Kelso Ontario Cup 2010

On Sunday August the 8th I competed in the sixth O-cup race of the season and my second of the year. I came into this race in a little better form than my last O-cup at Hardwood although I still feel that I'm way off from the form I'm capable of. Most of this is my own lazy fault because after a winter of laying down solid base miles I bought a shinny new bbq and spent my mornings sleeping in and my nights grilling meat and drinking beer. There has been one consistent variable that prevented me from being a total shit show this year and the was the Kelso weekly series that gave me an outlet to get my heart rate up every Tuesday night. Competing in this series reminded me how much fun it is to race mountain bikes again after a long break due to road and cyclocross. Anyways, back to the O-cup. The afternoon was perfect for riding, I got there pretty early with my riding buddy and watched most of his race go off before starting my warm up. It was amazing to see the enthusiasm of all the sport class riders, even though the course had some horrible climbing in it almost everyone was in good spirits. So 1:30 rolls around and it's time for my race to set off, our group of 25 gets to start at the back of the bus in the last start wave behind the elites and the sea of master ex guys. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a nervous wreck at the start line, after checking my garmin my heart rate was at 110 just standing there waiting to go. After what seems like an eternity we set off, everyone hammers off the start and I'm actually in a half descent position setting up for the climb up the escarpment. Well, that good position went to shit because half the field in front of me got off and ran up the loose steep part of the climb while I opted to ride up it watching the running group pull away from me. Once I got to the top of the climb I felt half decent and spun away at a nice high cadence to recover. In short time I caught and passed a few of the guys that were running up the hill and managed to catch and pass quite a few masters guys as well. I finally finished in 15th place and it really was a perfect race for me, my bike functioned perfect, I didn't crash once and i fuelled perfectly for the race. After viewing my heart rate profile I can honestly say that I gave everything that I had on that course. Kelso is easily one of my favourite places to ride and the Chico Racing and Conservation Halton put on an excellent event. This race was an excellent motivator for me to get my shit together for next year and give the series a proper attempt.

click the link below for course details.

Kelso Ontario Cup 2010 by jaymenard at Garmin Connect - Details

photo:Tyler Macdonald