Watch out, trees

University Cup Mountain Bike Series

Sept 18, 19, 26 & Oct 3

This fall I've been racing with the University of Guelph Cycling club doing the University Cup race series. What an adventure!

The preface to this post is that I'm a huge newbie when it comes to mountain biking -- and if I had a dollar for every time I crashed or 'hugged' a tree... it would probably pay a month's rent!!

In any case, the U-Cup race series is fun because it involves everyone: from people who are racing for the first time to top Ontario riders. There's tons of camaraderie within and between teams and most events have a BBQ afterward. The series takes place over four weekends in Sept/Oct.

Our first race of the season was at Mansfield and it was actually a bit of a 'stage race', consisting of a 'crit' (like 4X on mtbs), a TT (4k individual-start race) and a regular cross-country race. The crit was pretty cool, 2x300m loops--so it was pure adrenaline.

For the TT and the cross-country race my goal was to ride as smoothly as possible in the single-track and minimize the number of times I had to unclip. Things went pretty well--I took 2nd in each of those races (for an overall 2nd place that weekend).

The next race was at Boler Mountain in London. I had a rough start but worked my way into 2nd by the half-way mark. At that point, I knew there was a train of 3 riders behind me trying to chase me down and so I rode as fast as I could. Apparently that level of fast was faster than my technical skills were ready for, resulting in some pretty funny crashes! ...sliding out and faceplanting into the grass; riding into a tree so hard that my bars twisted 10 degrees right of my front wheel... Needless to say, I did get reeled in and finished 3rd.

Last weekend's race was at Hardwood Hills. For the whole race, I was back-and-forth with a woman from our rival school Queens. I'd gap her on the doubletrack and she'd bring me back on the singletrack. We ended in sprint finish and I just edged her out for 2nd! Definitely one of the toughest races of my season.

For the rest of the mtb season I'll continue to work on handling--cornering in particular. I hope some of this translates back onto the road next summer.

In other Stevens news, Mel, Tricia and Sophie have been rocking the cx scene--though I'll leave it up to them to fill in the details :)

Happy thanksgiving everyone! I am very thankful for my lovely teammates and our awesome sponsors at The Cyclery.

-- Rachel

Provincial TT & MTB Season

Ontario Provincial TT, Welland ON -- Sept 12

Provincial Time Trial:

Sunday was a nice cool day in Welland and the rain held off. Lots of speedy riding and it was exciting to see Sue on top of the podium!

As for me, my road season is winding down and mountain bike season (à la University Cup race series) is beginning!

Below is my concentration face, from the Hot-August-Nights-24h a few weeks ago. Mountain biking will be a very good opportunity to refine my technical skills!

-- Rachel

CX - We need more Cowbell Cross

Burgoyne Woods, St. Catherines, ON
September 11, 2010

Hot Day, Hot new Bike, Hot Course....HOT!

Cowbell Cross IV (now known as Jump the Cheeseburger) opened up the Southern Ontario 'cross scene this weekend. The course was super fun. The park is pancake flat and the corners were like butter, which kept it fast. With a little loose single track to keep you on your toes. Sadly there were no cheeseburgers or jumping, all the practice for naught!

The race went well, I started pretty fast, and was quickly into working my way through the M2s. I probably need to get better at my passing. I was playing it a little safe, and waiting for the straights to pass, next time I will shout it out a bit more. The last lap and a half turned out to be a little rough. I started getting the heat pricklies, and lost a bit a focus. This made for some sketchy moments in the corners, but I managed to keep it upright somehow.

I was racing the new Stevens Carbon Team frame, with the sweet Scorpo Wheels, and Continental tubulars. I am continually amazed by the Stevens bikes. The new bike really allowed me to carry a lot of speed through the corners, and covered up for a few of my sloppy lines. The full carbon bike is a plush ride for sure. The bike is so fast that I scare myself in the corners, like a new knife that is so sharp you almost cut yourself! Love it! A huge thanks goes out to Vince at the Cyclery and to Stevens Bikes Canada for setting me up for the season.

