DSJ wins GP Charlevoix!

"High five"...as Borrat would say for sure.
Man where to start. Well I could tell you about the funny week I had, renewing my drivers licence, that apparently was expired in 2008, who knew I thought it said 2009. I guess my sister getting stopped for not having her seat belt was a blessing in disguise as it made me check my licence, must run in the family. Good thing I drive like Miss Daisy.

So, back to Charlevoix. I knew it was going to be a good weekend for a few reasons.
1) I had a really good horoscope in the Sun, so good that I cut it out and carried it with me to the race.
2) I had some good hair. I used some conditioner this week and Natasha commented on the thickness of my hair, and obviously that's a really good thing.
3) When I spoke to Dan P(coach), I told him I would send him a picture of the podium, this weekend as I decided I wanted to win this race as soon as I committed to doing it.
4) Third time is a charm.
5) I had my sweet new Sidi shoes, which are really fast I have decided. And since I paid for them, that's no BS, as I could say they sucked if I wanted to, but they are BOSS, so there, go buy a pair of SIDI shoes cause if I have to pay for something, you know it's good.

Back to the story...I was feeling pretty good on Saturday, even when Glen told me the guys were running a little late, so I had to chill for a few hours outside of Starbucks/Sushi Stop in Pointe Claire Friday. Then I didn't ride Friday as we arrived there a little late, so again I didn't panic and just did some yoga burn in the hotel room in my boxer shorts.
Also tried not to panic when I was in the car and I thought I had a gastro as I had the urge to throw up really bad, but I eat some rice crisipie squares and it went away, good thing it wasn't the other way around.

So Saturday...
TT-push-pull-go fast.
Crit_Line..go fast don't break pedal through corners and make the front group to gain a few seconds.

Sunday...well for a 117 km race, it was damn hard. It felt like there was more up then down, as there was as we had a 10 km downish descent home from the hill top finish.
Anytime I have ever won a race there have always been three things consistent, 1) pain, 2) not feeling 100% 3) well can't tell you that one...anyways apparently everything was right for me on this day.
There was obviously lots going on in the race, and swear to God, the 3 hr 36 min and 8 seconds it took to complete this arduous endeavour I did not loose focus, not once, not for one second. i knew going in that because there was a KOM, the RR and battle for GC, if I tried to do too much I would end up with nothing. Boily attacked I responded, so did Bell, we got a gap Boily opened a gap to Bell and I, looked to see everyone's position on the climb and just crushed the pedals to get across the gap that he had opened. We rode a hard steady metronome rhythm up the climbs and it was tortuous to us both. We carried a good beat on the flats and i rode well in the wind.

Man we almost got caught...coming into the village before the second KOM, we could see the chasers, we talked a little, rode tempo on the flat and just felt like we rode the absolute perfect tempo pace up the climb. Put it this way, we had merely 20 seconds at the bottom, then we had 1 min 30 at the top. We were not even tempted to fight for the kom points as an acceleration could have not only damage our rhythm but could have compromised the stage and the race. We just crushed ourselves and in the end rode to the line, glued to each others wheels maximizing the time between us and the field. I crossed the line, counted 15 seconds and no one was in sight we had finished with 1min 38 on the field, I raised my arms in Victory, as Boily celebrated his stage win, I lifted my arms in the air as I heard the announcer say "Derrick ST John de Ride with Rendall est le nouveau leader et a provisoirement gange le GC".

I gave a few quick interviews in French for news the paper and radio http://veloptimum.net/velonouvelles/9/ART/6juin/Soleil1.htm
drank a couple chocolate milk and bananas and yah that was aobut it, had some good stories and smiles on the way home.

So, it was nice. I'm happy about it, I got the jersey, the trophy the flowers and a few bucks and I didn't sound all cracked out in my interview, funny that I give a better interview in French, don't understand that at all. Not only that but i did a good race and think both Boily and I were rewarded for our work and once again the racing was hard but it was fair.

I think this is my best victory to date and it's a good feeling that I am still developing and the races in which I am winning are getting to be a step up. Good resluts are good, but there is nothing quite like winning. This is big for me. Thanks to the guys for being around this weekend. It wasn't really a race where your teamates could "work" for you, unless they pushed you up the hills, so good on all the Elite guys for riding right to the line.
I had trouble pushing 145 lbs up those climbs so I can't even imagine pushing a 6 foot frame up those hills....
Funny story... Casey only had a 25 tooth cog and his derailer was messed up so he was riding up the climbs in a massive gear... bet you he's gonna be sore.

Nash put in a good TT, also Nathan Underwood from Sask who has joined our team finished top10 in the GC and not to mention all the RWR Master guys who were rocking the race and basically dominated a lot of the other categories.
Send your wishes to Tash as she is on her way to feeling better, I'm glad she maid the right choice.
DSJ