 |
Left thursday morning at 5am with Bill Gentile and Tim
Messersmith. It rained most of the drive till we hit Canada. Got to
Bromont around 3pm in perfect weather. Checked in chateau bromont
right at mountain then went for a quick ride to stretch our legs after
a long drive. We had a laid back night going to dinner with Vince
Aloyo who also drove up with his wife and other friends from New York.
Got up early Friday to perfect weather and had a great buffet breakfast
at resort. Bill, Tim, Vince, and myself a bit later went out and rode
the race course.What a blast!! It was one of the best courses I ever
rode. A great mix of singletrack, climbing, and technical stuff. We
did a 2 lap pre-ride. Then off to the pool and hot tub. We also met
up with Jay Duffy another Super Series Rider and he needed a place
to stay so we let him stay with us. |
We were up early Saturday (race day) to get ready. Jay raced at 11am, Bill
raced at 2pm, and Tim, Vince, any myself raced at 4pm. To help my day go
by I worked the feed zone for Jay. Jay had a fantastic race!! He went up
the first hill in 9th place out of about 50-60 riders. He did 4 laps. Starting
his 4th lap he was in 7th and at the finish he was 6th. He was quite happy
with his race. After Jay's race I went back to the room for lunch and some
rest. I did not get a chance to see Bill's race as I was back in room resting,
and getting ready for my race. Bill's race was 3 laps and his first 2 laps
were very strong but he got tired on lap 3 and fell back. He still finished
20th quite well considering this was the World Championships. Next to race
was Tim,Vince, and myself. Tim and I raced in the 50-54 class and Vince
raced in the 55-59 class. All riders were called to starting line after
last years World Champion (from France) in order of your sign up. I got
called up to line 5th as I sent my entry in early. Tim got called up in
the back as his entry was sent in late. I knew my race was just for fun
and the chance just to race at the Worlds and that Tim had a chance of doing
well so I gave Tim my starting spot. It worked out great as Tim enterted
the single track after the start hill in 3rd and I was around 10th. My bad
luck that I have had all year stayed with me as I got a front flat after
hitting a ditch pretty hard with my front wheel. I had no tube with me (another
story) so I was out for the day. Tim went on to have a great!! race and
finished a strong 4th only 40 seconds behind 3rd place. Way to go Tim!!
Vince Aloyo also had a good showing finishing 8th in the 55-59 class.
The experience of going to the Masters World Championships and all the great
people and riders made my dnf seem not too bad.
Thanks to Tim, Bill, Vince, and Jay for a trip I will never forget.
Don Morrison
| |
