2009 Season Re-cap: Cody Ratte

Dec 15, 2009 at 14:18
by Calgary Cycle Race Team  
A brief recap of my 2009 race season with Calgary Cycle.

My 2009 race season has come and gone so quickly, and I can't believe that it's almost New Years time. Before you know it, we'll all be back in the saddle and ready to race for 2010! 2009 was one of the best seasons for me - being fortunate enough to get out to all the races that I wanted to attend, has always been a goal for me, and 2009 was no exception.

Season re-cap inside,
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In May, I raced my first Canada Cup ever, and it was at Mont Tremblant in Quebec. My Dad has taken me to Quebec several times when I was younger, just to ride and see what their hills are like, and from my very first visit there, I was hooked. Mont Tremblant was no different, with plenty of rocky sections, slippery roots, and plenty of super fast parts, I loved this course. We had arrived with lots of time to get the bikes set up, and have a couple of days to check out the course, and take plenty of practice runs. Race day came, and I had a pretty good run, no falls, but a mechanical problem which slowed me down that little bit. For the most part I had a clean run, and I was happy with 4th, but we're always our own worst critic, and I knew I could have done better. On the day we were to leave Tremblant, we had hours to waste before we had to make it to the airport, so we decided to go have a game of mini-golf with Geoff and Tyler. We were joined by JF Deslauriers and Alex MacMillian, and spent the afternoon playing golf, before heading back home.



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Next up was Race the Ranch in Kamloops. I always limit my practice runs on this course, because I usually end up coughing up dust for weeks after! This year was no different. I love racing at the Ranch, but by the time race day was here for this one, the course was so rutted at the top, it made it pretty tough for everyone just to get to the bottom. On race day I had a clean run until about half way down, and then a hole that wasn't there on your last run - turned up on your race run. Down I went, in a cloud of dust, but got up as fast as I went down, and pedaled as fast as I could to make up any time. I couldn't see, and couldn't breathe, but had a blast, and went as hard as I could in that dust!



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Time was going by very quickly, and near the end of June we headed West to the Mad Trapper at Panorama Resort in BC. Wow, the amount of entries for this race was unbelievable! The line up at registration went all the way outside! Just making your way to the lifts was tough, it was so crowded. They had changed the course this year, and I think I liked this one a bit better than last year's course. The course had plenty of steep and fast sections with rocks that would move with every different run you would take. One section consisted of a trickle of water that seemed to never dry up. Everything turned into mud through that area. Unfortunately, for me, I went down in that mud, but wasn't hurt, and got back up as fast as I could and tried to finish as fast as I possibly could. On the ride home, I couldn't wait to get back on my bike and head out to Moose to get some more riding in.



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Mid July was here, and we packed up and headed out to Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, BC. The course that was chosen for this race, was one of my favorite courses from throughout the season. It mainly consisted of huge rock faces which made it "a man's course". My race run was clean, and felt good. I managed to put up a decent time, which put me into 3rd place when everything was finished. 1st place was taken by a good friend of mine - Riley Suhan of Golden, who also took "fastest time of the day". The previous week before the race, I went out to KHMR with my family and helped a crew dig and make the bottom portion of the race course for the Western Cup. They named that portion "Wild Rose" after a bunch of Alberta boys helped create it.



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The very next weekend after wrapping things up at KHMR, we were headed back out to Quebec - this time, for Nationals. They were being held at a resort by the name of Massif du Sud. My Dad and I left a few days earlier, so we could visit with my Dad's family, who are located right in Quebec City. We were able to stay at my Grandma's place, which was 5 minutes away from Mont Saint Anne. I went to ride a couple of days at Mont Saint Anne (which is my all time favorite riding place - ever!) The next day, we made our way over to Massif du Sud, which was a really hard place to find. It was really out, in the middle of nowhere, it seemed. After checking into our B&B, we headed over to the hill to check things out. The course was super sweet! At that time, it hadn't stopped raining. The course was a mix of mud filled sections along with wet slippery roots going everywhere, and a couple of technical rocky sections. I had the misfortune of slipping while walking the course and ended up dislocating my shoulder very badly. I hadn't even got on my bike yet! I was able to pop it back in, and headed back down to get some ice on it. Race day came, I was feeling good, and the rain hadn't let up, so things were looking very slick and slippery. I had a great start, but a quarter of the way in, I had to pass two riders in front of me, which they were not very happy about, and made it very difficult for me, but I made it by them, and had a solid run to the end. I ended up placing 5th in the Cadet category, and it was a really good experience for me, and I felt very honored and fortunate in being able to represent Alberta!. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of my race run, as my Dad was racing as well, and I'd like to say "congrats" to my Dad for placing 2nd in his category of Masters Expert.



