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.

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

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

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

Kiara Bisaro

Ville natale :	Courtenay, C.-B.
Discipline:	Vélo de montagne - XC
Date de naissance :	12 novembre 1975
Équipe :	Opus Bikes
Profession :	Athlète à temps plein
Membre de l’équipe canadienne depuis :	2001
Repères :	2007 2e, Sea Otter Classic, Monterey, Californie, USA 2006 3e, Jeux du Commonwealth, Melbourne, AUS 3e, Championnats canadiens, Kamloops, C.-B. 2004 1e, Championnats du monde relais par équipe, Les Gets, FRA 3e, Coupe du monde Fort William, Écosse 15e, Olympiques d’Athènes, Grèce 2002 2e, Championnats panaméricains, Medellin, COL 8e, Championnats du monde, Kaprun, AUT 2001 10e, Championnats du monde, Vail, Colorado, USA

Kiara Bisaro

photo : JC Desforges

OPUS ANNOUNCES SIGNING OF OLYMPIAN KIARA BISARO AND NEW ATB ELITE TEAM

Opus Bicycles has signed Canadian Olympian Kiara Bisaro to a multi-year agreement to coincide with the launch of its new mountain-bike program.

Kiara will ride Opus's Fhast, ultra-light carbon aluminum hard tail as she goes for the gold at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. She will compete in a full World cup schedule and numerous North American events as she prepares for Olympic competition.

She will kick off the 2007 race season at the Sea Otter Classic in California, April 12. Last year she took 3rd place at the event.

Opus has also put together a strong Québec-based ATB team that will compete on the Québec circuit as well as in various Canada Cup events throughout the 2007 season. Heading the team are current Québec Elite champions Leni Gelinas Trudel and Caroline Villeneuve. Joining them are Jonathan Boucher, Jonathan Boulanger, Steve Caillé and Andrianne Pichette.

The Opus ATB Team has its sights set on the Canadian National Championships scheduled for the end of July in Mount Washington, B.C.

"We are very excited to be supporting these up-and-coming athletes," said Eric Kotlarksy, Opus's Marketing Director. "Whether it be at the provincial or the World Cup level with Kiara, to share our passion with the athletes and help them achieve their goals is really great. And, of course, this will give cyclists across the country an opportunity to see what superb bicycles Opus ATB is producing." Kiara added, “I am really looking forward to working with a company that is so passionate about its product.

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OPUS ANNONCE LA SIGNATURE DE L’OLYMPIENNE KIARA BISARO ET LANCE UNE ÉQUIPE DE VÉLO DE MONTAGNE DE HAUT CALIBRE.

Les vélos Opus sont fiers d’annoncer la signature de l'Olympienne canadienne Kiara Bisaro. Cet accord de plusieurs années coïncide avec le lancement du nouveau programme de vélo de montagne de la marque.

Kiara, qui courra avec un vélo de montagne Opus Fhast ultra-léger fait d’aluminium et fibre de carbone à arrière rigide, vise l'or aux Jeux olympiques d'été de Beijing en 2008. Elle compétionnera sur le circuit de la Coupe du monde de vélo de montagne et fera plusieurs apparitions à des événements nord-américains dans sa préparation pour les prochains jeux.

Kiara commencera la saison de course 2007 avec la classique Sea Otter en Californie débutant le 12 avril prochain. L'année dernière, elle y avait remporté la 3ième position au général.

Opus a aussi mis sur pied une forte équipe de montagne au Québec qui compétitionnera sur le circuit québécois ainsi que dans les événements de la Coupe Canada au cours de la saison 2007. Les portes flambeau de l’équipe et actuels champions dans la catégorie sénior élites sont Leni Gelinas Trudel et Caroline Villeneuve. Également au sein de l’équipe sont Jonathan Boucher, Jonathan Boulanger, Steve Caillé et Andrianne Pichette. L’équipe Opus a en vue les Championnats Nationaux prévus à la fin de juillet au Mont Washington, en Colombie Brittanique.

"Nous sommes très heureux de soutenir ces athlètes en développement", expliquait Eric Kotlarsky, le Directeur Marketing d’Opus. Du circuit provincial à la Coupe du monde avec Kiara, nous voulons partager notre passion avec ces athlètes et les aider à réaliser leurs buts. Cela donnera aux cyclistes à travers le pays l’occasion de voir la gamme de vélos de montagne Opus. Kiara ajoutait, “…il est vraiment excitant de travailler avec des gens aussi passionnés par leur produits”.