Team Go Banana

Furious3 here we come

2011-09-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

Not dead yet!

From the state of this blog you'd think we all died in a nasty roller coaster accident. Not the case...we are all just pretty lazy and pretty crappy bloggers.

Anyways, maybe that will change since so far 3 Bananas have signed up for the Furious3 in Fernie next June. Hopefully this will give us some focus.

The Quest for the Gnarliest Fall

2010-07-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

*****WARNING - SCROLLING DOWN WILL REVEAL GROSSNESS**********

Well, I got posting rights to this blog about 2 years ago when I was making a "get the crank team famous" video (which I didn't even end up posting). I'm pretty sure most of the guys didn't know I could do this, but I'm hijacking the blog!

I'm hijacking this blog because I came across the gnarliest bike fall picture I have ever seen (being the son of "Man Down" - this is saying something). I immediately wanted to share it with the crank team, and this is probably the easiest and most secret agent-like way to do it!

Check out this dude!

Can anyone beat this fall? It may not have caused the most damage, but he sure did "become one with his bike".

Welcome Back Summer!

2010-05-25T10:01:00.001-07:00

It's been nearly a year since our last post ... far far too long! Last summer a whole lot of rainy weather, furious product development on Storyboard 1.0 at Crank Software and some new little people gave us a half reasonable set of excuses to explain our lack of riding.

Good news this year ... the weather's been hot and we've done more riding so far this season than most of last year! The bad news is that our local Kanata Lakes trails are being massively intersected by a four lane connector road.

To mix things up a little bit and introduce a few more loop options we've started running a small 200m connector between Pete's Wicked and the Outback. For lack of a better term, I'm calling the Crank CutOff and it lets you run a nice little lunch loop without committing to the complete Outback.

Here's hoping a few others will enjoy this little loop extender.

Thomas

Team Go Banana Sets Course Record

2009-07-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

Team Go Banana (all graduates of the BC Bike Race) are pleased to announce setting a course record ... the longest lap in the history of Albion Hills.

The confidence was high as we entered this race. We were aiming for a personal team best of completing at least 2 laps of the long 17 km course.

Thomas (Navigator) was originally going to start the race but he was side tracked by a good book and an upcoming program on CBC. Next up was Jason (Third) but there were rumours of a bridge crossing which brought up some painful memories and caused him to pass on doing a lap. It came to the engine (Brian) to lead the charge. He was overheard chanting "I think I can, I think I can" as he slogged through the mud. The image proves a lap was completed.

The race was cut short due to weather but we will be back with a vengance next year.

See results ... http://www.chicoracing.com/html/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=319

Awesome Spring Riding

2009-03-29T07:10:00.000-07:00

Saturday was an awesome day for ride, with temperatures of 15, so we went out to hit the roads. We left downtown and headed over the Chelsea for a nice loop in the awesome weather. The roads were as good as Quebec roads are after the winter thaw. I biked pretty much the entire ride in short sleeves and a vest. Stopped to take a quick look at the trail at the top of Notch and looks like it's not ready for biking yet, but I'm sure it will be for May 15th.

On the way home we got a little confident that the snow was off the paved bike trails so we crossed at the island park bridge and headed down the bike path back to downtown. There were a couple to 10m patches of snow and ice that where able to be biked across since we were on mountain bikes. However, once we got behind the Parliament buildings it was a different story.

Anyways, after a little walking and a little extra ridding added to our plans (since none of the locks were closed for us to cross) we made it back home with smiles on our face from a beautiful day in the sun.

Brr .. it's cold outside!

2009-03-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

Brian managed to entice me out for one of his Sunday rides kickin' off from Goulbourn RecCenter parking lot. Brian's been out a couple of times this year, but it was my first ride of the season and I don't think I could have picked a colder day, but I have to admit the sunshine was glorious!

Brian and Joanne pulled me up Flewellyn and back down Fernbank for a nice little 30km jaunt.

Despite the cool weather, it was a nice way to welcome spring!

Thomas

In your face Big Ringers!

2009-03-22T06:59:00.000-07:00

Go Banana has finally risen from the shadow of the Big Ringers. Since last summer when the biggest rivalry in MTB history came head to head at the BC bike race, it had been all Bing Ring. They constantly mocked us by biking faster than us, getting sponsors, keeping their blog better up-to-date and appearing in all the pictures from the race (while Go Banana didn't make any). Well... no longer!!! Go Banana got a talking spot in the Ride Guide's coverage of the BC Bike Race. "I'm starting to not like this gravel road anymore" is just one of the pearls of wisdom I dispensed during my 3 seconds of fame. You can check out the video here.

In fairness to the Big Ringers, I may have seen a tattooed arm bike by during the video, but that's like being an extra or supporting character... it's no leading role-- suckas!!

Side note : Congratulations to the Original Big Ring on the arrival of his new granny gear.

Happy Birthday Man Down!!!

2008-12-09T11:19:00.000-08:00

Charlie's birthday is today and as part of his celebration he got inked. Charlie held off getting tattoos up until this point in his life since he always figured he'd end up and jail and get them for free. As he keeps getting older and no sign of jail time he finally sucked it up and paid for it himself.

Happy Birthday Chuck!!!

Just a little 8 hour race ...

2008-08-26T05:47:00.000-07:00

It has been a relatively slow summer for the Go Banana bikers. After our spectacular finish at the BC Bike Race we seem to have only managed to get out on the bikes a handfull of times ... more often than not doing some damage to ourselves.

So I was pretty excited when Keira proposed that we take a short day trip down to Kingston and ride the J & J Cycle Eight Hour Mountain Bike Classic. I figured even though I hadn't ridden in a month that the bike karma gods would cut me a bit of slack for the the six months worth of training and seven consecutive six hour bike days I had in BC.

... in short I thought "Pfffttt ... 8 hours, two people ... piece of cake!".

I've never done a tag team before but I can tell you for sure that riding a fast rolling, twisty, turny 10Km course like the J&J Classic is tons of fun ... but way more effort then the head-down zone out riding we were doing in BC. Since the course was short, I'd just get out there and power my way through, coming across the finish (through a barn!) and gratefully tag Keira so that I could head off the course and start my snack time in an attempt to re-fuel the body for the next speed round.

