Je me souviens

Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec c’était the place to race last weekend. About huit hours in the car and we arrived at this beautiful Quebec village on the St. Lawrence Rivière. Steve made a beeline into town since the previous weekend I snapped my rear derailleur in half for the second fois since we moved to the east coast. After Steve sawed off the broken derailleur and reassembed the bike, all I thought I had to worry about was a few minor shifting issues. And our little middle earth city does not have a viable bike shop to assist with these small matters – they are used to changing tires and greasing chains of retro relics.

So we sauntered into the only bike shop Baie-Saint-Paul (Galerie du Sport) and waited patiently as the shopkeeper assisted a couple on des choix of car racks. Steve gave me this look of “how long will we have to wait.” I told him at least vingt minutes since we were in a français only speaking part of Canada which emulates la vie dans europe. Dans my window of opportunity to express my plight….spastically used my French linguistic skills to ask for help in fixing my alignment for the weekend’s race. Marc, the owner, gave me the fearful look that my request may take too long, but of course I have no clue so I said, “Ca va prendre juste un moment.” Oui, I am a mauvaise estimator of how long it takes to get things done due to my heritage of being a passionate perfectionist. Marc found that one of my derailleur stop screws was stripped and he had no replacement for it. Dammit! How come I break so much biking stuff? He was sweet and kind enough to make it work with some standard pieces of hardware. I waited nervously by, biting my nails and sweating wondering if I was going to be able to race. Marc saw my anguish and using his limited English, said “Don’t worry!” Magique and $5.00 Canadian later, my bike was in race form! Forever grateful I am!

The jour avant the race I tested out Marc’s handiwork. Wow! I was impressed. The shifting was tight! I took a slow first lap around the course. Fun, fast and technical. Droit! Gauche! My French brain was kicking in and responses were coming freely. The weird part about the whole language transition was coming around a corner and seeing two guys changing a tire and one yelling to me “Pompe!?” “Oui, je l’ai.” “Merci.” Awkward silence and I then asked, “D’où venez vous?” “Umm, ENGLISH??” So I was helping the only two other US racers at the event –Andrew and Kirk from Maine - with a pneu change, what are the odds?

Dimanche was race day. We were slated for quatre laps 6.31 KM long. This is the first race that I have been nervous for in a very long time. For those non-racers out there nervous usually comes with many trips to the WC. It ain’t purdy. Just imagine using a port-o-potty at the construction site after everyone has had the Denny’s grand slam or skillet special. DO NOT GO IN THERE!

Lining up was based on UCI and then Coupe du Quebec points. Marie-Helene Premont was at the front-the only other racer who has given Gunn-Rita a run for her money. Since I had no points I was an unknown at the back of the bus. It was a petit field with 17 femmes. But it was not short of riff raff wheels. I tried to ease into the race, but instead I had scurry around some not so great bike handling. The first lap was pretty speedy. But it was the second where I really started racing. The course was plein de roots and other obstacles including a barn we had to ride through. The air was cold 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The promoters had mentioned something about shoveling snow off of trails and making some areas rideable – I guess that is why there were some really sandy sections.

At the end of the second lap I started playing leap grenouille with a couple of racers. I managed to pull off some strong climbs and paced myself well to finally shake them off my tail. I was determined to race hard and not get lapped or pulled from the race. With Marie-Helene on the course I was not sure I was up against, especially since the course was so short.

10 minutes into my last lap, I hear over the loudspeakers Marie-Helene avait fini. Woohoo! I was not lapped! One small achievement at a time is what I seek. I mustered up the strength to not panic and stay focused to finish out the race strong. What killed me is that during the first couple of laps I rode parts of the course without a hitch. Then the last couple of laps I botched sections I had cleaned and then gallantly rode through areas I had struggled with at the beginning. How do you expliquer that? I am building a confidence with wacky roots and shale climbs. No complaints.

At the end I found myself at neuvième place. This was so exciting. I managed a top 10 finish in a UCI 2 race. It was a nice breakthrough for me and gave me the courage to know that persistence will prevail.