Here's this weeks report.

Cyclepath Oakville Race Team – Report 16

The past weekend saw an MTB O-cup & a stage race out in Gananoque.
Jeff did the O-cup & Brad made the trip with the family to 1000
Islands area.


Jeff said:

“I did the OCup#6 race at Mansfield on Sunday. About 30 minutes into
the race there were some long smooth doubletrack sections where
another guy in my category and I started working together taking
turns pulling to reel in the leaders. I was feeling pretty good as we
were booting along the sandy doubltrack. Then he lead into a sharp
sandy corner and went down while i was right on his tail. I slammed
on my brakes to avoid him and went over the bars in the process. We
both got back up unharmed, and got back on our bikes to continue the
pursuit, but my rear wheel had locked up. Turned out my rear brake
pad had jammed underneath my rim between my spokes, so I reefed on it
to pull it back out, but I pulled the cartridge pad partially out in
the process. So now i had to pull me rear wheel off and remove the
pad and then reinstall it. Put the wheel back on, but the pad was
rubbing. Had to bend back the brake tension spring to centre the
pads, finally the wheel spins freely. Now my glasses are covered in
sweat and i had to borrow a marshall's cotton shirt to attempt to
wipe them clean. After about 10 minutes, i'm on my way... for about
20 metres. Rear derailleur's not shifting right. Hop off and snap the
cable housing that must have come out in the crash back into place
and finally I'm on my way. By this point I'm pretty much dead last
and my riding buddy is at least 10 minutes ahead. Somewhat
discouraged I continue on at a comfortable pace, gaining a little
determination over the next 2 hours to the finish. The course was 2
laps of 24km. The first half of the lap was rolly, fast and smooth,
with a good number of climbs, but the second half was brutal with
steep sandy climbs one after another. At the end of the second lap,
my legs are cramping up in granny gear, but I've regained some
determination and I'm slowly picking off riders. Eventually I roll
through the line after 48km of gruelling sand with a time of 2:43,
relieved that it's over. But it was still a fun race despite the
disappointment. Turns out the guy i was riding with worked his way up
to 5th, 13 minutes ahead. He's the same guy that went down in front
of me in a sandy corner 500m before the finish at the Canada Cup back
in June. Luckily that time I managed to jump over him and continue on
to beat him to the line. Not going to trust him in the corners
anymore. From now on, I lead into the corners... or just keep my
distance.
Next up... UCup#1 at Mansfield this weekend, then Provincials at
Hardwood the next.”

And Brad…

“Shirley, Tatters and I got up early Saturday AM to make the trip to
Gananoque and the MultiLaser Stage race ... at kit pickup I 'signed
out' of the afternoon street sprints as we intended to do the 3 hour
boat cruise of the 1000 Islands in the afternoon...
... the overall GC of the event would be determined by cumulative
time, so winning the RR and Crit earned the winner a 10 second time
bonus, 6 for 2nd, 4 for 3rd, I believe... then it was your finishing
time ... the street sprints offered time bonuses for the top 3, but
not significant ... the big event was the ITT where good TTers would
do serious damage to the less proficient...
... the AM RR... 75kms, fairly flat course, some wind... I ended up
10th in this event and felt OK though not a big contributor to the
race...
... the boat cruise was a little long but we had a good time chatting
and hanging out... don't do enough of that as a family.
... Sunday at 8, the ITT starts... ah yes the TT!!! ... so I put
my 'clip-ons' on Saturday evening (who ever came up with 'clip-on'
had a good joke)... and perfected my TT position in front of the
hotel room mirror... I brought the trainer along to have a controlled
warm up the AM... I even went to the hilarious trouble of taping my
old helmet to cover the air vents - to improve my aerodynamics ... I
couldn't believe it myself ... I figured to go out in the mid 170s
bpm and do the best I could, just something 'decent' ... it's only
8.5 kms ... I can hang on for that... 2nd TT of the season, 1st with
the 'clip-ons' ...
So I get up, warm up, go for a spin on part of the course ... not
happy with the 'clip-ons' but can't figure what is the problem soon
enough... so my turn to go and though I feel my position is
uncomfortable, what are you going to do??... at about halfway,
chugging along I am forced to ride on the hoods as my 'clip-ons' have
been descending to the point where the front tip is getting close to
rubbing the front tire, I can't pull them back up ... hummm?... I saw
the 500m to go sign and the 250m and then saw someone looking
official-like and figured that was it, sat up and soft-pedaled until
I came upon a table at the side of the road with a couple guys behind
a sign that read 'Finish'... hummm??! ... about 100m of soft-
pedaling.... that really helped....
(All this is to soften the blow of the results table for my ITT... I
don't believe I am as bad a rider as indicated... don't get me
started on TTs.)
... so after that humiliation, the family celebrated? by going for
the 'all you can eat' breakfast buffet, then got ready for the
downtown crit.
... it is really a neat course, figure-8 ... and the pace was high
out of the gate ... half the B/C/D group was gone after 2 laps...
though I didn't make anything happen I did hang in with the big dogs
and came in around 10th again... after the morning humiliation I was
happy to get out of town with some semblance of self-respect
restored... we split for TO right after.
Lots more to talk about ... I hope we all catch up with each other
sometime.
Brad”






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