Joyride 150 and Crank the Shield Day One

Upon arriving in Toronto Peter whisked me away to Joyride 150 which also houses Misfit Psycles Headquarters. Once I got there I built up my bike, got juiced on some coffee, met Joyride 150 owner/operator Mark Summers, rode around, fell over on the flat concrete floor, signed posters (very few), and drank beer. Of all the things I did while I was at Joyride 150 the riding was probably the best part. There's enough stuff there that isn't big jumps/street park/foam pit oriented that an old, fragile person like me can have a lot of fun. There were plenty of skinnies (I didn't work up the nerve to do them all) and a two kick ass pump tracks as well as an XC course that loops around and above the entire park. Although falling over right in front of Peter, Mark, Misfit Psycles engineer Thomas, and a bunch of groms was a bit humiliating I still managed to have a positive experience.

Peter installing a new prototype chain tensioner/converter to his already-a-single-speed bike while Thomas looks on in horror.

So after some beer and grubbing we slept the sleep of kings till I woke up at 4:45 and started wandering around Peter's house annoying as many of his family members as possible until Peter said we could head out to Crank the Shield.

Misfit Psycles elite rider The Original Big Ring applying his nipple embrocation.

The night before the race the Haliburton Forest area was hit with around 2" of rain. We were told to expect wet conditions on day one, wetter conditions on day two, and relatively dry conditions on day three. Close to 250 riders lined up in the parking lot and with a "Whoever heard of a neutral start?" pace right from the get-go I was redlined on the road out to the first patch of dirt.

The first double track wasn't too bad. It did a fine job of thinning the herd before we hit singletrack, and on the way I saw the SS rider to watch (Dave Dermont) monkeying with the tensioner on his True North frame. I assumed I was in the lead and was feeling pretty positive when I caught up to Ernesto on the North Shore trail. As soon as the trail ended though my ego shrank as Ernesto left me, Dave Dermont passed me, and I floundered down the rolling double track.

At some point we hit one mud bog section too many, and I lost interest in walking around another road pond. I attempted to ride through it, but my front wheel got caught on something. I tried to force the bike over the submerged object, but I was the weakest dog in the fight, and I ended up tumbling over the bars and landing in the puddle. Although most of the puddle was lined with black fluffy mud my left knee (the one I injured at Trans Sylvania and Tour de Burg) landed on a rock while my right leg managed to get wedged between my bars and my right brake lever. After untangling myself I jumped back on the bike and forced my knee to go in circles until the pain abated.

While riding another mud bogged section SS rider Michael Duncan got by me. I had no fight left in me and no desire to tempt fate while riding through mud bogs, so when he passed I made no effort to chase. I just put my head down, did what I could to save what pads I might have left in my Hayes stoppers, and forged on for what ended up being a total of 4hrs 41min for third place.

How hard was it? How about averaging 15.37 kph over 72k with 1,105 m of climbing? That's only 9.22MPH over 43.2 miles with only 3,600 feet of climbing. Ouch... no mechanicals, one wreck, and a snails pace through mud and knee deep water.

The next day would be wetter? We'll see.