Provincial Hill Climb Championships

HUGE congratulations to Darren Nielsen for spanking the CAT 5 field at this weekend Provincial Hill Climb Championship at Mount Norquay. Darren posted an impressive 14:56. Kudos to CAT 4 Stephen Lund who came in 4th with a time of 16:03. Stay tuned for a more thorough recap of the event. Click HERE for FULL RESULTS

Iron Man Canada August 30 2009

Jane McCurdy

To do list:

Swim 3.8 km

Bike 180 km

Run 42.2 km

Sunday August 30, 2009- Up at 4:01 am. I needed that extra minute so I wasn’t getting up at 4:00. 4:01 is mentally easier to accept. There were 5 of us in the house getting breakfast and getting our last minute things together for the race. We were out of the door by 5 and at transition at 5:30. After pumping up my tires, I gave the volunteers my special needs bags for the 120 km point on the bike and the 21 km point on the run, and added last minute things to my transition bags.

I headed to the beach at 6:40, just in time to hear “Oh Canada” and see the pros start at 6:45. I met up with some friends and headed into the water to start the swim. The water was warm and I was concerned about overheating in my wetsuit. To regulate my temperature I loosened the neck of my wetsuit so I would get some water flow from the lake. The gun went off at 7 and I together with 2800 athletes started the 3.8 km swim. The beginning was absolute chaos as each person fought for their space in the water and tried to keep their line. I had athletes swim on top of me, punch me in the face (knocking off my goggles), elbow me, and kick me. I tried to find my space and get into a rhythm which worked well until the next swimmer got into my space. Although the aggressiveness did not cease for the entire swim, the time went by really fast. After 1:08.33 I finished the swim in 22^nd place. Swim 3.8 km- check.

Running into the transition area, I grabbed my transition bag, and went into the women’s change tent and changed into my biking gear. My transition plan was well practiced the day before and the transition went smoothly. After grabbing my bike, I raced out to the “mount area”. Starting off with my bike, I had a great tail-wind carrying me out to Osoyoos (60 km mark). My heart rate was quite high from the hype of the swim and the transition so I worked on getting it down before starting to eat. The bike ride to Osoyoos was relatively flat and fast. It allowed me to bank some time before starting the hilly section- Richters Pass, the rollers, and finally Yellow Lake. The bike ride went quite smoothly and I was able to regulate my temperature by pouring ice cold water on myself at the aid stations. The volunteers and spectators cheering on the course were amazing and their encouragement was very motivational. After 5:45.58 I was finished the bike in 9^th place. Bike 180 km- check.

Once again at the transition area and I gave a volunteer my bike, grabbed my transition bag, and ran into the transition tent. I got ready for the run and headed out on the course. The run felt surprisingly good and I was really pumped knowing that I had a good ride and was on the last leg of the race. I was forewarned not to go too fast at the start of the run and burn myself out. My watch tracked my pace and I made sure I did not run faster than an 8:30 mile. This was hard to do with all the adrenaline I had and all the spectators lining the streets and cheering for the athletes. The run had its highs and lows but besides some aid stations and hills, I only walked once between two lamp posts. With the walk breaks I maintained about a 9 min mile pace. After 3:59.16, I finished the run in 3^rd place. Run 42.2 km- check.

My final time was 11:00.51 giving me a standing of 3/73 in my age division. This final standing allowed me to qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Kona and I plan to participate in the World Championship this October.

Overall, the Ironman was a great experience and I met my goal of smiling throughout the race. It was an amazing experience that I would recommend to anyone. With the proper training, it is totally obtainable.

Special thanks to all the support I received from Team Niklas, Coach Cal from Critical Speed and my Critical Speed teammates for the 100’s of hours of training together. In addition I want to thank the amazing “See Jane- Run, Bike, Swim” cheering squad- consisting of my parents from Halifax and friends from Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary.

Masters Road Race – August 30, 2009

Results in brief:

Master A (16 racers): Darren Nielsen – 8th

Master B (37 racers): Stephen Lund – 9th; Bryon Howard – 15th; Joel Goralski – 20th; David Pick – 21st

The Masters Road Race last weekend was a blast…a 20-40 km/h blast straight out of the south, that is. Crosswinds and headwinds were the order of the day, and they did a superb job of shredding the field…not to mention the spirit of many a racer. Still, all Niklas Group riders showed real grit and true character, finishing the race despite a variety of challenges.