... of course speed is all relative. While I thought I was burning up the course, I occasionally was being lapped by these youngin's who were pretty much flying through with 30 minute lap times.

We were hoping for 10 laps, and managed to get in 9 but with the sun and the heat we couldn't have asked for a better day!

... and now a word from my tag team partner Keira:

Thomas and I decided we hadn't really spent any time along together in a year and a half so a mtn bike race seemed like a good 'together' activity. We clearly weren't thinking as tag-teaming means you get about 10 words in every 45 minutes and they're usually along the lines of "any major falls?", "did you pass team 203?". Team "Go Banana's" training regime clearly helped t-man on his laps. Unfortunately, I've never been asked to be part of the team (even though I bought Thomas his first mtn bike, make him gluten-free energy treats and supported his 6 month BC Bike Training plan, but I digress) so I don't have access to their secret training methods. I am privy only to their bacon eating secrets - which resulted in an extra ten pounds for me to carry up the hills.

Anyhow - fun race. Other riders were super friendly and the atmosphere was great. Trails are pretty rooty so the day after you remember you're not 18 anymore and that you wished you splurged and bought a full suspension bike. Actually had to wait a few seconds for a cow to get off the trail so I could pass.

New Man Down - And Out!!

2008-08-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

My Bike Karma has run out :(

Since the snow has melted we've been biking non stop getting ready for BC Bike race and put on lots of kilometers. Throughout all this time...no injuries. Then we biked the BC Bike race, 500km of biking filled with treacherous BC singletrack.....no injuries, not even a flat (except for very sore worn out ass and whole wack of tired).

Last week while in Kanata Lakes I got a flat and my seat busted (thank GOD that didn't happen during the race), that wasn't that bad but it was foreshadowing my bike karma might be running out.

So today while going a simple ride on O'Brien in Gatineau it started to rain on our way back...not that big an issue (it was actually very refreshing). However while crossing a simple 4 foot wide bridge everything went wrong. I lifted my front tire to get on the bridge and had a little slippage of my back tire so when I got on the bridge wasn't pointing all the straight...no worries, I was a little tight to the right side of the bridge but nothing to worry about. I braked and went to put my right foot down just to make sure I didn't do anything stupid.....but when I did stupidity happened. Hard soled bike shoes on a wet wood bridge can sometime slip...and it did. My right foot slipped off the bridge and every thing else followed.

The drop was about 3 feet but from the top of my bike it's more like 5 or so into a swampy rocky stream. Due to me experience falling (both in mtb and snowboarding) I'm usually pretty good at it. I almost never put my wrists out since I know they will snap. So I brought my arms to make a cage around my head and save my face, however this caused the entire force of my fall to be taken by my elbow on a sharp rock. It cut deep! lots of blood. Luckily I had some good friends to help me up from under the bridge and patch me up. They also were nice enough to join me in a 4km walk back to the cars dragging my bike along for me and drove me to the hospital (Thanks guys!!).

The rest of the day was spent in the hospital. The Doctor was very impressed with the depth and amount of dirt in my wound. It took almost an hour to clean all the dirt out of. After that came the stitches, since the wound was so deep they had to do 2 layers of stitches one for the skin and the other for all the stuff I tore underneath that.

And then after all this...just to top it off... I got a tetanus shot.

Anyways...it sucks and my arm hurts...a lot.

If anyone wants to go for a pleasant walk in the next week or so instead of biking...I'm in.

Jason

Still Man Down

2008-07-11T07:43:00.000-07:00

Well the BC Bike Race is complete and everyone is mending after quite a epic journey.

Thankfully Brian led us to train on hills and more hills and the BC Bike Race offered us even more. Without the Gatineau time I could never have completed this course. Thanks Mr E.

I was all ready to change my blog name from Man Down to Superstar but the images imply that I should stick with Man Down until I complete more training.

Day 7 was supposed to be easier but it was the 2nd worse day in terms of physical challenge. Starting it with this crash was the tip of the iceberg. After the fall we climbed for a few hours.

Thanks to my little son Ben for taking photos of Day 7 including these. Stay tuned on the blog for more action shots of the Banana and Orange teams.

... Man Down aka Charles Eagan

Go Banana on the Ride Guide????

2008-07-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

After stage 2 of the BC Bike Race two of our finest, Thomas "The Fletcher" Fletcher and Charles "Man Down" Eagan were pulled aside and interviewed by none other then the Ride Guide. I imagine it must of been questions of how we dominated the stage....but seeing we finished so far back maybe not. I guess we'll have to wait until the episodes airs to see these 2 in action.

Day 7 over

2008-07-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

Day 7 is done and we all graduated.

Here is a pic from our party at the top of Whistler.

Too many awards to list.

Thanks to all the support from the fans.

More later.

Bus again

2008-07-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

Once again we are waiting on a bus. We are getting ready for the last ride. Here are a few things I have noticed today:
- a school bus full of guys biking and sleeping in tents for a week has an odd odor
- blue foam pads are not comfortable to sleep on
- in all the food I ate this week there was no bacon
- standing in line for a bathroom everyday sucks

Today is the final day and we will be happy to give our bums a rest. When they make the movie about this we think the following actors should play us:
Jason - Casey Afflek
Charles - Jessica Alba
Thomas - Frankie Munies - malcom in the middle
Brian - The Rock

Go banana

Brian Edmond
Crank Software Inc.

Sports fans

2008-07-03T22:29:00.000-07:00

Day 6 is over and orange and bananas are tucked in our tents and resting for day 7.

The course was great with epic climbs and famous down hills around Squamish. Very technical and steep.

In short we all did well.

Jason was technical king blowin by tons of groups. Now we will have ego issues.

Brian and Thomas climbed like goats.

Brian became a tree hugger instead of falling in a ravine. He was saying something about wanting his mommy.

Even Thomas the great fell but he also rocked it. (his words)

I also rode. Jason as a partner is suboptimal so I will not race with him again. Left me to cry alone.

