Good Friday

Well the first road trip of the season for the Echelon project is completed. Armed with a Speedpass for gas, some bikes, some Rockstar, and some warming balm, Steve, Shawn and myself made the trek down to smoggy Hamilton for the Season opening Ontario Cup race. With frigid conditions and snow forecast for the race, the organizers decided to prepare by salting the course to avoid ice. Great, new bike and some salt. Either way, we awoke to some wicked snow and frigid temperatures as promised and proceeded to stay in the car until Shawn's start at 10 am. At this point we left the venue to allow Shawn to suffer in the Senior 3 race (apparently not for very long) and drove to Timmy's for some coffee and breakfast sandwiches. With some grease and caffeine in our bellies we drove back to the race site to find that poor Shawn had dropped out. After learning that our race would be cut down by 2 laps, Steve and I begin to bundle ourselves up to prepare. As the start began, the race quickly picked up speed with many riders trying to break away and others hoping to split the group up in the wind. Staying near the front, I attempted to find some racing legs. After 2 laps my legs began to come around, just in time as I found myself having to work at the front to attempt to bring back the break and trying to cover moves and initiate others to bridge up. With few riders willing to help, I sat back a few spots and allowed others to chase and I continued to work to make all the selections and preserve a good field position for the sprint. With both my bottles frozen solid after 1 lap of racing, I jettisoned the full one and kept trying to suckle a few more drops from the other to find a little better energy for my legs. After covering a late attack, I found myself stuck on the front of the pack leading out the sprint, so quickly sat up and waited for the imminent attacks. As they came, I followed the trusty wheel of Dan Maggi and found myself finishing in 15th position. Good enough for a point to keep me in the Senior 2 category for at least another year, and that much closer to a Senior 1 liscence. With a good hard day in the saddle, it was time for a hot shower and a few beers and appletinis with the boys (and girls) at Crabby Joe's. A thanks to Scott for some beers at the bar and of course the team for making an awesome start to the season. Now time to find a top 10 and then some podiums. Maybe even some warm weather, next stop - Mosport Speedway!