updates, updates...

So October has been as busy as ever, but a little more low-key this year! After a bit of a slow start things are slowly coming back into their own.. here is an update.
Starting with a weekend in Montreal, I decided to do Laval and Blainville of the Quebec series, close enough to drive down and back each day, gas was proving cheaper than hotel.. I guess.. tougher recovery though. Laval was near identical to last year. Weather was a couple of degrees warmer, but really windy and the odd cloud spitting. The course was very similar, a couple of small changes, no snow pile(thank you), fast and good! Good race, still not on form but feeling better, a decent fourth place. Blainville was a "new to me" race, good course, rain over night, lots of sand (hard packed however) damp ground, technical power course. Probably best suited to day 1 of a weekend or a single race (that is based on my form however.) Feeling previous day a bit, but alright. Course was good fast, and worth riding aggressive. A final lap flub, and broken spoke knocked me down a spot to finish 5th.

The next week, we'd pack up the fam and head off to Barrie, for the Baseball Cross. It would be a good chance to visit some friends that we'd not seen in a while. The course was worth the trip also! I'd take a shot in the senior field. Original goal was top ten, based on feelings that morning, I'd be happy with not getting lapped! The course as said, was awesome, flat, really fast, hang loose and rail corners, unfortunate for me, no legs.. poor result, 'nuff said!



Next up was an "unconventional double". Saturday I packed up and headed to Cowansville Quebec for the final round of the series there. Sunday was Quebec provincials, but I would opt out to race Cornwall. The drive to Cowansville felt nice, I had good feelings during the drive and was feeling like something nice might happen, first podium of the year maybe? Got in and registered, not a super warmup, it was cold and cloudy (6deg) kind of how I like it. The course was great, fast technical, lots of focus and accelerations. I took the holeshot, and went hard early. The first two laps I had one rider with me, we had ~10sec gap, by the end of lap two, I was alone, with the chase group behind. They would max out at 5 riders, and never more than 15 seconds away. By midway things were really clicking, and with 3 laps to go I was feeling like a win was very doable. Two to go, one of the chasing riders would bridge up, and I started to doubt. Then as with most of the race I was putting time in on the incline sections so pushed hard on the quick ups at the end of lap two, and then really pushed the incline on the final lap, putting the distance back to about 10 seconds. For the final lap all I could think of was push, don't mess up, and don't go home without winning! A solid race, and very nice to leave Quebec with a win! After a slow start and some poor results, it was certainly redemption!

Another long drive home, quick clean up, and up early the next morning to pack up the family for a Eastern Ontario series race in Cornwall. Doubles are tough, even harder in non-same town, and ridiculous hard with a 2pm start followed by and 11am start. I prefer a ~24 hour time gap.. The previous day's effort was felt for sure. Weather was nice though, 8deg and sunny. A good hard course, fast and turny, I felt good but not up to the previous day. A solid race non-the-less. 5th master. Happy.

Next week is nationals, I'm skipping for family stuff, so likely some training days, and then back at it for the rest of Nov! Next time I'll try to be more thorough, and less catch up.

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!