Iâm guttedâŚGodspeed IgorâŚ
I just found out too.
The man was a local cycling legend in every sense.
Just this past week @gmerritt and I were reminiscing about LITD rides, which he started and doing his never surrender spirit justice.
Then during the ride on Saturday @Michael_White mentioned his attacking spirit at the Sunday Novo Starbies rides and much later, on the same ride @kaellis teased that I sounded like him when I jokingly said, âYou should fall over at the end of every ride.â
He hadnât been a staple locally for years but the impression he made on this cycling community was immense. He was a key influence on me joining the club in 2011. Iâm sure thatâs that case for many others.
Guiding the uninitiated, in this case a baby-faced @Martin_Wolniczek .
His legacy lives on.
Still gutted 
I first saw this but did not realize it was Igor.
I started building trails at the Hydrocut by helping Igor.
Definitely great guy in this cycling community.
Iâm at a loss for words but a few memories are coming to mind. In the early days (2012ish) of Saturday morning gravel rides, Igor and I would email back and forth about possible routes. Everyone, fast and slow, would ride together. This was before these rides were with the WCC. The informality of the rides was what made them memorable. 8:30 am at the outlet mall, whoever showed up. Eventually after a few years the faster folks did their own ride but for a while, we all rode together. I believe the photos below were taken by Alain.
I also worked with Igor on the trails for many years. Though we had our differences, he was the main driver behind the trails at the Hydrocut, along with Ron Head. When Igor was passionate about something, he could move mountains.
Iâm not even sure where to start when it comes to describing the impact Igor has had on me as a cyclist. He had boundless enthusiasm for the sport, was hard as nails on the bike, was kind to animals, loved nature and had the funniest one liners.
I rode thousands and thousands of km with Igor year round in all kinds of crazy conditions before he moved back to Serbia. The Tuesday night Lost in the Dark with Igor rides were epic adventures.
Even though he hasnât ridden with us much the last few years it feels like a core member of the group is gone.
Godspeed Igor, youâll be missed.
Years ago I compiled a list of quotes from Igor. This includes things he said in emails, forums or on rides. There may be the velominati, but we have the Igorminati:
You never make U turn!
Season always starts now!
The only way I was able to win races was by not listening to my brain.
Iâd hate to ride with guys that wouldnât want to drop me, or make me hurt in any opportunity they can get
Youâd be weak if you didnât ride cause of the cold. Itâs okay to complain about it, as long as you ride regardlessâŚ
Also, the rule #1 of the Winter Riding Club: we never talk about the âother training"
Not bothering is the worst thing you can doâŚ
The Hydrocut TTâs arenât going to ride themselves
I might be man enough to ride in all conditions but my bike sure isnât 
There is no such a thing as âunsafeâ bike for the Hydrocut. The only unsafe thing in Hydrocut is the people that overestimate their own abilities.
The way we live here regarding our dependency on cars cannot be explained with anything other than stupidity
My Religion (Erbsville Tuesday Night Road Riding) forbids me to worship at any other place than Bamberg roads.
Itâs a sacrilege to bring up the heat as a reason not to ride on Tuesday. Only a violent thunderstorm can be allowed to get in the way.
It is mostly in your head and not so much about the calculated physics and mathematics
People too often overanalyze things and forget to have fun. The more rigid structure someone is adhering to, the more likely he /she is to crash (mentally) and loose
interest and motivation.
Getting beat and put in place is the best way to get a realistic perspective and the only way for improvement 
Guys, you should just get on your bikes and ride!
Why wait 2 months when Sunday is going to be dry and comfy â5 degrees!
You must immediately, without delay go to the rule # 5: http://www.velominati.com/blog/theârules/ and fully embrace it, or find something other than cycling to be interested in.
Cycling is the best training for cycling, period. No amount of indoor trainers, rollers, weight lifting, running, yoga, hockey or anything else can keep you in as good shape for cycling as the real cycling will.
Even if one was to saltâdestroy one beater bike each winter, it would still be cheaper than paying gym membership fees.
Dogs â cyclists, I really donât see much differenceâŚ
It is the best to buy the costliest, highestâend bike you can possibly afford, and in such way save your self the grief of upgrading too many times and wasting money on depreciation.
Yes, I will definitely be there and I pity everyone that will not!
We had a blast last night; a 3 hour long ride on totally carâ free gravel roads and with a sweet sensation of being lost (although you can never really be lost when you are with
me).
All the blood rushing to our legs left the brain numb, and the lungs had no capacity left for gasping out courteous remarks to other cyclists. Pretty sad, but I donât see how this can be improved on.
