The trip started at 6:50am when I walked my bike and gear to Brian's house to be met by he and Ambrose Delaney (Incidentally, Ambrose drove past me as I walked down Douglas Avenue carrying a large bag and steering a bike). Ambrose lives in Cape Breton and would be racing in my category. We quickly loaded up the bikes and off we set.
The route took us through the US without any issues and less than 7 hours later we arrived Popolis where we realised that nobody knew where the Cabin was located. The details had been a little sketchy since the guy who made them could no longer come along for the ride. We did find a phone number and after a short drive into the wilderness we found our home for the next 3 days. We were met by the proprietor who spoke very little English and I found myself in the unlikely position of doing the talking as I was the man with the most French language skills.
We were itching to get the bikes out and go and loosen up the legs, but mother nature had other ideas. It started raining and it continued to rain all day. The view from our cabin was beautiful, but wet.
Wasting little time, we hit the grocery store and loaded up on enough food for 4-6 hungry riders over a 3 day stretch. $250 later we were back at the cabin looking out over more rain. We were soon joined by Andrew Buzzell, his better half and Devin Doiron. There seemed to be some miscommunication over the number of people the cabin slept. In theory, 3 double beds = 6. Another issue is that there was no internet connection and very little cell service. This was a killer for Andrew who has to stay connected for his business and so he decided to try and get a place in town - which he did. That left 4 of us - 3 Master's 'athletes' and one junior Canada Games athlete.
We went down to the race meeting and to sign-in. The forecast for the road race was rain with the possibility of lightning. In the case of lightning, we were informed, just keep going. On a 60km loop - options are limited. We returned to the cabin where we made personal large pizzas which were summarily dispatched.
There was a tv with lots of channels, but the best show on it seemed to be an old episode of this hour has 22 minutes. We made it through the night and rose to eat a substantial breakfast. It was Time Trial day. The rain seemed to be abating.
We got down to the tt site nice and early and Ambrose and I began our preparations and warm-up, while Brian, who opted out of the tt, went to recon the course and Devin was left to 'mind the van' as his tt was not until the afternoon.
After about 20kms of warm-up I felt pretty good. I went to the bike check thinking that there would be no problems, but my little tt bars were illegal and I had to remove the cross bar, my number was pinned on too high and my fruit loops shirt was technically illegal to. I would be OK if I removed the cross bar - lucky I brought my handy tool.
It was obvious that I was outclassed in terms of equipment. Most riders had tt specific frames with a disc wheel, deep dish front wheel, full length bars with the gear shifters, body suits, shaven legs, etc. I'm not sure what all of that adds up to, but I'm sure it's significant.
I was excited to start from a ramp - just like the pros. As the first guy out, I had nobody to chase and just had to fear someone coming up from behind. I hammered out to the turn around at a 46.5km average - something told me that the 7.5km return would not be as much fun. There was a steady 2km climb to negotiate and although it was gentle grade, it was just too much to roll over at pace. It seemed to go on forever. About 12 minutes of pain and suffering later I managed to struggle across the finish line at an average speed of 40.3kms/hr. That wasn't going to be nearly good enough.
When it was all said and done, I finished 17th of the 23 riders who had fancied their chances. Ambrose was 50 seconds ahead of me in 12th. The winner was 2 minutes ahead of my time. Since I did not get passed, I can at least say that I led for a time.
After a warm down I returned to the van. Brian and I then rode out to look at the hazardous train tracks that were on the route and actually got stuck the wrong side of a long train that decided to stop for 15 minutes for no apparent reason. We basically just relaxed in the sunshine waiting for it to move on. Some people asked us questions, presumably about the train, but who knows.
Back at the van, Brian noticed that he had a big problem, his bike frame was cracked - and quite a long crack at that. After consulting with the Trek rep, it was determined that going downhill at 90+ kms/hr on that bike was not a good idea. To make a long story short, Brian was able to borrow a bike from Atlantic Training Centre's Luc Arseneau who is always around these events and was able to race the next day.
After a trip to Tim Horton's it was time to return to the tt site as it was now Devin's turn to race and we were allowed to be his support vehicle. It felt cool to be on the course following a rider. The Juniors had to do two laps. We had a front and back wheel ready to change, just in case he flatted. He put in a strong effort in a very tough group of juniors. Like me, Devin was using his road bike and tt bars, although he did have a body suit. It wasn't enough and he finished in the middle of a large group of riders. It was good practice for him as at Canada Games, tt bikes are not allowed. By now it was scorching hot, but by later that night it had returned to the familiar scene of pissing down rain.
Back to the grocery store for a few more items ($50) and then home. Brian had a bike to prepare.
For supper a massive meal of pasta primavera and salad and bread and yogurt and... Tomorrow was the big day. It rained some more. The tv options were poor - we watched the Blue Jays game in Japanese and went to bed.
