“THE BLENDER” AT THE GCC GRAN FONDO

Alexander Vargas Sanabria

The meeting point is the P3 of Gatineau Park, the most used starting point by the cycling community in the region. It’s 7 a.m. and we begin exchanging greetings, both new and old acquaintances gathered for a day that would gradually warm up. It’s not the usual Sunday ride; today we have the opportunity to host a visit from CMTL, and we already knew they were coming to give us a challenge.

TIME: 10.23 HRS

We started this ride at a moderate pace. The first part was through our old and familiar Gatineau Park, a series of short climbs that gradually introduce you to a landscape full of lakes, streams, wetlands and wildlife. We usually ride here at least once a week, and by now it is usual that when we are not fighting to stay in the group, we are creating short postcards that change with each season.

Despite being locals, the baton of leadership is taken by the Montreal club, but with the arrival of the first port, three of us break away from the group. In the lead was Dani, the Ecuadorian quota of GCC, followed by Diego of CMTL and myself. After passing “Pink Lake”, one of our most famous climbs, we decided to wait to regroup.

The road continued and it didn’t take long for the group to split again. It was Diego who attacked, but this time on King Mountain, the hardest section of the park in terms of cumulative elevation gain and incline. Beto from CMTL, Dani and I followed his wheel. In the end, it was just the two of us from GCC who had managed to overcome the resistance of the visiting duo.

Next came the time for pacing and group endurance, and here we knew the visitors were more experienced and skilled. But that summer we had improved our group riding; we felt less nervous and more compact. My job on the flat sections would be to keep my companions in the group, close any gaps, or set a pace that everyone could clearly follow. We had reached Wakefield, where we made a quick stop at our favorite spot, the Wakefield Bakery. We usually ordered chocolate bread, cinnamon donuts, sandwiches and coffee.

The next section of the route presented a similar challenge, keeping us in the group and dealing with some heavier traffic. We had started again but had to stop to wait for some colleagues. Jose and Luis Eduardo from GCC had been delayed due to a small problem with the team’s audiovisual production. Luis ran over Jose with no major consequences, just a video that we had a lot of fun with that day.

After this mishap we started our journey to Val-des-Monts, a route we had started from a different point in the past. We rode along the main road, turning off the road three times to find the highest parts of the road where our bikes could gain elevation.

With the temperature rising, we knew it was time for the terror. We took a detour to the right to meet “La Ve Death Ride”, four walls with an average gradient of 15%, pure hardness that reminded me of some sections of the Tablazo in Subachoque, Colombia.

We started together, but after the first 10 meters it was Danilo who started to pull away. He knew he was the stronger one and although I knew inside that I could try to go with him, it would not be me who would try to close the gap. Alejandro from CMTL took up the chase and I followed him. Danilo took off and managed to get a good gap. In this section you always see the guy in front with a false closeness; a few meters can be minutes. Alejo pushed to catch him, but did not succeed. The fatigue was obvious, and his pace started to drop. It was my time to go out and chase Danilo. After a few minutes of chasing, I saw him stop briefly to adjust his chain. I caught up with him, waited for him and we climbed together to finish with a good gap. I still remember the shouts of Beto, the barra brava of the GCC: “That’s it, defend the homeland!

In the following sections of the Val-des-Monts, although we arrived together as a group, we always had the opportunity to have good sprints from the whole group. It was only at the return of the last stage that CMTL imposed a hard pace that broke up the group. It was Diego, Jair Garduño and Reyes Anduaga who led the relay. Behind them were Victor, Lucho, Danilo and myself. This return has a slope that seems to end and suddenly, without a break, another one appears. Either you know it well or you are strong enough to keep the pace. Danilo went first and I sprinted to the side to avoid being chased. It was just the two of us again, and from then on it was all about being the first to cross the finish line.

After finishing Val-des-Monts, we made our last technical stop. We shared a beer, some impressions of the route and cold water to refresh ourselves. From then on, we would relieve each other and try to make the trip to Chelsea more bearable. At times there were breaks in the group, but the route itself allowed us to regroup. We were all riding at a lower intensity due to accumulated fatigue and trying to save some for the end of the story.

It was time to finish; we only had two more intense sections to go. We were back in Gatineau Park; we would climb the Camp Fortune trail and return to P3 where it all started. We all started together with a false flat and that’s when I talked to Danilo about trying to go faster. The pace we set left only three riders. They were Reyes and Garduño from CMTL. Dani was setting the pace, but the visitors were drafting comfortably, so we decided to pick up the pace.

In amateur cycling, well, amateur at our level, these rides are part of our memory as a touch of spectacle emulated from the great races. We repeat the phrases of sports commentators and equate our gait with that of the stars of the peloton. Gestures, looks and manias, we act and are accomplices to the performances of others.

Last climb. It was only 2 km with an average of 5.5%. The day had been very exciting. The motto was simple, try to get Reyes out. The plan: the blender, the same trick you always use when you outnumber your opponent. I looked at Dani and he took off. Reyes had to ride a strong and steady pace to catch us up. It was my turn, I was the one who went out, but again Reyes was the one who closed the gap. We hesitated and when in doubt it is better to attack (I think I heard that on TV). I started a few meters on my feet and sat down to keep a strong pace. We made it, Reyes didn’t come out to chase and Danilo went to catch me, and we finished the climb together.

At the top we were with Dani and after the arrival of Reyes came Humberto, the Beto of GCC, the surprise of the afternoon. The section up to the viewpoint showed us the individual background that each of us had, and our Beto was able to show that the training had not been in vain.

It looked like it was over, but it wasn’t! It was time for the descent and what started with a friendly chat, made us gain speed to take us to the last section, a sprint in P3, preceded by an up and down that would deplete the strength of most. We had trained this descent very intensely every Tuesday with a large group that meets to ride around the park, we also had this experience in our legs.

Those of us who were going to the closing were already there. Jair Garduño, Danilo and myself. We exchanged words: “Dani, let’s repeat the task, I’ll go first”. I am not going to go into the details of this conclusion, but in those 11 km of descent we tried to take Jair out about 5 times each, without success. Jair kept a steady and confident pace. It was time for the last sprint. We did not manage to arrive alone with Danilo as in the previous stages; here the proposal was simple: I would try the long sprint and Danilo the short one. The result: Garduño won without a doubt.

It was a spectacular route with a lot of traffic in bad conditions. Surely we will repeat it and it will be part of the epic rides in the history of the club.

For GCC: Humberto (Betico), Miguel, José, Víctor, Cristian, Luchito, Luis Eduardo, Danilo and myself.
For CMTL: Alberto (Beto), Reyes, Jari, Alejandro and Diego.

If you have any questions about this or any other tour in the Capital Region, write to us, we can share with you what we know.