The 6hr Salty Dog race in Salmon Arm last weekend was a lot like the Toronto Maple Leafs 2012 hockey season. A complete 100% catastrophic meltdown. On the first lap I set a solid tempo up the first climb and to my pleasure had a solid gap on the field. Riding within my means I set a new course record on the first lap at 33:52, followed up with a decent 2nd lap and then things started to slide backwards.
Lap 3 my buddy/part time coach, Luke Way caught up to me for a bit and then played it smart and stayed riding his own race as I upped the tempo to pull away. He was ripping today, which didn’t surprise me as he is wise beyond his age with all his racing and training experience/knowledge. I knew if I faultered he would be there to take over as he knows his body like a computer and rides a very smart race.
Coming through after lap 6 I was in trouble as a 39 minute lap isn’t victory worthy. It was no surprise when Luke joined me half way through lap 7 and then lap 8 he slowly pulled away as my legs and body disintigrated into a pile of goat turds. Getting tired during a race happens but usually there is a little something left in the tank. As lap 8 went on I went from a bike racer to survivor, very similar to the Whisky 50 a couple weeks ago and the VCL in Victoria this past week. Finishing lap 8 was a survival mission and instead of racing laps 9 and 10 I curled up in ball on the side of the trail and tried to fight off puking, sleeping, cramping, and pulling a sore tooth out my mouth. My body was pissed.
This race was good as it was the final straw for me in trying to be stubborn about a soreness in my mouth which I’ve had for over a month. One of my biggest strengths is also one of my biggest weakness’s as I try to ignore pain. When that pain is in your mouth that is a problem as teeth don’t fix themselves as I found out after weeks of ignorance. Luckily for me Sean Mcevoy was racing at the Salty Dog and was pitted under the same Balance Point Racing tent as my support crew, Eileen Mcdonald and my Dad.
Eileen being a nurse was the first to notice I had a problem in my mouth and talked to Sean, a pro dentist, who immediatly said he would look after me Monday morning, even though the dental clinic was closed. 2hrs in the dental chair later I had a nice root canal to show off and a bottle full of Penicillin to look after a bacteria infection which was eating away my jaw and heading into the left side of my head. I have my fingers crossed the Penicillin goes to work as there is a bit of a problem in my head at the moment. Thanks Sean for taking care of me on your day off and for the racer discount! I should have payed you double time and a half for what you did.
Looking back on my lap times for this race over the last 2 years seems like is a good case study for a mad scientist. This winter everything has been dialed, great training, great sleeping etc and my lap times look like this… Slowly dropping off till a complete meltdown.
2012 Lap splits: 33:52, 34:42, 35:52, 36:51, 37:42, 39:39, 39:46, 47:45, KABOOM!, passed by 200 lb fat guys in baggie shorts,backpacks and 35 lb bikes,passed by kids, passed by girls, DNF>
Then there’s the lap times from 2011 where I did 10 laps and managed to keep my last 5 laps within 23 seconds of each other, all between 37:24 and 37:47. All this after 3 months of insomnia and a 70 hr week of tree planting before the race. Which leaves me to wonder if A) tree planting is like blood doping B) Insomnia is a magical training weapon, or C) that my body is just completely f’d from a sore tooth and that things will shape up as my head gets un f’d. I am crossing my fingers and going with answer C. As I am really unsure of what to think otherwise.
After the Dental surgery yesterday it was off to Kelowna to get my new carbon Kona King Zing road bike fit by Luke and to go for a little recovery ride. Peter Watson joined us as we road up to Carmelis Goat farm for some fresh cheese and Goat gelato. Riding in the sun with some buddies, eating goat gelato and getting miles in on our new bikes was the perfect way to forget about a not so memorable weekend of meltdowns and teeth gongshows. This week will be an easy one as I search for some health before heading out to Pennsylvania later next week for the Transylvania Epic.
PS Nice work Michael Robinson on the 10 laps and victory at the Salty dog! very solid riding.
PS2 Nice work Luke on your 10 laps, very impressive, especially considering that your focusing on Triathlons this year.
thanks for the shout out cory, tough day for everyone. i was looking forward to a battle with you until you put that storming first lap in. good stuff. see you there next year. good luck this season.
ps you inspired me to get some dental work done that i have been putting off as well