Kris Sneddon's Cycling Blog

Cyclocross, Interbike

2008-09-29T20:02:00.000-07:00

Well the Cross season has started. For the moment I haven't been training much, spent 8 days during the middle of September hunting elk in the East Kootenays. It was awesome, saw about 100 to 200 elk, lots of mule and white tail deer, one fox and one moose.

Star Crossed (starcrossedcx.com) was quite muddy. It was pouring rain almost right up to our start. I was a little nervous about my form but that's what you get for not training . I finished 18th. Wendy took second in the women's race. Ryan should have won, but clipped a lapped rider when trying to pass and crashed, he finished second. Barry finished 6th. The next day was was sunny for the Rad Racing GP. Rad Racing puts on an awesome event, always playing AC/DC on the run up. I spent most of the race riding with two Rad Racing kids, and I ended up finishing in 18th place, again. I should give my team-mate Wendy a shout out for winning her first race of the year. Ryan finished 2nd, and Barry nailed 6th.

Las Vegas and Interbike were awesome, got to see lots of people. I spent most of my time between the Kona and Cove crews. It is the first time I have ever spent whole days at the show, so I was up at 7 am, finished the day at 5 pm, and then was out until 1 or 2 am. I did that three days in a row and was quite tired by the end. I was planning on doing Cross Vegas, but I didn't register in time so I couldn't race. Ryan defended his title by winning, and Barry hung in there and beat Lance Armstrong.

Brian Head

2008-09-02T08:57:00.000-07:00

Well Brian Head is one of the most awesome race courses we do all year. However, I have never had a good ride there, maybe because it starts at 9700 ft. This year turned out no different. The short track was an absolute disaster, I finished second last. I had no snap whatsoever. It scared me pretty good and I thought I was going to get crushed in the xc. Fortunately that was not the case, but I didn't by any means have a stellar ride, I finished 19th, behind Eric Tonkin. Ryan nailed 7th and Barry finished 13th in the xc. Barry won the short track overall.

I should give Geoff Kabush a shout out because he finished 3rd in the World Cup in Canberra, Australia then flew to Brian Head that night and finished 3rd again.

BC Bike Race, TranRockies...

2008-08-22T14:38:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of racing since my last blog entry, and I got sick a couple of times. One of the highlights was the B.C. Bike Race. Though my form was good going into this event, I was not quite sure because I had a rough Test of Metal. The BCBR started in Shawnigan Lake and 7 days later ended in Whistler. Went through some of the finest single-track in the world. My partner Barry and I won stage 4 in my home town of Sechelt, which was on Canada day, and took the overall victory a couple days later in Whistler.

BC Bike Race, photograph by Gibby.

Then it was back to normal MTB racing Canadian nationals were I ended up 14th not so good, and two world cups 26th and 34th... sort of mediocre performances.

I figured it would be fun to end on a epic note so I talked Max P into doing Trans Rockies, holy that is an epic race! Completely different than BCBR (lots of granny gear climbing and hike a bike) Max and I ended up second.

NMBS #2 Fountain Hills AZ

2008-04-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

It really sucks trying to update a racing blog 4 days after you raced, it is hard to remember what happened but here are some highlights from the Nova Desert Classic.

Barry and I totally tarded out and ended up arriving on friday 30 minutes prior to the super D which we had to do if we wanted to be part of the stage race. I ended up 15th, without preriding. Ended up 11th in the shortrack where I watched Toulouse get taken out by someone who was so lactated they just fell over, it was a nasty crash. The XC was extremely suffer-y, I was holding on all day, had nothing left at the end and finished 11th. At the end of all that I ended up 8th overall.

Kris

NMBS#1 Fontana, CA

2008-03-31T17:29:00.000-07:00

Well what do you know, I missed the podium at the first norba xc. Felt pretty good worked with JHK for a lot of the race and on the last lap punched hard to try and catch some of the shrapnel from the lead group (Geoff, Adam, Max, Sam, Barry, Ricky) which had self destructed. Well I was only able to get Ricky, and came close to Barry. Big thanks to our Mechanic Bass Man. He was a big help.

