TNCX #1 Report

Good times. Very good times.

The group consisted of the President, the Secretary, the Cricket, Juan Eppstein, KK, Luc, Jonny M, Dave P, Tom K, Tristan, and me. Another solid turnout.

The Secretary's Puch made its long-anticipated official debut. It was duly admired.



And then it promptly broke down, dropping a chain on the way down under the Osborne St bridge. Good thing about that emergency brake. The Secretary very nearly came to ruination only a few minutes into the ride. But he managed to keep the rubber side down and, with the chain tension adjusted, survived the rest of the evening incident-free.



Dave P also showed up with a brand new set of wheels. It looked something like this:


I believe the Secretary described it as super deluxe. But unfortunately, it was not ideal for cyclocross. Dave stuck around for the first lap before heading off on his own to ride on some more suitable terrain.

Upon arrival at the Forks, we spent some time watching Luc show off his impressive set of skillz.



And then we raced. The course came together very nicely. The Forks is a perfect venue for cx. Cobbles, gravel, pavement, hills, sweeping corners, ramps, built in barriers and other assorted obstacles, and stairs. Lots of stairs. The course went something like this:



Five laps, the first two of which were controlled as we fine-tuned the details of the course. Highlights included the run-up at the Scotia Bank Stage, which featured what can only be described as Giant Steps. They were steep and more than knee-high. Apparently, the Cricket made them look easy. They were not. This was proven by Kevin, who managed to bungle a high-speed dismount and bum-skidded, feet-first into the bottom. Being concrete, the steps did not have much give.



The President made his cx racing debut. Like many others, he did not finish the race. But more importantly, he also didn't wreck anything.



The original inspiration for the course was a little grassy hill on the north-east side of the Union Station parking lot. It was discovered during a wedding photo-shoot a few weeks back. Off-camber switchbacks and, despite trees that could have used some trimming, some sweet lines for cx.



We also used the Oodena Celebration Circle. Down the ramp, around the top of the circle, back along the bottom, and then up the stairs. Here's Tom K and the President on the way out.



KK actually had two crashes on the evening. The first one happened when he misjudged a corner heading into the Union Station parking lot. This came at the end of the half-kilometre or so down Main St, so he was carrying some speed. But everything was okay and he managed to finish the race. As usual, he was strong. Apparently, this was his first ever cx race. Once he gets the hang of it, look out.



Luc bunnyhopped his way to the win. His ability to ride up the stairs was particularly impressive. The full results look like this, I think:

Luc
Chris
Kevin
Tristan
Tom K

Correct me if that's not right.

The younguns elected not to join us at the klubhaus. That's too bad, because they missed Tom K's explanation of how he's related to Geoffrey Dale and the Bud Man. And some reminiscing about the humble beginnings of the FGBC, as well as the ever-popular tales of the President's stint as a paint delivery man.

Before heading home, we finally noticed the President's signature in the newly re-installed bike racks. Nice.