Hail Victoria!

Alas, another May 2-4 long weekend (and the official start to summer) is over.

Things started off on Friday night when I met up with Skybar, Jetboy, Doug, Darren and Curtis at the Backlot. We had a few drinks and I had to step out to pickup the rental van for the weekend with Natasha. I came back to meet up with the guys and then Doug, Darren and I went to the Apollo slo-pitch game to see what was going on. We basically sat on the grassy knoll behind the bleachers having a few more beers sort of watching the game. Then we went back to Backlot and I won the bet that Skybar was still there even though he was supposed to leave an hour earlier. Needless to say he was tired of our company and left soon after. We hung around with Jetboy and Curtis. I drove the minivan back to my place and came back to the Backlot again to visit with everyone and then headed home early, around 11:30. Early rise in the morning....

The weekend in Saskatoon was fun, frustrating, painful and exhilarating all at the same time. We rolled into Toon Town mid-afternoon on Saturday with enough time to check into the hotel, register at the Bessborough, and then get prepped for the time trial along the South Saskatchewan River on Spadina Crescent. I was pretty happy with my time, 11:51, however I was ill after the exertion and got sick riding back to the hotel. Time for some rest.

The road race took place on the stretch of highway just outside of Saskatoon north from Clavet, looping around the Patience Lake PCS mine. The Cat 1/2 race was one of attrition. The wind was howling (big surprise) and in the morning, it was freaking cold. Of course, by the afternoon the clouds had disappeared and things heated up, making all of those extra layers of clothes more of a hindrance than a help. I ended up getting spit out the back about 50km in and rode the rest of the 110km route with a couple of other riders that I know who were also just happy to finish to allow us to complete the last stage, the Criterium on Broadway in downtown Saskatoon.

I was already almost a half-hour off the GC lead time, so this was going to be a chance for me to put on some hurt and help out Devon (who was currently in third place in the GC) since my legs weren't too shot from the road race, however I crashed on the fifth lap getting squeezed to the curb on the bottleneck corner where two lanes become one. I hit the boulevard hard and smashed my prescription sunglasses. I would've had the chance to run to the wheelpit and get back into the race with my free lap allowance, however since I couldn't really see, it was sort of a moot point and so that's where my race weekend finished.

Devon was involved in a big crash later in the race but managed to get back in. He was pretty banged up on his left side from hitting the curb. He eventually won the Crit and ended up 2nd in the GC (only THREE seconds off the leader), but even with his prize money, it's possible there is more damage to his bike (and him) than what the prizes would cover. We ended up taking him to the hospital in Saskatoon for stitches after the race and didn't leave Saskatoon until just before 9pm. My excellent speeding skills managed to get us into Calgary at 1:30 in the morning, and then after dropping everyone off, I was finally in bed by 3:30am. I made it to work this morning, but I think I'm probably going to have to take the night off tonight to get some more sleep. I have awful whiplash in my neck from the crash and an inflamed hip (Hey! it's the left one for a change! Woo hoo! I love my hips. They're so damaged and tough now).

Other kudos go to Natasha for finishing 5th in the Women's GC, and BK for all of his support yesterday after not being able to complete the road race.

I'm sort of sad I ended up with (yet another) DNF. In the five years I've been going to Saskatoon, this is the first year I haven't finished. Oh well - it's still early in the season and lots more mileage to put into the legs before peak season in August and September!

Nothing much going on this week. I'm probably going to head to Peak Power tomorrow night, track racing on Thursday, Synergy bowling night on Friday, Canmore ITT and Crit on Saturday, and the Lilac Festival on Sunday. Whee!

Weekend pics to come....