I had a wicked start on the short track, came from second row to fourth through the first corner. Ryan led for the first lap, Barry lead the second, Geoff took half lap, then I went to the front and gave it everything that I had for a lap. Barry went around, and all the sudden there was a crash behind me and Geoff. I ease up and Barry got a gap, Geoff tried to bridge the gap, but didn't make it. I couldn't hold his accelerations, and my front derailer twisted sideways into my crank, which sucked. I was, however, able to finish. Barry won.

The Super D was fun but I didn't like the downhill running start on pavenment in bike shoes, that is a good way to twist an ankle, so I took that bit easy and ended up mid pack. If I didn't get disqualifid for a radd line, that some spectater gave me crap over - remember this is super D, anything goes! It was actually longer, it is not like I cut a switchback.

Kris

Lake Sonoma MTB #1 - March 22

2008-03-25T02:02:00.000-07:00

The plan was to do the Copperopolis Road Race, but Eric Tonkin bailed and Max Plaxton broke his road bike. It seemed like a better idea to do a mtb race close to Sonoma Lake anyways. Liam Killeen came into town this week and we were able to talk him into racing.

The day of the race was awesome... nice and hot. From the gun Barry went out like a bat out of hell, followed by a couple locals, then Max, Liam and I. By the second lap Barry and Max were ahead one minute, while I was in third with 1:45 on Liam. The third lap was the same but the gaps opened up more. On the fourth Max said Barry headed it but flatted a couple miles from the finish, so the Canucks took it 1, 2! Barry ended up third and Liam fourth.

Went swimming in Lake Sonoma which was cold, but awesome. Looking forward to Fontana next weekend. All the info for the Sonoma lake race series is availible at www.bikemonkey.net.

Kris

Chileno Valley Grasshopper

2008-03-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

So I did the infamous Chileno Valley Grasshopper last Saturday. It was supposed to be a showery day but turned out beautiful. For those of you that don't know Chileno is a 67 mile group ride unofficial road race. Levi and Scott showed up as rumoured, along with about a million NorCal bike sport team people. There were 139 finishers. I road the first third of the race at the front with Levi, Scott, and Tim, but came off on some climb that I don't know the name of. Hung out in no mans land for a wile, until I got picked up by the chase group of 3, John, Ryan, and Jonathon. We worked well together for the rest of the race, but on the final climb Ryan and Jonathon came off, John and I worked togather all the way to the finish, I beat him by a couple of bike lengths. Levi won, Tim second, Scott third. I was forth.

After the race we proceeded to my buddie Glen's place were I had a early birthday party. Odessa made the cake and Glen hand a bunch of Molsons Canadian. About 25 people showed up.

Yesterday Max, Shane, Chris and myself rode lake Sonoma, which is 3 hours of the best singe track around here, If you ever are in the area, you should check it out.

Kris

I can't believe I started a blog...

2008-03-14T19:45:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I started a blog, talking to the world about myself, I hope I don't become a preacher. As usual biking is awesome, can't complain. Hanging out with Dain from WTB, rolling with the NorCal boys, and of course trying to beat up on Levi L and Scott N. A lot of locals here in Santa Rosa are resting up for the Chileno Valley Grasshopper, group ride (race) tomorrow.

Kris

2008 Race Schedule

2008-03-14T19:42:00.000-07:00

March 29 - Fontana NMBS

April 5 - Nova NMBS

April 19 - Houffalize World Cup

April 26 - Offenburg World Cup

May 3 - Madrid World Cup

May 17 - Santa Ynez Valley NMBS

June 14 - Squamish Test of Metal

June 28 to July 4 - B.C. Bike Race

July 20 - Canadian Nationals

July 26 - Mont Sainte Anne World Cup

August 2 - Bromont World Cup