This was my first time attempting a proper road race, and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The race weekend included a time trial on saturday morning, a criterium ( not available to the entry senior 4 (S4) mens or other entry categories), and a road stage on sunday morning.
Time Trial
I showed up to this race weekend without any taper, as I expected to train through in preparation for Peterborough half IM, so didn’t know what to expect. I had been up until midnight with my newborn son, and then was in the car by 5AM to arrive in Prince Edward County in time for registration. After a short warm up, I knew my legs were not going to co-operate with me, so I was just relying on a great aerodynamic setup on my tri bike, and the help of my Zipp aero wheel and disk to give me a slight edge against some of the other novices. The course was more or less a straight out and back for 20KM with very little slope. The first 10km was into the wind.
But before I can get off, it over to the measurement area to get my bike approval to race. Many of you may have seen this stuff in the tour, or from watching ‘The Flying Scotsman’. Well, I feel like I was Grahame Obree that day. As I entered the measurement station, I was expecting the bike to be checked for safety, with possibly a visual inspection for the 3 to 1 dimension rule. But the only measurements that were done, were to ensure that the front of the saddle was5cm behind the centre of the bottom bracket spindle, and that the aero bars extended no more than 15cm past the front wheel hub axis. I ride a 2007 Specialized transition. The bike failed!!! I was told that the saddle was too far forward, and the aero bars extended too far forward. i was surprised since the saddle was in a neutral position on the bike, and my aero bars pulled way back. So there I was minutes before my race adjusting the saddle back as far as it would adjust and pushing aero bars back so that I just made it within the regulations. Word of warning to any triathletes making the switch, your tri bike will probably have difficulty meeting the UCI regulations. Interestingly enough, anyone using a regular road bike with aero bars attached, they only asked that the bars were below your saddle (thus allowing a dangerous geometry and position for the rider).
Ok, so now it’s time to race. Into the wind for 10km, my plan was to pace until the half way, and blast with the wind on the return. However when I hit the turn around point, it didn’t feel the like the wind was at my back. The combination of tired legs, and the discomfort of this new position I was forced to be put into however made me feel like I was empty. To make matters worse, I was the first rider off on the 20km route, so I had no reference against other riders as to how I was doing. When I hit 14 kilometers, I knew my pace had been well below what I was hoping to achieve, so I gather some strength together, and with the help of my disk wheel and position, managed to bring in the last 5.? KM at a speed of 50+km/h. I at least felt somewhat happy with this effort as I blew past the finish at 53km/h, and a total average speed of 38.7km/h for the course. I had finished in second in the S4 group, so was fairly happy with that.
Road race
After a decent rest on Saturday night in Picton, I felt somewhat refreshed and ready to put in an effort, particularly since i was disappointed in my time from the previous day.
The road race was 4 laps of a 16km loop through Milford for a total of 64km, with some fantastic down and up hills. The S4 andM3 groups went off together, which gave a total of about 40 riders in my heat. In the first lap everyone was testing the waters. The pace would suddenly increase, and then drop back down. It was a bit of a cat and mouse game. On the back stretch 2 riders decided to take a break, but the pack reeled them in within a couple of kilometers. I came around on the comepletion of the first lap noting the significant landmarks and deciding where I would attack at the final lap, as I knew it would come down to a sprint.
Midway through lap 2 a group of 7 riders broke off the front, and I decided to go with them in case the rest of the pack couldn’t’t keep pace. Sure enough after about a half lap the main peloton caught us. So now into the third lap, we went around and made a large decent into a valley yet again. 73.4km/h. This was the first time I really remarked at the speed we were going, and how devastating a flat would be for the whole pack. Going into the largest hill on the loop, 2 more riders broke away. No one followed, we knew they would be swallowed by the pack, and sure enough, after a few kilometers they fell back and ran out of gas. The wind was quite strong that day, and the strength of the peloton was unquestionable.
Going into the 4th lap, I could see everyone pick it up a notch, and the tension grew as everyone prepared for the final effort. Until this point I wasn’t too worried with my position within the pack. For most of the course, it was difficult to move up since the yellow line rule meant disqualification for anyone that went over the middle dividing line in the road. As we approached the last 1/4 of the lap, I knew there was a spot at a corner where if I cut close and then sprinted out of the turn, I could jump up several meters in the peloton. Sure enough, I was able to get almost at the font with this manoeuvre. The pack started to thin at the font as one or two riders picked up the pace. One rider decided to start his sprint with about 3km to go….too early. We passed him as he ran out of fuel. Now i was edged just behind the lead rider off the the right side, adn I knew the last km was approaching. Suddenly, I was at the front, and I knew it was getting close. I felt strong, and decided to start my final sprint. Wow, I wasn’t expecting such a strong wind, and suddenly realised I didn’t have as much in the tank as I had hoped. Still at the font though, we had one last turn, and then up a hill to the last 50 yards before the line. Some riders caught me at the corner, but I cut close, and accelerated out of the turn with a blast up the hill. Still holding the font line at the top of the hill. Man I may actually take this, I’m thinking. A last bit of effort to get me over the finish, but by then several other riders had caught me and a group of 5 of us crossed the line within a 2 yard gap. I had finished 3rd in the S4. A good effort I thought though. We finished the course at an average speed of 38.1km/h.
All in all, I thought this was a fantastic race weekend for someone wanting to try it out. Had I been a full OCA registered rider, I would have earned 7 points from the weekend, and 10 are required to bring you to the next category. The county also had some nice scenery, and an enjoyable weekend could be done there.
You can check out race details from the following website (midweekcycling club hosts the event):
