Book of Chad

There is something about Burnt Bridge that has eluded me since I started racing it. I have never got it right or felt like I had it figured out, this year was no exception. As we left the start line the pace ramped up it wasn’t immediate but by the time I realized that we were getting up to speed it was pretty full on. Within the first ten minutes, a fist-sized rock jumped up in the wheels in front of me and flew into the top of my left foot. It proceeded to bounce off my shin back to the ground and into my derailleur. My gears jumped a bit and I was able to use the micro adjust feature to make the problem go away. Then it was onto the first climb, and we hit it pretty hard. Ten minutes into the climb I realized that the pace of the front group was going to be too strong for me to make it to the top with them. I decided to move over and climb at threshold to avoid blowing up and ruining the rest of my race. I made a right shoulder check saw that no one was beside me and changed lanes while signalling with my left hand to those behind me to close the gap.

I looked backwards over my left shoulder so that I could gauge the speed and distance of the chase group and there was no one. I didn’t see a single bike coming up that hill behind me, and that was an awful feeling. Twenty-two minutes into a five-hour gravel race and I was alone. I put my head down and pressed on at my pace hopeful that some others would fall off the front group or that a second group would catch me shortly. All I got was Andrew McCartney. Andrew is a great rider and I love racing with him, unfortunately for both of us, our strengths and weaknesses are polar opposites. Andrew climbed right past me we exchanged a few words, I briefly tried to get onto his wheel and then he was up the road with a growing gap.

The next time I saw Andrew he was coming towards me and I had a turn on my head unit he said he missed the turn and we both proceeded to a dead end. There was a course error and we had to backtrack to the main road, the total lost time was around three minutes but it was frustrating. We climbed out of there Andrew went ahead then there was a descent and I passed him back and finally another climb and he disappeared over the horizon. I would see Andrew one more time during the fast descent towards the burnt bridge area where he was at the side of the road changing a flat. Sadly Andrew ended up getting another flat shortly after that one and that combined with some back issues ended his race early. He wasn’t the only one, I past Corey Monteith on the next decent with his bike upside down changing a flat.

As I passed through the start-finish line to start the second loop I dropped my hydration pack and my vest off with enough bottles and the weather improving I wouldn’t need them for the two biggest climbs. As I approached the bottom of the longest climb of the day I got really bad leg cramps in both legs on the inner thigh. I kept pedalling and tried different cadences, then stretching to get rid of them. I downed an energy gel and started the climb. I felt like I was going slow and perhaps I was. My hips and lower back were ceasing up from the low cadence grinding on the steeper sections. Corey Came back from his flat repair and went by me as we neared the top of the climb. I descended well and pressed the pedals onto the final big climb. I was suffering and the steepest parts of the day were on this one. There were times I wanted to get off and walk but I felt like I wouldn’t be able to get back on if I did, with the feeling of cramping again always about to happen. I made it to the top and now it was pretty easy going home.

First was another fast descent and that’s where I found Corey again changing another flat I felt sorry for him and a minute later sealant was spraying out from my rear tyre. It sealed and I continued into the single-track decent section but I did not have enough pressure left. My rear rim was slamming into every bump. I decided to pull over and add some air from my CO2. The tire inflated and out came more sealant, I fumbled for my tire plug and got it on the second try. I put what was left of that CO2 canister into the tyre and hopped back on. It was lower than I would have chosen but it would get me to the end. I finished the decent got on trail section and kept my head down. For the final fifteen kilometres, I would look under my arm to see if Corey or anyone else would appear but no one did and I rolled over the line in eighth place.

Distance: 122 km
Time: 5:05:56
Avg Speed: 23.9 kph
Avg Power: 187 W
Normalized Power: 213 W
Elevation Gain: 2140 m
Place: 8th