Sunday, July 6, 2008

Day 7 & 8 Canmore

Arrived in Canmore Thursday evening.  Andre and Karen showed up round 11.  We all were tired from driving so we hit the hay.
Up on Friday to pre-ride the course and sign on.  The layout was similar to last years course.  Probably on of the best race courses I have ever ridden.  There is lots of climbing, fast descending and a few technical spots to keep you honest.  I felt good on the pre-ride and took my time on the descents so that I got a good idea of what line to take during the race.  I almost had a mondo crash on one of the technical descents but somehow managed to pull out of the high speed nose wheely that I had gotten into after going over a bit of a root jump.  
After pre ride we just laid low around the hotel and prepared for the next days events.
Saturday morning came in with a blue sky and slight breeze, perfect for racing in the Rockies. Steve and I rode up to the course and got ready as best we could.  
The whistle blew and we were off.  To start we headed off through a flat section and the began to climb.  I felt good so I went hard and got to the front and ended up staying there for the whole first lap, however Niclas, Devin and Steve were hot on my heels.  Going into lap 2 Niclas started to pull away from me on the climbs.  I never did see him again after that.  Legs were feeling good the second time up Georgetown( a significant climb about 2km from the finish).  So I pushed a little and managed to stay in second.  I knew that Steve and Devin would be charging hard so I did all I could on the descents and put a little extra effort on Georgetown and onto the finish.  So I ended up second which I am happy with.  Steve pulled in behind Devin for the 4th spot.  Mark raced as well but did not have his best day.  Here are the full results.
I can't say enough good things about the Ziggy Knarley course, it is a rip roarin good time. 
We partied a bit that eve and then hit the hay cause in the am it was back to E-town.

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