Race report by Jamie Sisson - August 11, 2024
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The morning started off with a 5:40am alarm. I don’t sleep very well when I have to get up early but I had a good sleep and was ready to go. I got dressed quickly and ate breakfast. I met up with Rob and Mattias at 6:20 outside the hotel.
We rode over to the start line and left our drop off bags for the midpoint at 50km. I did some riding around town to get the legs warmed up. There was a rider who crashed on a warmup ride coming down the ski hill road so that got me thinking about the descents.
The 100km distance race started at 7:02am and we followed the pace vehicle through town for about 5km. I was just behind the lead group of about 8-10 riders and there was a small gap behind me and the rest of the riders. The vehicle turned off and the race was on! There are two big climbs per lap. The first climb came right away and was 8.75km at 5.3%.
The front group slowly disappeared and when I looked back after a little bit, I didn’t see any other riders. I was catching up to a rider and we met at the summit, but he descended quicker and was gone. I think I was a little nervous still from the rain the previous night and the conditions. In hindsight, the conditions were really good and I could’ve let off the brakes a little. Something to improve on. The course dried up for the second lap as the sun came out.
The next portion until the second climb seemed flat but looking back, it was a gradual climb with a little headwind. After some rolling terrain, the second big climb came – 3.5km at 7%. The legs were feeling it at the end. As I got to the summit, I stopped and took a quick picture of the mountain tops above the clouds. The downhill was long again, before riding back through town to the halfway point.
The lap end (halfway) point is at the ski hill parking lot which is a short but steep climb - 1.5km @ 7.3%. A quick refuel, back down the hill (passed a few coming up) through town and back to the first big climb. The legs definitely weren’t as excited this time. The last climb was tough. The climb up to the finish wasn’t as bad as it’s quite short.
They had water at the midpoint of the lap (25km, 75km) and water and snacks at the lap end point. I saw the ambulance (on standby) at about the 20km mark and a few people at the aid station. A few vehicles passed by and were cheering so that gave a little boost. Other than that, I didn’t see another rider until the last climb (95km mark). I looked back a few times and saw he was gaining on me. He mentioned that he was riding with someone that a cougar and two young ones passed right in front of him. 😬
Although I had a good day, the event felt like a solo ride since I didn’t see any riders for about 90km. This was only my third race and you get a boost trying to catch or stay ahead of someone. Very happy with the results – 8th out of 22 riders that finished the 100km race.
The course and scenery were great. I would have preferred that the the second half of the course was different, it was also nice knowing what you had to do again. There was no medal ceremony or lunch provided. It was a small event attendance wise, probably because of the distance from Calgary. It's an event I would recommend and maybe we can send some more folks from HPL Cycling in 2025.
Please enjoy this video by Cody Shimizu featuring a mix of the mountain bike and gravel events at the 2024 Crowsnest Pass 100.