Geoff Kabush

2010 season done and dusted

Published:

September 9, 2010, 18:01,

Updated:

September 9, 2010, 18:03

By:

Geoff Kabush

Time to switch to cyclo-cross

The 2010 mountain bike season is done and dusted. It wasn't the most spectacular of seasons for me but I definitely enjoyed it and had some great experiences along the way. The world championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne were a unique opportunity, and they were on my radar all season. Although I dreamed of doing something a little more special, I had to be satisfied with my eighth place finish. I banked several good memories from the Championships weekend; both from before and after the race.

I think everyone can agree that returning world championships to the final race on the calendar is a good idea. After fighting it out all year in spandex, it is fun to go "fighting in the dance war", to quote Frank Black, in a more relaxed atmosphere.

The season got off to an inauspicious start after running straight into the Volcano mayhem trying to get to the first World Cup and European campaign. That travel nightmare, a bit of sickness, an bio-mechanical DNF, and a forced DNF ended the short six-race World Cup season with a relatively low 31st ranking.

I am definitely looking forward to making amends next year and getting a clean shot at the Dalby and Windham World Cup courses. They both seem like great additions, and it is nice to see a World Cup back in "Amurica" finally.

Besides the World Cup Campaign, I did mix it up with some different races to fill in the gaps this year. In addition to cleaning up with four second places in the US Pro XCT and second overall, I also really enjoyed getting a few second place finishes in Belgium. It was my first time doing some national level events in Europe, and I had a great time. I got well taken care of, it was on National TV, and the races also gave me a great excuse to hang out in Belgium and drink beer.

Perhaps the other highlight of the summer was the BC Bike Race. My teammate Lea (Davison) was out of action so Catharine Pendrel stepped in, and we had a great time riding the sweet singletrack the race has to offer. It is a rare opportunity to get to ride around BC in the summer, and I also got to fit in a return to competition at the legendary Test of Metal race in Squamish. Along with a quick visit to Hornby Island, it was a perfect mid-summer mental refreshment.

I managed to win Canadian Nationals again, my seventh senior title, just before the second European campaign of the season. (Max) Plaxton and (Derek) Zandstra put up a fight, but I am not going to give up that jersey easily; "Old School" prevailed against "New School" for at least another year.

The second trip this year was a bit of a mystery with an average race in Champery followed by a DNF in Val di Sole; my first World Cup DNF in about four years. Maybe it was a bit of a bug but I was pretty happy to be heading home for three weeks to train before the World Championships.

I was happy that I was able to turn things around for the world championships as I can now head into cyclo-cross season with a little better motivation. This year I have a couple week break which is pretty nice compared to the two-day break last year. I am out on the west coast and heading to Hornby Island for a little more relaxing before it all starts again at Starcrossed. Hope to see some hecklers there in the beer garden.

Cheers.
Geoff Kabush
Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain
http://twitter.com/GeoffKabush

Cramming in the frequent flyer points

Published:

October 29, 2009, 04:27,

Updated:

October 29, 2009, 13:27

By:

Geoff Kabush

Worlds, World Cups and CX season

The last month of the mountain bike season and the transition, or lack thereof, to the cyclo-cross season was quite hectic. I'm just coming out of my post-season, airplane over-exposure, time change decompression and the batteries are finally starting to recharge a little.

I just finished one of the final steps in my recharge cycle before hitting the 'cross season full on; a trip up to Hornby Island and the birthplace of my relationship with the mountain bike. It is kind of a pilgrimage for me to go back to the trails I started riding on and it is still one of my favourite places in the world.

It really is a magical island even when you are not smoking anything like a lot of the locals. One of my favourite stories is from around age 15 when I was doing trailwork on Hornby. In exchange for helping out for the day I was given a joint; Hornby is a bit of a hippy island and a joint was pretty much like cash. I don't smoke and I was hungry so I headed down to the local gathering place, the Co-op store. It seemed pretty normal at the time that I just traded the joint with some dude for a burrito. Still sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

Worlds, and the rest of it

Anyway, back in August I was pretty excited to head off on the final stretch of the mountain bike season down in Australia for World Championships. The only downside was that once again I had to leave Australia immediately after the race and beer was extremely expensive. This required me to make an 'on the fly' switch to some fine local wine for my final preparation.