Tomorrow we rock Whistler.

Good night John-boy.

Day 5

2008-07-02T21:24:00.000-07:00

Today was a long day with lots of singletrack and climbing. At the 15 km point I broke a chain followed by my derailler hanger. We were pretty much done except when all hope was lost a fellow racer asked if we needed help and he had a hanger that fit my bike! After fixing the four of us headed to the second aid station and just hit the cutoff with 10 min to spare. We fueled up and started another climb. There was a lot of fun singletrack at the end but we were pretty tired. I went over my bars and Charles fell off a rather large bridge.

We the ended the day by missing the ferry. We caught the next one and then had ice cream.

On to day 6

Brian
Brian Edmond
Crank Software Inc.

Day 5 - ok.... now my butt is sore

2008-07-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

Today reminded me that I use to like biking :) just joking but the course was a little kinder and involved some good singletrack.

I have learn't a few things during this race
- never let Charles tell you how easy any day will be. They are all hard and always have some grueling section to them.
- single track coming down a mountain isn't always fast and swoopy. I've had do hard work to get through the soft BC forest floor.
- distance means nothing. It seems we are always out there for a good length of time, well Charles and I for sure.

Other notables
- Brian rode a log
- Charles' hands are really sore
- Thomas and I are both suffering from diaper rash
- Charles is a closet climbing machine
- go banana needs trading cards
- we are over half done this race

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

BC ferries - and I'm not talking about "Go Banana"

2008-07-01T06:40:00.000-07:00

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

4:30 AM

2008-07-01T05:14:00.000-07:00

So this morning if ferry day so we got up at 4:30. This photo of Jason says it all. We are on the school bus ride now.

What time is it : game time.!

Brian Edmond
Crank Software Inc.

Jason crossing river

2008-06-30T17:16:00.001-07:00

Day 3 done.

Hills - single track - rivers.

Jason was modelling for a magazine.

Heading on ferry to mainland for ride tomorrow
.

Day 3

2008-06-30T15:40:00.000-07:00

One would think 80km would be easy after 130km ... However today was a hard day of climbing and topped off with 15 km of single track. The bananas and oranges split today and the bananas were in at 6:12 while the oranges rode in at 7:30, although the oranges seemed to want more single track and rode an extra 5km. All and all things went well but I did hate the fresh cut trail and fell off one of the bridges, Jason and Charles were not there to tell me what to do. Thomas also took a tumble but he was just trying to impress the girl behind us.

4 days to go, go banana

Brian Edmond
Crank Software Inc.

River crossing live

2008-06-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Dinner at the BC bike race

2008-06-29T22:33:00.000-07:00

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Day 2 - post shower

2008-06-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

Well....it's done. Today was kinda a how do we get everyone over there day where there is some singletrack day. So inorder to this they had us travel some 123km of fire and logging roads straight through Vancouver island. It was long and boring. However at the end we were rewarded with 2-3km of singletrack.

The highlight of the day was being interviewed by the ride guide. So hopefully go banana will be featured.

Also to note, today go banana decided to forgo the glory of being mid pack and decided to join go orange in their back of the pack placement. Stay tuned to see what go banana does tomorrow.

Going to go sleep now before I need to wake up and go biking tomorrow.

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Day 2

2008-06-29T16:54:00.000-07:00

These legs have just biked 125km of BC logging roads and they are tired. More to come after I shower.

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Go banana breakfast

2008-06-29T07:40:00.000-07:00

Of course it includes bananas
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Hopefully today is better

2008-06-29T07:03:00.001-07:00

Yesterday's ride involverd showing up at both aid stations and being told there was no water, and it was 38 degress out. We were baked. We are told they doubled the number of water stations, but the really issue is if there will be water at them???

Aside from the dehydration the riding was fun up until the anger set in.

Day 2 is 125km and it will be extra hot out there....awesome!
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Water crisis

2008-06-28T14:25:00.000-07:00

So here Thomas and I are at the second aid station waiting for water. We have been waiting for 10 minutes and no eta. Lots of heat and single track today. Bit of heat stroke but that is all.

Make that 30 min ...

Brian Edmond
Crank Software Inc.

Day Zero!!! - The final countdown

2008-06-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

Closer....closer....so close I can taste it!

We are here at the site of day 1 for the BC bike race and have successfully registered ourselves, aquired our free booty (another name for pirate treasure), and checked our bikes in for their last day of relaxing.

Next step....dinner. Luckily we've been training for this one for the last two days (Keira's parents have been extra gracious to us and have feed us better then a 5 star buffet). After that there is the race brief which will hopefully help us in our quest to not get eaten by anything and finish the race.

For the gamblers in the crowd looking for insider info to help with the line on the race
- Thomas is feeling a little fluish
- Charle's last minute fix to his fork seems to have been successful
- Brian seems to be clear of saddle sores
- Jason is 6 foot 3

Call your booky and get your bets in!

That's all for now, but stay toon for constant updates. Maybe even a mid ride post.

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

5 pounds

2008-06-27T07:32:00.000-07:00

5 pounds that is the weight we put on in the last 2 days. We have arrived in BC and decided that eating was the best thing to do before the race.

Things are hopeful other that Charles broken fork and Thomas fever. Don't worry though Jason and I are fine.

Off to the race today

Brian
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

So ... this is what hot is like!

2008-06-08T12:13:00.001-07:00

"I think that I'm melting"

Those were pretty much the shared sentiments from this past weekend Saturday training ride. In training for the BC Bike Race, Team Go Banana and Team Go Orange have fallen into a steady rhythm for the long weekend rides (typically from 4 to 6 hours, 70 - 100km):

Arrive at designated meeting location .... grumble about how early it is
Pretend to stretch ... grumble about "going breakfast instead"
Get on bike ... grumble about biking in general
Ride for several hours and many kilometers ... more random grumbling
Stop ... end of grumble

This weekend, there was more to grumble about: "The heat". Heat and humidity were the highest they have been yet this season ... and the training stops for no weather.

