After another instalment of the power sleeping routine, we rode up to Fernie resort for a start. You know yesterday's climbing was savage off the start when a ski area start seems appealing in comparison - the access roads we climbed were relatively low grade and easier to pick a pace - you could hammer or spin - whereas yesterday it took threshold just to stay on.
Long climb off the start up the hill, fell into position pretty quick. Was feeling good, settled into a pace, rode a bunch of the climb with the ever powerful Jon Gould. Impressive!
Started the descent, saw Bunnin with a flat, then started working toward the climb to Verboten. One of the Czech Masters was a better climber than his buddy, so he was hammering for the single track entrance, which made little sense given how they descend and that they weren't close to each other at all. I snuck in first and was off... fun ripping the descent. Bike is feeling so good.
Tried to keep momentum over to the power line climbs up to Island Lake - saved legs to ride most of the steep grunts in the sun. So hard. That really saps you when you can't pace and are at or above threshold to be on the bike.
Got two bottles at aid 2 and started climbing the mountain (Baldy) we usually ski. Ugh... I think it's better suited for diesel powered powder skiing, but managed to survive the long climb with Pascal. The last descent really worked my developing blister, and pushed my brakes hard. Finished in 2:38 for 17th and stayed 16th overall.
Fun to not have mechanicals, weather issues, etc. Just good plain mountain biking, which I've found is highly correlated to happiness for me. Mountain biking isn't something I do, it's a huge chunk of who I am.
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