Have you ever seen the rain?! Well, I can certainly say that teammate Jenny Trew and I sure have. This past weekends adventure was all about the BC provincial track championships in Victoria; as well as waiting out the storms that seemed to devour most of our days - but not our spirits!
Between huddling under the tents to stay dry and several multi-hour trips to the coffee shop, Jenny and I dried out the competition. Even after deciding to combine the (lacking) women's field with the junior and master men, in four out of the six races held (sprints, pursuit, scratch race, keirin, points race, and 500m), we were victorious. For the remaining two races, we filled up of what was left on the podium. We were so consistent in our top three places, that people were beginning to call us the "Giant women's track team!"
All in all it was a great weekend full of fast, fun, Giant domination. But most importantly it was excellent preparation for the 2007 national track championships held in Dieppe, NB Sept. 6-9th.
Stayed tuned for some more awesome racing and results!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
well it's over
the season , the summer, the fun, but at least there is time to breath and write a little about the fun in Edmonton.
this year's Western Canada games consisted of 3 races
a 18km flattish time trial in down town Sherwood park,
a 88km flattish road race in the middle of nowhere ( thanks to a last minute course change )
and a 14+ km mt bike race through sludgy clay.
The first race of the week was the ever popular time trial . It takes a certain type of person to really like time trails and i think that it is safe to say that i am not one of them, I did however manage a 7Th place finish which i am going to consider a small victory.
Next up was the road race.....
with a Field of 24 showing up to the cool....cold morning start
it was the largest Field of my own age group i had ever raced.
Right from the gun things went down hill for the Alberta team with a rather loud explosion puncture on the line, to the crash caused my the lead vehicle within 6 minutes of the neutral start. But these mishaps where just the start of the downward slide; with another tire explosion and two more crashes as well as more close calls that i care to remember , the race was really just about staying out of trouble . For once i did manage to stay out of trouble and rolled across the line with a good 30 ft margin on second place.
Last but not least was the mud ( no mountains in sight ) bike race.
The course was built to foil the roadies and that it did , but what the organizers hadn't counted on was the rain and thus the clay mud that made the twisty single track almost impossible for all but the very best of the mountain bikers.
In the end all was well and i got to put my cyclecross skills to the test , finishing 6Th overall after an unsuccessful sprint for 5Th.
id just like to say a big thank you to the organizers , volunteers and coaches that made this years Western Canada games a reality .
with weastern canada games comming to a close last saturday i said goodby to my teparary bc teammates and started the long trip back to victoria
the season , the summer, the fun, but at least there is time to breath and write a little about the fun in Edmonton.
this year's Western Canada games consisted of 3 races
a 18km flattish time trial in down town Sherwood park,
a 88km flattish road race in the middle of nowhere ( thanks to a last minute course change )
and a 14+ km mt bike race through sludgy clay.
The first race of the week was the ever popular time trial . It takes a certain type of person to really like time trails and i think that it is safe to say that i am not one of them, I did however manage a 7Th place finish which i am going to consider a small victory.
Next up was the road race.....
with a Field of 24 showing up to the cool....cold morning start
it was the largest Field of my own age group i had ever raced.
Right from the gun things went down hill for the Alberta team with a rather loud explosion puncture on the line, to the crash caused my the lead vehicle within 6 minutes of the neutral start. But these mishaps where just the start of the downward slide; with another tire explosion and two more crashes as well as more close calls that i care to remember , the race was really just about staying out of trouble . For once i did manage to stay out of trouble and rolled across the line with a good 30 ft margin on second place.
Last but not least was the mud ( no mountains in sight ) bike race.
The course was built to foil the roadies and that it did , but what the organizers hadn't counted on was the rain and thus the clay mud that made the twisty single track almost impossible for all but the very best of the mountain bikers.
In the end all was well and i got to put my cyclecross skills to the test , finishing 6Th overall after an unsuccessful sprint for 5Th.
id just like to say a big thank you to the organizers , volunteers and coaches that made this years Western Canada games a reality .
with weastern canada games comming to a close last saturday i said goodby to my teparary bc teammates and started the long trip back to victoria
Monday, August 13, 2007
Quick TT note:
Leah and I were the sole Giant representatives out in Squamish on Saturday for the Provincial Individual Time Trial Championships. The goal of the day was to move Leah up in the BC Cup standings to 2nd overall - and to the best of our knowledge - we achieved our goal!
Leah rode a strong race bettering her time from the 2006 Championships by over 2 minutes to place 4th behind the TT specialists of Leah Goldstein, Moriah MacGregor and Erinne Williock (in that order). I was happy enough with my ride for the first time on the course coming in 50 seconds in arrears of Leah in 7th place (4 seconds out of 5th)!
