April 04, 2013 (Ancaster, ON) – Everyone should get excited for O-Cup #1 – there’s some great racing here in Ontario. The problem is some aren’t excited. Some are nervous, and some are downright scared. The Good Friday Road Race starts the season and is always like a test after months of study. For many in Ontario being locked indoors riding the indoor trainer in the basement or even in a fancy new training studio in an amazing bikeshop in Leaside is simply pure hell.

For some it is just a way of life. No matter what kind of training you are doing we are all looking to see where we are and if all of our hard work has paid off. The problem is that testing your cycling fitness it isn’t racing! Fitness will only get you so far. That’s why I love racing. The strongest racer doesn’t always win. There is more to racing than just fitness.

There is just more to it than just your fitness or how many hours you ride, your power, your weight, your power to weight etc. This stuff isn’t everything to a real racer. A racer needs more. All that stuff might drive you through the winter indoors but if you are training to race, a racer can’t wait to be tested. A racer can’t wait to be tested against their peers, the other teams, tested against the terrain, the corners, the grades, wind and tested against the elements.

Some love race day and some just love to train. I love race day and I love to race my bike. I love the tactics and the strategy. I love the game. The battle. The battle plan! When the first O-Cup of the year comes around you get to renew the battle with your rivals and you get to make some new rivals out on the course. It is the ultimate test and when you are prepared you can’t wait to ace the exam.

This past Friday our RealDeal/Gears p/b Fieldgate cycling team headed out to Ancaster, Ontario to start the season and ace the exam. We have a new title sponsor this year with Gears Bike Shop partnering up with us in 2013 and all nine of us on the team wanted to start this new partnership off in the right direction. Our game plan was simple. Establish ourselves as the team to beat right from the gun. We aren’t new on the scene but sometimes people need to be reminded who’s boss. The O-Cup champ should win the first O-Cup right?

If we didn’t do enough to attract attention with our cool black kits, hot cars and beautiful women we wanted to go right from the gun and be aggressive. We wanted to send a message and make sure the entire field got it loud and clear. The idea was to rip things apart in the first few minutes and we sent four guys who were up to the task right after the neutral start. Big Mike Mandel and Tim Burton lead the charge and were happy to fill this role. They both emptied the tank at two minutes in knowing they still had 130km to go. The goal was to get Sean Boileau and I up the road. Mike did his job very well and got up the road with the Jet Fuel team and on the counter move the break was established. Nine guys rolled off the front doing 50km an hour.

We got organized right away and everyone was pulling through with a ton of power. I was right where I wanted to be and away with whom I wanted to be away with. The pace was incredible and I knew I wanted to invest a ton into this move. I looked around and liked some of what I saw; problem was I was missing Sean. I was away with some of the best time trialists in Canada but I was also away with three riders from the same team. Jet Fuel had three in the move and the rest were singles from their respective teams. I did like the mix and the horsepower in the break and I also liked that one of the pre-race favorites didn’t make the cut. Jet Fuel’s Jeff Schiller was back in the pack. I decided I was all in with this group and put the hammer down with the rest of them. The first few laps were intense.

We averaged 46+ km an hour for the first three laps (45kms) and everyone did the exact same amount of work. This break was a well-oiled machine. In the off-season I had trained with Bruce Bird, Derrek Ivey and Anton Varabei at RealDeal Performance on Thursday night at our weekly time trail. The more time I spent with them the more I dreamt of being away in a break all together. These three are strong dudes. I didn’t think it would have come so soon in the season but there they were. Add in Matteo Del-Cin and Ryan Atchesion and you can see why this was “the” break.

With around three to go Ivey rolls off the front and no one goes with him. I loved this move as I really thought I was going to bridge to him in a few minutes and the two of us would ride away together. The group was also thinking very similar thoughts. His moved cannibalized our well-oiled machine in an instant and it went from all together to attack – coast – attack – coast. Ivey was up the road in diesel mode and we were all launching with every other attack to try and get the right combo of guys to chase him down. There were a few good moves but the right combo never materialized.

Not too many people willing to work with you when you are a threat and the break was filled with threats. The crazy Manton accelerations ate our group alive and we lost a few riders. Anton hurt me many times but I found a way to hold on. I was up the road with him quite a bit but the chasers would re-group for that and hunt us down. Every acceleration would take my TT pace down another 25 watts… 350 felt like 450 by the end of it.

It was his team mate Yuri that stole the show. Yuri would be in tow on Bird’s wheel. Sitting on Matteo’s wheel every time they reeled us in.  Even when he looked slaughtered he would counter Anton’s move. Trying to match their two pronged attack took its toll. I thought he was done a few times and every time I chased down Anton, Yuri would somehow have enough to roll on through and attack me.

On the final stretch before the right turn toward the fairgrounds it was what I had dreamt about all off-season, I was racing again. I was racing against the best and it was as hard as it gets. Ivey had won the race and we were now fighting to join him on the podium. The group was blown to bits and all that was left was me and these two Jet Fuel riders. They took turns trying to get up the road and I dug deep on every move. Anton did something special on the little climb before the turn and finally rode me off his wheel. He broke me (they broke me) and it was truly impressive.

Anton had also dropped Yuri and he was now 50 metres in front of me and Yuri was 50 meters behind me. We all struggled to get to the line. I kept pace with Anton but I couldn’t close. I stood, I sat, I stood again. I was going nowhere quickly into the wind. I looked back and Yuri was gaining. I was inside a kilo to go and he had closed half the distance to me. I could hear the car behind him. I geared down and stood again. I couldn’t let him get my wheel or it was over. I had nothing in my legs, they twitched with every down stroke. I looked and he was almost on my wheel.

I kept out of the saddle trying everything I had to stay away. I made the left turn and with 150 meters to go gave a couple last heavy pushes on the pedals. I looked through my legs to see if there was a wheel in sight. No wheel. I rolled across the line 3rd and he rolled in 1 second later. That last stretch was an incredible battle. Something I trained all off-season for. It was the battle I craved and it was everything you could ask for in a race. I didn’t win but I was happy. I’m not normally happy with 3rd but I was that day. Coming 3rd the way it went down in such a stacked field felt like a win.

Derrek rode away and won the race which to be honest shocked me. I under-estimated my opponents twice during this one. Derrek and then Yuri. Derrek did something special and then Yuri stole the show and saved this race for his team many times. Without those two Jet Fuel boys working as well as they did I think it is possible the story ends a little different. Our RealDeal/Gears p/b Fieldgate team will regroup and will be better prepared for our next battle. My hat goes off to the Hamilton Cycling Club for organizing such a great event. Thanks to all the guys in the break who crushed it and to our amazing sponsors and support crew for looking after us all day. It is great to be back racing, it was an awesome way to start the season and it is great to have an amazing event to report on. Thanks for reading.

Full results HERE.

Ed Veal is an Elite Cat 1 road racer based in Ontario and is a part owner of RealDealRacing Inc. which provides coaching services, indoor training, cycling trips/camps and also organizes cycling events including this weekend’s Hell of the North that takes place on Sunday April 7th at Cedar beach resort at Musselmans Lake – for more details click HERE.