Events, Bike culture »
Ontario Cup Race # 5: Elliot Lake
This past weekend, I travelled with a teammate to the fifth race in the Plastiglas /Chico Racing’s Ontario Cup Series. The drive from From Guelph to Sudbury takes about six hours and we only had a Pontiac Firefly to stretch out in, but watching the event in the flesh and riding the course afterwards were well worth the cramped legs.
Our trip began on Saturday around 5:30pm with Derek picking me up in his little three cylinder which we call ‘Booger’ (it’s a faded forest green which could have been sampled from a five year old’s trousers). We loaded the bikes on the rack, packed another layer in the hatchback, and took off like an excited sneeze. Having brought my laptop, I burned us a ten hour MP3 CD to cruise to and we were settled in for the long haul by the time we hit HWY 401.
The arrival
We arrived in Elliot Lake early Sunday morning around 2:00am. The campground held the eerie stillness of pre-race preparedness and everywhere we looked the bikes of Ontario’s racing elite loomed like bones in an elephant graveyard. Some of the riders had been in town since Thursday pre-riding the course and getting prepared. This event is worth double-points and is the most technical of the seven races in the series.
The race
Sport class started 10:30am and the pace was fast. A member of our team pulled out into third and looked really strong while disappearing from the first feed zone. The average Sport lap time was 1 hour 10 minutes and our teammate ended up fifth in a field of thirteen.
The Pro Elite class started at 1:00pm and, as usual, I was humbled by their skill and fitness. These men and women flew around that course in an average time of 45 minutes and neither the heat nor the technicality of the course seemed to phase them.
All the same, there was an excessive number of technical failures and many riders could be seen running their bikes for the final lap(s) looking for finish points. I had a friend in Sport tell me that by her third flat her Co2 had run out so she just ran for it.
The aftermath
When the dust cleared and the organizers were busy tearing down tape, Derek and I set off with a shop affiliate to see what the backside of the Elliot Lake course looked like.
I can honestly say now that I have never been so put to shame by a trail in my life. Forget racing this course, I could barely ride it at all. The combination of rocks, roots, slick faces, and mud made it next to impossible for me to even stay in the saddle. I was stalling and clipping out every few feet and the only sections I actually rode were a road climb (where I sprinted to feel at least some accomplishment) and a rocky decent which still had me over the bars twice.
I think I practiced more technical skills in that hour and half than I had all season in southern Ontario. All this added up to new admiration for those who race in the Ontario Cup (and pro level racers in general). These people aren’t just more fit than the rest of us, they have incredible talents too. Adding to my worship was the fact that some riders chose to ride rigid forks; there was even one monster (riding for True North Cycles) on a rigid singlespeed 29er!
Having gotten back to the parking lot we repacked the car and joined a Toronto-bound convoy, which proved good pit-stop company for several hours. All in all the trip covered 1300km and 14.5 hours driving and, while we rode our bikes for only 95 minutes, both of us gained a new appreciation for Ontario’s top XC racers.