The Life of Evan Guthrie: Canadian Cyclo-Cross Nationals

Well, yesterdays Cyclo-cross National Championships was a great way to end the season, well almost. the BC Grand Prix of Cyclo-cross is today, which will finish the season for some. For others it will be the starting point of a long winter of training inside for the 2013 World Championships in Louisville, Kentucky in February.

First off, thanks to anyone and everyone is was supporting the race whether it was over the life feed of the interwebs or standing out on course in the pouring rain and frigid temperatures. It's always a little more motivating when you have great friends and family out heckling you and supporting, your always able to find a little more in your legs. And for those that made fun of my best ever Movember attempt, I respect you and hope you donate to Movember!! The link is here: http://mobro.co/evanguthrie

The father, who is my personal helper for the weekend, and myself made the trip to Surrey on Friday for some practice on course and to stay in our cheap, uncleaned, pee left on the toilet sort of hotel. I came into this race, for probably the first time ever, actually relaxed and not stressing or thinking about race. Which is something that tends to work for me. I had no expectations as I've spent many hours behind my school books this fall, as well logging some of the funnest fall days I've ever had. Running, hiking and some fun MTB rides turned out to be the perfect recipe for a great day on the bike. Pumped on how the race played out, I was riding in the top 3 all day and finished second to the king of U23 cyclo-cross for the past three years, Evan Mcneely. Our Nova Scotian pal, Andrew L'esperance, came in third. Were all good buddies and were pumped for each other. It was very cold and it seemed as though I couldn't feel my fingers for the half the race, which also led to no power for braking..maybe it was fast not being able to brake? The big question now is "Do I go to Cyclo-Cross World Championships?" The fact that it's in February and throughout the winter I do not ride outside makes it a real question mark. And of course the costs are the same as attending a mountain bike world cup in Europe..I would love to attend though.

Spent the evening out with bicycle racer pals eating great Italian food, drinking beer and consuming tasty desserts. Which tends to always make people race faster versus sitting in a hotel room with legs in the air and eating salad. I'm starting to think a greasy burger, big pizza or french fries are the best pre-race meal, along with beer and desserts. Because if you race poorly you can blame it on the "sh**ty food" but if you do well you can say "Hey, I kicked a** and ate fast food last night" Best story ever? maybe..

Check out the race report on www.canadiancyclist.com