CODY SHIMIZU

A look into my life, a journal to look back on, a blog for others to see.

As the sun rose over Salmon Arm, the temperature was already t-shirt and shorts weather by 9Am. Race day, from the moment you wake up till the race starts is a fairly stressful time for me, making sure I know what to eat and when to eat, I have my equipment, tire pressure dialed, race start time all of these things running through my head. On this day, I woke up 3 times. Once to Geoff’s (Sidney’s dad) alarm, woke up and looked around; closed my eyes. Then to my phone, put it to snooze and back to sleep. Then alas I woke up to Geoff waking me up with the words “we slept in”. At that moment, my heart skipped a beat until I took a closer look at the clock. It was still only 8:45Am, the race meeting was at 9:30 and the race itself wouldn’t start until 10:00Am. I rolled off the bed, grabbed and packed all my things ready to go. Geoff was already running out and packing his stuff into the car. Well, there goes my continental breakfast I told myself as I was biting down into my bagel with cream cheese crudely spread across it. It was a short drive over to the race site, skies were clear and the temperature rising quickly, by the time we set up camp it was probably already close to 20 degrees Celsius. Too hot for an Edmontonian who just broke free from the shackles of winter 2 weeks ago, definitely not enough time to acclimatize. As the time approached 10am the racers were running around grabbing extra layers, pre-race gel, and water bottles. Fortunately for me since Sidney (Focus CX) would be doing the first lap I had a bit more time to relax. I was glad when I successfully avoided having to deal with the pressure of the first lap, and the dreaded double track climb to the top of the course. Since it was a mass start with probably 200-300 racers they avoided all of the lower single track for the start and the last thing I want to do to kick off an 6 hour race is a mad sprint to the top of the course. As I saw Sidney off on her first lap I quickly finished eating the other half of the bagel I had earlier, grabbed my gear, filled my water bottle and made my way into “The Pit”. “The Pit was where the riders would come through each laps and teams like Sidney and I would tag off between laps. As I stood there waiting I tried keeping note of any other mixed teams in our category. The only notable people that I noticed were Caitlin (Hardcore) and Andrew (Lead Out Project). I saw Andrew come in not even a minute behind the pro’s as I see Caitlin off I made it my goal to try and catch her in the next lap. Around 10min later Sidney came in, she wasn’t feeling too good, still dealing with her hypothyroidism and starting a new medication few days earlier didn’t help much either.

The course. It’s usually what makes or breaks a race for us recreational racers. When we say we had a great race, we either beat someone we hate, or it was a really fun course. And I really liked the course at the Salty Dog, it was smart. The course pretty much consisted of one big climb to the top, and one big descent to the bottom with an exception of a small climb in the middle. The bottom of the climb started with a bit of single track, but still wide enough to pass people, especially with a quick ring of my bell (yes I have a bell on my race bike, so I can annoy the crap out of people who are about to drop me). Then the last 10-15min of the climb it opens up to a double track, which didn’t do me any good in the heat but with the wide range of people and fitness levels on course it made passing a breeze. No angry masters racers getting mad when there’s a hold up, no having to say sorry like 50 times as you pass them, no feeling bad when they have to stop to let you by. Although the double track made passing others, a breeze it still friggin hurt! A 25-minute grind to the top of the mountain under the sun using its laser eyes to throw heat waves at me. It took me just over 25 min to get to the top of the climb, but it was all worth it for the descent. It was awesome, the top was chunky and rooty with a bunch of steep chutes keeping me on my toes and the bottom section was dirt as smooth as a baby’s bottom. I could just lean my bike into the corners and the tires would grip stronger than lobster claws. There’s no way to describe how amazing the descent was, especially after butt scooting down frozen rivers in the River Valley all winter long.

After I came in for my first lap I was still close to 3 min behind Caitlin. At that point I already expected the race to be over, we would be fighting for second place. But, nothing really to fret about I just came along since Sidney’s sister Abbey (Rise Racing) wanted to do a road race instead and she still needed a partner for the race. I couldn’t say no to an opportunity to race in BC. I could feel my legs starting to get tired, my shoulders, arms, and forearms, were getting sore. My upper body wasn’t ready for the shred level of passing Calgary people on the descent yet. But its still okay because I crushed their soul by passing them with my hardtail while they were riding their $10000 sofa’s down the trail. As I came in after lap 4 (my second lap) I looked around for Sidney in the pit, no where to be found. I finally spot her on the side waving at me. As I rush over there she proceeds to tell me that she has a mechanical and her bike isn’t ready. This was the hardest decision of my life, to throw the race and go chill out while her bikes getting fixed or.... pull a double. As I saw flashbacks to sitting in lecture learning about how much time it take for glycogen to recover in my muscles, how efficient lactate buffering is, how much food I need to accelerate recovery, I opened my eyes and I sprinted off for another lap. Or maybe I just flailed my arms every where yelling “are you kidding me!” and slowly moseyed on out of there... just maybe. After the second lap I came in and thankfully Sidney was there ready to go. As I tagged off, Geoff proceeded to tell me that she had just ran out of brake pads and when they were replacing them he couldn’t push the pistons back in; amateur’s. As I sat there waiting stuffing my mouth with cream cheese bagels my hands were literally shaking, I guess my rock climbing class (yes Im taking rock climbing as a university course, and I get credits for them) hasn’t really helped with my upper body strength yet. As I sat waiting Geoff came up to me and showed me the live timing of the race, we were gaining on Caitlin and Andrew. There’s a chance we might make it! We looked at our times and we’d be doing 9 laps in total, the next lap as I waited to go out for lap 7 Sidney had managed to pass Caitlin and had a gap of about 1.5min on her. I was riding like a scared rabbit. I had to hold off Andrew for as long as possible, but still keeping in mind that I’d have to do another lap afterwards. As I crested the top of the climb, I was glad to not see a white skin suit speeding up the mountain side. To my surprise I managed to make it back down and tag off with Sidney giving her a 1.5min gap. As Andrew came in he ran right through the pit and headed out for another lap. The race was really coming down to the wire. I sat there nervously eating the same old cream cheese bagel I was hoping that Sidney was feeling better, according to Geoff she was feeling excellent. It was insane! Sidney’s lap times just got faster and faster as the race went on. As I stood there waiting in the pit I saw a white blur followed by a squirrel in a focus CX team kit. There were coming in side by side.

The last lap was absolutely painful. I managed to squeak by Caitlin in the first few corners of the course, I made sure to look strong until I was out of her sights. Then I was slumped over, gutted out, and my legs struggling to contract its myosin akjdf strands. I was absolutely gutted, I pretty much hit the wall and the wall crumbled on top of me. I was soo worried of seeing the dark green jersey of Hardcore reeling me in that I rode most of the lap looking behind me. I was glad to make it to the top with no Caitlin in sight. I took the descent painfully slow, I’d day it was so I could avoid a stupid mechanical like a flat tire but in reality it was because my hands were moulded to the shape of my handle bar and I could barely feel my brakes. I managed to bring it back safely with no mechanicals, I was soo glad to see the finish line. We managed to take the win, alas the first and only podium in the last 2 years, and probably the next many years.

The event was excellently organized with excellent race vibes throughout. Thanks to all the volunteers and organizers that made it happen, and thanks to Geoff for taking care of me for the weekend.

FYI I think the name should be the Salty Dog 6 Hour Marathon not enduro, cause enduro is more brapping.