Crank the Shield - SSM
Crank the Shield - Sault Ste Marie
Superfly Racing, Algoma Highlands Conservacy, Agawa Canyon Tour Train, Outspoken Brewing, Stokley Creek Lodge, Searchmont Resort, Tourism Northern Ontario, Sneaky Socks, Velorution and Sault Ste Marie. Without the people and the companies behind Crank the Shiels - SSM (Sault Ste Marie) than this past weekend would have not happened. Without Sean and his countless volunteers, I don't think anyone can say thank you enough. Usually I leave the thank yous to the end, but in this instance, they all need to be thanked and thanked and thanked.
What was Crank the Shield - SSM, well it was a 3 day mountain bike point to point adventure in the Algoma region of Ontario. Did it dissapoint? Not at all!
Lets take a look back at our Journey. Months and months ago on a winter ride, Chris and I had a chat about Crank, and decided we could do it as a tag team. The idea of doing it tag team was mainly to provide a second challenge for both of us. We had to stay within minutes of each other throughout the event. So it was all set.
Our drive up started Wednesday morning with the goal to reach the Sault Ste Marie KOA. We reserved a site for a couple nights before the race. So we loaded Emily, Liesje and our trailer up and began the road trip. For a baby that's almost 1 year old, Liesje did amazing sleeping almost the whole drive up to Sudbury for our first stop. After fuel and food and meeting up with Chris is Sudbury we continued across to the Sault. A little over 7 hours of driving later, we made it to the KOA. Now I personally have never stayed at a KOA before but it was a great experience. The campground was clean, the washrooms were spotless and the people were very pleasant.
Thursday afternoon you were able to pre-register at Outspoken Brewery, drop your bike and gear and then enjoy several refreshments, which I do say all were amazing. You could tell the atmosphere in the line for registration was a little different than say an 8 or 24hr. There was life in the line, people laughing joking and having fun. It was a sign of things to come for sure.
From Aid station 1 we had some more awesome singletrack, and ended up riding with Steve and Ros again which was perfect, as they were about the same as us on the trails, and were great fun to chat with as we rode. After the sections of singletrack finished we were back onto the gravel roads, and climbing, and climbing, and did I mention climbing. But what goes up, must go up a little more, before it comes down.
Day 2 finished at Searchmont Resort, with some amazing singletrack climbing. This climbing was perfect, there were some amazing trails, and it really didn't feel like climbing at all. As we reached the summit of day 2, which was the top of ski resort, that meant one thing, an epic downhill!!! This was what made the day better.
Small disclaimer, if you have a dropper post it would be handy, I did not, nor did I drop my post at all for the downhill. Did it slow me down, yeah maybe, did I have a riot still, oh hell yeah.
As we completed the technical rocky downhill, and finished the stage with smiles, we realized we had actually finished 2nd in Tag Team +80, which was pretty amazing. More of a shock but hey we will take it any day of the week.
After each day, there were Pizza and beer to get you started on your recovery, which we took advantage of, we had time to indulge.
Another night camping out in the trailer, and another night being exhausted. But only 1 more day to go, there was light at the end of the tunnel.
Day 3 we woke up to some foggy misty sky, and well it was a somewhat rushed morning for food as well as the 15km road ride to the start of the final stage. Lee, Dan, Chris and I all headed off to the start, with the sun slowly peaking through and the temperatures slowly rising. It was a perfect way to get the final day going.
As we made it to the start line, everyone there was happy, everyone was joking, laughing and just having a good time. We all knew it was the final of 3 days of hard riding, but we all knew it was a weekend we would never forget. Final day started with a climb, but then we hit some sweet rocky single track. The trail was fun, with little bridges, drops, rocks and roots. I had the biggest smile on my face! Once we finished the trail back onto the road to climb up again and get prepared for the next set of trails.
We hit some fresh new trails, which were a little soft still, but all ride able, and continued back onto some ATV trails. The day was going faster and faster, and our smiles were bigger and bigger. We hit aid station 2 in no time, and were told you have 20km of singletrack ahead. It was go time for us, it was time to just let the bike do what it wants and have fun. That's what we did. The final day trails were in Kinsmen Park and the Hiawatha trails, which are only minutes from Sault Ste Marie.
