The Salty Dog "Enduro": Good course, Great times!

I was told by a few people that if I ever get the chance to do the Salty Dog, then I should.

So that's exactly what I did.
I taught an 'advanced cycling and race preparation' course at the College of the Rockies in Invermere BC this spring and a student of mine, Tony Helmer, had the goal of doing this 6 hour event with his son.  When he told me that his son was unable to make it, I jumped on the opportunity to take his place. 

I worked with Tony leading up to the race to get him as prepared as possible.  We hashed out a training plan for him and worked on some technical skill building as well.  I had a blast getting to know Tony and we became good friends throughout the process.

We pre-rode the course the night before the race, and then saddled up and put the power down on race day.  It was a special day because it was both Mother's day and my birthday.  Tony's lovely wife Seona joined us on the trip to Salmon Arm so I felt like their adopted son for the weekend!  We had a great time and spent much of it with their friends Margaret and Gary from Invermere, who also raced as a team.

The gun went off and I thought it would be fun to get the wholeshot up the first climb and try to hammer out a fast lap.  Did pretty damn well, but just couldn't quite hang with the lead group up the long gravel climb in the middle of the course.  The course was fantastic.  Some really challenging, steep climbs made the twisty, rooty, yet fast downhills all the more enjoyable.  I finished my first lap in 7th overall and tagged Tony and off he went!  Tony rode strong and consistent all day long, making me very proud.  In the end, we each did four laps, and had a hell of a good time. 

Overall, it was an excellent race and I hope that I'll be able to do it again next year, whether it's on a team or solo.