Note: I sent this report to be published at the Défi site but the webmaster no longer published skater's report, so I decided to write my own blog to keep these things...
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I don't want to sound like the proverbial whiner, but let's see:
· too much gravel on the pavement (those four hundred meters in Beaconsville were deadly!)
· the wind against us (section 1 was really hard!)
· the cold!
· construction work everywhere!
Were there no good things to talk about this year? Yes, of course there were. The partial asphalting in Senneville was definitely a plus, it helped a lot. The sun showing up in parts of the way was very welcome, too. Meeting skaters for most of the day was also uplifting.
But I'm getting ahead of myself, let's start from the beginning. This year my kids wanted to be there with me and my wife in the first half of the way, so we all woke up very early, between 4 am and 4:30 am. We were ready to leave home at 5:10 am and arrived at the Verdun Auditorium in a little more than twenty minutes.
I took my first aspirin of the day in preparation for the pain that would certainly come. I had no idea of the amount of pain I would endure during the day and that no amount of pain-killers would help...
Mr. Fortier announced that some sections this year were better (like the new asphalt in parts of Senneville) and others were worse (like Beaconsville and the detour in Rivière-des-Prairies). At 6:02 am we were ready to go. I said goodbye to my wife and took the bike path after the traditional ten-second countdown.
As usual I started slow, in order to avoid accidents. No one needs a fall right at the beginning, right? And anyway, I know I have almost eleven hours of skating in front of me, I'm not in a rush at this early hour.
I stayed with a small group of skaters for a while, they were going at a good pace, so I saw no point in passing them. And the conversation was a good distraction from the enormous task ahead of us.
It didn't rain this year on the Saturday of the Défi but it had rained heavily on the previous day, so the pavement was wet everywhere and there were huge amounts of dead leaves on the ground that made advancing very difficult. At some points the bicycle path was totally impracticable, we had to use the street instead. In one of these points I had a minor fall. I saw some skaters leaving the bike path and going to the street, but I insisted in continuing on the path. There were just too many wet leaves, I couldn't control it and fell. Of course, I went to the street right after that...
Close to the end of section 1 I met Raymond Bélisle, the only person to have taken part in all eleven Défis. We chatted for a while, until we reached the end of this section. He is such a nice person that I hope to see him again next year.
I arrived at the end of the first section near St-Jean Blvd at 7:43 am, way behind my schedule. My wife and kids were there waiting for me with the car in the parking lot. I got a new bottle of water and some food and rested for a few minutes before engaging section 2.
The gravel in Beaconsville was everything Mr. Fortier had said and more! How I hate to have to stop because of construction work! We do this event of ours this late in the year because supposedly the construction time is finished, but this year looked like election year, there were construction teams everywhere. I'm all for road improvements, but not on the day of our big event! :-(
Other than the Beaconsville gravel, section 2 was mostly uneventful until I reached the Senneville hill. I did my traditional stop before the hill, ate a granola bar and drank some water. A few skaters passed by and continued to the hill. I followed them a few minutes later when I was in better shape.
After the uphill we're entitled to a nice downhill, where we get some good speed. It's dangerous (in my first attempt, in 2003, I had a big crash there) but if done properly, it's a lot of fun. I remember that while going down I thought "if just all the rest of the way would be like this, a nice downhill...".
Senneville this year was not as hellish as usual because some good parts of the way had a nice new asphalt. And even the bad parts didn't feel so bad, probably because we had good parts in between. I just hope that for next year they put asphalt everywhere in that area. Then it will be that much easier to get through section 2.
This year the traditional cramps that I get around km 45 didn't happen. I was very happy for that. Every year I have to stop a few kilometers before the end of section 2 in order for my muscles to get back to normal, but this year I was able to continue without problem.
My wife and I were supposed to meet at the end of section 2, but, unfortunately, they were not there when I passed by. I learned later that they got there a little after 10 am, some fifteen minutes after I had crossed that area.
Therefore I had to face the never-ending Pierrefonds Blvd without the usual help of resting in the car and all that. At this point my skates were beginning to grate on my ankle and lower calves, the pain started to set in and I had to compensate for that, which meant that my skating went from bad to worse.