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Provincials were up, and being held in Blairmore, Alberta. I raced this same course last year, and really enjoyed it. We practiced all day Saturday, and Sunday was race day. Saturday during practice, the weather was great, but come Saturday night, the sky opened up, and it poured all night. I felt bad for the racers who were tenting it that night! Sunday came, and things were slowly drying out. The course was tacky and just a bit wet - just the way I like it. I had a great run, until about halfway down when I knicked a rock, and knocked my derailleur loose. My chain ended up wrapping around my ankle, and I was stuck - unable to pedal. I had to pump my way down the rest of the course. I made it to the bottom, and thought "I did my best in this situation" and there was nothing more I could do. I really pushed myself near the top portion of the course, so I believe that's where I made up a lot of my time. I had an end result of 2nd place - which I was happy about, considering what had just happened. I dropped my bike off at the trailer, and wanted to go watch my Dad come down, as I already missed watching my brother Logan - who came in 1st place in his category of 13 and Under. My Dad also ended up placing 1st as well, in his category of Masters Expert.



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After Provincials, we drove to Whistler, BC and I raced in various Crankworx's events. I entered in Garbanzo, Air DH, and Canadian Open. I prefer racing the Canadian Open out of all of the races, but have fun racing all of them. First up was Garbanzo, and it is such a long course - upwards of 14 minutes in length. You have to rest up for this one, cause it is so long. I wasn't happy with my run, as I had to pass two riders in front of me, and I ended up going down twice, but that's racing. I ended up placing 12th. I went back to the condo and slept for the rest of the day. Air DH was next, and it's always a fun event. I was still feeling pretty tired from Garbanzo, but was looking forward to Air DH - my race run was fairly good, but I ended up overshooting a lot of jumps, which can really throw you off your lines. The Canadian Open is always held on the final day of Crankworx, and it's my favorite event. This year they added a lot of big jumps to the course, and I had a great time racing this one. My end result was 8th place. I love riding and racing in Whistler, and I feel very lucky to have been able to spend 11 days there last summer.



My 2009 season was a blast, and I would like to take the time to send a huge thank you out to my sponsors, and especially my parents, for their ongoing support, and commitment to my racing. I would like to thank Calgary Cycle, Trek, Troy Lee Design, Oakley, Dakine, The Tower Group, Chromag, Industry Nine, ODI, RockShox Suspension and the Alberta Bicycling Association for their support in getting me to Nationals. Photo credits: grafphotography, S. Exley and G. Wartman.

-Cody Ratte

Author Info:
ccraceteam avatar

Member since Apr 20, 2007
17 articles

10 Comments
  • 7 0
 2nd place after having your chain wrapped around your ankle for half the run!? That's pretty bad ass dude, well done.
  • 3 0
 that is sick. Im looking forward to riding with you rad dawgs next season.
  • 4 0
 Your going pro...
  • 2 0
 Right on Cody! Sick article, I'm stoked for ya bro!
  • 2 0
 good job cody, ill see ya out next year.
  • 1 0
 Well done this year Cody. Next year should be even better. Get those 4X skills tuned up this winter, just sayin'....
  • 1 0
 Sick season Cody, sounded like a blast!
  • 1 0
 thats a good race season report right there! have a good 2010 Wink
  • 1 0
 dude i am raceing your brother this year
  • 1 0
 Great season Cody!! Good Luck in 2010...







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