After a reasonable tent sleep, I enjoyed a reasonably paced morning and had enough time to get a 20-min warm-up pre-stage today.
It didn't help much since the day started with 11km of gravel climb, which has predictable results when there is a sharp decline in speed capability from the front five and the rest of the top 20. I got to watch the front disappear over each rise as I drifted a little farther back each time.
Trails went on and off rom there, not quite as I remembered from 2009. The "Enduro" section underwhelmed (no comment) but some moments made me smile. .
There is always an assortment of characters past and present at these races. I've been spending most of my days racing with Peter Reid, former mega tiathlon world-champ superstar. There's also Eric Tourville, who was winning all the Canada Cup elite races in 2001 when I was a junior.
Peter and I were slogging up the final gravel climb of the day, my legs feeling less than stellar as were caught from behind by Eric and another racer. Peter says "Eric Tourville, you legend!" to which he responds "no, you're the legend!" and they both unceremoniously drop us. I found that rather amusing.
Finally I have achieved the desired combination of race, beer/fries, and laying in the shady grass that I came here for. Life is good.
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