On the eve of Wednesday, May 9th I made it 3 for 3 at the third Squamish Toonie Race. This was followed by a win on Saturday, at the first event in the 'Hell of a Series’: the OreCrusher XC. I won the OreCrusher in 2011 and was able to successfully defend my victory with a narrow 8-second lead over Sechelt's Kris Sneddon. Kris acquired an early lead at the OreCrusher and I spent most of the race trying to close what was at its biggest a 40-second gap. I caught Kris on the last lap and attacked over the crest of the last substantial climb. I was able to hold the small lead to the finish line. After the race Kris and I extended our day's fun with a ride up to Cat Lake for our first lake swim of the year. The lake was incredible! The heat of the day had warmed the surface water of the lake to an ideal temperature. We followed this delightful dip with a rip down the trail ‘Cheshire Cat’ and then back to the OreCrusher venue just in time for awards.

Following the OreCrusher I completed a heavy week of training. At the time I was feeling good, but in hindsight perhaps it was too much. I flew back east on Friday for Canada Cup #1 in Mt. Tremblant, Quebec. Evan’s mother Kira collected Neal-and-Bike from the Montreal airport and shuttled us up to Mt. Tremblant. This made my travels much more manageable. Thanks Kira! I arrived in Tremblant 7:30pm Friday evening and pre-rode a lap of the course. Not much has changed with the Tremblant Canada Cup since first attending in 2006. I had a strong start and was first into the single-track but before the end of the first lap five riders had passed me. This occurred following a bit of a pushing match with another racer as we entered a trailhead. I lost the pushing match. Starting the second lap, Raphael established a lead and I was chasing with a trailing group of five riders. Over the remaining three laps Raphael’s lead grew steadily and I broke free from the chase group for a 2nd place finish. I am happy with 2nd. It is my best result at Tremblant but to be honest…all of Canada’s top talents are out of the country attempting to qualify for the Olympics. I felt good on Saturday but not great. Some top-end snap was missing and I can't be sure whether it was due to too much training during the week or travelling the day before... perhaps it was both. I will be looking to improve my performance and I feel I learned a number of things this weekend. I will add this to the toolkit and move forward.

Next up is the Nimby 50 in Pemberton, BC where I have my work cut out for me if I am going to defend my title. Max will be racing and he is no doubt the stronger rider...perhaps in the best form of his life having just finished ninth place in the most recent world cup. The anticipation of suffering is giving me anxiety. Haha, no, I’m looking forward to it. I love having strong competition close to home. It's what makes racing fun!

After the Nimby I go back east for the third Canada Cup (Hardwood Hills, Ontario) where I hope to induce suffering.

Then I must make a decision... do I race the Test of Metal or Nationals... many pros and cons to each.

Keep it fun, keep it fast!

-N

Toonie #3 results (Squamish, BC):

Toonie Results

OreCrusher XC results (Squamish, BC):

www.canadiancyclist.com OreCrusher XC

Canada Cup #1 results (Mt. Tremblant, QC):

www.canadiancyclist.com Canada Cup #1

Wednesday last week I won Squamish Toonie race #2. I will race as many of the squamish toonie's as fit into my season. I will miss a few of them due to travel. They are short and sweet and too convenient to pass up. The competition level is high in Squampton... or are we saying squawesome now?

I was feeling tired from burning the midnight oil with my 'race-drive2000km-race' in a 26 hour period two weeks ago. Due to my state i skipped 'Race the Ridge' last weekend in Maple Ridge. It's a road stage event that i had planned to attend but there's no point in racing if your not up to the task.

As much as i would have liked to attend (I love road racing!) it was a good decision not too. I was well rested by the end of the weekend and had a highly productive week of training.

Second annual Corsa Cycles Fashion Show on thursday. It was my first time at the fashion show and i believe it was the second show... last year being the first. Strange things go on in squamish some evenings. I wasn't modelling in the fashion show because as fate would have it fashion and style hit the back burner early in my childhood. But it's good somebody is keeping the world in style.

What a drag it would be if we reverted to racing in wool jerseys, fabric helmets, and bright fluorescent stretchy things without suspension, disc brakes, carbon bikes, dropper posts, 1x10's, and of course, fashionable attire.

