It’s the start of a new week, generally I would be looking over what training I have planned, doing some stretching, recovery from the weekend’s racing, etc.  This week, however, I find myself unsure of what to do…I’m lost in the complete unknown.  This week, I have no training…the season has finally come to an end and although I have been looking forward to some time off, 2011 has been such a long season that I can’t quite remember what I’m supposed to do with myself now.  I’m thinking some fine home cooked food, and lot’s of time catching up with friends and family are in order though!

As for how the season finished up, there were certainly some good points and bad.  Yesterday was Paris-Tours and for those who don’t know, there is also a U23 version that covers almost all of the same route as the pros, and finishes a little before.  I have to say it was an incredible experience and lots of fun to compete in.  The only downer has been the amount of built up fatigue I’ve been carrying a good while now, and how an effort or race that would have been no problem earlier in the year, will now give me nightmares it is so horribly painful.  It’s as though my book of matches I have to burn went from a big box full, able to do hard efforts time and time again, to a little pocket book of them where I’m completely fried early into a race.  I think that’s normal though – this year I’ve raced more than twice as much as I had previously, and saw nearly the same jump in the amount of kilometers I’ve ridden.  That’s a lot, maybe even a bit too much to be really prepared for each race, but I think it’s a jump that will really pay off in the years to come since now my body knows what it’s like to go full on for so long.  A long rest now will do me wonders, and I’m already super excited to work towards the 2012 season.

Now for a bit on the race – to describe it in one word I would have to say insanity.  200 U23 riders on fairly narrow roads, strong crosswinds the WHOLE day, and lots of village crossings with road furniture, parked cars, crazy amounts of spectators, and even a little chicken who found his way into the middle of the peleton who was running around frantically trying to get out (incredibly, he was still alive when I went by, after that I can’t say for sure).

Personally, I was to be Jimmy’s right hand man for the day, since it was a big goal of his and he had great form coming into the race.  If Jimmy needs a bottle, I get him a bottle.  If he needs to answer natures call, I need to answer natures call too.  If there’s a split that we’re behind, I get to tow him back up to it in the wind.  Although this may not seem like an enjoyable job to have, I take a lot of pride in playing that role and helping a teammate as much as I can.

As I said, the race was chaotic right from the start.  Tires skidding, brakes squealing, riders yelling, crashes left and right, it was just a demolition derby on bikes.  Fortunately, we were able to avoid all the crashes, and although sometimes the group would split in the crosswinds, we would always manage to get back near the front.  Finally, about halfway through the race, Jimmy went up the road with a group which basically contained the leaders from each team.  While it would have been ideal for me to make that selection as well, it just wasn’t in the legs at this point, and he was on his own.

Soon thereafter, things started going very badly for me.  I think it’s been years since I last had leg cramps in a race – ridiculously intense muscle contractions that can stop you dead in your tracks.  Yesterday, however, every time I would stand, I could feel my quads, calves, and even my feet seize up.  The next couple hours would be some of the most painful that I can remember during a race.  My tongue hung from my mouth the entire time, at moments I honestly believed my legs would just stop turning, but the kilometers ticked by towards the end.

Finally, with 30kms to the finish, as we entered the first of 3 short but decisive climbs, the inevitable happened.  I tried to stand and power over the top, but everything just shut down on me.  I simply couldn’t force any more and had to spin to the finish with a small group in the same boat as myself.

The reward at the finish was crossing the line and breathing a sigh of relief as my season came to an end, and also finding out that Jimmy had ended up in 7th – quite a result for such a prestigious race.  The whole team played a big part in it and everyone was quite content with our day.  As I said earlier, there is something special about knowing you really helped a teammate achieve their goal, and in another race it will be them helping you do the same.

So, here I am at the start of some time off and it couldn’t have come sooner.  I had a great time in 2011 and learned more than I thought possible, but now it’s time to recharge the batteries and get ready for 2012.  Finally, I want to thank you all for following along with my races and for your support throughout the year!

This week the cycling world has all eyes on Copenhagen, host to the 2011 World Championships.  I found out a couple weeks ago that I would be going to represent Canada in the U23 time trial which took place on Monday.  It was pretty exciting to get that chance as a first year U23, and quite the experience to spend the week with the best pros in the world.

Having not focused on time trials as much this year, the 2 weeks leading up to the event were devoted entirely to that.  I’ve worked a lot on climbing this year, and can see it paying off – but the Worlds course had all of about 4 meters of elevation gain, so it was time to get quick on the flats yet again.  Preparation went fairly well, and I was looking forward to a big ride.

Pre-riding the course on Sunday, it seemed like it would be extremely fast – with 4 or 5 lane boulevards for most of the course, but also a slightly tricky last 2kms featuring some cobbles and some tight corners.  It was clear the deciding factor would be the wind, which was forecast at a fairly strong 30km/h.  

