Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Race Report: Tour de Island

We live in Manotick, and a large part of it is an Island. This past Saturday Keir and I participated in the 2nd running of the Tour de Island.  This is an "amateur" and is not sanction under the UCI but still pulls a strong field.
Keir and I are riding for a new start up cycling team called L'Equipe de Faux and are serious contenders for the Malliot D'Etoile, which is given to the winner of the Tour de Island.
The Start was a relatively calm event
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The route starts of nice and flat so that the cyclists can get a good warm up in.
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 After the legs are warmed up the riders are faced with a very tricky "Narrows Pass" which in previous tours has claimed several riders.
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A successful navigation of the "Narrows Pass" and Keir's confidence was growing and thoughts of now winning the tour instead just competing in the tour.
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It was at this point the the Tour's route turned downhill, I am a stronger descender than Keir and pushed the pace a bit more, here we are topping out the speedometer.
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And of course if the is a downhill there usually is an uphill associated with it. As the terrain turned up hill, the advantage pendulum swung Keir's way. His small stature and sub 60lbs body weight make him a natural climber . 
Here he is pulling away from me, using his patented zig-zag climbing method once the hill turned very steep
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Cresting the hill Keir's lead had grown considerably
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Through the middle of the race the we settled into a comfortable rhythm and even got some "trash talking" in
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and some showboating 
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At the turn around section Keir was in the lead but for the several minutes Keir and I exchanged the lead several times, it was a real see-saw affair
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Next the race route turned technical with a series of 90 degree turns
Here is Keir navigating the turns 
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After the technical section, the Tour route doubled back on itself to come back home for the finish. Knowing the "Narrows Pass" was coming up again, Keir (showing experience beyond his years) sprinted ahead to get in the better position for the critical "Narrows Pass" entrance
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After the "Narrows Pass" we had a small straight away followed by another 90 degree turn and the final straight away sprint to the finish.
Keir just had to much power in  his legs for me to even try and keep up
Here he is pulling away on the final straight away for the the win.
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There was no hard feelings, as it it was a good clean hard race, so the riders exchanged congratulations
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And finally here Keir showing off his Malliot D'Etoile 
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Here is what the Tour Route looked like


OK, so hopefully you know that this was a tongue and cheek Race Report. I pretty sure I can still beat Keir if we _actually_ race ;-)
That is all for now
Take Care
Ewan



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