The Waterloo cycling community lost a local legend in September 2022. At age 58, Igor Dragoslavic died during a trail building trip in Sault St. Marie, Ontario. Although he has spent a lot of time in recent years in his native Serbia, his time at Waterloo will be remembered by countless people. As news of his passing begins to spread through local bike networks, it seems everyone has a unique memory of Igor, from building trails at the Hydrocut to several provincial mountain bike victories, gravel rides lost in the dark in Midwinter, incessant Tuesday night road rides or even road and CX races, Igor’s impact on the world of Local cycling has been immeasurable. On social media, tributes are appearing, with people sharing their memories in tribute to Igor. This blog post covers what I remember about Igor and his cycling heritage.
I first discovered the legend of Igor in the spring of 2002, the first year I joined the Waterloo Cycling Club. My first group ride with the Waterloo Cycling Club was a mountain bike ride to the Hydrocut. I knew enough from watching the results of the Paris-Ancaster race that year to know that a certain Igor from the WCC had finished in the top 40 (which is a tremendous result in this race of almost 1000 runners at time!). Igor was present on this Hydrocut ride, alongside long-time WCC members Curtis, BrentE and MarkW. We left the Waterloo Rec Center and went to the Hydrocut and when we arrived it was announced that we would be split into two groups: fast and slow. I chose the fast group and chased Igor and others for about half a kilometer before realizing they were on a whole different level of speed and fitness.
Over the next two years, I discovered the Hydrocut trails and began volunteering at trail days. These trail days were led by Igor and RonH, leading groups of dozens of volunteers through a lot of hard manual labor, digging new trails, closing old trails, and trying to keep the ATVs and dirt bikes out. There was a real feeling of nature. on these previous iterations of the Hydrocut, so close to the city, but so peaceful, so natural. It was during these trail days that I became friends with Igor and eventually joined the Hydrocut trail committee. That’s when I saw how much time and effort Igor put into the trails. In addition to organizing and leading trail volunteer days, Igor has spent countless hours and days in the forest performing maintenance, trail construction, and volunteer day preparation. I used to joke with him that he spent more time working on the trails than riding them (and he rode them A LOT!). In addition to all of this outside work, Igor worked on digital maps of the trail network (long before the days of GPS systems for easier mapping). His passion for trails and all aspects of their development was unparalleled. Even today, some of the Hydrocut’s most beautiful and smoothest trails were designed by Igor. Although he left the committee after some philosophical and personal clashes, he left his mark on this trail system which remains one of the best mountain bike day trips in Ontario.
Igor was also a competitive cross-country mountain bike racer. He won his age group in the Expert category of the Ontario Cup several times and also won provincial championships. He also participated in several 8-hour relay events with other WCC members. He always participated in the first stage and his teams always finished on the top step of the podium.
In the early 2010s, gravel rides began. Every Saturday morning we would meet at the farmers market and explore the backcountry dirt roads that were new to me at the time. Igor, however, already had extensive knowledge of these back roads and every week leading up to the weekend we exchanged emails in which he would modify the routes I had laid out, improving them to include better gravel roads. These weekend rides attracted a wide range of levels, from provincial-level experts, like Igor, to weekend warriors like me (I eventually got the chance to ride with Igor – regardless from that very first outing at the Hydrocut years earlier!). the rides attracted both roadies and mountain bikers and what I loved about those early gravel rides was the inclusiveness. Even though Igor could have failed most of us, he didn’t. He rode with the group, chatting, sharing cycling wisdom that is still expressed today and simply enjoying riding with like-minded people. These all-level, all-inclusive gravel rides only lasted a few years. As they grew in popularity, different groups naturally formed. Fast groups, like Igor, Gaelen and many others, would leave and ride for six or eight hours. The rest of us rode for two to four hours at a much slower pace. But for a few years, there was a sweet spot, both Saturday mornings and early iterations of the famous (infamous?) Tuesday night Lost in the Dark with Igor rides, when I could ride with him. . Even though we have drifted apart in recent years, I will carry these memories with me proudly. Igor will be missed by many and his legacy in the region will live on for generations.