Post-race Analysis

MASTER A

Darren Nielsen was the sole Niklas Group jersey in the Master A race, and he did the team proud with a fantastic 8th place finish. His sentiments about the race pace echo those of most of our Master B riders: "I was expecting to ease into the race. I wasn't prepared for the blistering start. I soon got dropped, but I knew at that pace more people would be dropped as well." Working both individually and with other dropped riders, Darren managed to reel in a number of other racers and splinter groups. When he found that the riders he was working with weren’t pulling their load, "I dropped them, Contador style." Darren's top-10 finish was a terrific result...especially considering he managed to top a number of Cat 2 and 3 contenders.

MASTER B

After the 'neutral' first five kilometers, the frontrunners in the Master B pack broke out hard. The crosswinds along Highway 574 as we headed east were divisive; and with the pack leaders hugging the gutter, there was simply no way to ease into a slipstream. Not surprisingly, the field of 37 broke apart early. Here are some individual accounts of the Master B experience:

Joel Goralski

"Despite the usual nervous apprehension, I felt good and decided to go for it and try to stick with a break. I managed to latch on, but it was virtually impossible to get a spot in the top of the pack. I ended up falling back a bit where I could get some respite but that ended up being to my detriment as a few of us got caught snoozing on an attack. A Herculean effort got me back into the pack, but before I could catch my breath another attack dropped me off the back." Like Darren, Joel worked on and off with small splinter groups, found his rhythm, overcame a fleeting urge to call it quits, and finished with a strong climb and sprint to a 20th place finish.

David Pick

"Things didn’t start out too well for me: I got spat out halfway through the first lap! I hooked on to a group of four, and about 10 km later a Dead Goat rider and I shed the others and we gradually started picking up other riders who had been shed from the leading pack. Heading north with a tailwind, the group got going about 55. With my compact crank set, it was all I could do to spin fast (probably 120-some RPM) and keep up. When we turned the corner, the crosswind caught me and I was on my own again. Shortly thereafter, another group came up from behind and we worked together for about a lap. With about 20 km to go, on the south leg near the downhill, a car behind us honked. It startled the rider behind me, who went down hard. His handlebars found their way into my rear spokes, completely shearing off one and cracking three others. We waited a few minutes for a wheel van but eventually decided to carry on. Heading back, Joel caught up with me and we rode together for the last half lap. There was no one we could catch and no one behind us so we just plugged along at a reasonable pace. Thankfully my wheel held together but I had major leg cramps, having run out of water. Getting up that last hill at the finish was killer!" Leg cramps and broken spokes notwithstanding, David finished in a very respectable 21st place.

Bryon Howard

"I loved the race...and the idea of racing as a team. I was about 15 km in and knew Stephen was ahead, but I was uncertain where Joel and David were. At the first SE corner the lead group went. I considered chasing...and started...but then held back. At this point, my heart rate was beating about 175. I slowed and was quickly joined by a small group, which I considered letting pass…but my solo tri-athlete mentality wouldn't allow it! I hung on (and occasionally took my turn) until about 90 km. Finally I let them go...and met a nice fellow by the name of James Ritchie (who incidentally is almost my neighbour). I felt really tired, so it was good to talk for the final crawl to the finish line. After that 102 km, I was happy there was no run!"

Stephen Lund

"I knew the stronger riders were going to be immediately aggressive, so I negotiated a spot near the front of the pack right at the start. When the break group went, I followed; and I managed to stay with them for a lap and a half. On lap 2, I found myself at the back as the group rounded the SE corner. The fellows ahead of me lost the leaders' wheels, and the one-metre gap quickly doubled and doubled again. Suddenly, with 40+ kilometers left to go, I was in no man's land! I felt strong (if not a bit lonely) riding west and then north, but as soon as I hit the easterly stretch at the start of the final lap, the winds sucked away my fighting spirit and I seriously considered packing it in. That’s when I met up with Bow Cycle's Donnie King. We worked well together through the crosswind and, after the NE corner, the demoralizing headwind. We were both completely deflated at the SE corner but I found new legs heading west and managed to surge ahead and hold a meager lead over Donnie to the finish line. Though it was far from a podium finish, everyone who finished ahead of me was either Cat 1/2 (4 riders) or Cat 3 (4 riders). The next three who finished behind me were also Cat 1/2 or 3. So I'm pretty happy to have been the first Cat 4 across the line...and to have beaten a number of higher ranking rivals."

