Weather was great for the Ontario Cup Series race #2 this year.
Wind was calm in the morning but picked up as the day progressed and was clipping out of the west at
around 30km/hr (my estimate) by the time the last racers rolled past the finish line mid afternoon.
It was a bit cooler than I like to ride in (felt like around 12C) but the sun shone brightly all day
and so no complaints.
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Effingham Ontario is just about 8kms due south of St. Catharines which puts it close to the USA border
and so there were a fair number of Americans over for the race. The day was so clear we could see from
the top of the hill the cluster of buildings that are Toronto City on the other side of the lake. We put on about
150kms in the car coming around the lake but the strait line of sight is only about 70 odd kms. That's quite
a distance to be able to see the city and defy the curve of the Earth from atop the Niagra Escarpment.
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This was my first ever road race and I had a blast! I really enjoyed it even though I came in only 39th
out of around 70 starters (my guess again, could have been closer to eighty) in the 'cat three' division. We were the first up at 10:30am
and the vets right behind us starting at 10:33am. We were escorted down the first big hill by an O.P.P.
cruiser and brought to a stop around the first corner as last year there was a crash on the first decent
and this cooled down the jumpy riders for at least the first fast decent. I thought this was a good idea.
It was hairy enough jammed in tight at high speed with all those unknown riders. As far as I know no one
crashed the whole day but I sure heard some swearing and saw some close calls from wheel hooks. Had one
myself and was almost down but pulled it out at the last split second. Racing can become unpleasant really
fast when you crash and wreck your bike and/or your body.
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Effingham is known for the one large climb leading up to the finish line. It's the major deciding feature of
the course, which is only seven kilometers long. The category threes (of which I rode) have only seven laps
in the race of 49kms and so seven times up this hill. It's fairly steep and long and is a real grind after
the third or fourth time up. I did well staying in the front fifteen easily the first two times up, but then
I went off the front and broke some air for a while and this might have added to my fatigue, which set in as
the race progressed. I was really having a hard time pulling in enough air after the fifth climb and was still
with the lead pack (now down to around 45 riders) but fell off the back after the climb. I rode the last two
laps solo and swept up two riders one of which just died on the hill and got off to walk.
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I thought I'd have done a little better at this race but I didn't. I had a cold I couldn't shake two weeks ago
and as a result, was way off my training. Last year at this time I had nearly 5000kms in already and have barely
3000 so far this year. Being sick for two weeks wrecked my training for April. Last year I did 1908kms in April
and this year have only 500. A few pounds extra weight and my lungs still full of crap from the cold and I
just couldn't stay with the pack……this time. Sure had fun though and looking very much forward to the next
chance to do better.
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After our race came the 'Cat one's and two's' and the women all up at 12:15pm. There was food included with
the entry fee and so we got to sit and eat and watch the show as the cat 1-2s did twelve laps and the women
did ten. It was great to watch and cheer on the racers I know. Some of the guys I thought would do better
were hurting and getting dropped too. Heath was off the front for the first five or six laps and gaining
on the bunch too and that was an awesome show of strength to watch. He was up nearly a full minute on the
pack around lap four. There were some strong women there as well. You could see the pain on the faces at
the top of the hill, which is where most spectators positioned themselves cheering and shouting encouragement
to the suffering riders. I dug just a bit deeper on the climbs hearing the cheers and prodding's from the
spectators.
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Next weekend (May 2nd) is the Springbank Road Race in London Ontario and the weekend after that (May 9th)
is the Turkey Point Road Race. I'll certainly be going to at least one of these if not both. The season
is just beginning. I'm fairly certain I'll be posting up some better finishing results
when my form comes back in May. See you at the races.
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