BC Provincials? Race reports please...

[4827north]

I was on the 4pm ferry back from my son's lacrosse tournament in New West. 4 games undefeated translated into a gold medal. Very exciting for my 8 year old boy! I didn't get a chance to chat with Roland, Jim, et al on the Ferry. Said a quick hello to Shannon Baerg. How'd the racing go folks?

-Brad

[Roland]

Not a good weekend for me. Fell on my butt. An OK position going into the last corner, and then somebody crashed in front of me. He got the worst of it and left on a spine board. I just have road rash and a sore hip.

[jpauly]

Brenna placed 4th in the Cat 4/Junior combined race and is now the B.C. provincial junior roadrace champion. Way to go Brenna!!!! I will post a picture when I overcome my technical deficiencies.

[jeremy]

Awesome!!! way to go Brenna!!!

[Josh.E]

Bruce and I did the cat 1/2/3 elite mens race. My goal was to stay with the main pack the entire race, which included members of some team called Spider Tech.
Things were going pretty well for the first 5 laps, and I was fairly comfortable on the climbs up camosun, which was pretty fast on a couple of the laps. Quite a few people got shelled on the first 3 laps, but Bruce and I were still there. Bruce was looking quite fresh on the climbs.
On the 5th or 6th lap the pace up the hill picked up, and the group splintered and a bunch of gaps started to open. I had been too lax hanging out toward the back of the main pack and not getting toward the front of the pack on the left corner into the hill, where the pack would accordion as everyone slowed, and then stand and start sprinting uphill.
I found myself in the last group at the top of the hill, but still felt okay to help chase back on, as things were usually coming back together after the climb. As we went into a corner Bruce touched wheels with a guy from pro city (not sure of his name) and the guy went down. Bruce looked back and slowed to turn around to see if the guy was okay. I hesitated, but decided to keep going. That was it right there for me. There was about a 30 yard gap to the back of the pack, and I couldn't close it before the finish line at the top of the hill, then totally lost contact on the fast gradual downhill on the other side. Did one lap by myself in the headwind (not fun), then called it a day.

Lesson for me for races with the cat1/2s....be smarter than that. I lost contact in the whistler cat1/2/3 race last year in a similar moment of indecision. I'm not strong enough to chase back on if the pack is going hard, but felt like I could have hung on a lot longer today than I did. Still, I enjoy the challenge of it, and I'm glad I did that instead of the cat 3/4 race.

[Rolf]

Yeah, Brenna! (And congrats to everyone else who raced. But I'm especially proud to ride with a provincial champion!)

[Lister Farrar]

Jim is being modest. Brenna really rode well today, beating decisively all the other juniors and competitive with the strongest cat 4's. The last junior was dropped by her group with a lap to go, others dropped on each climb. Including the members of team bc for the western canada games (selected while Brenna was in France.)

I drove a service vehicle with Jim as co-pilot, and noted Brenna made sure she was in front of the bunch going up the climb (thanks for the tip whoever suggested that), quickly crossing any splits or being in front of them.

Brenna commented on the line the others took into the corner up the hill. Many of the riders were going up the inside of the corner, and then braking before finishing the corner. Brenna found herself the only rider swinging wide first, which allowed her to carry more speed into the hill. She lead the first half of the first climb, then found the others were reluctant to take a pull.

Minda, feeling good, decided to carry the TS flag a little further and blasted the second half of the hill in front, perhaps inspired by Brenna. Unfortunately she overdid it and didn't leave enough over the top and lost the group as it accelerated. Minda was really po'd by the mistake, but i think it was cool she actually was the hammer for a bit of what was really her first race. And she rode well after in the chase, only to have the race shortened by some confusion among the officials and finished a lap early (the lap counter rang the bell a lap early for the lead group, but they ignored it).

Kristin Scott was another victim of her team mates energetic first climb, and cracked when Minda did, caught up with Minda's group of four, though couldn't quite hold it until the finish (also a lap short). But she was happy to have helped make the cat 4 race happen and looking forward to more the race pace rides with TS. Kristin's total race-ish experience is 2 Monday beginner series races and 4 TS rides. Gutsy eh? She's looking forward to more.

The last climb was a treat. From our seats in the service vehicle, we could see the remains of the bunch strong out from the bottom, shedding riders starting in the first quarter. We kept nervously looking for Brenna's colours near the back, but as the dropped riders came back, we could see Brenna was third wheel, and going clear of the rest of the bunch by the top near St Georges school.

At that point we kind of lost track as the dropped riders slowed us, the elite women dropped riders were getting reeled in, the course curved, and apparently it did for B too. One rider got clear and 3 of the 5 didn't even know she'd gone. Brenna was third in the sprint in the group of five fourth overall. Got a nice podium presentation, with jersey, medal , and flowers.

