Coming back from injury, CoweX and provincial championships

Cowex

It has been hard to sit back and watch four cross-races go by from the sidelines. I have had a serious amount of FOMO and I don’t know if watching was good or bad for me mentally. I showed up, I volunteered, I cheered on Lindsay and I heckled friends. Finally, I was ready to race again, I had a few outdoor rides that I didn’t hurt from and was feeling confident in my ability to not cause further damage in a race.

I came to CoweX hoping to reinitiate my season, but the weather forecast and course had a different plan. The course was really good and in the morning races, it was somewhat rideable during preride. The ground was saturated though and I knew that it would be a different story come the afternoon race after a few hundred riders chewed it up. The start went ok considering the last row call-up. The second corner of the race I got boxed in and quickly sent to the back of the field. As we entered the jump or barrier option I took to the barriers to avoid the crowd. Into the spiral, as it bunched up I used my brain to hop off my bike and ran past the lineup. Everything seemed to be getting better. Then we hit the mud section and it was truly atrocious. The first straightaway I just hammered down the left side and was able to make good speed, from then on it was a slog. I wasn’t prepared to run that much as I had almost no running prep going into this season and certainly couldn’t run with my ribs like they were leading up to this race. I started going backwards and on the second lap, I lost the front wheel and went down with my knee driving into my drivetrain. when I got back on the bike my left hood was bent and loose.

I had convinced Isiah and Alex to pit for me and they had a bike ready so I switched and did another lap. They then had my main bike washed and the hood tightened by my next time through the pits. They were on fire and truly doing a great job. I however was pretty much done with this race I was sore my knee hurt and my hips and back were starting to cease up. I decided that was enough cross for today and I would stop and try again next week.

Race: COTR #6 CoweX
Time: 46:13 Laps: 4
Avg Heart Rate: 187
Max Heart Rate: 194
Place: DNF

My Onboard Video

Provincials

I went to provincials for two reasons, one Lindsay wanted to go and two I wanted to race my out-of-town friends the likes of Andre and Matt etc. I had mixed feelings about racing right up to the staging. I had come to the realization that my expectations had to be at an all time low just to not be disappointed. I even joked with Andre that I only came so he could have a chance to beat me. I didn’t even bother to get my trainer out to do my warm up. I did do a few back and forths down the road to get my legs moving and then I headed to the start line.

The whistle went and I missed my pedal as my back tire spun out in the mud. I got my pedal on the second rotation and immediately spun my tire some more. From the front row to the back of the pack in a few seconds. I made up some ground in the next few corners and found myself on the front of the second group watching the lead group of 8-10 riders steam away. I was pushing hard to keep the gap but it was truly beyond me. The course was muddy and to be honest a lot of fun. I tried a bunch of different lines and found my rhythm. I made a few passes and got passed. Andre was so good that day and I fully admit that even if I had the best cross-race of my life I don’t think I would have come close.