Red Truck Racing
Red Truck Racing
Latest Race Reports
Back in the saddle again at Gatineau
The women’s team finished their season at the Tour de Gatineau in Ottawa. A race that was on hold for three years, this year the event was back in full force. An unparalleled opportunity to race against world tour pros on home soil.
A True Belgian Experience
After recovering from sickness at Nationals, a wild and beautiful Gastown Grand Prix, and a stint at home, I jetted across the pond to Belgium, for a month of Kermesse racing. A kermesse is a specific type of circuit racing where a town will sponsor the event and the race many laps of a 5-10 km lap with the race being between 110 and 120 km in length
NZ GUEST RIDER JOINS RTR FOR A SPIN AROUND THE WEST COAST
Had an awesome time racing across North America with the Red Truck racing team. Started off at the team Airbnb in Oxnard where I was able to meet the riders and get some cool rides in the sun of California. First race was Redlands Bicycle Classic which was a quick turn around from my long flight.
THE PAIN AND POETRY OF A TIME TRIAL VICTORY
Prior to joining Red Truck, one of the last times I had stepped on the top step of a Provincial podium was in 2019 when I was still a Cat 3 racer. That day, no one else showed up, and it bucketed. This time around, things were a little different.
MEN'S TEAM HIT THE SWEET SPOT AT THE TOUR DE BLOOM
The infamous Waterville Road Race kicked us off for a second consecutive year as Stage 1. With gloomy, overcast conditions, it seemed a bit grim to be heading out for a 3hr slugfest, but the energy was high.
A SOLID WEEKEND FOR THE RTR WOMEN AT THE TOUR DE BLOOM
Following the windy Time Trial stage earlier in the day, the race continued with the Rookard Custom Pools Downtown Criterium, an exhilarating night-time crit right in the heart of Wenatchee.
HARD FOUGHT WOMEN'S RACE AT THE SEA OTTER CLASSIC
After a successful showing at Redlands, the team finished off their California block at Sea Otter in Monterey. This is more than a race, the four day event is a massive industry festival with countless vendors and races across different disciplines. Both the men's and women's teams took on the road race. The field may not have been as big as the Redlands Bicycle Classic, but it was still a surprisingly challenging day of racing.
REDLANDS RACE, RED TRUCK RACING, BUT WINNING IN GREEN
Here it is, the first big objective of the season kicks off in a fast and furious fashion at the Redlands Bicycle Classic (RBC) in California. In the run-up to the race, the team had spent a week in the testing hills of Thousand Oaks for team training camp with their passionate sponsors.
REDLANDS BICYCLE CLASSIC A HUGE SUCCESS FOR THE RED TRUCK WOMEN
Red Truck Racing has had a jam packed start to the season in California. Kicking things off with a team camp in Westlake Village, the group got some hilly miles in the Santa Monica Mountains before making their way south to Redlands. The training seemed to pay off as the girls team had a strong showing at the long-standing race, Redlands Bicycle Classic.
Team Goals Achieved in Cairo!
After a few big training weeks with the team pursuit lineup at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, anticipation was high going into the 2nd nations cup of the season. Training in Milton during the prep camp was a great opportunity to get some high quality efforts on a world class track.
RED TRUCK SENDS Two RIDERS TO THE NATIONS CUP IN CAIRO!
A few weeks ago, we started Prep for the Nations Cup in Cairo, Egypt. The team had a prep camp in Milton for 10 days prior to flying out to Egypt. It was a bit of an unideal prep camp for the Women’s team, as for the first four days, we only had two members of the team there, as the remainder were still travelling back from the First Nations Cup.
STARTING OFF RACE SEASON WITH A SNOWY BANG!
The weather forecast for the Shasta Gravel Hugger was heavy snowfall, however I remained optimistic since I drove south for ten hours to California for the race. The morning of the race around 6 inches of snow accumulated on the ground and that kicked up the pre race nerves and made me regret my decision of running gravel slicks.
TransRockies Gravel Royale
With road season coming to an end in July, it made sense for me to put some gravel events on my calendar for the end of the summer. I had a feeling that I would enjoy the atmosphere and style of gravel racing, but little did I know how much fun and suffering could be had at the same time!
Red Truck heads to Israel
Happy with my rides here in Tel Aviv at my second Junior Track World Championships. I rode the Team Pursuit, Individual Pursuit, and the Madison. Was looking for more with my 5th, 10th and 8th place but still overall a great experience with a great team. Looking forward to practicing my skills this winter with my Red Truck teammates.
