Falcon Lake Race Report and Fall Ride at Tinker Creek

Another race, another dose of shitty weather. Left Altona at 7am so I could get to Falcon in time to do a little warm-up. At sign-in, I'm told the race starts at 12 noon, not 11 am as previously announced. Classic MCA organization. At least there was a fire in the chalet fireplace to keep us warm. They ran the course backwards this time, starting with the usual climb but then sending us into the trees, down the boardwalk, and backwards through the outer limits, with a few new sections thrown in to keep it interesting. At the start I was able to stay with the lead group for the first 2 km. This is an improvement, as I usually find myself chasing after get dropped right at the start. But after losing my chain in the first technical section they were quickly out of sight. Time to ride my own pace. I knew I was still 3rd or 4th so my efforts turned less to gaining ground than to avoid losing more. It wasn't raining during the race, but the course was muddy and wet. For me that meant running over the more technical sections. Ended up catching another rider, then getting passed again, and riding with him in sight for the next half a lap, waiting for the right moment to try and make a move. He was a better technical rider, I was better on the hills. Unfortunately, Falcon is more technical than hilly. In any case, about halfway through the 3rd lap all the riding at Tinker Creek the day before came back to haunt me. Just didn't have the legs to catch up. Ended up finishing 4th, just off the podium.

Sounds like there's talk of a possible fall FGBC ride out at Tinker Creek. Had a good group of TCC riders out there on Saturday to ride the Tinker trails and the Trans-Canada Trail. The Trans-Canada was much better than I expected. Fast, rolling singletrack--sure to be a hit with the FGBC. Hal and James did some serious negotiating during the post-ride BBQ, so he may have more to report. Let's hope we can work something out.