Book of Chad

I have not raced an island cup series race since before the pandemic. Lindsay and I both got new XC bikes at the begining of the pandemic with the plan to race XC and well a few things have come up since. We had of course the pandemic but then when the racing started up again lindsay broke here wrist, and I decided to race road last spring since it was more local. Even though we race have raced previous Island cup races on older bikes I have never raced at Hartland. I believe that one year I was ill and the other oportunity I had an injury.

This year the race was held at the end of a team canada XC mountain bike training camp on the island. Which of course meant many of the best XC racers in Canada were present. for the first time in any race season, I have not changed my training to reflect racing and recovery, instead, I am treating each XC race as just a part of a training ride. That does not mean I am not trying to go as hard as I can just that I might have to ride before and after and freshness will suffer more some weeks than others.

The beginning of the race was a ten-minute climb and the start of that was quite steep. I decided to not go as hard as possible on this first part to not explode immediately. I rode steadily to the top of the first climb and it was a bit tough watching some of the guys I normally race with get ahead never to be seen again. I was fatigued from my current training block and lack the real explosive power that gets me over short steep climbs. With my climbing power slightly lower I decided to focus on being smooth and going fast through the technical parts and the downhill sections.

I had a lot of fun at this one and it was great seeing everyone. The over 150 racers that came out made a for an amazing atmosphere, on to the next one in a week.

RACE: Hartland XC
Laps: 3
Time: 1:17:06
Avg Heart Rate: 181 bpm
Avg Power: 217 W
Place: 30th