I think that we have either been spoiled by the relatively cool weather this year or perhaps have been in a zone and can't believe that we've actually been biking steadily for the last three/four mouths and it is only now that we are hitting the heat. After a couple of hours, it felt like we had been riding for twice as long and we called it quits at 65K.

Team concensus ... let's hope that it isn't hot and humid in BC!

Thomas

175 km

2008-04-20T17:10:00.000-07:00

175km, that is the combined distance for the weekend. The snow is melting and the weather is getting better so time for a ride.

On Saturday I decided to take a road ride out to Burrits Rapids. It was a really nice day but there was a lot of wind on the way home, Fernbank road was not my friend that day. It was a nice 3:30 ride covering 96km.

On Sunday I joined 2 other Bananas, Thomas and Jason, for a hilly ride around Gatineau. We started bright and early at 7am and let me tell you it is still cold at 7am. We headed out to Gatineau across Notch road, up Kingsmere, Fortune and finally to the end of Meech Lake road. It was very odd to see cyclists, runners, XC skiers and downhill skiers all on the same ride. Aside from some frozen toes and a mishap at the bottom of Fortune the ride went well. We covered 79km in about 3:45 on our Mountain Bikes. Here is the ride info:

X-Country Skiing

2008-02-17T10:07:00.000-08:00

This is a 20 KM ski we did last weekend. Started at P10 in the Gatineau, headed up Fortune and turned right at Shilly Shally to Champlain lookout. We then took the road back from the lookout past the turn off for Fortune and jumped on trail 17 which is a backcountry trail and a lot of fun. This trail took us to the look out just above P7 were we grabbed the number 1 back to Fortune parkway and we had a nice downhill ski back to P10. Good Times!!!

View Larger Map

Training Update

2008-01-11T13:15:00.001-08:00

Training for a bike race in Ottawa in the winter is a daunting activity. You spend most of the time riding the trainer, zoneing out thinking about what it would be like to be outside instead of in the gym, garage or basement ... and not moving.

To start this training season off, I'm working my way through the Lord of the Rings extended DVD collection. That will give me a good week of trainer "warm up riding" before I have to start onto the gruelling Coach Troy series of regimented DVD training rides. With titles like Sweating Buckets, Hillatious and my personal favourite Have Mercy you know that these indoor rides are just going to be a laugh a minute.

Of course, while I'm toiling on the trainer in my basement, dreaming of fresh air against my face, a few fellow Team Go Banana riders decided to revolt.

Brian, Jason and Charles combined business with pleasure and headed to Nevada for a false flats training ride day in the hills around Las Vegas.

Nice work boys ... but Jason you seem to have lost your shirt!

Oh well ... back to the basement for me, I hear Suffer-O-Rama calling my name.

Thomas

Go Banana Christmas

2007-12-23T07:39:00.000-08:00

Well the Go Banana team, that means Go Orange too, is winding down its BC Bike race pre-training stage. It was a tough couple of months of eating breakfasts and drinking full fat fancy coffees, all while pretending to plan for the race, and the team is certainly fat and lazy now ... and if not then Christmas snacks will surely finish the job.

In January, as the reality of the race starts to kick in, so will the real training phase. Brian's put his wicked spreadsheeting skills to work and no doubt we'll have a weekly schedule filled with hours on the bike trainer, time in the snow cross country skiing, the intermittent long winter run and a whole sequence of activities involving bending over and lifting stuff, usually heavy, up.

Can't wait =;-) ... but Brian keeps telling me that I'll appreciate it in June when Team Go Banana dominates the field ... or at least ranks ahead of Team Go Orange =;-)

In the mean time, it seems we aren't the only ones appreciating banana holiday cheer!

http://www.joecartoon.com/cartoons/710-christmas_banana

Thomas

Go Orange Retreat

2007-12-19T17:55:00.000-08:00

Go Orange (a.k.a. Go Banana II) is now back from it's winter retreat and strategy session in Banff and is now ready to test the water on training for the BC Bike Race. Snowboarding in Banff allowed Go Orange to practice going down the Rocky Mountains at out of control speeds, just like we plan to do during the race.

The trip rocked and the good news is Man Down did manage to find his snow panties.

Go Banana Fields another BC Bike Race Team

2007-10-31T16:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read it right! Go Banana will field not 1, but 2 teams in the 2008 BC Bike Race. Due to the name "Go Banana" already being taken by our first team to register, the second team will ride under the alias "Go Orange". If you find yourself asking "Why Go Orange?", simply slide your mouse pointer over to left side of the screen and click on the team inspiration video. Also an orange is a good descriptive fruit for this team since an orange goes downhill fast but has issues climbing up them.

See you all in BC on June 28th.

Go Banana!......oh wait, I mean Go Orange!

Off Season Cross

2007-10-14T05:30:00.000-07:00

Now that the adventure race season is over one would think that the Banana's dig in and hibernate for the winter. But not us we like to keep up with the training by continuing to go out for breakfast and also riding Cyclocross. Our first race was the Madison at Britania Park as part of the Eastern Ontario Cyclocross Series. A Madison is a tag team event so after much discussion about who should represent Go Banana it was decided that Brian and Charles should go. This was due to the fact that I have a cross bike and that you have to get on and off the bike a lot in cross and we all know Charles is good at that (Man Down!). After a few practice laps I decided to show Charles how to get on and off his bike and that made a big difference on the enjoyment level of the race. We both found the race quite taxing, it is amazing how hard 9 minutes on a bike can be when you go as hard as you can. Also riding on grass is harder than you think, go try it. It was good to see our fans out. Fans included my family, fellow Banana Thomas and Junior Banana Jeremy. Also at various stages of the race you could hear my daughter yelling encouragement like "Go faster daddy!" and the classic "Go Banana!". She also suggested a team name "Go Keira" which would make at least 2 people in the Go Banana family happy, we decided not to go with it. We managed to get 7 laps in and had a lot of fun. I was pretty sure we would have won the race is no one else had showed up. Come on out and see us at a cross race near you.

