The COBRA Century Ride was awesome! This has been the first long-distance race I've ever finished, spanning over 100.8 km of North Okanagan and Shushwap scenery.
It all started with a slow roll-out from a park near the highway in Armstrong, heading South before looping back towards Salmon River Road. My HR would not come down, being as excited as I was, staying around LBP - 20 while spinning. The first major hill was also the first major effort. I was scared to look at the HR monitor; it's probably best not to know! A little while after the crest I stole a glance, seeing LBP + 12. It was hard to see from the back of the lead group, but I think there were several breaks up ahead, which were all pulled in before the ice cream shop!.. No time for treats though.
My lower back and the top of my quads were getting more sore as time passed. Sitting up on the bike to stretch them provided some temporary relief. All along the flats to salmon arm I kept hitting potholes and cracks in the road. There seemed to be some people who were not willing to point that kind of stuff out! The pace kept fluctuating over the rolling hills around Silver Creek, which was good to take a breather but hard on my back from the frequent accelerations. I almost always stayed in the middle of the pack to save energy, and observed how my more experienced teammates moved about.
Nearing Salmon Arm I moved to the front, drafting off of the other Peter. The plan was to be as far forward as possible starting the hill, which would give me a little advantage. At the base of the hill, everyone put the hammer down, and I quickly found myself mid-pack again! I started off a bit too hard, which worked out for the first three-quarters of the hill. A lot of people whom I had passed caught me on the last bit. I missed the BPR train by a mere hundred to two-hundred meters! My POLAR HR strap had dried up and stopped reading on the flats, but I could tell I was WAY over LBP. The amount I was hurting at the top of the hill was nothing compared to the effort I made trying to bridge. The "bulk" of the pack was around me, which gave me a quick breather before hammering off of the front to join a lone rider down the road. I used my momentum to give him the first pull, which seemed to last quite long for the intensity. When it was his turn he stopped pedaling halfway down a slope! I told him "Nobody ahead of you is going to stop pedaling. How are you ever going to catch up?" Thankfully this was enough to get him moving again, because I would have had to try and go it alone otherwise. It didn't really matter in the end; the pack caught us by Auto road.
The guys at the front made MASSIVE efforts. When we got onto the flat section of the highway, we were often exceeding 50 Km/h and it was hard enough just to hold on in the pack. The BPR team TT was losing distance slowly. I was near the back when a pot hole the length of a bike, filled with mud and water, zoomed into view.My back wheel slid in just as my front hit; the unexpected force pushed my handlebars down a solid inch and locked my rear brake lever. I got some air, but managed to keep it under control. My POLAR HR monitor read 55 km/h just after. This is why people should POINT OBSTACLES OUT.
By Deep Creek Road the two groups had conjoined, and we rode the entire road without event. As we rolled through the four-way stop at the end of it, everyone slowed in preparation for the final hill. The starting rolls were gentle yet suspenseful. The hammerfest started what seemed like halfway up the hill, which strung out the group. There was a break over the crest, which we (the group) caught on the downhill. From there it was a series of sprints to the finish. I went with half a kilometer to go, totally misjudging how tired my body was, and finished at the back of the pack.
A very fun, eventful, painful, hard, exciting, fast, long, and enjoyable Sunday morning
Great race guys!
Peter
