Snapping back to reality

After winning last Tuesday you would have thought that come this past weekend I would have been full of confidence, but I knew that with Sunday's race being a round of the Canada Cup series that it would be a step up altogether. My results in the Ontario Cup series -- of which this race was also round three -- has shown that already this year. But I did hope to go better personally and finish a bit higher than normal. What didn't didn't help though was the 9.30 a.m. start time of my race.

That isn't to use it a criticism of the scheduling. I was more than aware of why it was so early and I knew about it well in advance. But when you have a three month old who you delight in giving your attention too and you don't get to bed until near midnight the night before only for your alarm to buzz you awake at 6 a.m. you know you might be in a little trouble!

That was the case here and after a quick breakfast I was on the road for the hour and half drive north to the venue at Hardwood Ski and Bike in Oro, Ontario. I arrived in plenty of time, no problem there, but I probably hadn't eaten enough and I did feel tired. My warm up was lackluster at best and I was unable to get up here on the Saturday to practice the course and figure out what to expect around the next corner. While I felt good on the start line and over the first ten minutes of the first lap, it was only a matter of time.

My legs went dead, I lacked any real energy and the slippery conditions that didn't seem to suit the tires I had on my bike seen me fighting to keep the bike upright rather than get into any kind of rhythm. Due to riding the lap blind I hit a climb when I thought I might have a descent. I pushed hard on a hill only to realise it was longer than I thought and I needed to have paced myself better. Riding a mountain bike race without any prior knowledge of the lap and hoping to do well against those who do, is madness. By the end of the first lap I had been getting re-passed by the many I had moved ahead of on the first climb and the thought of anything else going upward repulsed me.

I got about two hundred yards past the start line and stopped.

I couldn't will myself to do another lap of the course, never mind two. Don't get me wrong, it was a good course and a challenging course, but that only served to expose my lack of good preparation. Had I been able to keep my first half of the first lap pace up, I'd have definitely had my best open race result of the year. I could say I went off from the gun too hard as usual and expended too much, but I genuinely felt good that first half a lap and but for a better nights sleep, more fluid taken on board and even a pre-ride the day before, I might have kept it up well into the final lap. I'll never know though.

After I informed the comissaire that number 147 was a DNF and I loaded the bike onto the back of the car and pulled out of there a couple of hours earlier than planned, I was angry at myself. Sometimes you just have a bad day. That's bike racing. I know that all too well, but it didn't change my disappointment.

When I first got my mountain bike last September, I vowed that I'd make it value for money by making sure I finished any race I started, yet here I was six events in racing on my new bike and I was climbing off. Why hadn't I taken a few minutes at the side of the track to compose myself and then rode the rest as a training ride? These questions you can't answer because your mind thinks different when your resting in your car on the ride home with a heart rate of 70 as opposed to gasping for air, HR pushing 185 and faced with two more laps knowing your body is tired and under fueled.

By the time I got home, showered, washed the bike, fed, and looked at my dismal laps stats on Strava and Garmin Connect, I decided to forget about it. I'd write this for the website at some point later in the week when I had gotten over it and I'd move on. Next race is the midweek series on Tuesday night again and I'll have to gain some redemption for myself. Win or not, I'll at least fuel up right, I'll warm up right, I know the course and baring my bike breaking down on me, I'll finish it. Then I'll turn my attention to round four of the O-Cup series this coming weekend and do the same again.