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| Alright, we'll call it a draw. |
Paris To Ancaster this year was an interesting day. Here's the Garmin Data:
P2A DERP
Anyway, RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRACEREPORT
I met Bill in the parking lot around 8:30 or so in Paris and got registered and threw our plates on the bikes. We loaded up all of our equipment and set off.
First thing:
P2A's logistics are kinda messed up, so you go register where you finish and start in another area you need to drive to, then ride back to the finish then drive back to the start where you pick up your gear then drive to the finish to celebrate with people who were smart enough not to race this monster in the first place...... got it? Alright then.
Anyway, in my infinite wisdom, I pack all my gear into Bills truck.... which means I packed my clothes I was hoping to have at the end of the race, and brought them to the start. Where they would uselessly be waiting nowhere near where I was finishing. Bravo Miro. *Golf Clap*
As we're driving we discuss our riding plan and I try to remember really shiatty parts of last year's ride and try to warn Bill about what to expect during those moments.
These are what came to mind from last year:
- The first gravel climb.
- The brutal tarpit single track sections, where the mud is like soup and its like riding through glue.
- The ditch. Don't try to ride it. Hike a bike and be done.
- The soul sucking field. 1KM of 4" heavy mud.
- The mud chutes.
- Martin Hill
We unpack and get ready to rock and it starts to rain. Just a bit at first almost kinda enjoyable. Eventually it got so bad that it forced us back into the truck to wait the sudden deluge out. At this point I realize that its going to be a rain jacket ride. Rain stops, and we head out to warm up a bit and to find Mike who was racing with us. During warmup I guess we lost track of time as while we were heading back to line up apperantly Wave 1 was unleashed.
I got to experience what a massive start of furious riders is like. Its loud and pretty intense. Very cool if you're ever looking to experience the kind of thundering power that humans in mass quantity can produce.
After they passed by, we hurried down to the start and jammed up into the front of Wave 3 by sneaking in near a gate.
Wave 2 leaves and we line up. We wait... and we count down. During this time we discussed how we'd lead out. We figured we'd hit up the right hand side of the road right away and grind up letting faster people by. We both decided it was a good idea. What we didn't know was that this was going to be the best start of a race we've both ever had.
You can watch us take off here. I'm the monster in the front row. Bill is the guy that takes off right away.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USZLUrSsLkc
Bill bolts right away. Thinking he was going to grind the hill out, I wasn't expecting his crazy jump so I spin out and gear up to get beside him. I yell out that I'm with him up the hill and we push the pace right away leaving the congestion far behind, and forming our first group into the gravel.
During the first part of the gravel run, I started passing people. Not really out of necessity, as having a draft woulda been great, but rather because I was eating mud spray directly into my face if I tried to hold anyone's wheel. One guy I passed I said "oh man I can't handle that spray!". He promptly tells me to stop drafting him. Kinda what I was doing with the pass there, but hey don't let reality bother you too much there big dog.
As I was pushing my pace I started to think about burning myself out and not being able to keep this up. Bill and I are motoring at a really solid pace and my Garmin was obscured because of the mud starting to cake on it already, so I had no idea how fast I was going, other then I was in a bigger gear then normal and my legs felt really good. I left the Garmin alone till I heard a pace beep, which I was using as an indicator to drink. *Every 5km the Garmin tells me how much time it took me, I really like this feature for reminders.* I tried wiping off the screen to see what was going on didn't realize I had held 29km/h to start for over 10km, I had actually missed the first 5km beep.. a welcome surprise, but somewhat worrying.
At this point I'm also worried I'm going to ingest enough mud to fill a sandbox every time I get near someone, so the only option is to..... ATTACK.
The first Gravel hill climb was super soft. The first guy turned into the hill and his front tire got sucked in causing him to dismount. I somewhat anticipated this happening so I dismounted right away and started running up the hill with my bike. Bill and I were still together at this point so we just ran around people till we got to a spot we could re mount and continue up the hill. Mission accomplished and we're back up and running.
Through some gravel road at speed where I can and we turn into the first part of why everyone loves to hate P2A.
The singletrack is muddy and at this point people are already off the bike and walking. I'm still pushing what I can through the singletrack trying to avoid getting dismounted, or walking any hills. I have to pick my path properly. Though I did cause some lulz when I hit a small patch of solid ground and said "yay solid ground" somewhat sarcastically under my breath. People are walking, I'm still grinding and riding. I'm pushing a massive heart rate at this point, but I actually feel really good. Breathing is solid, legs are warm and awake but not complaining at all. Bill and I make it through till the hills start.
Dismounted. You can't ride them, the congestion is terrible. On the otherhand.... we're now into the green plates.... or Wave 2 riders, and we're both running around people up the hills to get up there asap.
I get out onto Howell Road, and I'm under pace, so I decide to push. I max out at about 44km/h here trying to get my pace back up. Successful push is sucessful, and I ended up passsing a lot of riders here. Then into the singletrack part 2.