Dude-man Ricky Federau sends XC with dropper post... assuming his foot isn't broken. He was attacked by chickens late friday afternoon. no but really: Ricky had a moving accident last week and had to cancel on tomorrow weekly training ride. He crashed down a set of stairs while moving a chair for his girlfriend. Both Ricky and the Chair made it through the wall at the bottom of the stairwell. dude!

Saturday May 5 was the Sunshine Coaster Marathon XC. It's a 50k marathon xc race on the sunshine coast (if you didn't get that from the name). I won but not without a struggle and some barely bearable suffering. Local pro Kris Sneddon was setting the pace most of the day with Cody Canning hanging comfortably.

I haven't raced bikes with Cody in ages. He switched to road and in doing so dropped off the face of my earth as many have... Ryan Anderson, Will Routley. For awhile i was more focused on keeping my eye on Cody then on Kris but then mid race Cody disappeared. From then on it was Kris and I battling to the finish. It was a great race as the two of us are very comparable riders and Kris did gap me on a few sections of the course courtesy of mad skill and local knowledge. I caught him -oddly enough- on a fire road descent with a 1x10. go figure. From there i followed for a little longer and when we hit the next steep climb (still on the fire road) i made my move and stepped into the hurt locker. I opened up a good size gap very quickly and then had to tone it down so as not to blow up. The gap remained at 30 seconds from this attack through until the finish line. 20 minutes in the hurt locker. ouch.

I was happy to repeat last years victory of the Coaster. it's my 3rd victory at the coaster with my fist being 2007 or maybe '06 when it was known as the Rat Race.

Results are posted here:

www.canadiancyclist.com

-N

Shortly after my last blog post I caught the flu and did not start the Barry’s Roubaix Road Race. That same weekend Stephen ‘Rippin’ Riby of EMD Serono was in Squamish discovering what real mountain biking is all about. He left lusting for more of our sweet single-track and I am certain he will be back because Ontario can’t compare.

Midweek was an excellent training block spent riding with Kris Sneddon and Ricky Federau. I am renting a suite from one of Squamish’s best trail builders and he has built a trail from the backyard that links into the giant network of single-track around town. I can ride from the backyard (literally!) and spend hours shredding trails without every touching pavement. I was quick to show off this luxury to Kris and Ricky who both approve that Squamish is rad. Ricky proved once again that he is the fastest XC downhiller I know by destroying me on the descents. Ricky can descend as fast as any top DH rider but he can also climb like a retired protour domestique. And Corsa Cycles has signed Federau to the team! So once again, ‘chicken farmer Ricky’ and ‘garbage man Neal’ find themselves teammates! Oh good times!

The following weekend I was racing my new Specialized Tarmac SL4 at the final Spring Series in the Fraser Valley where I took another 3rd place finish. The bike weighs 14.5Lbs and according to Dave Heisler “it is the lightest bike [he has] ever weighed.” It is also the stiffest road bike I have ever pedaled. I spent some time moto-pacing in the upper Squamish and the Tarmac SL4 is a speed machine. Much like my Epic 29er, the Tarmac is designed for speed and riding it at 65km/h up and down the valley is a beautiful thing.

Torturous days of moto-pacing were followed by some much-needed massage treatments @ Squamish Therapeutics before my departure for Sea Otter.

I drove to Monterey, California solo and had a disappointing ride in the Short-track XC where I was lapped and pulled from the race. I should have finished the race but it’s too difficult to pass riders on such a narrow course and the folks at the back of the field don’t carry speed effectively. The result of which is working really hard and not going very fast. I was passing riders at approximately the same rate that they were being pulled from the race and this interesting situation kept me nearly dead last for the duration of the event. I did manage to move from #80 to #20 before the lead group caught me.

The following day was the Cross-Country event; a super fast 20-mile loop. I ran a 37tooth ring for this high-speed course courtesy of E13. The E13 guys were on-sight showing off the goods and they were quick to swap out my front ring.

The race went well and I finished 11th. I am happy with this result and keen to better it.

Immediately after the XC race I drove back to Squamish in 21 hours with a one hour power nap at a rest stop. Arriving in Squamish at 11:30 am on Sunday I slept in my bed from 12 until 2 pm and was back on my bike racing at 3 pm to win the season opener Toonie race with a strong field of nearly 150 racers.

