Tripleshot Cycling

So... Looks like our very own Andrew Neale came 5th in the Nationals Road Race. Just one second behind the winner.

Congratulations Andrew!

I haven't had time to check for other TSers in the results, or check other races. Sorry.

Please post here about your experiences. With Master's in Victoria the next two years, it would be great to hear about everyone's rides.

How'd everyone do?

Eric

An amazing performance by Andrew( first R.R.ever ) and Garth.
And these boys are on the upper end of the 50 to 59 age group competeing against some fast 50, 51 year olds.
But whats a few years when your pushing 60!

My crit and Road Race where pleasent. I got lapped in both of them so I got to have an early lunch and aftenoon nap ( going on 65 for me.)
Actually the road race at UBC was a beautiful, safe course with 2 lanes closed to all traffic.
I rode most of it with a 73 year old and a women who got dropped. So we worked together.

In the Saturday critereum a minor incident:
What kind of roadies have a crash leaving the starting line??....60 to 69 year olds!
Yes, 3 guys hit the pavement as we started.
I was behind but had to swerve and unclip.
As we got going the pak was gone around the first corner.

I encourage all of you over 30...thinking about trying a race.....to set a goal for June 2018 .
Canadian Masters Championships 2018. Officially coming to Victoria!

Yes you can !

Sounds like you all had a great weekend of racing.
Congrats to Andrew for a fantastic result in your first race.

Thank you Eric, Paul and Neil. It was a really fun event and I was proud to wear the Tripleshot jersey. I was blown away by the support we received along the course; and yes Paul, we heard you yelling our names ... thank you! Garth and Nick F. and I had a good time preparing for the race, and it was a great experience to work together with the other island riders ( Mick Bryson, Tony Wakelin and Paul Taylor ) during the race. I want to thank Andrew Atwell and Deb Snell at the feed zone because seeing you and receiving some liquid and a shout gave us a big boost at the top of a hill I won't want to see for a while! And thanks to everybody that provided pre-race advice, I think I used all of it! Oh, and a set of Lawless wheels.

Perhaps Garth and I will put together a race report .... I have never written one, so I might need help.

Here is a link to some results:

http://www.cyclingcanada.ca/masters/

It was so nice to see familiar face in all of the races, and there were strong rides from Andrew Atwell, Nick Friesen and Paul C. of course, and ride regulars Michael D., Eugene, Matt, and Jesse. I'm sorry if I missed some other names.

P.S. Eric .... thank you for recognizing a ride that was NOT on Strava!

Wow, what a result , Andrew! Impressive when you see the list of racers you finished with.

Way to go!

Race report: As some of you may know, the Wheelers take turns doing an awesome job of reporting on races. If you want to take part in a ride or race from the comfort of your chair, browse through reports of the OBB Saturday rides, some of the local rides and events like the Provincial and National Championships on the Wheelers forum .... it's a lot of fun!

So following is the report as written by Garth for the Wheelers and I really can't add anything except to say that he was rather modest in describing his efforts to "roll off the front" to try to get away; he worked darned hard a few times at the front to either set the pace or try to set up the possibility of an escape. And I'm glad Garth mentioned how fit all the 50 year old guys looked ... and there were a lot of them! For a while I thought I was lined up with the wrong group, I hope I looked half that good when I was 50. Somebody asked us the average speed of the race and I learned afterwards that it was 38.5 km/hr which surprised me because we did a fair bit of re-fueling, soft pedalling and cat-and-mousing as we sized each other up after the top of the course each lap. The average speed along Marine Drive must have been close to 45 km/hr most laps. It was a tough, fast race and a great experience for a 59 year old rookie .... NOW I know why you race!

Garth's report:

Masters Nationals RR, Master C, 50 – 59 race report

Because the masters national road racing championships were being held in Vancouver this year, it was a goal of mine to race this event. The course was held around the Pacific Spirit Park by UBC which featured a 10.5 km loop with 100m of climbing in each loop. The biggest climb (Camosun Hill) was 1.2 km long with 80m of elevation gain, about 6.5% average grade. The Master C’s (50-59) had to complete this loop 10 times…I knew the 80m climb was going to hurt as the race went on because this is probably where the attacks were going to happen.

