There were a lot of things to prepare for leading up to my first race of the season, especially since there were a lot of changes from the beginning of this year to the beginning of 2011. I was losing some weight, getting better endurance, and having more fun on my bike then I ever have. But probably the biggest change to 2012 is the bike. I was a little hesitant to jump back on a hardtail after not riding one for a whole lotta years. But thinking about how the bike would work in certain situations for the better, and seeing many racers on hartails last year, I knew it was a good idea. Throw 29er into the mix and you have a fast, climb like a billy goat sorta bike.
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| The new ride, on the stickered up ride |
I arrived a couple hours before my group was set to go so I took the road bike out for a couple k's to warm up the legs. In doing so I saw a lot of racer types doing the same thing. The nerves started to go a little bit but I figured I was also starting to be a 'racer type' so it should all be good.
Our group was set to go at 11:34am. The family was there rooting for me and I was feeling pretty good on this 27 degree day.
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| The start of it all |
After a sufficiently steep descent into the valley right off the gun, the first hill climb lay ahead of us. Ahead of me was Kevin, a racer that I met at the Edmonton Canada Cup in 2011. He organized the Coulee Cruiser and was also racing in it. But then he dropped his chain on this first climb of the race, not more then 5 minutes in. This was an issue as I was following him closely as I knew his skill and wanted to stay with him. He came to a stop and I had to think quick and try to get around him without running into him. In the process of doing this, somehow my rear axle dropped out of the frame. I have narrowed it down to only one cause. I did not tighten it enough that morning after cleaning my bike. This has never happened before and I am sure it will never happen again. I didn't realize what was going on right away so in the end I probably lost half a minute getting it all geared up again. After all the racers passed me I was on the trail again giving it as hard as I could to regain some spots.
There were 3 decent climbs on this course. All of which were smooth and still fast. I made a lot of time up on them and passed people, which was a bit of an issue everytime as there were no good passing spots so I was forced to go into the grass not knowing if a cactus was right beneath my tire. Luckily enough there were no flats.
The rest of the race went smooth. Really smooth. The bike felt great and my legs were just givin 'er. I threw back an energy gel and forced on. The dude that dropped his chain on the first climb came into sight. I knew I had to pass him.
After passing him I had no idea where I lay in the pack. I just kept pressing on thinking about the finish. Nearly 20 km later the finish came and I was pretty stoked on how I did.
I ended up passing 13 racers to gain a position of 4th, 2 minutes off the leader. Pretty decent I think for my wheel falling out.
This was an awesome course and I am thankful to Kevin from the Lethbridge Headwinds for putting on a spectacular race.
Coulee Cruiser Results
What's next? There are a couple things lined up. This next weekend there is a race in Kalispell, M.T, the Herron Hammer. Not too far away but still takes gas to get there. It was an awesome race last year and I'm sure my new hardtail would haul ass on that course. Maybe take a weekend off and do the Summer Solstice XC #3 in Calgary on May 26th.
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