This morning when I looked out the window, it was raining, and when I looked out the door, it was raining, but not just a little, it was pouring. So much so that I had already decided to skip the cyclocross and return the bike.
Then I remembered that I could also return the soccer shoes I bought for rugby, so I cleaned them first.
When I was done, it had stopped raining. Great!
I had changed my mind, and then the weather threw a wrench in my plans… Damn thing. So I changed my plans again. I quickly packed my things, grabbed my helmet, and headed out. Just as I was putting on my shoes, a young deer trotted down the street. Canada is really crazy. But deer and roe deer are always a good sign for me, so I took it as a sign that it was a good decision to ride out to the mill after all.
So I got on my bike and rode down the hill. Of course, something on the bike started wobbling again. Halfway down the hill, I checked it again. But it was obviously “just” the rear brake, which is attached to the frame with only one screw on this great bike and therefore wobbles back and forth when braking.
So I continued down the hill, over to Victoria Wharf, and of course it started raining again just two minutes after I set off, but since I was already on my way, it didn’t matter.
Down at the wharf, I immediately spotted the sign for the mill, which said it was 8 km away (which is a real luxury for Canada!!!). The route was, of course, only on roads and, as usual, hilly. But that’s good because at least you don’t get cold so quickly.
Overall, it wasn’t really that much fun because of the rain. After 5 km, I came to the turnoff for the mill, and from there it was all uphill. When I saw the 1 km sign, I even said out loud: Ha, easy. And from that moment on, I felt like all my energy had suddenly vanished. The last kilometer alone probably took me 10 minutes, and I thought my back couldn’t take it anymore. On the way back, I realized that it was actually quite steep almost the entire way.
I had just missed the start of the beginners’ race by about 10 minutes, but since I don’t know anyone, it doesn’t matter. So, I parked my bike under a tree to keep it at least a little dry and found myself a nice vantage point. It was actually under a tent, but I still couldn’t see much of the track :- (
So after 10 minutes, I went to the café, where they served tea and soup. The second race was the women’s and “intermediate men’s” race, and I found a nice dry spot on the porch of a historic house. There I met a guy who introduced himself as Russel from Nanaimo, and then introduced himself again after half a minute. Ha, ha, I’m not the only one with a bad memory 😀
In any case, he had ridden in the beginners’ race beforehand and told me that there was actually only one place where you had to get off and push your bike.
Man, I was so annoyed that I found out about the race so late, otherwise I would have just ridden with the beginners for fun….
Russel also told me that Germany is really great at cyclocross internationally. Man, the things you learn in Canada… maybe I should look into it.
But when you do that on a day like today, you end up looking worse than the worst downhill rider. None of the guys or girls used mudguards. Strange somehow, but maybe they like mud masks. On the other hand, a race like this only lasts 30-40 minutes, so the mud doesn’t really matter.
However, after 40 minutes of the second race, I was so cold that as soon as the first three girls crossed the finish line, I hurried home.
Unfortunately, my plan to “cycle to warm up” didn’t really work out at first because the first three kilometers were actually all downhill. At one point, I really thought my fingers were going to fall off because, of course, I only had short gloves with me.
Back on the main road, I was very happy about every little hill that took me uphill again, but somehow I had the impression that at least 70% of the route to Port Alberni was downhill. And so I was back again in a new record time of 30 minutes, but this time completely soaked. My jeans were wet up to the waistband (because, of course, I didn’t have any mudguards, nice and evenly wet at the back and front) and my rain jacket was equally wet inside and out. It’s worth mentioning that I bought this rain jacket six years ago in New Zealand for $50 (about €25).
But when I got off my bike right outside the sports shop, I was at least nice and warm overall. Only my hands and toes didn’t want to move at first, but after five minutes in the warm building, that was fine too.
Now I’m sitting at home, happy as a clam with my dry and warm clothes, and I’m going to fry myself a steak. Olé 🙂
And how mean: now even the sun is coming out… life can be really sneaky.
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