Test of Metal...

...pre-ride last night with Alana and Toby was good; meaning we did not get rained on!

Not the same story today! Woke up to rain, raced in rain, and still driving in rain! Word has it the rain has not yet arrived in Kamloops :)

Rain aside this race is still a classic and with 900 happy riders on the start line and all the spectators on the course it is a great race to put on the calendar.

After a little trouble finding my start; well the right one I should say, i did finally get to the right spot after jamming my self in the 3-330 hrs blocks with the age category riders; and u have to have been there to appreciate that this was not an easy task. And only then did I hear the announcement about elites having a block up front. So a little embarrassed I asked one of the guys if I was in the wrong spot and sure enough he looks at my yellow plate and says yes, every other plate was green around me.

The start went off as soon as the Canadian National anthem was sung with no warning; so needless to point out I was a bit slow out of the block as I was still waiting for Ja, vi elsker ....
The start was crazy as it has to be with so many riders, riders from behind creating a wider lane and eventually things go wrong in front of me. Ripple effect and a few folks went down hard right in front of me. Decided then to move over to do the gutter ride and away from most trouble. It was not just crazy scary but crazy fast! The road climb up is not short so eventually I had to start letting folks just go and do my pace. I settled in a manageable pace and paid for it as we entered the trails; it felt I moved further and further back. Guys would pass finding pace to slow, then realizing it was too hard and let group go in front of them, id have to try to pass to close gap again, but passing is not my strong side so it would take a bit and I did a lot of that for the first half. Second half things felt better; the Bonk Hill climb is nice and open and you can ride your own ride, legs felt good but wasn't sure for how long we would be climbing. Chatted with a few guys and thought I had a pretty good idea. Noticed Mical far up in the distance which made me happy to realize the slower pace in the start hadn't pushed me too far back and probably saved my legs a bit too. The climb was definitly longer that I had pictured but not bad; nice for the eyes to get a break from constant dirt spraying in them as glasses were useless today for everyone Im guessing.
Got wheel contact with Mical and favorite part of day was the decents after that; all the spectators and following Mical who is technically so strong helps boost my guts level on the rooty rocky and wet stuff;
Great times and the reminder of why I love this stuff!
And the course end with some great single track; more climbing of course but some nice decent; then a ride through the park and by the time I hit the finish line I was less than 3 min off first, very surprised with how the first half felt.

Besides riding down with Mical; thanks for setting the lines, the guy at the pool with the hose was high on the favorite list too. Not just any kind of hose; hot water! And with no line I got the luxery package! So nice....

So despite weather again; great event!

Now on the road to Kamloops!

Happy Riding!