Provincials - Day 1 -- Log

Hey there race fans - i am beat....a very intense first day at the Provincials!

Felt great, rode well(for myself!), tho most weren't my events...

First up was the Pursuit. For Elite Men it's 4km/12 laps... I hadn't ridden that distance before, but i guess for me i prefer it to 3km, to allow me to use whatever strengths i do have..haha..

I was racing a guy from Vancouver, i believe his name is Glenn, seems like a decent fellow!

We were set up, on each side of the track (it *is* a pursuit!) and the gun goes, and i begin sprinting out of the saddle..and one stroke in my shoe comes flying out of my pedal!! I do a crazy little dance, and come to a stop in the infield. (All day, people complimented me on my recovery! Andre might have gotten it on film as well, i'll post a note if i do. ;)

Anyway, that's very weird for me, i almost *never* clip out.....i just figured i pulled too hard on my upstroke.

We set up again, and we're off! 4km to go... I started off a little too hard, which at least looked good! For the first three laps (1km) i'm neck and neck with Glenn, but then the reality of me not being a pursuiter kicks in, and i start to slow... I hold him off for all but the last lap and a half, and then keep him within a decent distance. Finished with a 5:40 time, he was about 5:23 i believe. The fastest time of the day was down around 5 even...wow... In that event i came in 5th out of 6 riders (plus one DNS.) Managed to beat Mike by a whopping three seconds! (He's been training for sprints tho, so this was his longest race in a long time..haha..)

Next up was the Kilo... I was first, since i have the slowest time. We go to set up, and i simply couldn't clip *in* now...!

I get off (other riders go instead) and take a look...and it turns out the bold that tightens/loosens the cleat had somehow cracked the metal supporting it, and basically started sliding into the pedal..!!

It isn't the end of the world, i have a second pair from my road bike, but it's pretty annoying. I'm planning on upgrading when i can afford it, but that wasn't supposed to be for a while still.. I can prolly wait until the spring, since i'll only need one pair after Sept. (Track closes then..)

I swap my pedals, and ride after Matt, who rides at a blistering speed, winning the event by a handful of seconds. My attempt was a success for me, a total new PB by two seconds: 1:19.94 - woohoo! Used aero bars for this, which probably helped, as well as my stiff new shoes. (They've been *great*!!) Clarkie came in 5th, ahead of me, at about 1:17. I'm in good company. =)

For those of you unfamiliar with bike racing, the Kilo is by-far the most dreaded event. The next shortest is the 200m, which is intense, but not very long (10-14 seconds for most racers.)

Then there's the Pursuit, which allows you to get into a nice rhythm, and just ride it out.

The Kilo is *everything* you've got, for 1000m. (Or 0.621 miles.) Go try it some time! Find yourself a nice, flat stretch of road this distance, and ride it as hard as you possibly can!!! (And ride it like a track bike, don't change gears!)

You'll find it goes something like this:

FIRST THIRD: Feels pretty good! You're flying along at, say, 53kph - woohoo!
SECOND THIRD: Oh...legs are starting to slow down...lungs are starting to work hard...suddenly not feeling so good, all knowing that there's still the..:
FINAL THIRD: You want to die. Or fall. It would be less painful. You're swimming in lactate. Your eyes have gone cross. You can feel your lungs in your throat. Your legs are seizing up..you feel like you're pushing squares with your legs.

It's always fun to watch this event, to see just how long someone can keep their strength up, because they *always* slow at the end. It's a total ride of attrition...against your body.

So i did my Kilo, broke my previous PB by 2 seconds..and i was left a hurtin' unit. I *really* shouldn't have done that.....

Final race for me was the Miss'N'Out, which i usually enjoy.. There were about 11 riders, and i was maybe the 5th to be tossed out the back-end...i just had nothing in my legs to give. I believe i finished 8th (7th for Provincial purposes...there are non-BC riders participating.)

That was my day! Below are a couple more pics, i need to sleeeeeep!! HUGE day for me tomorrow..yikes..


Me, waiting for the start of the Miss'n'Out.
Directly behind me is Scott Laliberte, who won the race,
lapping the final racers!
He also had a hole in his shorts
and we could totally see his butt crack...classy, Scott! ;)


Dudes from my team - Dr. Clarkie, Officer Vinko, Sgt. Keith and..uh..Matt!