By James Durand
Last week, I raced the second annual Mega Volt e-bike race in Cowichan Valley.
This three-day race is put on by my BC Bike Race buddies, and just like all their other events, it includes a ton of riding and just as much fun throughout the weekend.
Some old race friends and I went last year and had a pretty good time on e-mountain bikes. We rode hard, and represented the old crew well, but it was a tough weekend for me and getting back into race mode after so many years away was a hard transition. No prep, no conditioning, and maybe too much “socializing” between stages.
But this year, I decided it was time to get faster. I know, who gets faster in their 50’s? Our bodies are decaying, our skills diminishing, and our reflexes slowing. All this plus a higher level of self preservation adds up to slower mountain biking year over year, so slower is expected. Maybe I bit off more than I can chew here.
Like any race, you have to study your competition, and since I was only trying to better my own riding, I looked back at last year to figure out what I had to improve upon if I was going to achieve this dream goal of “faster.”
Even with another year added to my age, and all that comes with that, I was sure I could pull it off this year. You know, mind over matter, visualize it and it becomes reality, if you dream it you can do it … blah blah blah.
Here’s how last year went:
2021 Race Schedule.
Morning of race - wake up, try to lift injured shoulder over my head, no luck, pop two advil - grab a demo e-bike off the floor at Swicked that I’ve never ridden and drive to Maple Mountain in Cowichan at the last minute.
Day One: consistency race, finish all three laps - ice down shoulder so I can hopefully move it tomorrow - hang out with 20 old friends I haven’t seen in 10 years - drink way too many beer - shoulder feels great - go to bed at 2am.
Day Two: ice shoulder and head, everything hurts now - pop two advil - 20km technical DH loop where I hide mid pack and wonder when this headache will go away - finish first lap - on advice of good friends, drink beer to make headache go away - ride second 20km technical climbing lap, wishing I’d ignored “good friends” - wonder how it is possible for my head to actually hurt worse than my shoulder - finish second lap - ice shoulder again - hang out with 20 old friends I haven’t seen in 10 minutes - drink way too many beer - shoulder feels great - go to bed at 2 am.
Day Three : 1st lap of poker run - try to keep up with former Olympian - wonder how either of us is riding today after last night - hope there is ice at the finish line for my shoulder and head - try to ride fast on DH, only to discover my shoulder doesn’t want to anymore and I might be seeing double at this point - ride slow while my equally hung over friends leave me in the dust - finish first lap and go lie in trail side ferns waiting for friends to finish second lap - wish someone would bring ice.
Drive home: recover for a full week … maybe longer.
BUT, despite all the pain and debauchery, I had so much fun last year that I headed back for round two this year … And I had a plan. I rode my e-bike for a couple of weeks ahead of time this year to get used to it. I managed to rehab my shoulder to the point where I can ride pain free again, and, this part is brilliant, I took fake beer. I put it in a glass so no-one knew (Mwahaha ha ha ha!).
I got home Sunday night feeling great. The climbs went smooth and the downs felt fast. I rode with loads of friends and managed to keep the pace with minimal suffering.
It worked, I actually achieved my goal and rode quite a bit faster this year. So, all you naysayers who think old dogs can’t learn new tricks, don’t give up yet, there is still potential in all of us.