Stoked to be home!

After the toonie race I had a few beers over a heated game of Scrabble with JD and Matteo. I crushed their balls by spelling lots of big words and Matteo was visibly hurt by his loss.

Amidst our intoxicated ramblings we concluded that ‘a bicycle is an instrument used to manipulate speed and its rider must make it sing’

I like that.

On Saturday i raced the 8th event of the "Spring Series". It was foul! Cold, Wet, and Windy. 10km into the race i was off the front with minimal effort. nobody seemed to be chasing so i just kept riding a good tempo. After 30km of this solo effort i was joined by David Stephens and the two of us spent the next 90km working together. David got the better of me on the last climb and won the race. I'm looking forward to warm weather!

My road bike showed up on monday and Pat @ Corsa Cycles built it up. I had been racing on Dave Heislers top-of-the-line "rainy day bike" up until now.

On friday i will do the finishing touches to my new road ride... a BG fit and some fine tuning.

E13 chain guide and rings showed up and the 1x10 system is now fully operational. There was some talk of going 1x10 on the road bike too... haha...

Next up is the Barry Roubaix Classic April 8th.

here are the top 5 from last weeks race in Mission, BC:

David Stephens - Garneau Evolution

Neal Kindree - Specialized / EMD Serono

Noah Blom - Garneau Evolution

Kyle Buckosky - Garneau Evolution

David Gerth - Garneau Evolution

I am feeling better on the bike with every passing week.  I was expecting to feel weak in the legs after spending so much time skiing this winter.  This is not the case.  To my surprise my arms are the weak link.  Skate skiing is taxing on the triceps but does little to work the biceps.  This has been, unexpectedly, the most sore part of my body training over the past month.  Riding aggressively out of the saddle puts a huge strain on your biceps as you pull your bike into you with each pedal stroke.  Slower riders tend to use their body weight to propel themselves while out of the saddle.  This method of riding is very limiting because you will never generate more force than that of your body when weighting the pedals.   A more advanced riding technique is to pull the bike into your pedal stroke while out of the saddle.  This is done all the while keeping your hips near motionless and pulling with your hamstrings on the upstroke of the pedal revolution.  Easier said than done.  And as i mentioned, very demanding on your core and arms.  My triceps are rapidly emaciating and my biceps are starting to feel stronger.

Training has been going well and I've been racing the Escape Velocity Springs Series events on weekends.  These road races take place in Langley and are a great workout.  The speed is a bit low but the racing is hard enough as I am a solo rider attempting to take on some strong teams of 8 to 10 riders.  Makes for a challenging day.  So far I have managed a 5th, 3rd, and 2nd place finish with one DNF because it started snowing!

On the mountain bike, i have my 1x10 set-up without a chain guide and it's wicked.  I thought the chain would be dropped more but it seems to happen only a few times per ride.  E13 chain guides should be here thursday so then I will be, as they say, "good to go".  I would recommend a 1x10 drivetrain to anyone and everyone that is a serious mountain bike rider.  Front derailleurs are out!  Chain guides are in!
I'm still learning all the different specialized treads, but at the moment I am running the Purgatory 29x2.2 and it's sweet. The Purgatory isn't a super light race tire but it's a wicked 'ride' tire and perfect for spring training.  It sheds the mud, hooks up on the slime, and makes training with Quinn extra difficult.

Last week I attended a conference on Multiple Sclerosis hosted by EMD Serono (team sponsor).  Delicious food, good wine, great company, and many brilliant neurologists speaking in a far-off branch of english that I struggled to follow. Beta Cell receptor sites, and T30 enzyme structures.  They were a great bunch and although I didn't really understand much of the presentation I appreciate what they are striving for: to improve the quality of life for patients living with MS.   I will be riding in the Vancouver MS Bike tour with this same group of folks on August 12.  I need to raise some funds...if you are feeling generous and want to support a great cause please email me @ n_kindree (at) hotmail.com

Next up is another of the Spring Series on saturday. The following weekend is the Barry Roubaix road race in Pitt Meadows, and then I head south to tackle the Sea Otter! super stoked...

