Centurion- U23 Prospects Challenge

It's been a while since I lasted posted up. In that time I scored 3rd at the u23 provincial time trial championships. I lost my brothers garmin edge 810 there so I was too upset to write anything. On that note if you were there and found it or know someone that found it that would be great if it could be returned! That should be enough karma points to buy you out of 5 race day flats and/or 3 crashes...

So this past weekend I competed in my first stage race at Blue Mountains, Centurion. While it seemed a bit disorganized at times everything fell into place before the races started and it turned out to be an awesome event! It started with a hill climb on Friday up the glorious Scenic Caves road (the hill itself is about 2.5km with about 10% avg). On Saturday evening there was a crit held through Blue Mountain Village. It was a technical course with a combination of brick and paved sections and lots of spectators to give you a boost. Finally the race ended on Sunday morning with an 85km race through the surrounding hilly area.

So the main theme I took away from this weekend is: warm up, warm up warm up! Friday I had a sufficient warm up but then we had our start delayed 20mins. In that time I had to do a jersey and number switch and my legs cooled down. It was a mass start event and everyone took off like a rocket from the line. I hung on until around the round-about then was the first one to fall off the back. My legs just weren't ready. I found my rhythm and was able to catch a few guys and make up some time. Finished 24th, losing about 1.5mins. Ben Perry posted a crazy time to take the stage here and overall on the GC and KOM jersey.

Again the warm up was the problem. We were suppose to have a neutral lap to start but the pace car got too excited. I looked down to see we were hitting 50km/h. Needless to say again my legs weren't happy and said no. I was off the back before the end of the lap (being at the back didn't help either). I ended up riding with some Centurion development kids and we were able to hold our own for the minimum 50% of the race which is when we got pulled. We got a prorated time to stay in the stage race. Ended up losing about 6mins here. Perry crashed with a few laps to go and a small but strong break got away. When he was allowed back in he was behind the break and couldn't catch up. Ryan Aitcheson took the win this day and took over the GC. Post race I had spectators coming up to ask me questions about the race. It was awesome that people were interested and made me feel like I was a pro even though my race didn't go as planned.

Sunday was my redemption day. We were to do the C50 course that featured three tough climbs and lots of rolling hills. This time we had a proper neutral start and I was able to hang in there. Two riders were popped off the back on the first climb, and a break formed somewhere around there. I was happy to sit in still as it was so early in the race and I knew a lot of these riders have more power than I do. A couple riders experienced flats on the way to Epping climb. During this section Dal-Cin took himself out of the race. I made my way towards the front and took a few pulls to help out Team Ontario, who were doing all of the work. As we hit the climb I fell back into the group and stayed in there for a while. Ben Perry was solo off the front and Team Ontario were just letting him sit there. Once we got to Grey Road 19 we were all together. The descent was very fast with speeds getting close to 90km/h. Everyone was trying to move up and get into a better position as the finish line was rapidly approaching. Once we turned the corner the race vehicle said we had the full road after the round about. There were pylons at the left turn off of Grey 19 and I got caught on the wrong side of them. Had to slow down, swerve through them and then try and chase back on. I was able to catch them by the round about but used up too much unnecessary energy. The field saw a few more riders get hung up on another pylon situation after the round about which was used to direct cars for parking. I gave it a kick from my bad position to take 13th on the day and moving up a few spots in the GC to 24th. Ryan secured the overall GC and points jersey with a second victory today. Perry took home the KOM jersey. The team Ontario boys were noticeably exhausted from a 90km team time trial they just did.

Overall this was a great event and hope to see it again next year. It was a great feeling to get to ride with so many young riders, all of them super strong with big futures ahead of them. It also gives yourself a chance to compare to the level others are at. Someone like Graydon Staples is in crazy shape for being only 13, and he has an incredible future ahead of him if he sticks to the sport.

This puts an end to my road racing season for the year. Im now taking a few weeks off to just have some fun back on the mountain bike and hit up the remaining University Cup mountain bike races for fun. I'll post up again soon!

Results: here