Importantly, we all got much more out of the race than just aching bottoms. We learned a lot about ourselves and each other and can use the experience to formulate an airtight strategy for 'next time'.

A big thanks to Henk Koning for manning the feeding station, sharing his racing wisdom and offering his words of encouragement during and after the race!

Congratulations Jane McCurdy - Ironman Canada

A big congratulations to Jane McCurdy for her stellar performance at Ironman Canada in Penticton BC. Jane had a fabulous race that included a stellar bike ride and awesome run which placed her 3rd in her division and in the top 15% overall. Jane also qualified for Kona and will be representing Team Niklas in Hawaii on October 10th at the Ford Ironman World Championships

Jane's splits are as follows:

SWIM 1:08:33
BIKE 5:45:58
RUN 3:59:16
TOTAL 11:00:51

The team is very proud f you Jane!!!

Jay Lap Weekend | Summary of Results

Thanks to Joel and David for their post-mortems on the August 22+23 racing extravaganza. I'll add to their accounts with a summary of Team Niklas results.

PROVINCIAL ITT

Cat 5

Ryan Barr: 54:37.40 - 8th place (out of 32)

Ian Dewolfe: 55:09.70 - 10th place

Master B

Stephen Lund: 53:51.70 - 4th place (out of 10)

As he mentioned below, Joel’s plans for a strong finish in the TT got deflated by an untimely flat tire just past the halfway point. Shame, as he'd been on pace for a top-ranking time.

CRITERIUM

Among the field of 30 Cat 5 competitors, Joel claimed an impressive 5th place finish, David was 9th across the line and Ryan finished among the top 50% with a 14th place showing. Unfortunately, Ian crashed on the treacherous west corner of the crit course during his warm-up, and his stiff shoulder and rattled noggin impelled him to withdraw from the race after just a few laps.

In the Cat 4 crit, Stephen should have heeded Ian's warnings about the sketchy west corner. He went down hard on the third lap (right in front of his children and in-laws); and while he managed to dust himself off and get back in the race, a time-keeper miscommunication pulled him back from the pack and he ended up in a long, lonely ride to a 15th place finish. (On the bright side: his kids now think he's an indestructible superhero!)

ROAD RACE

David has provided an excellent overview of the Cat 5 road race in his blog entry below.

For Cat 5 and Cat 4, the story was pretty much the same: thanks to the relatively flat terrain along Stoney Trail, every attempted attack came to an unsuccessful end, and both races concluded with mass sprint finishes. Largely tuckered out from their Herculean efforts in pulling the pack for most of the race, the Cat 5 fellas finished as follows:

Ian DeWolfe: 10th

David Pick: 18th

Darren Nielsen: 20th

Joel Goralski: 23rd

In Cat 4, Stephen Lund emerged from the pandemonium of the final sprint in 9th place.

In addition to some respectable finishes and solid learnings during the Jason LaPierre Memorial Weekend, Team Niklas earned some well-deserved kudos for their hard work and great sportsmanship. Most notably, our Cat 5 road racers (Joel, David, Darren and Ian) got plenty of praise (including recognition on the Speed Theory team blog) for pulling the pack along for most of the race; and in Cat 4, Stephen received enthusiastic post-race words of thanks for offering to share his water with a bicisport rider who lost both his bottles to the bumps beneath Country Hills Boulevard. It's great that along with our skills and our strengths as racers, Team Niklas is developing a reputation as 'good guys' among the cycling community.

