While in Ottawa I'll be staying with relatives. I'm incredibly thankful that they agreed to take me in for a couple months this summer. It's making the transition into a new city so much easier, and is so nice to have family around to take my mind off bike racing. All this being said, I wasn't in town more than two days before it was time to take off for the weekend and get back into bike racing.
GP Charlevoix
On Friday morning Justin and I loaded up the Jetta with our road and time trial bikes, a few extra wheels, tools and luggage and took off for Baie-St-Paul Quebec. The Grand Prix Cycliste de Charlevoix was on the calendar for the weekend, a four stage race over three days which includes a crit, time trial, hill climb, and road race. I had never done the race before, but had ridden in the area before and knew the terrain would be very hilly with some seriously steep gradients. It would be my first race in quite a few weeks, and I was looking forward to getting the legs moving again after recovering from some hard training at home.
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| Cornering in the crit Photo cred: Velogazette |
It was a bit too warm in our hotel room that night so I didn't end up sleeping very well, but in the morning my excitement for the time trial covered any fatigue I might have had. I was targeting a top 10 finish in the 15.7 km race against the clock, and after a good warm up I was feeling ready to rock. In the end I was fairly happy with my effort on the day, however my speed was lower than expected for said effort. I placed 16th, thirty-one seconds out of the top ten. I continue to underachieve in time trials compared to what I feel I'm capable of doing, but as I continue to develop as a rider I'm sure I'll get it figured out.
The afternoon's hill climb stage certainly didn't suit me -- being one of the largest riders in the pack -- but I was hoping to surprise with a strong ride and result. However, once we hit the bottom slopes of the hill, those plans were quickly dashed. The gradients were far too steep for my liking, reaching upwards of 20%, and I ended up grinding my way up as I watched riders move by me. Once the pitch eased up a bit I was able to pick up the pace and move through some of the field but finished well back of the leaders.
The last stage was a hilly 120 km road race on Sunday morning. This was essentially what I came to Charlevoix for, a hard effort before taking on the Grand Prix Cycliste Saguenay and the Tour de Beauce in the following weeks. Unfortunately I had another poor night's sleep in the hotel, so I was basically running of caffeine and motivation, but that seemed to be enough and I was still able to do a good race. After the first 95 km of punchy climbs, battling for position, and avoiding crashes, the race all came down to the major climb of the day. I had ridden up it in a training ride a couple years ago, but I didn't remember it being so steep. Similarly to the last stage, I went backwards on the 20% grades, my cadence dropping below 50 rpm, but after that section I was able to move up through the shattered field. The climb took a little over six minutes, and by the time I reached the top I found myself having just about made contact with a chase group that had around ten riders. This group made contact with what was left of the main pack, and in total we were about thirty riders with only 12 km to go. I knew the last 7 km were all downhill, but before that there were a few steep punchy climb. On the last of these, I was starting to fall off the back of the group with several other riders as we covered the steepest section of the two minute climb. However I was able to stay with the bunch by putting in an all out sprint for the top in the final thirty meters before the crest. This effort paid off, as none of the racers behind me made it back into the group as we headed for the finish. Despite being all downhill to get there, the finish was on another short (but not so steep) climb into a stiff headwind. I came into the last couple hundred meters of the race at the back of the small group, and waited behind riders sprinting ahead of me to fade in the wind before moving around and going full tilt for the line. Four riders finished in a breakaway in front of the group, and I finished 20th.
All in all it was an enjoyable weekend, and a great way for me to get some racing legs back. Upon returning to Ottawa I've been focused on recovering and preparing for the races coming in the next few weeks. They're going to be by far the biggest races I've ever been in, and I'm hoping that I'll have the energy to post stage recaps as the races unfold. We'll see how it goes... I'm both excited and terrified.
Things are getting pretty exciting here! Thanks for reading.