The Hiawatha trail system is pretty incredible. The folks who build and maintain these trails have to be applauded. There are flow, technical sections, roots, climbs, pretty much everything for everyone. The race only hit 12km of the trails in Hiawatha, but there are many many more there that have yet to be discovered. I would make the trip back to just ride those trails any day of the week.
As we continued through the trails Chris was flying, I was struggling due to dehydration and shear tiredness. Then there was the Buttertart station!!! Free butter tarts as you rode by, why wouldn't you grab one! It was a nice bit of sugar to wake up the mind again. After that we crossed the road and into the Hiawatha trail network. I kept the head down, swearing at myself to keep going. Kilometer after kilometer, the end was drawing near, I could hear the loud speaker, I knew we were almost there, and as we came around the corner, the lady at the marshall station said, "2km to go". I had nothing in the tank left, and she pretty much shot me in the leg with that comment. But with Chris there we made it through the final 2km, and that was it, we had finished Crank.
As we checked the results, we were on the podium yet again, with another 2nd place finish on the day. A great way to cap everything off. A bad start, but a strong finish.
At the end of the day, what did I come away with from the race. There were a few things that I know I would change with myself.
- I would train more on gravel and road for the climbing. I was not as strong as I could have been.
- I would have a second bottle on the bike with powder. Running only 1 bottle and a camelbak just wasn't enough nutrition for me.
- I should have done the drive train a little bit earlier before the race.
Other than that I wouldn't change a thing.
Also, after thinking about it, would I do the race again, I would for sure, in a heartbeat. It was a perfect vacation, with good friends.
Thanks to Emily and Joanne for support us crazy people.
Congrats to Dan, Josh and Lee for doing amazing!
Thanks again to Sean and Superfly racing for hosting such a great event. I will be sure to pass on the experience to anyone who will listen.
Cheers
Superfly Racing, Algoma Highlands Conservacy, Agawa Canyon Tour Train, Outspoken Brewing, Stokley Creek Lodge, Searchmont Resort, Tourism Northern Ontario, Sneaky Socks, Velorution and Sault Ste Marie. Without the people and the companies behind Crank the Shiels - SSM (Sault Ste Marie) than this past weekend would have not happened. Without Sean and his countless volunteers, I don't think anyone can say thank you enough. Usually I leave the thank yous to the end, but in this instance, they all need to be thanked and thanked and thanked.
What was Crank the Shield - SSM, well it was a 3 day mountain bike point to point adventure in the Algoma region of Ontario. Did it dissapoint? Not at all!
Lets take a look back at our Journey. Months and months ago on a winter ride, Chris and I had a chat about Crank, and decided we could do it as a tag team. The idea of doing it tag team was mainly to provide a second challenge for both of us. We had to stay within minutes of each other throughout the event. So it was all set.
Our drive up started Wednesday morning with the goal to reach the Sault Ste Marie KOA. We reserved a site for a couple nights before the race. So we loaded Emily, Liesje and our trailer up and began the road trip. For a baby that's almost 1 year old, Liesje did amazing sleeping almost the whole drive up to Sudbury for our first stop. After fuel and food and meeting up with Chris is Sudbury we continued across to the Sault. A little over 7 hours of driving later, we made it to the KOA. Now I personally have never stayed at a KOA before but it was a great experience. The campground was clean, the washrooms were spotless and the people were very pleasant.
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| A little stretching and relaxation never hurt anyone. |
As we had a day of lounging, we also had to disassemble our bikes for the train ride to Batchawana Station. We had to load the bikes into cardboard bike boxes, which meant taking them apart slightly. Nothing crazy, just enough to squeeze them nicely to save room on the train.
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| Let the bike maintenance begin. |
Thursday afternoon you were able to pre-register at Outspoken Brewery, drop your bike and gear and then enjoy several refreshments, which I do say all were amazing. You could tell the atmosphere in the line for registration was a little different than say an 8 or 24hr. There was life in the line, people laughing joking and having fun. It was a sign of things to come for sure.
