Racing in my stomping ground

This past weekend was the Ontario Marathon Championships for the cross country marathon discipline of racing. The race took place at the local trails here just north of Kingston; a two lap 79km course. Marathon races are a true game of attrition, and it was 28 degrees (before the humidity) on a technical, rocky course. I was feeling pretty confident, hoping for a top 3 result, figuring that local knowledge and good preparation would let me show my true fitness for the first time this season.

Riding the trails the day before with Taylar and Colin

I stashed my bottles in the barn for Colin to find and pass to me and hustled over to the start line. Marathons don't usually start overly fast, but I was on a mission that day, and got to the front position in the first few hundred metres. The course was farm lane for a kilometer before getting into some fast single track. Guys tried to get by me before the singletrack, but I kept the pace up and didn't let anyone by, and led my way through some really twisty trails. My good friend John Cauchi was riding my wheel in second place, and Luke H was on his wheel, with a whole stream of rides behind us. We got to a section int he trail that was a slight uphill and I put some accelerated, and now my group was less than five people at the breaking off the front of the group.

We popped out of the forest with a group of about 6, and I rode a good tempo across some very bumpy farm lanes/horse trails, and when I motioned for another rider to come forward and pull us in the wind, nobody came. I checked back and had about a 10 meter lead on second place. My options were to slow down and let those guys do some work while hiding from the wind, or just keep building my lead. I felt aggressive that day and kept moving away from them, and it was a beautiful thing to be on my Felt Edict 1 on that bumpy stuff! 

The next trail involved a quick left hand turn that nobody ever rides, and I made a mistake and got caught, so we were a big group riding through the soy field toward the first chance for a feed and the downhill jump track. Luckily Colin was on the ball, handed me his own bottle of water (no need for a repeat of the last provincial championships with the threats of disqualification). I led into the berms and jumps without looking back. 

Oldie but goldie, coming out of the pump track last year

Some kids from the Boys and Girls Club that I volunteered with doing the first set of pumps

When I finally did look back, I had hit all the jumps and berms so hard that I couldn't even see second place. See ya! I didn't plan on letting them find me either. I threw a savage first lap out, I knew where to go hard, where the hills were, and where it really wasn't worth the extra effort and to take a break. I had the proprietor Rob giving me time splits, and I liked them. I was solidly pulling away from second and third place with a minute and twenty seconds between me and second place by the time that I was going into the last trail of the first lap. I had a few goals that I thought would help me to wind; keep out of sight, use extra energy only on the hills or inclines, and ride smoothly. 

I came through the start/finish area and the crowd went wild! It was amazing, the people that knew me from Ontario Cup racing were really excited for me, the locals that ride at Kingston were screaming my name, and I was just looking for a water bottle. 

Unfortunately Colin wasn't there to hand me anything, but I'd be back through the feed zone in about half an hour, so I didn't stop and just kept going (trying not to be seen by anyone of course). I just spun my legs faster instead of pushing them harder, and kept out front with no sign of anyone else until I started lapping people. Not taking a bottle was a bit of a mistake, as I really felt dehydrated in the after the first third of the second lap, but I was being driven by something that hasn't happened all season - I was finally winning. 

This is how I looked after the race...Foreshadowing?

I stopped at every aid station after that, going crazy with how long it was taking to fill my water bottle, refusing to eat food, and hopping back on my bike. Being in first place brought me to a new level focus, it's amazing what optimism and reaching your potential can do. I even started planning my victory salute - all the big shots do it right? I was totally going to reel in the finish line like it was a big trout, and I did cross that line first. Everyone cheering me, yelling that I was a beast, and saying my name. I put my arms up and crossed that line, thinking that all of the work, injuries, frost bite, and perseverance was worth it. I won by 10 minutes, though my biggest competition didn't have the best races. 

Beer, great prize!