Next weekend I am stepping it up at the the Green Mountain Cyclocross weekend. Looking forward to the UCI fields and the Vermont scenery!

August Happenings

August 14-15 Weekend
Quick updates from last weekend...

-Sarah has been spending some time on the track in BC and hopped into a crit in Steveston last weekend. Got herself on the podium again!

-Tricia headed out to the Bromont Canada Cup. It sounded like a challenging and technical course (with the first half of each loop climbing and the second half a technical decent). She was 11th out of 20 finishers and 26 starters. Good job Tricia!

-I raced in Elliot Lake, which was a fun adventure (and an 8 hour drive!). Over the weekend there was a crit, a hill climb and a road race. The crit course was a bit challenging, with a downhill/off camber corner and rain starting 10 minutes before the race finished!

The hill climb was the result I was most excited about over the weekend, 8th place, and only 32 seconds behind the winner, over 3.5k. I think (hope?) this shows improvement in my climbing. The road race ended up a bunch sprint, where I was 8th again.

Just so this post doesn't become too long, I won't go into too much detail... but some other stellar August results for Stevens Racing p/b The Cyclery ladies:

-Sue set another OBC TT record on August 12th, going under 20 minutes - a feat only accomplished by a handful of men ... awesome!

-Michelle got on the podium at GP Cycliste Vaudreuil-Soulange, August 8th. Nicely done!

-Lastly, although slightly (haha) less prestigious than the OBC TT, I set a new ladies course record at the Speed River Club TT this evening. Lots of fun.



-- Rachel

Almost

August 8 - Kelso MTB O-Cup #6
It has been a while since we've traveled via Hwy 401 to a race but this past weekend saw an early morning departure on Saturday with Milton, Ontario as the destination. Only one major slowdown on the 401 in the outskirts of Toronto and we made it intact (just a little stiff and crossed-eyed from the drive).

Personally, I have not been much of a fan of Kelso. I think it stems from my early days racing mountain bikes. Kelso (I believe) was my first senior expert race (as a master-aged rider) en route trying to upgrade to Senior Elite. That race was not a pretty sight. Ever since Kelso has been a love-hate thing for me (purposefully skipping it on occasion). Part of it is because of THE climb at Kelso. This year though, I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe Kelso is growing on me. Perhaps it had to do with the score of blackberries we came across on the pre-ride (not quite as good (or as BIG) as BC berries but good enough for me to stop for 5 mins and fill my mitts full!) and the super dry conditions. The running of the course this year was made of one big climb at the start of each lap and then some fun, twisty, swoopy trails for the rest. No section ever too long of one thing. Very well done. The climb, well it was however many minutes of grinding but we all had to do it and I actually like climbing (as much as one can "like" climbing...) this year with my super light Stevens Scope (a wee hardtail 26" wheeler).

The race. I'm not one to get super pumped about a bike race. (I think I am getting more mellow with age...) Sunday was no different. Standing in the startline I'd done everything as per usual/same routine - ho-hum. But once we got the 'go', I automatically 'went' and actually had an ok start (uphill...) managing to get up a few more spots before the big climb started. Once a line up the climb had started, someone in front of me bobbled and forced a few of us off their bikes. Almost made it. Run, jump back on the bike and keep climbing. (Got around one or two more riders). I could see the leading riders just up ahead, so I kept pushing. A few back and forths with two riders over the course of the race and then by all accounts if I recalled correctly when I passed Sue H. on the last time up the climb it put me into 3rd spot!

Now Sue is for certain a better technical rider than I am so I knew I needed to put some space between us which I managed to do in the climbing bits. All was looking good until, uh-oh, chain suck with less than half a lap to the finish. Trying not to panic (I'm generally not prone to get a lot of mechanical problems so it is unfamiliary territory for me) I really struggled to get the chain out of the spokes. It was stuck. Wheel had to come off. Sue passed me (as did a ton of guys). End of the show. Well, almost. I got the chain back on then got back on the bike to make sure not to lose 4th spot. With a bit of careful shifting, I rode the one last 'tricky' off-cambre climb and headed to the finish line. All done but for the crying - no crying actually. I was really happy with my ride. It was a perfect day, I had great support in teammates Mel and Rachel who cheered and fed me (thank you ladies!) and to top it off Rob P won his race!

