#cyclewaterloo

Steaming Nostril and Runny Nose

It was a tough day in the saddle for those that competed in Cycle Waterloo’s Steaming Nostril race this past weekend.

Trevor Beattie wasn’t planning to compete this year until he was “gently” persuaded by fellow team mate Igor Dragoslavic to work for him to try to bring Igor to the podium.  Things were going according to plan with Trevor and Igor in the same group of riders at the top of the gruelling climb out of St. Jacob’s. Trevor took long pulls to help Igor preserve his strength for the finish until Trevor got taken out by a rider that crashed in front of him on the GtoG rail trail.  Despite this unfortunate turn of events, Igor was still well poised to earn a medal in the male 50-59 category, and he would have, had he not mistaken the parking lot for the finish line!  Igor realized his error too late and was passed by the rider in pursuit. In the end, Igor finished 4th in his category, 2 seconds behind 3rd place.

The women were pedalling hard with both Shelly McKee and Joanne Beattie taking positions on the podium!  Shelly won her entry at the WCC Spring Social and decided to go for it! Shelly drew on her many previous years of experience, diligently preparing her body and soul for what the 44.6km Runny Nose course would dish out to her.  Using her Fat Bike as her weapon of choice, Shelly braved the wind and the tire-sucking mud in the farmer’s field earning 3rd place in the Female Fat Bike category.

Elgar Vaivars and Joanne Beattie lined up side-by-side at the start line.  Both riders were slowed down by a competitor that crashed in front of them as they passed under the start/finish banner.  This mishap did not hold Elgar back as he still managed a top ten finish in the 60-69 age category.

Joanne was pleased to catch the wheel of team mate Rolie Springall as he passed by on the way out of St. Jacob’s.  Rolie pulled Joanne up to the group ahead and worked to help bridge that group up to the next group up the road.  The pace surged and Joanne was not able to hold on, sadly spending the majority of the race working as a group of 1 or 2.  However, Joanne still finished strong, earning enough medals to share: 4th Place Female Overall, 3rd Place Masters Female and 2nd Place Female 40-49.