2009 Crank the Shield - Day 1

Was tons of fun... more to follow. photo cred: Photo Ted

Pre-amble: Prior to signing up for this race in June (before Vermont trip) I had spoken with many people who had done it the year prior. Most of them said it was logistically a good experience for a first year stage race but that the trails were sooooo wet that it turned them off from repeating this event for 2009. Had spent most of the evening packing and repacking my stuff into the lovely blue CTS bag provided…repacking was basically adding more stuff as it was not quite full yet! I basically brought everything I owned including lots of tools and spare parts and tons of clothes. Day 1 Alarm goes off at 5:00am which is really 4:45am in the real world, I consider myself a morning person…but this was way too early. Race start was 10:30, Haliburton forest was 3hours and 23 minutes away according to Google but in order for the math to work out favourably I would have to get across the top of Toronto prior to ‘rush hour’! I was out the door coffee in hand at 5:20am (real world time). The drive was uneventful, just the other side of Lindsey it started to rain and I had disparaging thoughts running through my mind to which my only solace was that I brought wet lube. Stopped at some ‘hole’ to use the lieu and grab another coffee, which could only be described as undrinkably awful, and a krueller (fuel) which was at least 3 days old and carried on. As I drew nearer to the start the rain stopped and the heavens opened up before me and life was again as it should be…sunny! Arrived around 8:50am availing plenty of time to get my last minute preparations taken care of. Parked the wagon, got my bike together (put front wheel on it), got chamios’d up complete with some chamois butter (TMI), dropped off my bag at the gear truck and decided, in a stroke of brilliance, that it would be best if I didn’t warm up and just used the first ¼ as a warm-up. Well, the start was rather anticlimactic, was really hoping for some hillbillies with shotguns to do a 21 gun salute but it was not to be and off we went. Started a ways back in the pack, probably not wise as the 3 guys in front of me locked handle bars for some 20’ before disattaching themselves successfully and worked my way up but there was a lot of miles ahead and getting too spent at this point was not the idea. After about 6km of gravel road, mostly downhill = not a good warmup, we hit the trails running, or biking, the trails were challenging and as the field had not yet strung right out there was immense pressure to clean everything or get outta the way. The trails were challenging and without the proper warm-up I found that I was quickly overheating, unzipped the vest and jersey took on more water and kept on going. Later on I stopped and removed my armwarmers and headthingie so that I my body could properly regulate temperature. The peoples on the trails were mighty friendly and kind with very few exceptions. I found myself riding entirely with people I didn’t know. Then I met Tanya, this was a total fluke, days earlier my partner for this event informed me that he had sold his spot to some girl named Tanya from Ottawa…now normally I am really bad with names but this one seemed easy enough to remember. I looked back and seen her plate number and that she was sporting a Joemamma jersey, introduced myself, she passed me and that was that…strong. After much huffing and puffing, and a couple spectacular dismounts I made it out of that section and onto the fireroads. This is where I met Brazilian Dave! Well actually we had met before at HAN, we with some others held a nice formation through the fireroads, there was a beautiful line down them that seemed to sweep from right to left and back all the way, it was so awesome. There was much more single track, plenty of tough trails and some real fun rock features. One thing of note was how quiet it was out there, for a race with 230 entrants you were often riding in complete solitude for 15 minutes at a time before passing or being passed. It was hard to ride with other riders as our strengths seemed to all be quite different. Some could climb, some descend, and some attack the single track. There were sections of short hills which I rocked; the one joy of being an oversized cyclist is the uncanny ability to attack anything that is a false flat (1-2 degrees) as though it isn’t really there. I took off from the group I was riding with and made attempts to catch anyone I could. I was feeling freshish now having regained some composure after the singletrack and was truly enjoying it. I would not say that the first day was a race day, I went hard in spots but definitely kept it at the forefront of my mind that this was day 1 of 3…I had to make it through 3 days. Day one was making for a ton of elevation, climbing not being my forte I took it all in stride. There was a 5km road section 9 km form the end I was told, caught a tailwind, locked the truth out, and grabbed big gear; the 5km was over before it started it seemed but the race was not. The last 4km of the race were some truly tough single track with plenty more climbing, and with 73km in the legs it was truly some tough sleddin’. And I was impaired psychologically by some lovely volunteer who announced it was 2km when it was more like 5km. 2km later someone told me it was 20 minutes…okay I, just give it to me straight as I have been out of water since I got on the road! Oh well, lesson learned you should never take candy from strangers. Bike handled fine for the day, no cleaning or service would be necessary aside from some chain lube. There was a lovely feed station with subs, chips, pop, ‘nola bars, cookies, eload, water and the likes right at the finish line. Results, in Chico style, were available instantly just beyond the feed station. From there you could see your gear bags and were directed to your cabins by some most helpful volunteers. The volunteers were great although it would be nice if the 80 pound bags were carted to your cabin as after 77km of racing, it truly is a struggle. I spent much time stretching on the dock, the camp, although rustic, was situated on a serene lake and had all necessary amenities. Got cleaned up, chatted with some peoples I know or know now. And hit up the second sitting for dinner. Food was great with plenty of options even for those that don’t eat potatoes… Sat around for some time, enjoyed a Wellington, caught the awards ceremonies for the day and talked to my better half for some time on the mobile standing still as reception was hit and miss at best. Decided to call it an early night…tomorrow as a big day! Flatter but with lots of short ups and downs that were going to wear me down I was told. Lost or destroyed: 1 pair of Sugoi RS bibs now have extra speed holes thanks to beautiful line that kicked me into tree on Lakeshore trail – still wearable in proper company. Sleep – many hours lost. Stage Time 5:33:22.21 Stage KM 77 Average Speed 13.86 Total Time 5:33:22.21 Total KM 77