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run
than exposure.
This is our church!
No bike should be stored ever; they need to be ridden all the timeâŚ
Itâs not about the performance, itâs about the attitude.
a TRUE cycling friend will do his/her outmost to make you squirm in pain
I just want to make sure youâre not THAT guy.
Keep in mind, it is March, so it is hold on to the strongest pacer or have a lonely ride home
Lazy bums, itâs time to get off your couches, trainers or whatever, and RIDE your bikes!
The only injuries were in some tarnished egos and crumbled confidence.
The Steaming Nostril race is in 3 three weeks and you guys are still pondering and hesitating to step up the training rides
Oh I so wish more guys would embrace pain and suffering as the highest form of fun on the bikeâŚ
Getting dropped is being frowned upon, while that is the best thing that can happen to an aspiring cyclist. If one is never riding at the level where getting dropped is a
constant possibility, one is not training hard enough.
For a true WCC Tuesday Night worshipper, attending any different church is an unforgivable sacrilege!
Keep in mind that the glory is only in the first place, so battling for the second is totally meaningless
I always go full out, regardless of how long the race is
I know a lot of people will hate me for saying this, but I still have to say it: the tonightâs road ride was so good, even better than mountain biking!
Road riding within my comfort zone would be awfully boringâŚ
Fun without Gaelen? Where will then the fun = painâandâ suffering come from?
Doing just 100 is like accepting defeat
@SteveSh thanks for posting that. Iâve heard him say many of those things.
He was a one of a kind character and will be missed by many here and elsewhere.
I didnât have much interaction with Igor but I can remember him telling me:
Just keep peddling.
His voice telling me that in my head got me thru my one and only mountain bike race.
RIP Igor
I only rode with him a couple of times but I have used his one liner more times then I can remember. We were on a particularly busy stretch and Igor turns to everyone and says âCycling a very dangerous sport the likely hood of death is high but oddly enough cyclist still live much longer on average then the general populationâ. That has kept me going during the times I didnât feel like getting out.
Igor definitely had an impact on a lot of us, the club, the local cycling scene and beyond.
The year I started road racing I had spent all winter training at the velodrome so had good legs coming into the spring but didnât know how Iâd do back outside. I remember showing up to the first Tuesday night ride and being bold and joining group 1 not knowing how it would go. As the ride went the pace was relentless and slowly riders faded off the back until it was just Igor and I, I knew I was ready for the season at that point. It wasnât long after that ride that a little guy in a slightly faded red jersey showed up that no matter what could not be shaken lol.
The other memory from that year in the fall was showing up for a night ride that he had posted, these were the early days of it and just my former high school phys-ed teacher and I joined Igor that night. Igor and I set the pace and my former teacher did his best to hold on, that was a very satisfying ride for me :). He eventually had enough and headed for home but I of course had no idea where I was so just kept rolling with Igor. We eventually made it back, probably an hour later than expected.
Igor was a big part of the club back then, he had a reputation as the hard guy who was always pushing but I think the reality was he just wanted to ride with others no matter who or when (but would still ride on his own if that wasnât an option). If the group was moving fast, he was moving fast but I also remember those early gravel rides and others where he would just go with the pace of the group and be happy to be there, probably doing a lot of the work on the front but the group staying together. A fast group definitely grew around him though with everyone pushing each other further and faster as time went on.
I had far too many good adventures to remember with Igor. For me he emboldened the spirt of being a kid again, who cares if we are late home and who needs a plan. I remember Phill G came up for a ride where he kept asking where we were, the response was always we are turning left in a couple of blocks. Eventually we found our way, and my hand was forced I needed food and it was 20km to Stratford or a longer journey home, I arrived in Stratford at the time I was supposed to be home.
Another ride the snow and roads were so bad me and Oliver turned back in Bamberg. Igor continues with Peter for another 5 hours and I hear amazing stories of riding through fields of cows.
At times he was difficult, but left the world a better place. Certainly helped me a lot when I was first riding with the clubs, and reminded us all training was supposed to be fun, something that is easily forgotten.
I posted this on FB but also dumping here:
In the winter of 2011/2012, largely under the guidance of Blake Ellis and others, the WCC race team was revived. I was named to it along with Adam Poll, Tom Cauduro, Quinn Hanam and Aaron Hamill. I wanted to be the best I could be, so I read books about nutrition and watts and race tactics. I did core and strength workouts. It was all so prescriptive, do x watts for y mins, repeat z times, and it was all I knew that would make me faster.