Jay Lap Race Report

Thanks Joel for your report. This past weekend was not as successful as previous races, but overall it was fun and challenging (and isn't that why we do it?!). Speed Theory should be commended for a well organized and run event. The turnout was very strong especially in Cat 5. I did not do the TT, owing to the new baby and the fact that I don't have a TT bike (I didn't miss it!).
The crit was disappointing for me in terms of result and the course. I didn't really like the three u-turn course as it was tricky, dangerous (due to the dusty road) and I my legs aren't suited for the constant accelerations. Also, it didn't help that the one hill was into the wind as that certainly prevented the breaks. After about 4-5 laps I found myself in no-man's land. I lost the front group and that wind prevented me from catching back on. After a few laps by myself, I sat up to wait for the group a 5 behind me and we rode the rest of the race together. However, we never got organized and as a result we couldn't catch the lead group. I did manage to win the bunch sprint in my group to finish 9th overall.
The RR was the next day and Cat 5 had 72 kms. Our plan was to stick at or near the front; we even had a "ringer" (Jeff) agreeing to help us out. We thought to make a break for it after the second turnaround. As it turned out, Niklas Group ended up leading the entire race which sucked our energy - no one else came to the front! I would agree with Joel that 80% of the time there were one or two of us right at the front, especially Darren who went off on a flier halfway through the race and rode by himself 50m ahead of the field for a good 4 km (Huh?). Near the end of lap one, Jeff and I tried to make a little break for it, but that didn't work and only sapped my legs. I ended up almost losing the entire bunch after the Metis Trail turnaround. On the second lap, the speed wasn't as fast as our first lap, but everyone was watching each other. We were able to easily chase down the few attempted breaks from Speed Theory but it was obvious that they were saving their legs for the sprint finish (they had 8 guys in Cat 5!). With about 2-3 k to go, I found myself at the front of the pack and no one was willing to share the work. So, obviously, I had nothing for the sprint and came 18th. Kudos to Ian for coming in top 10.
At the end of the race, many riders complimented us for taking charge and doing the lion's share of the work. Small solace, since we got blow away in the results. This course didn't really suit us as we didn't have a pure sprinter to protect as did Speed Theory. We need the grind-it-out hill that was present in the TdB RR. Next time, we'll know better!

Speed Theory Race

Thanks to the Speed Theory folks for putting on such a great event. I know that Trev put his heart into that race and while there were challenges, I think it was an awesome venue. The first day was going as planned until the flat at 23.3 Km into the TT. I looked back at my data on the Garmin and was at 28:13 at 20K and picking up steam when the back tire went limp. It kind of sucked as I hobbled back to the start leaning on the front handlebars just trying to not ruin my back rim. The CRIT was great and I was more than happy to place 5th. I have to admit that i was nervous on almost every corner and could not come into them with the speed required... hence being 5th. But nonetheless what a rush. As for the RR, that was great. The plan did not come together, but it was fun chasing the attacks and the vibe was out there. Thanks to the Speed Theory guys for thanking Team Niklas for doing 80+ percent of the pulling out there. Next race maybe not so much! :))

Ride The Road Tour 2009

Well it is not all about hammerheads and racing until you are ready to cough up a lung. Some of the family members of Team Niklas recently took part in an event in Calgary where thousands of Calgarian's took part in a ride around Calgary. With part of Memorial closed and other sections of the city manned by our city's finest, it was a great event. Niklas Jack Goralski commented that this was one of the best rides ever and he can hardly wait to do Kids of Steel next year! That is awesome... see www.MorePeopleCycling.ca

Xterra, Canmore, Aug 23

Hey Guys,Had a fun filled day in the mountains at Xterra - an off road tri.
Almost forgot how much fun Mountain Bike is.
I finished 4th (again) ... just missing the podium ... again.
4th really sucks ... don't you agree? (4th in my age group - 40-49).
I'd much prefer top 3 ... or 14th!

However, for me ... it's the difference between training to win ... and training to maintain a 'level' of fitness.
I've been maintaining fitness.
Look forward to racing with you guys on Sunday. (I'll need some guidance ... as my cycle racing is very limited. Hopefully I'll be

able to pull for awhile ... before blowing up.)

Bryon

Team Niklas Dominates Provincials CAT 4 & 5

Well we only had two riders able to race this past weekend in the Provincial Road Championships. Brian Green, newly minted CAT 4 held his own and came in first in a strong field of contenders. We hear that Mark Franklin (Dead Goat) flatted but managed to change his wheel and self sprint himself back into the chase and still placed 7th overall. I am sure that if the flat did not happen it would have been a head to head sprint to the finish between Mark and Brian.

