April 12, 2013 (St. Catherines, ON) – After the first race of the King of the Spring Series, the Steaming Nostril on March 24, I hit up the Tour of Bronte and Hell of the North on April 6 and 7 for the next two races for a total of 220k of pain.
Tour of Bronte Report
A good mix was on the line for the 9:30 start and I felt ready for the early start from my years of rowing and raising kids. I knew that it would be a good day as I was the only one on the line with no knee or leg warmers (wus bags). The course is an 8km loop with 4km paved and 4km dirt roads. The dirt road section is the most fun 4km in racing, for my part, for if you have a good tire set up and are relaxed on the bike, you can get some nice drift in a few of the high speed corners. After a few circuits, the break went up the road with the right combination of Jetfuel, Wheels on Bloor, Octto, and a few other riders.
My plan for the day was to basically waste as little energy as possibly and stay out of trouble on the dirt sections (i.e. don’t be anywhere near the back). The break never really got a good lead and once they started losing riders with three or so to go I had a good feeling it would come back. Then I went to Plan B of stay to the front on all sections. As I looked back with two to go (16km) the group was pretty small and the break was within a handful of seconds. For the last two laps there were no huge attacks but some small moves on the dirt sections that would again spit a few more riders off the back.
We caught the last rider of the break (Jetfuel I think) and the group came to the last pavement section with 2k to go intact. With a headwind the pace was not crazy but hard enough to discourage any flyers. I got on to Anton Varabie’s wheels with 700m to go and then thought there is no way I am gonna come around him so at 400 to go I took a flyer on the inside to catch the group by surprise. But the rider on the front had blown and swung right (as he should have) and my flyer turned onto a quick brake check dive into the group and hope for the best. I rolled over for 4th behind Anton who was the best rider of the day and showed it all the way to the line, for a solid Jetfuel win.
Hell of the North
With a good rain in the morning and the temps warming for the day I kinda knew the course would be muddy, slow and hard, I just had no idea how hard that would be in the end. This was the hardest race I have done in my life. Super wind, mud only two of us off the front for the a good chunk of time. The race started off in a good tailwind which we would have for the first 44km of 125km. The pace was high with Anton doing a good chunk of work on the front. The first big selection of the race comes at 26km in… we took a hard right off the road and raced on a gravel road for 500m then hit the nastiest 2k of ice and mud at 35 km/hr strung out single file. Hence to say being in first is a help and I manage to hit the trail first but hit a ice patch that my tire went through and I lost a good chunk of speed and Mike Garrigan came by me.
I got back up to speed and Mike and I stayed within a few meters of each other for the whole section. As we came out I looked back and only 2 riders were in sight so Mike and I eased off the gas and Marco Li and Peter Disera came up. The 4 of us worked well for the next road section then we hit the “the Trench” gravel road section of 15km or so. Mike and I rode hard and dropped Marco with Peter 10 secs or so behind us. This section is usually hard but fast but this year it was like riding through quick sand for 40 mins. We exited this section with about 1 30 on a chase group of 5 or so and peter at 20 or 30 secs.
This is where the day went downhill. The marshals sent us the wrong way and Mike and I with Peter following hammered for about 5 k or so and realized something was wrong. We stopped and Peter caught us then Ed Veal came up in the car to let us know we were sent the wrong way and he was going to neutralize the race. Well we then railed it back into the headwind and finally regrouped with the race which now was 30 or so riders.
We then rolled neutral picked up a few more riders and restarted the group with no time gaps. I asked if Mike and I could get or gap on the restart but it was decided to start as one. Well this is where I knew the race dynamics would be a little off with so many riders who were up to 6 mins or so off the pace now going for the win it would be a weird mix. I just decided to let Mike and Anton go when the took off as they were the only ones who had the legs in the headwind to survive and I knew I could not go another 50k in the headwind with those 2 and had to hide in the group and fight for 3rd.
Mike and Anton put a a ton of time into or group who stayed mainly intact until 25 k to go when the dirt roads and trails started. We hit the first of 3 brutal trail section with a group of seven. I decided to practice my front somersault dismount with a 1/2 twist at the entrance lost a good chunk of time after finding my bikes and sunglasses. I regrouped passed a few riders and caught Peter Disera, Colin Busby and John Stewart just prior to the end of the section. We got on the road and Colin very smartly turned around waved goodbye and attacked, okay he did not wave but you get the picture. Peter was cooked and by the time John and I got our bearings Colin had 30 secs.
John and I rode the last 15km together and just kept Colin in sight but not really within reach and I thought, oh well 4th or 5th is cool. That is until and the end of 3rd section of death with 3km to go we saw Anton (not looking like Anton) also cracked. We cruised by him and John and I sprinted for 3rd, which I took.
It was a weird day with all the twists and turns but in the end the best rider won, and to be honest, the only way Mike would have lost is if he flatted, or if his breakaway partner by mistake threw a big stick into his rear wheel with 5km to go… just sayin’ it could happen.
So in the end with the extra detour on Sunday it was 220k of pain and suffering, and as my son Casey said: “Well, it is not like you worked that hard.”
Thanks little buddy.