The first Canada Cup of the yr at Mt Tremblant Ski hill went alot like the last Canada Cup I did in Quebec 4 yrs ago. A 22nd placing. 4 yrs ago this was alright but right now it isn`t sitting so well. In reality it was still a good day, no crashes, sunny skies, great competition and at one point there were 30 girls with lululemon pants hiking up the course for no apparant reason. This was a highlight for many riders on the day as seeing this at a cross country event is about as common as seeing the sasquatch. At the end of the day though I was a hurting unit.
At the end of the first lap I was within 6 seconds of the lead and having paced myself well I was beggining to think this could be my day. Then things went up in smoke. There are a few things that will be worked on before the next Canada Cup at Bae St Paul this weekend. A locked up back certainly had a bit to do with the result as practicing yoga moves for 4 minutes on the side of the trail during a xc race doesn’t do wonders for your results.
From laps 2-5 I made my way from 8th-22nd placing. Probably backwards from what a 24 hr endurance cyclist should be doing. I was hurting in every way imaginable from various ailements which in one way was nice to have it all come out at once and make it a truly written off day.
One of the highlights of the day was having Lilla’s sister Jennie Mae and her roommate Emilly cheerleading like a couple of Dallas Cowboy girls on the side of the trail during the steepest climb. This made at least 300 metres of the race each lap seem like a sunday ride. Other highlights were watching Neal Kindree race around with a 30 lb free ride bike with a giant seat bag attached to it and then Roddi Lega’s story following the race on how wanted to quit cycling forever because he got dropped by a guy with a giant seat bag on his bike. He was relieved to find out after the race that it was former Canada Cup Champion Neal Kindree with the saddle bag and it sounds like Lega will keep racing for the rest of the yr.
Right now I’m sitting on the banks of the St Lawrence River at my buddies Simon Tremblays parents house. This will be base camp for the next 5 days as we prep for the second round of the Canada Cup series in Baie St Paul this wknd. The last few days have been full of a tired night out in Montreal, a tour of Quebec city and alot of gongshows as we have lugged two bikes and a pile of race gear across Quebec.
Quebec is a neat place and Quebec city itself is truly amazing as it sits on the banks overlooking the St Lawrence. The history surrounding the city is in the air and seeing ancient battlefields and colonial buildings from the 1600’s are pretty unbelievable. Its hard to grasp the concept that we can hop on a plane in Vancouver and fly 4000 km east, land in a historic land with huge churches and ancient ruins, to be able to eat bowls full of poutine and donuts called beavertails, not be able to understand a word people speak, and yet still be in the same country. The conclusion I am coming to is that Canada is a pretty unreal place to live and that there are some spectacular and endless adventures to come in the days and yrs that lie ahead in this great country.
Too start Simon and I will hop on our bikes tommorow to check out the countryside out here in the Charlevoix region of Quebec. I’m pretty stoked to have a ripping Kona bike and a Quebecois tourguide/buddy to do it with.