-N

The last week has been a blast dialing in the new race machine.   Build it, ride it, adjust something, ride it, adjust more things, ride it… etc.   I think I finally have it tuned up just the way I like.  I got a Specialized BG fit at Corsa Cycles and am getting used to the new position.  If feels fast!
 
The S-Works epic 29er is very much a ‘race-bike’ and less so a ‘ride-bike’.  Not to undermine the quality of the ‘ride’ but I have never had a bike scream for speed like this machine.  I am super excited to get my 1x10 drivetrain setup and start racing.
 
Training has been going well and I feel really good turning pedals.  Since my Epic 29er arrived I was lucky with the weather and got some really good trail days in.  The weather in Squamish is looking inclement right now and for the duration of the next week so it will be a grueling week of basement trainer rides.  Although less exciting than the great outdoors I respect the quality of training that can be achieved indoors.
 
Congrats to Canada for nearly sweeping the top three at the Mellow Johnny’s Pro XCT last week in Texas.  Good to see Max rip it up on a Specialized for the win!
 
I am currently experimenting with a pile of different specialized treads for shredding Squamish’s early season trail muck… I will let you know the results.
 
Stoked!
-Neal

Last Saturday – February 25 – I competed in my first XC ski race called the Payakentsut. The Payak is a 50km loppet and climbs up a never-ending series of hills. It’s not for the weak of heart and makes bike racing feel easy by comparison of energy expended per kilometer. I wasn’t the only mountain bike racer at the event… Alison Sydor was out there crushing souls as well.

I surprised a few people with my second place finish. Skate skiing came to me very naturally and I can only assume I acquired the necessary skill sets from a number of background sports. The most obvious being cross-country mountain bike racing where I learned how to recover and relax at speed. Momentum can be carried into a hill, lost, and regained over the crest of the hill with great similarity between bike and skis. As for the act of skiing itself, I was skiing whistler/Blackcomb weekly as a youngster and have experience in the tamest of backcountry settings. In my earliest sporting years I was a competitive figure skater, which is essentially the same motion as skate skiing. Rock Climbing and slack lining have given me the core strength and balance required for good glide. So although this was my first winter skiing and my first ski race, I would like to make the argument that I have had a lifetime of preparation. After reading this you can perhaps understand that my second place finish was not a surprise to myself. I was racing to win on Saturday and fell short but I’m still proud of my effort. I know of several things I will do differently at next years Payakentsut and I am confident I should be able to shave minutes off my time in 2013. For those wondering… Payakentsut comes from the Squamish Nation… a place to trains oneself physically.

Results from the Payak can be found here

I would like to thank Munny Munro for waxing my race sticks with highly toxic wax that is allegedly superior to Ricky Federau’s preferred Tea Lights. I also owe a big thank-you to Alpina for the ski boots, Peltonen for the ski’s, and Yoko for the poles. Answers to my many ski questions were kindly provided by The Nordic Shop in Squamish, and Sigges’ in Vancouver. Ryders Eyewear kept the snow out of my orbits.

My sister raced the Payak too and the following day she was off to Maui with her fiancée. They left a 14-year-old cat named Rex at my house while they are away. He cannot Meow, has one tooth, looks like a giant ball of orange fluff and really likes me. I love cats but suffer from Cat allergies. It’s not a problem unless I touch the cat, which is really hard not to do! It’s so cute and it doesn’t hide the fact that it wants loves… I have been feeding him salmon treats, hair elastics and reading to him.

My new mountain bike arrived yesterday!!!!! S-Works Epic 29er. The best cross-country race bike on the planet. I am spoiled, lucky, and excited to ride this thing! I am going to build it tonight with the help of Pat @ Corsa Cycles and can’t wait to get out on the trails. It’s very flash so hopefully I can rip it up and get my new podium shoes onto a podium…

Winter has been a busy blast. I spent most of November and December working (driving limousines and garbage trucks)

Between shifts i was skate-skiing at the Whistler Olympic Park and Cycling in my parents basement. I think i may have lost some brain cells while logging trainer hours and staring at a concrete wall.

