Sometimes, a lacklustre start to the day has a way of turning itself around.
Fried chicken and cocktails usually helps.
#yawnpatrol was a bit of a letdown. That hint of red didn't bloom.
No Garmin, no rules.
It was dry enough to take the summer bike out for one last spin.
Switched over to the town bike for coffees #2-4.
Fast forward about 8 hours and the rain finally stoped.
Sunset made up for wimpy sunrise.
Not HDR. Dynamic range on the Ricoh GR ain't bad.
Eat all my feelings.
It was supposed to be a good day. I remembered everything in my race bag, the weather overnight and into the morning held off. Temperatures were in the low-teens, so I wasn't worried about warmers or embro and the course, while nicely worn in by the C and A fields wasn't as chewed up as it usually is by the time my group toed the line as 1:15PM. In short, I was looking forward to a glorious day out after proving to myself last week that I still had it. On the drive in, we were treated to a glorious display of early morning light breaking through the clouds in the Valley.
The ValleyCross Cultus Lake course was also the first "new" course I've raced in a while, meaning I had no idea what to expect. The preview map showed a fairly twisty course without many straight sectors where I'd be out-gunned by the power riders in the field. There were, however, three sand sectors to contend with: a sweeping left 180 that got pretty deep right around the apex, a fairly packed down straight stretch leading back into the trees, and a short pit. During pre-ride, I had some issues figuring out the right line for the first sector, but was able to dial it in enough to make it rideable. Aside from that, I knew my biggest obstacle was going to be ALL THE TURNS. It was getting dizzying just following them during my recon runs and a bunch of us were joking that we'd probably get dizzier from going around and around than from exertion. The key here would be to get a great start and into the lead group early.
As soon as they staged us I knew I was going to have a problem; as good as I usually am about finding a good spot, I got swarmed from the sides and ended up three rows back and couldn't fit my way far enough forward heading into the first few turns. To those who saw me race today, I accept your heckles. I know that running those corners wasn't super elegant, but it's been strategically successful in the past. Not so today; the first turn was too fast and wide of a sweeper to produce enough congestion for me to prance through. OK, on to plan B: settle in and start finding opportunities to pick off riders.
I managed to use aggressive cornering to make up a few places and found myself glued to the back wheel of one rider for about half a lap, but simply could not find a way around him. Kudos to him for protecting his space. Another feature of the course is a concrete step-up a little higher than a typical curb. I'd been able to pop over it during pre-ride, but just wasn't confident enough to do it consistently at race pace, so chose to run it and this is where I ended my race halfway through lap two. After successfully stepping over it, I botched my remount. I think my wheel had turned to the left just enough that when I hopped back on, I went over the bars and landed on my bike, in the process warping my front wheel enough for it to rub the inside of the fork crown. The worst part was that I had kneecapped myself in the process and after waiting a few moments for the feeling to unsuccessfully return to that leg, that pretty much sealed the deal. I limped over to the commissaire to pull myself out and go find first-aid to deal with scrubbing out the wound.
I think the toughest part of today has been coming to terms with the up and down nature this season has been for me so far. I know that when I'm on form, I can be competitive, but that one small incident can take me out and has a way of totally throwing off my rhythm. Looking at the calendar of events I've been shooting for, there are two VCXC Series races left, a double-header Cross on the Rock weekend in Nanaimo in two weeks. I suppose I could start looking at racing my way back into shape and aiming for the late-season Cascade Cross and MFG events to fill out my calendar, but part of me also wants to pull the plug on this year and start with a fresh slate next season.
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That morning light.
A race with a view.
Ride of the Valkyries.
Sandy rooster tail.
Self-inflicted boo-boo.
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The only image I managed to capture during Sunday's race.
Well, it's now mid-October and to date, I've lined up at two races.
Shit.
Considering I deliberately took a step back from the road season to focus on 'cross, it would be an understatement to say that my plan hasn't quite worked out the way I thought it would. So where did it all go wrong?
Well, it all started the week before the first race of the season: I'd been having issues since last season with my rear brake lever having a few millimetres of dead travel when returning from the engaged position. The last time this happened, it was resolved by a bleed and since the brake technically still functioned fine except for that loose rattling of the lever, I figured it could be dealt with before Aldor Acres.
I was wrong. It was determined that there was something more serious going on with the master hydraulic cylinder in the lever, so they sent the set back to the local SRAM distributor for examination. To their credit, they replaced both levers even though I was long past any feasible warranty claim. After a two week turnaround, I was good to go again. I managed to head down to MFG's Moor Cross where I proceeded to swallow dust for 45 minutes and finish 22/48 after a bell-lap bobble knocked me out of my groove. Not bad for my first race in an open Cat.3 field.
My training plan involves working on both fitness and handling. For the latter, the UBC Endowment Land trails offer some excellent terrain, made even trickier/more exhilarating when you're rushing through them after dark. In a group. A fast group. On one of these rides, I went over my bars and bruised a rib. Great, so now I'm out for at least two weeks while waiting for the musculature to heal. During this time, I couldn't really do any work on my fitness because I couldn't take full, deep breaths. I did whatever I could to work on core strength and flexibility, but it wasn't a substitute for being able to do interval work.