Brian

Land O'Lakes Banana style

2007-10-02T09:30:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was the final Adventure race of the year for the famed Team Go Banana. We entered the Salomon Adventure Challenge with the hopes of a good showing.

The race started at 3am for the team with a quick run to the dock of the lake for me as I tried to get enough cell coverage to check my messages. No Baby yet. We then ate a hearty breakfast of Eggo's and juice and were off to the South beach of Bon Echo park.

At 4am we were off with a run to a nearby monument to get a date. After some brief confusion, due to my inability to read at 4am, we were in a canoe for a short crossing. Once across the river we started the bushwhacking stage in the dark. The dim light of a headlamp made the bush seem very thick and made for slow moving. After about 15min we seemed to be in a small swamp and the first incident occurred. After proclaiming "These woods at not made for me, I'm like a wrecking crew" Jason proceeded to lose a shoe in the mud. I have never seen a person get that dirty after only 15minutes of racing. At this point things started to get better as we moved through the wilderness until we made a course correction but went 10degrees the wrong direction. It was not until about 30 minutes later that Jason noticed the error. All in all we ended up in roughly where we intended. The rest of the hike was uneventful and went pretty well for us.

Next stage was a paddle. Go Banana is not known for their paddling especially for 3 hours of it. Since I forgot the middle stool I sat in the middle of the boat. However I did have to listen to Jason telling me that the race was all my fault and that with 20km to got I would get a punch in the back of the head. We hit a few shallow areas where the boat had to be dragged though. Props to Jason and Thomas who got out of the boat and pulled me though. You see I am small and if I get wet and cold things don't really go well (I am kind of like a kid that way). We did however find an old pool noodle on the side of the river for me to sit on. At the first portage Thomas stopped for a pee and we narrowly managed to escape getting passed by 2 teams, longest pee ever! The rest of the paddle was very quiet as we tried to keep focused. Also we finally discovered which banana has he largest bladder, it would be Jason who did not pee the entire paddle, that can't be said for Thomas and I, it seems the bailer makes a good potty.

We docked our boat and took a moment to change and eat. This was a turning point for Jason who changed his wet shorts but sat on the ground first (see previous post about hit butt). We were pretty excited to be on the bikes, this is our thing. We made good time on the road section but I still had to listen to Jason blaming me for the race distance, it seems I am responsible for all his problems. We hit the checkpoint for the Advanced Course and finally achieved one of out team goals. "It is always nice to be asked". We were offered the advanced course, a first for our team! After about 5 seconds of deliberation we decided to skip this section and hit the ATV trail. The ride was fairly slow as we were all tired from the paddle and Jason's butt was sore. We hit a few intersecting trails and props to Jason for picking the route for us. Thomas and I are a bit more structured than Jason and would have been looking though maps for a direction, Jason just kinda decides which way seems right and goes.

At the end of the bike we hit the last paddle, it was really uncalled for actually. With an attempt to ignore the pain we paddled on. At a few points we ended up taking a team break as we did not seem to be making any forward progress. Thomas spirit was then crushed as we rounded a point and realized that it was not the finish, longest lake ever! Finally we docked our boat and strolled to the finish line.

All in all this was one of the Banana's best races ever and there were no major mistakes. We did however learn a few things:

If you change wet shorts don't sit on the ground and get your butt dirty
Jason's butt is very tender
Brian is responsible for any pain endured during the race

And yes for all wondering, we did beat team PFO! They have now been downgraded from arch-nemesis to rival. And if you hear some stories about a freaky racer with 2 left hands that would be Jason, who packed 2 right handed gloves in the transition bag.

No baby yet!

Go Banana!

Frontier Adventure Challenge Course

2007-10-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

Just in case you are curious and want to see the Adventure Race course that caused me to walk like a cowboy for a few days you can check out a rough outline of it here

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/1016693/an/0/page/0#1016693

View Larger Map

Broke Our Own #1 AR Rule

2007-10-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

Everything was going so well, we made it through the trekking section with out incident and had just started the paddle when we hit a series of small rapids shallow enough that we couldn't go over then but deep enough that a portage seemed stupid. So what did we end up doing...Thomas and myself jumped into the water to push the canoe over the shallow area and I ended up drenched up to my waist. There goes the rules right out the window. But not to worry too much since it wasn't a hiking or biking stage, all I had to do was sit in a boat and paddle for 3 hours and I had a dry pair of shorts at the next transition.

So 3 hours latter after sitting in wet shorts on a canoe seat we get to transition area where I can finally switch shorts. The issue here is it's a big open field and a female volunteer sitting working the station and I need to get nakkid. So to be respectful I sit on the ground behind our transition bag not to offend the young woman while I change shorts, not realizing that my very moist numb ass got a whack or gravel and dirt stuck to it during this. Now with my arse covered with gravel I jump on a bike for 4 hours of wonderful bumpy ATV trail after which we got back in a boat for another hour paddle. So with 5 hours of bumping grinding and rocking on a bike and in a boat with a seat full of gravel acting as sandpaper on my nether regions I think the attached picture best describes how I feel.

So new amendment to rule number one. If you do end up wet make sure you don't combine this with dirt or you too can feel like our baboon friend.

SAC Race : Keys to Success

2007-09-25T17:44:00.000-07:00

So it's almost race day and Go Banana's goal for this race is to not repeat some of our old mistakes while at the same time continuing to do the things we've learned to do right. We've never had a clean race without some little f*%$ up. So before this race while enjoying one of Go Bananas training breakfasts we wrote down some of the these little lessons.

Don't Get Wet - It sucks, shivering wastes energy, and it's incredible how much slower you move after you are wet. We learned this last fall in this same 12 hour race after being told in race brief the organizers did the entire course with dry sneakers, however we on the other hand were up to our ears in the middle of a lake within an hour from the start. However, if you must do a small lake crossing it's a good idea to carry a garbage bag to throw your shoes and such in to.

Dry Clothes - Keep dry clothes in all your transition bags and if you think it might be a wet trek keep an extra shirt in a zip lock bag in your camel pack. This can help change your mood on a long wet trek in the dense forest. Also this is especially important with regards to socks, put an extra pair of socks or two in each transition bag.

