This past weekend I took part in the Para-cycling Nationals in Lac Megantic, QC.
After the 10 hour drive towards the Quebec-Maine border Wednesday, I got settled in and had a 15km TT Thursday morning.
The course was a closed off, freshly paved 4-lane highway – 7.5km gently downhill, U-turn then back up.
On the way out – speed was high, consistently above 40km/h – even reached 65km/h at times – always a rush.
Climbing back to the finish line was another story!! Overall TT speed was 26km/h.
Saturday morning was our RR. Same course as the TT but 3 laps with U-turns at each end for a 45km race.
There were 8 handcyclists in the event. I managed to push hard and stay with the chase group for the first 5km of the race – but – as I’m finding racing goes, you’re only as good as your training and equipment will let you be. Although I wouldn’t have been able to keep their pace, I made a shifting error preparing for a climb and dropped my chain. Pulled over, passed by the rest of the field and spent the next 40km trying to play catch up without much luck.
Overall, I finished the 45km course in less than 2 hours, good for 7th place .. so can live with that!
Outcomes:
Excellent learning experience, good event to network with the top talent in our sport.
Another wake up call that hill climbs are the secret to success.
Looks like I’ll keep coming back on Wednesday nights for the Bamberg loop 
Only way to go is up.
Excellent Roger !
I remember (long ago) inviting Jim Balsillie to talk at a course I was giving in Strategic Planning. Leaning forward, hoping for a thread of “philosophy” or business insight, the class listened as his sat on the edge of a desk and said, “if you want to lift more…you need bigger arms.”
Turns out that is true.
Congrats again.
Congrats Roger!! Keep up the hard work as it will pay off! Hope to see you again next year at nationals if not at local events!
Alex