The weekend before last, I was finally able to get out for more than a casual spin, so I used the opportunity to head across the border to pick up a parcel and get some riding in the Bellingham area. All was going well until the return loop when the combination of wet pavement and a careless driver forced me onto a loose gravel shoulder where I went down on my left side again, opening up the wounds that had just healed from the crash that put me out in the first place. Great, so now that impact probably set me back at least a week.
The good news during all of this was the remnants of Typhoon Songdra, which has been dumping rain on the city for the past week. If I couldn't get out to ride, at least most of the city was facing the same situation, albeit for different reasons. By last Friday, cabin fever had finally gotten the better of me and I had recovered enough to take about 90% of a deep breath without issue and could lift my bike to barrier height. I did a short opener session in Stanley Park on Saturday and was sorely disappointed in how quickly I got winded, but perfection is the enemy of progress, so I was willing to take it.
Despite the threat of the third forecasted storm, Junkyard Cross in Surrey managed to stay remarkably dry (but incredibly windy). The organizers at VCXC had to alter the course to avoid any wooded sections at the direction of the city, leaving my disappointed that I wouldn't get to run the course I missed last year due to illness. This year's layout was defined by the long uphill paved start, two short grassy run ups, some flowy chicanes and 180s, a few surface transitions, lots of loose gravel, and lots of off-camber. The consensus among those I chatted to after pre-ride was that it was going to be a fast course. I'll admit that I was worried, but told myself to keep my expectations low.
I snagged a front row start since a good number of the call ups weren't in attendance. The good news is that the uphill start was something I knew I could still do well with given my body type and preference for low-gear, high-cadence acceleration. I was able to get off the front almost immediately, but just missed out on the hole shot. No matter; I had accomplished my early goal of putting myself at the front of the race to avoid the early bottleneck at the double-180s leading to the barriers. Once over those and into the back section of the course where it widened up, I was fine with easing off a bit to try and settle into a manageable pace. Immediately, a few people surged by, but that was fine. All according to plan.
Fighting it out.
Photo cred: Ferby Shellbourne.
After the early laps, I knew what was going to work well for me and what wasn't. I wasn't that great in the loose gravel, was OK in the greasy chicanes, and knew that I could make up any distance I lost by being comfortable letting my bike run on the downhill transition from paved to greasy/muddy grass and then gravel without touching the brakes and using the paved and off-camber grass climbs.
True to my impressions, I went down hard after washing out on a sweeping right on loose gravel right within sight of the beer garden with three laps to go. I laid the bike down on the drive side, yet somehow managed to injure my left side (again). My thoughts, in chronological order:
Shit, did I just ruin a brand new skinsuit? (No)
Shit, did I just re-open the road rash from last weekend? (Pretty close)
Shit, is this bad enough that I want to DNF? (Also pretty close)
Shit, did anybody see this? (Most definitely yes)
Shit, how many people just passed me? (Three or four)
Ignoring the stinging coming from my hip and forearm, I hopped back on to the raucous cheer from the beer garden and set forward to start picking people off. Also true to my impressions, I was able to use the downhills and uphills to regain contact. I fought a tight battle with a group of three during the last two laps and made my final pass on the low line of the off-camber grass uphill. I heard one rider chasing onto the final gravel turn into the finish, but having already gone down once, I decided to hold it back instead of risking another dermabrasion session.
All in all, I was happy to finally be able to do (and finish) my first VCXC race of the season. Final result: 11/48 in Intermediate Men.
"Encouragement" from the peanut gallery.
Photo cred: Ferby Shellbourne.
Click for lightbox view. Totally worth it.
This image is a combination of almost everything I find aesthetically appealing and all of my favourite genres of photography.
More importantly, it's a reminder during this period where I'm struggling to find motivation and purpose in almost every aspect of my life that my vision has tunneled to the detriment of pretty much everything that doesn't spin on two wheels. The "portfolio" section of this site that contains work like this has remained static and dormant for a period of time measured in years and that makes me sad. But also, determined.
Here's to a little less bike and a little more of everything else in the near future.
Took a little day trip down to Washington to climb Hurricane Ridge. The plan was to head down on Saturday morning, do the climb, camp out, and then sneak in another ride somewhere on Sunday before heading back.
The departure for the trip down was made at a (relatively) reasonable hour and was uneventful. Instead of paying the exorbitant BC Ferries rate, we drove through Anacortes and took the much better priced Coupeville-Port Townsend ferry. Even with the drive time and fuel cost, we still came out ahead compared to passing through the Island. Alex and I enjoyed pretty much perfect weather for the entire day: sunny, but a cool 20°C with a slight breeze and were able to enjoy a very recently repaved road up to the summit.
Camping plans didn't quite pan out, so huge thanks to Julie for enduring a long late night drive back to Vancouver.
5/7. Would do again.
