Up at the crack of dawn this morning for the OBC Grand Prix. This is a great “little big” race in the Gatineau Park. This year Peter T. of the OBC was the race organizer. A big shout out to Pete and his volunteers for a really well-organized race. Many thanks for continuing the tradition and keeping this race going. I especially appreciate the earlier start time for the women’s race.

We made it out to the Gatineau Park at around 6:30 and it was wet. Really wet. Ah well, I don’t mind racing in the rain. I prefer rain over the heat. And besides it is not like it is November and raining. This was a warm rain. Have to say though, at times during the race, the rain felt like little knives going into my arms and legs during the descents.

Great to see lots of friendly faces from Quebec and Ontario – made it an easy way to relax before the racing action started. Many thanks for the words of encouragement and cheering during the race – it really does make a difference.

So what happened? Well, I’ve written a race report and posted it here. But suffice it to say, all in all, I had a good day on the bike. At first blush if you simply look at the race results you might think otherwise. I don’t know my final result. I didn’t finish in the main pack. But the key here is that I finished. I haven’t finished this race in some time. Last year I dropped out on the first lap. The year before, I warmed up and didn’t even start. So this year, my goal was simply to finish. My problem is that I “beat myself” up over this race and then get frustrated with myself and everything else. But I told myself today would be different. And it was. The crazy thing is that the first time up Camp Fortune I was shocked when we hit the top of the climb – I thought we still had a couple more turns left and wasn’t ready for the acceleration across the top. Yep, made it up with the lead group and got popped during the acceleration. Sigh. I chased and chase, but couldn’t catch back on. At times I felt like I was close, but distance can be deceiving on climbs.

Anyway, I’m okay with the ride. I had a few goals and all things considered, today is a win for me.

Congrats to Sue S. for winning today. Also congrats to Cynthia and Sophie for their great rides. In fact, congrats to all the women who came out and raced today. The great thing about this race is that women who don’t typically race come out and race. This is awesome to see. In fact, quite inspiring.

Had a pretty chilled out afternoon. Relaxing lunch at Kettleman’s and then home to get cleaned up and ready for Sunday’s racing action. Marc did lots of time in the garage getting our bikes cleaned up and ready for the crit tomorrow. Me, well I put the laundry on and stuffed our shoes with newspaper (and then I watched the track and field on CBC). Got to say this was a great way to relax and keep things in perspective. Seeing these elite athletes going for it in rainy and windy conditions in Paris was just what I needed. Not to mention seeing some impressive feats: female pole vaulter who won today was pretty dominating, Usain Bolt – well he is amazing, the sheer force and speed of the hurdlers always dazzles as well.

Thanks for reading and maybe we’ll see you’ll tomorrow.