laval

It was off to Laval for my first 'cross race of the season in Quebec. Most of the Ottawa crew headed to Toronto for the UCI races, I decided to head the other way. With provincials coming up in a couple of weeks, I thought it to be a good idea to check out the scene. I'd missed a few of the early races while I was in China, so this would be a good chance to catch up on things, and see who's on form.
Kelly and Leiden stayed home, so I was travelling solo, lots of time to get pumped up and get in a good headspace early, not used to travelling alone, so I was relying heavily on Armin van Buurin to pump me up! Partly cloudy on the way there, a quick shower or two, but mostly clear 12ish degrees and windy by the time I rolled into MTL. Got myself registered, changed, and headed out for warm-up, check the course, and figure things out. It was looking good, fast, mostly dry, lots of turns, in mostly open park area. The big wind and lots of turning was looking like theme of the day. But I was feeling ok, so maybe a good day to have a go.
The start went well, good jump off the gun, and took the holeshot. We quickly caught the Elites at the bottleneck/first uphill, but were able to quickly start working around. Up on top, a few trees and turns, then we'd cross a ball diamond, and do a U-turn at second base, wet heavy sand, so no sinking. It was a standstill, so I dismounted and forced through. Feeling aggressive! By the time we came back down, to the switchbacks a group of 4-5 of us were riding. On the second lap, it was evident this was going to be a fast tactical race, I was in no mood to attack, the wind wasn't a help, so I thought it best to hang back and save it for the second half. Our group was riding fast, and we'd whittle ourselves down over the next lap or two. There were a couple of guys who I didn't know, and judging from season's results it was worth it to ride with them to get a feel for their abilities. On either the 3rd or 4th lap we hit the snow pile and Michel Henri (Iris) went over the bars, I pushed hard on the run-up just after the snow, but eased off down the other side. I could see him chasing, but thought it better to let him work back up, as opposed to working alone, it was still early in the race. Jean-Phillip Lambert (Equipe Brunet) was falling off the back, he did a good job chasing, but it would be just Michel and I for the rest of the race. We had an Elite rider or two with us from time to time, but they'd either sit on, or pull. I kind of held back for the mid portion of the race, sat on in the draft, and kind of let the others lead. Tactically it was smarter to just ride, not kill myself and blow up, I was confident I'd have some left at the end should an attack show itself, otherwise not much happening mid race. Michel and I would finish out the race together, and with two to go, there was an acceleration or two, but nothing big. On the final lap we'd share the work with no real accerations again, I thought he'd try to go for it, but maybe was thinking of a sprint too, I thought of going at one point, but was maybe more confident in my sprint. On the final run up we were still locked together, came over the top and hit the pavement for the final 300m. At 250m I pulled up beside, I could have waited for the lead out, but hey, I love a drag race. Just inside the 200m sign I started my sprint and was immediately off. Michel jumped on my wheel, but was not able to come around. On the line it was me by a bit over a bike length, very nice sprint indeed!
A good race, lots of work to stay out of the wind, even more tactics going on too! The legs felt good, the back was a bit tight, so going to work on that over the next week and a bit. Feels really good to get a win in, but I know that my time is coming, and Provincials is going to be a full on battle! I'm getting stoked for it. We're in Perth next week. So should be a good final test!

a new season underway... sort of

Well its three races into the season, and a bit of a slow start. Not quite off with the bang of the past couple of years, but excuses are plentiful!
The season started about 5 days after returning home from a two week stint in China, and really, as amazing that the trip was, (I'd go again in a heartbeat!!), there is no better way to mess up good form than to fly half way 'round the world, not ride for two weeks, sit in the back seat of a car for 1500km+, breathing some wicked heavy air (11/10 on the Toronto smog scale), then flying home, and readjusting back from the 12hour time change.
*cough* I need a smoke!
So first race, yeah, you might call it that. Britania was a good day, not super cold, drizzly, fast course, and I didn't die! Top 20 in the overall, really not that bad! Week two would be Britania, again, this time the Madison. Normally we'd skip this one to travel, but decided to stay home and build form, good call. Team-mate Marc and I would partner up, and had a good race. We were something like 6th overall? Really good, laps were getting faster as the race went on (I did four of 7). I feel like I am riding well, maybe not the top end I'd normally have, but technically really sound!
The following week would be a bit slack in the riding, and Thanksgiving happened in our house on Saturday (never again before a race!!) Woke up Sunday to head to Brockville, not feeling super confident. The weather was perfect 10 going up to 15ish, Sun, and wind. Rain mid week was really heavy there, and didn't dry up much. The course was a sloggfest time trial, with wind, glad I had my HR on... The tickle in my throat, turkey gut, and lack of confidence was leaving me wondering why I was even there... The race did start off ok, got moved up on the first lap, took charge on the second lap, and was putting in time. All was looking up, I was hopeful anyway. Lap three I noticed a group of six forming about 15-20 or so second back, I was (and had been) alone in the wind, cue the music.. da-da-daaaaaa. The group of six would actually blow, advantage me. I also blew, re-advantage group behind, as I watched over the next two laps one by one they caught and rode by. It was then pretty much a ride home. With two laps to go, a slight resurgence crept into the legs, just enough to put in a respectable final lap though. It was a rough race, one of the hardest I'd done in a long time, and the HR didn't lie, I spent all by 3 minutes in "zone 5", averaging 95% of my max heart rate for an hour and 12 min... Ouch.
So its recover, ride this week, and hope that pain is gain.
Monday I rode the Tall Tree double 'cross (fun ride, not a race), not much to say other than three flat tires in 68km, and we took the short route home, again, ouch.
Next week the plan is to go to Laval, first race of the season in Quebec. Hoping it goes better than previous weeks, only one way to find out!!