SARAH CLEANS UP AT THE PAN AMERICAN TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS!
I just returned home from a very successful Pan American Track Cycling Championships in Lima, Peru. I raced in six events: the Team Pursuit, stand-alone Scratch, stand-alone Elimination, Omnium, Madison, and stand-alone Points Race. I originally planned to race four events but due to a teammate getting COVID I took the start line in two additional events.
A medal six years in the making, and she is not done yet!
This year, the Canadian Road National Championships were held in Edmonton for the first time since 2010. Having nationals a bit closer to home was an exciting prospect, as it meant the team could drive out and have our full set up with team trailer, tents, and trainers at each event.
A winning weekend for the men in red
The Agency Omnium started off this past weekend with a short and fast time trial prologue around the farmlands adjacent to the Victoria airport. The course, an exciting T shaped, pancake flat, 6km prologue that had four major pinch points including two U turns, as well as a few rouge dog walkers and the odd on course parallel parker.
The women crush it on the island!
After a successful weekend at road provincials, the team made its way to the Island for the return of the Agency Cycling Festival (formerly known as The Robert Cameron Law cycling series). Friday night’s time trial was a new course; located in North Saanich it was a hop, skip, and a jump from the ferry terminal.
EXCEPTIONAL TEAM EFFORT SCORES THE PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP!
Red Truck Racing had a strong eight man squad to control the race with two key objectives: 1. To maintain the lead in the Agency Omnium for points awarded throughout the weekend with Red Truck riders Daniel, and Alex Fraser-Maraun sitting first and second going into the final stage and, 2. To win the Provincial Championship available to the day’s winner of the criterium.
Learning Opportunities at the Milton Nations Cup
The Milton Nations Cup was a special experience. Nothing can describe the feeling of pride in pulling on a maple leaf skinsuit. However, it was also a very tough experience. My event, the team pursuit, is 4km from a standing start with four riders at speeds over 62kph. The high speeds and close formation mean there is little room for error.
Joe Martin stage race
The first stage of Joe Martin was led with a lot of nervous energy and excitement. It was a particularly hot and windy day and we knew it was going to be a tough one. The women’s peloton rolled out just after noon for a grueling few hours.
Tour de Bloom: an awesome stage race!
The Waterville road race was the first stage of this year’s Tour de Bloom stage race. Typically this wildly windy 90km stage is the last of four. The morning of the race we drove up to the race which is sort of on a plateau above the valley and geared up in the cold.
AND THAT’S A WRAP WITH THE REDLANDS BICYCLE CLASSIC
It was a true pleasure to be back at Redlands Bicycle Classic. Generally speaking, when the teams competes this early in the season, most of us are flying in after a cold winter of training. This year, we were fortunate to have timing on our side, and as such, our Californian team camp began two weeks before the race, allowing us to acclimate to the heat.
Great effort from the team at Redlands
This is just the start of our race season so we are so excited to build upon this. This week was very special for me and I cannot wait for what is ahead. I feel like I saw all the hard work I have been putting in this winter shine through this week. I am eager to get back on the race course with these girls in RED!!
1ST 2ND AND 4TH AT THORNHILL CIRCUIT RACE
On a mild, if not overcast, day in Maple Ridge a strong team of Red Truck Racing’s finest lined up at the start of the Thornhill Circuit Race. The previous day Barry Lyster had promised sun, and so there was... sort of. Well, if not the presence of sun, at least the absence of rain. Still, a bite in the air meant the pre-race lathering of layer upon layer of embrocation until our legs gleamed so bright it was as if the sun was out.
SMALL BUT MIGHTY CREW RACES THE TCB!
While most of our teammates travelled home after Valley of the Sun and some warm weather training, a small but mighty part of the team stayed down south to race the Tucson Bicycle classic: a three day stage race around Tucson, Arizona.
VOS: first crit of the year
Valley of the Sun was my first race weekend with Red Truck and stage racing in a while; I was eagerly awaiting the racing and sunshine. Sunday morning was the final stage of the weekend, the downtown crit! The time trial and road race were done, and our tummies were filled with lasagna from the night before.