I got down to Australia a little early to enjoy the local food and spend some time on probably my favourite course in the world; I had been looking forward to this race all year. I was a little oblivious to people landing on their heads, or braking their bikes on the rocks, as I just kept riding around lap after lap with a smile on my face hitting the options, jumps, and railing the berms.

Team Canada started off Worlds quite successfully, although it was frustrating, as we grabbed a silver in the Team Relay. The frustrating part was we lost by six seconds and it was pretty easy to count the ways we could have made up six seconds. My cross country race went quite well - my best result ever, fifth - but I was also left thinking what could have been.

Many people didn't notice but Gary and I pulled off a 'Formula One' fast wheel change early in the race which left me just 15 seconds off the lead group of four. It was quite windy so for the rest of the race I time trialed by myself as I watched the front group in a road race just ahead. That's racing and I'm glad we have some more great World Championships courses in the years coming up.

The next day I was able to win the unofficial short track World Champs which was a fun series of jumps, berms, and rhythm sections. Canberra put on a great event and it was good to see that Team Canada seems to have some good leadership and potential for the years to come. Everyone is looking forward to racing in Canada at the Mont Sainte Anne World Championships next year.

Back to the World Cup circus

After Australia the travel really stepped up a notch as it was back to Canada for a day and a half and then off to Europe for the final two World Cups. It was a tough transition which left my body feeling like a sack of hammers. It certainly wasn't special but I managed to get my body across the line with some average results and gain enough points to stick eighth overall in the World Cup.

Champery was another great course and I will look forward to Worlds there in 2011 as well. Schladming not so much; I think I might enjoy racing straight up a bobsled course more. Many high fives were given and a lot of active recovery was done on the dance floor at the post-race shindig. There was little time to regroup before Las Vegas, the tradeshow, and the start of the cyclo-cross season - only two to three days, actually.

Interbike was a little odd this year as it felt like I hardly had time to walk around and say hi to everyone. We, well mostly Gary, was flat out getting our 'cross bikes ready for action. The bikes got ready, and felt quite brilliant, but not surprising my CrossVegas legs were pretty mediocre. Ms. Pink made it to town and it was nice to squeeze in a couple good meals together; the restaurants are probably my favourite part about hanging out in Vegas.

Our two to three days together blew by and then I was packing up and getting ready to head to Wisconsin for the first USGP cyclo-cross weekend. After a couple more days of standing around and travelling, Wisconsin actually went surprisingly well, with a couple of top five finishes. Going straight into cyclo-cross season felt a little crazy but it's something I look forward to every year. I really enjoy seeing old and new friends at the races and the atmosphere, with the gathering of the guys creating a lot of laughs.

Cyclo-cross also means it is my time of year to increase my beer and cheese consumption. Luckily I got on the program quickly in the brief respite I had before Canadian 'Cross Nationals in Edmonton. I was quickly up five pounds and I needed it all as it dropped well below freezing with some good wind chill and snow. I dug deep to find my wind briefs, long sleeve windproof undershirts, ski gloves and managed to stay warm enough to grab another national champion's jersey.

The group in Edmonton put on another great event followed by some more festivities which make the cyclo-cross season so much fun. It's good to see everyone after the race enjoying a beer and some laughs, or for some, like the legendary Roddi Lega, looking for some redemption by putting on a stuffed skinsuit and telling grandma jokes at the bar.

The one good thing about travelling so much is that some times I can combine it with a visit with friends or family. It was great to get a chance to stop in on my sister and family to spend Thanksgiving with my young niece for the second year in a row. Apparently everyone she sees in spandex is Uncle Geoff.

More travel is on the schedule for the next couple of months but things are a little more relaxed for cyclo-cross season. Luckily I don't have to leave North America for a while and I get to see Ms. Pink and the animals a little more often. Although the cyclo-cross season is getting a little more serious in North America it is good to see most of the guys can still be relaxed and focused on it at the same time.