Stephen Lund dominated in the CAT5 race where he broke away near the end of the race and won by a wide margin. So Stephen should be moving up to CAT4 with Brian shortly.

It is pretty impressive to see such a strong showing when neither racer had a team member to help. Good work guys! (Joel G)

Iron Man 70.3 Pics of Byron Howard

Action Sports International

Shared via AddThis

Iron Man Calgary 70.3

Congratulations to Bryon Howard for his 70.3 Results

Bryon finished 4th in his age group ... 54th overall with a great time of 4:47

6th place - swim
3rd - bike
10th - run

RESULTS http://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.php?lang=eng&racecode=44581

ALL BRYON'S RESULTS http://www.sportstats.ca/find-an-athlete-find-a-race-search.php?lang=eng&first=Bryon&last=HOWARD

Tour de Bowness

(JOEL) Well for a debut of a newly formed team, I have to say that Niklas Group held its own for the whole event. Congratulations to Brian Green for taking First overall. When Brian punctured in the CRIT and then took a 45 psi tire of Charlotte's cruiser and then still finish 2nd, that was impressive. Brian really ripped it up in the RR and was a well deserved win!

David Pick placing 5th in his first CRIT, 4th in the RR after being edged out by Rick Courtney (a very strong rider for ST). David finished 4th overall which was an awesome contribution.

Ryan Barr had a great Hill Climb placing 5th. During the latter part of the RR Ryan got caught back with me (Joel) from the Speed Theory attack. Since we had two of our Riders (Darren and David) get away before we could react, we let them go and did our job not to get the pack back to the our guys who broke away with ST. So Ryan had to settle for 10th and me being inched out to take 12th . Not catching that attack and being there to help David and Darren was a little disheartening but nonetheless, we were ecstatic for the team and the end result. It would have been nice to have caught that break as Ryan had a good sprint up that last hill and would have surely done some damage.

Darren did a great job working with David and placed 7th in the RR. So all in all 4 Niklas Group riders in the Top 10 with one winning the race was a completed success.

A big thanks to Cam who did a great job attacking. There was one point where I was fading a bit and he let me catch up on his wheel where I could recover and get back into the game. Also that final attack on the last lap allowed Ryan and me to get away from the pack and have a strong finish.

Ian has got to get the award for tenacity and doing all three races after spending almost a month in Europe eating pizza, pasta and drinking fine wine. For a guy who just got back in the saddle a short time ago, he did great. The Speed Theory Race you will probably see some fireworks from Ian...

Sky Mitchell was also no slouch. Sky, since she was our solo female, had no Team on the road to support her and yet did an amazing job by placing 5th in the hill climb, 2nd in the CRIT, 5th in the RR and 4th overall.

I was totally impressed on how we all came together for this race and everyone contributed to the end result. I am really looking forward to the next race being put on by Speed Theory. It should be a great event.

Thanks for all of you making it out to my house for the post race barbeque as well. It was nice to have that make a part of the day and I certainly enjoyed those few beers! I believe Brian is doing the next post race barbeque so stay tuned!

Here is a link to some great photos... http://www.flickr.com/photos/camkeith/3786692796/

Also an excerpt from an email sent by Ryan Barr which I think sums things up....

"Again, I'm very impressed with how everyone rode throughout the tour. Brian of course was amazing, but everyone else worked very hard and as a team I think we did an excellent job of controlling the rr and the crit. I've already had a couple people asking about Team Niklas and as Joel said, I don't think anyone will be dismissing us like they did at the first of the year. Oh, and how many of you are looking out the window and thinking 'thank god it's raining, I don't have to train today!'. Great Job everyone! " RYAN BARR

Brian Green of Team Niklas is in the Break!

Tour De Bowness '09 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Welcome!!

Hello Athletes, Sponsers, and Supporters! Welcome to the Team NIKLAS Blog!! Our team is continuously growing with amazing and talented athletes and we felt what better way to communicate then set up our very own blog?! Feel free to update everyone on current or upcoming events, stats, profiles, words of inspiration. . . or, whatever comes to mind!!