After settling into our Multiple Trek Canada Rooms, it was Friday and time to do a few laps on the course... a course that I have raced twice before and have always really enjoyed... quite possibly the best course I have raced..... and it was even better this year!!!
Awesome features, tough climbs, sketchy downhill chutes..... so much fun!!! And as far as I could tell... all the Big Dog from previous Nationals were in attendance.... making for a real show down!!
Friday afternoon added another competitor to the race - Mother Nature. She dropped a whole lot of rain on the course Friday evening and overnight, and it didn't let up for the Elite Women's race on Saturday morning.... or even the Elite Men's race in the afternoon. Super Shout Out to the other Trek Canada racers for their performances - check them out at our Team Webpage at www.trekcanada.ca
The rain came down so hard on Saturday night before my race day that we lost power in the hotel.... gonna be fun!!
Once race time arrived, the rain had stopped, but the damage had been done. A lot of slick and sticky mud would make it a great battle, and we were off for the starting charge up the long gravel climb of the start loop. I knew that Rob would want to lead this out, and he was followed by Eric Jobin (usual battle partner) and Brian McKewon from New Brunswick who I have battled with before. I was 4th wheel as we started the first lap, and noticed a small gap starting to form to Rob, so I jumped up to him and looked back to see that no-one else had bridged across.
Rob and Barnes... pretty common place...
We exchanged the lead a couple times, and knew that I would have to dig deep to stay with Rob on the long singletrack climb since he typically as more seated power than I do. The first time up though wasn't that bad... and I was happy about that!!! We swapped the lead a few more times before I took over at the start of the 2nd lap and made an effort to keep the pace high and maybe force some errors. I went pretty good up the single track climb, and noticed that I couldn't hear Rob's breathing when I got to the double track at the top. A quick glance back showed a gap of about 10 bike lengths, so I took Emily Batty's advice and used that double track to throw an attack to break away. It was earlier in the race than I had hoped for ... but if Rob was having a bad day, then I had to take advantage of it!!
I finished the 2nd lap of 5 with a 30sec lead, and focused on riding smooth in the singletrack to avoid mistakes and putting as many people between us on the double track. With a lap to go, my lead was almost 2min, and I realized that it was my race to lose. I just had to keep it upright and with air in the tires. It's a nice feeling to have a gap at the end knowing that the "Real" work was put in a few laps ago, so I continued to be aggressive on the doubletrack and flowed the trees nice and smooth....
Came across the line with a 2min lead for another National Championships.... over a local rider and McKewan in 3rd.... Rob really did have a tough day finishing 4th.
Happy to have conquered the mud, rocks, hills and competition.... and thankful for all those who help me get there. Amazing sponsors like Trek Bicycle Store, Hammer Nutrition, ESI Grips and Bontrager, a great wife and kids who yell at me while I race (I could almost here them 10hrs away!!) and a great Team of racers who take care of each other even when we can't be together.... Makes for an amazing Trek Canada Team!!!
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