Biking4:00:57 [3] 73.41 km (3:17 / km) +808m3:07 / km shoes: Garneau MTB LS-100
3rd Paris to Ancaster bike race.
Day shaped up nicely starting at 5 degrees with wind but warming up to 11-12 degrees.
We were hoping to get it done in 3:30 this year but fell well short of that. We came out strong and rode the first 40km about 15 minutes faster than last year. But after that we didn't make up much time.
It's hard to say how much of that is attributed to the fact that MTB really isn't the right choice for this race. The trails aren't rideable mostly, and where they are there is so much congestion that it's not worth it. And the race is 80% road/rail trail anyway. Not to mention that when you have to carry your bike through the famous mudslides...you're carrying 10lbs more with an MTB than anyone else...all excuses but they're all I have.
I still find the fitness level of the 'cyclists' impressive...they can just hammer stuff like this.
Not sure if this race is going to make it into the calendar next year. I really don't love the training (road riding my MTB in March) and if I'm not going to spend much time on the trainer over the winter then I'm never really going to get a decent result in this race. Anyway, really well run race as always (if a bit crowded) except for the fact that the starting gate fell over in wave 4 and almost killed some people (not kidding), really scary.