No Tears, More Beers... That's it, That's all,
Geoff

Geoff Kabush
Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain
http://twitter.com/GeoffKabush
 

One World Cup, some Leffe Browns and five meows

Published:

August 27, 2009, 06:42,

Updated:

August 27, 2009, 15:27

By:

Geoff Kabush

A busy month hanging 'round home

Time to fire out another Kabush Report. Too much has happened since my last one, and I use up most of my creativity on Twitter. I figure I have a few things I should report on however.

Lately the bike matches I have been attending have gone very... maybe extremely well. If I could only figure out exactly what I did in the last couple of months that made the difference I would be set.

After a lot of travel and a mediocre start to the season I finally got to return to the homeland near the end of June; after five months away. I had a short visit first with my sister and family in Alberta. It was nice to hang out face to face instead of just showing our kitty cats and doggies to my niece via Skype.

While in Alberta I also worked in a Canada Cup in Canmore and got back on top of a podium. The course had some super fun singletrack, I got to hang out with my #1 Photog Gibby at his straw bale house, and I even got some decent prize money. It is amazing how Canada can pull off an excellent, top ranked, UCI National series but it is such a struggle with our neighbours to the south.

I finally made it back to Victoria at the end of June and I was psyched to get back into a bit of a training groove and relax. That was until a day later when I caught the cold my sister and niece seemed to have... son of a sterile goat! Maybe it was a good thing because it made me back off the training and just ride as the head cold lingered for about three weeks.

"Just riding" included doing a couple of awesome stages of the BC Bike Race which was truly some wicked singletrack. I loaded up my old bus and headed north for stage two in Nanaimo-Parksville, and stage three in my old school home turf of Cumberland. The trails on the island are incredible and it is really easy to see how I got hooked on mountain biking.

The only place I like better for "just riding" is Hornby Island where I went next to hang out with my parents at the family cabin. Hornby is a little piece of paradise that I don't get to visit nearly enough. Just to top the trip off my old bus even made it the entire trip without a problem; didn't even have to charge up the battery.

After my mid-season mental break I was back at it with a 15-hour travel day, all within Canada, out to St. Felicien, Quebec, to defend my national title. It was an In'n'out weekend sting operation that Mr. Wolff and I pulled off to perfection. With the head cold I definitely wasn't feeling too spicy but after a close battle I was able to hold off the young guns.

Besides being the middle of nowhere it was a great event and I was a bit relieved to escape with the maple leaf jersey for a fifth year in a row. I wasn't feeling quite up to World Cup speed at nationals so I was glad I still had a couple weeks before Mt St. Anne to go do some more homework. Someone must have thought I was doing some "special" kind of homework because I got three random drug tests in the month before Mont Sainte Anne; then one random blood test before Bromont.

Back out in Quebec the day before Mont Sainte Anne I got pretty fired up when people started lobbying to take a new rock section out of the course. I really get aggravated when people start trying to make courses easier by taking out sections, moving rocks, cutting roots, and moving the course taping. I don't go throw logs or dig holes on courses when they are too easy for my liking.

They eventually put in a sissy line but I think some people just need to practice mountain biking a little more, or get off the skinny flat bars and drop stems. When the race got under way I knew it was going to be a good day from the start; I moved up easily, or luckily, from the third row and immediately felt in control. I wasn't quite able to go with Absalon or Hermida in the middle of the race, but it was a really big boost to get back on the World Cup podium with a third place again.

I was pretty tired after Mont Sainte Anne but my confidence was definitely back up a bit. The next week I mostly cruised around, only rode the Bromont World Cup course a little, and hoped the legs would be there again come race day. Sunday came and about an hour before the race it absolutely starting pissing rain.

Now, when this happens some people get a little stressed out about tyres, equipment, and the course. I saw fellow Canadian Kris 'Kron' Sneddon ride by and we gave each other an AC/DC woot-woot, F#$% yeah, let's get it on. Experience and a great team are priceless in conditions like these; I knew I had the right bike, tyres, pressure and components to get the job done. I had my lucky #14 number plate on and I was just relaxed and looking forward to the race.