It was a tough haul, I make it sound like it was easy but that race, and the dedication that it's taken me to get through this season took some real grit, full of highs and lows. Highs are things like sauteing everything in butter the day before, eating things like rice cream (just ice cream on rice), having great shakes (thanks Progressive), and having an excuse to sleep 10 hours/night. Preparation and the proper support is key, I don't know where I'd be without MTB Kingston building these awesome trails, or always having Clif bar products at my disposal (I LOVE shotblocks, those kept me going through this race bigtime!). It's hard to say what makes me ride so much after nerve problems in my back, and with no good results this season, but it's a lifestyle and I really enjoy it. Motivation also comes from knowing that people are reading my blog, and when people ask me about my racing or grad school. 

Thanks guys, I'm now the Ontario Mountain Bike Provincial Champion of the World, or OMBPCW for short. I'll be racing Marathon Nationals this Sunday at Horseshoe Valley, hoping that aggressive tactics can bring me another great result, but the best kept secret in cycling is finally out - I'm actually fast!

Coming back at the provincial circuit

All things considered, this past weekend was pretty much the perfect weekend - I mean what more can a guy ask for? Good health, great support, camping, and fantastic weather. Oh, and giant inflatable pretzels, they're important too. As my last blog post says, I was off the bike for 2 weeks, stuck in bed due to a disk problem in my back pinching on my sciatic nerve. Luckily I bounced back so quickly that it alarmed the physiotherapist that I was seeing, who didn't look like he believed me when I told him that I had got back on my bike. This means that in the 3 weeks leading up to the race, I rode my bike 4 or 5 times. I wasn't really going for a good result; I would just be happy to finish the race, to support my friends, and to have a good time camping!

The race was at Albion Hills Conservation Area near Bolton, Ontario - which is a sweet course that hasn't been in the Ontario Cup circuit for 3 or 4 years. Another perk of racing at Albion is that the trails area awesome, and it is attached to a campground. I camped out with the Wolfpak crew, Sarah from Two Wheel Racing, as well as Davis and Hannah from AWI racing - couldn't have asked for a better crew!

I'm the lucky guy on the left, getting my legs stretched out

If we weren't joking by the fire or eating, we had the luxury of swimming to cool off (it was so hot this weekend that I was melting, but maybe that's because I'm used to days like these.

Alex and I are sharing the most buoyant pretzel in the world (thanks Mary Lynch for the photo)

The race course for the elite race was tough! There were two outstandingly unforgiving hills (the Green Monster and the Wall of Pain), as well as a bunch more hills, and insane sun that I just couldn't get away from - but at least there were gnarly features to huck off of in front of the crowds!

On the race start I was thinking mostly of how badly I just wanted to finish such a tough race, especially after being in bed for 3 out of the last 4 weeks or so. Once the gun went off, I was't too aggressive, and filed in near the back of the pack - waiting to see how the long, hot race would unfold.

I had a couple of pretty good laps, with a big collision with a tree, and fell into "no man's land"after that. "No man's land" is that part in the race where the guys behind you aren't fast enough to catch you, but you have lost enough ground on the guys ahead. It's a tough place to be, especially when you're not feeling good and you know that these guys have trained 30+more hours than you over the last 4 weeks.

I kept confident however, and really enjoyed having a cheering section at most places in the course! The tech features were a positive as well, and though there are no photos of me, this is what doing them looked like.

Big shout out to Andrew, who trusted me with his super expensive wheels not to do exactly what Sarah does in this video. It wasn't completely misplaced trust, I landed smoothly and a little closer to the rocks - his wheels are fine.

Currently I'm on the course for the Baie St. Paul Canada Cup bike race, staying at a campground with wifi...weird right? So I'm sitting in the shade by my tent, waiting for the race to start in like 4 hours - hoping to have my legs back to how I was feeling before this back problem!

Big shout out to CLIF bar for fueling this 2 week trip, and Thule for making me able to pack so well!