Valley of the Sun Stage Race
The Valley of the Sun stage race in Phoenix Arizona was our first race of the year as a team together. For me, it was my first test of the year to see how the legs were going into the season. After a long winter mixed with lots of schoolwork in university, as well as quite a bit of time spent on the indoor velodrome, I was excited to get back on the road and do such a cool stage race in such a cool place.
VOS Stage Race: the team is back together!
There are many good reasons for a bunch of Canadians to be found in Phoenix, Arizona in February. After two years of little to no travel, neck deep into a seemingly endless grey west coast winter, a trip south was overdue. But the best reason of all to crowd into a house in the desert with eleven of your closest friends is for a bike race
Brenna rocks the Van Isle gravel race!
This past weekend I lined up for the last race in the Vancouver Island gravel series, the Burnt Bridge Classic. I have done a lot of gravel riding up in the area of the race, but had never done a couple of the climbs in the direction that the race went.
SARAH CRUSHES a GOLD MEDAL RACE AT THE THE CALI NATIONS CUP!
I am returning home from Cali, Columbia after competing at the 2021 Cali Nations Cup where I raced the Team Pursuit, stand alone Elimination, and Madison. I am coming home happy and content but hungry for more as I prepare, to hopefully, represent Canada at World Championships in Roubaix, France
RACING THE INAUGURAL MIVA UNPAVED GRAVEL FONDO
After a couple solid weekends of road racing, I did a bike change and raced my gravel bike on the logging roads of Nanaimo. A little unconventional lead up to road nationals, but a bike race is a bike race, and they are few and far between these days! It was great to get in one more hard effort before flying off to nationals in a week.
DODGING CRASHES AND POTHOLES IN A SUCCESSFUL ROUGH WEEKEND RACE
The last weekend of BC racing was set to be rowdy and rough with many of the local road racers showing up for some exciting gravel racing. Saturday's Rock the Ridge was a flat course with lots of rough gravel farm roads and loose dyke paths.
BIG CROWDS AND A GREAT ATMOSPHERE AT THE TOUR DE CONCORD
This past Sunday was the inaugural Tour de Concord, a criterium set in Metrotown in Burnaby. The event put on by Concord Pacific and Cycling BC brought big crowds, creating a great atmosphere to ride in. The course was fast and technical with lots of corners.
RED TRUCK MEN WIN THE INAUGURAL TOUR DE CONCORD!
The inaugural Tour de Concord took place on a short, tight and technical 850 meter long course in the centre of Burnaby’s Metrotown. A tight right hander after the start/finish straight led onto a long back straight along Kingsway which proved to the best (and only) place to meaningfully move up before a highly technical series of corners ahead of the finish
COVETED BC CHAMPION'S JERSEY EVER SO ELUSIVE
Cycling BC Provincials was set to be a great day for racing. With the smoke clearing out the night before, the weather was perfect for a fast day out. As Red Truck’s only junior athlete I had my work cut out for me
RED TRUCK WOMEN TAKE THE PROVINCIAL ROAD RACE CHAMPIONSHIPS!
This past Sunday saw the return of the Provincial Championships in the Hatzic Valley. Thankfully the winds shifted, clearing the smoke out of the area and making the undulating 18.5km loop hot and humid.
THE MEN IN RED TAKE THE THORNHILL CIRCUIT RACE
After a brief warm-up lap with the entire team, we were quite quickly off to the races. We had a neutral roll-out behind the moto until the top of the hill, but I don't think the driver realized how hard we were having to go.
HONING RACING SKILLS AGAINST THE BEST OF THE BEST IN AMERICAN CRITERIUM RACING
In late June I headed off to California to get some solid training miles in the warm hills of Irvine and the surrounding areas. During the two weeks there, I was able to put some serious miles under my belt, as well as a couple of fiery group rides.
FIONA REPRESENTS RED TRUCK IN CHICAGO AT THE INGELLIGENTIA CUP
While in the Windy City, Red Truck's Fiona Majendie took the opportunity to race the local Intelligentia Cup and flew the Canadian Red Truck jersey!
Finally back racing after the pandemic shut us down!
Our first team race since BC Superweek 2019 the Red Truck gang was excited to get back to bike racing, and the challenging dykes In Pitt Meadows at Jeremy’s Roubaix was just the place to put our legs to the test.
TRT FINDS SUCCESS WITH TEAM CANADA AT L'ABITIBI!
