BC Provincials RR

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Nick
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Joined:Thu Mar 16, 2017 8:47 am
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BC Provincials RR

Post by Nick » Mon May 29, 2017 5:29 pm

The Cat 1/2 squad of Jackson, Duncan, ARuss and myself made the journey over to the mainland for some championship racing. It was a race where being alert, and staying on top of hydration ended up being the keys. Those donning black spandex resembled black asphalt after a spring thaw - salt stains everywhere. It was a hot, sticky and salty event out there. A long 140km.

Our plan before the start was to mark moves and make sure we had at least one guy in the break if there was something that got away. Unfortunately Jackson had some poor luck shortly after the neutral car pulled away, hitting the ever-so-quickly disappearing edge of the road, and going down in a disgusting explosion of woven carbon. Jackson suffered a broken front wheel, and I believe a broken finger (maybe torn ligament? - time will tell).

The laps were long, rolly 20km loops and after the first 3 laps (40km), I had already guzzled my two bottles + the feed from Jackson's dad. Lapping through for the end of lap 3 what was on my mind (and probably most people's minds), was to get more fluids. Luckily there was a neutral feed. What most of us didn't notice through the midst of finding a bottle was that 5 guys surged away into what would become the winning break. With all of the major teams represented, the gap got large quick. Duncan wasn't able to get a bottle and was forced to abandon the race, leaving ARuss and I in the peloton with few weapons to employ.

The plan from there out was to go with the undiscussed plan B - survive and get the highest result possible (and keep the thirst quenched). The pace chilled out a bit and we rolled steady for the bulk of the race. With 15km to go ARuss told me to stay on his wheel from there on out. The last 1.5km was the cruellest part of each lap with a bumpy chip seal road and the steepest climb of the day. ARuss dug deep to get me to the front of the group but ended up fading. I tried to keep the pedals turning and picked off as many riders as I could, ultimately settling for 15th, with ARuss crossing not much after in 27th.

It was a real test of mental fortitude and a learning experience to always be on the lookout for the big move.

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