After being delayed in the Ottawa airport for an hour because of a snowstorm, waiting three more hours on the plane for takeoff, spending 5 and a half hours flying to Vancouver, and then waiting two more hours in the terminal for my luggage which I discovered was not here because the airline had unloaded everyone’s luggage in an effort to conserve fuel, I had reached the point of exhaustion. My mom, dad and I got to our hotel room at 4:30 a.m, and all fell asleep right away.
I woke up early the next morning, after getting a total of about 4 hours sleep. My parents and I spent the day shopping, and by 3:30 p.m. I was fading! In desperation I started phoning and texting everyone I knew on my team trying to figure out who could lend me a kit and a pair of shoes/ pedals because mine were... WHO KNOWS WHERE! I got to the track about 5:30pm and was thrilled to find team mate Jenelle also in the change room and able to lend me a kit. After struggling to get the borrowed pedals on my bike and then layering on 3 pairs of socks to fit the borrowed shoes, I got onto the track for my warmup. I was feeling rusty as I had taken about a week off of riding being back in eastern Canada visiting my boyfriend’s parents for Christmas.
The first race was very eventful. I realized about 30 minutes before the race that everyone I was racing against was using a much larger gear ratio. My coach however saved me and found someone who was willing to lend me a sprocket. I got it on my bike and took it for a test ride, worked great!
The event was a 40 lap scratch race and I had no idea what that meant. I asked Richard, my coach, what that meant. He explained it was like a crit race, the last lap defines the race. Around the half way point I was getting comfortable. I was following my teammates and thought I was positioned well, near to the front. Coming around a corner I realised otherwise. There was someone below me and about three riders above. The three above me were moving down and the one below me was moving up. I got sandwiched in between the racers and flew down onto the track. The shorts Jenelle had loaned me got OWNED and my leg and arm were covered with splinters and roadrash. My head/neck took quite the beating leaving me with little movement hours later. The good news; my helmet was fine! Quickly I jumped back up and shook off the crash. Already first aid was over making sure I was all right and the neutral mechanics were changing my destroyed front wheel. I took the full number of laps to get back in, six, and comfortably started racing again. I finished the race feeling great. I was happy and proud of myself for pushing through the crash.
The second race was an elimination race. Again, I had no idea what that meant. I asked teammate Jenny Trew what that was and she explained that it meant every two laps the last person across the line gets eliminated. I started near to the front and made it down to the final 4, along with Giant riders Jenny and Steph.
The last race was tiring. My lack of sleep was catching up. There was a long time between races and I spent the time spinning and clearing my legs of lactic acid. The last race was a 50 lap points race, which means every 10 laps the first 4 riders are awarded points. By this time I felt like falling asleep. I was so tired and had lost the spunk in my legs. I did my best to finish the race strong and help my teammates do as well as possible.
All in all, I had an awesome time. My coach Richard treated me nothing less that a pro, he coached me all night long and was always there to help me if there was anything I was unsure of. Jeremy, who was hosting the event was also amazing. Even though his hecktic job took his full attention, he always seemed to find a way to have words of encouragment and coaching tips over his P.A for me and other riders as well. I felt very cared for and lucky to have such great support, I am SUPER excited to race on Saturday.
-Shorty
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