Our race was not until the afternoon so we had the whole morning to kill and boy did it drag on. We were all keen to go. Our numbers had been pinned on since the night before. Ambrose seemed very concerned by the constant rain and attempted to find a clear rain jacket for the race. This proved humorously challenging as what with Ambrose's lack of French coupled with a very weak cell signal abruptly ending his calls - communication was challenging.
While we were killing time at the cabin, the Master's women (30-39, and 40-49) and the Master's 60+ guys were out racing. Dreadful timing.
Finally it was time for us to set out and we had to drive around the course and we got to pass some of the stragglers. They were wet, they were tired, but they were still going and I give them a lot of credit for that.
As we arrived at Le Centre Sportif, the rain stopped and a reasonable temperature of around 16C settled in. We were ready for the off.
I decided to ride in my usual gear - shirt, shorts, socks, while some of the less hardy types had multiple layers, leg warmers, etc.
After a short warm-up we were herded into our groups at the start zone. I decided to ensure that my chews were accessible and my gels ready to go. I put my hand in my back pocket to grab my chews, but in the process, my number ripped off so I had to take my shirt off (exposing a rather bad cyclists tan) to pin it back on. I then reached in my other pocket to get a gel and proceeded to rip off the other number. Next time I will take some extra pins. Again the shirt comes off to reattach the number. Less than 5 mins to race time. Brian was already on the course with the 40-49 group. Ambrose and I waited.
Finally we got the countdown and away we went. The next 3 hours was a mixture of easy riding, full throttle accelerations, agonizing climbs, fast descents, strategy etc. We had some rain, but not much. There were times when I was last and times when I was first. I closed down a couple of breaks and for a few seconds thought I was part of a breakaway with Ambrose and 2 others. At times I rested while others did the work to close down breakaways.
The race for the podium really began in earnest with about 25kms to go when we met the hills full on. I knew that the big hill was going to be my challenge and although I climbed it better than most, by the time I reached the top there were 3 groups ahead of me (numbering about 12 riders). They were not going to be caught over the next 10kms.
The race ended with a bit of cat and mouse between 6-7 of us and I finished in the middle of that pack, although I think I was likely the guy with the most left. All in all, 15th is respectable, but I will be training to improve on that next year.
It was a tough race, but at least I didn't crash at the 105km mark like two riders I had to ride around.
As for Ambrose, that man is a machine. He was towards the front all day and finished just seconds out of a medal in 7th. The same goes for Brian - at the head of the pack all day and also finishing in 7th (on a borrowed bike) just a few seconds back. All in all - very satisfactory performances.
Back at the ranch, we proceeded to eat all of the food remaining - corn, pasta, Brian's special sweet potato fries, chips, yogurt bread and for a special treat birthday cake for our Junior - Devin who turned 18. What a way to spend your 18th birthday - hanging around a bunch of Master's.
I'm already planning for next year.
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