It was a victory I have been chasing for a long time but on this day it seemed easy. When racing goes well everything seems so smooth and effortless. When it doesn't, which is more often than not at World Cups, it feels like you are banging your head against the wall. Winning a World Cup was something I had always written down somewhere as a goal and to actually achieve it was something special.

One thing I can gladly tell you is that I didn't have to stop drinking beer to win a World Cup. In Quebec it was one of my favourite daily drinkers; Leffe Brown.

The East Coast swing continued with a couple of US ProXCT Series races. Mount Snow, Vermont, and Windham, New York were the locations and the weeks rolled by. We had some nice houses to hang out in, good food to eat, and I was able to bang off what they call a Double Double at Tim Hortons. Instead of two creams and two sugars it was two cross country wins and two short track wins. I was most satisfied to get cross-country wins number 15, 16 which pushed me past the legend, and my childhood hero, John Tomac.

Besides surfing the internet we always seem to be able to amuse ourselves on the road one way or another. My teammate, Lea Davison, is a big fan of the movie Super Troopers so we decided to have a bit of a Super Trooper contest at the last race.

Relating to a scene in the movie, the contest was to see how many 'Meows' we could work into our post-short track race video interviews; Colt at CyclingDirt being the unknowing victim. For example: I have really good form right meow. I will cut Lea a little slack because she might have been a little excited after winning the short track, but, I have to say I absolutely smoked her five Meows to one Meow (my five Meows can be seen here: http://is.gd/2jZwF).

I am now down in Australia for the biggest bike meet of the year; World Championships in Canberra. I have to say I am feeling more optimistic than ever and I think I actually have a shot. Canada is going to have a great team relay so I'm looking forward to that as well. It is my lucky Worlds #14 so I think it is time to go get some.

Geoff Kabush
Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain
http://twitter.com/GeoffKabush

Worlds and a tour of northern Italy

Published:

September 21, 2005, 00:00,

Updated:

April 22, 2009, 19:31

By:

Cycling News

The 2005 World Championships is in the book and for me and that means that the season is pretty much...

• Index to all entries

The 2005 World Championships is in the book and for me and that means that the season is pretty much done; at least the MTB part. 2005 has been a dandy year and it finished off well, or satisfactory at least. It was a quick trip over for Team Maxxis from Mt Snow to Livigno, but definitely not trouble free. It started with me grinding my teeth as I watched our bikes in a cardboard box sit out on the Boston runway for a 15 minute thundershower; fortunately they finally got put on; unfortunately that was the last we would see of them for four days.

That meant that I would be skipping the team relay, which was a little frustrating, as well as training for the week until the bikes showed up on Friday. We were right next to the venue so the hardest part of the week was listening to the announcers out our window; I think I heard the Flow Show's Dangerous Dan say "podium of decision" a few too many times. We did humour ourselves though with some of the English translations we saw on the menus like octupussy, chesse, tunny, whysky; as well as the official phrase for 2005 Livigno which wasn't quite right - "All can be a road".

And so the XC finally came around - at the big races they make you just sit on the line after call up; something stupid like 12 minutes before the start. I was about the only one that hopped the fence and rode a trainer to the last minute and I think it paid off. As everyone struggled with dead legs I went round the outside and cruised through the start loop on the front. All was going to game plan as I settled in on the first climb and coasted backwards; and let me tell you there were some good climbs on this course. Maybe too many climbs going straight up and not enough corners and bumpy stuff for my liking. I felt decent though and finally came around in the low 20's and made it back up close to the top ten before a slow leak left me in 14th at the end. It was okay, but I was hoping for something a little more special. I have time and better Worlds courses on the horizon, I suppose. The village was pretty dead but we finally found Rowney and the party; T-Lowe was out for his last MTB party before going to the dark side. I of course had to dress up and show the Euros some good Canadian fashion; it was one last Deaner appearance before retirement.

