This past Sunday a number of MG riders took part in Paris Ancaster and it was one of the most epic days I've ever had on a bike!!
While the race was held on a Sunday the conditions were actually influenced by the weather on the Saturday leading up to it. It poured rain all day Saturday which of course created a muddy mess for race day, The drive to Paris on Sunday morning looked promising with cool temps, a strong wind but clear skies. By the time we arrived at the start line the corral for wave 1 was already filling up and a number of us made the decision to skip the warm up and head straight for the start corral - BIG MISTAKE!! After waiting for 20 minutes the gun finally went off and wave 1 was underway. The pace right from the gun was full throttle, leaving my cold legs to scream for oxygen as the lactic acid flooded to my quads, 100's of riders fight for position in an attempt to make it to the front groups, its an amazing adrenaline rush as the race heats up. At the 20 km mark the course leads you to a steep mud hill that forces most riders off their mounts. The run up the hill is pure torture, your legs feel like lead and trying to keep your heart rate in control is impossible - once you get your body under control you've then got another 40 km's The course takes you over every possible terrain, single track, rail bed, paved highways, farmers fields, even mud slides and after 60 kilometers of grueling wind, sleet, rain and snow you arrive in Ancaster completely wasted but feeling so good for having ridden as hard as you possibly can. personally I learned a lot about racing in this race, you've gotta fight for the front, you've got to be ready to go from the gun, there's no settling into a tempo like you do on a group ride, you've got to be aggressive and move up instead of moving back, as soon as you move back you get dropped, I also learned that you can't count on others to pull you along, they would rather ride you off their wheel!!! I also learned that I have a lot more to learn about bike racing!!!! For me racing isn't so much about winning - I'm no where near the front, for me racing has more to do with challenging myself and never giving up (although believe me there were many times when I wanted to turn around, pack it in and get myself warmed up!!) its about digging as deep as I can for as long as I can and seeing what happens when I do. it was awesome to see so many MG riders out there, we had some amazing results, some tough luck and yet all of us made it to the finish line with a huge smile on our faces. I'm proud of all you guys!! This is what cycling is all about - its about pushing yourself, digging as deep as you can and making it to the finish line!!!! Special mentions go to Shannon, Tim, Derrek, Kevin, Graham, Corey, Dave, David, Edmond, Kim, Scott, Mark, Fraser, Robin, Marie and I'm sure I'm missing others on an amazing race, you all represented MGridetoronto very very well - proud of all of you for your results!!! 4/19/2011 03:01:29 pm
great to see some familiar faces out there.
Fras
4/19/2011 03:13:07 pm
Well said Ferron - that was indeed just a killer of a race - 2 take aways for me were a warm up, a proper warm up, a good 30 mins warm up is just crucial and you can never be too aggressive - I was shocked at how aggressive everybody was during those first 20 mins and shocked at how everybody acted around me when I became the aggressor - you could make gaps open up when you needed to when you were the aggressor - that first 20 mins the only thought in my head was that 'this pace cannot continue like this' but it did, for the whole race. It truly was mental warfare out there, especially into the head wind, and when we cross that farmers field with the cross wind, OH MY GOD - I was lost for answers as my legs definitely did not have any - when Corey Tkachuk road up beside me in that farmers field we just laughed at each other and my first thought was to use Corey as a windscreen - sorry Corey, but you did pull up beside me on the windward side. Anyways, for next year, after looking at Tim Marshall's Garmin info, the first half of the race is a straight elevation gain while the second half is relatively flat where you can open it up (especially with the tail wind) - unfortunately for me, due to a big mechanical, I was a big MOFO DNF so was not able to see the powerline mud slide nor the final killer ascent to the finish - better luck next year I told myself as I hitched a ride to the finish area crammed into the cargo hold of a Nissan Pathfinder.
Robyn
4/19/2011 04:16:12 pm
What a test!!! This was my first bike race ever. I started in Wave 3 and played it safe, but that didn't matter b/c the weather had a lot of tricks up its sleeve and managed to get me out of my comfort zone many, many times. Dave Newall and I shared the trails a few times as well as a few expletives/laughs over the challenges the race presented. I rode it on a MTB, and Dave blew by me as I couldn't get the MTB to go any faster, I had it in the lowest gear spinning away, but was wishing I had a few more so I could use that tailwind. I wished him luck and off he went. Anyway, after battling through thorn bushes, sleet, snow, rain, mud facials from the backsplash of other riders, getting body checked on the mud slide (people I had worked so hard to pass, passed me on the mud slides...need to improve my mud walking skills), burning more calories from shivering from the cold than riding the race, my greatest triumph was getting up that final hill without walking it (thanks MG ride). YES!!! It was great to see so many MG riders sharing the suffering and smiling about it afterwards. I'll be back next year for more, it was just too much fun. Comments are closed.
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