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.
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Women
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.
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.
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.
This past Sunday the TRT women took on the Delta UCI road race, the third event in BC Superweek. Delta is always a really good opportunity for us – it’s technical, fast, with just enough of a climb to make it challenging. We were met by a beautiful sunny day, a definite change from the last few years that were grey and rainy.
Coming half way through BC Superweek, the Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix gets everyone fired up for an exciting day of racing. It doesn’t matter that you already have three days of racing in your legs – this is a big one!
The weekend of racing in Enumclaw was filled with rain and freezing temperatures, a stark juxtaposition to the warm Californian roads I had grown so fond of.
June never fails to be a great month for the Red Truck women. The warm weather brings some pretty epic races, one of the biggest of which is Gatineau. With Nationals based in Ottawa and the Gatineau Park at the end of the month, Gatineau would also give us a chance to test our legs out on some of the tough roads we’ll be facing.
The first stage was a 106 km road race starting and finishing in Leavenworth. We began the race on a gradual climb and once at the top of the climb, the race continued with two loops. Being one of two teams at the race, there were a lot of individual riders, which made it more challenging to start a break.
A friend once said "The Tour of Gila, this race is the hardest race ever, it will literally make you hate cycling." A week later, the Monster has passed and the stage race is now over.
Do I hate cycling? Not at all. Was it the hardest stage race ever? Pretty much.
During Redlands I got an email asking if I would like to guest ride for Team Rally (formerly known as Optum). My initial thought was; “f*** ya!” as signing a contract with a team of this caliber at the end of the 2016 is my number one outcome goal of the season.
The Redlands Bicycle Classic is arguably one of the toughest races the Trek Red Truck calendar, and the five grueling stages always bring out a top-tier woman’s field. This year, eight TRT women lined up with some 120 starters to tackle the California hills in rain, shine, and everything in between.