In the late fall of 2011 i was once again voted 'male athlete of the year' by the readers of the Squamish Chief Newspaper. This is a bit embarrassing considering the number of olympic medallists that call Squamish home. Myself being a non-olympian. None-the-less i am honoured to have received this vote for a fourth year.

Also, in the late fall of 2011 I raced the 6-hour Lunar Enduro Solo and won the event having beaten the nearest team by one lap. I have tried to win this thing solo a few times and was happy to finally make it happen.

Here is some recent media:

Published December 23 in the Squamish Chief Newspaper:

www.squamishchief.com

Published January 12 in the Whistler Pique Newsmagazine:

www.piquenewsmagazine.com

Published January 12 on cyclingnews.com:

www.cyclingnews.com

Published January 13 in the Squamish Chief Newspaper:

www.squamishchief.com

I was planning to race the first 3 Pro XCT events in March but cancelled my plans as Pro XCT #2 and #3 no longer offer any UCI points.

This decision has given me more time to make the transition from Nordic skiing to cycling and i think this will pay dividends later in the year. I will be racing the Payakentsut 50k Loppet at the Whistler Olympic Park on February 25th. The Payakentsut will be my first and last ski race of the season.

I will participate in the Spring Series road races in Langley that happen every saturday and sunday for the month of March. This is a perfect fit to transition my body back onto the bike. My first exciting event will be the Barry Roubaix on April 7th followed by Sea Otter in Cali April 19-22.

And Finally... My blog is up and running and can be found here:

http://iamspecialized.com/xc-mtb/rider/neal-kindree

Cheers,

Neal

I’m just winding down from a fine day that started with a 35km ski up at the Callaghan Valley. I had fast company and was happy to spend most of the ski torturing 2004 Canadian National XC Mountain Bike Champ Ricky Federau (http://rickyfederau.blogspot.com). It is largely speculated that the old chicken farmer from Chilliwack is washed up, but having been redlined for 95% of today’s ski I beg to differ. I can only assume that if he invested in LF or HF wax and stopped using Tea Lights I would be forced to call our hammer sessions ‘training’, rather than rest-days. JOKE! There was nothing restful about it.

I should point out, also, that when Ricky won the 2004 national championships, he was, not surprisingly, riding a Specialized Epic.

Needless to say I’m really stoked to have been picked up by the Specialized / EMD Serono race team. I will be racing on a Specialized Epic 29er off-road and a Specialized Tarmac SL4 on-road. These bikes are as good as it gets and I’m fortunate for the opportunity to compete on them. EMD Serono has a multi-vitamin called multi-bionta that will be part of my wellness program. It’s a mix of vitamins/minerals and probiotics. Super-nutrients!

Corsa Cycles is a significant supporter of my race plans and I’m excited to be back at the shop. I should share a little blast from the past. My dad was the original and former owner of Corsa Cycles. He started the shop sometime back when dinosaurs roamed the planet and mountain bikes didn’t exist. Prior to my abduction by public education my daycare was the elaborate castles and mazes that I manufactured with empty bike boxes in the ceiling rafters of Corsa Cycles. I’m sure I pestered Dave as much then as I do now. Since those early days Corsa has grown into a high-quality operation and Specialized dealer. Corsa Cycles is a perfect fit for my performance based focus and needs.

Squamish Therapeutics will be involved for a second year. This is good news no doubt. Keeping bikes and body well tuned is essential to aggressive training and racing. Ryders Eyewear is also on-board for another year and rumour has it that they have a whole new line-up of photochromic options on the way.

Winter training has been going well and I’ve been spending a lot of time up at the Callaghan skate skiing with Adam Z. He’s a former elite level rock climber, turned mountain biker, turned skier and although I will never surpass his vision for moving on rock I think I should be able to beat him at a game of chess before the years out.

I am going do to my first skate-ski race at the end of February and come March I will be back to training in the trails with Quinn and Racing in the Langley Spring Series on weekends. Sea Otter is just around the corner.

Thanks to Specialized, EMD Serono, Corsa Cycles, Squamish Therapeutics, and Ryders Eyewear for providing me with an amazing opportunity. I plan to make the most of it. I will post blog updates at the beginning of each week.

Thanks for reading,

Neal

PS - Lauren has taken on the role of non-bike photos for my

blog.  Here are two: