Riot On Racing: Sudbury OCup Race Review

So, last weekend was my first attempt at an O'Cup race (the Ontario Cup is the Ontario Cycling Association's race series). This race was #5 in the series, and just happened to be the Canada Cup....held in Sudbury.

I carpooled with Blaze and misconceptionz up to Sudbury on Saturday (the race was on Sunday). The trip up was OK until misconceptionz admitted to having a redheaded stepchild.

Sorry, misconceptionz if I have outted you here, especially if Mrs.conceptionz didn't know. Perhaps you should introduce Mrs.conceptionz to the child's mother...

Right turn Clyde...

Actually the most worrisome part of the ride up was when misconceptionz sang Akinyele's "Put it in your mouth"...

After that I just shut off until we got to Sudbury.

We went directly to CptSydor's parents house (CptSydor's parents live in Sudbury, and I was staying there for the weekend), where we were all invited for dinner.

CptSydor's family are some of the nicest people in the world...not really sure how CptSydor came from this very genuine, down to earth, friendly origin...

Anyways, supper went well until Blaze decided to model his new racing kit...

Yes...that is an Angry Birds Onezie...don't ask...you don't want to know...

Anyways let's get to the race...

The course itself was an abundance of technical rock...this is Sudbury after all; the heart of the Canadian Shield. Sharp crags, that can easily tear out a sidewall and end up with a flat tire. Sharp punchy rock face climbs to suck the life out of the legs, and the air out of the lungs. Some twisty single track, to connect the rock bits, and enough double track to allow for passing...but all of it very bumpy and rough...to beat the heck out of the shoulders, hands and back. The race (for my category) was 3 laps of about 7+ kms.

The competition was very tough. The thing with OCup races is that everyone is a dedicated racer. Everyone trains hard, everyone is competitive...striving to do well to earn OCup points in order to move up in categories, and to win overall standings. For these competitors, the fun is in the competition, about improving and getting faster; not only faster than you are, but faster than the competition.

So bang. My category was off! I passed some, I got passed...through the course, heart rate red lining the entire time. Came through the feed zone 10 - 12 minutes into lap one, CptSydor was there cheering me on. (CptSydor's category raced later in the afternoon). Then on through the end of the first lap in about 31 minutes.

Lap 2. Through the feed-zone, CptSydor there again....and someone called 'Go Riot!' I couldn't see who it was....who else would have been cheering for me?? Blaze and misconceptionz were out on the course...they had started several minutes ahead of me in another category.

Well I did have a few fans show up...

And Emily came out to watch me...

Yeah right...

Anyways...I continued, finishing lap 2 in 35 minutes. Through the start finish again someone cheered me on...what?? It was Blaze...why was he not racing?? Turned out he blew out a sidewall and flatted out, finishing his race prematurely.

This is Blaze in a race he actually got to race in...

Out I went for my third and final lap...through the feed-zone...I was hurting. An hour and a half of redlining, and the course was beating the heck out of me. Got about 500 meters from the finish and there was misconceptionz running with his bike...a flat back tire. "Get your slow ass out of the way!", I called. He attempted a laugh, while trying not to cough up a lung running with his bike. I finished off my lap, and the race....I was wiped out...and my hands and back were screaming at me. Total race time, 1hr42mins...solidly mid-pack in my category. I was hoping for better, but really, I was happy to survive.

misconceptionz finished his race, running his bike across the finish line. (He ended up running the final 4kms!!).

This was him on the course before the flat...

Once I changed out of my racing gear I had to get ready for CptSydor's race, as I was operating his feed station. CptSydor had a descent race. He out-sprinted ApexNeil in the last 100m or so to the finish, and he finished in front of Oggie, which was a bit of motivation for him. He too was wiped and depleted at the finish line.

Oggie finished, then comforted Jeff.

Yeah....I just threw up a little in my mouth too...

Then they basked in the afterglow...

Is this Oggie and Cpt during the full supermoon??

Anyways...other notes of note at this O'Cup:

Louda won her category.

JeffS won his category.

Well done, eh!!!

The next O'Cup race is this weekend July 20th. It is Canadian National Championship, and a preview of the course to be used for the 2015 PanAm games. Good luck to all participating!

In the meantime I have plenty of work to do in order to get better and faster.

I am still too damn heavy...