Nick Emsley

It was June 4th and I was sitting in the our car trying to get out of the sun and get cooled down before my 1:45 race start at Canada Cup #4 which was being held at Horseshoe Resort. It was a super hot day and possibly one of the hottest days that I have raced, it was more of a challenge to keep cool before the event. I was all prepared and feeling confident, I pre-rode the course two days prior and I had all of my lines dialed in. The night before the race I took one of my racing vest and socked it in water and froze it in the freezer, so on my warm up I put it on to make sure I didn't over heat before the race started. (I was warming up and wearing a cold vest. I know, something doesn't sound right here. ;) ) Once we were in the starting pen I did my final preparations and I was ready to go. The  start went out very fast since the course had a lot of climbing the pain in the legs came very quick which was not very good. To make things even worse I lost my bottle at the start

It was the third consecutive weekend of racing and I was at the Northhumberland Forest for XC Marathon #3. The Northhumberland forest marathon has been my favorite race ever since I started racing in the Ontario Marathon series. The trail's are all ways super fast and in great shape. As always the event was very well organized by Dan Marshall of Substance Projects. Today's marathon was 70km in length and I noticed some tough competition on the starting line. It was awesome to be able to chat with friends before the race and on the start line, it definitely helps with race jitters. The race buzzer went off and we all blasted away from the start. It was a bit tight at the start but then everyone got lined out and 4 of us went out and gained a big lead on the rest of the group. About 5km in I had to back off the high pace so I didn't burn myself out. Once I dropped back a bit I got together with another group and we rode the rest of the first lap together. On the second lap I

Enjoying my time on the start line It was May 27th and I was at Hardwood Ski and Bike getting ready for my 5th consecutive year racing in the Single Track Challenge. I had won this event the past 4 years and I was looking for a 5th. I was doing the 44km option and I was racing in the 15 - 18 division. On the start line I recognized some faces from the other marathons so I knew it was going to be a tough and fun event. The horn went off and we all went hard off the line. I was just at the front of the group for the first km and then I attacked and dropped everyone, I had a good lead on the group when we went into the first single track. I backed it off and bit and a group of 4 caught up and we rode together for the rest of the lap. Each lap was 22 km so the laps were very fast and on the second lap I had a couple of racer open a slight gap on me but it was okay since they were in different divisions. I finished 4th overall and I placed 1st in my division and I had a 6:31 lead on s