Canadian National Championships

Early Wednesday I jetted off yet again, this time for the Canadian National Road Championships in Quebec City, Quebec. My flight path was via Toronto to Montreal. Due to thunderstorms in Toronto I arrived in Montreal an hour later than expected. Unfortunately this meant making Jesse Collins and Jeff Bolstad wait a few hours to many before hitting the long road to Quebec City. Rush hour in Montreal meant over three hours in the van. Late evening we arrived at our lodgings at Laval University and discovered that the entire Alberta provincial team and numerous other cycling acquaintances were staying on the same floor. The rooms were simple and small, but for the price it was perfect, all I could ever need. The only complication was the lack of equipped kitchen facilities meaning that many meals had to be consumed in the cafeteria, at the campus pub or elsewhere.
Thursday was a relatively slow day with me finally getting my registration cleared up. Due to some computer complications and lack of info on the CCA website I had not preregistered for the road race and crit. I was rather worried about his situation as numerous deadlines that I had missed began surfacing, however the organizer was gratious enough to make some exceptions and let me in as number 190. I did not compete in the ITT event as I didn't feel that there was adequate time between it and the road race on Saturday and because I haven't done a time trial in a year meaning I would likely not be in the running. Instead I rode a couple of hours with Bolstad, checking ou thte course and putting in some solid efforts on what would be a challenging Gilmour climb on the course for Saturday. WE got caught in a flash thunderstorm that turned the sloping streets of old Quebec into creeks and rivers. Luckily a gap in the old city wall provided good shelter. The time trial saw successes for numerous other Albertans including my teammate Julie winning in the junior women's race and landing herself a spot on the national team for worlds after only 7 months of riding a road bike. Eric Smith of Bow Cycle took the junior mens ITT.
Friday was coffee ride prerace day. We met up with the Ital-Pasta boys and some other randoms for some cruising. We enjoyed some the of the junior racing from a terrace and discovered the beauty and European flair of the old city. Quebec City is now my favorite Canadian city by far. It reminds me of French Belgium as I have not yet been to France. Old Quebec city is vast and situated on the hill overlooking the St Lawrence, many of the buildings date back to the 1700's. The streets are flooded with people from dawn until well after dark setting the feel of this city apart from most other Canadian centers.
Finally we come to the big day. Saturday saw the Elite and U23 men take to a 180 km road race on 14 laps of a rolling course on mixed roads with the 14% Gilmour climb being the most striking feature. 165 riders took the start that finally got underway after a 45 minute delay to close the roads properly. I was confident in my chances of not only finishing the days event, but also in achieving my goal of top 5 Espoirs and top 20 overall. Although all of Canada's top riders were represented I knew that the race would prove to be too long and tough for many and that simply staying in the front splits all day would be rewarded. From the start the lack of experience and nervousness of many in the peleton was apparent as crashes frequented the first 4 laps. I stayed in the top 40 and rode as I have all year in Europe. The biggest problems seemed to be caused by the road narrowing abruptly in some places and a strong crosswind that caused alot of drifting in the group. Technically this course was simple with no real challenges, people were taking stupid risks and not staying alert. With some luck I stayed well clear of the mishaps that claimed many riders and found myself sitting comfortably biding my time and waiting for the hard racing to come around the 100 km mark. The hard racing came somewhat earlier as breaks had been forming up the road. Most of the breaks were lopsided with Symetrics and their 12 man squad in everything forcing others to lead a fierce chase after about 60 km. I was fine with the pace on every section except the steep climb, and even that was fully bearable had it not been for the horrible quad and hamstring cramps I started getting after about 4 laps. On the steepest pitch I would have to roll to the front and then drift back as I couldn't stand or push a bigger gear than my 25 without my muscles locking up in the agonizing pain. I felt the knots tighten and loosen with every stroke and felt on the verge of having to step off every time up. Luckily I was strong on the false flat were most of the accelerating would happen and I could sit in on the actual climb. After 7 laps another complication emerged as I lost my right contact lens coming down the steep decent tot the river. I am legally blind without my lenses so loosing the right one meant not only a loss of depth perception, but also a visual handicap. With a blurred view of the world at speed I pressed on as the field shattered with every lap eventually leaving only about 60 in the front group behind the break. Finally on the third last time up the climb my luck ran out. With the smaller field and a quickening pace I couldn't keep contact on the steep pitch up Gilmour as the cramps forced me to take it piano. I got in a small group and with only about 25 km left to race I was determined to at least get a result on the day. The time cut was 5% of the winners time so the race against the clock was on. After about one lap with the small group I went away with one other rider and eventually finished in 38th place overall, 12th Espoir 9 minutes down on the winner, 6 minutes down on the main group. The last two times up the climb were brutal and only made worse by the frustration I was feeling as as soon as the road flattened out I could push up past 45 km/hr without a problem at all. It was a great disappointment as I came nowhere close to reaching my goal for the day. I felt incredibly good and have not had cramps all year, so for them to hold me back on the biggest day on my calendar was devastating. Placing in the top twenty overall would have almost guaranteed me a top 6 Espoir finish, which could have been my ticket to the world championships. If I had been able to put in an effort at all on the climb I am sure I would have been there. That is racing I suppose, I had a lot go wrong but I got some good training in and saw a lot of Quebec City over and over and over again....
Sunday I started the crit, but half the field backing onto the start leading to a horrible start position, guys letting gaps go on the first lap ahead of me and the dead legs from the days before meant I pulled the plug after getting lapped 20 km in.
Besides the racing it was a great week. I discovered a great new part of the world and enjoyed the company of some great people.
In other news the racing continues later this month with the Tour of White Rock, Gastown criterium and then the International Tour de Toona.
Thanks for reading.
Full results from Saturdays event can be found here
Photos to come.