SPRING CLASSICS

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This year is the first in probably 20 in which I did not partake of that Great Canadian ritual, the winter vacation. Instead,  I decided that I would embrace my northern heritage to the full extent, and along those lines, I entered two of Canada's single-sport, late winter/early spring classics, both of which occur in my own backyard.

Around the Bay is the oldest road race in North America. "Older than Boston" is what the shirts say, (a bit spooky in light of the recent tragedy in Boston).  This is a real runner's race, steeped in history, and full of people who are using it as a gauge for a sub-3 marathon later in the year, or as a tune-up for Boston.

A Race with History





Seeing as how Around the Bay is already a bit blog heavy,  I will try not to over-do mine.

The fact that Copp's collesium is there makes this race particularly user friendly, especially given the time of year; you can hang out inside before and after the run, use actual bathrooms and even change your clothes. Nice. And the fact that you can get free parking at City Hall on Sunday makes this race a special experience for a hardened urban dweller such as myself, used to being flung off blocks away from a footrace starting line by my disgruntled spouse, in order to avoid huge traffic congestion, and then standing around in garbage bags freezing my arse off waiting for the gun to go off.  Around the Bay had none of that.

crazy eh?

You will read much about hearbreak hill and the "tough hilly section" along the lake-shore through Burlington. My take on it is that if you run hills regularly in training you will not encounter anything to freak you out too much. But the countour is there at the end, which makes for some mashed quads, especially if you over-did it in the beginning. The presence of the Grim Reaper as you exit heartbreak hill (and when you have just passed by a cemetery) is a nice little tradition near the end of the race, and, as I was feeling a bit like death myself at that point, very appropo.

word up for the grim reaper



30 K is a strange distance. If you run it like a half that might be too hard, but if you run it like a marathon you will not have left it all out there. I claim no pacing guru title on this one, it was my first around the bay and I ran strong for the first 25k and then lost 3 minutes over the last 5. Enough said.

scenes like this are a bit scary now, we can no longer be naive

The thing that struck me about Around the Bay was how many good runners were there. I have finished in the top 25 out of 500 in my age group at the Goodlife half marathon in Toronto. I was just barely in the top 20% for this one. A good, deep field of runners. Enough to make me realize that I might be a decent triathlon runner but I aint no runner.


Paris to Ancaster


When the cognoscenti of the Southern Ontario cycling community think of mud, unpredictable weather and the joy of suffering, visions of Paris to Ancaster dance in their heads. Inspired by the classic Paris-Roubaix, P2A, while a bit short for a bike race (60 or 70k), throws lots of tough terrain at you and although it is not overly technical, it certainly requires both gumption and some bike handling skill. Not a race for the faint of heart, but one that should be on the bucket list of anyone who likes to push the boundaries of how and where they ride their bike. 

the last hill up Martin road really is that hard

This year was my virign P2A exerience and my only regret is that I have so few years left in life to do it again. This was, without a doubt, the most fun I have had at a race, period. And that includes the fact that I had a botched flat repair and spent 40 minutes standing there asking people if they had spare c02, then walking like a hopeless vagrant in the brown, desert-like, cold, farm-lands, and contemplating how the hell to get a cab in the middle of nowhere where I was. Thank the Lord for racer 868, who stopped and GAVE me his spare kit. It is people like you who inspire my belief in human nature. I have tried to find you to pay you back. Please, if you are reading this, contact me.

But, back to the point. This race is pure fun. Dirt roads, single track, double track, rail trail, stones, roots, leaves, mud, gravel, pavement; it is all there. The course starts on gravel road beside a river, meanders into muddy forest, then hooks around a farm, a long stretch of rail/trail and finally enters dundas valley and the two, legendary, giant mudslides. It ends with a steep 2km climb up an old dirt road in a forest; the Martin road hill,  a tough climb considered by many to be a rite of passage (and i am happy to report that i made it up, no walking). At one point, you pass within a few feet of horses who run with you behind their fence as you try to power through the mud.  

There is plenty of carnage: bike crashes (i saw one man who crashed trying to jump a tree stump, ended up with a few less teeth, and had to walk his ride out of the singletrack section while carrying his teeth in one hand and the bike in the other), torn derailleurs, people sprawled in mud. It was, almost biblical. 

a typical p2a finsiher's bike

the mudslide

The VIP wave was a new addition to P2A, and, although it might seem to be in opposition to everything the race stands for, I would do it again. For far less than the price of an Ironman entry, you get: a very nice race bag, (ok, not all the "swag" promised inside, but still, a nice bike tool and some cliff bars), a guaranteed bus ride to the race start (who wants to drive back to paris at the end?), a nice post race meal, with really good micro-brewery beer, espresso and brownies (brilliant). plus, there is  the opportunity to sit under a tent, in the freezing cold at 8 am rubbing noses with the likes of steve bauer, kurt harnett and jonathan page while "soigneurs" offer up "embrocation"  and, this is the cincher after racing the mud for two plus hours, private showers!!!

the VIP experience, note jon page in the blue jacket and black hat

me: a real canadian cyclist at last

a fine post race meal

  

P2A provides constant stimulation for the senses, and being so close to home, I think it is sure to become an annual tradition for me. It was a blast. 

my ride got nice and dirty

and then she got the VIP treatment

I really enjoyed my early season Canadian racing experiences. It was refreshing to partake in two single-sport classics, the vibe is familiar enough to feel like home, yet different enough from a triathlon to be perceptible. 

The Spring Classics confirmed for me how much I enjoy the ritual of racing. Racing provides me with an opportunity to step out of ordinary life for a while and I always step back into my various "real life" roles refreshed and with a renewed energy and sensitivity to things around me. Racing, at its best, for me, is a vehicle towards a type of transcendent experience rooted in the highly real confrontation with my physical self. Somehow, by getting outside myself, through myself, I find myself again. Convoluted, but I am sure you will understand.  It is the hope of achieving this experience that keeps me coming back. 

Following my mechanical mishap,  I was hammering on the pedals over a long, desolate section of gravel trail and my mind wandered. I had fallen from somewhere near the front part of the race, out of contention. Yet, I was racing hard, full of vigor, enjoying the full spectrum of what my 5 senses were giving me. I had an epiphany in that moment, a re-confirmation of something I already knew, but arriving in my mind with a visceral immediacy that made the experience beyond an intellectual apprehension. I felt the reality of why I was doing this and I knew that there is only one person worth racing and that person is me. I was content with that, in a deeply satisfying way. 

 Driving home from P2A, in the sunshine with the ZZ Top tune above blaring on the stereo, I connected with the expansive sense of self in the lyrics..."i'm bad....i'm nationwide..."  and I thought about some of my favorite American poetry by Walt Whitman, who, in the Song of Myself writes: 

" I AM LARGE...I CONTAIN MULTITUDES"