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Reminder, it's almost here, November 23rd is the date for the Ontario Provincial Cyclocross Championships.

The race is being held by Véloo Media in downtown Toronto at Riverdale Park.  Visual prize-list here.

OCTTO will have a booth there, so drop by.

Official web-page for the Ontario Provincial Cyclocross Championships is up at Veloomedia.

There is a course-map posted along with a POV course-ride-thru-video.

The organizers are holding open CX training at the course at Riverdale park every Thursday evening, with barriers set up and everything. 

Click the image of Peter 'Cobra' Morse for a slamming race-poster.

The Vernal Equinox is passing for those of us in Earth's Northern hemisphere.  In other words, the nice trip is over and next fall is here.  The 3rd Annual Jet Fuel Coffee Fall Ride was held on Sunday, September 21st to mark the end of road-racing season and the start of autumn.

The 23 participants included regular morning patrons of the coffee shop, as well as a number of current Jet Fuel Cycling team members and alumni, local pros and representatives from many local shops including Andrew Randell (Symmetrics), Heath Cockburn (La Bicicletta), Joe Giuliano (ret.), Thorben Wieditz (Jet Fuel), Julia Farrell (UltraLink).

Starting and Finishing at Jet Fuel, the route map of the metric-century is posted here, and annoted by below by Randell:

"We headed west across Huntingwood through northern Scarborough, then dipped into the the Rouge river ecological preserve for a bit, passing by the Zoo. Through the countryside we pretty much did a north-south jaunt, turning around just a few kilometers shy of reaching Stouffville.
 
Some of the ride would have taken us through the Ontario Greenbelt. And another interesting point is that much of the land we rode through was expropriated in the past for an airport that hasn't been built just yet, hence its undeveloped nature and little to no housing.

Once we turned south we came back through western Pickering, dropped over the bridge at the mouth of the Rouge (where we did the bit of off-roading) and then came back through the Guild, where we stopped for a coffee [before heading back downtown to the Jet Fuel for another coffee]"

OCTTO will be participating in the invitation-only 140km Gran Fondo Niagara 08 bike ride to be held on September-28th through the scenic Niagara (Ontario, Canada) wine-region.

The proceeds from the Gran Fondo will benefit Ontario Youth Cycling Series (for riders ages 10~16 years old).

The Gran Fondo is sponsored by La Bicicletta, one of the premier high-end road-bike shops in North America.

Group photo (below, middle) of some of the riders (450+), organizers and volunteers at Tour for Kids 2008.

This photo was taken at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.

The de-facto Team OCTTO (above, left and right) combined to ride a 1600+km and raised $2450.00.  Thanks to everybody who donated.  

Note: All of the money goes to fundraising.

(Each rider paid $350.00 in entry fees, not including their own donations, before even starting fundraising.)

The Count rode an OCTTO Reference Series road frameset for the first time during the 850km Tour for Kids epic fundraiser.   Here is his report:

"With a few days to go to the Tour for Kids, I was asked if I would be willing to ride the Tour on an OCTTO frame to give some feedback.  I jumped at the chance to be a Guinea Pig for the Doctor on one of his new frames. 

After the parts transfer from my Renaissance and some scrambling for small parts, the bike was finally complete and ready to go Wednesday night around 8pm (the tour only started Thursday at 8 am)!!  So with a few meters test riding before, we started our 800+ kilometer trek.

The bike performed outstandingly and was a joy to ride. I have ridden carbon before (OCLV, Kestrel, etc) so I knew what to expect. The frame built up was light (16 1/2 lbs complete with OCTTO cages, pedals and a small saddle bag) and very responsive.

The bike handled well and as expected was nice over the road 'chatter', a plus when riding 200+ kms a day. Climbs (which there were plenty) were not a problem both in the saddle and out with no excessive flex anywhere.

On the descents, the prototype OCTTO 1400g aero wheels were the class of the field. They rolled out so well I was passing everyone on downhills. When the speed was ramped up on the flats, the OCTTO was right there for me handling all kinds of accelerations with ease.

All in all I was very happy with the way the bike handled and look forward to a few more rides on it before the Doctor wants her back

..countr.."

This coming August 13~16 is the Tour for Kids epic cycling event.

The participants, will traverse between 200 and 800 kilometers of road, over a 2 and 4-day ride in Eastern Ontario.

By raising funds through cycling, children and youths cancer-recovery support programmes will benefit.  The Tour for Kids organizers note that about 1700 more children each year in Canada are diagnosed with cancer, to join the 10,000+ already living with this disease.

OCTTO is supporting this ride; you can make an instant and secure online donation by clicking here.

(For more information on how YOU or a friend can participate in Tour For Kids, as a rider, volunteer or a sponsor, please visit the Tour For Kid's website. 
 
We highly recommend participating. It's a fully supported tour, the organizers really provide ample amenities for the participants. The level of organization is top-notch and there is a great atmosphere surrounding the event. I was equally impressed with the number of novice cyclists who were participating, so if you have only a moderate level of cyclo-fitness then you are already qualified to register.)

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT ! ! !