As I get older I feel like certain things happen for a reason. Last night was no exception although I didn't realize it at the time. I spent all day yesterday preparing for the Canmore race...running around getting supplies, picking up race package, and meticulously cleaning my bike. The second last thing on my list was to take the bike out for a 5km spin to try out the race wheels.

I just rolled outta the driveway and shifted up into my big chain ring in the front when I heard this grind/snapping sound. Almost like gears moving with dirt in them. I thought it was weird and when I put my left hand onto the shifter I stabbed my finger with some frayed wires. I immediately knew what it was and pulled over to examine the damage. Sure enough, the gear cable has about 90% snapped. At the moment panick set in for a few moments while my mind raced about solutions to my delimna.

I played around with it but within a few shifts it snapped completely. I knew I wasn't going to be racing. Turned around and headed home feeling absolutely deflated. I have never missed a race because of mechanical problems on my bike. It also burned me that I had the bike in not even a month ago for a complete tune-up. But, I can't blame the tech as it was just a freak accident I guess. Although the cables were replaced about 1.5 years ago in the bike shop in Bedford, NS.

Mel was very supportive and even offered to take me out to a "man" movie at the theatre. In the end we rented a few movies and had a couple of treats. As the night went on I was OK with not racing but starting to stress about how this all screwed up my training plan. I am a planner and I always have contingencies but I was caught off guard with this one. This race was an important workout in my buildup to the 70.3. Not only was I not going to race on Saturday but there is a good liklihood I'll be bikeless. I really wanted to get one last long ride in on Sunday because I haven't been deligent with my lsd rides.

Saturday morning came and both Mel and I were up early. We drove down to Bow Cycle to see if they could fix my bike. Thankfully one of the techs said it would take an hour and before I knew I was home with my bike repaired!

Having missed the race I figured it would be a great opportunity to do my 110km ride. I decided to do 90km near race pace to get a feel for how fast I want to go on race day. For the first 90km I kept pressure on the throttle but backed it off enough to not feel like I was racing. I managed to just sqeak under 2hrs29mins for 90km and had loads left in the tank. I am over the moon! I was mentioning to Chris last weekend that I felt like I was screwed come race day because I haven't been able to do enough long rides. It was a total confidence boost today and maybe that is why I was not meant to race.

Tomorrow is a swim/run day and a BBQ!