​This weekend saw three full days of road racing for NCCH.  The weekend kicked off with O-Cup #3, the Northumberland Classic held in Baltimore, Ontario on May 21, 2022. 

In the Elite 4 Men’s race, NCCH riders Alexander M. and Antoine B. finished 12th and 15th respectively in a race that featured the largest field with 42 riders.  In the Elite 3 Women race Vanessa M. representing Team Hamilton took second place and Maria M. grabbed 12th.   In the Elite 3 Men’s race Charles B., also representing Team Hamilton, dominated the field winning by over 2 minutes.  The Elite 3 Men’s race also featured strong finishes by Thomas P.(10), Zeke M. (16) and Brady S. (23).  In the Elite 1&2 Men’s race, XSpeed United rider Orian F. crossed the line in 20th.  For those that don’t know, Xspeed United is one of the sponsors of Team Hamilton.

On Sunday May 22, 2022, our athletes attended the Flamboro Speedway in Flamborough, Ontario, for OCA Youth Cup #1 hosted by the KW Cycling Academy.  It wasn’t the greatest day for a ride with the weather being overcast, breezy and rainy, which made for a lengthy rain delay, but that didn’t stop our riders from some amazing results.

After completing a 77.8km race on Saturday Antoine B. said that was just a warm up and kicked things off by setting the fastest time of all riders winning the Grade A category time trial, followed that up with 4th in the 1.72km sprint race, 1st in the Endurance race and 1st in the 0.25km sprint.  Congratulations Antoine, Monday was a well-earned day off.

Not to be overshadowed was a very Marcus Hurley-esk finish by Mathias L. taking first place in the E Grade time trial and 1.72km sprint race, which earned him an upgrade to D Grade were Mathias then won the Endurance race and 0.25km sprint race.  Way to go Mathias.

In the other time trial races Matthew P. just missed the podium finishing 4th followed by Jacob K. who crossed the line in 8th in the Grade C Category.  In Grade D, five out of the top eight riders wearing NCCH blue with Martin-Oliver R.(1st), Addison M.(4th), Bailey M.(5th), Ashton M.(6th) and Chloe M. (8th).  In the Grade E race NCCH owned the podium and had 4 out of the top five spots with Mathias L. (1st), Jaxson V.(2nd), Gregory M(3rd). and Rohan B.(5th).

In the 1.72 km sprint Grade E race, NCCH took 4 of the top five spots with Mathias L. (1st) Rohan B. (3rd) Gregory M.(4th) and Jaxson V.(5th) followed up by Addison M. (5th), Bailey (6th), Ashton M. (7th) and Chloe M. (8th) in the Grade D race. In a tight race Matthew P. grabbed second place, missing first by less then a second, with Jacob K. and Martin-Oliver R. rolling across in 9th and10th places. 

In the grueling Endurance race Matthew P. (3rd), Martin R. (5th) and Jacob K. (7th) all had strong races in the Grade C race.  Mathias L. had another great race taking 1st place, followed by one of the closest finishes of the day seeing Addison M. (6th) barely cross the line in front of Aston M. (7th), followed by Chloe M. in eighth Bailey M. in ninth.  In the Grade E race, 1st , 2nd , and 3rd went to Jaxson V., Rohan B. and Greg M.

The 0.25km sprint Grade E race looked like a carbon copy of the Endurance race with Jaxson V. Rohan B. and Greg M. taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd again.  In grade D, Mathias L. sprinted to his fourth 1st place finish of the day, and Addison M. crossed the line in 5th followed by Bailey M. in 6th.  In the Grade C race Mathew P. took silver followed closely by Jacob K. in 4th.
 
Monday May 23, 2022 was the third day of racing for NCCH, a small but mighty group of NCCH riders attended the Delaware Speedway in Delaware, Ontario for OCA Youth Cup #2 hosted by KW Cycling Academy.  It was a little cool and a little overcast, but with no rain it was a great day for a race.

Rohan B. kicked things off by grabbing Bronze in the Grade E time trial, then followed that up by joining the triple gold club winning the Grade E 2.16km sprint, Endurance Race and 0.4km sprint.  Congratulations Rohan, whatever you did Monday don’t change a thing.

In the Grade D time trials Ashton M. (5th), Chloe M. (7th) Addison M.(8th) all had great races.  In Grade C Matthew P. (2nd) Martin-Oliver R.(3rd) landed on the podium with Jacob K.(6th) in the hunt. 

In the 2.16 km Grade D sprint Ashton M. (4th) just missed the podium, with Chloe M. (7th) and Addison M.(8th).  The Grade C race had 3 out of the top 4 spots coloured NCCH blue with Martin-Oliver R. (1st) Matthew P. (3rd) and Jacob K. (4th) making NCCH proud.  This race was so close there was a one second split between first and sixth place.

The Grade E Endurance Race saw Ashton (6th), Addison M. (8th), Chloe M.(10th) having another strong race.  In the Grade C Matthew P. held on for first place in another tight race, with Jacob K.(5th) and Martin-Oliver R. (7th).  This race was another photo finish with the top seven riders separated by a one second split.

After a strong first round, Addison M. sprinted to third place in the Grade D 0.4km race with Chloe M. just behind in sixth. In Grade C Matthew P. took his second gold of the day and Martin-Oliver R. just missed the podium finishing fourth.

The biggest news of the day was that after two full days of MC work KW coach Rob Good had not lost his voice.  Thanks to Rob, your commentary and encouragement of all riders makes your events some of the best events to attend.
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After three longs days of hard work and racing all of our athletes have earned a little rest, that goes for you coaches too, I know one coach who was fast asleep by 8pm Monday night.
And last but not least, thanks to all the event staff, volunteers, commissaires, timers, race officials who put on these events, it’s your hard work and dedication that make these events possible and help grow youth cycling. 

