I really had fun in Quebec. I became great friends with my teammates and was a finisher at Tour de l'Abitibi. 106th out of 132 doesn't seem all that great, but I'm comforted by a few facts: 1. Danny, my teammate, finished 10th overall. 2. I lost 19 minutes after crashing 40 kilometers into stage 2. That set me back for the entire race. 3. I gave it all I had.
If you're going to L'Abitibi next year, here are some tips I accrued over the week.
1. Nutrition is super important in a 6 day stage race. If you don't drink sufficiently on the bike, you will probably cramp. You or your teammate will have to go back to the team car to get bottles. I didn't get bottles all week, and perhaps that contributed to my suffering. Off-the-bike nutrition is just as important too. You have to be eating, eating, eating all the time.
2. Positioning is everything. L'Abitibi is won in the time trial and lost in all the other stages. You can't be riding at the back (which is what I did for the majority of the race). The crosswinds are vicious at L'Abitibi, and the experienced riders are looking for them. If you're at the back when it happens, get ready to suffer in the gutter for the rest of the race. Very painful. The crashes tend to happen in the middle of the pack where everyone is condensed together. That being said, being at the back is still worse than the middle. You need to be at the front.
3. A L'Abitibi piece of advice is to grab your (male organs) out of the jar in your pantry and ride like a man. You have to stand up for yourself in the pack. To ride at the front requires controlled agression.
4. NEVER GIVE UP!!! If there is one thing I learned at L'Abitibi, it is to keep on keeping on. I finished off-the-back in three stages, but I wasn't time cut, thank God. Good things happen to those who finish. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel. It just hurts in between, that's all.
Thanks everyone for helping me get to Canada. It was a great experience, and I hope I did you proud.
If you're going to L'Abitibi next year, here are some tips I accrued over the week.
1. Nutrition is super important in a 6 day stage race. If you don't drink sufficiently on the bike, you will probably cramp. You or your teammate will have to go back to the team car to get bottles. I didn't get bottles all week, and perhaps that contributed to my suffering. Off-the-bike nutrition is just as important too. You have to be eating, eating, eating all the time.
2. Positioning is everything. L'Abitibi is won in the time trial and lost in all the other stages. You can't be riding at the back (which is what I did for the majority of the race). The crosswinds are vicious at L'Abitibi, and the experienced riders are looking for them. If you're at the back when it happens, get ready to suffer in the gutter for the rest of the race. Very painful. The crashes tend to happen in the middle of the pack where everyone is condensed together. That being said, being at the back is still worse than the middle. You need to be at the front.
3. A L'Abitibi piece of advice is to grab your (male organs) out of the jar in your pantry and ride like a man. You have to stand up for yourself in the pack. To ride at the front requires controlled agression.
4. NEVER GIVE UP!!! If there is one thing I learned at L'Abitibi, it is to keep on keeping on. I finished off-the-back in three stages, but I wasn't time cut, thank God. Good things happen to those who finish. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel. It just hurts in between, that's all.
Thanks everyone for helping me get to Canada. It was a great experience, and I hope I did you proud.
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