Another race I was under trained for. 🙄 It’s a good thing I did a little 45 min pre-ride the day before to see if I remembered how to ride a mountain bike..LOL
I parked at my buddy Shawn’s place which is only a few KMs from the start of the race. Unloaded, got prepped and biked to the event. Good way to warm up the legs at the same time.
When I registered a few weeks back, I signed up in the D1 Wave which is considered the “Moderate Enthusiasts” class, but in hindsight, I should of signed up in the C Wave. Also, after looking over the course map it was evident that there was plenty of road sections, which works to my benefit considering my on-road training. With that said I decided to start right at the front of the wave to get a clear shot at everything.
Once the horn went off, I was out like a bat out of hell. The first 1.5kms is on city paved streets so I pushed the speed big time….probably a little too much.
The extra weight I’ve added over the summer, and the lack of riding for the last 3 weeks certainly made things harder. After the paved section, it went into a gravel road/path. A handful of us had broken away from the rest, but I could tell I was already pushing too hard too early in the race so I started slowing down a little before hitting the single track.
There were plenty of challenging climbs including going up the Decew Rd. hill…TWICE! Because I had pushed so hard earlier, and adding those 2 big road climbs, trying to maintain 30 KPH on the road sections was difficult. My average in those areas probably closer to 27 KPH. Total climb for the race was close to 1000 ft.
There were a few new single track sections that were really nice & challenging. Then it was down the Hydro Hill section. One of the sections of single track had a very rocky portion. The speed I was carrying down the hill, I hit a few rocks fairly hard. I was sure to get a flat front tire, but nothing…..until 2-3 mins later crossing a short field section I heard the dreaded…PPSSSSSSSSSSSSSS…down the front tire with only 5 kms to go….AAAHHHHHH.
I lost approx. 7 mins fixing the flat. This could have been a little better if I had not forgotten to bring a tire wedge.
Once I got going again, I was stuck behind alot of slower people and given the last remaining 5k was mostly single track, I lost more time here also.
Overall though, the race was very well organized, trail well marked, good support, and great volunteers cheering everyone on. Next year I will be better prepared with some hill training.
Results Recap:
- Official Time: 1h 59m 59s
- Overall: 469 of 769 competitors (61%)
- Age Group(M30-39): 88 of 115 (77%)