Gatineau Medio Fondo: First Bunch Ride Sportif

Joy here...This morning we got up bright and early under a blue sky with a blazing sun, temperatures already nearing 20C by 7am, but instead of riding out to Gatineau Park as usual to ride with my friends (like last week, or the week before, or the week before that, and so on...), I headed over to the starting point of a local Gran Fondo event.

You see, this weekend there are a number of professional bike races taking place in Gatineau, including some of the Olympic qualifying races for the female cyclists.  And in keeping with holding events for amateur cyclists for fun in conjunction with these professional races, the race organizers set up two Gran Fondo events--a 102km gran fondo double loop of the park and a 51km medio fondo single loop of the park--for regular folks to take part in.

click on this picture to see a bigger size and a sense for the elevation etc.

My plan was to just ride this route at my own pace, not getting caught up in the race atmosphere or anything like that, but just doing it for fun.  The organizers have this to say about the two events (gran and medio fondos): "Although not a competition, these events are timed to allow those interested to measure their personal results."  I figured I'd do just that:  measure my results, but take it easy.  Power Penna's husband countered that approach by emailing me this:  "it's a timed event, you should go full out."  Right after I read that, I got an email from the Spinning Instructor who wrote:  "Think about givin' it ... no point in going and not trying to go all out."  And Superdave had this to say:  "When the music starts, you gotta dance!"

  

All ready to go!

So with my friends all squarely in my corner urging me to see what I could do by trying a little, I figured that I would ride by feel, not trying to keep up with anyone and everyone out there, but making a point of pushing myself to my limits.  Who knows what my "all out" even is?  

I got my race number and chip, rolled my bike over to the start line, gathered around all the other starters for the shorter, medio fondo, and hoped that I wouldn't wobble over and take anyone out before the event even got underway!

Then we started out in a big pack of riders, riding along in almost two single file rows.  I got close up behind a guy who looked sturdy and steady on his bike, and just timed myself to his pedal stroke and let myself be carried along in the bunch, not really pushing myself yet, and when I turned around, I was surprised to see a line of people behind my wheel!  

We were averaging around 35km/hr, and I was feeling good, like I was flying over the asphalt beneath a crystalline sky above.

But then we hit the first incline.

The blue skies at the start line.

And I could no longer stay close to that guy's wheel.  In fact, the whole group of us that started out together began to splinter pretty radically at that point, and that was probably only about 12kms into the whole 52km route!  From that point on, it was pretty much every man/woman for him/herself!

So I just got myself comfortable on my bike and settled in for a long, hot, sweaty ride.  The sun was getting hotter and hotter as temperatures reached 30C, and my lower back began to scream with pain as I began the long, slow climb up to Champlain Lookout.  On the first Sunday in April, my friends and I took this route up to the lookout, but today as I rode, it seemed never ending.  With the pain in my lower back, I was afraid that I wasn't getting full power in my legs, and with every other person with a number on their bike passing me, I began to feel deflated.  And just as I was feeling really low, like I was the worst cyclist out there, probably coming in last place, and a total waste of space, I saw Superdave and The Man on their ride coming towards me.  That was just the lift I needed!  I got a big smile and wave from The Man, and that was all I needed to get me up to the Champlain Lookout where I stopped for a moment, ate a banana and a GU and drank some of my water before beginning the rip-roaring descent downwards and over the rolling terrain to the finish line...around 20kms away.

My bike computer at the end...average pace = 29.2km/hr.

On the downhill, my back hurt a little less (I thank the banana), and I was able to chase down a number of other riders in the event, with a few of us riding together for a while.  I even passed Cili Padi and The Professor (in their awesome summer Rapha jerseys) out for their Sunday ride.

Finally as I turned onto the finishing straight, I just put myself down on my handlebars like I did during my time trial on Tuesday, put myself in the big ring (as per my oh-so-apt nick name), and started riding at around 45km/hr towards the finish.  As I passed a guy along the way, I shouted:  "C'mon, we're almost done!"  And he sped up and followed me.  As we crossed the finish line to the sounds of cheers and clapping, he rode over to me and said, "thanks, that exactly what I needed right there at the end."

It would seem that my "all out" on a hot, sunny Sunday morning had me finishing 52kms over hilly terrain in 1:52 with an average speed of 29km/hr and a maximum speed of 67km/hr.  I ended up finishing 47th out of 104 competitors--7th out of 26 women and 4th out of 11 women my age.  So it turns out that my "all out" isn't too shabby after all!

Over and out,
Joy