The TT championships mark the end of the BC Cup with Giant having placed 2 riders in the top 5. The provisional final standings are as follows:
1) Leah Goldstein - Symmetrics
2) Leah Guloien - Giant
3) Sarah Stewart - Symmetrics
4) Jenny Trew - Giant
5) Marni Hambleton - Symmetrics
Friday, August 10, 2007
Kelowna's Individual Time Trial
The third stage of the Fresh Air Experience Fantastic Four was a ~8.2 individual time trial on Saturday evening. After already completing the hill climb on Friday evening and the road race on Saturday morning, everyone was feeling a little drained from the heat and of course the racing. But we prevailed!
This was a point-to-point time trial with two corners and a few small rollers along the way. I knew I had it in me to do really well on this course...8km TTs are my forte! With a blazing tail wind and some dragons to still slay after my national ITT misfortune, I edged out Leah Goldstein (Symmetrics) by just over 7 seconds for the win. Following Goldstein by another 7 seconds was our own Leah Guloien, rounding out the top three. Lisa Howard rolled in with a solid 5th place followed by Jenny Trew in 6th.
Thats four Giant riders in the top 10! Another day, another race, and another podium dominated by Giant! To the criterium we go. Watch out.
This was a point-to-point time trial with two corners and a few small rollers along the way. I knew I had it in me to do really well on this course...8km TTs are my forte! With a blazing tail wind and some dragons to still slay after my national ITT misfortune, I edged out Leah Goldstein (Symmetrics) by just over 7 seconds for the win. Following Goldstein by another 7 seconds was our own Leah Guloien, rounding out the top three. Lisa Howard rolled in with a solid 5th place followed by Jenny Trew in 6th.
Thats four Giant riders in the top 10! Another day, another race, and another podium dominated by Giant! To the criterium we go. Watch out.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
weastern canada games road race champion 2007
well i am very glad that is done and over with , i don't believe that i have ever been quite so nervous about a race.
But all was well in the end with a win in the road race and a 7th place in the time trial and ....a to be dicided in the mountian bike race .
look for a full update and picts saturday night
cheers
But all was well in the end with a win in the road race and a 7th place in the time trial and ....a to be dicided in the mountian bike race .
look for a full update and picts saturday night
cheers
Pickle is my hero
Chelsea winning Western Canada Summer Games! That makes her the second Western Canada Games Champion on Team Giant (factoid for those of you: Lisa won in 1999)!Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Industrial Park Domination - Fresh Air Experience Criterium
The last stage of the Fantastic Four in Kelowna saw the Giant Bicycles Canada Team lining up with 5 girls ready to kick some butt. The course was a boring one, an industrial park with nary a corner to shake a stick at, and a 'hill' with a giant headwind.
We knew that our G.C. leader, Leah Guloien, had to put 20 seconds (at least) on Symmetrics' Sarah Stewart in order to move up into 2nd. It turned out to be a little too much to ask, and by mid way through the race we decided to keep it together for a bunch sprint, since the two best sprinters in the pack happened to be wearing Giant's blue and white!
The leadout was textbook! Laura Brown and Leah Guloien selflessly buried themselves into the headwind, putting the hurt to the Symmetrics riders, and anyone else who dared get in their way. Jenny Trew easily took the sprint with Lisa Howard (hooray) coming in for the silver.
The top two steps of the podium was a great way to cap off a spectacular weekend.
Kelowna Hill Climb
Stage One of Fresh Air Experience Fantastic Four was a 3.4 km individual hill climb. The scenic course was just outside of downtown Kelowna on a hill that overlooked Okanogan Lake. As the riders expected we were treated with hot dry weather, something us Vancouverites were yet to experience this summer. The climb itself was a steady climb with a few steep kickers in the middle. Leah Goldstein Symmetrics, as expected won the climb with a time of 10:58, Sarah Stewart Symmetrics finished in 11:35 for second, and local rider Gillian Kornell Total Restoration rounded up the podium in 11:53. Time bonuses for the top three riders in each stage gave these three girls even more of a head start for the remainder stages with 15, 9, and 6 seconds respectively. Giant’s Leah Guloien got the courage to race despite feeling ill and rode to a 5th place finish in 12:08. Another notable ride from Giant was our rising start Pickle (Chelsea Bilsbarrow) who finished 10th with a time of 12:49. Laura Brown and Alena Radomsky added a couple more Giant riders to the top 10 with 6th and 7th place finishes. The hill climb gave an open door for improvement in the next 3 stages where the team’s strengths are, and we were excited to race for podium spots for the remainder of the race.
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