Jon Barnes: Provincials - Laying it all down...

So Ontario Provincials happened the weekend before Labour Day (sorry for the late post - need to catch up on a few!!) back up in beautiful Collingwood at Highlands Nordic.... always a tough course with lots of climbing and some very rewarding singletrack descents. This year was no disappointment, with many course additions and some classic favorites!! The weather dried up througout the day after a previous day rain storm and made for great conditions and improving traction as the day went on.....

As always, Rob went hard right from the gun... up the short grunt climb to the long grunt climb... and after bridging up before the singletrack, I decided to see what I could make of the day... the legs felt good, the tires were great, and it's always worth the risk to Go 'Til You Blow at a bigger race like Provs....
So it was Barnes at the front, pushing the pace and quickly creating a gap between Rob and I and the rest of the field.... and I did my best to attack all the uphills while laying off the brakes in the singletrack...

There were a few times where I was able to get a gap in the trees, only to have it stolen away by early lapped riders that forced me to ride slower than my preferred pace... After a few laps I knew that it was only a matter of time until I was able to get a gap that stuck since it seemed like I was having a strong day, and that gap came at the start of the 3rd lap... after the long flowing and fast singletrack to the kicker uphill I had just enough space to not be held up and stuff a few riders between us...

More and more lapped riders came and went as I kept pushing hard and ignoring the sore back and punched legs that wanted to cramp..... but a couple Hammer Gels and a Stubborn Attitude is all it takes to ignore those!!!
By half way through the last lap, I had caught Danny Sutter who was leading the 30-39 Master Category, and thought that I could use him as my Rider to Run Away From until my ambition was restricted by my ever nearing Self-Implosion.... a bit of tunnel vision and shivers told me to just hang on Danny's wheel and get to the finish in 1 piece!!!
After getting my Poop in a Group, I was able to hang with Danny and finish with a comfortable lead and another Provincial Champion Jersey to my name!!!