Well, the first race of the season has been and gone. It was sweet. This is a definate race to mark on your calendar. Greg Z. and I pre-rode the course on Saturday, because we could, and didn't want to road bike in gale-force winds. The pre-ride was actually a lot harder than the race. Driving wind, snow/sleet/rain, and temperature hovering around 1 degree celcius made the pre-ride very cold, but I still loved every moment of it. I seem to thoroughly enjoy rippin' on the mtb, a lot more than I remember. Too much road bike lately!
Well, fast foreward to the race on Sunday. The Icebreaker is the "oldest MTB race in Canada". All the snow from the day before was gone. Super, nice warm, about 12 degrees, sunny, beautiful. So, the race started, and I went to the front right off the bat. No one seemed to want to blast past me, as is usual in these types of races. I just rode tempo for the first km or so. Then there was a Matt Surch, that blew by me. I jumped on his wheel. Then Mike G. went by. Jumped on his wheel. Then I re-took the lead after a snowy section knocked the 'Cross riders off their rigs. I pretty much rode at the front for the rest of the first lap, with Mike sitting on my wheel. We were briefly joined by Greg Z. and Mitch Bailey, but I stayed up front the whole time. Second lap started, my casette was icing up, and Mike pulled away on a downhill. This is basically how the race finished. I ended up around 4 minutes off of Mike, and Mitch was in third at about 3 mins off me. A great first race. It was so wonderful to get out on the MTB, and on some trails. The new Specialized Epic is sweet. Swallowed up the bumps, and let me pedal through anything. I think this race would have been better on a 29er, but the Epic is going to be amazing for MTB racing this season.
Well, 2009 is going to be the best season yet. I know I say this every year, and every year, it proves true. Next race is Calabogie, where I intend on actually conserving some energy, and showing the Roadies where its at (MTB obviously!)
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