So let’s look at the positives for the day:
1. I finished again with the main group without any major incidents
2. On the series of climbs, I held my own and felt stronger as the race went on
3. I positioned myself well in the group throughout the entire race
4. For the minor incidents that took place such as the bumping, I held my own and recovered from each without taking myself or others down
With that all said, the day for the most part was very difficult for me. Thursday night, the night before the race, I could begin to feel illness setting in. My wife and kids have been on and off sick for the last few weeks and I have to this point avoided it. The morning of the race I sit down at 4:00am again for my pre race meal and check online the weather. It’s 1 degree Celsius with a projected high of 7 degrees later in the day. It’s going to be a cold race today! I choose this time to dress for the elements and wear long thermal tights and gloves.
The one and a half hour drive was uneventful aside from the blowing snow encountered when driving north on Highway 6 towards Flamborough. I arrive at the race with a splitting headache and in need of a toilet fast! Hidden behind an 18 wheel trailer, I find relief. The morning feels rushed as the registration is at 7:30AM and the race start at 8:30AM. The registration is a little late to open and we wait in line shivering in the cold. With the sign-on complete and numbers in hand I return to my car to prepare. Dressed and bike assembled I mount my bike on the rollers and as I attempt to turn the pedals, the rollers sink into the soft ground. Unable to ride, I leave to warm-up on the course.
With the warm-up complete, I make my way to the start line. The commissaries decide to split the combined M3/S4 race. With 68 M3s, not a bad decision as the inclusion of the S4s would have put us over 100 in the field. I am not familiar with the course today other than it’s a shy over 18km and is a rectangle shaped travelling along Concession Road 5W, right onto Westover Road, right onto Safari Road and finally right onto Brock Road. There are apparently a series of drumlins, small but steep climbs but I couldn’t imagine they were that difficult. I am fortunate enough to get a spot at the front of the start line due to a break in the field to make way for a police cruiser. Less effort I have to put out to make my way to the front now.
With the race on its way, the pace is moderate over the flat but slightly downhill course with a slight tailwind from the right. I sit comfortably within the top 10 as we ride 2 to 3 abreast and adhering to the yellow line rule. With the first right hand corner approaching, you can begin to sense some anxiety amongst some of the cyclist. We all make the right hand turn without incident and the pace begins to steadily increase. There is a slight cross-wind from the right and a small echelon begins to form pushing us closer and closer to the yellow line. I fight to remain in the draft of the rider in front of me as I look up and see a cyclist accelerate off the front. The pace increases again. As we approach a small decent, I see the first climb; a stinging climb at that! Down the decent we hit the bottom of the climb and I stand up to power myself and the bike over. At the top, exhausted and with my heart racing, I quickly come to the conclusion I was way over geared for my current fitness level. In the next 3 to 4 kilometres, there would be 4 more similar climbs and I would begin to feel better over each one of them.
Into the second lap I still sit comfortably within the middle of the field. I am able to move almost effortlessly towards the front with the slight tailwind. After the first right-hand turn and now into the cross-wind, a cyclist passes me on my left as I ride on the edge of the yellow line. He is followed by the commissaries’ car honking and calling out his number. He is disqualified. The pace remains steady as we approach the series of climbs. No significant accelerations this time but I find I am losing some ground to the other cyclist when climbing so I make an effort to ensure I am closer to the front for each climb. This way as I drift back, I am still sitting comfortably within the group and no concern with being popping off the back. With the series of climbs behind us and approaching the end of the second lap, I begin to experience stomach cramps. What is this I begin to think to myself? Couldn’t be anything I ate and I figured I was adequately hydrated, but could it be the electrolyte mixture? I’ve used it before so it can’t be that. I am at a bit of a loss but continue on and hope it will pass. Unknown to me at the time, it is just another symptom of the illness that was bestowing me.
Final lap and other than the stomach ache, I am feeling okay. The pace continues to be moderate but I notice the aggression mounts a little more on this lap as cyclist attempt to make their way to the front. More elbows and few bumps but nothing in my opinion serious. On this third lap I find the climbing very difficult. I am gasping for air and although I do not feel my legs burning, they are very tired. I find myself drifting further and further behind and on the final climb I do pop off the back but with one final acceleration and I quickly regain contact. As I regain contact, I begin to move back through the field towards the front and begin to think of the final as it’s coming down to a sprint. The nerves begin to mount more now as the brakes are applied more frequently and you see other cyclist veering from the right and left to avoid someone in front of them. I simply concentrate on my own line. 5 kilometres from the finish my calves begin to cramp. So much that I have no choice but to coast and attempt to stretch by extending my legs and pointing my toes up. As I do so, I begin to drift further down the pack. If I can’t get the cramp out, there is no sprint for me today. Best I could hope for was a fast finish and attempt to retain my position within the group. With more and more bumping, we approach the final right hand corner and at that point I sit up. I anticipate a crash in the corner and decide I want no part of it. We enter the corner and pass through without incident, the pace increases as those at the front start their sprint and just ahead of me, two or three cyclist go down. Race for me at that point is over and I sit up and casually ride towards the line.
As the day went on, the illness slowly amounted and by Saturday morning, it was confirmed. So as I look back, I have to be pleased with the progression to date and look forward to overcoming this illness and getting to 100%. Some great racing and weather coming ahead!
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