Mt Doug HC

[Jimmy]

Thought I'd give this a try. I've been up and down that mountain a thousand times but never on a bike. Hills are much more significant on bikes! And, that was a bit of a beast. Alan and Harry of 02, a mix of individual as well as a few of the PC youngsters showed for the C group contenders. I had no idea what to expect other than a few hundred meters of warm up at the bottom of the hill. Started relatively modestly and managed to get in a bigger gear for 50-60 meters before quickly shifting down in a hurry. Took a quick look to see I had one last gear to drop and by the time I saw that I had already grabbed it. Checked the big chain ring to make sure I wasn't imagining the pain of the grade so early... Suffering and the sound of laboured breathing was my only friend. The hill was going by slowly and time seemed to be passing as my eyeballs were sweating but eventually I could see the daylight of the crest of the hill and one last burst to get there. I didn't get a time on myself or even ask afterwards but was happy to see it was a respectable 7:30 for 25th overall and 2nd for the C's! Somebody named Brennan Lund kicked butt at 6:16 and I'll assume some relation to Steve Lund and probably had much younger legs. Now I just keep thinking of how I could've/should've improved my time! Next time!!!

[Lund]

I'm not sure if that's a compliment for the Lund gene pool or a dig at the age of my legs.

In any case: no relationship. Lunds are just universally a force to be reckoned with.

[EricS]

Brennan is the son of the other Steve Lund (VAC coach). He is indeed young. I believe 15.

[beegull]

I'm number 1...1. If anyone wants any tips on how to achieve last place in the B category, just ask me about it on the next ride. The long and short of it, ride less in July than you did during the dark, wet month of February. I made a last ditch effort to get into some sort of shape for this by going up Mt. Doug on Thursday after more than a week off the bike and felt like my lungs were going to explode, or implode, or both. After my strenuous Thursday effort barely got my up the hill under 8 minutes, I knew I would need a miracle (or a pharmaceutical?) for me to compete on Sunday.

I did manage to average a heart rate of 179 for a full 7 minutes, which seems like it must be a new personal record for me when it comes to working incredibly hard to go incredibly slowly.

Hats off to the other guys in the B category. Richard went up in exactly 6 minutes, for a very impressive 2nd place in the Bs. Andrew and Al both went up in 6:32 (following, I assume, a gentlemen's agreement to ride up at the exact same speed so they could share a placing and the VCL points to go with it), with Al demolishing his previous personal best on the hill.

And Trevor. Jeez, 6:15. Any power-to-weight ratio excuses sitting at the bottom of my well-used bag-of-excuses are going to have to stay there for a while.

[Stéphane Tran]

Well done to everyone; I know how much that hill makes you suffer. Wish I could have been there.

[AlW]

I started 2 minutes in front of Curtis Deardon who I thought would be one of the fast guys. I figured if I could avoid being caught, I would have a decent time. Once underway, all goals were cast by the wayside and I just wanted it to end, secretly hoping a stray dog or an over zealous fan would take me out. No such luck. Cross the finish feeling very very terrible, but I didn't get caught so I knew I had a decent time.

Thankfully this race is only once a year....

[Andrew]

That was painful, I felt embarassed riding up how slowly I was going..I agree, thankfully only once a year.