The end of the year is always a little anticlimatic and sometimes a little sad. I finally got on my bike after 10 days off and it felt good after all the walking I've been doing. It's been walk, pastry shop, walk, panini shop, walk, pictures, walk, wine and cheese and so on. My post season training has involved a little tour around Northern Italy...Lake Como, Milan, Tuscany, Elba. It has been pretty good except for a pesky thief who smashed our rental car window in Milan. Not so wicked filing a police report, changing cars, etc....and losing a bunch of cool stuff. The thief will probably be kind of upset to discover a bunch of really sweet custom Sugoi cycling clothing; a bunch of custom Smith shades; my SpiroTiger breathing device; and the mullet wig. So if you seen some punk riding around in Italy in a K-bomb skinsuit with some Pink glasses and a mullet on take him into the ditch for me.

Before I left for Worlds I did manage to get a last minute shipment from Dubba in Boulder before hopping on the plane; our new Dopers Suck sweat bands. I got the first samples and we should be making them available soon; you might be able to catch a photo from Worlds with them on my arms. The battle that we are trying to fight hit painfully close to home last week with the news about Shep. I am sorting out a lot of emotions but it has renewed my motivation to let people know you don't have to make this decision; just have enough respect for your sport and yourself and anything is possible.

I just made it back to ABQ for a week...then Interbike...and then a little cyclocross probably if I can get a bike together. Thanks to everyone for their support this year and I will keep you posted.

Arrivederci,
gk

NORBA final and onto Worlds

Published:

August 30, 2005, 00:00,

Updated:

April 22, 2009, 19:31

By:

Cycling News

After surviving "Cottage Nuts" not "Cottage Crazy" in West Virginia (as my sister corrected me on...

• Index to all entries

After surviving "Cottage Nuts" not "Cottage Crazy" in West Virginia (as my sister corrected me on JF's Frenglish of Cabin Fever) Toulouse and I made it fairly smoothly up the East Coast on Thursday to legendary Mt Snow for the NORBA finals.

The XC course was in superb condition in dry conditions which made me quite happy; I wasn't into doing another death march in the mud the week before Worlds. The XC series has been a good story with lead swaps between Adam Craig, myself, JHK, and then back to me, then JHK, and then me again. It has been a battle with Canadian against American, dualie versus hardtail, but it has been good because we all have respect for each other and we know there is no false hero among us. I was happy with the Series Finals in Vermont because I have good memories of my first XC podium way back in 1999. That was the year I went up 1-0 in my offroad series with Lance "I have never doped, no way" Armstrong.

No tyre decisions with the dry weather making choices easy, so I just had to sit around until our 3pm start time on Saturday. The day was made even longer as we have been getting out of bed earlier trying to adjust to Euro time. I did manage to catch an Xterra commercial that was still regurgitating one of my spectacular crashes from the 1998 Hawaiian Mountain Tour; thanks for that Kahuna Dave.

I got off the line and into the first singletrack ahead of the group and then let Adam take over with his usual first lap flyer. His attack drew out Roland, Seamus, and myself in a small chase group. Adam finally succumbed at the top of the second of four laps with Roland making a strong push. I sagged a bit on the steep climbs and grabbed handfuls of seconds where I could on the descents as it became grouppo compacto at the half way marker. I decided it was time to fire it up a bit as I found the others suffering and stretched the elastic to its breaking point until Roland was the last one to lose sight. I didn't want to make any mistakes and made sure to try and avoid the trees and sharp things on the last lap. It was also a great day for the team because when I turned around at the finish line I saw Toulouse coming in for a place on the podium in fifth; it has been a long time coming and it was great for things to finally come together for the Quebexican in Vermont. Of course he got pretty wet on the podium but was okay when he found out he also moved up to sixth overall.

