Website: centurioncycling.com/canada
Location: Blue Mountain Resort, Collingwood, On
Date: September 14-16/12
Race Distances: Hill Climb, 25 mile, 50 mile, 100 mile, Vertical Hill Challenge, Kids Ride
This is a full weekend of events with something for everyone. We went up Saturday afternoon to go to the expo & pick up our race kits. We ended up staying at a friends cottage at Wasaga Beach. It was about a 20 minute drive, so still fairly close to the race course.
The race starts at the bottom of the Blue Mountain Resort for the 25, 50, & 100 mile rides. They ride out through the surrounding towns & back to the resort. The kids ride goes out from the start line for about 500m, then they turn around & come back.
The race starts out in corrals, that you choose yourself where you should go. Laura talked me into doing this race again this year, & I knew I was even less prepared then last year. We agreed to start in the 2nd corral & we agreed that we would ride seperately this year. She is a much faster rider then me, & I didn’t want to hold her back.
This year we were told that we would ride out for the first 5k in a controlled start. It was very crowded. I am not comfortable riding that close to other bikes, so I tried to stay out of the way of other riders. I lost sight of Laura right from the start.
This a beautiful ride if you can take the time to enjoy the scenery. Unfortunately, I suffered on most of the long hills, & wondered when this ride would finally end. I found it much more crowded then last year, even though there was only a couple of hundred more people. I felt like I was always in a crowd of people. I am not comfortable drafting other riders, something I will defintely have to practice for next year. Did I really just say that this race was a possibility for next year? I must be out of my mind.
They have one set of hills called King of the Mountain, where they time you going up the hill. I think this year they said it was 3.8k, when last year it was 4.2k. I actually thought that I rode this hill better this year, because I actually passed people on the hill this year. But my time on the hill, was just a tad slower then last year.
I rode 2/3 of the race with another lady back & forth with each other. Then I just felt exhausted & couldn’t keep up. She ended up finishing 5 minutes ahead of me. I rode past several people towards the last 15k of the race, & we were all hoping that we had seen the last of the climbs.
The mileage postings were off in the last 30k of the race. The 100 mile & 50 mile races had come together by that point, so I found it odd to see 20k left for the 50 mile race, then several kilometers down the road, see the 20k left for the 100 mile race. We were in the same finishing section, so our kilometers left in the race should have been the same.
The race course was a little bit different then last year, but still just as hard. Maybe I will train for this race properly & come out of it feeling good?
I did finish respectably. 8/28 for my Age Group. 151/398 Female. The average time was 3:03:24, & I was just a little bit slower at 3:05:41.
This is a well put on event. They had a great meal after the race, & awards for the top finishers.
If you are looking for some great cycling races, then check out Centurion Canada Cycling races.
Hope to see you there.
I was there doing the C50 too and enjoyed every minute of it! I didn’t treat this as a race even it is chip-timed. I will definitely do that again next year and the new one @ Niagara Falls.