One last MTB O-Cup on the schedule. It is almost over. First time in - ever? - that I will have done all the MTB O-Cups.

So far (for the last eight years) it's been a great ride!

-- Tricia K.

O-Cup #5: Peterborough ITT

July 11, 2010 - Norwood, ON

It was an early start to get from Waterloo to Norwood but I somehow managed to down a 5:30 bowl of oatmeal and hit the road on time. As this was my first race on a proper TT bike (a beautiful Stevens Chrono!) I gave myself plenty of time to get it pre-checked. Whew, those plumb line skills I learned in undergrad have finally paid off--the set-up was legal. The bike check turned out to be a problem for a few of the racers, leading to mass confusion at the start, and delayed start times. Although I had a decent warm up, by the time I was called to the line, the legs took a while to get going again.


The course was a beautiful out and back, on nice pavement the whole way. It was mostly sheltered by trees, with just a little open spot around a lake to battle with the wind. There were long rollers for most of the course, with a net ascent to the turn around. I started out slow (in retrospect, too slow), and slowly ramped up the effort, trying to push pace up the hills and try to recovery slightly on the descents. The turnaround was on a slight false flat, without paved shoulders, but I felt confident railing it. Given my slowish start, I was really trying to hammer it on the return, and the rollers were starting to wear on me. Not really remembering what the finish looked like I saw a marshal at about 2 km to go, and pushed hard, thinking it was the finish. Whoops! Managed to gather myself and push to the end.

For my first 30km TT and my first time racing on a TT bike, my time tells the story of my lack of hard efforts in June but the Chrono feels super speedy and my focus was spot on. Can’t wait to rip up the local TT on the new bike, I believe there is a long standing course record that is begging to be broken.

-- Mel

Asleep at the wheel(s)

July 11 - Buckwallow MTB O-Cup #5
Another fun weekend on the mountain bike. As normal, I felt like a complete tool on the bike during pre-ride. I guess that is what happens when you don't ride your mountain bike on a regular basis. Fiddling with tire pressure, balancing on the bike, remembering to lift the front end up and over things--the small things. Always great to run into familiar faces and catch up. Two laps pre-ridden; time to relax and check out the local scene. We travelled on Friday night to catch up with Rob's mom and Vern for the weekend. After a nice dinner, took in some dock time watching the locals fish (no wait, that was Rob Kerr and his family!) plus a little spin around the go-cart race track at Santa's Village. How fun.

Lots of restless sleeping for me the past week. The heat must have been getting to me - strange dreams for a week.

Time to race. Smaller than normal fields for the start as the many of the top riders were out West for a Canada Cup and Nationals coming up July 17. Ten on the line I think. The two Sues were there - I lined up in betweent them. First time on the front of the start this year (I'm usually right off the back). Fast right off the start for a 5 mins flat road-like stretch to the first set of single track. Fell back one spot. Lots of roots (lots!), rocks and bumps and virtually no climbing makes for a rough ride. Fell back one more spot down a tres bumpy descent putting me in 5th where I would end up staying for the rest of the race. Into lap two I sort of forgot I was racing! Second and third lap snoozing at the wheel thinking of all sorts of things--other than bike races (might have contributed the shoulder-check I tried to give to a really solid tree - we both remained upright but the backpack on the shoulder commuting this week has been a tad uncomfortable). Made up for it all with a stellar forth lap. The effort just came a little too late. Oh well. Had fun anyway.

Rachel made the treck up to spectate (photo courtesy of one of her friends) and provided an awesome cheering section. Vern was a super star in the feedzone--and I put him to the test taking a bottle every lap (a first for me). Rob was first to Barnes in his race.

Usual convoy back to Ottawa. A few weeks to get ready for the next one. Best ride the mountain bike a bit :-) --Tricia K.

