I have Tour De King next weekend, and its looking to be my last race of the season. I’m starting to feel some burnout on my bike and kinda wanna get back to training. I’m actually really looking forward to losing another 35lbs, strengthening my core up, and training for specific parts of my racing that I view as weak.
Tour de King for me will be fun. I’m starting in Wave 2, I’m not sure if I’m going to try to hammer out the 55km, but we’ll see, never know. It is the last race of the season. It also depends how well I recover from this past weekend.
With that:
RACERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREPORT!
Bill showed up around 6:30ish and we loaded my gear into his truck and fired up to Hardwood. Right around Barrie area I realized I left my helmet and shoes in the garage. Full panic mode as I call Hardwood hoping they have a set of shoes in my size. Lo and behold 1 pair left. I also get a free helmet rental out of the deal. Crisis averted. I did remember to throw my halfie gloves in my bag. So at least I had that going for me.
So a bit embarrassed in my morning brain fart, we got to Hardwood, parked, and realized we had saddled up right next to Rob and his team. So we went over, and bummed some shade from the DMBA tent and riders while offering up some tools and a trainer in trade.
We also had parked next to GarageMonster of MTBR fame. He offered his condolences on the tag team pain we were about to embark on. You can’t miss that Orange Misfit.
Bill had to hit up the first lap as I had to recleat my shoes and set them properly. Of which I did on my first try. Thank god. In my race to get ready I didn’t realize I had ridden in my shorts till around 4km into my first lap.
Ahh well.
So I get on the trainer, warm up a bit, head down, and get the chip from Bill and I’m off.
The first KM or 2 is just one climb. Its gradual and uphill, a bit soft so you’re fighting that, but then you get into a pretty steep climb to finish it off. Then once you’re done that, the singletrack begins…. And so do the roots.
Its just small hills, corners, twists, turns, punch a climb, take a turn, punch a climb, ramp down, ramp up. Typical singletrack. There was a bridge at the beginning I remember going over. It wasn’t small by any means, but it was slick, so I was worried about it if it did decide to rain *which it didn’t, it just got warmer and sunnier as the day went on*. Couple of cheat lines here and there. I tried the A-Frame once, I didn’t after, as the ensuing carnage that happened wasn’t great. I went down, but not really hard, but enough to not want to tempt it again.
Mind you, not really 100% my fault, but I’m not going to blame anyone else. There was a rider in front of me that slammed on the brakes just as they were going down the other side causing me to have to stop mid A-Frame or end up freight training them into next year. Its not really their fault, I was following them well inside my emergency braking distance so yeah… ffuuu.
Anyway back on the bike, and I get caught behind what I guess was a roadie. *Remember, right now there is nothing to report other then regular singletrack… with a shitload of roots*
In the singletrack I’m on him like white on rice. He’s a pretty scrawny guy on a pretty expensive bike. I figure he may be spooked or something from a crash earlier, so I figure I’ll just go around on doubletrack. Not so much. Soon as we hit doubletrack its game over, he hits his big ring and I’m spinning out to try to pass.
I ask to go around before the next singletrack, completely ignored. We get into what could possibly be the slowest singletrack session ever. I see my chance… it’s a wooden skinny that I’m not too sure of but I take it anyway. FINALLY AROUND HIM, jesus.
Till he finds me on another long piece of doubletrack. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU.. again he’s in before me.
We get to a hill with green mesh on it and I keep with him on the climb, around a corner, and into a switchback, he slows down, and then I get dropped because I have no momentum into the next hill. I have to dismount and cross run my bike up the hill with what I guess is snowmobile track for traction.
I catch him again in the singletrack. He dismounts around a 180’ turn to walk it. At this point I go by him. I never saw him again as there wasn’t any more double track to hammer down on. I have no idea who you are, but for the love of god while its fun to hammer doubletrack, if you can’t ride singletrack well yet, just let someone by if they’re on you. While it is a race, some common courtesy is appreciated. I do it for others.
The most fun actually was the (Sprockids?) single track at the very end. It was a nice refreshing and simple flow to a track that beat you senseless with roots for 9KM. So it was nice to feel fast for a bit. You could flow through it, and hit the last part of the course to the timing tent at a really good clip.
Future laps were all pretty much the same with about 2 minutes added to each lap as I got fatigued. Though nothing exciting on those laps other then the last bit of singletrack getting more and more welcomed and fun as I got tired.
Highlights:
- Feeling really really strong for this race.
- A really strange tire washout around a fast corner…. That suddenly hooked up and righted the bike at the last moment. I thought I was going to eat it pretty hard.
- Cranked out those hills really well.
- Hydration
Lowlights:
- Shouldering a tree pretty hard on a bad corner.
- Strange cramps in the middle of my back right around my rib cage. Not enjoyable at all.
- Headache about 7hours in. Shoulda gotten into the shade more I think.
- Lots of Ambulance action. *Update* The girl that got lead out apparently is okay, just a sprained neck and nothing more. That’s so good to hear.
Overall it was a good day of racing and really showcased how far I came even from earlier this summer. With my best time from Mansfield being my worst time at Hardwood, and not losing any weight over the summer, I really think that a winter of really focused training will bring me up a level or 2 in my ability and riding.
I’m in no way even close to elite level riders by any stretch of the imagination, but I have become a respectable team based rider with times that boarder average and competitive.
Hopefully next year I can shred off another 10 or so minutes.
Tour de King next, then a wrapup post next week. Then just mindless updates with training till the next Paris to Ancaster.
Ugh... day 2 of recovery.... why are my legs still sore?