Friday morning bright and early we made our way to the Agoma Canyon Train Tour in downtown Sault Ste Marie. Upon arrival the train was sitting waiting for the over 180 eager racers, and support personal, and volunteers. Again the atmosphere was electric, but there was a little bit of stress and well tiredness in the air as well. But that is 100% expected based on the 3 day adventure which awaited us.
We boarded the train and away we went for the 2+ hour train ride to Batchawana Station. During the ride we were regaled of stories from the area by Sean Ruppel, which included history of the area, the group of seven as well as some trail tidbits of what was to come.
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| Batchawana Station |
The train arrived at Batachawana station with the nerves starting to raise, the excitement growing, and the bikes were unloaded from the train. Prior to the race we had to re-assemble our bikes do a quick test then head to the start line. At this point the sun was shining the temps were rising and so was the adrenaline.
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| Let the Building Begin |
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| What can't she hold on to |
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| Bikes and Builds and Bikes and Builds |
What time the race actually got going I cannot remember, but we were off like bandits. We had a 90+km day ahead of us from Batchawana Station to Stokley Creek Lodge. I personally had some bike issues with the new drive train. I kept dropping the chain on the fast downhills, which was becoming more and more frustrating. But every time the chain dropped, I slapped it back on and kept on going. We had river crossings, climbs both gravel and sand, we had fast rolling ATV trails, and even faster gravel sections. We had such a great pace going, we were in the groove. Maybe a little too into the groove.. We may or may not have went by a turn... As we continued on and on and on, we were caught by other groups of riders who did the same thing. At this point we were unclear if we had gone off course, but once we came across a fork in the trail with no markings we knew we were off. So we all turned around and headed back to find the turn we missed. Well now was a game of making sure we survived the remainder of the day. The climb up Batchawana mountain was a big one. It was one of those climbs that made you think, "Is it going to end", and 'there can't be climbs this big in Ontario". Well there was and could be, and no I really don't think it did end.... But after a long haul up we reached the summit! Now for the fun, the decent!!!
Chris and I made a point of every aid station or Marshall station to stop and top up on food and water when we could. With the temps and the sun, we were dehydrating fast. Some stations were fully stocked, others not so much, but we made do with what we could when we could.
The decent from Batchawana Mtn. was a tough one to start. There were a lot of folks walking due to the terrain, Chris and I did our best to ride what we could when we could. Some were awesome, others were tough. I only went over the bars once which was pretty good if I do say so myself.
As time started to tick away on us, we made it to Aid station #2, the party station! There were hot dogs, beer, coke, loud music everything to give you the shot in the arm to finish the day out. We had a little over 10 minutes before the cut off time so off we went again. We were 2km away when the crank on Chris' bike started to loosen. We made the decision for him to turn back to fix and I'd go ahead. Chris was moving faster than I was so we knew he could get it fixed and catch back up. As time ticked away and the km were getting closer and closer to the end, I knew Chris was cut off. Thank goodness for Josh who rode with me to the finish. We had a great chat and the talking made the time fly by. Which was good cause I was on the bike for almost 9 hours and covered over 120 km. We crossed the finish line, and that was it I was completely exhausted. I couldn't think about eating or drinking, I just wanted to lay down on the ground which I did.
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| Finish line waiting for Finishers |
Day 2, yes I woke up for Day 2!!! My legs were tired, my body was tired, buy my mind was sound, and I knew I couldn't let Chris down. I knew I had to push and Day 2 was going to be a good day. The game plan for Day 2 was to ride from Stokley Creek Lodge, finishing at Searchmont Resort. This was going to be a shorter day roughly 55km so hey, what's the worst that could happen. Day 2 we decided to start near the back of the pack mainly to spin the legs into it, and ramp up our speed. This was exactly what we did.
As the race started, it was a 3km start loop which was a perfect warm up, and it also allowed Chris and I to work through the field a bit to find our grouping. Once the start loop was complete we climbed some more and dove into singletrack. It was so nice to ride some trail again, and just get into some flow. There were bottlenecks in the singletrack, as expected, but you were able to bounce around and through them pretty quickly. We reached aid station 1 where artist Norman Brown was painting
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| View from the top of one of the many climbs |
From Aid station 1 we had some more awesome singletrack, and ended up riding with Steve and Ros again which was perfect, as they were about the same as us on the trails, and were great fun to chat with as we rode. After the sections of singletrack finished we were back onto the gravel roads, and climbing, and climbing, and did I mention climbing. But what goes up, must go up a little more, before it comes down.