Portages - When you hit a portage that is longer then a few meters flip the boat and put it over your heads, one in the front and one in the back. Sounds simple but for some reason our first race with long portages we carried the canoe right side up which is a lot slower and slowly yanks your arm out of it's socket.

Double Check Plots - Simple and will save you big. I wasn't part of this race but Thomas and Brian misplotted a checkpoint in one race.

Don't Blow Your Load - It's a long race and you aren't going to win it in the first hour but you can lose it when you bonk in the 5th hour. Try and not get caught up in the start when everybody is excited and full of energy. Run your own race at your own pace.

Trust Your Compass - Everyone tells you this and it sounds soooo simple but it's not easy to head back to hiking through thick brush when there is a path weaving in a direction sort of close to your heading. If you travel back in our blog history and look at the Esprit AR you'll see talk of a 5KM run to correct an issue caused by following a very nice ATV trail.

Know Distances and Average Speeds - Figure out your average speeds in different situations - light jog, hiking in thick brush, biking slow singletrack, biking on gravel roads, paddling across a lake no current, and so on. Next figure out the distances not only between checkpoints but also between any easily identifiable landmark such as a road, corner, or lake. Now use the combination of this information and a stop watch as a gauge of if you've gone too far or our usual problem...not far enough.

If we can do all this right hopefully we'll have a good race on Saturday.

* However it's impossible for us to lose since if we finish before PFO we will have defeated our mortal enemy, and if they finish before us they said they'll have cold beer waiting for us. So it's win win for Go Banana!

Frontier Adventure Challenge : Land O'Lakes

2007-09-21T06:59:00.000-07:00

Only one week until Go Banana defends it's 5 place finish at the Esprit Adventure Race in the Land O'Lakes. In preparation for this event Go Banana has changed their training regiment and started to tapper down much earlier this time before the race (we actually started some where around the end of the last race). I know this may not sound like the smartest of ideas, but at least it's our idea. Our theory is that with 2 months of additional rest we'll easily come first since the rest of the competition will be so tired from all their training. However our theory could also result in our first chance to use our walkie talkie during the race.

Also a special shout out to Brian who's commitment to Go Banana is unmatched. With his wife just weeks aways for delivering their second child Brian has decided to still come run around in the woods with 2 other idiots.

A note to our fan base : If you are in the Bon Echo area on September 9th keep your eyes open for 3 tired and confused guys in really tight Go Banana jerseys, there will be an autograph session after the race.

Go Banana rules and PFO drools!!!

Go Banana vs. The BC Bike Race

2007-09-20T12:17:00.000-07:00

Two of Go Banana's best have signed up for the 2008 BC Bike Race. Thomas and Brian's race objectives include : Finishing, Not getting caught crying on camera, and getting to wear spandex for an entire week with out all the condescending stares and whispers. Good Luck Boys!!!

Will Go Banana be able field a second team in this epic adventure???? Stay tuned.

Over and Out.

What it takes to be a Banana

2007-09-12T18:57:00.000-07:00

A lot of people ask:

What does it take to be a Banana?
How often do you guys train?
What is a typical training day like?
Are you guys really that nerdy?

All of these are good questions and I will try to answer the first three at least. Saturday was a training day for the Adventure race team of Thomas, Jason and Brian. We started a little different this week and went to Shirley's Bay, usually Gatineau is our location of choice.

Stage 1: I only paddle on the left
Our paddle took us across the Ottawa river to a beach on the Quebec side. It was quite windy and choppy and we got very wet. Once arriving on the Quebec side Jason decided we should turn back because he did not like the look of the kids on the beach, they were about 7 or 8 years old. The paddle back was even worse and at one point Jason had to ask us to only paddle on the left side to keep the boat straight. It must have looked silly to have kayak paddles and to only be using one end.
Stage 2: The run
Once back on dry land we dumped our wet gear and headed off for a run. The run took us out along the water, other than all the signs warning of poison ivy the run was uneventful and only about 30 minutes.
Stage 3: Crunch time
This was a solo stage for Jason. We like to give people the opportunity to try new events and go out on their own, Thomas and I took a little rest.
Stage 4: I fell on a dirt road
We then grabbed our bikes and did a nice 18km loop which crossed road, Trans-Canada trail and a small piece of single track. Other than Thomas falling off his bike on a nice double-track gravel road things went well.
Stage 5: Breakfast
Once all the training was complete we did what Banana's do best, ate breakfast. Breakfast is a mandatory part of any training day and we have even been known to skip all other activities in order to make time for this stage.

So if you can:

Paddle a boat
Run for 30 minutes
Bike on dirt roads
Eat a breakfast special (eggs, bacon/ham/sausage, toast (except for Thomas))

Then I think Go Banana is the team for you.

Brian

The Best Excuse Yet

2007-09-12T06:37:00.000-07:00

Early morning seems to be the best time for us to get out and ride due to all our busy schedules. However, there is a down side to it.....it's really F*#&'n early, and cold, and usually wet, and I'm tired and cranky, and I want to go back to bed.......and the list goes on. I know that once I get on the trail I'm always happy I pushed through the pain of the early morning because riding before work makes a better day. But still from the time the alarm goes off at six until I'm dressed and biking down a trail I can't help think "how can I get out of this".

So today I was meeting up with the legendary "Man Down" at 7am @ the Huntmar entrance. It rained all night and was very cool so as usually both of us were going through excuses in our head for the usual reason. But upon arriving at the Huntmar parking lot we saw the best excuse yet....there was a giant yellow monster eating Kanata Lakes right where we were about to enter the trails. So we promptly took this as a sign and went for a yummy breakfast.

If you are looking for information on what is actually happening at the huntmar entrance it's explained here (post #5):
http://www.mtbkanata.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=36528

Is Mountain Biking Dangerous?

2007-09-10T06:36:00.001-07:00

These signes were recently posted in Kanata around an area that I have not ridden in but by rumour had some great dirt jumps. I think this area like many others in Kanata will be developed making Kanata Lakes more endangered. This is too bad.

