May 20/03 5:26 am - Hardwood Course, CCA Renews with Tim Hortons

Posted by Editor on 05/20/03
 

Hardwood Canada Cup Course Report
Courtesy Chris Redden

If you have ridden the Canada Cup course at Hardwood over the past couple of years, this year doesn't provide any real surprises. The big difference this year is that the elite racers who race on Saturday will ride the traditional course, while the Sunday races will ride a modified course that skips all of the trickier technical parts of the trails. Both courses consist of an inner and outer loop that tie together with a bridge crossing that is close to the start finish area. This makes it a very spectator friendly viewing area.

The start of the loop has the usual treat of a wood chip base. The chips are newly laid down and are still full of leg-zapping goodness. This always makes for a difficult start. The course makes use of the maximum climbing there is on site, and climbs for the first couple of kilometres on double track before it does the first turn into the single track. The single track is very tight at this point. Make sure yours bars aren't too wide, as you stand a good chance of doing some tree pinball if they are. The rest of the course goes from tight single track to double track at regular intervals for passing. The outer loop finishes off with the 'Coffee Run' descent, to the bridge crossover area.

The inner loop has all of the technical treats for the Elite racers. The Elite course makes uses all of the most technical descents - Blue Chip with its 3 drops and The Bone Shaker as the most notables ones. Both are rocky, but the Bone Shaker has some sand mixed in to make things even more difficult. Look for some big crowds in this area. The Sunday race avoids all of these pitfalls. Lucky Expert / Sport / Novice racers. Both courses finish up on a BMX type track with bermed corners and good bumps. This does make it difficult to pass coming into the final sprint.

The trail condition is hard packed and fast. All of the soft uphills have had black mats placed on them and they are all good to ride. Watch the couple of uphills where straw has been put down; it is surprisingly slippery. It is a real power course that will favour the riders with good technical riding and that can consistently push a big gear for the entire race.


CCA Renews With Tim Hortons
Courtesy CCA

The Canadian Cycling Association is pleased to announce that Tim Hortons has renewed its sponsorship for three more years. This new deal will extend Tim Hortons sponsorship of the CCA to ten consecutive years in 2005. The sponsorship with the CCA consists of Canada's National Cycling Team, and the Canadian National Championships in Road, Track and Mountain biking.

"Tim Hortons is very excited to continue our sponsorship of the Canadian Cycling Association for three more years", said Marcia Stewart, National Promotions Manager, Tim Hortons. "We value our long standing relationship with the CCA and are proud to support the development of cycling in Canada."

This summer's Tim Hortons National Championships for Road, Track and Mountain biking are sure to be exciting as Canada gears up to host the Road World Championships in Hamilton, Ontario, October 6 - 12, 2003.

The CCA wishes to thank Tim Hortons for their continued support of Canadian cycling.