Congratulations Brenna!

Tech notes:
X-terra triathlete Melanie Mcquaid brought by about three wheel-barrow loads of tires, clothing, shoes, stems, saddles and seat posts. Brenna rode some nice new maxxis race tires, and a pair of good as new top of the line shimano race shoes. Thanks Melanie. Your stuff is still winning.

Planning Notes:
Everyone should do this race next year. Course is even nicer in person than google street view.

[RyanC]

Brenna! You go, girl! You and your dad must be so proud. I can't wait to see the podium pics.

Roland, I am glad you're okay. Does this mean you need a new skinsuit?

Bruce, I am glad you got to race and have nothing but respect for someone who puts the well being of others above their own ambitions. Respect!

Josh, I am glad to see a race report from you again. It's been a while. Sounds like the day met or exceeded your expectations in any case. Spider Tech, as you may know, is Steve Bauer's continental pro project. Big guns, to be sure.

Kristin, and Minda, you did us proud. Very few people who have never raced can appreciate how much there is to overcome inside yourself to actually show up at a starting line and roll off with the pack, let alone ride aggressively knowing you want to be a factor in the race rather than remain anonymous. Well done. I look forward to more stories as your racing develops. I have raced almost every year since 1987 and still find it an equal balance of terror & exhilaration. And it's gotten even more fun as time has gone along.

Congratulations, all.

R

[Roland]

Photos: http://wi.ca/photos/thumbnails.php?album=1

[Dylan J C]

Well done Brenna! Sounds like you had an amazing race dropping the rest of the juniors

Sounds like the all of the races were super intense, selective would be the wrong word. Great work Josh and Bruce, I wish I was there racing with you guys, Hopefully next year. Nicely done all around by Tripleshot, I'm excited to come back and ride with all of you.

[jpauly]

I was so frustrated by trying to download the pictures that I forgot to mention Minda and Kristen. It was so good to see you both out racing and supporting Brenna and for ensuring there was enough riders to field a cat 4 race. Thank you and I hope you have the bug to do more races. Thanks to Bruce for his tips on the ferry ride and for showing true sportsmanship in helping your fellow rider. Thank you Roland for posting the picture. Thank you to Lister for all you do to promote this club and this sport. This is the spirit and compasion that separates Tripleshot from all the other clubs.

[Quentin]

Thanks to everyone for their race reports, I love reading them.

Congrats Brenna!!!

[Roland]

Results are finally going up: http://www.teamwedgewood.com/files/2011 ... Report.php

I should do a proper race report now. 91 racers (27 Cat 3 / 64 Cat 4) lined up for the Cat 3/4 race. I should be Cat 1 at the 'Race before the Race.' Lined up front row without even being challenged. Race started with a fairly easy pace and I put myself at the pointy end of the peloton, about 10 from the front. There was a decent headwind for most of the lap, so I wanted a bit of protection from the pack.

It's an odd course. 10km lap, 90% flat or slightly downhill with a short climb and then repeat. On the flat, nobody was willing to work too hard, and then things got exciting on the corner before the hill, which was flat out, then flat out to the start/finish line. Repeat 8 times.

Lap 2 I decided to take a small trip off the front to see what was up. A hard effort on the hill got me a gap, but only one wanted to come with, so I drifted back to the pack. Far to windy two. I've heard this race is either won in a bunch sprint or a break of at least 10.

I paid for the effort and drifted to the back of the pack. I was making up spots on the hill each lap, but the road was too narrow on the hill to move around much. Somewhere around lap 4 or 5 I also got myself dropped when I drifted off the back while eating and drinking. Oops. Big effort to get back on. Got back on the front around lap 6 or 7 and lead down the hill, but at a fairly easy pace.

Last lap I expected the hill to be full bore, but it wasn't that bad and I came over the top in the lead group of 20 or so. A hard effort as it flattened out separated the pack. Going into the last corner I was probably in 15th position or so. Not great, but probably good enough for a Top 10 or so. I like my chances on an uphill sprint. But no such luck, going into the corner on the outside I heard the sound of bikes sliding on the road. With nowhere to go I jammed on the brakes and felt the back end of the bike lifting as I went over the bars.

Quickly threw the chain back on, cyclocross mount and off to the finish in 20th place, about 21 seconds back of the leader. Not bad for being on the ground. 13th of the Cat 4s, so no points for the weekend.

I'm still pretty sore with some pulled muscles in my neck and a swollen butt. So I'll be off the bike for a few days. Fun race, just wish I hadn't crashed.