Nothing a little R&R can't take care of

So, how slow was I this weekend? Well, if you look closely, that there, ladies and gentlemen, is a snail who not only managed to catch me but then proceeded to drop me on one of the many rollers out on the course. My excuses are we were going into the wind and I was pulling the whole time AND is that shell even UCI legal? Super light and aero, there's no way that thing has enough protection to withstand a crash.

Not sure when the shitty feelings stared but when I was barely hanging on to any surges and found myself off the back about 5km into the race, something wasn't quite right. Maybe a little overtrained? Underrested? Who knows, or better yet, who cares? What I know is that this week is going to be super easy, tomorow I'll try some 30/30s to get some top-end training in before the crit this weekend and every other day will be very easy spins. Tuesday night was another brutal attempt at intensity, I'm not worried though, I'm bound to string together a few bad days in a row here and there. It's all part of the learning process. At least it's going much, much, much better than last year.

Can you say winter training partners?

Some awesome interval sessions going down along the Feeder in Wainfleet, a big question I have is are those beavers or muskrats that have their little dams in there? I didn't think we had beavers this far south but they look like they have flat tails and buck teeth.

Hopefully I start to come around by this weekend. I'm pretty sure I was at my best form of all time last week and was loving every minute on the bike. I'll post up before the T.O crit with what I hope are words of happiness.

Round 2 - Woodnewton

Sick weekend started at casa De Cal with all the boys on the Lib! team loading our stuff into Schmidt's van, a couple hours or so of driving and we were at the venue. We remembered to shut the car doors this time during the pre-ride and all went well. Some good singletrack, good climbs to go hard and a couple drag race sections to get to the singletrack in front. Just like last year, we hit up subway for some fuel and Vince's for some groceries. The team chefs cooked up some potent fuel at a cool B&B on Scugog Island. The night was super chill, just sittin around, eating and I even got in a foam roll session. Won't be long now before I get myself one of them fancy things.

Morning of the race was awesome with about 6 pounds of french toast in us and seeing Contador rip a mountain stage apart we were all set. Good vibes on the drive there, pulled in with plenty of time to watch Meg take a win in the cadet expert field after opting for the rock garden which gave her a big enough gap to hold to the line. Then, with the help of JC, I got my bike dialed and I was ready to go. Warm up felt good, some spinning, some efforts, it's all pretty much the same.

Had a good start position, I was riding behind Peter Glassford for a bit then by myself. The Lapierre train came rolling by and I hopped on for a bit, turns out my stop was the first one and I was all alone again. I was hurting by the end of the first lap, not being able to hold anyone's wheel that came by. I don't even remember who came by me and where I was position wise, I just kept a pace that wouldn't blow me up before the finish. I think it was Tim Carleton that came by me at the end of the third lap, we battled for the 4th lap, caught someone, now it was starting to get funner.

Fifth lap was by far my best one, I dropped that group and just kept hammering everywhere I could. The tight sloppy singletrack section was probably the worst riding I've seen from myself in a while but it was slow for everyone anyways so no worries. Not sure when it really started to come around but next thing I knew I was bridging up to Jamie Wagler, then a few other guys, then Simon Wagler just before the last climb. I punched it and just kept hammering into the last descent, I didn't want the race to end because I was finally going like I was the first lap. I'm very happy with 20th because my goal for the first half of the season (pre-Nationals) was to get in the top 20s and because I get some points.

Another successful o-cup for the team with Meg's win, Schmidt (huge thanks for the weekend of driving!) coming in 6th, a solid result in such a stacked field. De Cal always doing his thing, only 3 spots away from a top 10. Sara got herself on the podium again at Bike the Bruce, should be some fun racing this weekend on the pavement.

Mansfield XC O-Cup

First race in the big boy field went as well as I could have hoped, my goal was to start off at a pace that won't blow me up then pick people off as the race went on and I did just that. Here's a video of the start with some halarious commentary from mama De Cal.

The guy leading our group into the first set of singletrack was going pretty slow then clipped a tree, I ended up at the front after that then caught up to the next group before the first of two steep climbs. Ended up on Soutter's wheel before the third lap, nearing the end of lap 3 I got away from him, then the next guy up the trail, then the next guy. Now I was getting pumped, maybe a little too much because I came into the technical(ish) descent and had a pretty sick crash. Lost the two guys I passed and ended up back with Soutter.

Last lap wasn't too exciting, I got away from Soutter on the start climb. I was feeling surprisingly god on that climb byt the third lap, big ring until the steeper part. Then it was all about making my way around lapped traffic efficiently. I caught another guy and dropped him near the last few trails, he caught me on the descent but I stayed in front coming into the last cyclocross turns. Or at least I should have been, he cut me off big time on the first of the turns, I had to slow down enough to lose his wheel and I couldn't take the next 2 corners quick enough to catch him, oh well, I'll crush him at Woodnewton. The only shitty part is that was #20 Ontario finisher so the last position to get points. This video would be awful evidence because it misses the most important part but I'll post it anyways.

Solid day for Lib! with De Cal getting a good position to go up if history repeats itself. Meg on the podium and Schmidt in the top 10 in a very strong junior field. Sara was up there at Springbank, her first year in Elite and she's killing it! Again, huge thanks to the guys at Lib! for the last minute hook up. Had a skipping cassette during pre-ride Saturday (thanks to De Cal for the drive!), I thought it had plenty of life left and would be good for a new chain... nope.

Anyways, does anyone know if ZM Crit is on? If not, I'll have a good 2 weeks to focus on round 2 of the XC series, if it's on, it'll be a great time.