Ontario GP

Race two of the season was in Ontario on Sunday February 27th. I felt good about the race because the course was the same as last year’s races. I did ok at Ontario last year, I was able to stay in the pack and not get dropped on the same course.

I was also excited because I had a lot of teammates in the same race. This was a CAT 4/5 race and there are a lot of CAT 5 guys on my team. I tried to organize a plan but they had not raced the course before and were a little hesitant.

The race started out bad in general. On the second lap someone dropped a water bottle right in the center of the pack. It bounced off my tire and several other people rode over it. I made the same mistake on this course last year. I wonder if he went back and got the water bottle? I did and I used it at this race.

A little more than halfway through the race someone went down. I couldn’t see where the person was so I slammed on the brakes and just waited for the sea of racers to split. When they finally did I saw a guy lying on the ground with his hands covering his face. It felt like things were going in slow motion because I literally slid past him, tires locked up, missing his helmet by inches.

The same lap 3 turns later another racer got a flat. Once again everyone was on the breaks expecting to find someone on the ground. Luckily he made it to the edge of the road without going down. The race slowed a little after that and an ambulance was on the course for a lap getting the downed rider to the hospital.

Before I realized it there were only three laps to go. I didn’t even hear the call for 5 laps to go. I started looking for my teammates but couldn’t find any. I started moving closer and closer to the front. I felt pretty good and was getting excited. With one lap to go the speed really picked up. The field started to split and I was in the front group.

There was another increase in speed around corner 4 of the 6 turn course and a few more riders peeled off. When we made the last turn there were maybe 20 of us in the lead group. I was stoked because I was up there. Then I darted to the inside and tried to sprint to the line. Unfortunately I was still about 800 meters from the finish line on a slight uphill with a head wind.

I past almost every rider, I had my head buried and I was digging deep. I looked up looking for the finish line and saw that it was still 200 meters away. I dug a little deeper and pushed harder. I could see the pack passing on the right. I tried to get behind someone but I couldn’t do it. I finished 15th out of what they claimed to be 80 starters. The placements went to 64 but from my understanding a lot of people were pulled out for being off the pace.

I am excited about the finish and disappointed at the same time. I knew that I needed to sit in as long as possible. I knew that I couldn’t make it to the finish line on my own from that far out. I told myself that I needed to race smart. Yet I saw that straight to the finish line and couldn’t contain myself.

I am excited though because I was right there, I was with the lead group on the bell lap. I know deep down that can compete with these guys. Given the chance to be there again I know that I could race a little smarter and finish in a better position.

A person has to earn a lot of points or have 28 pack finishes to move from CAT 4 to CAT 3. That is a lot of racing. That is at least 2 years of racing and a full schedule at that. Most people train for a year before they start racing. That means realistically they have 2 or 3 years of race training compared to my 1. Yet I am still up there challenging at the end of the race.