Unbound + Nationals recap
I am writing this blog on the airplane as I am travelling from Calgary back to Europe. It has been a busy and tiring three weeks. I started this trip off with racing Unbound Gravel and then Canadian National Championships two weeks later. Unbound and Nationals were both important races to me and I worked very hard preparing.
I want to first recap my experience at Unbound. As I said in my earlier blog Unbound is a stressful race and a race where so much preparation is required to get a good result. Not only physical preparation but mental preparation goes into 325kms of racing. Going into the race, I had a clear race plan for my nutrition, feed zones, and my race strategy. However, my plan changed a bit after I pre-rode the first part of the course. It had been raining the whole week, which caused a lot of mud on the course. Around 40 kms into the race, there was several ruts and built-up sticky mud that made this section quite difficult to ride through and there was another similar section around km 70. I took a mental note of that and the importance of being in a good position for those two sections. When it was finally race day, I was feeling eager, excited, nervous but ready to give this race my all. I kept reminding myself that “nothing lasts forever” so no matter how long or hard the race was, I would eventually be done. When the race started, everyone was eager to be positioned well, and I could already feel the nervous energy of the bunch. There was a crash in the first 5km. I knew that the only way I would make it out of those muddy and technical sections safe is in a small group or going solo, so that is what I did. There was an opportunity at km 25 so I attacked and went solo for 80kms to the first feed zone where an extremely strong group of 3 riders caught me and ended up being part of the winning group. I quickly could not keep up to their pace as I was feeling the past three hours of being solo. I was by myself for another 45 minutes or so when the chase group caught me. I stayed with them for another hour until I began feeling the first part of the day. At that point, I knew I had to go at my own pace to make it to the finish. I started to have quite bad stomach pain (probably from all the sugar and gels) and just had to keep my focus on getting to the finish. I was alone for another hour, and the second chase group of around 7 riders caught me. From there we rode to the finish, we worked well together for the most part but ultimately lost time by not riding organized. In the last 20kms another group caught us, and we raced for 19th-30th place. In the end, I finished in 27th and I was completely empty from my effort. I crossed the finish line with mixed emotion; I was happy I had the courage to attack and stay out solo for as long as I did but also wished I could have stayed longer with the front group. Looking back, if I had known the three riders who were chasing me as well as the gaps, I probably would have sat up a bit earlier to save energy and be able to ride with them longer! Overall, I am proud of how I raced, and I want to continue to race aggressively and hopefully, a big result will follow.
Solo!
Photo Credit: Chiara Redaschi
Post race exhaustion…
Photo Credit: Chiara Redaschi
After Unbound, I travelled back to Calgary where I would begin to prepare for Canadian Gravel National Championships. Luckily, for the second year, Gravel Nationals were being held in Water Valley which is a 1-hour drive from my home in Calgary. I love getting the opportunity to race at home. I feel much more relaxed and supported with my family around to help me get prepared. It is hard to know how you will recover after such a hard race like Unbound so planning training can be a bit difficult. The best approach is to listen to your body and take things day by day. This year, I would say it took me about a week to feel back to normal. I started feeling better, a bit sluggish still, but better. The week leading up to Nationals, my body and mind were improving, and I felt that I had started to get over the Unbound fatigue. The most important part of the week was to really focus on sleeping, eating and recovering. I knew this course well as I raced it the previous year and I rode in Water Valley quite often. I did not feel the need to do any pre-rides of the course until the day before. On Saturday, I met up with Mike, from Inspire Athlete Management who would be filming and taking photos of me throughout the weekend. It was amazing to have Mike around to capture this weekend both on and off the bike. My pre-ride went well, I felt recovered, strong and ready to give everything I had on race day, I was focused on my goal and my goal was winning.
Course pre ride with Mike and my dad
Photo Credit: Mike Chan
The morning of the race I felt the nerves, but I tried my best to relax and focus on the race. I was eager to start the race and couldn’t wait to go. Finally, at 9:05 am we were off. The bunch seemed motivated to ride hard and get the race going. After only about 15kms, the group split and there were only about 7 riders left. I knew at km 30 there was the first big climb that would most likely split the group again. We rode hard up the climb and once we got to the top there were only 3 of us left. We continued to ride well together taking equal turns up front and we were all very motivated to stay away. As we approached the second climb, the third rider dropped off and there were only two of us left, Devon and me. I knew from that point the two of us would be fighting for the win. Around km 65, I looked back, and Devon wasn’t there. I was not sure what happened, but I knew I had to go as hard as I could to try to make it solo to the line. I rode for the hour or so until I looked back and Devon had caught back on. I was frustrated but knew I had to change my plan to try to win. We worked well together until the end and the race was decided on the last 2kms. At this point, Devon’s pace was too much on the last steep section to the finish and she pulled away winning the race. I tried everything I could to get back, but it was too late. I was and still am extremely disappointed about the race. I wanted more than anything to come back to Europe as the Canadian National champion, but it was not meant to be. Writing this three days later I am still sad, but I know I gave everything I could, and it just wasn’t enough on the day.
Photo Credit: Cody Shimizu
With all that being said, I am extremely grateful to my team Enough Cycling for getting me to North America, my Dad for joining me at Unbound and making sure my bike was in perfect condition for Nationals, my mom for being my number one soigneur, and my grandparents for supporting me through everything! As well, to Mike and Inspire Athlete Management for capturing Nationals and supporting me every step of the way. Nothing I do would be possible without my support team.
Podium photo!
Photo Credit: Cody Shimizu
My next race is coming up soon in Switzerland, June 28th! Be sure to follow me on Instagram for more updates. If you made it this far, thank you, it was another long one!