So back to mountain biking.

I was recently asked by a relative about mountain biking. His angle was basically why in the world do you choose to do this. It is dangerous, hard, time consuming etc. etc. He seemed truely perplexed.

I started to think about the logical reason for mountain biking. (Ok it may not be pure logic that drives the sport)

So prior to answering that question I thought I would ask other people to explain why they mountain bike. So if you have some insights please post a comment. In reward I will eventually answer this question myself.

How to be a navigator

2007-09-03T10:51:00.000-07:00

One of the things that people ask me most about Go Banana (other than where they can get themselves a rockin' race shirt) is how I came be the navigator for the team.

You have to understand our team. Most races we have gone to are three person races so the choices are Brian, Jason or myself:

Brian: On the way to our latest race, Brian was driving and managed to get confused about the logistics of going through a Tim Hortons drive-through (you can't just drive up to the window and skip the "ordering process"). Then the whole "Wendy's, Walmart, Tim Hortons" mini-plex parking lot totally threw him for a loop and it was two U-Turns before we were back on the highway going to the race. Bad idea for Brian to navigate, he is a "head-down lets-go" engine kind of guy.

Jason: Jason's got a very laid back approach to life, works well for him and astounds most others. He carries this over to the navigation aspect of racing too. When a checkpoint is "at a scenic lookout" he thinks we should just be "going up the hill until we find some picnic tables, then we'll be there" ... never mind the fact that you can't really see the hill and it is only really ATV accessible and we are going there overland. The next checkpoint was at the "base of a ski hill" so to him that translated to "we'll just walk to the lift towers, I'm sure we'll see them". Jason does bring us back to earth when Brian and I are pondering options while "misplaced" in the middle of the woods with witty comments like "Hmm, well, this isn't very scenic, must not be the checkpoint".

So that leaves me ... who in the last race managed to take us on a 6km detour to a scenic matress dump in the country. While I feel bad for my team, I feel worse for the couple of teams that decided to just follow our lead and joined us on our round-about route to the checkpoint.
I'm not really so much the navigator, as the guy holding the map most races.

They key of course is what happens in a race when you put the Engine, the Questioner and the Navigator together: We take snack breaks (no napping!), add on mileage for scenic excursions and chat up the locals (on the way to the dump) ... and still pull a respectible time.

Thomas

The Bruce Adventure Park

2007-09-02T14:56:00.000-07:00

While heading up the Bruce Peninsula this labour day weekend I took the opportunity to check out a mountain bike park I stumbled across at a bike store in Collingwood called The Bruce. There are 3 different trails in the Bruce peninsula but only one was a slight detour on my way to Tobermory to go camping. So I made the small side track from the highway and hit the The Bruce Adventure Park.

If you are looking for a long hard ride this probably isn't the place for you, but if you love messing around and pretending you're in a North Shore video then this is a great place to spend an hour or two. The place is well maintained and the trails and stunts are clearly marked. Every intersection has a map posted and every stunt branches of the main trail and has a posted sign telling the diamond rating of the stunt (1-3) so you can decide to hit it or carry on along the trail.

I didn't manage to hurt myself thanks to my commonsense (a.k.a. my girlfriend) being with me. But I'm sure I could if I ever end up coming back with a few Go Banana'ers by my side.

So overall I'd give it a "Good Times" stamp of approval but here is the official banana rating

Endurance (Boring)

Technical (Fun)

Third's Bike Mentor Located

2007-08-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

In the Go Banana Video Jason hit the ground pretty hard but it was not on film. Even Jason was speechless for almost seconds.

http://www.heggle.com/item/4454115/High_Speed_Faceplant

The rubber side down rule is very important when mountain biking.

.... ceagan

Elvis Sighting

2007-08-22T17:39:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned I happened to be in Santa Cruz this weekend. I sent an email to the bike company of the same name and they offered a tour. Here is the response they sent to my query

"Hi Charles,
I'm going to hook you up with our inside Canadian rep - Dano, and he may be able to show you around if he's available and has the time.
I'll CC him on this email.
Have a good trip and thanks for choosing Santa Cruz.
Scott Turner - Santa Cruz Bicycles
Santa Cruz, California
scott@santacruzbicycles.com
www.santacruzbicycles.com"

I did connect with Dan and he agreed to show us around.

Little Miss Sunshine (Bailey) and the gang minus Ben had a great tour of the Santa Cruz Mtb bike factory.

See the photo's here http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3924&id=500152452 if you have facebook.

The frames are manufactured somewhere else but the painting/kitting all happens at this factory. The people were very friendly and the company seemed very cool and laid back. Apparently the company treats their employees very well. Overall there are 60 people in the company and the revenue they make is about the same as QNX.

I mentioned the Santa Cruz sponsored person from the Summer Solstice who had the amazing lap times and that we let him pass us in the race so he would look good. Notice the green bike frame in the photos ... This is a special bike for some world champion (Aussie) for an upcoming race.

We were given some free tee's and I also bought a jersey. I will have to see how it works on the trail. I am anxious to get back to good old KL.

.... Man Down

Elephant Head Ride on Google Earth

2007-08-18T19:51:00.000-07:00

For all of those who are Google earth fans, you can now follow
the epic journey of five brave Go Banana team members as
they ride the Elephant Head in Tucson, Arizona

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=EarthSports&Number=976789&Searchpage=1&Main=976789&Words=&topic=&Search=true

Or directly in Google Earth:

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=976789

We'll put more of our team's journeys as we get them plotted.

Thomas

There's a House in the Middle of the Trail

2007-08-18T16:55:00.000-07:00

Click your mouse on the pic to the left but be warned it's a little depressing. It's the planned housing development in Kanata overlayed on top of the Kanata Lakes trails. A lot of trails will be lost :( The good news is the Outback is untouched.....for now.

Going To Graceland

2007-08-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

I have changed my ride several times over 3 years. I started with a Marin and then I was lured into the Specialized cult with a very nice cross country racing bike called the Epic Marathon. My friends can attest to the fact that I was quoting Ned and often speaking of the inertial valve and I was decked head to toe in cool specialized attire.