If you have been around cycling for a little while you may have heard of the Tour de l'Abitibi, you may have even competed in it. The race is renowned for its super fast stages and 150 junior rider fields which hit the deck more than Tire Touch Timmy.
Flying high at the Tour de Beauce
Wednesday the 19th of June marked stage 1 of the 2019 Tour de Beauce. Things kicked off with a hot one, also the longest stage of the week, 177km. We started in St. Georges riding 40km along some classic Quebec roads, undulating and with plenty of potholes. It was full gas for that first hour all the way out to the circuit.
ASK OLI: TREK RED TRUCK’S PODIUM SWEEP AT THE VANCOUVER IS AWESOME GRAND PRIX
I was reminded on Saturday of the truest high I feel when racing my bike. It’s not winning. It’s not speed. It’s going into the race as a team with a plan, and riding as one perfectly functional and dominant unit to execute the plan flawlessly. You feel important and most of all, you feel as though you are part of something bigger.
CASCADES: RACING INTO SHAPE
Following a disappointing performance at Provincials, wherein a misjudgment of my abilities (in addition to catastrophic cramping) resulted in near disaster for the team, I quickly re-evaluated my goals, packed my bags, and headed south, determined to force my body into some semblance of form.
That’s just how bike racing goes sometimes
The Provincial time trail was a 40km course out in Fort Langley area, I’ve been on the podium several times at TT Provincials so I was looking to do well. It was an absolutely miserable day out there, so much rain made for a slippery course.
Jeremy’s Roubaix
Jeremy's Roubaix is quite the contrast to the normal races that we attend for the year. It takes place on the on-and-off the gravel dyke paths in Maple Ridge BC. Our race was 100km, about 50km of that was on the gravel sections. Our goal for the race was to be really aggressive, attack lots and win the race!
AN EVENTFUL TWO WEEKS ON THE ROAD, INCLUDING (BUT NOT LIMITED TO) RACING FOR TEAM CANADA WITH A TRT ALUMNI!
For me, it has been two full weeks on the road, travelling and racing my bike. I am writing this as I fly home from Quebec, where I was just racing the Grande Prix Cycliste Gatineau with the National Team. But I won’t get ahead of myself, I will start at the beginning and hope to keep the read interesting and not overly lengthy (no promises).
A STRONG FINISH TO THE TOUR OF WASHINGTON FOR THE TRT WOMEN
The Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race was the last race of the Tour of Washington series, and the women’s team made it a goal to move Holly up to 2nd place in the overall points GC. I was excited to host the team at my house and take them on some Olympia roads the day prior to the race. It was a nice way to spin out the legs after experiencing the worst I-5 traffic on a Friday afternoon.
CROSSFIT ADVENTURES AND, YES, SOLID RACING AT WENATCHEE
It’s 5:45 am in Wenatchee, Washington. I’m sure that somewhere people are waking to the sight of dew glistening on grass in the warm early morning sun of late spring accompanied by the sounds of peaceful birdsong. We, however, are awoken quite abruptly by a chorus of flipping tires, grunts and death metal.
FIRST EVER SOLO WIN FOR THE TEAM!
This weekend the team went to the Tour de Bloom in Wenatchee, Washington. The islanders got picked up from the 7am ferry and the road trip started from there. On the way down I was able to take advantage of the time and write an English essay. On trips like these when I am missing classes I have to take the opportunity when I am fresh and still have some brain cells to do my homework.
WALLA WALLA: WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS
The 2019 Tour of Walla Walla would be the first test for Trek Red Truck Racing after an epic week of training down in Thousand Oaks, California the week before. The drive in to town the day before racing would provide a preview of things to come over the weekend, as the weather shifted back and forth between bright sunshine and torrential rain every few minutes.
TREK WOMEN ATTACK AT THE ANNUAL JEREMY'S ROUBAIX
After a few busy weeks with Team camp, Walla Walla, and Junior Track Nationals, sickness and school work had taken over some of the women’s team. A small TRT women’s crew took to the line of Jeremy’s Roubaix on Saturday to battle it out on the Dykes of Pitt Meadows. This race is unique in our racing calendar as it is partly on gravel and partly on roads, paying tribute to the infamous spring classic Paris-Roubaix.
Ask Oli: Trek Red Truck team camp
In my experience with other teams, team camp has meant business. You eat, you ride, you rest. It’s about the riders and generally speaking, there are no other participants apart from staff. With Red Truck, however, camp is different.