Dewdney Trunk Road & 256th Street. 60km (3 laps), 1061m total ascent.

Unfortunately i started the morning pretty groggy as i only left the bar at 2am, but i had no trouble waking up at 6am to get ready for the 1hr drive to Maple Ridge. I managed to get there easily enough so i had plenty of time to warm up this time, my peroneal tendon was still giving me trouble but the pain is very bearable. Lining up for the cat4/5, Bob, a Zimbabwean cat4 who is into his second season here introduces himself. Finally we’re off, first kilometer we hit a 6% grade hill and the field is decimated, i certainly wasn’t expecting this sort of damage, about 10 people are dropped completely. I dig in and manage to stay with the main group. Then the death march begins… some sadists up front start driving a fast pace up a 10% grade, this time i get dropped from the main group, and we’re not even done with the first lap!! I see some more people get dropped from the main group and decide to chase the 3 man group. I’m making good progress and reducing the gap, i can see they’re not going to slow down for me to catch up, then 1 of them breaks away and drops the other 2. I decide to follow the guy, i pass the 2 stragglers but the breakaway guy is really throwing it down. He’s a bit slow on the hills so i decide to make the most of them. That’s when i get introduced to the 22%(!!) hill at 8.8km, i really should have brought my dish-plate (12-27 cassette), i’m running a 12-25 and barely turning the cranks over at 30rpm. One of the only guys to bring a triple was probably laughing all the way up the climb. Looking at my speedometer i see 7km/h and let off a stifled sob. But everyone is suffering and i can see some of the guys doing the ‘paperboy’, zig-zagging and generally getting in the way. On the way down the other side, i make my first mistake… i miss a turn and end up going 2km the wrong way
Back on the route i start thinking of pulling out. Lap 2, i see a figure in the distance, i initially thought it was the guy i was chasing down in the first lap but it turns out to be a Masi Adobe rider, one of the cat3s (They started 10 minutes earlier than us). Finally getting up to him i notice he’s really really struggling up the hills and figure he’s running low on energy. I eventually give up trying to pull him and continue my soloing for the next 2 uneventful laps. Overall i’m disappointed in missing that turn, i could have done much better. Bob the Zimbabwean, on the other hand, takes 3rd place! Tomorrow is the time trial and criterium, but i’ll see how i feel in the morning.