Once I get out of the second section of single track its honestly just grind grind grind. I won't bore you with the grind, but here's some highlights.
- I lost Bill once we got onto the road after the second part of singletrackhell, he slowly crept into a faster group and went with them. No problem, we're racing our own races, so I wish him luck and carry on.
- Some guy telling me to "go eff myself". I'm not sure what caused it, but I passed him fairly quickly so he musta thought I was a wheel sucker. That sucks to have 2 people be dicks to you for no real reason. If you're not happy riding in this, there are marshals everywhere for you to quit.
- Pushing hard through mud, just absolute 100% freight training through it.While not as fast as some guys, I am faster then last year by a truckload.
- Passing through the aid station screaming for a Banana. The guy beside me wasn't able to grab one, so I offered him half. He noticed I was riding for Evo and asked me about Tristan and where he was. I joked that he was probably done already. Many luls.
- Yelling "WHAT UP HORSES" when I was all alone passing the horses in the field. The grind will get to when its not scenic or when you're suffering a bit, they seemed interested in what I was doing so why not.
- The soul sucking field wasn't so soul sucking.... the gravel driveway though... was. I'm not sure if they put down fresh gravel for everyone to ride over just for the lulz, or if was just coincidence. I'm going with lulz as there was a fairly large group of people watching.
- Getting stopped at the top of a hill due to a massive crash at the bottom. We had to wait to get all the bikes and bodies off the road.
What got me at this point was that for the duration of the 30-40km after the initial hard push, I felt.... in control and powerful. My body didn't reject the pace I was at. I also didn't reject pushing past people, or standing and cranking through more higher wattage situations. There were no cramps, I drank well, and where I knew I could, I would push hard and try to keep the pace of 24km/h..... and it was working.
We got to the Powerline Mudchutes
At 53KM is where the race blew up for me.
Half way down a mud chute I'm keeping my balance and letting my bike wander through the mud finding its own natural path.... and WHAM. Or rather, more like crunch, then a sharp pain in my calf.
I steady myself through what I thought was going to be an epic bail as I lurch forward.. slam the brakes and stop to check out what I thought was my deformed wheel. What I see is my derailleur hanging by its cable, and a downed rider. He looks young but I'm not sure he's covered in mud. He looks at me, looks at my bike, picks his up, and continues to careen down the hill.... no sorry, no nothing.
After some choice words and reminding myself that assaulting people is not bright, I start trudging down the rest of the way, thinking I can get through this, I got my tools on me.
I get out of the mud chute and examine the damage. Broken derailleur, but everything else is fine. The rear wheel is warped a bit, but workable, and my calf is throbbing where he hit me, but its just a small scrape so nothing to write home about.
I figure its time to break a chain and rock Martin Hill single speed style.
Chain breaker... check.. chain still good, check... powerlink...... powerlink.... ...... you're serious? I forgot it? FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU no SS finish for me.
RAGEMODEENGAGE
At this point I'm angry, and 7km out. I debate finding a marshal for about 5 seconds. I realize my legs aren't sore, and I know I can run. So I run.
For 7k.... with a bike on my shoulder. I did jump on the bike and coast down hills where I could. This probably saved me some time here, but I knew my chances of being better then last year were now slim to none as I watched my average speed slowly slink down to 18.2 as the blisters started to form.
I got to Martin Hill and trudged up slowly, stopping to take my cleats off half way so they'd stop rubbing on my heels. My hamstrings started to burn pretty badly at this point. Though there were many people who were cheering me up the hill, telling me that finishing with a mechanical was awesome. I jumped on my bike at the end to coast, and someone ran out and pushed me over the line. So thanks for that. I appreciated it whoever you are.
But I finished that sumbitch Terminator style. DNF really wasn't an option for me at all after putting in that kind of effort.... so I figure this quote was apt:
That Miro is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until this P2A is finished.
Overall... I'd give the race and performance a 7/10. I was on pace for a 3rd place clyde finish with an average speed of 23.9km/h when I was hit. This is actually almost 5km/h faster then my pace last year. Even with a 7k run, I beat my time from last year as well. I actually had a lot of fun and look forward to sorting out my beef with this race in 2013.
On the Agenda:
Repair my CX bike..... this sucks, as its my go to trainer, and while I love my SS, I get better punishment through videos then I do when I head out on my SS.
April 28th is the learn to race clinic in Mansfield. So a day on the bike in Mansfield. I'm going with Mike as it'll be his intro to racing in the bush. Mostly I'm going for the enjoyment and to get a bit of a read on the Mansfield course for the 8H.
May 26th is Mansfield 8. 4 man team... of 3 guys.
I'll jump out on a ride tonight just to get the legs working and such after I bring the CX bike in for repairs. Hopefully I can get the cross bike back before the weekend so I can do a Saturday / Sunday grind fest, and start back in on the Sufferfest videos as soon as possible in prep for Mansfield.
I'm closing in on my goal weight for CTS. Hopefully I hit it before the 24H in June so I can shift focus to training for power.
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