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Substance Projects: Kingston Trophy – Team Van Go Podiums

September 2nd, 2014 by Tyler in Everything

This past weekend, (Saturday), Substance projects with the help of MTB Kingston put on the final XC Marathon series race on the trails just north of Kingston. The only Team van go entry for the race was Tyler, with support from Emily.

The drive out was long, at just over 5 hours, with Toronto Traffic!! But to be honest the drive out was definitely worth it 100%. We were able to camp out the night before and the night after the race, which was amazing. Huge thanks to Rob Sangers for allowing us to do this. Made for better rest, and not having to worry about not drinking afterwards.

As for the course, it was advertised as a 35km loop for Half Marathon, and 70km for full marathon. I give Dan credit, it was close, with my odometer reading 39.5km at the finish line. As for the course, to be honest this was one of the more technical, and fun courses that I have raced on for sure. There was a tonnes of flow, there were rocks going up hills, down hills, and even an aid station serving pop… what else could you want.

The first stretch of the race was through a great burm, whoop and table top section, with a really amazing new bridge that was built. I can’t say this enough but huge thank you to all the guy and gals that did the hard work building the trails, and maintaining them!!! Was great to be able to ride these trails. Over the course of the ride, I was able to meet up and chat with a bunch of local riders, which was great. All told me that if I liked the first half of the course than I would surely love the final part as it was all flow. The first half of the course had it’s fair share of casualties for sure. Lots and lots of bike mechanicals, chain breaks and flat tires…. The rocks were ruthless./…. I was happy to have the air pressure up around 30psi just to ensure no flats….

By the time the race hit the Team Van Go sponsored (well they used the tent) aid station, we were on the home stretch. only 12-14km to go. This was the fun part. The odo on the first part of the course kept an average speed of 15km/hr which was a little lower than I was hoping for….

The final stretch was everything the local riders said it would be… The trails had so much flow, and you could carry a tonnes of speed… Bringing the average speed up from 15 to just over 17km/hr… .Also on the final stretch put the riders through a corn maze, which was pretty cool… The corn going by put you into a bit of a trance, until you saw the barn again and knew you were finished…