Tripleshot Cycling

I can’t say enough about what great event the ride was today. The weather could not have been better and Victoria really looked so amazing. There were so many people out there smiling and having fun. The course was just great, a great mix of terrain, well marked and lots volunteers out directing traffic and providing support. Paul O’ C makes every event he announces so exciting. It seems like everything went off smoothly topped off by an excellent meal at the end and that beer tasted so good. I really can’t say enough about it. A big shout out to all the organizers, volunteers and riders.

Hats off to all the kids, parents, and other volunteers who made today such a success. And to Lister for the vision needed to get the CrossFondo ball rolling and for all his time and effort invested in this project and in the kids.

What a great ride!

Martin

Great job to everyone involved. Loved the course, the "Driveway from Hell" and the rest. Great to see lots of familiar (old) faces under the beer tent. Super fun all around look forward to next year.

Thank you to all of the race organizers, sponsors and especially the volunteers for putting on another fantastic CrossFondo!

To everybody associated with this event, from the TS youth team and their parents and coaches, to the regular TS members who volunteered their time, to the landowners and local authorities who opened their gorgeous terrain, and to the sponsors who donated race infrastructure, comestibles, prizes, marketing support, and who all made us feel so good:
THANK YOU!

Personal highlights:

• The evident care, expertise, and sweat that went into organizing such a massive event with so many moving parts. I don't know the organizers beyond Lister and Joanna, but everything went off without a hitch from this rider's perspective. The whole experience was simultaneously professional and friendly.

• The many, many marshals showing the way and offering words of encouragement (sometimes including place and time gaps—so helpful for motivation!)

• The superb food and drink, supplied by awesome sponsors, served by friendly volunteers.

• Encouragement and gels from Andrew Attwell as I started to bonk in the Dump. It was a great comfort having expert physical and mechanical support throughout such a taxing ride.

• The eagerness and enthusiasm of all the Tripleshot youth team, even those stuck out in the middle of a patch of forest for hours. I saw maturity and a great sense of responsibility and community, which also reflects well on youth team coaches and parents, and on the Club as a whole.

• President Martin's speech about the Tripleshot (P. Lawless) ethos "the most important person on a ride is everyone else"—the day really exemplified that. It wasn't just the great beer, food, sunshine, and endorphins that fueled a super cozy, post-race vibe under the tents. I feel like this event has moved beyond a "simple" fundraiser for the youth team to our Club's highest-profile, premiere offering to Victoria's cycling community. It's fair to say everyone went home feeling pretty damn good about Tripleshot Cycling.

• The most reluctant Viking champion podium ceremony ever (which made me like this man even more than I already did):

• 

Personal notes for next year:

• 42mm tires and 45 PSI were the way to go for me; avoiding flats took an hour off last year's time!

• The climbing and technical parts felt waayyy more punishing this year (to this lazy roadie.) I'm a racing neophyte, but compared to the more traditional grass/sand/barrier CX races, this struck me as more of an XC MTB race with a few road bits. If I want to improve, clearly I need to ride up more hills and generally hit the MTB more.

• Related to this lack of training: last year I managed to squeak through with a road cassette/chainring combo and just grind up most stuff. This year that 28 at the back did me in and I was off the bike on far too many hills, either from sheer exhaustion or knee overload—especially in the dump, getting passed by all those annoying 29'ers. I can't believe some crossers were able to ride up the Driveway From Hell. Next year I vow to have a proper cross set-up with a big ol' granny gear.

• My soft little office-hands couldn't handle all the white knuckle braking down bumpy terrain on hard tires and—despite a decent pair of MTB gloves—I blistered both my palms. So next year it'll have to be two pairs of gloves, or just learn to ride faster downhill!

STOKED for 2018!!

What an amazing organizational feat. Thanks to all who made it happen!!

Now to say emphatically that which has not been said - OMG - WAS THAT EVER CHALLENGING!! It was so nice to have all the tripleshot youth, parents and other volunteers along the way giving positive encouragement. I was ready for it to be done by 20 km, but it wasn't. And then for about 10 km to my desperate plea of 'how much further??'" When I really wanted to hear was less than a kilometer, I kept being told -TEN KILOMETERS!! I might have bailed, but since I had no idea where I was most of the time, I had to keep following the blue flags and the smiley volunteers pushing me on.

Thanks all!!! Until the next time.

Everyone’s covered most of the highlights but still gotta add THANKS to everyone involved!! Really an amazing day: organization, course, aid, finishing meal, enthusiasm, fellow Fondo-ers ; all were exceptional!

Additional kudos and thanks to Paul O’Callahan, making everyone feel like an Olympic Gold medalist at the finish! Kinda like this but with an Irish accent:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zbQTXFJL8lo

Some other highlights:
- finishing together with Louise (despite what race timing says, I did NOT out sprint her!)
- watching Brian Einarson bunny hop EVERYTHING (even on the flat road; maybe it’s how he expresses joy on the bike?)

- Geoff Wong’s moustache
- Alan and Mikael were apparently quite generous at the taps
- so many other kids out riding that I lost count (and generally schooling yours truly in Hartland)
- chuckling at the “Steep Descent” sign as we left Hartland (had to be at least 10 descents that were steeper!)