This year has been a great year for cycling and the Centurion is what I was working towards all season. This season has been my best season since I have started riding with well over 5000km on the road (plus countless hours on the trainer that I am trying to forget about). In addition, I have already done a number of races starting with the Steaming Nostril way back in March so I felt confident heading into Centurion this year. However, last year I just rode the C50 to finish but this year my plan was to race it which made it a little more stressful.
Even though I knew I was more prepared than last year I still find the time leading up to a race incredibly stressful. I was constantly thinking about what I need to bring, planning my nutrition, eating well leading up to the event, hydrating, tapering my training just right, bike repairs, what tires to run (especially with all the flat tires I had in the last couple of weeks), am I getting sick and the list just keeps on going.
I also wanted to make sure everything on my bike and my legs were ready for the race so the day before the race I convinced my Dad (Fred M) to do a test run of grey Road 19. I have never felt better riding this hill and actually felt pretty good once I got to the top. I wasn't pushing myself at all but managed to grab a personal record for this climb - by well over a minute. So I was feeling really good about the race - then I had another flat tire on the way back - thanks more stress. I thought about my options for a few hours at least - just fix the flat or replace a nearly brand new tire. I decided to replace the tire and hope for the best racing on untested equipment - great!
Since I decided to race the C50 this year I needed to get to the front of the starting corral which meant lining up at 6:45 and waiting 45 minutes for the race to start. This is way too early (for me) for a proper warm-up and waiting 45 minutes is more than long enough to erase any sort of warm-up I might time for. So my warm-up consisted of riding the 1.5km from where we were staying to to the start line and waiting.
I lined up just a couple rows from the start line with Brent and a few others I have ridden with from the Waterloo Cycling Club. From where I was I got a great view of the U23 Prospect Challenge Riders start and I was just behind former Olympian Simon Whitfield and cycling legend Bob Roll! It was great to roll out with two athletes of this caliber and say I was able to ride "with" them even if it was only for a little bit.
The start of this event is amazing! The gun goes off and all you hear is 1300 riders clicking into their pedals and get ready to roll. Quickly after the gun went off a lot of chaos followed. The "neutral" roll out itself was not the smoothest roll out I have been a part of. A lot of quick accelerations, rapid slowing even stopping and one guy even managed to crash into the starting gate - I am still confused how this is possible.
The race quickly sorted itself out when we hit Grey Road 19 and started climbing. I had lost Brent during the neutral roll out but quickly found him when he, unfortunately, dropped a chain right at the start of the climb. I managed to stick with the second or third fastest group on the road to the top of Grey Road 19 and I was feeling really good. The group I was with was very large and strong. We cruised along picking up many small groups along the way and rarely going below 40km/h until we hit the KOM climb.
When we hit the KOM climb I was still feeling really good as I was drinking and eating everything I had planned. I knew if I had any chance of doing well I really needed to stick with this group to the top of the KOM. Quickly at the start of the climb our group broke in two and I was fortunate to find myself just at the back of the faster group. I hung with this group until the very last little steep section of the climb - I was just a few bike lengths off the back but it was more than enough that I wouldn't see this group again.
Along the way I put in a number of big efforts to try and get back and worked with a few small groups of riders but essentially was on my own. In retrospect I should have waited up for another group to catch me but I kept thinking that I could catch them. By the time another group caught me, which happened to be a rather large group that Brent was riding in, I was cooked. Brent's group caught me and I tried to hang on but but this was right near the bottom of the first climb into Ravena and I just didn't have the legs to ride with this group.
By the time I was halfway up the final climb I actually started to find my rhythm again and was feeling really good. I reeled in a couple of riders and we formed a nice group of about 10. Two of us took turns pulling the group and I lead the group all the way back down Grey Road 19. This downhill makes every single pedal stroke of the entire year worth while! There is nothing like flying down a freshly paved road at nearly 83km/h (according to Strava) on a bike!
Once we got to the bottom of the hill no one really seemed to be interested in setting the pace (or maybe they were saving their legs for an "exciting" sprint for 250th place?) so I jumped on the front and pulled as hard as I could. This year I really wanted to make sure I put everything I had into this race and felt I did that. I finished in 244th of over 1300 riders and just 20 minutes back the winners.
