EPC Multisport , 4th Place at XTERRA Canada

4th Place at XTERRA Canada

7.09.2010

The late addition to my race schedule this year was XTERRA Canada, Canada’s first official National Championship XTERRA race. Held in Whistler, B.C. I knew it would be a must do event and suit me fairly well with the mountain terrain, and I can say that Whistler lived up to everything I have seen and heard about: highly technical terrain in a beautiful setting! I had never been to Western Canada but I will be returning as the riding was incredible and the race was well run.

I flew into Seattle on Friday morning and met up with fellow XTERRA athlete Adam Wirth from Boise. We rented a car and made the 4 hour drive north of the boarder. The long day of travel left me pretty spent so all I did was unpack my bike, go for a quick spin in my street clothes and settled in to our complimentary accommodations at the Olympic Athlete Village, where we met up with Josiah Middaugh. After grabbing a bite to eat it was off to bed to get some rest. The next morning after coffee and breakfast the three of us rode over to the race venue to get checked in and pre-ride the bike course.

The race Hotel, Nita Lake Lodge, was super posh and played host very well. The race was to finish at the Lodge while swimming and holding both transitions about 2 miles away at a larger (and warmer) lake, Lake Alta. The lake was calm and clean. The clear water and brisk temperature made for a perfect swim venue. The bike course wasn’t terribly long at only about 15 miles, but what it lacked in distance was more than made up for in technical terrain. You left transition on pavement and quickly hit a rolling service road before getting back out onto the pavement. Once on the pavement for the second time you had about a mile of rolling road before hitting the trails. Back on the dirt you begin the climb up the mountain. The climb was about three miles long with a lot of switchback in the trees and then a series of steep stair-step climbs that required large bursts of power in between more gradual segments. After about 12 minutes you reached the high point of the course where the fun begins.

The downhill was longer in distance and time than the climb and easily took as long as the climb to complete. There were two distinct sections of trail separated by a short section of pavement you cross over. The first section of downhills was steeper and very twisty. There were a lot of large boulders that required riding over and down as well as some man-made features bridging the trail together cleanly. The trail required you to be calm and confident while maintaining a slow to moderate speed so you didn’t miss a turn or go down a drop with to much heat. The second half of the descent was not as steep but rather much more rooty as you rode through a very dense and dark forest. The roots required much finesse along with a little bit of brute strength to get through. A lot of bridges and ramps connected the trail through the dense forest. The roots and many steep drops required a lot of concentration and upperbody strength to navigate and once you popped out of the woods back down near the lake you were relieved to had made it through before heading back around for lap number two!

After two laps of the bike course it was back to transition and onto the the run. The run started out again in a similar dark forest with twisty, rooty trails for about a mile. Then a short jaunt on the road, back to the trail and then up a mile long steep climb. Once to the top a fast descent ensued before a dropping down a very steep and technical trail back to the road and around again for a second lap. At the top of the second time up the climb you went straight and bypassed the techy descent from lap one and continued blasting down a fast service road towards the lake. Here you found the same rolling section from the first part of the bike course and the long paved section back to the Lodge and the finish line. About 7 miles in total length for the run.

All in all it was incredible course that I will surely do again. My race went well as I came out of the water only about 2 minutes behind my rivals (instead of the usual 3) and found my Boise travel-mate Adam right on my heels as we took off on the bike. The two of us rode the bike as smoothly as we could came started the run in 5th and 6th positions about 6 minutes behind the leaders (Josiah and Mike Vine) and only about 2.5 minutes behind 3rd and 4th (Branden Rakita and Conrad Stoltz). I took off on the run and felt strong up the climb, leaving Adam behind. I was thinking I could catch Rakita and Stoltz but the both held to a similar pace as mine and made little headway. Near the end of the run Stoltz missed a turn and I unknowingly blew by him to cross the line in 4th position and Adam a couple minutes later in 5th. Josiah out ran Mike for 1st, Rakita held on for 3rd and Conrad made it back in 6th. I was hoping for a bit more on the bike, but my swim and run were quite satisfying.

After the race we cooled down, cleaned up, ate some Canadian BBQ, and made our podium appearances. We all earned “big checks” for the day (unfortunately not in dollar amounts, but actual physical size) which was fun and our Canadian hosts were quite enjoyable and made for a great time, eh. Later that evening Adam, Josiah, Conrad and I met at the hotel bar for beers and story telling. We ended up staying up way too late and having way too good of time but it was worth it. The race and travel have roughed me up pretty well so a few easy days are in order before preparing for Nationals in a few weeks time.