Part IV: The Finish - Lost in the Rocks and Trees

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Part I: Getting There
Part II: Commitment
Part III: The Race
Part IV: The Finish

Final Miles
We dropped out of the forest on the far side of town so we had to cross the bridge and make our way back through the streets of downtown Mattawa. Mattawa is truely a beautiful town.

We were all covered with mud from head to toe. Once again, the people just looked at us like we were crazy. Just before the end was a pavement climb and then I came to a complete stop, waiting for the highway to clear.

When I came through the finish line I called out my number, raised my hands like they do at the Tour, and rolled across the finish line. There was barely anyone around and it was totally anti-climatic, but I was a pretty happy camper.

I had finished 1st in the 110km race. Mission accomplished I thought to myself.

The Frenchman was done the 62km race and he had finished 4th in his class. Ron came in a little while later and also placed 3rd in the 110km race as well. A great effort by both riders!

So what happened to my bike? Well, the front of the derailleur cage broke off on one side and that’s why it wouldn’t pull it off the big ring. Ah, it all made sense now!

Post-race Activities
By this time, the sun was finally peeking through the clouds and we just sat on our super-cool chairs all regrouped by car.

Afterwards, they had an area set up were we could wash off our bikes off, so we cleaned them up and even took showers in the arena. After that we just hung out by the car, cheered on the other finishers and had a few beers.

At this point we just sat around and exchanged stories, and trust me, we all had something to share.

Later on in the day, they had a huge barbeque buffet set up for all of the riders and staff. We were absolutely starved by this point and the food, beverages and deserts were just awesome. It took a while but it was well worth the wait.

Awards
The award ceremony afterward was 100% Canadian-style; right in the middle of a hockey rink arena in the center of town. Perfect I thought to myself!

Nick went through all of the formalities of thanking the town, volunteers that helped support the race, and the local stores and businesses that made numerous donations and prizes.

When it was my turn to go up, I also gave a little thanks to everyone out there and encouraged folks to tell their friends (and enemies) to come out next year.

My grand prize was an Garmin GPS system. My wife has been threatening to drive from California to Canada for years now, so this was an absolutely perfect gift for me, or should I say, for her. :)

They also had a ton of prizes for the other racers as well, so I think everyone walked away from this event with something. They had everything from bike computers to GPSs to free V02 fitness testing certificates (a $200+ value!) to t-shirts. You name it.

For a small town race it sure had some big time prizes!


So was this the toughest race in Ontario?

Well, all I can say is that I’ve done a few other 8hr and 24hr races in Ontario in the past, and this was definitely a lot harder than any of those ones. Nothing was quite as diverse and as demanding as this course.

To finish this race, there’s no doubt you needed to be tough, but you also needed to be smart. It helps to have a solid plan (nutrition, bike prep…) and it also helps to know how to ride in varying race conditions (sand, mud, water, rain).

And lastly, you have to know when to take it easy, get off and walk, shift gently etc... so you can get your bike back to the finish line in one piece.

Thanks to everyone, the promoters, sponsors, volunteers, mechanic support, and my friends, who helped get me there and make this happen.

I highly recommend putting this one on your calendar for next year!
AL (stuck in California, but still 100% Canadian)

PS - Oh ya, I'm also sooooooo happy we didn't end up throwing in the towel on this one. We all would have missed out on an epic adventure!