Then I heard rumours about this guy named Igor, who was consistently one of the strongest riders in group 1, won more or less every OCup mountain bike race he entered, and he didnât own a trainer or a bike computer (when most at his level were already training with power meters). I would ask people, âhow?â and the answer I got was âget a cross bike and go for a ride with himâ. So I went into King St Cycles, and got an aluminum Norco cross bike from Lori (she gave me a sweet deal), and cold-emailed Igor asking if heâd show me some of the roads I could take my new bike on. It was January.
No GPS file exists of this ride - Strava was not a thing yet. âGravel adventure ridingâ also wasnât a thing yet. Up to that point, all I knew was that in Canada, you rode your bike outdoors from May to September, and ran/lifted weights/rode the trainer/stared at a wall/drank beer during the rest of the year. 10 km outdoors in January, let alone 80, was insane. But this was all this guy was doing all winter (well that and apparently dogsledding). And come spring he would completely and utterly crush all the âI followed the trainerroad polarized sweet spot heart rate flim flam ratio method all winterâ sycophants. He was a modern-day John Henry, only instead of smashing railroad ties in the Blue Ridge Mountains he was smashing legs on the Bamberg loop.
Now Iâm just going to go out and say it: Igor was opinionated, stubborn, controversial and polarizing. There was no middle ground, no compromise, and no fence sitting with him. He was very wrong about a lot of things. The âIgor quotesâ are so memorable/hilarious because they somehow contain kernels of infinite wisdom while at the same time are completely wrong and/or non-sensical.
But for those of us who planted those kernels, they have yielded so, so much. He has left an indelible mark on me and my growth as a cyclist (and I know I am not the only one).
Igor didnât just expand the realm of cycling possibility for me, he exploded it. Road closed signs became invitations to adventure. âNo Exitâ? Lies! -30, +30, full daylight, pitch black darkness, snow, hail, firehose in the face rain, hurricane level wind, broken spokes/derailleurs, lack of food/water, getting shot at, these were all just externalities that merely enhanced the adventure.
There are probably thousands of âThis one ride, with IgorâŚ.â stories Waterloo-based cycling folks could tell. I could probably supply a hundred alone. Then I think of all the crazy rides Iâve done simply as a result of having ridden with him, because I would never have even considered doing them without that exposure. Then I think of all the crazy rides Iâve done with others that have never even ridden with Igor⌠and I see their personal realm of possibility exploding just like mine did⌠well you get the idea. That is a legacy of his that will live on.
So, thanks Igor. I will continue to do my best to pass that spirit on. You will be missed.
So true and well said. Also there is no photoshop in that picture. I was there when it was taken and there was literally a wall of black cloud enveloping/surrounding the rail trail. It was amazing.
When we look at the latest explosion of gravel riding/racing we were enjoying that to the nth degree almost ten years ago.
I only learned about this today, and it made me so, so sad.
But then I started reminiscing and thinking about my interactions with Igor. I remembered going to my first Get Lost in the Dark with Igor ride, and riding on the rail trail for the first time. I remembered getting invited to race with his team. I remembered riding 90% of the time without a clue where I was, approaching every turn wishing we were now heading home, but not really wishing that because deep inside I really wanted this to never end. I remembered crazy situations, like when only Igor, Peter and I were brave (stupid) enough to ride over freezing rain, and having to head back after more crashes than kilometres, or going over cow pastures trying not to touch the electric fence, or changing a flat in the middle of nowhere at night, at minus many Celsius, debating if we should knock on the farm for help or not. I remembered the feelings I had while riding to the start of every GLDI; it was full of expectation, like something unpredictable (but fun, and mostly painful as well) was about to happen. And it always did.
And all these good memories made me think that Igor would probably berate me for being sad, most likely with a quotable, snarky sentence about character building or something, and that I should shut up and go ride my bike because it wonât ride itself. So I will.
I mentioned to the board it could be fitting to have a brief tribute to Igor at the coming social. Is there someone, or multiple people, that would be interested in doing this? This thread has been great, and shows how many of us enjoyed time in and out of the saddle with Igor.
On a similar subject. Iâve been trying to think of something the club could do to recognize Igor long term. Does anyone else think something like this would be fitting? The first obvious thing that came to mind would be to name/rename a local trail. Thoughts?
At the very least Tuesday nights and the LITD ride live on thanks to some dedicated cyclists.
The club sponsors a section of Hessen strasse? Perhaps sponsor a section through bamburgh in his name/memory?
The sign would be seen on Tuesday night rides!
Definitely in support of some sort of recognition.
