David Singlespeed Unrau

I haven’t had time to post lately, as we are busy getting ready for the Chico Racing 24 Hours of Summer Solstice mountain bike race that is this weekend at Albion Hills Conservation Area. This year I’m racing on a 5 person team, everyone is on singlespeeds. At the shop, we are getting some geared 29er’s together as demo bikes so people can take out a True North on a lap. As well, there are at least 5 other custom frames or full bikes that various people have needed to get for the weekend. Combined with regular business and late shipments from Shimano, general chaos prevails! At home, we’ve wound down the riding to rest up for the weekend, but replaced that with packing and preparation! Well, if you don’t see me over the weekend, don’t expect to hear any more until next weekend, when things will hopefully return to normal!

We were up at Albion yesterday to pre-ride the course for next weekend’s 24 Hours of Summer Solstice organized by Chico Racing. The course is mainly open with sections of the easier, faster single track. There are no big climbs on the course, and the course length is around 16km. Here is my map:

The course is going to be fast, which will make it tough on the fast teams.  I think fast lap times will be around the 45-50 minute mark.  It is going to be a tough call picking gearing for the 29er singlespeed.  There are a lot of open sections, flat, uphill and downhill, and there are some sections of uphill singletrack.  I think geared riders are going to have a significant advantage.  We will see how the race unfolds!

Why is it that the cyclists who wear safety vests always wear helmets that should have been replaced a long time ago???

I managed to make it out to the Hydro Cut mountain bike trails last night for the first time this season.   Highly recommended!  The trails were VERY busy but in excellent shape. The layout of the trails is amazing. I did a fast circuit with Eva, Ricky and Taby (for part!) and never really noticed the high traffic volumes due to the directional layout and frequent crossing points. If you haven’t ridden these trails – you need to!  Many thanks to Igor Dragoslavic and the Waterloo Cycling Club for all the hard work maintaining, improving and advocating these trails.  This is an excellent spot for singlespeeding.  The flow of the trails is a joy to ride on a singlespeed, with some good climbs, but nothing that should reduce you to walking!