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.
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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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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 (the criterium was the final race of a three day series) 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.
And that’s a wrap with the Redlands Bicycle Classic, one of the hardest stage races in North America
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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. I had the privilege to race on the Canadian national team for the event and with a really strong roster we were looking good for some results.
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.
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.
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.