A new season begins..

The Friday before the first race of the season, I'm feeling jumpy. I feel like I've been away from it all for so long. The California training camp was awesome and I followed that up with some really good weeks back here on the bike. Unfortunately (Ha) I missed out on an entire week because I went on vacation to Grand Cayman (poor me) And then I missed another week because the first week I was back I was swamped with work stuff and attending the CPMA convention here in Toronto. Meetings and dinners pretty much all week long, guests from Israel, the States and South Africa meant I had no time to ride. I almost feel fat being off the bike for two weeks.

I have however gotten out for a few rides, and they're mostly short lived because of this...

Yeah everywhere is as muddy as shit. And before you go biting my head off, the mud in this instance came in the first 150m of trail at which point I turned around. I can only make my way up to Joyride so many times before I start going crazy. I'm at the point where I need to be riding on dirt.

So back to the race this weekend! OCup #1 is Woodnewton, a built-from-scratch trail by the folks running the OCups. It features probably one of the fastest starts on the circuit as the startline is looking down a long double track straight that leads into some smooth corners. Two pacelines usually
form on either side of the track so it's a good idea to tuck in if you're happy with where you are. It's hard to make your way around with so many jockeying for position but you have to make sure you're poised to attack since there's usually a bottleneck as soon as the first singletrack hits.

I've never had a good race at Woodnewton. The first time I raced the course my front brake started leaking hydro fluid as I was lining up. First corner.. no braking power. Its was impossible to control the bike on the technical parts with just a rear so I called it a day. The second time I washed out on a corner and ended up stabbing a handlebar into my gut. I think the entire field passed me as I writhed in pain down in the bushes. I was so winded by the blow that I couldn't continue. Hardest I've ever gone down on a bike and it was on a flat corner... :(

So I'm hoping to turn things around this time and post a good result. (Considering my history with this course, that just means finishing)

Also just in time for the new race season my new shoes have arrived. Some Louis Garneau T-Flex 300s. My old LGs are permanently caked in mud and one of the buckles has come off the shoe so I knew I was due for a new pair. I hate that they're going to immediately lose their sheen and be all muddy :(

Preride tomorrow with Adam at the course. Hopefully the rain holds off and we have a dry session. It also looks like this will be the warmest weekend so far this year, we've all been waiting for it. Having said that though the winter spandex isn't going away yet...

Will post later with preride or race updates