I will end this article with a list of quotes from Igor. I compiled this list years ago from emails, forum posts, and Igor’s words. While the Velominati can exist, we have it now Igorminati:
- You never get turned around!
- The season always starts now!
- The only way I could win races was to not listen to my brain.
- I would hate to ride with guys who wouldn’t let me down or make me suffer at the slightest opportunity.
- You would be weak if you didn’t ride because of the cold. It’s normal to complain about it, as long as you ride anyway…
- Also, rule #1 of the Winter Riding Club: we never talk about “other training”
- Not bothering is the worst thing you can do…
- The Hydrocut TTs will not run on their own
- I may be man enough to ride in all conditions, but my bike sure isn’t.
- There is no such thing as a “dangerous” bike for the Hydrocut. The only dangerous thing in Hydrocut is people who overestimate their own abilities.
- The way we live here regarding our dependence on automobiles can only be explained by stupidity.
- My religion (Erbsville Tuesday Night Road Riding) forbids me from worshiping anywhere other than on the roads of Bamberg.
- It’s sacrilege to cite the heat as a reason not to ride on Tuesday. Only a violent storm can interfere.
- It’s mostly in your head and not so much in calculated physics and math.
- People too often overanalyze things and forget to have fun. The more a person adheres to a rigid structure, the more likely they are to collapse (mentally) and lose interest and motivation.
- Getting beat and put up is the best way to get a realistic perspective and the only way to improve.
- Guys, you should just get on your bikes and ride!
- Why wait 2 months when Sunday is going to be dry and comfortable -5 degrees!
- You must immediately, without delay, comply with rule no. 5: https://www.velominati.com/ and adopt it fully, or find something other than cycling that might interest him.
- Cycling is the best workout for cycling, period. No amount of indoor trainers, rollers, weightlifting, running, yoga, hockey or anything else can keep you in as good shape for cycling as real cycling.
- Even if you destroyed a salt-beaten bike every winter, it would still be cheaper than paying gym membership fees.
- Dogs – cyclists, I really don’t see much difference…
- It’s best to buy the most expensive, high-end bike you can afford, and save yourself the grief of upgrading it too often and wasting money on depreciation.
- Yes, I will definitely be there and I pity everyone who won’t!
- We had a great laugh last night; a 3 hour ride on gravel roads completely closed to cars and with a sweet feeling of loss (even if you can never really be lost when you are with me).
- All the blood rushing through our legs numbed the brain and the lungs no longer had the capacity to utter courteous remarks to other cyclists. It’s quite sad, but I don’t see how it could be improved.
- Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature and the children of men as a whole do not experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long term than exposing yourself to it.
- This is our church!
- No bicycle should ever be stored; you have to ride them all the time…
- It’s not about performance, it’s about attitude.
- a REAL cycling friend will do everything possible to make you squirm in pain
- I just want to make sure you’re not THAT guy.
- Keep in mind that it’s March, so it’s best to hang on to the strongest leader or go home alone.
- Lazy butts, it’s time to leave your sofas, sneakers or whatever and go cycling!
- The only hurts came from tarnished egos and collapsed confidence.
- The Steaming Nostril race will take place in three weeks and you are still thinking and hesitating about intensifying the training.
- Oh, I so wish more guys would consider pain and suffering the highest form of pleasure on the bike…
- Getting dropped is frowned upon, but it’s the best thing that can happen to an aspiring cyclist. If we never ride at a level where dropping is a problem
- constant possibility, we are not training hard enough.
- For a true WCC Tuesday night attendee, attending a different church is unforgivable sacrilege!
- Keep in mind that glory is only in the first place, so fighting for the second makes no sense.
- I always go hard, no matter 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 road ride tonight was so good, even better than the mountain bike!
- Driving on the road in my comfort zone would be terribly boring…
- Fun without Gaelen? So where will the pleasure = pain and suffering come from?
- Doing only 100 is like accepting defeat