The Ontario World Cup

Well it’s finally happened! It seems to be *summer* in that the race season has started! Sure there are no leaves on the trees, it was pretty cold and rainy the day before the race, but it was really great to see my friends and get back onto the Ontario mountain bike scene! I can’t even explain how happy I was to see my buds with their revamped Wolfpak racing squad, or just to heckle back and forth with people I haven’t seen in 6 months, tell them it looks like they got their new bikes at the ladies bike store, or that I didn’t know Canadian Tire was sponsoring people etc. etc. The weekend started Friday for me after finalizing my conference presentation (Oh yeah, I’m a grad student now at Queen’s), Tori and I headed out for the race and pre riding the course.

A bike selfie, the lightest sweetest bike at any race no doubt! I wouldn't ride anything else even if it was offered to me!

I was excited and smiling ear to ear, the way that biking makes me when I got to the course, got the bikes out and did a slow lap, working with tori over all of the obstacles and working on skills to boost confidence and get all set up for the race. I had a great second lap with local cycling legend, University of Guelph student, and world cup winner Peter Disera, oh and the (now injured) up and coming Braedyn Kozman. It sure was awesome to be riding quick in a group of guys in the trails, dipping and hopping through the trails, chatting, and acting as one quick caterpillar snaking through the forest. Saturday I was back to the course and reunited with the Pack, the Wolfpak. I was stoked to see the boys all out with their new kits, new bikes, and rejuvenated love for cycling. I got 4 laps in Saturday, which may have been a few too many - but that didn’t matter because I was back on the bike! Saturday night was the familiar feast (I only ride to eat really), then up to bed. I was a bit nervous about how much my legs hurt just walking up stairs and about an awful injury below the belt that I can’t discuss the particulars of in a public forum, so I filled up an ice bath and sat in there for 8 minutes. No more, no less!

Wet pre riding on course

This was the World Cup of Ontario Cups, and Quebec brought their best riders too (in addition to other racers from all around Canada). I was amazed to see that some guys who really haven’t raced at Ontario Cup races in years (too busy travelling Europe racing, I assume), and I was pretty amazed by the speed and smoothness of the race start too!

Canadian mountain bike celebrities at the front of the race start
 (Thanks to Mr&Mrs Bailey for always posting such great race photos online)

As the gun went off the whole group (44 of us) sped forward, trying to get into a good position before the singletrack. I was actually surprised when the course kicked up in a steep hill and I was passing people, making my way up the field to secure a good position into the first piece of singletrack. I focussed on riding smooth and being powerful where it counted, and found myself riding with a different group of people; guys who had always been able to beat me by a fair amount of time. Coming through for lap 2 I was more or less in the mix of the fastest non-world cup racers. It was exciting to be playing a dominant role in the race, right up in the mix.

Focus (another taken from Mr&Mrs Bailey's album)

Lap 2 was a bit of a turning point in the race because we began lapping other racers midway through the lap. This is because my poor buddy Braedyn went down (needing 36 stitches) at the start of his race, delaying the other starts. The late starts introduced a whole new type of tactics to the race: get ahead of the other riders and use them to block people. Unfortunately it didn’t favor me, because I would rather coach someone through the trail so that they can ride it faster themselves than make a dangerous and selfish pass. I continued to race my hardest and make fast passes any time that the course opened up, and pass only when I felt that it was safe to do so in the singletrack. I still managed to race a good race, and though a few guys got away from me in all of the lap traffic, I’m happy to say that I finished 21^st! I managed to beat guys by more than 5 minutes who had beaten me by more than 5 minutes at the same race last year. At first I was disappointed by the number 21, but putting it into perspective (on a regular Ontario Cup last year I may have even made the top 10), I’m proud! All the work over the winter has paid off, and next race I'll be even faster, with less lapping to happen!

Elite Men Results

I'm also very proud of my girlfriend who raced to a 9th place finish in her first race in Elite! Elite Women Results

All smiles on race day! (another taken from Mr&Mrs Bailey's album)

Inspired by http://www.abikeslife.com/

A buddy of mine has put an awesome website and video together here with a bike's life. Inspired by his photographs, here is a quick blip of my trip - from the bike's point of view. 

A hopeful departure from Canada

Left out on the roof

The afternoon off

Chased by shadows

Smuggling

Last Arizona sunset