A Long Weekend of Racing

This past Victoria long weekend I had my third Alberta Cup Race and first marathon race near Stoney Plain. As well Nadine's Parents and Grandma were over for a visit and to help out with some gardening.

Sunday was the Bacon ABA Cup #3, for the expert men it was 4 laps around a 6.3 km course with a short prolog. Our start time was @ 2:15 which allowed things to warm up to decent racing temperature. As planned I went hard off the start and got myself in the top 5, but not long after I slipped on a root and went of the trail and was dropped to the back (I think 15th). Luckily I was feeling really strong and immediately started attacking and worked my way back to the top 5 by the end of the first lap. On the second lap I continued to move up and passed Simon for 2nd, but that didn't last. I held that position till half way through the 3rd lap, but I was starting to feel the earlier work and was slowing down. Simon took back 2nd and soon put a gap between us that I would never make up. I finished the race in 3rd happy with my come back, but curious how things would have turned out if I didn't make that early mistake. First went to a fellow teammate Brian Robinson.

The next morning was the Trans. Stoney Supper Hero Challenge, which was the first marathon race of the ABA season. We would be lapping a modified version of the Bacon course in reverse for 6 hrs. It was a less technical course, but nice to ride something different. We started at 10:15 with nicer weather then the day before. I did a poor job watching who was in front of me and never new where I was in the race. I think it was lap 11 when Gabor Csonka (finished 1st) lapped me and lap 13 when Jon Nutbrown (finished 2nd) lapped me. I also new Ryan Correy (finshed 3rd) was in front of me riding strong, so at the best I would be 4th, but figured there was more ahead of me and was happy to just finish with a good effort. The top three guys did 15 laps with Pat Doyle finishing 4th with 14 laps and myself in 5th with 14 laps. I was happy with my result and effort. I was doing some experimenting with food in preparation for 24 hrs solo and had really bad stomach cramps for the last 5 laps and know a few more things that don't work for me.

All in all it was a good weekend, I believe my 3rd place at the Bacon was fast enough to count towards being upgraded to Elite, now I just need a win... The Tran. Stoney was a good test and I think I have come away with a few more things to add to my 24 hrs menu.

Thanks to all of the volunteers, organizers, feeder and racers for a great weekend.