July 13-14 was the Dove Creek Omnium race in Comox. Jay Lamoureux and I rode in our Tripleshot kit in the A group, and Brenna Pauly rode in the B category.
The omnium began Saturday morning with the Royston Criterium. The A race was 45min+2 laps of the 1.4km circuit. It was a fast loop, with perfectly smooth paved roads, and a short, punchy hill into the finish. The A's began fast, we dropped our first rider on lap 3, and then another on lap 5. In the first 5 or 6 laps, the average speed hovered around 44km/hr. 3/4 of the field in the A group was from Victoria. Russ Hay's team had 3 riders, Pro City 5, IRC 6, and TS 2, for a total of 25 in the A's. There were plenty of attacks, breakaways, and counterattacks, but the race came down to a bunch of sprints with Russ Hay's riders finishing 1st and 2nd. Jay had a great finish for 8th place (just outside of the Omnium points), and I finished 10th. Our average speed for the entire crit (according to my Garmin anyway) was 40.5km/hr. Brenna finished 11th in a fast B race which split into several smaller groups late in the race.
Next was the Burns Rd. TT Saturday afternoon. Our crit ended around 1:15pm, and our TT began by 5:00pm so there was little time for rest and recovery. The course was about 8.5km long and we did 2 loops for the 17km TT. The first half of the loop featured a 2.5km long low grade hill that really sapped the legs, but the return leg was blistering fast with most riders averaging 50km/hr one direction. I know the second time up that 2km hill my speed went as low as 23km/hr, which did not help my TT time at all! I finished a miserable 22nd out of 25 in the A's. But the real story was Jay tearing up the course with a time of 25:05, for 4th overall! I believe Jay's time was also fastest out of all the Victoria riders who were there. Brenna finished 13th in the TT despite a mechanical at the end of the first lap!
Sunday morning we re-convened at the Dove Creek Hall at 10:00 am for the Road Race. A's did 5 laps for a total of 86km of a fairly fast course that didn't feature any real climbs, but a few 'false flat' sections and a short but steep hill before the finish line. Breakaways and team tactics played a big role. The pace started out very fast until 2 Russ Hay's riders got clear of the pack. Immediately after they were caught, another Russ Hay's rider and a Pro City rider formed another break. After they were caught, a Russ Hay's rider and Pro city rider formed ANOTHER break. A couple riders bridged up to that break and it partially survived until the finish. Craig Lunn from Russ Hay's won solo, and Matt Billinghurst (Pro City, and Tripleshot rider) was the only other survivor who finished just bike lengths ahead of the charging main field. Jay attacked twice in the last lap, the first time on the highway segment of the course, and he quickly TT'd himself into a 30sec lead on the pack. Unfortunately we caught him with less than 10km to go, but Jay found the legs to attack again just before the last hill to the finish but was swept up within sight of the line. I had big time cramps in both legs with 5km to go, but finished in the main sprint in 11th place, with Jay right behind me in 12th. Our average speed in the RR was 38.5km/hr. Brenna had a great road race and stayed in with a strong B field dominated by the Comox Valley cycling club, finishing 10th.
All told, it was a great weekend of racing, with everyone who participated having a blast. Looking forward to next year!!
Dove Creek Omnium
Moderator: mfarnham
Re: Dove Creek Omnium
I was in the two man break with Craig Lunn from Russ Hayes. We were off the front for 50km, and Matt (new pro city rider and tripleshot A rider) bridged up to us solo with about 25km to go. I ended up losing contact with Craig and Matt and got swallowed by the pack with a lap to go. I tried briefly one more time to get away on the bottom straight, but russ hayes was having none of it.
Matt hung on the break for 2nd place. Awesome result for him.
I was really impressed with Jay and his attacks. His timing, ability to read the race and his pack sense for when to try to go are really good.. He tried to bridge up to the break on the last lap, but unfortunately for him, both Russ Hayes and Pro City were intent on bringing him back well before he got across to keep the pack sprint for 3rd place.
Matt hung on the break for 2nd place. Awesome result for him.
I was really impressed with Jay and his attacks. His timing, ability to read the race and his pack sense for when to try to go are really good.. He tried to bridge up to the break on the last lap, but unfortunately for him, both Russ Hayes and Pro City were intent on bringing him back well before he got across to keep the pack sprint for 3rd place.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.