My words as I was in line for the washroom talking to Dave Fratini of the Italian National team. That's right we had some international talent at an non uci Ontario race! He's here for the uci race next weekend and for thanks giving with family here. He heard about the race from Eric Box and said hey why not?
So Here's how the day went down. Got up feeling a bit tired from a very active recovery day yesterday. It was worth it. Had too much for breakfast but it was also worth it. Yum! Headed over to Toronto with My dad, my Bro and Tristan Smit. Got there at 10:30ish and watched the early race and checked out what was in store course wise. Lots more uphill and strait aways then last weekend. And one very off camber section that people were getting me all worked up over. Jumped on for a lap after the race was over and it wasn't so bad. But the course was very physical. It had the first real run up of the year which was unrideable because of the steepness (is that a real word?). Then watched the next race witch included the juniors and women. Small junior fields this year. Only 3 today. I guess most of them have moved on to new categories this year.
Then it was go time for me! Got in a few more laps for a warm up. Then waited around for a bit by the start. Got board there and went to ride some more on the course and ended up being late to the start line. Missed the front row again. But squeezed in on the second row which was alright. Had a good start and managed to blow by the 2 guys the row in front of me. Settled into the Fratini train and picked 1-2 off on every strait section. It wasn't long before I was in the front group of Batty and Fratini. So I settled in and let Dave do the leading and learned as much as I could by watching him. Very smooth on the pedals and never seems to make mistakes.
After a few laps of following Dave eased up a bit and we all started looking at each other. I noticed that A chase group was closing a bit and decided that I didn't want them to catch on so I took the lead and pushed hard. I knew there was no chance of gaping Fratini but I thought maybe i could shake Mark. But after about half a lap I was hurting pretty bad and the other 2 were still sitting on. After a 1.5 laps I pulled over to let Dave by again and sat on his wheel and tried to recover. And guess what happened next? He upped the pace and gaped me a bit. It wasn't long before Mark decided to come by to try and close the gap. I managed to get on his wheel and stay there.
We were still gradually losing Dave and the lapped traffic wasn't helping us any. Then i made a few mistakes getting clipped in and Mark got a gap. I was able to drill it hard and close up but whenever I got close my right pedal would give me more trouble getting clipped in. And as Mark Accelerated away again I was still fumbling with my pedal. So the last few laps were spent with me drilling it try and catch back onto Mark and Mark drilling it to make sure I didn't get back to him. The last lap I manged to not have any pedal issues and got close to Mark again. Came around the last corner with him only a few bike lengths ahead but he has a kick that I couldn't match. But in fight with each other we were able to close the gap a bit on Fratini and could see him crossing the line as we hit the last corner into the finishing strait.
So that was that. 3rd for me but definatly a satisfying 3rd. And all the big Ontario hitters were there (- Watson) so I'm happy about the race. Also it was good to see more cross newcomers like and Adam Morka, Preston Wagler and another appearance by Ty Wag. Feel like I'm missing someone.
Well that's all for today. Looking forward to a long ride tomorrow with Tristan and Jamie and possibly others. See yall next weekend at Centennial!
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