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Randomness & Canada Cup |
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Written by Andrew Freye
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Wednesday, 16 May 2007 |
 Sorry it has been a while since I have last given everyone an update. Let's see, a lot has happened lately. Back in April I did the ever so famous Fat Tire Classic in Farmington, CT. I think this is my 8th year going to this race, the longest stretch of going to any race in my career. There is one thing you can usually count on with the Fat Tire Classic and that is some extreme weather. It seems to be either way hot, way cold, or down pour rain.
This year was different, cloudy skies and temps around 55. Race started out well, 15 pro’s or so and me leading. My stomach got a little uncomfortable and the legs a little heavy. I was floating around 4/5 for the majority of the race until the last lap when my stomach went from my stomach to my throat. This caused me to slow way down and finish in 6th place. I was a little bummed because I won this race last year and I know my performance could have been way better. Thinking back on it I should have just puked on the side of the trail and unleashed my inner warrior for a fast last lap attack and won the thing since the leader was no more than 30 seconds ahead of me going into the last lap.
Schools out for summer!! Well, for the weekend, summer class started on the 14th! That’s right, finals are done and the grades are being sent in. I checked out my residents, did my finals week office hours and all my other pointless RA stuff and I am officially all moved out of the dorms! And the good news is that I won’t be returning! That’s right after 4 years in Dickey-Wood and 3 years of being an RA I am done. I will be graduating in December, so I figured I should just go ahead take a step into the real world and get an apartment. But in order to graduate I need to take some classes and I am doing two online classes this summer and a two-day seminar on sports nutrition for a total of 9 credits, not to shabby.
English please? This seems to be the most common phrase I have been saying lately. Finding a condo in a French dominate speaking territory is not too easy. Turns out the Canada Cup doesn’t like to give a lot of detail or information on lodging etc. on their races. It took several phone calls which most of them ended up with the person on the receiving line mumbling sorry, bye and hanging up, to try and find a condo. After locating a place and corresponding through email done in an online translator I was able to get a house for the weekend. Fellow young Bikeman.com teammate Kirk Turner and his pops joined me in the first Canada Cup of 2007. I met KT and hopped in their very blue Dodge Sprinter for a fun and rough ride up to Quebec. If you ever thought the roads in Maine sucked, go to Quebec!
The condo rental worked out great, it was a 100+ year old house right on a river. The house had been recently redone and was in great shape. The beds were new and the down blankets were great! There was even some French Saint decoration saying a prayer over our food in the house. Turns out I couldn’t read it so it probably didn’t do me any good which I could have used some luck for the race.
The French sure do know how to design a good cross-country course. They might be lacking in information on the race, where and how to register, directions etc.. but the course made up for all of that. Adam Craig might not think too highly of the urban/west coast races but if he were in Quebec for the weekend he would have loved it. Short steep open climbs, rough rocky flat sections and fast twisty rocky root covered down hills describes this course. Gearing up for the race the car temp reading was 45 degrees F so I pulled out the long sleeve skinsuit and the wool high top Salsa Socks. Because of the lack of national points I have accumulated in no previous attempts at a Canadian national event I was starting at the back with KT. About two minutes into the race I found myself in the trees and in dead last again. I told myself not to panic and to get up take your time. About 2 minutes after going again (4min into the race) I was climbing and wondering why the climb was so difficult. Looking down I noticed I was in the big ring. Stupidly acting I tried to down shift while smashing my gears. This lead to dropping my chain etc.. Again I found myself dead last! No more stupid mistakes, instead I got to play the I am faster than you game! This game is quite entertaining when you yell in English and the person has no idea what you are saying, you pass them like they are standing still and yell back “Merci Bouque” (two of the 8 words I know in French). This went on for 30 guys or so for the first two laps then I found myself in no mans land. No mans land is the area where you are not with the top fast guys, but ahead of the slower back crew, an area I don’t like to be in. I stuck it out by myself for another 2 laps when on my 5th and final lap I last two or three positions. I started to get tired and didn’t have it in me to unleash the inner warrior. Overall I finished mid pack, 26th out of I think 60 starters, not too bad, especially after a stressful week of finals.
Now its more unpacking and finalizing the logistics of Canada Cup #2 which is this upcoming weekend at Bromont. After this first race I am hoping the second one will be just as fun and just as great of a course. Bromont is going to be a UCI 1 event, so my guess is the competition will be bigger and faster. On top of that I also hope to increase my placement with a top twenty finish. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more frequent updates now that the web site is up and running!
A
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