Yaletown Grand Prix

[Josh.E]

What an AWESOME race.
Right in the middle of yaletown, loading docks FULL of spectators, a really fun, tight course with lots of corners, and a field of almost75 people in the cat 3/4 mens race. Definitely the coolest race I've attended yet. EVERYBODY who races in TS should attend this one next year. Bastion square x 5.
Gavin and I got there a bit early, and it was drizzling a bit, so the roads were just slightly wet and greasy. After getting our team "tent" set up in race alley (tent being the trunk lid of my car as we sat on the back bumper), we decided to walk the course to check it out. http://www.yaletowngrandprix.com/coursemap.html
Walking the course made it look very sketchy and tight, and, looking at the hay bales on all the corner exits, combined with the damp, greasy, roads I was feeling a bit like," maybe this isn't such a great idea".
We went back to the "tent" after killing some time and got ready.
Tom and James from pro city cycles were over there too, and we ran into them while we were waiting. After that we went out to do a few laps. The roads had dried off by then, and actually riding the course made it seem a lot less intimidating. The s turn in the middle of the race was a blast .

The race itself was really fun. Fast pace at the start, big pack. You really had to hold your speed coming out of corners to not have to work too hard to get back on a wheel accelerating back out. The pack got split into two very early into the race, with a lead pack of 20 or so shelling the rest of the field. Both Gavin and I made the split and were riding comfortably in the lead pack. Tom from pro city was also there.

I'll let Gavin report on his race.....
My race went really well up until the last corner of the last lap. I had moved my way up over the final 5 laps from the back of the lead pack, to around 6th or 7th place. I went into the final two corners right on Tom's wheel, probably at close to 35km/h, somewhere around the top 8 or so in the pack. This is literally 100 yards from the finish of the race. Another rider dove by me on the inside, way too hot, and swung out into Tom. Tom checked his line to avoid this guy, and put a pedal into the hay bails, which caused him to start swerving around. He almost recovered, but went back sideways and went down. I was full on my brakes, as he rolled beside me, and his bike slid in front of me. Then suddenly his bike hit the hay bails and jackknifed, flipping right up in front of me, and causing me to go over the bars. I managed to turn my body sort of sideways, and I ended up landing on a bike and sliding (not sure if it was my bike or Toms I ended up on). I think it must have looked pretty spectacular, as the marshals came up to us pretty wide eyed, asking if we were OK. I wasn't injured, except for a small scape on my shin, and a bruise on my ass. Tom went over to the medical tent to get checked out, as he went down pretty hard, and looked pretty shaken up. Last I saw him later on, he looked like he was going to be OK. Judging by how stiff I've gotten in the last few hours, I think Tom's gonna be one sore boy tomorrow.
The guy who cut the inside came around to apologize, and offered to buy us a beer. Too bad he can't buy us some upgrade points for a top ten finish! I don't know how many of the cat4's were actually still ahead of me by that point, but I can't imagine there was too many.

[jeremy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvancmji ... r_embedded

[Josh.E]

some pics
http://www.canadiancyclist.com/races10/ ... /index.htm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/realaworld ... 278357623/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/realaworld ... 278357623/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/realaworld/4753864718/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/realaworld/4753864496/

and check out the size of the field
http://www.flickr.com/photos/realaworld/4753224693/

[Roland]

Ouch, rough luck. It's gotta be tough to be so close and then have it taken away. Crits are like gambling. That sounds like an awesome race to do, maybe next year.

[gav_eaton]

Well, I have to agree with Josh that that was a pretty sweet race - and that we need to field a much bigger team next year. The course was very cool - a bit intimidating as Josh mentioned upon first viewing, but not too bad once you figured the lines out.

Josh summed up the pre-race and atmosphere perfectly, so I'll just report briefly on my race - which was brief.

Josh and I made the split in the field easily, and were both starting feel very comfortable in the lead group when disaster struck mid-race for me. I'm not entirely sure what happened, but there was a bit of chain-reaction in the group, and after two riders to the right of me went down sliding into my path, I too hit the deck with no where to go. Not impressed! I sustained minor bike damage (mostly little scratches) and minor body damage, so I thought I would wait a lap and jump back in - by alas, I had bent my derailleur hanger - so I had to call it quits. Very frustrating - especially as it was only the mid-point in the race, I was feeling very very good, and some other boneheads panic maneuver. Oh well - that's how crits go!

Don't worry Dave - your beautiful wheels were the first thing I checked, and they came out completely unscathed. Neither scratch nor crack - but a tad out of true, so I'm getting them tuned up for you.

While I didn't get too much road rash (mostly on my ass), I did land very hard on my butt, and it is extremely sore today. Having had this type injury before - I suspect I've maybe cracked my tail bone. Super uncomfortable, and I'm having hard time walking, sitting and lifting - may take the weekend off the bike to let it heal a bit. Does this mean that I came out of this race with 'my ass in a sling'? How's yours Josh? I know you were a bit hurtin' on the ferry like me.

Very unfortunate crash for Josh as well - I was a bit perplexed standing on the finish line ready to cheer on his win - when he never appeared! The other guys and I went hunting for Tom and Josh and found them collecting themselves just before the last corner. Very glad Josh was came out with little injury as well - but I think Tom got his bell rung a bit. Hope he's doing ok.

So all in all, a great great race and super fun course - but unfortunately our team fell victim to others' inexperience and carelessness. But I am definitely going back next year for more - and you all are coming too, so start collecting your brownie points now.

Is it bad that Josh and I spent the day in Yaletown and both came home with sore butts?

[Rita]

So sorry to hear about your arses, guys! That's really hard luck. Hope both of you will be okay soon again.
I have to say, you're not selling this Yaletown thing to us very well