MTB Nationals 2005 - Mt Saint-Anne, Quebec

            Another National championships has passed for myself, and although I am now accustomed to the pressures and demands of championship racing, I must say that the events of a national championship can be like none other. This year's mountain bike nationals in Mt. Saint-Anne were no exception.

            We departed Saskatoon on Thursday morning. Our entourage for the trip was small: My sister Andrea, Neil Clarke as coach/manager, and myself. We arrived in Quebec city without incident only to find that our van rental had been misplaced and the rental agency now expected us to fit two bike boxes, luggage for three and three people inside a dodge wagon (and it didn't even have a hemi...) It just wasn't going to happen, So Andrea and I waited at the airport while Neil went with the rental agent to find us a mini van.

            Our vehicular transport woes solved, we arrived at the hill. Mt Saint-Anne is a ski hill about an hour north of Quebec City right along the saint Lawrence. The hill looks like a wall rising up from the low lying flats of the saint Lawrence valley, and its proximity to the river makes it VERY humid and somewhat smoggy. The course itself is one of my favourites (if it stays dry) with everything you could ask for in a MTB course. It starts off with a big long climb followed by some traversing singletrack. Then comes a hairy little section affectionately referred to as "the squirrel" which consists of a very steep and off camber descent with a creek trickling down it's length of embedded, jagged rocks. After the squirrel (the only dangerous part of the course) is a few medium length power climbs followed by some great winding singletrack descending and climbing until a flat haul to the finish.

            It was on this so-called "squirrel" that I would meet my demise. Our 7 lap Elite/Espoir men race began very fast thanks to Geoff Kabush and Roland Green, And I realized my 'start slow, work up' strategy was going to need adjusting when I found myself quickly in dead last at the first corner of the start loop. Stepping on the gas (but still saving) I worked my way up to mid-pack by the end of the start loop, and gained a few more spots on the big climb.

            My race was going very well at the start of the fourth lap. I had worked my way up to be the 7th Espoir and was closing in on 6th position. I had even managed to "ride the squirrel" cleanly so far, and believe me this was no small feat. It was at the top of this descent on the fourth lap that I heard the dreaded sound of air hissing from my tires. I had slashed right through my tubeless tire on of the sharp rocks. My attempts put a tube in were quashed when I couldn't get the tight tubeless bead off the rim, so my only choice was to run the remaining 3km to the feed zone to receive technical support.

            I arrived at the feed zone dead last, But at least I knew that I would be above those on the DNF list today. I was able to salvage a few spots on my last laps, but I always wonder what could have been if I had just been a few inches to the right....

            A special thanks to the SCA for a great trip, Neil for his help at the race, And the Halstead family for bailing me out of a jam before I could even get on the first plane.

 Shawn Bunnin