I was completely alone all the way in the Pierrefonds Blvd, I didn't meet any other skaters. It was the first part of the Défi that I was all by myself this year.
After the bridge of highway 13 I finally met my wife and kids again, so I could sit down, eat something and chat about our adventures so far. It was already 10:40 am, I was a bit behind my schedule. The skates - that I praised so much last year – were now killing me and I had to put a band-aid to try and ease the pain.
I met a few skaters on Gouin here and there, which was a good change from previous years. Usually at this point I'm completely alone but this year there were a few people that I was constantly meeting, it was good.
Once again the bike path in the parks was horrible, the leaves and branches made skating truly hard. With the rain from the previous day, those leaves and branches were very treacherous!
At some point in one of the parks there was a van from the city of Montreal parked right in the middle of the way. I thought I would be able to pass on the side, but when I saw that it wouldn't be possible, it was already too late and I had my second minor fall of the day. What a stupid idea to stop a van right in the middle of the bike path!
At the Île de la Visitation I met skater 27 (whom I had met a few times during the day); he didn't seem to be in good shape and was limping ahead. I told him that the end of section 3 was really close and that he should continue.
I got under the Pie-IX bridge at 11h53 am, only seven minutes before the deadline! After checking the time with the volunteer parked there, I went on to meet my wife for lunch at a park nearby.
It was cold, too cold for me. During all the time I ate my lunch, I was trembling. My jacket was not enough for the cold of the day. This was my longest pause of the day, I stayed there for almost twenty minutes. After I had rested and eaten the good food we had selected for today, I left for the shortest section of the Défi.
We had agreed to meet again at a park near the mid-point of the section, but due to some more construction work, that was not possible. I had to do a long detour from Gouin and when I came back to it, the bike path was closed for even more construction work!
I met skater 27 again very close to the end of section 4. He showed me his map and asked me where we were, he wanted to call someone to come and pick him up, because his legs would not take him any longer. I told him that we were less than a kilometer away from the last checkpoint and that he should continue up to that point, the volunteers there would be able to help him.
It was around 1:40 pm when I got to the end of section 4. As I accepted the water offered by the volunteers, my wife arrived and I could rest in our car. I took the fourth and last aspirin of the day, just for taking it, because by now the pain in my right leg was so intense that no amount of pain-killers would help me.
At the beginning of the fifth section I met a couple of skaters and stayed with them for a few minutes. Unfortunately the girl fell down and they stayed behind while she recovered a little, so I continued alone.
There's not much to tell about section 5, it's long and boring, just kilometers and kilometers by the railway, by the river, in the parks. At this point I was so utterly tired and in so much pain from the grating my skate was giving me that I was basically limping ahead, oblivious to anything that was going on around me.
Unfortunately I didn't see my wife at our last scheduled meeting point at the Honoré-Mercier park near the mid-point of the section, so I just kept going through Notre-Dame and its bad sidewalks. More construction here forced me to take the other side of the avenue, which, surprisingly, was not as bad.
I met some volunteers in this last stretch of the way and they cheered me on. Two volunteers were under the Jacque Cartier bridge and offered me a Gatorade and a granola bar. I did my last stop of the way to consume these, it was a welcome treat.
In the park of the Verdun Auditorium there were three big poodles of water, I had to “walk” around them. I ended up crossing the finish line at 4:55 pm with a total time of 10h53. Not too bad, considering the excruciating pain in my lower legs.
My wife was there to greet me and take a picture of me arriving. Mr. Fortier was filming me as I came, so I may end up in some future release of the Défi DVD... :-)
What a fantastic Défi we had this year! Yes, there were plenty of things to complain about, but it always feels good to cross that finish line, no matter how bad the pain and how tired you are.
As usual, I would like to take the opportunity to say a big thank you to Mr. Fortier and his team of devoted volunteers for organizing the Défi and making it run so well. Other than that, many words of thanks go to my wife for being there the entire day and carrying all my things for me. I said it before but it deserves saying it again: without her help I could not possibly have crossed that finish line!
