helmets. A wide gamut of sizes of sizes are carried – from children to adults – so I was stoked to find out that he could order me a pair of size 5, or 6 mens trials boots. I’ve been wanting a pair for a long time and can’t wait to get my feet in them. I’ve also got my eye on a sweet Airoh helmet, with matching red pants and jerseys. Feel good, look good and ride good…it’s all good in my books!!
See you next year!
I’d like to say this is me but Dan Johnson, also a Trials des Nations’ Canadian Team Member may have something to say about that.
The off-road season in Ontario has now officially started with the completion of the 2013 Beagle Bash Enduro and Trail Ride. Click here to view PHOTOS of this fun annual LVDR event.
Despite the cool temps over 100 eager off-roaders drove to beautiful Norfolk-Haldimand counties to find hidden forests teeming with sweet single track. As for me…the bright sunny blue skies were no match for my new almighty flash that I purchased this winter. Yes…I sold my Suzuki 2002 GS500 and bought a flash and with the money left over I was happy to be able to contribute to the household income by putting dinner on the table for a few nights! I realised I do not have the time to ride my road bike with two young children and if I do have the time I would rather it be on the dirt. I am a dirty chick through and through 😉
Thanks to Doug Kent of the Lynn Valley Dirt Riders club I was able to pre-ride part of the course the day before in an effort to better plan my day for the big event. Although my KTM 200 did not like the 1C, flying snow and high winds we had on Saturday (nor me for that matter), we were liking the flowing trails and tacky soil. Sadly though, as much as I tried to plan for taking photos of all rider, I was not able to due to the different starting times and options on the course. To those riders that I missed I apologise. I do my best to plan my routes efficiently but sometimes, logistically, I just cannot be in two places at once.
For the 2013 year CGP will be on hand at most Ontario Off-Road events (trail rides, enduros and XC) in an effort to record the fun times and great trails that are available throughout our province. Thanks to all the LVDR riders, and countless other volunteers who selfishly donate their time to bring great events. I would also like to personally take this time to thank Mike Van Hove for his assistance Saturday. As always, if you purchase a photo I thank you in advance as this helps me get to the next event.
The Beagle Bash was a great kick off to this years riding season. Let the fun begin. Braaaap!
It’s official – The 2013 Offroad Ontario’s XC season has begun with a very well organised and fun course hosted by The Northumberland Trail Riders (NTR).
