Day 7: Technical climbs = a strong finish

My body surprised me today. I woke up feeling sore and stiff and I didn’t think my ride was going to go well.

As we pedalled through the start gate, it seemed my suspicions were being confirmed. Just pedalling up the small incline of the road, my legs were protesting. And when we turned the corner to find a wall of double track for us to climb, every part of me said, “Really?!”

About a quarter of the way up, I hopped off to walk.

The next challenge was a big pile up of riders just 2 km into the ride at the start of the singletrack, “Yummy Numby.” There were at least 100 of us just waiting to enter the trail and everyone was walking. It was a ridable trail, but with so many people so close together it’s easy for the whole line to reach a stand still if one person falls off.

Fortunately, the group spread out as we approached the Comfortably Numb climb and I hit my stride. I may have a tough time with fire road climbs, but I can hold my own on technical singletrack climbs. It wasn’t long before I was repeating the words “Rider up” as I caught up to other folks who were walking the notoriously technical trail. My heart rate was spiking up to 184, but my legs had loosened up and I felt good enough to just keep pedalling. I didn’t stop until the bottom of the downhill, “Jeff’s Trail.”

When I got there, I felt pretty good so I ate a bit, drank some electrolytes and kept going, ready to tackle the Lost Lake trails after a short traverse over an all-access trail.

Though there was a bit more climbing, we were pretty much home free at this point. The hard part was over. We hit the aid station at 16 kms. I loaded up with electrolytes and ate some watermelon then sped off.

It all seemed to go by so fast. When I crossed the finish line and had the finisher’s medal placed around my neck, it was hard to believe it was over. I immediately looked for my parents, son and boyfriend, happy that I could share the excitement of this moment with them.

It was a hard week, but a good one. That said, I won’t be riding my bike again for a while so my butt, which now resembles that of a baboon, can recover.

I couldn’t have gotten through this week without help from my mom and dad (a.k.a. Nona and Grandpa), my racing buddies Sabrina and Sandra, my boyfriend Scott, the physiotherapists who helped me heal over the past month, and all of you who offered words of encouragement through my training as well as the past week. You are all amazing!

I have a few more stories to tell about the race week when I’ve had the chance to rest so this blog won’t end today. If you’d like to read about the funny, frustrating and friend-filled stories from the race, check back in about a week. 🙂

At the finish line with my kiddo. We were very happy to be reunited after a week apart.