Race the Ranch Canada Cup

I am writing this in the few minutes before work the day we fly out for the Canmore Canada Cup. It was a quick June, and promising to be a quick July as the weekends and races tick by. Last weekend we headed out to Kamloops for the "Race the Ranch" Canada Cup. The laps were short (about 5km), flat, wide open, on a mix of double and singletrack.

On the preride three things stuck out in my head, there was no following, the dust was so bad that if you got close to people lungs and eyes would burn from all the dust. Then technically the dust, in some places it was 6 inches to a foot deep making ruts hard to see and the steep short climbs a bit trickier. Finally (and probably the most important) the heat. Our pre-ride didn't start until 7:30pm the night before the race and the heat was still suffocating.

On race day the temperatures started climbing above Victoria's moderate 20-25C by 9am. By 1pm, during the warmup, the temperature had peaked at 40C (104F). With a wide open course that required pedalling everywhere, there was no avoiding the sun. The start of the race was relatively slow, but picked up on the first plateau. I was sitting in 4th feeling pretty comfortable, until we hit a dusty spot and I lost the trail and both wheels sending me sliding across the trail. By the time I got myself and my bike up and running the field had passed me. I worked to catch back on but tried to remember to keep things steady, I picked off four girls over the next three laps. By the end of my fourth lap the heat had gotten to me and I wasn't moving very quickly, every lap I had been going through the feedzone twice, getting three bottles per feed--bottles to dump in the feedzone, bottles to drink, and bottles to dump during the lap. Just before the commissaire table at the finish line Catherine Vipond (who rode great in the heat!) came around and saved me from a final lap.

Overall I ended up 6th in a race that felt like a feat to finish as some of the elite men put themselves in the hospital and DNF's were high. The results for the women are as follows:

1. Catherine Vipond (ON) Norco-Evolution 1:51:18
2. Jean Ann McKirdy (BC) Rocky Mountain Bikes 1:59:56
3. Andrea Bunnin (SK) Team Saskatchewan 2:10:07
4. Stacey Spencer (BC) Different Bikes 2:12:37
5. Christy Love (BC) West Coast Racing/Ambleside CC 2:16:48
6. Joele Guynup (USA) Island Racing Club/Straight Up -1 lap
7. Lisa Morgan (NZl) New Zealand -2 laps
8. Julie Melanson (BC) Balance Point Racing -2 laps
9. Mandy Dreyer (ON) Ind -3laps
DNF. K.J. Sadler (BC) Ind
DNF. Melanie Vaughan (BC) Steed Cycles
DNF. Joanna Harrington (Aus) Fineline Bike Shop, Whistler
DNF. Susan Stephens (ON) Team Whistler
DNF. Jennifer Tabbernor (BC) Ind

This weekend we are heading to Canmore for our second (and last) Canada Cup of the year. Last year this was one of my favourite courses with hard climbs and awesome singletrack. After two days of re-hydration and relative rest, and a day of hill climbs under my belt, I am feeling pretty excited for this race!