2008 Paris-Ancaster

Monday, April, 21 2008

Race Report by Cary Moretti

Andrew, Andy and I all participated in the 2008 edition of Paris-Ancaster. It's a 60 km cyclo cross race that boasts the largest field of cyclists for a bike race in Canada. The race includes both competitive and non-competitive categories (start times are separated by 30 minutes to avoid confusion ... and accidents). The competitive field included 400 cyclists.

The weather was perfect for a 2 hour race and the conditions of the course were also great. Because of our top 100 finishing spots last year, both Andrew and I were seeded for the race start. Being at the front makes a big difference in a 400 person off-road race. Andy managed to make his way well up in the field for a very good starting position.

There were a few tussles and Andrew hit the turf hard in the first half of the race but both Andrew and I found ourselves in the main chase group hunting down the lead group of four and a small chase group of 5. My left crank arm came loose and I lost the group to pull over and fix it. Andrew hung on to catch the chase group and finish 23rd overall. His finishing time and rank was his best ever and capped off an outstanding performance (and gutsy - he left a lot of blood in the forest).

I finished three minutes behind Andrew with a mostly well adjusted crank arm and feeling pretty good about how my legs performed (and maybe not so good about my skills as a mechanic). Andy just missed out on a top 100 finish but has vowed to come back next year with a cross bike. He was making some kind of noise about how a road bike and caliper brakes were a disadvantage. Yeah, whatever. ;-)