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Crank the Shield

This post was written by Catherine Vipond on September 24, 2009

Crank the Shield, a 250km 3 day stage race through the Haliburton area of Ontario was this past weekend. I got to race the event with Norco teammate, Matt Pazuik. With the majority of racing done for the year this was our final event and training leading up to it was pretty low key. We got in a couple of rides together with Matt showing me the local real estate, I still don’t know what you would do with a seven car garage, as well as some local bike path rides and a hot chocolate stop. This year there was no messing around and Matt and I turned my hardtail into a Faze 1 dualie. We set our race plan to having fun, and stopping at every aid station.

Day 1 was a completely new course compared to last year and it was a big hit. Lots of new single track through Haliburton forest and since it was early on in the race you even got to enjoy it while fresh. The start was pretty relaxed with everyone knowing there was lots of racing ahead. Once we hit the single track things heated up and any thoughts of riding chill were thrown aside. It’s a race it was go time. Matt and I had a really good day, we both felt strong and steadily moved up throughout the stage finishing in 12/13 overall. The 4.5 hour stage had been about an hour longer than we anticipated but we were able to push through to the finish. Crank the Shield uses summer camps for accommodation which is kind of neat. Eat in a big hall and sleep in cabins. Matt and I had our own cabin which meant it was nice and quiet but with a few holes in the wall it made for a rather cold sleep.

Day 2 used a very similar course to last year of which I remembered lying in countless mud bogs with frogs jumping around. This year promised to be only mid calf deep bogs, I quickly realized this was not true as the first bog I went mid thigh deep and riding through one puddle which looked more like a lake Matt put his hands underwater. I didn’t see any frogs this year though. The course was actually a lot drier than last year with lots of routes around the worst bogs but still there were some that were unavoidable. Early in the race it was hard to get into a rhythm on the rocky ATV trails that we actually quite technical. There were lots of people around and passing was difficult. I had some issues there too with a nice uphill endo into the granite shield. After the first aid station there was a good section of dirt road and we put in a solid 20/30min effort getting some time on a large pack of riders before settling into our pace again. It was much easier to ride when you had a clear run at things. Unfortunately Matt then burped his tire and we had some difficulties using our CO2, neither of us realized there was a safety on the head. Once we got going again we were able to make up what we had lost and were feeling pretty good however I then put my chain and derailleur into my spokes. My derailleur was pretty twisted and we had some issues straightening it out. We had some great comments as riders went by and the two of us were staring at my bike in one hand and derailleur in the other. We were lucky however and got it back together and found a gear that worked so I was on the 3×1 gearing. I could shift a little just felt like I was never in the right gear. The single speeders told me that was how they always rode. The next half hour was a lot of mud bogs and seemed to last forever, Matt and I sort of lost motivation but fuelled up as our day goal was approaching. We knew the last 19km was rail trail not nice rail trail but loose, sandy, bumpy slightly uphill rail trail. We had planned on attacking this and that is what we did. Matt ramped the pace and I suffered, huge. I was doing all I could to hang on to his wheel for the first 6km but then I started coming around and felt a bit better at the pace. We were catching riders and no one was able to stay on it was fun. Matt had given all he had and with 6km to go I went to the front and rode the hardest 6km I think I ever had. I was planning on going till I died and figured Matt would take over at that point. I was surprised with what I had left. I made Matt suffer and he was pretty cross eyed by the finish. It was a fun way to end the stage we both buried ourselves on that rail trail, probably not the best stage race tactic but we enjoyed it. 4:57 on the day was another long day on the bike. From the finish in downtown haliburton it was a short bus back to Camp White Pines.

Day 3 started with a neutral 18km ride over to the start. We opted for a little motorpacing which I quickly found out was way too hard for me. We were crushing the hills and I was dead. I dropped off and rode into the start myself hoping the legs would come around a little. Right off the gun the pace was intense there was some riders fighting for their category titles and they were determined from the get go. The course was great. Lots of climbing only two puddles that hardly got you wet. We did a massive climb up to the lookout and we made sure to look left as we rode by so that we could enjoy the scenery. Some fun new single track, some forest roads, dirt roads, atv trails and to finish some great single track in Haliburton forest. However it wasn’t nearly as fun as the first day as it just seemed hard and I was looking forward to that finish. Matt and I both suffered today, he rode a single ring up front for the race and says it was great but it meant he had to push all the steep stuff and I had no power today so basically suffered on every steep climb to go with him. I however felt pretty good on the roads and rolling terrain so was able to push there. At the finish we were met with a great barbeque and awards ceremony.

Matt and I met our goals we enjoyed ourselves while pushing each other to our limits. We stopped at every aid station even if it wasn’t necessary and came home with far more food than we started. We’re pretty lucky that Norco is a sponsor providing neutral support at the race so we had lots of help with mechanics and team support. The atmosphere of the race is pretty cool and we decided it is a great end to the season kind of like a yearend banquet. Thanks to Chico and the crew for putting on a great event, and to Norco for their support. For results and information on the race check out www.cranktheshield.com.