Sunday morning we woke up to rain and it didn't really stop all day. Luckily the ground was dry to start so it didn't get too muddy. It was actually dry enough that I made a last minute tyre change on the line to switch to my favourite slick Oriflamme tires. All I had to do was stay out of trouble to win the overall so I tried to stretch things out from the start. Finally I was able to draw out the "Giant Team 4 Fun" and Carl, Adam, and I got a small gap on the field. I was outnumbered but Carl couldn't quite hang on, so it was down to Adam and I. I tried an attack on the last lap but this time Adam hit back with half a lap to go and squeaked out a deserving win in front of the partisan crowd; he's almost a local with the family coming over from Maine.

Well I accomplished some of my big goals for the year this weekend with another couple of NORBA titles, but my biggest one is still to come next weekend. Today I jump in a plane and head over to Zurich and on to Livigno for the World Championships. Relay on Wednesday and XC on Sunday...stay tuned.

gk

XC results
STXC results

Bring on the final

Published:

August 23, 2005, 00:00,

Updated:

April 22, 2009, 19:31

By:

Cycling News

It has been a good month since I last wrote; weekend off...NORBA Utah...weekend off...NORBA West...

• Index to all entries

It has been a good month since I last wrote; weekend off...NORBA Utah...weekend off...NORBA West Virginia. One of the nice things was with a weekend off I got to make it back up to Canada and enjoy some fine summer weather and downtown living at my new condo in Victoria; Hotel Kabush has officially closed. Managed to spend the whole week without making a grocery shop; overheated my van trying to make it to Mr Schum's bachelor party; enjoyed the wedding; got my van back home barely; had a good time showing Pink around Vic with too much to do and too little time; and then I was off for another couple of months of racing.

Vegas was the first stop, being the closest airport to Brian Head Utah and NORBA #6; closest being about three hours and several thousand feet with the base being at 9000ft and the XC course going up to 11,000ft; good fun. XC wasn't so good with a slashed sidewall and a limp home for 9th place; this left JHK back in front for the series after a strong victory. At least the weather held out as the day before the "Team Giant 4 Fun" boys got stuck in a freezing hail storm preride and were rumoured to have struggled to make it back to their condo with gloves smelling like piss. Adam didn't seem to feel the effects and after a strong XC ride he was on the attack in the STXC. After Neethling took the first lap prime for the downhillers and just about took out Wells, the action was fast and furious. I managed to bridge to Adam and timed my attack well to take the win and a stranglehold on the STXC series.

A week off at home in Albuquerque meant some good time for training as things focus in on the end of the season and my big goals for the year.

Soon enough I was back on the road heading for another NORBA in West Virginia. I had been watching the weather all month and there'd been an unusually low amount of rain so I was hoping for some possibly dry trails. It was West Virginia of course, so as soon as the team trailers pulled in it started to rain and by the time Toulouse and I showed up it was peanut butter parfait.

Races in nasty conditions aren't that fun, but it's a good time to be riding for Maxxis as I always know I have the right tyres. I won the XC last year by riding a patient race on the very physical course; it was interesting at the bottom of the first descent as there was a group of five well clear of everyone and we were all on dualies....Adam, Wicks, Wells, Jeremiah, and myself. JHK didn't make it that far as he took a pretty serious tumble five minutes in and had to withdraw. Jeremiah was the most aggresive, being the local hero, and I kept him in sight as we seperated from the group. I was feeling good and saving my bullets for the last climb, but I didn't need them as Jeremiah's aggresion didn't pay off when he flatted last lap, leaving me to cruise in for the victory. With JHK not finishing I'm back in control of the series, but it's far from over - the finals next week have to count for the overall.

STXC was a tactical affair with a very long pavement climb. It made it impossible not to choose my hardtail; it's only the second time I've raced it since the Sea Otter Super Moto. A group of five separated at the end, and Team Haro got the tactics right as Seamus countered a strong move by Chris with two laps to go and squeaked out enough of a gap to take the win. JHK was feeling good enough to race STXC and I just managed to come around him in the sprint for second.

Toulouse and I are hanging out here in WV trying to maintain some kind of altitude acclimatisation for Worlds, which is up at 6000ft. If we don't get cabin fever, or go cottage crazy as my French brother-in-law calls it, I will hopefully write with good news after the NORBA finals next week in Vermont.

Chowder,

gk

XC results
STXC results