Nationals re-cap from Sarah

A bit delayed in posting, but here it is nonetheless...

From Sarah, Jun 30:

The course was a lot of fun and had something in it for every type of rider. It was 9 laps of 13km. There were three main climbs: one really steep pitch and the two other were longer grads. The course was pretty technical as most turns were U-turns, going straight back down the hill, so if you were at the back of the pack going up the hill you saw the leaders racing down the hill as you lined up to make the turn! The race started out pretty smooth with two people off the front for the first few laps. you could tell everyone was really nervous and twitchy, so once the pace started to pick up it got a lot safer and more relaxed. By the middle of the race Anne Samplonious and Erinne Willock and others were making attacks up all the hills trying to stretch out the race, but with the fast descents after the climbs it was able to all come back together.

The pace never really let up until the last climb when everyone was gearing up for the sprint - which was lead into by a long and twisty descent. I must have bumped off 5 or 6 people pretty aggressively just trying to to to the front. There were attacks coming from everywhere with everyone just trying to move up - but since we were already going so fast it was hard to keep a place. I managed to get on a wheel coming into the finish but the pack split with lead out people sitting up and others stitching lanes and so on. Rachel and I both finished with the pack with 26th and 10th respectively.

We were both really happy with our results as were were both a bit nervous about all the climbing. The race was really stressful mentally and I think we both handled it pretty well and were able to improve from the last big race we had done.

Afterward, in true professional form, Rachel and I watched the men's race and went for ice cream!

Check out pictures from the road race on Canadian Cyclist's website:

http://www.canadiancyclist.com/races10/roadnats/partfour/index.htm

Two podium weekend

Jun 21 - This past weekend saw Stevens Racing p/b The Cyclery ladies atop of two podiums.

Sue continued her dominance in the hills winning the first race in the "Northeast Bike Up the Mountain Points (BUMP) Series" (http://www.hillclimbseries.com/) held on Saturday at Whiteface Mountain, NY.

Sarah was atop of the podium at Ottawa Bike Race's Preston Street Crit in Ottawa, albeit it under some not-ideal circumstances. Once racing got back underway, a break formed that contained Sarah, Sophie and Trish and one 7th Groove rider. After strong work by all the Stevens riders, Sarah took the final sprint with ease for her first win of the season!

Next up: Rachel and Sarah are off to the Canadian road championships in Edmonton (Rachel will represent in the time trial as well) then several ladies will make the trek down to the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic in Mass.

Footnote: The report does not tell the whole story. There was an unfortunate crash in the women's race at Preston. Sarah managed to avoid it but Sophie and Trish did go down. They got off lucky relatively speaking with some scrapes, surface damage to the bikes and what seems to be the worst for them--a sprained wrist for Sophie that will be in a split for a few days. Allsion Lampi and Jen Stephenson were both ambulanced to hospital. Early reports are that both remain in good spirits but will need to take some serious healing time.

First ever Gatineau UCI weekend now in the books!

June 13 - La Grande Visite de Gatineau est complet!

Alot of preparation, both on and off the bike, went into this weekend for Stevens Racing p/b The Cyclery.In the end, it was all worth it. Overall great results for the team including a strong showing in the ITT on Saturday capped with Sue's 5th place finish and all riders finishing in the road race, albeit one only due to a puncture.

Kudos to the riders for their super efforts, support of each other and flashy presence for the team!

Final team results:
Time Trial - Sue (5th), Annick (23rd), Sophie (27th)
Road Race - Sarah (18), Michelle (29), Julia (30), Rachel (41), Leigh (42), Sophie (puncture)

Ready for the Gatineau UCI weekend!

The time is getting closer...as part of the weekend long Grande Visite de Gatineau weekend, the City of Gatineau and others are putting on two women's UCI events:

• Saturday Jun 12 starting at noon, the Individual Time Trial (ITT)--a 17.7km out and back course where riders race alone against the clock, and


• Sunday Jun 13 at 1pm, the women's 99km all-together road race with over 80 riders from all parts of the world pushing their limits to be the ultimate winner of the tough, up and down and around course!

