Tuesday 6 August 2013

Faster and/or Funner



The most common question I’ve heard lately is “Do you have any more races coming up?” I always assume people are asking about triathlon since I’ve been doing running races for so long that they only register in my mind as training days. But lately I’ve been excited to reply “I’m doing a bike race”. After a handful of cyclocross races over the last two years and listening to Rick regale me with stories of bike racing, I decided coming into this season that following my early Ironman I’d venture into a couple of road races. But my result at IML didn’t impress. Hold on road racing, I’ve got one more big triathlon to train for. OK, impressed. And then the body started to feel fatigued. So I cut back on training for a couple of weeks hoping I’d be fresh for the return of team J-Force at Sylvan Lake with my girl Ms. Reid. After going solo last year, I teamed up again for this year’s race. I managed to set PBs on the swim and run, while Erin hammered the bike leg, giving us a podium spot with 2nd team overall. Outcome? What was a disappointing start to the season with Alcatraz and Lanzarote (in regards to my performance, definitely NOT in regards to the races themselves, both of which I highly recommend) ended on a positive note with GWN and Sylvan. 

Okay, NOW cue the bike racing. I competed in the Tour de Bowness road race on Saturday. Well actually competed may be a strong word. But I did finish. After making a rookie mistake right off the start, I was stuck at the back of the group early on and soon learned that if you lose contact with the peloton, you better find some buddies real quick. Asides from that one mistake, I was pretty happy with my performance on the day. Funny how a similar result in triathlon would have left me disappointed. So will road racing and cyclocross ever reach that point of good enough to be disappointed, or will they continue to be the just-for-fun cousins of triathlon? I hope it’s a bit of both. But until then, I’ll look forward to the Prairie Roubaix road race, a Fall full of cyclocross, and Banff triathlon...this one just for fun.

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