Calabogie Classic 2011 - Ontario Cup #1

The gusts of wind at home on Saturday were just a precursor to the weather to be experienced the next day in Calabogie, Ontario.  A four hour drive from the east end of Toronto to Calabogie had me going from rain to snow the further north I drove.  North of Perth, I was not expecting the roads to be as twisting as they were.  With my speed hovering at or below the speed limit as I had to brake for almost every turn, I began to see the roads going from slick wet to… what’s that… snow?  Argh… the car starts to slide about.  I drive a Ford Focus wagon; with all season tires and little weight in the rear, the car slides effortlessly to the right and then the left.  I approach a turn with a sign to the right warning to use a low gear on the twisting 12% grade.  The nerves in my stomach begin to rise.  I look in my rear view mirror and I see a car approaching.  I pull off to the shoulder allowing him to speed past as I wasn’t about to take this hill lightly.  I drive back on the road and approach the hill at no more than 20 or 30km/h.  I begin the descent just as soon as I see the car in front braking hard and sliding when approaching the first bend.  He’s going to go off the side I think to myself, but he manages to keep it together.  I reach the bottom safely but with more than 30km still to go before arriving at my hotel.  The stress of my weekend has just begun!

I arrived in Calabogie to take part in the Calabogie Classic, an annual cycling race that kick-starts the 2011 Ontario Cup.  It is held on the Calabogie Motorsports Park, a 5.05km asphalt track with 20 turns, 20 meter changes in elevation and up to 6% cambers in turns.  Definitely a race I was going to enjoy!  I awaken at 5:00am as registration is at 7:30am and my race start is 9:03am.  With my post race meal down, I check the weather first on-line then outside.  Says it will be a high of 5 degrees with a 15km/h northwest wind and a 60% chance of rain with no more than 1mm of accumulation.  Seems okay to me!  I then open the door to pouring rain, howling wind and a cold that you feel in your bones!  I smile!  Most will dread the day but there’s nothing you can do about it so you might as well make the most of it.

I arrived to the race shortly after 7:30am.  Good timing as I got into the registration line well ahead of everyone else.  Registration was held indoors which was nice and warm and the line soon grew and spanned down two flights of stairs.  I was able to complete my pre-race routine in peace and completed a good warm-up on the rollers.  I again choose to race in shorts and fingerless gloves despite the 3 degree temperature.  Mentally I just cannot get in the mode to race if I am bundled up in so much clothing and leggings or tights.  Soon after the start I began to regret that decision, at least for the gloves.  With the rain falling, my fingers quickly freeze and I slowly loose sensation.

The first lap of eleven began noticeably slower than last week at the Tour of Bronte.  Today was a mixed race of Senior 4 and Master 3.  Weather was likely the main factor but also the knowledge that break away attempts rarely succeed on the track due to the sheer wind.  Coming into the last kilometre of lap 1 there’s a decent with a gradual right camber turn.  Two cyclists ride into each other and crash directly in front of me.  I think to myself I’m either going down with them or I’ll bunny jump over one of them and then suddenly, I find myself able to manoeuvre to the right of them and avoid what I thought was an inevitable finish before we really had started!  Years of track riding seems to stay with you even after a significant layoff from the sport.

The remaining 10 laps were all but the same… lots of nervous cyclist in the bunch, a few who had trouble riding a straight line.  I felt relatively comfortable within the group, bumping off those who veered off their line but oddly enough I felt awkward riding on the drops.  After so many years I guess, it became an unnatural position.  With the cold setting in I found I was looking at the lap board every lap from 6 to go.  Through rain, hail and then a bit of snow, as much as I enjoyed the course, I was looking for this race to be over.  With two laps to go I began to think of the finish and a possible go in the final.  I began to position myself towards the front but with the ever changing course direction and wind, I found myself fighting to stay at the front.  Last lap I was boxed in and waiting for the guys on my left to pull through.  I finally found a hole and made my way up the outside and to the front.  In the final kilometre, I was sitting top 5 and up the last rise and around the final corner I jumped with about 300 meters to go.  Much too soon!  I was committed and I found myself leading for what seemed like a long time, but the strength of the head wind in the finishing stretch was just too much.  Slowly I began to see one… two… three cyclist ever so slowly begin passing me as we approached the line.  I kept as much pressure on the pedals as I could and finished somewhere up near the front.

Overall I was satisfied with the race given the conditions.  The course is definitely suited to my style and I look forward to returning another day.