Stevens Racing p/b The Cyclery riders for this event will be:
* ITT - Sue Schlatter, Annick Dufour and Sophie Matte
* Road Race - Leigh Bianco, Julia Bradley, Sarah Coney, Sophie Matte, Rachel O'Reilly and Michelle Paiement

Support crew for the weekend includes: Nick Vipond, Directeur sportif; Kiwi Mike Leach, head mechanic; Paul Phillips, soigneur; and Tricia K. Spooner, team assistant.

Many thanks go out to Vince Caceres of The Cyclery and Peter Metuzels of Stevens Bikes for their on-going support of the team.

Check out details on the events on the Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117134681661422&index=1

Race course is in and around Blvd Allumettieres at Lac-des-fees and the Prom. de la Gatineau Parkway.

The "other" side

June 6 - Took another crack at that ‘other’ riding discipline (mountain biking) this weekend. This time it was O-Cup #4 in Midland, ON. A great race put on by Chico Racing and the folks at Mountainview Ski & MTB Centre. I missed out racing there last year and the only thing I really remembered from Provincials held there in ‘08 was stopping in the feedzone part way through the race to put armies on (who gets cold during a race in August!?). Poor memory aside, the 2010 Mountainview course was a lot of fun. Technical. Tough. The switchback single-track climbing made even more difficult with the wet conditions last week. Throw in some flat twisty stuff, a wee rock garden and some technical fast descents to round it out. The 1:30pm start was very fortunate with the weather with the rains stopping well before it was time to warm-up—only slick and greasy trails to contend with.

Despite a minor hotel ‘malfunction’ on Friday night when we arrived into Midland around midnight, the weekend sorted itself out and ran quite smoothly. Pre-ride quickly reminded me that mountain biking is more then just fitness – technical skills can be a big factor when the conditions call for it. Rob hitting the dirt about 5 mins into the pre-ride was a good reminder of that! First pre-ride lap was pretty slow with lots of thoughts of ‘holy cow, I could really wreck myself taking this stuff at speed’. But alas, another reminder: speed is your friend (most of the time!) with pre-ride lap number two and getting the ‘feeling’ of mountain biking again (having spent all week on my time trial bike in prep for the Gatineau UCI events coming up Jun 12 & 13th).

With pre-riding done, bikes cleaned and prepped for race day we headed off to “Mom’s” for dinner. Woah, I was FULL. Rob was in search for some ‘race-cream’ so we toured Midland, walking off dinner and checking out some pretty neat stuff – million dollar boats at the marina; snapping turtles, trumpeter swans (didn’t actually see these guys) and bullfrogs at the Wye Marsh; and one final stop to satisfy Rob’s craving, then back to the hotel for sleep.

Race morning was unrushed. Nice because I was pretty groggy from getting a full 9-hrs of sleep (and still being full from dinner – what do they call it, a ‘meat coma’??). Regular pre-race routine. To the startline on time (always a good thing). Super cheers from fellow teammate Sarah who was on site to support Codey and who lent a helping hand to Rob and me (thanks Sarah!). As usual, last off the line (man, I’ve got to work on that!) but thankfully NOT last up the start loop hill. Lots of bobbling going on. I did all I could to stay upright and keep the momentum moving forward. It seemed to work as I continued to move forward and make up spots. I did a bit of a cheeky move getting around the two Sue’s but I heard them say they were ok, so through the trees and forward I went and didn’t look back (well ok maybe a couple of times to see who was behind me but the course did allow for much of that – so much concentration needed to stay upright). Final lap was almost easier to ride with much less traffic on the trails. Came across the line to a smiling Sarah and Rob saying that only Emily and Amanda finishing so far. Timer Al slipped me a print out of the results and indeed, 3rd place! Yippee.

Time to head back to the road for a little while now.

