Race the Ridge kicked off this past Saturday with a double day of grueling 100km hilly road race followed by a hill climb including a 12% section for half a kilometer outside of Maple Ridge. The whole TRT squad showed up ready to race and prepared for a wet and cold day as all the forecasts (we checked them all) showed 100% chance of rain throughout the day.
The team came together this past weekend for our first multi-stage event of the season, Race the Ridge. The women’s squad had four riders: Anika, Anna, Holly, and myself. It was a great opportunity for us to build on our success at Jeremy’s Roubaix a couple weekends prior, and finally test the legs with some vertical.
The first Criterium of the year for the team lined up in Maple Ridge, BC on April 30th as part of the annual Race the Ridge stage race. The women’s team went into the crit with a solid plan, but also with many cards against us for the coming race.
Sunny skies and dry conditions (at last) greeted the riders on the morning of Sunday April 9th for Jeremy’s Roubaix which marked the opening round of the BC Premier Road Series. Named in honour of the late Jeremy Storie, the 10 kilometer circuit takes in a 5km gravel section to mimic the famed Paris Roubaix which takes place on the same day in France, with a total of 10 laps to be completed.
Team camp is one of my favorite times of the year I get to ride in the sun with all my teammates and sponsors, can’t complain about that. This year Trek Red Truck headed to the very sunny skies of beautiful Palm Springs CA.
2017 Trek Red Truck camp took place in Palm Springs at the end of March. During the four-day camp the racers, masters, and sponsors took full advantage of the sunny weather leaving behind the rain in Vancouver! I would first like to say a massive thank you to the sponsors for financially aiding the racers so that they were able to attend camp. We would not be able to go on these incredible trips without your assistance.
What better way to kick off the road season than flying the red and white colors of the new Trek Red Truck jerseys, riding on some stealthy bikes rippin’ the gravel at Jeremy’s Roubaix on a sunny, warm Sunday afternoon.
Cycling is amazing because it's so true that as a team you are stronger then the sum of the parts. You thrive off if each other’s energy and drive – it’s pretty awesome. I am excited and hugely proud that I was able to do my job for the team at my first worlds and deliver the sprinters in the best fashion possible in the last several kms.
This trip is already just so good it needed a mid-camp blog post. So where to start: I am in Israel training for Worlds with Cycling Canada and the National Israeli team. The group we have here is a mix of U23 men, elite women, and elite men both from Canada and Israel.
When I started racing bikes, I started racing on the track. I was still a bike messenger, most days working on a fixed-gear track bicycle out in the streets, and a few friends and I made the jump to do our Learn to Ride program together at the Burnaby Velodrome. I started racing track on Friday nights, and I wouldn't start racing on the road until the following summer.
The insanity is real. European racing is certainly a different beast then your typical North American road race. After racing some 10 races in my 20ish days in Belgium, the Erpe-Mère UCI race most certainly stands out in my mind as one for the books. This is mainly due to the insanity of it all; an insanity that could only be bike racing in Europe.
The best way to start this is with words from my coach: Belgium racing, like running into a brick wall, best to bring your hammer. After a strong Superweek and a spicy Cascades, the proverbial hammer was packed and I was ready for some fun on the other side of the pond.
Usually my best races are when I feel the worst, I have no idea why that’s how it works. However, strangely the second crit of BC Superweek didn’t work that way, right from the gun I felt great and it was weird.
Arguably the MK Delta Crit is one of the hardest races of BC Superweek. The circuit is rectangular with a fast down hill into a tight left turn on one of the long sides, and a grinding climb on the backside, and he start/finish is directly after the final left. Due to the closeness of the line, the race for all intents and purposes is a race to the fourth corner.
Cascades Cycling Classic has never been considered easy. This five-stage race is held in the hot and arid town of Bend Oregon and boasts lengthy road races with huge elevation gain. This stage race is notably challenging as it falls right after BC Superweek and many athletes, myself included, find it difficult to switch from crit mode to mountain climbing mode.
Another year of a superb sunny week of some of the fastest racing in North America came to town. BC Superweek is our time to shine as we are a local team and these are HUGE opportunities to really get your name out there!
The White Rock Road Race is the last day of BC Super Week. The race is a 10 km circuit race through White Rock totaling up to 80 km of racing. This is a hard and technical course with steep punchy climbs and quick descents.
I recently finished two weeks of racing back East. First was the Canadian Road Nationals in Ottawa where I raced with Team Alberta, and the next was a junior women’s race in Rimouski, Quebec where I raced with NCCH (National Cycling Centre Hamilton).
Day seven of SuperWeek undoubtedly brings about fatigued legs among the peloton and team, but the motivation soars high knowing we have two more shots at a win on our home turf. The Choices Market White Rock Criterium stands as one of the more fierce courses of attrition at Super Week with a significant hill on the back stretch notoriously dwindling the pack lap by lap.
So far this year we haven’t had any rain during Superweek but Thursday night it decided to pour right before the women’s race at Burnaby. This would make the already technical course with a U-turn every lap all the more cagey.