Next one sunny summer day while looking to upgrade my shock I ended up buying a Santa Cruz Blur LT. This baby was Orange and I am very happy with everything on the bike and I really like Orange. Since then I have found there are two kinds of people in the world. Those who own Blurs and those who want to own them.

So back to Graceland. I am on a plane heading to the Bay Area and I feel a calling to go to the homeland/birthplace of this nice new bike, I plan or trekking to Santa Cruz one afternoon, sit meditating on the beach and then check out the factory and any potential Santa Cruz bling. Stay tuned for a summary of my quest.

…. Man Down

Deep Thoughts, by Man Down

2007-08-13T06:55:00.000-07:00

I have to start by communicating how pleased I am at being part of the Go Banana legend.

Of course I always obey the commandments

Ride on open trails only.
Respect other trail users.
Respect the environment.
Always stay on the trail.
Ride don't slide.
Pack it out.
Know your limits.

There is one commanments that is missing.

If a banana falls ride over them

The astute may notice that 2 of the 4 video stars are riding with not just the cool Go Banana Jersey but also poison spider socks. I found this troubling as we departed on the ride as one of my poison spider socks has been missing and it really has funked my ride (2 years missing plus Poison Spider comed from the Memories of Moab Mountain Bike tour that Go Banana took in 2005). This actually caused me to be a bit off and fall a few times on the video ride.

This morning just one week after the video shoot I have successfully reunited both poison spider socks. This will allow me to stop wearing black dress socks and fly with the other members of the team.

I would also like to thank Ben Eagan a fellow banana rider and the video guy for shooting the video. His work can be found at http://the20gigapology.com/. Since we have worked together filming these shots I can honestly say Ben is like a son to me now. He is like a grasshopper in training.

Over and out.

Man Down

Go Banana Video

2007-08-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

On The Set With Go Banana

2007-08-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

Members of the famed Go Banana MTB Team today participated in an early morning video shoot for the much anticipated Go Banana Promo Video. The promo video was expected to make the cut off for Sundace but after a few technical setbacks it is now thinking Cannes may be a better release target. To the left is a behind the scenes picture of "Man Down" testing the handlebar mount which was quickly sidelined due to shoddy craftsmanship. With the loss of the handlebar cam the director (Ben Eagan) had to quickly come up with some new shots to fill the void. Luckily the day was saved when an opportunity presented itself for "The Third" to attempt the dangerous and rarely seen "Double Back Axle Face Slide" off a jump on a downhill. What an impressive simultaneous display of bravery and sheer stupidity. Director Ben Eagan was quoted saying such compliments as "What the f*#k was that?" and "Are you sure you're OK?". Other great shots included falling off a rock bridge while trying to stare at the camera, Big Air T-man soaring off an A-frame, and the Go Banana patented move of riding in a line going down a straight flat path. This will be one video worth waiting for the director's cut!

24 Hour Summer Solstice Photos

2007-08-07T11:04:00.000-07:00

Anyone that would like to view the photos taken throughout the race weekend can follow this link.

http://picasaweb.google.com/tommiller6/24HourSummerSolstice

New Trail...well for us anyways

2007-08-05T09:03:00.001-07:00

Saturday morning a gaggle of Go Banana'ers headed south down the 416 to try out some new trails called Limerick Forest. The trails were fast and twisting and a lot of fun, definitely worth the drive. There wasn't much climbling but the sand made up for that cardio wise.

Podium finish at the Esprit

2007-07-30T15:47:00.000-07:00

The Esprit race was the first race for Go Banana to show off their new colors. Brian, Jason and Thomas arrived sporting the sought after Go Banana race jersey. After checking in we located our arch rivals team PFO, they were visibly worried at the sight of us (or maybe the smell, we will never know).

The race started with a trekking section. We ran up the road feeling good, even though Thomas hates running. Once reaching the highway we took our bearing and were off. After a brief moment of tears from Brian and Jason (stinging nettles really sting) we were moving quite well. Once we reached the top of a peak there was a brief moment of confusion as we thought we missed the checkpoint. Then we remembered that the checkpoint was at a scenic lookout, and that unfortunately meant climbing higher. We reached the checkpoint in 6th place, and yes the directions were correct, the south face was quite steep!

After a short drink we took our new bearing and were off to CP2. We quickly hit an ATV trail and followed it. After a while Brian and Jason questioned the route's direction but then Thomas convinced us (gave us a beating, to which Jason replied “not in the face, it’s my livelihood”) we were going in the right direction. We then ended up at the dump which was not CP2! We then hung our heads in shame and ran the 5km to the checkpoint. Many thanks to the riders who passed by yelling encouragement: “Go Banana!”. Just then our nemesis team PFO passed!
Once finding CP2 we were excited to be on the bikes. We hammered it down and the road and after a brief bit of confusion about road names we found the correct route and made it to the boats.

Thomas quickly pumped up the boat as Jason organized the paddles and Brian went for a pee (hey I have a small bladder). After a few 180 degree turns we got the hang of things and Jason steered us towards victory. Thanks to the team who took a break so we could feel strong and pass someone.

At T2 we quickly deflated the boat and Brian had another pee (remember small bladder). Our gear bag was missing but luckily we wore our cycling shoes in the boat. We then headed down the road at 30km/h to the finish. We hit the finish line in 7th place, our best showing yet and ahead of the dreaded team PFO.

Team PFO finished a few minutes later and came first in the women’s division, congratulations girls! We all then headed to the water for a beer. After a few drinks and some temporary tattoos it was clear that team Go Banana is catching on, even PFO was considering joining up (we already have one, thanks to Robin).

All in all it was a good day, even with the navigation error (which wasn’t really Thomas fault). We even made the podium with a 5th place finish!

Go Banana!

PS> Jason sucks

Frontier Adventure Challenge - Esprit Rafting

2007-07-30T13:23:00.000-07:00

Team Go Banana with no sense of direction still manages to podium with an impresive 5th place finish. Good thing adventure racing doesn't follow the olympic standard of only rewarding the top 3.