Not sure that I would recommend racing on a full belly of all-you-can-eat roast beef buffet. Maybe it was the pound of pickled beets….should stick to just regular pickles! Looking forward to a few weekends of Ottawa-bound racing and ‘home time’ getting out for some long fun training rides. - Tricia K.

Killington Stage Race, May 29-31

After being canceled for 10 years, the Killington Stage Race was back for 2010. The race was a 3-day event in Vermont: a flat circuit race, a mildly uphill 17km TT and a road race ending in an 8km final climb.

Sue and Michelle drove down from Ottawa and Montreal, while Mel, Leigh and I headed out from the GTA. For us, the trip began with fitting 5 bikes, 13 wheels, 3 people and luggage into a station wagon. Everything fit surprisingly well, although we discovered the downside of the Ford Focus' great gas milage--a total lack of power. Nonetheless, we put our cycling tactics to use when passing other cars (slingshot from well behind, just like you'd attack someone in the a breakaway!) and made it to Vermont.

The circuit race was flat and fast, ending with a downhill (!!) sprint finish. Michelle was gutsy enough to get into the action and sprinted to 6th. The rest of us opted to stay safe (and not lose any GC time) and finished in the peloton.

Next day was the TT--which turned out to be 17k of headwind, in addition to the hill. Sue often flies under the radar by being very modest but extremely fast. Unfortunately (?) her cover was blown when she took the win, and finished 1 minute 22 seconds ahead of the next rider.

Michelle, Mel, Leigh and I finished 10th, 13th, 17th and 27th respectively. Very solid TTs, especially for Michelle and Mel.



The road race was the last day-- 99km with a mid-race QoM climb and a final 9km climb. Sue arrived at the start line in the pink leaders jersey (and possibly a target on her back?). The race race was pretty cool until the first QoM when the pack fractured. Sue was in the lead group and Mel and Michelle worked incredibly hard after the QoM to regain contact with Sue, and make sure she was protected during the rest of the race. Leigh and I also worked very hard, albeit at a slightly slower pace :)

I chased for what seemed like forever (and boy was I glad when I saw a slowing line of cars ahead of me--it meant I was approaching other riders!) Finally, by about 20km to go, most of the field had regrouped. There were a few joint Nano-Blur-Gears/ 7th-groove attacks which Mel and I worked to cover. The pack arrived at the final climb altogether.

Again, Sue showed her fitness, finishing 51 seconds ahead of the next rider to take the GC title! Mel, Michelle, myself and Leigh finished 14th, 15th, 24th and 36th.

All in all, it was a good weekend of results (GC win for Sue!!!, 11th for Michelle and 13th for Mel) and a good learning experience. It was great to spend some time with other team members and get to know each other on and off the bike.

--Rachel

Canadian Cyclist Interview

May 11/10 - Team Profile: Stevens Racing p/b The Cyclery

"After stepping onto the podium in every race this season, the Stevens Racing p/b The Cyclery women's cycling team has proven that it is one of the teams to beat in the Ontario/Quebec cycling scene."

Read more from the interview recently posted on the Canadian Cyclist 4 Women (C4W) website conducted by Leigh Hargrove.

http://www.canadiancyclist.com/cycling4women_features.php?id=18969

Springbank Race Report

May 2, Race Report for Springbank Classic

Like the other races last weekend, the forecast called for rain all day in London. We had some good luck though and the rain stopped before the first race-and began again just after the last race.

The course was a 2.2km loop with a small decent and a small rise—tough to launch a breakaway. There were quite a few attacks during the first half of the race, especially from Krystal Jeffs and KK Michener from NanoBlur-Gears (and a few by me) but nothing stuck. Finally, a prime lap was announced. I lead KK out for the sprint. (If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em : ) Suzie Brown from P-K Express came with us and suddenly we had a gap on the group. At that point, KK flatted and Suzy and I were left to shatter ourselves trying to stay away.

We definitely shattered ourselves but also stayed away—so I finished in second place. I was excited to represent Stevens on the podium!

