Saturday started at the infamous Aldor Acres where our TT would be held in the morning and the kermes in the afternoon. We all warmed up under one of the covered areas, trainers were set up close to where the baby bunnies and chickens were and as a result I had to strategically place my trainer far away from the baby animals.
Driving from Vancouver where it had been absolutely pouring that morning, we all feared the worst in terms of weather, but were pleasantly surprised by a light sprinkle which turned to almost sunshine and was making an effort to sneak through the clouds. The TT was the classic out-and-back, the same as the provincial course the past couple of years except it consisted of only a single lap of the course.
After a strong TT showing of the women’s team we placed 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th! GC was definitely in the bag, the next question was “could we pull of a full podium sweep?” Well we would certainly try! A couple hours later we lined up for the kermes. As we were combined with the cat 3 men the race was fast and hard. After a few missed turns on the first lap (oops) the race stayed together for the most part and the racing was extremely aggressive. As a whole we were able to win all of the time bonuses to sweep the podium.
The following day was the road race. It started out wet on course, with a few sharp corners and punchy up hills; this course would be challenging. Our goal going into the race was to at least secure GC and protect the top two riders. The race started hard and fast averaging almost 40km/h for the first hour. By the fourth lap Michelle was the only one hanging with the cat 3 men. She ended up taking GC like a boss by minutes ahead of the rest of the podium! The team ended up claiming 4/5 of the podium spots. It was a pretty solid weekend for the TRT women’s team! Watch out for more updates over the next few weeks!