This Sunday we are getting back to normal with just our regular morning group ride happening. We will be just six weeks away from the 100km Kate's Kause Big Summer Group Ride and BBQ and a couple months away from Centurion so it is time to ramp up the distance a bit. This weeks route was once one of my favorite routes in the area and I still really like it. The only real issue is that the a portion of 8th line is getting to be less than ideal for road bikes but not yet unrideable. The route is less than 40km but there is still a good amount of climbing with it. We will basically go up hill until we finish a nice steep climb halfway through. It then turns downhill from there and is nearly all down hill from there - well except for the rolling hills of Middlebrook that we all love. I hope to see everyone out! | |
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This year was my first year racing in the Tour de Waterloo and it could not have been better! The event itself was incredibly well organized for an event with over 600 riders in it. The route was perfect and included some of the greatest roads in our area. Every corner was well signed and each intersection was marshaled by police. Although, I had enough food and drink with me, the aid stations seemed well stocked and had many eager volunteers ready to hand out anything the riders needed. The weather started out warm and humid and just kept getting warmer throughout the day - I was happy I was only riding the 70km route and not the full 130km as I initially thought about. The start itself was interesting as both the 130km riders and the 70km riders started together; this mix would be a huge help for me. I mad sure to get to the start line nice and so I could line up with some of the very fast 130km riders with hopes of hanging with them for the first 40km until our routes parted ways. So after listening to a number of speeches we were off with a nearly 500 rider peloton riding together for a "neutral roll-out" (a very fast and not so neutral roll-out) out of Waterloo. I managed to stay relatively close to the front of this group. I worked hard to stick with my plan of riding behind some very fast riders but, unfortunately, when we got to the short but steep hills of Weimer line the peleton split and I was on the wrong side. I rode past a pile of riders and I tried a number of times to bridge back to the lead group but it wasn't going to happen. I quickly found a nice group of riders all willing to do a little work and we managed to maintain a nice high pace of 36-38km/h. We picked up many riders along the way that were consistently getting dropped from the lead group and soon we had a very large group of riders on the road. At this point our group picked up Brent and I got to talk with him for just a few minutes as not long after this we were ready to split up the 130km riders and the 70km riders. After the split I was in a group of nearly 20 riders and I did my best to make sure we kept the pace nice and high so no one else would catch onto our group. With this pace we ended up losing a few along the way and ended up with 10 riders when we hit the Hawkesville Hill. I felt pretty good climbing the hill but still was near the back of our group when we got over the hill which was a bad place to be as we were turning into a headwind immediately after the climb and would continue into this until we were back in Waterloo. Four of our strongest had managed a decent gap on the rest of us and I knew that I would have no chance if I didn't catch up to that group of four. So I put in a big effort and pulled myself back up to the group of four nut also pulled a number of others along with me. We now had a solid group of 8 riders which worked hard together to the finish. With 1km left to go there is a small little kicker left which one rider used to attack our group and three others managed to tag onto. I put in my best effort to catch those riders but was not strong enough to do it alone and missed catching them by a few seconds. From the start of the race I suspected that there would be a number of 70km riders in the fastest peloton on the road and it turns out there was a group of about 12 riders that pulled in about 6 minutes before our group. Overall I got 18th place and was 4th in my age category. I couldn't have asked for a better race or conditions. Can't wait for next year!
As this is a busy time for cycling events around our community we once again will have a number of options for the team. On Sunday, Brent and myself will be riding in the Tour de Waterloo put on by CycleWaterloo. This is a GranFondo style event with 3 distances to choose from (40km, 70km and 130km). It will have a mass start with neutral roll-out, marshaled course and chip timing. I will be riding the 70km route and Brent will be taking on the 130km route. If you are interested in joining us please note that online registration closes very soon and day-of registration is cash only. For more details click here. OR
Even though it was pouring rain when we started and still raining when we finished 3 fathers made it out to our Sunday morning ride. We did the route as planned and it was a great little ride. Next week I will be at theTour de Waterloo and once again Fred M has agreed to lead the group.
The Kate's Kause Cycling Team consists of some amazing people that work so hard to help raise money for Kate's Kause and we try to reward these riders for their hard work. We offer free training rides, a free team jersey and a bag filled with some great cycling swag, but this year we wanted to do a little bit more.
So when you arrive at Centurion just look for the Kate's Kause tent in the expo area and Trisha and Jerry will be there eager to help you have the best experience possible.
With some of our riders out at the Tour de Grand this weekend we still managed to get 4 other riders out on a beautiful Sunday morning for our regular group ride. The ride itself was challenging as they headed out to Hawkesville from Elmira but they managed to conquer the hill and it was smooth sailing back home.
With routes ranging from 10km to 160km there is a distance perfect for any ability. I lined up with many members of the Waterloo Cycling Club in a group of at least 50 people strong. We maintained a fast pace around 38km/h for the first part of the ride until there was a fairly nasty crash involving two riders. The first rider to go down was seemed ok but I am not sure if he continued his ride or not. The second rider managed a very graceful flip over the handle bars and got up pretty slowly but was determined to catch the front half of our group; after the race we found out he had broken his saddle and cracked helmet ... and this is why it is always a good idea to wear a helmet! Our group, behind the crash, worked hard to catch the leading bunch of riders and picked up many dropped riders along the way. Eventually after the second rest stop we managed to catch the group (only because they stopped to replenish water). About the time we caught this group there was a bunch of confusion with route markings and our group (along with many other groups) missed a couple of turns and needed to back-track to get on course. Even though we missed a small section of the course our back-tracking efforts managed to keep the distance the same. Overall, this was a very well organized event and in most cases the route was very well marked. There could have been some additional marshals at some of the busier intersections but for the cost of the event and the number of volunteers running it I really cannot complain. The route itself was very flat with lots of aid stations along the way which is perfect for those interested in riding their first long distance ride (100km or 160km) or for those interested in in a really fast group ride. I will definitely be riding this event again next year! |
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