First, I must apologize for being such a lame blogger lately. My work schedule has been busy and the amount of spare time that I have had lately has been pretty slim. In the last couple of weeks, I have participated in some great orienteering events including the Camp Thunderbird 3 hour Score-O that I did the course design for. The event went on without a hitch and everyone loved the control placements and the multiple route options that were available. Click here for the results.
I was really looking forward to the MOMAR Squamish race although I was a bit hesitant on how I would do on my legs as I have had to take a good deal of time off running due to my subluxed cuboid in my foot. I'm sure both Gary and I were a bit nervous as well as we were the defending champions from 07 and knew that a few select teams would be out to push us to the limits. Our main rivals at the start line were none other than Justin Mark and Jeff Reimer of Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island. While we outraced them in the Suburban Rush only a couple of weeks prior, we knew that the hilly course with lots of technical riding would be to their advantage. We also knew that with an early navigation section in the race, that they would do what they could to trail us through the checkpoints and then try to drop us on the bike.
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I was exited about a completely new course and the Le Mans start provided for an interesting start. After a quick hop on the bike and gruelling climb, we headed into the navigation section with no less than four teams all hanging together and waiting for us to make a move. Both Gary and I had expected this although we weren't completely sure how we were going to shake everyone. Gary suggested pushing really hard to drop everyone but with other strong racers present, I figured that everyone would still hang on. Once we hit a point in the road where I knew we wanted to head into the bush, I started to hesitate and waited until a good moment. At this point, Shane and Garth of Pain is Temporary led out the pack as they are decent navigators and were confident in their route. I briefly looked at Gary and in seconds we were out of sight. We found out after the race that both Justin and Jeff had tried to follow us once they knew what had happend and literally thought that we were hiding in the bush since they didn't think that we could have gone too far! I had a few bobbles with a couple of controls but otherwise picked off the controls well. We came out of this section in first place but knew that there was a lot of course left and to keep going strong. In the end, we ended up putting less than five minutes on Justin and Jeff as they managed to hook up with Bart Jarmula (an excellent navigator) who lead them through the course. Cudos to course designer Jen Segger-Gigg who planned out the course so that all controls were easily accessible from the trail but bushwacking would be the quickest way to clean the course; this is how it should be done!
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The bike sections of the race were really the determining sections as the trails were very technical and a good rider could put in huge time over those who were not as confident. I've been riding a Ti hardtail for quite some time now and while it has treated me well, I knew that the downhill sections of the course were going to punish me. I was planning on having a new 29er dually from Niner bikes ready to go before the race but due to a delayed frame shipment, it was just not meant to be. I was doing well at the top of the downhills but once I hit the Powerhouse plunge, my legs were just starting to seize from not being able to sit down on any technical section which is about everything. When we got close to the bottom of the plunge, my loss of muscle control let my front wheel fall off one of the many plank bridges, it dug into the dirt, and I endo'd pretty bad. I was lucky that I didn't hit any rocks, got up as quick as I could, and continued to ride; albeit I was pretty shaken up and it took awhile to get my focus back. This section definitely slowed us down.
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It wasn't further down the course while climbing Fartherside that Justin and Jeff managed to catch us. They were looking strong, passed us, and then I just tried to hang on. Again, the rough trail sections, especially the part of the trail that is a cobble strewn creek bed, really slowed me on my hardtail and I just could not keep up. While I won't say that the race outcome would have been different had I had a different bike, I will say that it definitely taxed me over the brutal Squamish course and I'm sure that I would have been able to put in a better time and been fresher during the second trek. To me, it was the main limiting factor for my performance for this course.
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We started the second trek and exchanged leads with Justin and Jeff several times. We actually got to the rappel site first but had some bad luck as our rope was extremely slow. Both Gary and I had to literally feed the rope through the ATC with two hands to be able to move at all. When we finally got off the ropes, we had lost some good time and tried to make it up on the run back. Justin and Jeff put in a solid effort at this point as we were pushing hard to catch up but we just could not get them back in our sights. As we approached the bikes, they were just leaving. We had a sloppy transition and I spent time taking in fluids as both of us forgot to pick up water off the bikes at the beginning of the trek and were both dehydrated. Stopping to hydrate cost us additional time and this was a huge mistake on my part as we knew that the race time was dwindling away. Nonetheless, we pulled out, put in a strong ride but were greeted at the University finish area with Justin and Jeff running up the final climb to the finish as we got to the bike drop. They were so close!
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While it was hard to see Justin and Jeff take the line and Gary and I take second, it was good to see Justin finally take an overall win after years of racing and never quite getting there. To me, it was the hardest MOMAR yet mainly due to the additional time on the legs (no paddle stage) and the huge elevation gain over the course. Both Gary and I took home a lot of lessons that I'm sure will make us both better racers over the long term.
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Thanks to Bryan for putting on yet another successful event, to Jen Segger-Gigg for putting together an awesome course, and of course to all of the volunteers who truly make the event happen!
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See you at Shawnigan Lake!
TNO
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