Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Down to the County by Train I Went to a Wheelsucking Paradise.


Close examination of this photo will reveal a) a wrinkly finish line, b) the presence of deep section carbon rims and minimally spoked wheels ($2000/wheel?) being bested by aluminum box rims ($500/wheel), and c) my mysterious absence.
Among other world events this Sunday past was the Milford Cycling Weekend's Ontario Cup road races out in Prince Edward County. Le temps etait bon, le parcours etait glisse et écoulement, et les coureurs etait sans courages. The Senior 4/Master 3 race amounted to a paltry, measly 47 kms; no escape suceeded due to a total lack of initiative, and a wheelsuckers' paradise strolled along at 29 km/hr, or 31 km/hr, or lined out (lined out!) at 35 km/hr with me pulling at the front. What a bad joke.
In bike racing slower is not necessarily safer: everyone rides closer together to the point where one big guy to my immediate left was pedalling away while his quad smacked into my arm repeatedly. The yellow line rule was to blame - all of us confined to the right-hand side of the road, on the narrowest country roads there are in this province. The finish line was on a wider road but the rest of the 15 km rectangle was classic country road with each lane about 10 feet wide, which meant the only route to the front from the back of the pack was the dirt shoulder. Cheap.
By the final two kms I'd had it, and launched an attack in full view of the 30 km/hr main field. As I launched into the sprint with head down the chain came off immediately and I was reduced to pulling over and untangling it. Luckily, the pace was so slow I was able to catch back on, and finished tenth in a hot sprint across a bridge and up a slight hill won by the road hogs you see in the above photo. At least it was a good excuse to spend a weekend in the country.

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