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Land of Waterfalls Getaway contest finalist Nicholas Choquette

Help the Ottawa rider in his quest to win the grand-prize package

Nicholas Choquette

After weeks of taking entries, five finalists in the Land of Waterfalls Getaway contest have been chosen. Now it’s up to you to pick the grand prize winner, the person who will ride the roads and trails of Transylvania County, N.C., on a new Specialized bike. To vote for a finalist, scroll down, check the box and hit Submit. The deadline for voting is March 17.

Help send Nicholas Choquette to the Land of Waterfalls in North Carolina!

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Finalist

Nicholas Choquette
Ottawa

Nicholas’ entry

Nicholas Choquette

A couple years ago, my wife and I moved to Japan so she could teach English. Thinking that it would be a good way to explore the surroundings, I decided to pick up my first road bike. I had never ridden anything other than an old hand-me-down BMX as a kid, and later on, a Kona mountain bike that I never saw any mountains. Having almost zero fitness or endurance, the riding was definitely tough at first. I often second guessed my newfound hobby. But the first time I made it to the top of the 700 m rise near my house, I was hooked. The next two years were a succession of higher and harder climbs, culminating in a weekend trip where a friend and I climbed Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan, and Norikura, the highest paved road in Japan at more than 2,700 m. (The photo above is of me climbing Mount Fuji last summer.)

When my wife and I came back to Ottawa, I was sorely disappointed with the lack of mountains. Sure, Gatineau Park gets up to about 300 m, but it’s a far cry from my regular training loops in Japan that racked up over 1,000 m of climbing in less than 40 km. Winning the Land of Waterfalls contest would definitely cure the Ottawa-induced “no-mountain blues” I’ve been feeling since coming back from Japan. There’s nothing I enjoy more on my bike than suffering up hard climbs and enjoying the rewards of a nice view and a long descent, with a beer or two after the ride for good measure. North Carolina seems to be the place to go on the East Coast to get real climbing done. If selected, you can be sure that I’ll make those kilometres count.