I did the first world cup of the season in Houffalize, Belgium yesterday and am now heading to the south of France for some training and racing before the next world cup in germany. The race was not great but I definitely have hope. Sea Otter was my first race and it went really well considering that but it was also more suited to the training I have been doing. The world cup started really well. For the first 2 1/2 laps I was within range of top 10. In lap 3 I fell back to 20th place and then maintained that for the final lap. The great thing is I was climbing really well and I have good fitness. The tragic thing is I was not top 10 in that race because my technical is terrible. I was okay for the first half because I was fresh enough then it all kind of fell apart. No serious crashes and I know what I need to work on so I am quite optimistic for the next race. It felt great to be racing again for the first hour then it just hurt.
It is super nice here too. I have shorts and a t-shirt on and am cooking! All I can think about is going to the beach.
I also had my tarte au riz. It is pretty much rice pudding cooked in a thin pastry like a pie. I have only seen them in Belgium so if you ever go you must try them. I always say I will only get one if I am top 10 but I have had one every time I am there and had only one top 10 finish so...
The crowds there were crazy too. They said there was at least 25000 spectators. Belgians are crazy for cycling. Houffalize is really small too. It probably has a population of less than 2000 so that gives you some idea of the effort people there will go to to watch a bike race. It is also a great venue for having a lot of competitors. In the women's race there were 125 racers and the men had 230. It is always more exciting with larger fields and super fans.
Definitely going to work on my technical skills and be ready to be in the top 10 in offenburg!
My bike worked perfectly and everything with the team and support is super smooth.
Kiara
22.4.07
Classique Chlorophyle
ROUTE (MAITRE B-4 TOURS-76 KM)
1 893 Eric Provost Opus/OGC 1:58:52.30
2 902 Claude Samson Ste-Foy-Qc Métro 2.26
3 802 Sylvan Adams Calyon/Martin Swiss 4.69
4 801 Stéphane Le Beau Opus/OGC 1:11.88
5 850 José Jorge Calyon/Martin Swiss 1:12.43
1 893 Eric Provost Opus/OGC 1:58:52.30
2 902 Claude Samson Ste-Foy-Qc Métro 2.26
3 802 Sylvan Adams Calyon/Martin Swiss 4.69
4 801 Stéphane Le Beau Opus/OGC 1:11.88
5 850 José Jorge Calyon/Martin Swiss 1:12.43
17.4.07
Sea Otter Classic XC
photo : JC Desforges
Team Opus's Kiara Bisaro race to 2nd place in Sea Otter Classic XC
April 15, 2007: Kiara Bisara of Team Opus opened her first season on an Opus with two visits to the podium and a 2nd place finish Sunday in the Women's XC, her best-ever finish in the Monterey, California Sea Otter Classic.
Kiara sprinted past Katerina Nash in the final 500m of the race to finish behind winner Georgia Gould.
"I have been working on being more of a tiger when I am racing", said Kiara in a post-race email to Opus HQ. "Seems like it is working. GRRRR! The new Opus bike Fhast I is so nice. It is so encouraging to know that for my first race I can still be competitive with girls who have been racing for a month."
The XC race was Kiara's 2nd podium finish at the Sea Otter. On Saturday, on a mud and rain-filled course, she finished third in the Pro Short Track Race. She moved up steadily throughout the race moving into 3rd with three laps to go. "This is the first time I have ever actually made the podium in a short track", said Kiara.
Kiara now heads to Houffalize, Belgium for next week's World Cup season opening race.
15.4.07
The first race report
Hi guys,
This is the first race report. I am still in California but thought you would want to know how the first race went so I did not procrastinate!
It was my first race of the season so I was so nervous. The first race of the year is the worst because you never know if the training was good and how you are going to compare to everyone else. The weekend started not so well. I arrived at registration and was informed I was registered for the Super D (a downhill cross country mix of a race). Um yeah, I am not a downhiller and I have only been on my mountain bike for a week! I ended up doing it and placed 9th. The worst part was that we had to run with our bikes for the first 200m. Crazy race!
The next day was the time trial. It was really short, less than 5 minutes. I was thinking that with the intensity I had done in Montreal I was going to rip it up. No. I was 15th. After that I started to stress. My sister and JD put things in perspective and I went out on Saturday and had a great race in the short track. My first podium in the short track ever. The weather was actually pretty crappy too-tonnes of rain and wind(no snow!) so I think that was good for me.
Sunday was the cross country. This was the important one. My races are 2hrs for the ideal finishing time. This race is almost 3hrs. Quite long. My longest ride this year has been 3hrs so with my warm up, cool down and race today it is the longest time I have spent on the bike this year. I spent the entire race battling with Katerina Nash. At the top of the last climb she attacked and I tried so hard to stay with her in the technical. My legs were burning and I thought I was going to collapse and she had a 4 second lead going into the final 500m. I shifted to my hardest gear, put my head down and gave it EVERYTHING. I passed her for 2nd place just before the line.
I have been working on being more of a tiger when I am racing. Seems like it is working. GRRRRRR!
The new Opus bike is so nice. I am loving being on a hardtail again! Shimano and Michelin were here too and they are so happy to have me with them again. It is really motivating having all this support. It is working out well with Sylvain. I am trying not to take my stress out on him and he is trying to be not so sensitive to it. The bike worked perfectly so that made life so easy for me. JC from Opus was here and he helped with feeding. Because this course is 2 insanely long laps it saved me today having him there in the second feed zone.
