St. Mathieu to Valdor Road Race (80k) (Stage 2)

 

Today was another tough day—these guys are going to battle. 80k from St. Mathieu to Val-d’Or. Occasional rain, crashes, pot holes, you name it.

 

I drove to the start of the race with Sylvia, Pat Brennan (a.k.a. Mac’s father), and Liz Anderson (a.k.a., Oscar’s wife). We passed through several rain showers while driving to the start, but it stayed dry just before the race—allowing time to take some photos. See the KodakGallery site. One of my favorite shots is of those riders who couldn’t wait for the port-a-potty to be free J No store owners complaining here…(inside joke).

 

Flats, crashes, and more. Mac flatted today, but Oscar managed a flawless swap, and Mac was back with the peloton in no time. Unfortunately, a few kilometers later he and Kevin got caught up in a crash. At the time, there was about 20k to go. Mac’s front wheel was trashed. Kevin was assisted out of the dog pile by Casey from the ISCorp team, and a little while later, was motor paced back to the peloton at 35 mph by the team car. A very similar thing happened last year when Kevin got a flat. Unfortunately, the effort of getting back to the peloton meant that he couldn’t stay with them during the three circuits around Val-d’Or, finishing a few minutes back of the main group. The crash left Kevin slightly bruised around the upper part of the bridge of his nose, and some nasty road rash on his hip. Soldiers in an extended battle.

 

Other scenes from the battle: one rider went through someone’s rear window—ouch! Another rider dented the back of our team car. One rider was there supporting his team, following a broken arm the day before (see photo).

 

The finish into Val-d’Or saw a lone rider trying to breakaway. Didn’t last long. But, soon two French riders got away and worked together. The French won again today. Their team is looking strong. Once our internet connection at the hotel comes back up, I’ll have to check the final results—now I know why I have to look on the French language version of the page.

 

Final word: Kevin’s flat yesterday was caused by a large pothole, which left his rear wheel dented. Oscar was able to true it and Kevin can ride on it, but he’ll need a new rear wheel eventually. I think I’ll get insurance on the next one…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: cycling