Ontario Cup #5

On the start line getting ready.

On June 9th and 10th I headed down to Albion Hills Conservation Area for Ontario Cup #5. I was just coming off of my first marathon win so I was feeling really confident coming into this event. On pre-ride day I rode a couple of laps around the course with my coach and some of his other athletes. We dialed a couple of lines and figured out some tactics for the race. The race course had no technical features but there was some tight single track and big climbs that made up for it.
That night we camped at Albion Hills which was great since I was only a couple of minutes from the race venue. It did rain while we were camping but everyone stayed dry. I woke up on race morning to the sun shining and I knew that it was going to be a great day for racing. It did turn out to be a great day but a very hot one. The race went off at 1:30 and I fought for first place into the first corner. Once we all got onto the good double track I was sitting second place but I had a competitor try to pass and he hit my handle bar and we both went down hard. I got some road rash on my leg (more like dirt rash) and lost one of my race bottles. I quickly got back on the bike and was on my way down the race course.

Leading a group of racers through the feed zone.

Through out the race I had a battle with a couple of guys and I almost had a sprint at the finish line. It was a super fun race and I felt really strong through out the course. I placed 5th in the Junior Expert Division. My coach was very happy with my performance since I was the most consistent through out the 4 lap race then I have ever been. I was very happy with how the race turned out and I can't wait for the next race to arrive.