Even though I knew I was more prepared than last year I still find the time leading up to a race incredibly stressful. I was constantly thinking about what I need to bring, planning my nutrition, eating well leading up to the event, hydrating, tapering my training just right, bike repairs, what tires to run (especially with all the flat tires I had in the last couple of weeks), am I getting sick and the list just keeps on going.
I also wanted to make sure everything on my bike and my legs were ready for the race so the day before the race I convinced my Dad (Fred M) to do a test run of grey Road 19. I have never felt better riding this hill and actually felt pretty good once I got to the top. I wasn't pushing myself at all but managed to grab a personal record for this climb - by well over a minute. So I was feeling really good about the race - then I had another flat tire on the way back - thanks more stress. I thought about my options for a few hours at least - just fix the flat or replace a nearly brand new tire. I decided to replace the tire and hope for the best racing on untested equipment - great!
Since I decided to race the C50 this year I needed to get to the front of the starting corral which meant lining up at 6:45 and waiting 45 minutes for the race to start. This is way too early (for me) for a proper warm-up and waiting 45 minutes is more than long enough to erase any sort of warm-up I might time for. So my warm-up consisted of riding the 1.5km from where we were staying to to the start line and waiting.
I lined up just a couple rows from the start line with Brent and a few others I have ridden with from the Waterloo Cycling Club. From where I was I got a great view of the U23 Prospect Challenge Riders start and I was just behind former Olympian Simon Whitfield and cycling legend Bob Roll! It was great to roll out with two athletes of this caliber and say I was able to ride "with" them even if it was only for a little bit.
The start of this event is amazing! The gun goes off and all you hear is 1300 riders clicking into their pedals and get ready to roll. Quickly after the gun went off a lot of chaos followed. The "neutral" roll out itself was not the smoothest roll out I have been a part of. A lot of quick accelerations, rapid slowing even stopping and one guy even managed to crash into the starting gate - I am still confused how this is possible.
The race quickly sorted itself out when we hit Grey Road 19 and started climbing. I had lost Brent during the neutral roll out but quickly found him when he, unfortunately, dropped a chain right at the start of the climb. I managed to stick with the second or third fastest group on the road to the top of Grey Road 19 and I was feeling really good. The group I was with was very large and strong. We cruised along picking up many small groups along the way and rarely going below 40km/h until we hit the KOM climb.
When we hit the KOM climb I was still feeling really good as I was drinking and eating everything I had planned. I knew if I had any chance of doing well I really needed to stick with this group to the top of the KOM. Quickly at the start of the climb our group broke in two and I was fortunate to find myself just at the back of the faster group. I hung with this group until the very last little steep section of the climb - I was just a few bike lengths off the back but it was more than enough that I wouldn't see this group again.
Along the way I put in a number of big efforts to try and get back and worked with a few small groups of riders but essentially was on my own. In retrospect I should have waited up for another group to catch me but I kept thinking that I could catch them. By the time another group caught me, which happened to be a rather large group that Brent was riding in, I was cooked. Brent's group caught me and I tried to hang on but but this was right near the bottom of the first climb into Ravena and I just didn't have the legs to ride with this group.
By the time I was halfway up the final climb I actually started to find my rhythm again and was feeling really good. I reeled in a couple of riders and we formed a nice group of about 10. Two of us took turns pulling the group and I lead the group all the way back down Grey Road 19. This downhill makes every single pedal stroke of the entire year worth while! There is nothing like flying down a freshly paved road at nearly 83km/h (according to Strava) on a bike!
Once we got to the bottom of the hill no one really seemed to be interested in setting the pace (or maybe they were saving their legs for an "exciting" sprint for 250th place?) so I jumped on the front and pulled as hard as I could. This year I really wanted to make sure I put everything I had into this race and felt I did that. I finished in 244th of over 1300 riders and just 20 minutes back the winners.
I was a little disappointed, at first, with my KOM climb (even if it was a personal record) but I still felt great about my race and know exactly what I am ready to work on next. Even with all of the stress, all of the training and the pain while for some reason I can't wait to do it all again next year.