Day 2 finished at Searchmont Resort, with some amazing singletrack climbing. This climbing was perfect, there were some amazing trails, and it really didn't feel like climbing at all. As we reached the summit of day 2, which was the top of ski resort, that meant one thing, an epic downhill!!! This was what made the day better.
Small disclaimer, if you have a dropper post it would be handy, I did not, nor did I drop my post at all for the downhill. Did it slow me down, yeah maybe, did I have a riot still, oh hell yeah.
As we completed the technical rocky downhill, and finished the stage with smiles, we realized we had actually finished 2nd in Tag Team +80, which was pretty amazing. More of a shock but hey we will take it any day of the week.
 |
| Can't complain about being on the podium |
After each day, there were Pizza and beer to get you started on your recovery, which we took advantage of, we had time to indulge.
Another night camping out in the trailer, and another night being exhausted. But only 1 more day to go, there was light at the end of the tunnel.
Day 3 we woke up to some foggy misty sky, and well it was a somewhat rushed morning for food as well as the 15km road ride to the start of the final stage. Lee, Dan, Chris and I all headed off to the start, with the sun slowly peaking through and the temperatures slowly rising. It was a perfect way to get the final day going.
As we made it to the start line, everyone there was happy, everyone was joking, laughing and just having a good time. We all knew it was the final of 3 days of hard riding, but we all knew it was a weekend we would never forget. Final day started with a climb, but then we hit some sweet rocky single track. The trail was fun, with little bridges, drops, rocks and roots. I had the biggest smile on my face! Once we finished the trail back onto the road to climb up again and get prepared for the next set of trails.
We hit some fresh new trails, which were a little soft still, but all ride able, and continued back onto some ATV trails. The day was going faster and faster, and our smiles were bigger and bigger. We hit aid station 2 in no time, and were told you have 20km of singletrack ahead. It was go time for us, it was time to just let the bike do what it wants and have fun. That's what we did. The final day trails were in Kinsmen Park and the Hiawatha trails, which are only minutes from Sault Ste Marie.
The Hiawatha trail system is pretty incredible. The folks who build and maintain these trails have to be applauded. There are flow, technical sections, roots, climbs, pretty much everything for everyone. The race only hit 12km of the trails in Hiawatha, but there are many many more there that have yet to be discovered. I would make the trip back to just ride those trails any day of the week.
As we continued through the trails Chris was flying, I was struggling due to dehydration and shear tiredness. Then there was the Buttertart station!!! Free butter tarts as you rode by, why wouldn't you grab one! It was a nice bit of sugar to wake up the mind again. After that we crossed the road and into the Hiawatha trail network. I kept the head down, swearing at myself to keep going. Kilometer after kilometer, the end was drawing near, I could hear the loud speaker, I knew we were almost there, and as we came around the corner, the lady at the marshall station said, "2km to go". I had nothing in the tank left, and she pretty much shot me in the leg with that comment. But with Chris there we made it through the final 2km, and that was it, we had finished Crank.
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| That's a wrap for Crank the Shield 2018 |
As we checked the results, we were on the podium yet again, with another 2nd place finish on the day. A great way to cap everything off. A bad start, but a strong finish.
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| One more podium |
At the end of the day, what did I come away with from the race. There were a few things that I know I would change with myself.
- I would train more on gravel and road for the climbing. I was not as strong as I could have been.
- I would have a second bottle on the bike with powder. Running only 1 bottle and a camelbak just wasn't enough nutrition for me.
- I should have done the drive train a little bit earlier before the race.
Other than that I wouldn't change a thing.
Also, after thinking about it, would I do the race again, I would for sure, in a heartbeat. It was a perfect vacation, with good friends.
Thanks to Emily and Joanne for support us crazy people.
Congrats to Dan, Josh and Lee for doing amazing!
Thanks again to Sean and Superfly racing for hosting such a great event. I will be sure to pass on the experience to anyone who will listen.
Cheers
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| Tyler, Lee and Chirs |
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