This past week in Saguneay, Quebec was the time of the year where you get to see what you’re made of at the Canadian Road Nationals. On Monday when I left, it was going to be a 9.5hr drive without stops. Without notice, my truck died on the side of the 401…Needless to say I was devastated as I was supposed to be getting classified the next morning in Quebec at 10am. Luckily the truck died 10 km away from my auto shop. It was an interesting experience transferring out of my truck into traffic on the 401 in a terrible rain and wind storm. To make a a long story short, the module for the fuel pump was fixed. I then went home and slept, I was on the road again at 3:30am on Tuesday morning to get to the classification for 5pm. Classification is basically where they tell me what category I will race on. This is based on a number of different factors ranging from ab control to how I ride my bike. I remain in the H3 class which means Handcycle and class 3 of 5, which honestly is too much to type out and explain so maybe I will do a video one day…Wednesday was registration and Thursday and Friday were the Time Trial and Road Race.
The TT was a beautiful course along a river in a forest and honestly it is one of the reasons that I love cycling. Being outside in nature detached from the rat race was nice as well as being able to meet new riders and make some new friends. Thursday morning was a bit chilly and I hadn’t been feeling 100 due to some stomach pains but I felt good going into the start of the 18km TT! My time said otherwise…It wasn’t a horrible display but I did not live up to my potential. Placing 6th and looking forward to the RR I returned to the hotel to refuel and rest. Finally I was able to get some food in me. I was able to drive the RR course or some of it…before the next morning and OMG!!!!!!! You can say the that these were the biggest hills I’ve ever climbed that are not mountains! The truck was even struggling at times lol! With that being said being able to race on the course the next morning was an amazing and humbling experience. I knew what I was up against racing with some of the top riders in the world(no joke) but I was hopeful to be able to hang on throughout some of the climbs…Something became evident was that I brought a gun to a rocket launcher fight. I didn’t have big enough gears and on the 3rd lap of 3, is when that caught up to me! It’s not that I wasn’t prepared it’s that the hill was that big and I am only so strong right now. Also, my set up currently on the bike limits my selection of gears. This means a new pricey unit is required so we can get to that shortly! At the end of the day I died on the 3rd lap after losing my energy gels on the 1st lap and it was a horrible painful experience. I am not happy with the way that things went but I am still very very optimistic because I have so much room to grow still and learn. The support I continue to receive from my sponsors and the community as well as family and friends is amazing. I’d like to Thank Bike Law Canada and Bike Law Ontario. Propel Physiotherapy, K&K Recycling. Dr. Michelle Liberty and Michelle Bastone for all they do! If It wasn’t for all of you I wouldn’t be able to continue cycling so Thank You!