Good luck to Tricia and Mel at Albion and congrats to Annick and Michelle on bringing in another podium finish for the Stevens team at the Granby ITT!
-- Rachel

Race Report for May 2 GP Brossard Crit
Forecast called for thundershowers but the sun was out and it was very warm - a good start to a fun race!

It went fast right from the gun as Annick, who had been called ahead to the start line as the 2009 Provincial Masters Champion, went to the front and pushed the pace. She even attacked from the front on the first lap.

As soon as Annick got caught, Sarah went. This turned out to be the decisive move when five other riders covered Sarah's attack. The group worked well together and quickly managed to establish a solid lead over the main pack. In the peloton, Michelle, Annick and I monitored any bridging attempts but unfortunately missed one from two riders who, after a long battle, caught up to Sarah's group with 4 laps to go. We also each tried to get to the two riders but got covered every time.

Sarah came 3rd in a sprint finish and Michelle broke away from the main pack with one lap to go to come across the finish line alone in 7th place. Annick and I kept the pace high through the last lap to avoid any other attacks and finished in the top 10.

Another great team effort and another podium for Stevens Racing p/b The Cyclery!
-- Soph

Hollenbeck Spring Classic

Race report for May 2 Hollenbeck Classic, Virgil, NY

Glad I made it to Virgil New York this past weekend for the Hollenbeck Spring Classic RR. My attempts at the podium in '09 were thwarted by the well organized, strong Stevens girls who got the 3 top spots and I the 4th place. Even though I wasn't going to have any team mates with me I needed to go back and race Hollenbeck again. It's a nice race-2 long laps, beautiful countryside, a couple good climbs, decent roads, very little traffic and great cookies at the end!

I almost didn't make it as I got stopped at the border and questioned inside at immigration. I have a U.S. work VISA in my passport that for the 1st time made it difficult getting into the country! I finally convinced them I was not going there to work and was eventually back on the road.

Race morning was beautiful! Hot and sunny! The other girls mentioned how relieved they were to see I had no team mates with me. They all remember the wrath of Stevens Racing last year!! This year the race was one of attrition. The 1st climb was at a good hard pace and lost half the girls. There were a few half hearted attacks but nothing significant. The pace stayed quite high the 1st lap and I did my best not to pull. The 2nd time up the main climb Cynthia Wilson (Ride with Rendall) got away! Exactly what Sue did last year in about the same spot! We crested the climb and proceeded to chase her down. We got quite close but it was at this time that a few of the other girls stopped pulling thru. There was lots of yelling going on but nobody would go to the front. Some simply couldn't, others wouldn't! The pace slowed significantly and alas Cynthia time trialled to the end. Up the 2nd climb 'The Wall' I could tell who was starting to suffer. A Bethel girl who pushed the pace the 1st lap especially on the climbs was hurting and I knew she probably wouldn't be a threat. I felt pretty confident that when we made the right turn and the road went up to the finish that I would be in 2nd place. The road tilted up and all of a sudden I was alone. Nice.

Little cool down, a gigantic cookie and a long drive home with my $15.
-- Leigh

Sarah on the podium AGAIN :-)

April 25 - GP Ste-Martine played out to be a long criterium. The course was about 14km long, although it felt like 5. With only 4 laps to do, we knew we were in for a short and quick day. The announcer made it clear that the yellow line rule would be strictly enforced...however most of the race happened on the other side of it! The race started right from the gun. With a small group of girls hanging off the front of the peleton for almost a full lap. Annick, Michelle, Sophie and I all made some good strong attacks off the front, however with the wind being the main factor in the race, and with no other teams willing to work, it was hard to stay out for very long. Sophie was able to catch a group of girls who attacked off the front and Michelle made one of the strongest breaks of the day (Cancellara style!) with a lap to go.

Although the race was very jumpy, it was also very nervous. Girls were fighting for position the whole race. One moment you would be right at the front, and the next you were squeezed to the back! This was especially the case in the last 10km. Not only were we all fighting it out for a good sprint position, but our race was neutralized twice (the elite men were passing us), creating a lot of panic within the pack.

