Weekend Preview: Sausages and cobbles

Ontario Marathon series goes solo while Island Cup climbs Cobble Hill

Terry McKall April 18, 2019

It’s a long weekend in Canada and, while the trails are starting to clear across the country, there’s still just two races happening this weekend. Just like last weekend, its marathons in Ontario and cross country on Vancouver Island.

In Ontario, the provincial XC Marathon series punishes early season legs with a second-straight week of long distance racing. In B.C., the Island Cup climbs Cobble Hill for the penultimate round of XC racing.

View this post on Instagram

#onmarathonseries round 2 is this Saturday! See you at Dufferin County Forest. Dry ground with lots of elevation so any rain will filter right through. substanceprojects.com/XCMarathon #cannondalemountain @pearlizumiofficial #XCM #xcmtb #xc #mtb #xcmarathon #onmarathonseries #suspensionofdisbelief @thecyclinggym @joyride150 @eloadsportsnutrition @ryekasport @cannondalemountain @ride_with_ryan @riseespresso

A post shared by Substance Projects (@substanceprojects) on Apr 18, 2019 at 12:43pm PDT

Sausage Suit ITT – Ontario XCM Series #2 (April 20)

After getting off the ground at Turkey Point last weekend, the Ontario XCM series keeps rolling right into Dufferin County Forest this weekend. There, the Sausage Suit ITT will test riders with plenty of elevation change and singletrack. Organizers are saying the local geography will help keep the trails dry and open, should any rain fall between now and the race so there’s no excuse not to suit up!

View this post on Instagram

The rain mostly held off for the first XC of the year up at Cobble Hill. @cycletherapybikes put on a great race once again. Some slick mud made the racing interesting and it was awesome to see racers going flat out! Podium photos and full results to come. Photo: @merin_p

A post shared by Island Cup MTB Race Series (@islandcupseries) on Apr 8, 2018 at 4:43pm PDT

Cobble Hill – Island Cup XC #5 (April 21)

While racing is just getting going in Ontario, out West the Island Cup series is already on its penultimate round of XC racing. The Vancouver Island series climbs Cobble Hill’s compact trail network on Sunday, the 12th time the series has done so. While the area is compact, there’s plenty of trails – and elevation – to test riders fitness. The course has been updated for 2019 with a few new trails, with these small changes promising an improvement on an already fun course.