It was June 4th and I was sitting in the our car trying to get out of the sun and get cooled down before my 1:45 race start at Canada Cup #4 which was being held at Horseshoe Resort. It was a super hot day and possibly one of the hottest days that I have raced, it was more of a challenge to keep cool before the event. I was all prepared and feeling confident, I pre-rode the course two days prior and I had all of my lines dialed in. The night before the race I took one of my racing vest and socked it in water and froze it in the freezer, so on my warm up I put it on to make sure I didn't over heat before the race started.
(I was warming up and wearing a cold vest. I know, something doesn't sound right here. ;) ) Once we were in the starting pen I did my final preparations and I was ready to go. The start went out very fast since the course had a lot of climbing the pain in the legs came very quick which was not very good. To make things even worse I lost my bottle at the start of the first lap so I had nothing to drink. Luckily the laps were very short and I could get another bottle but since it was so hot I couldn't recover in the up and coming laps.
So needless to say the legs just weren't there and the heat got to me. So now it was to Canada Cup #5 at Hardwood Ski & Bike the following weekend.
The Friday following the Canada Cup at Horseshoe Resort I was at Hardwood doing a pre-ride with my coach Andrew Watson of AWI Coaching and we were riding the course and getting the best lines and checking out a couple new features that were on course. I preferred this course a lot more then last weekends race course. Pulse Racing is the event organizer for the Canada Cups at Hardwood Ski & Bike and they do a fantastic job putting together challenging and tough courses. So after I was done with my coach I went and rode with my Mom and helped her on a few spots on her course. I was feeling good with my technical riding over all the features that Hardwood is well known for and I was confident in Sundays race.
Sunday rolled around and it was race time. In the starting pen three AWI Racing racers were lined up getting ready for the buzzer to go off (one of the AWI racers was me of course :) ) They were on the line tense and waiting for the call for 15 seconds to go. Now in 15 seconds they were going to be sprinting as fast as they could past all of the spectators and into the woods. The buzzer went off and they sprinted and before you knew it they were out of sight.
The first double track was very fast as everyone was hammering it to get to the first single track. Once the race got lined out a bit it was about riding the single track and features smooth and pushing it at the spots that you could. I really enjoyed the course and it was super fast, it was also really great for spectators since they could see the racers in many spots without having to go very far which is very rare in the sport of mountain biking.
My performance was not quite what I was hoping for but I had a great time at one of my favorite races. Which I feel if you aren't having fun and enjoying it then why are you doing it. I also have to say that my Lauf Boost Fork handled every feature with ease and performed flawlessly.
So my 5 week racing block was over and I can definitely tell you that it was tiring but totally worth it.
My next big race that I am gearing for now is the Canadian XC Marathon Championships that is being held in East Hereford Quebec on July 16th.
(I was warming up and wearing a cold vest. I know, something doesn't sound right here. ;) ) Once we were in the starting pen I did my final preparations and I was ready to go. The start went out very fast since the course had a lot of climbing the pain in the legs came very quick which was not very good. To make things even worse I lost my bottle at the start of the first lap so I had nothing to drink. Luckily the laps were very short and I could get another bottle but since it was so hot I couldn't recover in the up and coming laps.
So needless to say the legs just weren't there and the heat got to me. So now it was to Canada Cup #5 at Hardwood Ski & Bike the following weekend.
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| Going down the Bone Shaker at Canada Cup #5 |
Sunday rolled around and it was race time. In the starting pen three AWI Racing racers were lined up getting ready for the buzzer to go off (one of the AWI racers was me of course :) ) They were on the line tense and waiting for the call for 15 seconds to go. Now in 15 seconds they were going to be sprinting as fast as they could past all of the spectators and into the woods. The buzzer went off and they sprinted and before you knew it they were out of sight.
The first double track was very fast as everyone was hammering it to get to the first single track. Once the race got lined out a bit it was about riding the single track and features smooth and pushing it at the spots that you could. I really enjoyed the course and it was super fast, it was also really great for spectators since they could see the racers in many spots without having to go very far which is very rare in the sport of mountain biking.
My performance was not quite what I was hoping for but I had a great time at one of my favorite races. Which I feel if you aren't having fun and enjoying it then why are you doing it. I also have to say that my Lauf Boost Fork handled every feature with ease and performed flawlessly.
So my 5 week racing block was over and I can definitely tell you that it was tiring but totally worth it.
My next big race that I am gearing for now is the Canadian XC Marathon Championships that is being held in East Hereford Quebec on July 16th.
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| Going over the last feature |
Stay tuned for more updates.
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