The race course was dry, fast, flowing and had a bit of everything to challenge cyclists of all levels. About 350 riders had made the trip to the Massuchusetts cross-country mountain bike championships on Sunday, August 1st in a small town called Oxford outside of Boston. As I lined up on the start line I had absolutely no idea where I fit in with my competition. It would all be sorted out in a few minutes. The start was quite painful as usual. Eventually my body figured out how to deal with my effort and I settled comfortably in 3rd position in my age group at the end of the 2nd of 4 laps. Not long after that I heard someone come up behind me. As I glanced over my shoulder, I noticed his plate number: 424. He was in my category. We rode together for the next 1.5 laps. I’d distance myself from him in the technical sections but he’d motor back onto my wheel on the road sections. He’d never pass me. He just sucked my wheel. I managed to get away on the loose rocky climb and rode really hard to try to maintain the gap, but he eventually caught back up to me. Having burnt almost all of my matches trying to stay away, he passed me. In my lactic acidic spent state, I just sat up and gave up. I just let him go.
As I was cleaning up after the race I realized that even if I didn’t get to step on the podium that day, I still won. I carried on with passion and managed to find inspiration through pain and suffering. I managed to tap deeper into my unlimited energy supply (by the way, you too have one of these). I managed to avoid the temptation to just sit up and coast. I had fully and completely lived despite… I had practiced what I preach to Adele…
My 2010 cycling adventures are still far from done. There’s another very important date that has been circled on my calendar for quite some time now… From Saturday, August 14th to Tuesday, August 17th, I will be riding my bike as part of the Maritimes team in the national Cyclebetes relay to raise funds to find a cure for Juvenile Diabetes. During these 4 days, we will cover 1000 kms biking from Halifax to the Quebec border.
You can help me reach my goal by donating here:
http://jdrfca.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&eventID=777&participantID=44614
Stay tuned for updates on my Cyclebetes adventures here on the Type 1 Game…