This was the first Canada Cup of the year so all the racers want to see who trained extra well or smart (not hard) over the winter, hence there is usually a little nervous energy associated with the first Canada Cup. It was great to see everyone though, and meet up with those friends I hadn’t seen since last race season.
Baie Saint Paul is situated about 90km north east of Quebec City on the Saint Laurence River. I was a little worried as we were driving there and there was still about a foot of snow in the ditch by the ski hill Le Massif, but by the time we lost elevation to the race course it was all dry. The course at Baie was lots of fun, it is very well designed, in that a spectator can watch the riders about 6 times/lap with just walking 300m or so. It is a fairly rocky rooty course, with lots of singletrack climbing. The race organisers in Baie also are very enthusiastic about cycling, and get lots of spectators to come out from the community. They also make sure that all the small details are well organised, like their bike wash, which drained well and had a tent over top in case it was raining.
For the race I had a great start (first off the line) and rode a comfortable pace until we got to the singletrack, where I let a few riders go ahead. Derek rode off the front, and I was in a group of 5 for the first lap. I had a bit more pressure in my tires than I was used to, and on one very easy smooth flat corner that I was railing my front end slid out and I had a light crash. I got up super quick , turned my bars around and chased hard to get back on the group. It was pretty fun actually because it meant that I was racing super hard to catch the group in front of me. Lap 2 I couldn’t see them at a corner, lap 3 I could see them at the corner, and by lap 4 I had closed the gap. As soon as I caught up, Steff Widmer from Rocky Mountain caught a stick in his derailleur and broke it, so unfortunately for him he was out. Then I caught Raphael Gagne and immediately passed him and tried to chase down Julien Fillion who was in 2nd at that point. I put in a big effort on the end of the 4th lap and caught him and rode with him for the end of the 4th and start of 5th. I should have gone by, but sat in, and he dabbed on a technical climb and because I was following so close I lost my momentum and he got away. Shortly after that Andrew Watson caught me, he was riding super well and put a gap into me almost immediately. I think I might have worked a little too hard too early, and faded a bit lap 5. On lap 6 Leni caught me and I had to refocus and dig deep to stay ahead of him. I got a bit of a gap on him at the crucial point at the top of the descent, and rode it into the finish line for 4th place. I was quite happy with my race, but felt I made a few mistakes that cost me some time and positions.
My parents had driven up to Baie, and they were very excited to see me have a good race. It was also great to see them since the last time was in February.
Many thanks for the great support of my team Xprezo, which has been super supportive and helpful at all these races.
Here are some more links to interesting videos from Baie Saint Paul.
http://www.cyclingdirt.org/videos/coverage/view_video/235047-canada-cup-1-baie-saint-paul/180050-matthew-hadley-post-race-canada-cup-1
http://www.cyclingdirt.org/videos/coverage/view_video/235047-canada-cup-1-baie-saint-paul/180391-uncut-bonus-footage-matthew-hadley-climbing
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