Mick Bryson and I would be riding for the Victoria Wheelers.
Paul Taylor, Tony Wakelin (IRC) and Andrew Neale (Tripleshot) would also be lining up for this race as well so we all talked about racing together to give us the best chance for good results. We met before the race to come up with a strategy…we decided we would sit in to see how the race unfolded until around the 5th lap at which time we would assemble a pace line at the bottom of the Camosun Hill and roll through the group keeping the pace line strong going over the top to try to get away from the group. If we were successful, we’d continue with the rolling pace line to try to stay away, hoping the group couldn’t coordinate an effort to catch us.

We lined up with around 45 other riders for the start of our race. As I looked around, I noticed how fit all of the fifty year olds looked…it was going to be a tough race! The first 3 or 4 laps were pretty controlled except for Camosun Hill where the stronger hill climbers would push the pace and try to drop as many as they could. The five of us were able to stay with the front group as we hit the top of the climb. On the 5th lap we assembled our pace line mid group on the lower part of Camosun Hill and started drilling the pace line…as we approached the top of the climb we were at the front and we continued to roll through on the rolling section along Imperial Drive and up to the finish line (high point of the course). Unfortunately, a number of riders came with us and didn’t want to help with the pace line and we weren’t willing to work our butts off for them while they sat in, so the group of riders that were gapped were able to come back. As the laps went by, there were attacks on Camosun Hill and up to the finish line and then the riders in the front group sat up again as everyone that was dropped caught back on. Mick and I tried a couple of times on 16th Ave (flat/downhill section before Marine Drive) to slowly roll off the front to try to get away. The group gave us some leeway, but we were eventually swallowed up by the group the few times we tried.

There was a lot of attacks and counter attacks on 16th Ave & Marine Drive to get into position for the big attack on Camosun Hill on laps 8 and 9…Mick, Paul, Tony, Andrew and myself were able to stay in contact with the front group, which was now down to less than 20 riders. On the final lap the pace picked up substantially before Camosun Hill so I knew the last climb was going to be painful! I stayed with the front attacking group until the last kicker of the climb at which point they got away and there was about a 5 bike length gap at the top. Paul, Tony and Mick were further back and Andrew was right on my wheel. I dug deep over the top and was lucky there was slight lull in the group which allowed myself and Andrew to get back on before the rolling section of Imperial Drive about 1 km from the finish. We were down to about 12 riders now. As we were all sizing each other up and preparing for the sprint, I saw Mick and Uli Mayer powering past us on the left part way down Imperial Drive (it was great to see Mick had pace lined back to the group). The group immediately latched onto their wheels as we swung onto 16th Ave and the sprint was on. I was in the back half of the group and just put my head down and sprinted up the hill as hard as I could. Unfortunately I got boxed in halfway up the hill and had to stop pedaling for split second which slowed my momentum. I kept fighting to the finish and nipped two riders at the line finishing in 9th. Mick had a great sprint, finishing in 6th and Andrew had even a better sprint, coming from the back of the group to take 5th. There was about 3 bike length between 1st and 10th place, so it was a close, exciting finish. Paul and Tony came in about 45 seconds down placing in the top 20. I think they were feeling the criterium race from the day before.

It was probably the hardest race of the year for me, but being able to race with the guys from Victoria that I ride with a lot and place in the top 10 at the Nationals in my first year of racing will be the highlight of the year for me.

Awesome result, Andrew & Garth. Very well deserved!

What an exciting read. Thank you Garth and Andrew!
I was following the results from the website on Sunday it was wonderful to see you all up there in the top twelve. That Camosun hill is a real grind, ten times suffering up that at full bore .... you're amazing!
And it was wonderful to read about all the support from everyone in Victoria. What great spirit!
Congratulations, Andrew, Garth, Mick, Tony and Paul!
Also great to see all of the Victorians in the 40's race ... congrats to you too!
Finally, to fellow Islander Chris Cameron in the Masters D. Second place to Brian Marsh from the Kootenays is no mean feat. This is going to be much more competive group next year and the following one with Andrew then Garth in the mix.
Joe