Sep 24, 2007

Cheakamus Challenge...Squamish to Whistler..a beautiful Day!

I awoke several times throughout the night Friday evening to hear rain splashing the house..."Oh man, tomorrow's bike race is gonna suck if its pouring rain like this...."...these were my thoughts throughout the night/morning. On Saturday morning I opened my door to blue skies...I was a happy biker...Geoff, was kind enough to give me a ride up to Squamish. We were a little nervous making it to Squamish being low on gas but we made it with plenty of time to spare. So, we got ourselves organized. I was sporting my new Steed Cycles wear. A little nervous as people were eyeing me up a little more than normal. I took a deep breath and tried to stay with the front pack right off the bat on the road (the roads are my forte). I managed to stay in the front of the mid-pack throughout the roads, got passed by a couple speedy guys but then passed a couple on the hike a bike section..I was getting more comfortable the more we were riding. All was going well, nothing major to report except that I tried to enjoy the weather, the trails, the colours and the crisp air as much as I could and tried not to think of the pain and how tired my legs were. I noticed that my energy levels weren't as high as normal as i still had not fully recovered from my adventure race the weekend prior. Alas I pushed on. It wasn't until the Microwave climb that I looked over to another racer and asked her if it would be terrible if I decided to quit now...she chuckled and said yes...i shrugged and kept going....Tunnel Vision is not my favorite trail as I find it a little technical for my abilities...I made it through and then back on the road...the last climb of the day...always a good feeling. I was surprised how well I descended down big Timber and was glad to cross that finish line. All in all it was a good ride...I ended up grabbing a 2nd place finish for my age group and then resting up for my run the following morning.

**There was nothing more that I wanted to do than ride my bike in the woods on a sunny crisp fall afternoon in Whistler.....I was a happy little biker!***

No comments: