On Friday (June 24th) morning, I drove to the Ottawa airport and flew out to Thunder Bay. (It was a trip down memory lane to fly over town and then drive around a bit before we left T-Bay for the 4 hr drive to Dryden)
Dryden summary;
Luke put together a really great weekend for all the competitors. Venue, events, organization, hotels, money etc. Top shelf. One thing I really like about the way he runs a show, is timing. When he says we start at 1pm, he's not fucking joking, everything ran on time. Also a tip of the hat to the top notch refereeing of Jeff Peterson. Jeff always looks the part with his shirt and tie. (until he blew the ass out of his dress pants)
Event #1 Tire flip 80'
Started off pretty solid, had a good rhythm going, slowed down a fair bit, tire got a wee bit dusty near the end and I had to switch to putting it on my knee for the last flip, came up one flip short of the finish, 3rd place. I think I said some swears as I walked off, not too happy about this. going early def lowers my expectations.
(I'm in the far lane)
Event #2
300 Axle clean and press each rep
This went okay, I haven't really done much axle practice, but its still just a clean and press, my timing was a bit rushed, but I managed 5 reps without any misses during the 75 seconds. tied for 2nd
Event #3
Truck DL for reps
When I got up, most of the big guns had already lifted (Luke Dallas and Krazy Karl) so I knew what I had to beat. Dallas was leading with 12 reps. My plan was to get a good rythym and not stop. I think I banged out 10-11 in the first shot, everything felt good, took a short breather, and on my mind was how I fucked it up at OSM by stopping to breath and then couldnt restart. I put everything I had into the next rep and it went well, banged out 13 total for the win. This was a good redemption event after having last go at OSM and sucking it up.
Event #4
Train Wheel Carry
The leader had 320' and there were a bunch of guys all around the 250' mark. With the last turn advantage I planned on going 321', when I made the turn at 240' and looked all the way down to the 320' mark, I knew realistically I wasn't going to make it, so I aimed past where all the others were tied up at 250ish. I ended up at 245 and change for 2nd place.
Following this event, I took a 3 point lead over THEE DAVE OSTLUND! With only 2 events left, a win was within my grasp. And that's where my problems began. I think I lost my head a bit and instead going into full blown maniac mode, I was bit rattled.
Event #5
Medley (160 circus DB, 350 farmers 50', 600lb drag 50')
Normally this should be an excellent event for me, one where I could've even scooped an extra point on Big Dave, but today it was not. I felt like I went out pretty well, my drag was better than I expected, but I was a little too cautious with the farmers. 51 seconds. 3rd place, Ostlund won this event and put my lead down to only 1 point.
Event #6
Stone for reps (360lbs to 56" bar)
Stones used to be my bread and butter. Obviously I wasn't about to beat Ostlund and this, but I still wanted some redemption from OSM. Not today, only 4 measly reps. No excuses, my stones are just not where they used to be. I will be getting back to the lab and fixing this problem asap. almost doesn't matter where I finished here as Ostlund is one the best in the world at stones. He drilled 10 reps with room to spare and I tied for 4th.
Overall I finished 2nd to Dave Ostlund, which is pretty cool, I held the lead and let a potential win slip. No tears, no excuses, learn adapt, move forward.
I even scooped a couple of pics with my name atop the leader board for that brief moment of glory when I was leading.
It was a pleasure to compete against all the competitors, some new faces from the USA and some of western counterparts from Sask and Manitoba.
I also struck a deal with Dave and I am now the exclusive Canadian retailer of Elite Tacky. I will be bringing a good supply to all comps that I attend, as well as having it in stock at both of my gyms and very soon it will be available on my website.
Great weekend on the road in the gorilla bus. Dallas, Rainman, Big Daddy and Krazy Karl. 1400lbs of Meat in a van, 5 Alpha dogs on the road, look the fuck out. Good times. We pulled many stares and questions wherever we went. And I was clearly "the little one", as was pointed out at a corner store grocery in the middle of no-where.