​On May 7 and 8, 2022, A and B level NCCH competitive athletes attended the Mansfield Outdoor Centre for a weekend of training with Peter Glassford.  Peter Glassford is a professional cycling coach and author of The Consummate Athlete.  After a full day of training the athletes were treated to a feast prepared by our devoted parents Kyle and Jeff.  The athletes then had an evening of team building before retiring for the night in the cabins provided at the Mansfield outdoor Centre.  The next morning coaches and parent helpers prepared a breakfast feast to fuel the riders for the day before they headed out with Peter Glassford for a second day of training.  The event was a great training and team building experience for our riders, coaches and parents.  NCCH engaged the services of Pro MTB Coach Peter Glassford, who shared his knowledge with our riders and coaches to help prepare for many races to come. As part of the NCCH Strategic Plan, we will continue to plan these types of activities.
 
Thanks to NCCH Lead Coaches, and volunteer coaches, along with parents who attended to support the Camp. Lastly, thanks to NCCH Competition Director Amy who planned and coordinated the event, along with NCCH staff. NCCH staff secured a grant from the OCA (Tony Osborne Funding) to offset some of the costs of the event.  

Mountain Bike O-Cup #2 took place May 15, 2022, at Hardwood Hills, Oro, ON.  NCCH was well represented with 26 riders competing in the event.  NCCH made a big statement with five riders claiming gold in their categories and two other riders finishing on the podium. In the Grade D Boys’ category, Logan B. took first place in a tight race that saw the top three riders finish within 10 seconds of each other.  This race also saw Charlie S. our youngest racer at age 7, make his O-Cup debut.  In the Grade D Girls category, Addison M. took the gold winning her second O-Cup race of the year.  Jaxson V. won his second O-Cup race this year taking first in the Grade C Boys category, with Jacob K and Ben G. both finishing in the top ten.  The Grade C Boys category was one of the largest categories with 33 riders.  Matthew P. took bronze in the Grade B Boys’ category with fellow riders Jordan M. and Matthew M. finishing 5th and 8th.  Vanessa M. took first place in the Junior Sport Women category with Maria M. finishing 5th.  Alex S., Jeff S. and Coach Kyle represented NCCH in the Master Sport Men categories.  Not even a crash could slow Coach Amy, who finished 4th in the Master A Expert Women category.  Mathis L. Antoine B. and River W. all finished in the top 10 in the Cadet Expert Boys category.  In another strong showing, Charles B. took first in the Junior Expert Men category, with Brady S. and Logan C. finishing in the top 10.  Sophie B. finished on the podium taking 3rd in Junior Expert Women category.  In the Master B Expert Men category Coach Cyril represented NCCH. A special mention goes out to Mark S., the father of Charlie S., and Paul C., the father of Logan C. who finished 2nd in the Master B Expert Men’s category. We may have to get them in NCCH colours in the future.
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Shout out to Peter Glassford, who coached several of our athletes at the recent Mansfield Training event, Peter finished 3rd in the Senior Elite Men category.  Congratulations to all the riders who competed, your hard work is paying off and everyone at NCCH is very proud of you all.  Thanks to all the Parents, NCCH Lead Coaches, Volunteer Coaches and helpers, parents, race organizers and officials who made the event a success.

​On May 15, 2022, a small but mighty group of eight (8) NCCH Level C Athletes led by Coach Colin and Coach Ken competed in the Tour of Kincardine Cross Classic where a total of 70 riders took part.
 
It was a good learning experience for Team NCCH-Level C and certainly will include this in our calendar again next year.
 
The course
The 10 km course that Sophie Gillis competed in was a good course for anyone wanting to have a fun learning experience. Small group of riders and less technical. She really enjoyed the experience.
Sophie Gills - second place in her first race event :)
 
The Long course was a mix of everything; Gravel trails, some road, some grass and a good amount of single track. The single track was pretty challenging in spots as they are mostly used for hiking so lots of tight corners and short challenging climbs. There isn't the flow you get from trails built for dedicated MTB.   Definitely more challenging than an O-cup race or P2A.
 
There were some challenges with the course markings and it was easy to miss turns which caught almost all of us out at one point or another.
 
U17 swept the podium (Rowan Kim 1st, Liam Cheers 2nd, Matti Pirhonen 3rd)
 
The organizers did the best they could with limited volunteers. Matti and Liam volunteered to thank the organizers.
 
Great job Team!
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On May 2, 2022, Hamilton Police Service officers Scott Hamilton and Scott Moore, aka "the Scott's" attended the road training session to educate our Athletes on road safety.  It was a great opportunity for our Athletes to interact one on one with local police officers and for our riders to show off the fruit of their hard work and some of the skills they have mastered during training to "the Scott's".  From the amount of laughs and smiles when the riders returned to the centre the event was a great success.  The Athletes also learned a valuable life lesson, you can't pick your own nickname.  Thanks to "the Scott's" for joining us and you are both welcome to ride with us anytime.

The Calabogie Classic was the host to the Road O-Cup #2, in Calabogie Ontario.  Our Athletes faced some strong competition but gave it their all and we ended up with some fantastic results.  Vanessa M. took first place in the Elite 3 Women's category, Joe F. took fourth place in the Elite 4 Men's category and Charles B. placed fifth in the Elite 3 Men's category.  Great job to all the riders that represented NCCH and thanks to Cyril the Lead Coach at this event.