When we were about 3 km out I found myself right at the back - my least favorite spot to be. I found Sophie’s wheel and decided to stick to it because she always seems to get out of a tough spot in a race. With a bit of gravel riding, we managed to move up, and I put myself behind one of the stronger riders in the race. As we were coming up to the sprint, the Elite men had crashed about 100 meters from the finish only minutes before. Having to squeeze through a truck parked on the road and a few riders still down, the sprint just seemed to explode - with some riders going for the win, and others opting for staying up right. I weighed the pros and cons pretty quickly, and went for the sprint. I managed to pull out a second place, however I am most happy I managed to keep the rubber down. I can't remember exactly, but I am pretty sure Annick was put into the ditch 3 times at Ste Martine - we should invest in elbow pads!

The team worked really well together, and definitely made racing a lot more fun. Next week at Brossard will be another chance to try things out and go for a win!
-- Sarah

Calabogie Pics

Here are some long overdue pics from Calabogie!

Mountain Bike O-Cup #1

Stevens Racing p/b The Cyclery took to the dirt this past weekend with Mel Bunn and myself (Tricia K.) racing in the first Plastiglas Ontario Cup of the season, an event hosted by ChicoRacing.

Mel, making her debut to the O-Cup scene, took her place at the start line in the 11:30am Senior Expert race (without the benefit of a pre-ride of the course the day before). She rode like a champ and had a steady solid effort for second place!

On my new 2010 Stevens Scope (a thing of beauty...) I took my place at the start line of the 1:30pm Senior Elite race, albeit it a bit trepidatiously and not really expecting too much. This had an obvious affect on the start - I was off the pace (aka last off the line!) right away. That's ok - didn't panic.

Fairly quickly I was able to catch and pass a couple of riders in the first big-ring double track section and then passed a couple more in the next laps. Objective of the day was to keep a steady pace throughout the race with strong 3rd and 4th lap times. Mission accomplished. Fun, fast, dusty course with a few tests of the legs on some short but steep technical climbs. Bike was superb. It was great to see three Stevens jerseys out there (Trish and Mel racing - and Rachel who did a 4hr road ride from Waterloo to watch the races!). Next up, O-Cup #2 at Albion Hills. -- Tricia K.

Paris to Ancaster 2010

While the rest of the team was up at the Calabogie Classic, I made another attempt at Southern Ontario’s spring classic, Paris to Ancaster. P2A is a 60 km point to point race that has a great mix of rail trail, paved roads, farmer’s fields, and the infamous mud chutes. There is a huge draw for this event, with over 1900 entered this year with riders of all levels, including crazy people on unicycles.

The women’s field this year was competitive, with British cyclocross champ Helen Wyman making her P2A debut, and Edmontonian and Cyclocross Nats silver medalist Pepper Harlton making the trip. The local scene was also well represented with Leigh Hobson, Sue Palmer-Komar, and Laura Bietola racing.

It was pretty cool, and a little drizzly on the start line, which made it even harder to prepare for the fast and furious start. I managed to get into a decent position, narrowly avoiding a crash on the first section of rail trail. There is a lot to be said for pre-riding the start, loose gravel and trail gates can make for sketchy situations. Through the first trail section, and out onto the road I could see Helen’s Kona jersey up ahead, and with some co-operation from the men around me we managed to bridge to her. After that it was a little difficult to get a working group going. As there was no headwind I stayed up at the front for a lot of the race, with Helen playing a smarter game and sticking to my wheel.

The last 7 km race is where the mud chutes come in quick succession. Pre-riding these sections would have been a good idea. If there was a bad line I managed to choose it, and it was not pretty. After each chute I found myself having to chase to catch on, and after my time on the front, I was starting to get worn down. I lost Helen on the final dirt road section, and crested the hill just as she finished. I cross the line 46 s later, 2^nd place for the 3^rd year in a row. Laura Bietola finished in 3^rd followed by Leigh Hobson and Sue Palmer-Komar.

Although I manage to find myself in the same place every year, this year was certainly the one that I am most happy with. Definitely a great day on the bike!