Tour de White Rock, Canada

Tough weekend!

This weekend brought the Tour De White Rock. The tour is based just outside Vancouver Canada. Three stages; 700m hill climb, 30 laps x 1k Crit and 80k RR 8x 10k laps. My expectations of this supposedly hilly course were high and I didn’t achieve what I wanted, however, learnt a lot and had some good fun to lead me into Cascade which starts Tuesday in Bend, Organ.

Uphill TT.

I really didn’t know how to approach this one. I finished 19th. 4 seconds off the fastest time which was taken by Joelle from the Webcor professional team. The climb was very steep however not quite steep enough for the pure climbers it was more suited to people who could power climb well.

Crit

The crit was very uneventful. My attempt of trying to get a breakaway going in the first few laps represented the negatively of the race. The wind assisting everyone up the only incline of the 3 sweeping corners kept the pack together. Again Joelle’s strength and power was a step above everyone taking all bar one prime and winning the crit. I did not look at results but believe I was in the top half of the field the crossed the line.

RR

The day I had been waiting for. The race covered a tough course two decent hills and the rest either going down fast or rolling upwards. The first half of the race went fast and no real selection was made. The 5th and 6th laps is where I tried to get a group going off the front after the 2nd of two climbs however failed. There was enough flat and downhill for girls to chase back on. With the last lap resulting in 15 girls still there at the finish I tried to stay clued to Joelle’s wheel in the sprint but couldn’t hold it, coming in 9th. Disappointing. Worked hard on the hills all day but the jig-saw puzzle didn’t quite come together for a break to stay away. Too many strong girls unable to climb but could TT and not enough strength in the girls leading the climbs.

So not the weekend I was hoping for. Joelle, a friend and previous team-mate, swept the podium and rode strong all weekend.

We have both been sharing the same host house which for those who know Joelle her bubbly and flamboyant personality has kept me entertained and we have had a lot of good times! I wonder if our 4am wake-up tomorrow will see an excited Joelle!

Till Cascade

Ange