Cross Fondo

[Fozzy]

To all riding the Cross Fondo. Have a great ride!! See you there.

[wonger]

Wow, what a great day! Best course so far out of the three. It really felt like an adventure to be jumping fences and seeing terrain that I would otherwise not see.

Thanks to all of you for making this happen - the people directing us on course, the people who figured out the course and marked it, the medial support, the food slingers, the beer slingers, the bike washers, the ticket takers, the mechanical support, all the people who donated prizes - thanks to all of you for putting together an amazing day.

Big thanks to Lister for the vision and spearheading the whole thing, and to the weather Gods for giving us incredible weather for the second year in a row. And also, thanks to everyone who put up your hard earned $100 - without you none of this would work. Nice job Tripleshot!

[JTyre]

Geoff mustn't have worked hard enough if he still had energy to post at 9:32 pm on race day. My fam had to help me into my pj's and into bed at 8:30 pm where I slept like one of the logs I crashed on for the next 10 hours.

Thanks to everyone that Geoff listed above, and especially to Lister (who's evil but loveable at the same time)! And special thanks to Joanna who spotted that I'd accidentally auto-form registered under Jill's name rather than my own.

Rolf and I discussing strategy at the start line.

[rduncan]

You look cute with orange hair John. Now you just need to get some kit that mimics her outfit.

[JTyre]

You look cute with orange hair John. Now you just need to get some kit that mimics her outfit.

Correction, Rob. In cyclocross fantasyland, I'm Bruce Willis. But thank you anyways for thinking I'd look cute in orange hair.

[JTyre]

You look cute with orange hair John. Now you just need to get some kit that mimics her outfit.

Correction, Rob. In cyclocross fantasyland, I'm Bruce Willis. But thank you anyways for thinking I'd look cute in orange hair.

[Ann]

Thank you also to the land owners that opened up their land for us to ride across yesterday! It was so much fun riding along driveways, past houses with families standing outside watching, and across the porch of an outbuilding!

Once again the event was extremely well organized. Thank you to everyone that was involved!

[Ann]

My friend Shelley posted this on Facebook:

"Thanks Tripleshot CrossFondo for a fantastic first race experience. I did the 20km race (which is really closer to 25 kms) with a goal of finishing. I surprised myself by not finishing dead last! I met some nice riders out on the course while pushing my bike up some very steep hills and received nice encouragement from the "real racers". But the best part of the whole day were the Tripleshot youth that were out in full force greeting finishers with ice cream bars, taking bikes to be washed, helping you as you arrive and figure out where you need to be and thanking you for participating. They even handed out the "medals" for top 3 finishers. They are the kids in the picture wearing red and blue jerseys. I'm also thankful for all the volunteers that came out to Marshall, serve food, pour beer, etc. And for all the organization's and companies that supported this event -and there were many-kudos to you. It was a first rate experience."

[wonger]

Geoff mustn't have worked hard enough if he still had energy to post at 9:32 pm on race day

Umm, that's 10:32 Miss Fifth Element...

I have to admit, that photo did make me laugh out loud!

[Rolf]

I repeat the accolades above. Lister, Jo, the organizing committee, volunteers, the whole Youth Team and parents: WOW! You keep hitting it out of the park, and I'm filled with gratitude.

Yesterday was one of my toughest ever days on the bike—and simultaneously one of the most joyful and gratifying. This exquisite contradiction drives my fierce devotion to the CrossFondo.

This event has changed my life. Riding the first CrossFondo two years ago opened my eyes to a different kind of fun on two wheels. And over the past year, I've successfully switched to nearly full-time, off-road, cross-country riding. (We only had a two month "off-season" on the road this summer. ) That I've been able to do this and still stay a grateful member of Tripleshot's social community comes back to the CrossFondo. It started something.

I took very few photos yesterday (too busy fixing flats!), but I know some of you have a whole bunch of goodies sitting on your phone. Please take a moment to upload them to the 2018 CrossFondo Tripleshot Photos album. If you're reading this on your phone, here's a direct link to the upload page, where you can easily dump them off your phone's camera roll: https://tripleshotcyclingphotos.smugmug ... CrossFondo

Now I'm off to get some much-needed massage. With love, Milla.

[mfarnham]

Bravo to all. A shout out to the youth coaches too, who I forgot in my list of thank you's yesterday.

A couple press mentions...

CTV video (fast forward to 5:35): https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/vide ... tPageNum=1

Saanich News: https://www.saanichnews.com/sports/secr ... highlands/

Well done Lister, coaches, parents, Tripleshot volunteers, and kids!

Martin

[Lister Farrar]

Thanks all. Here are the leads on the committee and the sector teams, only some of the many folks it took.

From left, James Van Dam, Mike Sargent, Ross MacFarlane, Kevin Chen, Joanna Fox, Dave Garrison, Kim Walker, Ryan Worsfold, Hugh Hart, and some dude they may forgive one day.

Here are the TS youth team riders who volunteered: Isla, Talia, Trevor, Oliver, Casey, Noa, Ian, Zak, Griffin, Liam S, Remy, Alen, Kathleen, Liam W, Sabine, Kimberly, Kai, Nicky, Moss, Rory. Each had at least one parent there as well.

Coaches Matt, Nick and Brenna were there, plus alumni Sarah, Riley, and Liam F. And one alum, Kieren Wild, sent his mum came even though he's aged out of the program!

Other TS members included Jim Pauly, Alan, Mikael, Neil, Michelle Dann, and many more im sure i've missed in my fatigue haze, but will update.

Never mind a village, it takes a peloton to do a bike race.

[Greg F]

A summary of the day (in GIFs)

The start:


The climbs:


The descents:


The volunteers everywhere, all day:


The downhill on the Prospect-Hector Connector:


Neil, from the riders coming into Camosun perspective:


Riders coming into Camosun, from Neil’s perspective:


The final 5k:


The TS youth at the finish:


Lunch:


As some have heard (or regrettably, seen) I was one of the hordes to fall off the Cliffs of Hector Connector. Miraculously, I landed on my feet. Un miraculously, those feet landed on branches that tore my shorts up my side, leaving me with a scandalously-short hemline up my left hip.

Think “FloJo Meets Borat”


Well what’s a guy to do? Just press on and finish this thang. Some folks who had caught up to me during this tumble seemed EXTRA keen to pass me. However, once we entered Camosun, the trail markers were harder to see and they missed a few turns. This gave me much pleasure in shouting “THIS WAY!! FOLLOW THE BUTTCHEEK, BOYS!!!” But overall I was so tired, I could hardly think. When Marc Burgess passed me, he commented “Your butt is whiter than mine.” The final 4K of the race was spent devoting all of my mental energy on coming up with a witty retort but to no avail - I was just toasted.

Thanks again for all who helped make this a reality - future embarrassment aside, it was an awesome day!

[mfarnham]

Just think...in ten years time, we'll have the technology to engrave GIFs on the post-of-the-year plaque.

Sigh...

Martin