Steaming Nostril: Cold, Wind and Ice

This was the first race for many people this year. Temperature was right around -8 and down to -16 with wind chill. I am pretty sure everyone there had heat packs jammed in their gloves and shoes at the start line. You would basically be crazy not to!

The big fear for everyone that did last year’s edition was the rail trail. This year they shortened it up, and graded it before the race. Due to the cold weather it was frozen and hard, which made it much easier to ride than last year.  The course itself started with 1km of neutral to get everyone out of the park, then around 1km on the roads to get position before the 6km rail trail section (this turned out to be the most important part of the race). Following this is about 60km of mainly rolling gravel roads, with little wind coverage. You are also treated with getting to ride past several horse and buggies during the ride. Then it is back on to the rail trail with whatever group you have left around you, and finally a final 1km or so until the finish. This year they threw in a fancy path just before the end through a park that would definitely have made a group finish interesting. 

When the race started I felt good, and moved up the pack a bit to what I thought was a good spot. I judged this by looking around me and seeing some strong riders, assuming this front section of the group would stick together on the rail trail. I couldn’t have been more wrong. While the rail trail was hard pack in certain spots, some spots were loose and snowy, making it very hard to pass. I spent this section red lined, trying to make up some ground to reunite with the lead pack, and get around those that were having more troubles with the snow and ice.

My efforts were in vain, as I emerged from the rail trail and caught up with a Novo-fit rider. He was strong, and we could see the lead pack. We put in a lot of hard work to try and catch them, but we were no match for their numbers. My bottle was frozen by the time I left the rail trail, which sucked because I knew I had two hours now to race with no water. I was able to get a few gulps off of a friendly racer I met before the race at about 20km in, but that was to last me till race end. We kept powering through, picking up and dropping riders. We ended up being caught by a larger group. The three of us at the time were pretty thankful for this because we were torn apart from battling the strong headwind. It was at this point where I started to realize if I didn’t ease up for a bit, I will be limping into the finish line.

During the whole race we had a single speed ‘monster’ pass us on the hills then we would periodically catch him, either because he stopped for some reason, or we had gears to get down hill faster. Needless to say, this guy put in a monster effort and he killed it.

About 5km before the rail trail they had a pit stop. And I was praying for them to be handing water bottles out, as I was definitely dehydrated by this point. There were only bananas (unless you stopped), so I kept going. Shortly after my legs started waving the white flag. Too much work was done at the beginning, and without water or food, I wasn’t able to recover. I lost the group I had been riding with and tried to keep up whatever I could until the rail trail. It got real cold here as all the work I did early on, heated me up making me sweat, and now that I couldn’t sustain that high effort the sweat was evaporating and I started to freeze. At the rail trail, I got a second wind knowing the faster I got through this, the sooner I would be to warm and dry clothes. I was able to pass a few other riders that were also barely hanging onto that group before the finish. I ended up 33^rd overall, and 5^th in the 20-29 age group.

Overall I am happy with my fitness level coming out of this terrible winter. I should have been in that front group, but that was a mistake not moving right to the front before the rail trail. So for next year: positioning is crucial for that first rail trail section. Also find a way to keep one bottle from freezing. I asked Steaming Nostril champion Mr. Rivers what he did, and he put his bottle in one of his back pockets with a heat pack, which kept it from freezing. It might also help filling it with hot water.

Next on the calendar is Tour of Bronte, then Good Friday RR. I will post pictures up when I find some available.

Race Results:here

Garmin data:here

Spring is here!

Well, at least as far as the calendar goes. The weather can't make up its mind and some days feel like spring, and others still feel like we are trapped in this winter. I just keep telling myself: summer is coming, summer is coming...

My race season kicks off this weekend with Steaming Nostril on Sunday. Using it as a good training ride to try and point out my weaknesses. This will get me a few weeks to try and work on them before Good Friday. Fingers crossed that the weather holds up, and the rail trail stays frozen and is easier to ride than last year. If those two things fall into place, this will be a very enjoyable day. If not it will be full of tears and misery. Best bet is that it will be somewhere in the middle, but what else do you expect from a race this early in the season?

I was featured in the local free paper, which is hopefully as a good sign for the season! Of course the picture of me on the bike is from last years edition of Steaming Nostril. Looks like the weather wasn't any better judging from the lack of skin showing.

Check back up Sunday night or early next week for a recap on Steaming Nostril, and maybe some footage if they allow me to mount the GoPro to my bike.