Hot Hot Sunset Series #4

After missing #s 2 and 3 of the Sunset Series due to moving and preparing for the 24hr race at Albion Hills, I was ready to get back at it on Wednesday night and see how my form is doing. Right in the middle of a heat wave, I figured I'd better make sure I was careful with my food intake and topped up with electrolyes in preparation for the sweat-fest to come. Anna, Tanya, Neil, Rob and David were all on board, so we converged at the hill and made a distinct effort not to spend much time warming up. Just too hot to need to do much in advance of the start.

Some loath the heat, but I've learned to like it, or maybe more accurately, accept it. Rather than entertain negative thoughts about it I try to convince myself that accepting it will give me an advantage. I'm the same way with all difficult conditions, I try to make them work for me. Mud is hard to ride well in, and cold is often painful, but heat can really mess you up. So getting out there and acclimatizing helps a lot. The one thing that helped me the most for heat tolerance is hot yoga. When I started doing it years ago I almost exploded. Then I figured out how to moderate my effort and compensate for the heat, and also evaluated the sweat differently. Sweating was no longer a sign of being overworked. I now meant my body was cooling itself, simple as that. Or trying. After doing a bunch of hot yoga the heat of summer is far more tolerable than before.

The other thing I think helps for heat resistance is not having AC. I've never had it, and I likely never will. Yeah, its gross in the house at times, but the silver lining is that the body is accustomed to dealing with the heat, so its not such a shock going out for a ride or race.

So off we went, short course for the elite and masters men, 4 laps, and 3 laps for the ladies and sport men. Why 4 for us? Because those of us who voted for 4 are dumb. 3 would have been just fine.

I opted to take it easy on the start. Good call, I didn't red-line, so I was able to move up on the first climb.

What the...? Some things never change....

And the ladies. Did Tanya and Anna employ tactics?

The biggest field, Sport men.

Then the young guns.

Neil leading at this point, second lap.

Me tailing Neil at this point, going steady.

Steve Chapman on a singlespeed and eventual winner. I never realized until after the race that he was sans gears. Impressive.

I had to put this one in to show the elbows out posture. I was training for a DH race at Bromont one time and was actually heckled by riders on the chair for my elbows: "Go racer go." Whatever, elbows out means you can use your weight more effectively to maintain front traction. Plus its obviously super aero.

David, all smiles. he rode up, then kept on rolling back home afterwards. This is all preparation for Crank the Shield, all good. 

Tanya, smiling for the camera as always. 

Anna riding to first place in the ladies category.

Rob showing some of his english skills. Rob indicated that his head almost exploded, so he wound up a few minutes back.

So, in short Neil, Steve and myself took turns leading, with Steve pulling out front in the final lap and getting away from Neil as I maintained a 10 second gap. Being so hot, one had to be really careful about the hard efforts, so bridging up in the open was risky if not impossible. Imad came through fourth (3rd elite), then Rob (2nd master), and David (Oavio) rolled through in 5th (master). Anna was 1st elite, Tanya 1st master. A solid night for the green team. We'll surely be on the long course next time for a different brand of discomfort!

Thanks to Marc-Antoine for the photos, and sorry for the weird formatting...