Cyclo-cross Nationals: MUD, SAND, GRIT



A Little Wet

November 15th, 2012...and beyond, 
After great success at cyclo-cross provincial championships, Will (Nub) Elliott and I made our way out west. Our destination: Surrey, British Columbia and Cyclo-cross national championships. 

The weather was as we predicted, slightly wet. It was a solid decision to come across the country with mud tires, the forecast was only rain. 

Once arriving in Vancouver, Will and I made our way onto the transit system. We had a bit of a journey ahead of us to get to Surrey. Might I add that the Vancouver transit system is very good and convenient to a pair of underage guys trying to get around. We arrived at our hotel, built our bikes and went to bed. 

The next day was jammed packed with exciting Jackie Chan movies and some homework. We left for the course at 3pm to meet up with our coach's sister, "The" Wendy Simms, to pre-ride. Pre-riding went well as it was only damp. The course was barely destroyed by the end of the day, but that would soon change. The night before the race it rained and rained.

Race day was cold and wet. It wasn't raining in the morning but as Nub and I began to get ready to leave the skies opened up. This was going to be a very cold and wet day. As we made our way out to the course, the spare clothes that we brought got wet. During some pre-race laps we noticed that the course had changed to a great extent. Most of the off-camber was un-rideable as it was just too slick. The race would become very interesting now.

As we lined up behind the elite women the tension gained. There was a solid amount of water on the ground at the start. Up the road, over a curb and into barriers was the first 500m. It was going to be carnage. As the start got underway, a couple wobbles here and there, everything was good so far. Surviving the turn, the curb and the barriers was a great success. Next was just full gas, slip and slide, and elbows. Good racing I’d say. The group quickly broke up and I found myself in the lead group of three. This was going excellent. The course and conditions were such that pack riding offered little value. Riders in front would kick up way too much mud and riders behind would slide into you on turns. Because of these factors the ‘group’ wasn’t much of a group and the lead changed consistently. By the final two laps we had dropped another; two riders in the lead and I was one of them. Superb! With the final section the make moves approaching I gunned it! With no resistance from my opposition I figured I had it. Apparently he knew better. As we were running across one of the off camber sections I lost my footing in the mud and he passed me. Bad news for me as my cables we so clogged with grit my gears wouldn’t have been changing fast enough for a sprint finish. However, as I got back on in pursuit, he fell. It was super unfortunate to have to pass a fellow racer while he was on the ground tangled in the tape, I truly felt bad, but this is racing. Pulling out of that section and down the path, having only a bit of a lead, the sprint had to be mine. Some solid effort put in that day – came across the line 1^st. I had finally achieved my goal to get a national champion jersey. It was amazing!

Big thank you to Cycle Solutions/Angry Johnny’s Racing and Trek Store Barrie for helping with support, it was greatly appreciated.

Next, WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS! Yes, you read that right; I will be attending Cyclo-cross World Championships in Louisville, Kentucky in February. Thanks to everyone for your support and stay tuned.