some days U R the Hammer........

some days you are the nail.

Vanier BC Cup 4

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The race went on! There has been a city strike for the past 3 months that had basically stopped any and all cross racing from happening in the city of Vancouver. Not able to get permits for the parks. The organiser of yesterdays race held went ahead and held the race without pemitts or they were one of the few that swung a permit for the managment staff that have been working during the strike. Either way, I was racing 15 minutes from home!!!

Get to the race and manage to get a quick lap in before the B's start. I like the course it is both technical and fast. They did a nice little off camber section and a great sandpit.
I got my friend Brad's bike set up in the pits for him and warmed up while the B's were on the course. I went and watched the end of the B race and Brad get secnd in a 5 man sprint. He rode really well.

Onto the A race. It was a descent sized field of about 40 riders. Maybe a bit more. This pales in comparison to the B's that are more that double that. Anyway, I get the thrid line call up ( based on sign in for me and points for the first 2 rows ) and we basicallyget 30 seconds and the "go!" I get a really good start. We did a bit of a start straight for the start only that took us to the sandpit. I had good position and got to the pit in about mid pack. I knew that it would be a cluster so I knew I would have to dismount and run it the first lap. I actually rode half of it then ran the second half making up lots of spots.

The middle part of my race was good. Nto stellar but good. I was in the top 20 for most of the race. I was struggling riding around a few of the guys. Most of the guys in the A 's are well above average cyclists. Most are really strong. Stronger than me. I was riding with this one guy who was riding really bad. He was really strong but he just kept on trying to pass me back really aggresively every time I passed him in the barrier, in the corners, in the sandpit. He is a big man and he would basically elbow me out of the way. I recognize that I am the new kid in the A's and I am not jumping in finishing top 5, so I try race clean and keep my mouth shut. After he kept doing these wild accelerations I had to tell him to chll and just follow my lines for a lap or 2. Just relax! He either did not hear me or did not care because at the end of the lap he stacked it into the barriers and I never saw him again. I rode in 2 good groups that I wanted to stay in. I did not metre out my efforts well. When someone would hit me in the B's I could close it or close it and counter it. In the A's not so much. I ended up getting bounced out of my 3 man group and they eventually went on to catch the group in front of them and gave themselves a chance for a respecatable result. I ended up being caught and riding out the race with 2 other guys. The group in front of use was about 30 seconds up on us. So close but so far away.
There was a group of about 5 off the front of the race and I had to do some quick math as to when and if I was going to get lapped. It never happened, but had the race gone one more lap it would have. I am not sure where i finished but 30 of 40.
I wanted to go to A because I wanted to improve. It is making me better. I feel it more the night after the race. The harsh reality is that the front of the B race is the back portion of the A race. You start to wonder if it is better to hang out in the B's and win some stuff or suffer in the A's. If I can be 3% better I can actually be pretty competitive, but that 3% is pretty elusive at times. I can think of 4 times where my front tire washed and I had to chase back after having been gapped in the corners. That is energy that I don't have to spare. To ride at the front would be unrealistic at this point. I look at the top 5 guys and they are all guys that do really large road programs and are all 15 years younger than me. Not only that, they are very talented indiviuals. They are a big part of Canada's cycling future.

Some of the positves; perfect through the sand, fast on the off camber, fast in the grass corners, good through the barriers.

Some of the negatives; the gravel corners, the odd person heckling me? Most people are really supportive, but there were a few (2 I would say) that were heckling me? Part of me thinks that it is funny, becasue I think that is how it was meant. Part of me is ticked because these are guys that I was racing in the B's with and now that they are spectators they are given' er to me. When you are dying a million deaths and rumaging through your hurt locker you don't really want to hear people mocking you for your effort, or lack there of.
The vast majority of people are really supportive though. They know that you are in tough and they are really wanting to see you succeed! Thanks for the cheers!!!