This is a story of desperately trying to make things work…when perhaps they aren’t meant to be. However, most stories have a silver lining, and this one surely has one. This is also a story of kindness.

But first, let's back up a bit and see how we got here!

Last Sunday, David, Mia, and I packed our van with most of our belongings and left California after having spent two months there. That was the day after Sea Otter, a race I had planned to do, but wasn’t able to start because of stomach and digestive problems.

We started driving on Sunday. We had a 40hr drive in front of us before our next race: Paris to Ancaster, which was also Canadian Gravel Nationals.

Everyday, we would drive +- 9 hours total, which we would split into two parts to make sure we could stop somewhere to play with Mia and ride our bikes…and then we’d find a hotel to sleep in at night. Although quite long, the travel went well and we arrived to Hamilton, Ontario on Thursday evening, after visiting Mia’s mom and her breeder!

First strike: Check
Our first appointment was on Friday. Unfortunately, I woke up Friday with a throbbing head and a sore throat. It’s worth to say, I had been invited to Paris to Ancaster by the organizers. It is one of my favorite races of the year because it’s a rare chance I get to connect with the Canadian cycling community. On top of that, the course is just super fun, and the organizers do a lot to support cyclocross in Canada. So this event is very important to me! I made the call on Friday to not join the VIP ride & dinner because I didn’t want to make anyone sick, and I thought I might still have a chance to kick this cold if I rested well. I rested again on Saturday and when I woke up this morning, I felt much better. YES! (note: I did 3 covid test and they were all negative. I raced because I wasn’t sick and thought this was safe for everyone.)

It was not the smoothest lead up to a race, but here I was on the start line, and I was excited for it. At least, I told myself, I was rested. The race was on!

The race: LET'S GET THIS DONE!
Knowing I may not have unlimited amount of matches to play with, I decided to double down on another card I did have on my side: experience! In this big peloton of men and women fighting for the gravel National Championships, I was very focused on positioning myself well. My friend Ruby West was there and I knew she was fit because she is currently racing Track World Cups…so I had to be smart. By positioning myself well, I managed to stay in the front group of men that was getting smaller and smaller at each section. I was the only woman in the group, so all was good. About 50km in, there was an attack. I was going pretty fast and following 2 guys’ wheels as we were reeling in the attack. It was pouring rain and cold. I honestly couldn’t see much, but that had been the case since the beginning of the race, and I was committed to follow their wheels. All was going great! Until it wasn’t.

One second, all was perfect. The next second, I hit a deep puddle I had not seen and my front tire exploded instantly. I stopped on the side and tried to seal it with a co2. That didn’t work so I took a tube, wrestled with my tire and frozen fingers for a good 10 minutes, but eventually managed to clip the tire back on the wheel. I installed a valve extender, and tried the last half of my co2…nothing held. I tried another Co2. Nothing held.

Kindness from others
I was 60km from the finish and there was no external support in this race. I wasn’t sure what to do. By now, I had been on the side of the road for 30minutes and was shivering intensely. Clearly that tire wasn’t getting fixed. That’s when Gene and Johanne came in. In this “bad luck” incident, I actually got quite lucky, because all this happened in front of these generous strangers’ house. Gene and Johanne saw me shivering with my bike and wheels spread across on their front lawn. The introduced themselves and Gene offered to share his air compressor to try and fix my tire. It didn’t work as my tire was too destroyed…so they took me into their house. As much as I wanted to finish the race, 60km on a completely flat front tire would have been brutal and a bit stupid. I ended up calling David from their house, where they offered me coffee to warm me up, and gave me a jar of maple syrup from their own backyard harvest! How nice!

A silver lining
We are now driving back home. The last 7 hours of this big trip…and if I’m honest, I’m really disappointed. After a rough start to the Spring season, I really wanted to get things done this weekend. I wanted to do it for the race organizers. I wanted to do it for my sponsors. And I wanted to do it for myself, because sometimes, one good race is all you need to shift the momentum! This was me trying. I take responsibility for the flat tire, but I’m bummed I wasn’t able to repair it and to finish this event.

At the same time, I feel so fortunate to have cross paths with Gene and Joanne. They were so kind to open their homes to me…I was full of mud and rain when they took me in, but they didn’t care.

At the end of the day, there is something interesting about today’s story. Gravel racing is supposed to be about community and adventure. Over the years, we’ve turned this into intense racing, and as pros, we even have prize bonuses for winning these gravel races. I love trying to win races…but when I think about it, perhaps I got more of an adventure and got to connect with people more today than if I had won the race.

When I left Gene and Joanne’s house, they said something that made me smile. Joanne said: “Well, you know what! This is the most fun we’ve had on a Sunday morning in a while, and you made me want to take my bike out this summer!”

So perhaps all isn’t lost… Gene and Joanne inspired me to be more kind to strangers, and that kindness can turn around someone’s day. And it seems like I may have inspired them to ride their bikes for the first time in years!

In the end, perhaps this is a positive story :)

Now time to reset at home to turn things around! The season is still young.

Maghalie Rochette

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