The Tour d'Alberta was an interesting day. I arrived early (I like to do that) and got my bike ready to roll. The parking lot filled up pretty quickly with ALOT of very pretty bikes. We're talkin Argon, Cervelo, Felt, QR, Pinarello (ooh my I lust after those Pinarellos), carbon, deep dish wheels and aerobars all around!
Eventually it was time to line up at the start. We were given some kind of pre-race talk (I didn't listen - except I heard - have fun this is not a race)... and off we go! Well it appears it WAS a race. Whewie. Maybe because it was 7:30 am. Maybe because everyone who had an Ironman tattoo hadn't proven enough or maybe they all feel as stressed as I do about the upcoming race but nobody was particularly chatty.
My friends Eric T (who used to road race in Quebec) and Ian (who is new-ish to road cycling but fiercely good already) pedalled off ahead of me. I wanted to just ride my own day without drafting so this was good. Packs and packs of cyclists passed me only to pass me again after they stopped at a rest stop. I made three pit stops first one to remove my jacket (oh I should have worn a jersey not a t-back), second to eat real food and refuel the waterbottles and third just to stop for a sec.
The day was windy and hot and there appeared to be a few accidents. The first one was Ian who was on someone's wheel and they braked suddenly. I hear it was a pile-up. The other one I overheard was something similar - wheels touching from pack riding - and looked much worse as the woman's neck and head were being stabalized by paramedics when I went by.
What surprised me the most was seeing alot of triathletes riding maybe 3 - 4 tightly together in their aerobars. This doesn't make sense to me.
What suprised me a little was how few people said hello to each other! Anyway... I was feeling a bit spacey and groggy and a very nice group of riders came by. One shouted are you Jordan? and I uh.. yeah... uh why? I guess he reads my blog and well it was very nice that he wished me luck at Ironman. Cool! Then a girl rode beside me for a bit and said she saw me at Great White and we chatted a bit about doing Ironman this year.
The route, I have to say, was beautiful. Beautiful scenery, beautiful roads, pleasant motorists and well supported. I'd likely just do the 100 or 50km route next year for fun. I have a feeling those distances might be a little more friendly but maybe not!
Oh yes afterwards there was roast beef on buns, salad, beans, cake, fruitsicles and I think you could get a beer (if you couldn't you should have been able to!).
I manged to wipe out in the parking lot walking to the van. Too funny. I sat there for a bit just surprised at my sheer dorkiness! :) haha.
That's all for now... Happy Training!
5 comments:
Ouch, that is some sunburn! Wow, scary accidents and shame about some people being so competitive. Nicely done though!
Yikes that sunburn looks painful!
I have a very similar sunburn from my race. It decided to blister - good thing I have a nurse in the family (MIL) to look after me.
Hope yours heals up soon!
Hi!
I got your comment on my IMC 2007 race report. Good luck to you! Wait until you see all the different people out there doing it - I honestly think it's more about determination and attitude than whether your body looks like one of those super-lean, muscular triathletes. I'll be on the lookout for your race report!
For whatever it's worth, I wiped out the other day on my bike too. Same damn corner I've turned almost every day, rain or shine, snow, sleet, ice... not going particularly fast or slow... and some damn idiot had left a bike in the middle of the roadway. Couldn't go over, couldn't go through, coulnd't go around, so I went down. Hard. Road rash sucks donkey hoho, especially since the dog apparently likes the way it tastes and I frequently wake up to the lapping of puppy tongue on my calf. Blech.
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