Jack Frost Report

We woke up to rain, and it rained on us as we drove north to Vancouver. It was still raining when we arrive, and it continued to rain while we checked in and waited for our start time of 9:50 am.

Our plan was to warm up on the road and return to the starting gate with just a few minutes before our 9:50 AM start time. I confirmed time by checking my cell and Joanne and I went out on the road to warm up. We returned to the starting gate with 2 minutes to go and saw Richard and Nancy Seaton just leaving. But wait, as we rolled up to the starting gate, we were told we were late and missed our starting time by 26 seconds. It seems OBRA time is three minutes earlier than the rest of the world.

So out of the gate and the chase to catch Richard and Nancy began.

With the wind in our face, we headed for the first turn. As we approached it, I realized that with the confusion at the starting gate, I failed to start my computer so I turned it on just before the first turn, about 3/4 of a mile after the start.

After the turn, the wind was still in our faces and Richard and Nancy were
not getting any closer. After the second turn, the wind was at our back and our speed increased dramatically.

But just then, we were passed! I recognized the team - the Godfreys. They won the tandem division last year. After passing us, they did not pull away. We matched their speed and then slowly closed the distance between us. With an extra effor, we passed them. I dropped down on the areobars and put the Seatons in my sights. But they were riding so well, we could not gain on them.

Then I heard Joanne, who was wearing a mirror, shout "Here come Tim and
Georgia!" They passed us as if we were standing still. As they passed us, we did manage to pick up some speed. We were able to stay with Tim and George as they closed and then passed the Seatons just before the turn around point.

We must have managed the u-turn around a bit better as we were able to
close the gap and (slowly) pass Richard and Nancy. Or perhaps it was
the fierce head wind that we now faced. All I know is my heart rate
climbed and our speed dropped after the turn around. But, we could
still see Tim and Georgia and they were pulling away from us. Soon,
we lost sight of them.

As we fought the head wind, I knew that the two tandems behind us, the
Seatons and the Godfreys saw us as a rabbit to be caught and passed.
We worked as hard as we could, but the Godfreys did pass us and slowly
pulled away. I had thoughts of catching them, but we began to succumb
to the head wind and slowly dropped back.

As we neared the finishing line, we were glad that the "ripping out of
the lungs" was over. We turned the conner to see the "200 M" sign,
which Joanne read as "zoom", which we did as we now had a tail wind.

I do not know our time, but the computer recorded 32:00 and it was
started late (at the first corner). So, I am guessing that our time
was also 1:30 to 2:00 slower than last year, which I attribute to the
head wind. It will be interesting to
see the final standings.

Some stats:

DST: 11.44 Miles
ATM: 32:00
AVG: 21.4 mph
AVG - First half: 24.1 mph
AVG - Second half: 18.8 mph
MAX: 28.0 mph
AVG HR for John: 164 bpm

Posted 9:59 PM by John Henry