Finally the time came – I was early to go, which was actually a little nice not to have to wait around all afternoon.  I got in a really good warm-up and made my way to the starting ramp for my 1:06 start time.  35.2kms of agony awaited me as I sat in the start house, listening for that final beep to send me on my way.

For those of you who have followed my career over the last year – I’m very pleased to announce that things went much better than last year’s World Junior TT Championships.  There were no hospital trips, ruptured muscles, broken noses, or any of the like.  Unfortunately, that’s about where the positive ends.  My legs didn’t seem to have it right from the start, and I really struggled to control my bike in the strong winds.  I felt like a little bird being thrashed around in a hurricane, while the bigger and more powerful guys were cruising along like airplanes.  I was fighting just to keep my bike underneath me at times, and lost my focus on making it go as fast as possible.  I ended up with a pretty disappointing finish, but sometimes it just isn’t there for you.

Although I’m not pleased with how things unfolded, I’m really glad I went.  Even if I had put in a great ride, I would still have a long way to go before I’m where I want to be.  That’s the reason the CCA sent me – to see the level and plan for the future.   I have 3 more years of U23 World Championships, and I guarantee I’ll be better prepared in the years to come.  This is going to be a big motivator for me.  It’s been a long year with many lessons learned, and now it’s time to take those lessons and put them to good use.  I want to thank everyone for their notes of encouragement and support – they mean a lot.

For now, I’ve got a few races left in the year – but I’m starting to get into a bit of recovery mode from this season, and already planning a really big winter.  Time to go hammer out some frustration.

Although the season is winding up in the next few weeks, there are still a lot of quality races left here in France, and the Tour du Pays de Gex was no exception.  A short stage race with a road race Saturday, TT Sunday morning and another road race in the afternoon.

As I checked over the course profiles about a week ago, I thought it looked like a relatively flat couple of road races, and a very flat TT.  Well, they were a little more than slightly deceptive, with both road races being rather mountainous, and the TT with two tough climbs.  As we drove to Gex, the realization that the weekend would be anything but flat was setting in, making our way through the Alps with nothing but snow capped mountains in view.

In any case, things still went fairly well for the weekend as a whole.  I was not great on Saturday’s stage, and lost some time after getting caught behind a split on the toughest climb of the day.  Although it’s always disappointing to lose time, especially on stage 1, my main focus for the weekend was the 10.6km TT on Sunday morning.  The course was a crazy, technical, euro type of TT with a steep descent right off the start, some tiny farm roads, and a few tough climbs to get over.  Being an earlier starter, I set the fastest time as I crossed the finish line and was really pleased with how I felt during the ride.  Unfortunately the real horsepower was still to come as the GC favorites started towards the end.  There were some very fast times put out, and I got bumped down to 15th for the stage, but I was not unhappy with that considering the level at this race.

The good but also unfortunate thing for the TT was that Jerome, our main GC contender took the win, as well as the overall lead.  Great, right?  Well yes, but that also meant that me and the 3 others on our team would spend the entire afternoon stage chewing on our stems in the wind to defend his lead.  Of course I’m joking that this is an annoyance, but it certainly was a lot of work!  It took a long time for a break that we were happy with to get clear.  There would always be one of the GC threats trying to get into it and we would have to chase it back right away.  Finally, after nearly an hour of sprinting after riders we couldn’t let go, a group of 11  went clear with the closest rider 3 minutes back on GC.  Perfect, now a minute to take a breath!  Not much more than a minute though, as soon as they could establish a gap, the 4 of us had to make sure they didn’t get too much, so we tried to keep them around 2 minutes.  This sounds pretty easy, but when they are 11 working together, and your only 4 it makes for some very hard work!

In any case, the day played out perfectly.  Our job was to keep the gap low enough so that Jerome was still leading with 13kms to go.  At that point there were two KOMs back to back, and our job would be finished.  Then it was just up to him to keep any of the tiny climbers from gaining time for the win.  I’ve never really looked forward to hitting the base of a tough KOM, but since this one meant my day was done, I couldn’t wait to get there!  We got the gap down to one minute and said good luck to Jerome.  Both me and my other teammates were dropped like a sack of bricks over the steep grade, and then cruised to the finish.  Unfortunately, despite a great effort, Jerome couldn’t stay in contact with the young phenom Kenny Ellysond, who managed to get away on the climb and stay away to take over the lead overall.  In the end we had to settle for 2nd, but all in all I think it’s nothing to be disappointed with.  We showed that we were clearly a dominant force on the race and everyone seemed to work together like a well oiled machine.  So, yet another weekend of racing in the books…only a few more of those before a much needed break back home!