My Cape Epic teammate, Blair Saunders

I met Blair down in Costa Rica in '04, La Ruta. The thing I remember about Blair in that race was that he was off the front with the lead group and out of sight pretty quick. Unfortunately, he had some bike issues and that cost him time. He's still blazing fast, covered 101 miles in 4:40 on the MTB just the other day. Ya think I have my work cut out for me? =)

M: When did you start riding?
Blair: I started road racing in 1982, at the tour de Kelvin (my highschool in Winnipeg, Manitoba). I was already touring around the province putting on some good miles for a non-racer and thought I'd test myself in competition.

M: Why TT rather than something else?
Blair: Actually, I much prefer(ed) TTT (Team Time Trial), as I like the top end for 30 seconds, then recover and sustain a high intensity for 2 hours (100km)

M: How did you get into mountain biking?
Blair: I started mountain biking in around 1986, when mountain bikes were first made widely available, mostly for off season training and end of road season competition. I started doing Mountain Bike stage racing under the influence of my good friend and bike shop owner, Lindsay Gauld. Once I got used to jumping logs and negotiating single track I liked the diversion and different challenge - similar to what cross country skiing provided me while enjoying the nice Canadian winters.

M: What was your best day on the bike?
Blair: Probably winning the Olympic Road Trials (top Canadian) race #2 in 92, assuring me a spot on the Road Team, albeit 1st alternate.

M: Worst day on a bike? (both road and mountain)
Blair: Road - probably getting peltered down on rain in a 14 day German stage race when the temperature was hovering around freezing, while trying to hang on in the gutter at 50k/hour.
Mountain Bike - Probably missing that turn on day 6 at TR costing us an extra 30k of riding and then hailing on us as we came back to get back on course.

M: Have you always had aerobars on your MTB?
Blair: No, it doesn't make sense to use them on technical courses. I used them on day 3 at CR, and a couple of the roadie days (2 and 3) at TR. I liked the scott rakes because they get me into that crit position, and makes me feel at home when there is some pavement to jam on. This year I'm trying more of the traditional TT bars that are seen in draft legal triathlons/duathlons.