2 shades of grey

Saturday was the last ontario cup race of the season and I was hoping to get enough points to move me into first place. This race was held on the roads surrounding horseshoe valley resort, north of barrie. The weather was pretty wet so I was stuck using my training wheels because they had more traction on the wet, slippery roads. The course was a good one with lots of rollers (next to no flat sections), although it didnt seem like an ideal setup for people to watch, due the the loops and finish line being a few km away from the resort (and parking).

I started the race knowing who I needed to beat. I started at the front and kept a good position for the first lap. Three guys tried a break away that lasted about 5 mins before they threw in the towel. The second lap things started to pick up and I found myself sliding back in the group. At the end of the second lap I was at the very back and knew I had to get lucky to get back to the front as the group was riding the width of the lane making it tough to move up.

I had to strategize and move up where I could. On the up hills I attacked harder, and sprinted out of the corners faster to slowly creep my way up to the peloton. These were the only times gaps would form. On the stretch before the turn onto the finish leg I found myself near the front and made sure I held my position. Two CHCH guys were doing the work, but they were masters riders so it worked for me.

As I turned onto the finish leg three guys went for it again. I saw the sign saying 5km to go. I knew they tired themselves out earlier and this pack looked hungry so they werent staying away. We turned a corner onto 3rd line which went uphill. We caught the guys here and they fell back. I did everything I could to stay near the front. It was hard for me to see (the rain got to my glasses and i couldnt see clearly). This made it very difficult to judge when to start sprinting. I waited for someone else to start it. As I started sprinting I noticed they guy I wanted to beat to move up in the points standings and we were neck and neck. I used everything to get a few inches ahead. I thought I took the win. I was so focused on beating this rider that I didnt pay attention to the guy beside me who probably beat me by an inch. The closest finish I have ever seen. The top four elite four guys all within a wheel length!

I was still happy with second place, it was the best ocup race result I have ever had! (not including the time trial) I was happy with my pack riding skills this time, im really starting to figure it out I think. What I need to work on is practicing the 'lunge' at the end of my sprints. If I did this I probably could have won. Hopefully this result will be enough for the OCA to upgrade me to elite 3!

On sunday my girlfriend Lise raced her last ontario triathlon in niagara. She did amazing coming in second place in her age group. She pulled her best placings in this race and showed huge improvements on the swim.

For some data:
garmin: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/209895180
results: http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pages/results/20120812-142812-wbresults.htm
final ocup standings: http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pages/results/20120812-024233-Ontario%20Cup%20Road%20Standings%202012.pdf

Sorry no pics in this post, stay tuned for a pictures page where I will post a few pics from each race (if I have them).

It was over before it began...

Today was the Tour de Terra Cotta. The weather was beautiful and the course was awesome. Completely closed with no yellow line rule. During the weekend I was having problems with a tendon on the back of my knee and was hoping that it wouldnt hurt me today.

We got there early for my girlfriend to race the 26km race. She was terrified to do a road race but did terrific! For not having much big group riding practice she held her own and finished 3rd overall for the women in the race.

My race started with a 3km neutral start which ended just after the first hill. I never knew the race could be won in the neutral start! You would almost think it the way people were crazily jockeying for positions. Not wanting to get into trouble I found myself sliding back. Right near the end of the 3km there was a nasty pile up, and I got stuck behind it! There was a group of around 20 of us that were now 30secs or more off the pack.

Out of this group of 20 only about 5 of us were willing to work to get back into the race. The group sucked at taking turns, with no one wanting to push before the hill. I would signal that I was done and needed a switch and no one would take my spot so Id have to let up because I had nothing left and once the speed dropped about 10kph someone would take over. Due to this we were never able to catch up.

Throughout the race the pack was dropping people and picking people up. Towards the end we even dropped greg paupst who did a lot of work in the pack early on and didnt have enough. Fellow HCC rider Sarah Rasmussen fell back to our group for a bit, she just didnt havent have enough to stay on to the group till the end due to her hard riding at provincial track cycling.

For the last lap I was planning on getting some work on setting myself up for a good sprint. On the third stretch a reckless mattamy homes/racer sportif rider made a move cutting me off. I made the decision it wasnt worth crashing in this race , we were only fighting for 70th position. Took it easy until the end to roll into 90th position out of 172.

Tactically I should have been in the front of the pack to start and throughout the race to avoid problems. I liked how I tried to take control, although it didnt work. Im definitely getting stronger and I was glad that I made it the whole race. With an avg speed the same as my other races but with 40km extra tacked on, I was glad I had enough conditioning to make it.

Next up for me is the WOB ocup race next weekend. With a good result I could take over 1st place in the ocup standings!