Race information
What? Medicine Hat gran fondo
When? June 8 2019
How far? 146km
Where? Medicine Hat Ab
Strava activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/2434180679
Finish time: 4:43:47.9
Goals GoalDescriptionCompleted?Afun rideYesBmeet up with old friendsYes
Race Strategy
This race was more an excuse to visit family and give my dad an opportunity to see me race than going for a win. I planned to race 60% FTP to have gas in the tank for a brick afterwards and use it as a training opportunity for Cozumel 70.3 Ironman in September. I was expecting winds and high temperatures, perfect stimuli for a race on Cozumel where both are present in abundance. Theoretically, the only thing missing was humidity but it's hard to find all three things in western Canada in June. Actual conditions on race day were cold, wet and windy as hell (25kph gusting to 40) so I got the windy part of my training plan. I was considering an easy 21km brick run post-race but due to the actual weather we had on that day decided to skip that bit in favor of not freezing to death.
Pre-race
I arrived a few days ahead of the race on the back of completing the Banff to Jasper relay marathon the previous weekend and did some rides locally to acclimatize.
With the exception of an incident involving a carload of teenage girls and a water balloon to the back of my head, locals were surprisingly polite, friendly and accommodating of cyclists. It was almost eerie how they would stop for you and let you go even though they clearly had the right of way and when passing would give you the ENTIRE lane, not just a little bit of the shoulder. With so much in the form of cycling trails and open empty roads with LOTS of hills Medicine Hat is a real hidden gem of cycling. All this place needs is an indoor velodrome and it could be a major regional center for cyclist training and competition. It’s funny how a town can be sitting on a goldmine and not even realize it.
Race
On race day, the temperature was very untypical for that time of year, overcast, cold, and windy (well the wind was pretty typical) it was 6C when I checked on the way over to the start line. We all milled about, listening to the commentator promote the sponsors, etc then it was time to line up for the start gun. I launched out of there probably a bit higher wattage than planned south on the Black and White Trail but after crossing the rail tracks (yikes that was sketchy) quickly settled down into my planned pace. We were paced out to the Township 114 Road by the local police where we took a left to head towards Range Road 51. As I turned I looked back and giggled because I was WAAAY out ahead, there was one guy working hard to bridge the gap but other than him nothing behind me to the horizon. Awesome, 15min in and I’ve dropped the pack off the edge of the world.
The wind at this point was rear right quartering giving a boost, but gusting to make things just a little spicy. The pursuer eventually did bridge the gap near RR51, just on the last hill before the turn, and at this point proved himself to be a worthy and skilled partner. We set up a nice paceline down the RR51, the wind coming mostly from the front with a slight right to left component and we just worked that to the “KOM” challenge. We both lit up at the start of the KOM but I decided quickly to stick with the training plan profile and let my new teammate Garrett take it. I caught up with him at the Little plume church, the turnaround for the 60k fondo and we dropped back into our paceline. The route entered a steady climb and we continued along on a steady undulating climb towards a stunning view of the cloud-topped Cypress Hills to the turnaround.
Heading back towards town on the RR51 the wind was now front left quartering with a pretty solid gusting component through a downward trending undulating road. 4 min later we passed a group of 2 riders heading in the direction of the turnaround, still trying to bridge the gap to our lead giving us a healthy 8 min lead. Confident in our lead as we again approached the Little Plume church I decided it was time to take a good break at the Little plume aid station. This would prove to be critical later, I grabbed a banana and a handful of stinger waffles and stuffed them in my bento box.
I had already brought my usual nutrition on board but I love the waffles so much I figured I would grab them for my post-race snack. Charging up the RR51 back to TSR114 we rotated in a right echelon paceline to try and beat the wind. Garrett proved to be a skilled cyclist at this so we worked excellently as a team. We continued on the left turn back onto the TSR114 back towards the Black and White Trail smack into a solid 25 gusting 40kph headwind and continued working the paceline but pulling back a bit to conserve some energy. No use tiring ourselves fighting the frontal wind. It was at this point, around 90k, I discovered I had a serious problem. I had stuffed my nutrition where I could grab it easily in the back of my kit pouch but then in a last minute decision, I left my team “podium” jacket on because it was so cold. The jacket was preventing me from grabbing my bars, and I struggled for a few min trying to pry one out with no avail. So glad I had grabbed those stingers I downed one, then a second one, a good amount of hydration to chase it down and I was ready to charge on.
Turning left on the Black and White Trail we again began the slow undulating climb through the prairie towards the turnaround 20k distant with storm clouds getting lower and the wind picking up slightly from the right rear quarter. A short time later we hit our first rain shower, making the ride just a little extra challenging. Embracing the suck and me bonking slightly we pressed on, climbing steadily until the road dropped down into a long valley at which point Garrett, who was slightly ahead of me again because I had dropped back while desperately flailing for my nutrition, had a bit better view of what was ahead. He turned around and gave me a look that could be best described as a combination of “you got ta be kidding me!?!” and “Did we miss the turnaround?” a sentiment I fully shared and would have been second guessing had I not carefully programmed the route into my Garmin. A quick scroll through the screens showed we were still 3k away from the turnaround; just on the other side of the climb out of the valley. Uggh!
It was as we were rounding the climb out of the valley Garrett dropped his chain. It was at this moment we were finally caught by two other riders and “slightly” passed but I decided to stick with my wingman knowing that to make up that time the other group had pressed on pretty hard while we had eased back a bit.
I told Garrett to go ahead if he wanted; still wanting to stick to my wattage plan but he gave me a smile and said: “we can take em!” I laughed, ok training plan out the window lets do this! We continued pressing them along until we got close to the turnaround where we caught up to them.
I quickly grabbed a banana from the aid station and we headed back towards town on the Black and White Trail. I gained the lead briefly down the valley but then myself dropped my chain for a second coming back up. I managed to back-pedal and get it back on without stopping and digging deep I clawed the last bit of glycogen I had to grab the wheel of the now 4 man group riding in a right echelon formation. Taking a few min rest we rotated through a few times on the last 20k towards the finish line. It was at this time just as we were passing some large power lines that we hit our second bit of precipitation, this time a blasting of windblown hail.
Gritting down, we kept this up with Garrett and I taking the majority of the pulls so we both knew we had them and that they didn’t have much in the tank for the final attack. As we passed the TSR115 again and coming up a slight hill, I gave Garrett the nod; time to drop the hammer. He took the pull up the hill, with us dropping the other two riders off our wheel. 2k to go, I took my turn to pull. I took pull position and just went all in, Garrett on my wheel.
Across the tracks again I had meant to let him take the lead across the finish but the last turn snuck up on me and I almost missed it, just barely making the turn. we crossed the finish line virtually together.
Post-race
Garrett and I congratulated each other, and he headed off with some other friends, I was totally tapped, I put everything I had into the last attack. Stumbling around I managed to load my bike back into the truck grab some comfortable shoes and headed to the food tent. I was so spent I couldn’t even eat but chugged a couple of root beer and as the sugar hit me started to feel a bit better. After eating a bit more I headed back to my truck and home, where I pretty much crashed and slept for the rest of the day. All in all 10/10 would do again. The next day I did a small 40k recovery ride around just a handful of the local cycling trails, never once taking the same trail. I maybe rode 20% of the total trail length. In closing, Medicine Hat is an undiscovered gem of road cycling, well worth stopping and pulling out the bike for at least a ride on the way through or better yet an overnight stay to truly enjoy the open deserted roads through beautiful prairie and rolling hills.
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