I can really feel in my body that I have not put any hours on the mountain bike. At first it was I had no sense of the gears because I have been on the road bike all winter. Today I was great for almost 2hrs and then my arms and back were so toasted that I was not riding all that smoothly. I feel a lot better than I did a week ago though so I think the muscles are there, they just need to adapt to the bike.
I am feeling quite good about the race. Georgia Gould who won is riding really well right now and has won everything this year. The Americans have been racing since early March starting with Pan Am championships so it is encouraging to know that for my first race I can still be competitive with girls who have been racing for a month. Thank you all for that!
Heading to Belgium for the first world cup on Wednesday.
Kiara
This is the first race report. I am still in California but thought you would want to know how the first race went so I did not procrastinate!
It was my first race of the season so I was so nervous. The first race of the year is the worst because you never know if the training was good and how you are going to compare to everyone else. The weekend started not so well. I arrived at registration and was informed I was registered for the Super D (a downhill cross country mix of a race). Um yeah, I am not a downhiller and I have only been on my mountain bike for a week! I ended up doing it and placed 9th. The worst part was that we had to run with our bikes for the first 200m. Crazy race!
The next day was the time trial. It was really short, less than 5 minutes. I was thinking that with the intensity I had done in Montreal I was going to rip it up. No. I was 15th. After that I started to stress. My sister and JD put things in perspective and I went out on Saturday and had a great race in the short track. My first podium in the short track ever. The weather was actually pretty crappy too-tonnes of rain and wind(no snow!) so I think that was good for me.
Sunday was the cross country. This was the important one. My races are 2hrs for the ideal finishing time. This race is almost 3hrs. Quite long. My longest ride this year has been 3hrs so with my warm up, cool down and race today it is the longest time I have spent on the bike this year. I spent the entire race battling with Katerina Nash. At the top of the last climb she attacked and I tried so hard to stay with her in the technical. My legs were burning and I thought I was going to collapse and she had a 4 second lead going into the final 500m. I shifted to my hardest gear, put my head down and gave it EVERYTHING. I passed her for 2nd place just before the line.
I have been working on being more of a tiger when I am racing. Seems like it is working. GRRRRRR!
The new Opus bike is so nice. I am loving being on a hardtail again! Shimano and Michelin were here too and they are so happy to have me with them again. It is really motivating having all this support. It is working out well with Sylvain. I am trying not to take my stress out on him and he is trying to be not so sensitive to it. The bike worked perfectly so that made life so easy for me. JC from Opus was here and he helped with feeding. Because this course is 2 insanely long laps it saved me today having him there in the second feed zone.
I can really feel in my body that I have not put any hours on the mountain bike. At first it was I had no sense of the gears because I have been on the road bike all winter. Today I was great for almost 2hrs and then my arms and back were so toasted that I was not riding all that smoothly. I feel a lot better than I did a week ago though so I think the muscles are there, they just need to adapt to the bike.
I am feeling quite good about the race. Georgia Gould who won is riding really well right now and has won everything this year. The Americans have been racing since early March starting with Pan Am championships so it is encouraging to know that for my first race I can still be competitive with girls who have been racing for a month. Thank you all for that!
Heading to Belgium for the first world cup on Wednesday.
Kiara
14.4.07
Sea Otter Classic XC
photo : JC Desforges
Hi everyone,
After yesterday's first stage of the Sea Otter classic with the Time Trial, a 5 minutes event in which Kiara was hoping to minimize the losses (very short\intense effort like short track or even more Time Trial are not where Kiara shines...) she did 15th place in a field of 45 riders.
After the event she confessed she was a little bit disappointed since she had spent the whole winter working on shorter, more intense training hoping to improve this weakness... but the other races with the Time Trial and especially the Cross Country coming up would better suit her.
Today was the Time Trial, this event would stretch over about 45 to 50 minutes on a short 2-3 km course. With pouring rain for a few hours before the race the course got really muddy and slippery. Conditions favouring Kiara who spend some time riding the technical trails in BC in the off season.
Luckily a small break in the showers let the start take place under more interesting conditions. Quickly enough, the siren went off they went. Kiara finished the first lap roughly in 15th place as starts are not her forte.
By middle of the race she had moved up to 6th place and was looking at home on the slippery grass slopes. While looking pretty good(with the smile on!) Kiara kept pushing and finished an amazing 3rd place by race end!
After a 50 minute effort, all covered in mud, the smile in Kiara's face was coming from a strong feeling of happiness after her first ever podium in a Time trial... riding an Opus MTB!
JC Desforges
Outdoor Gear Canada
Opus bikes
MTB Brand Manager
4.4.07
Fhast I - Kiara Bisaro
Premières impressions de Kiara Bisaro, championne canadienne olympique à propos du nouveau vélo de montagne Opus Fhast I
"The new Fhast I is incredible. I love it! Sylvain got it set up for me yesterday and after making a few adjustments I took it out. It has been a long time since I have been mtbing. I was a bit unsure how it was going to go. For the first hour I was a bit sloppy and needed a few attempts to get used to the new fork. There are a lot of big logs here so it is important to be able to ride over them if you want flow. I am still having a bit of trouble on anything over 50cm but overall it came back quickly. The bike is super responsive. It climbs really well and is great in the corners. After the first ride I can say I love it. It is tough to get on a new bike and be able to say that! So things are great beyond my expectations."
Kiara Bisaro
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