Steaming Nostril kicks off the season

The logo says it all: a galloping stallion powers a bike as steam pours out of the animal’s nostrils. Just like the race it represents, the logo’s got all the makings of a classic.

Nearly 300 cyclists are expected to take the start for Sunday’s inaugural Steaming Nostril bike race, organized by Cycle Waterloo. Ontario’s race season kicks off at 11 a.m. Sunday with the 60-km race that starts and finishes at the Lions Hall in Elmira, Ont. Using mostly a mix of gravel roads and rail trails, the route will take the field through the heart of Mennonite country.

“I guarantee you’ll be passing Mennonite families, but they’re used to us,” said Cycle Waterloo’s Blake Ellis, who is organizing the race with Malcolm Steven. The two decided to launch the race after organizing both the Tour de Waterloo charity ride and last year’s KW Classic O-Cup road race.
They settled on a Paris-to-Ancaster style spring event suited mostly to cyclocross and mountain bikes.

“We said if we had 250 riders we’d be happy, and right now we’re at 247,” Ellis said Monday night. “We’ll hit 300, and for a first-year race in March, that’s pretty good.”

The course, as it stands now, is about 64 km: 37 km on gravel roads, 18 km on rail trails and the remainder on the road. “We thought it would be a nice combination. That’s why we picked that course,” said Ellis, who expects a winning time in the two-hour range. He said the course’s rolling hills and soft gravel should provide a good early-season challenge.

“The rail trail won’t be as easy as you think because it’s not hard gravel. It’ll be more like singletrack,” he said. “A lot of people think of rail trail as pavement or hardpack.”

The long-term forecast is for a mostly sunny day Sunday with temperatures above freezing, but the organizers are watching to see what happens the rest of this week. “We’re at the mercy of the weather, so we’re a bit nervous about that. But on the other hand, it is a ‘cross race, so you don’t want to make it too easy for people,” said Ellis.

If the area gets slammed with snow this week, the course could be changed to replace some of what would be challenging rail trail with more gravel roads.

The Steaming Nostril will kick off a series of spring classics in Ontario that will also include the April 6 Tour of Bronte, the April 7 Hell of the North and, of course, the April 14 Paris to Ancaster. Overall results will be kept from the four races with King of the Spring prizes to be awarded. “I think it’s the best thing we can do because it promotes cycling, not just in one venue, but venues in all different areas,” Ellis said. “I wish more organizations would get together and start creating events like this. It just grows cycling and raises the awareness of cycling.”