2016 Canadian Junior Road Championships

That's a wrap! Thank you so much to _cyclingbc for all your support at the #canroadchamps

Will ride for free socks

Watch yourself

Had a blast today racing with a very strong field! congrats to all the #canadianchamps and everyone that raced today!! #canroadchamps2016_

The Road race: We totally misjudged our arrival time at the course, sitting in the sun in forty degree weather is not an optimal way to kill time prior to a race; eventually finding shade we tried as best we could to hydrate and cool down before our start of our 80km road race.

As we all started to line up, reporters came up to a bunch of us requesting pictures before the race. Someone from pedal magazine asked me to wave at them for a pre race shot. the race started out fast with an attack right off the line from a quebec rider, as junior racing goes we chased it down and sat up. Normally in girls racing we'd just ride around the course with minimal attacks but it didn't stop there. with many attacks not sticking in the first few laps Team mate and friend of mine Holy Simonson attacked with a Kalisto FCV rider eventually getting about 50" on the group, the Kalisto FCV rider eventually dropping back to the pack while Holly mashed it out at the front for just over two laps solo!! Being her team mate in the pack my job was to chase down any attacks attempting to bridge up to her and keep the pack at bay, this used a lot of energy because I was the only other rider from team BC at the front. finally Holly did get caught but it didn't stop there, there was an attack going into the last lap. At this point the pack had lost a few riders but it wasn't split up quite as much as what we or coaches would have expected. Luckily for me I managed to get into the break. Me, Alberta, two Quebec riders and a Kalisto FCV rider. with Two Quebec girls my odds just got a little slimmer but atlas I was guaranteed a top 5 if our break could stay away. By the time we hit the main road we had an 18" gap, realizing that all we needed to do was such through the headwind stretch and get to the tailwind and we'd be golden, so we did. we worked as one unit all wanting the same thing; gold. the gap opened to an astounding 48" in no time, we had to keep pushing though, a pack of about 20 riders can close up a gap quick. we got back into the safety of the town and at that point we knew we had top 5, I attacked into the final corner getting enough space between me and the other girls that I managed to sprint and take the win. I was extremely happy with how aggressive the race was, and averaging only 6km/h less then the boys, I think is huge!

The Time trial: The TT was one of the most challenging courses I have ever done! with only having to do a a turn around after the 8km mark, it felt like climbing pretty much the entire way. but when you go up you must go down right? the way back had some mean kickers too, making hard to stay in a tuck the whole time because you'd need to put out another smaller effort to get over the top. The time trial for me didn't go as I had hoped it would. never the less I gave it my all.

The Criterium: My plan: to attack straight from the gun. make a gap open and hop for a break to get away. what actually happened, well two other girls, Maggie and Simone had the same idea.... with in the first 150m we had a gap. pushing the pace, we held our own making sure the main pack was growing in distance. with 7 laps to go I was dropped from the break and caught by the main pack, due to on going back related issues I was no longer able to push as hard and had to sit in a bit to try and recover. by this point catching the break would be impossible, so I thought if I can get good enough positioning going into the last corner I could take 3rd. those 7 laps went by slowly, the pack just watching each other, totally oblivious now to the two girls up the road. attacks were going off but the pack being so cautious chased everything down. luckily for me one of my team mates, Holly Henry attacked with one to go; I hugged her wheel guarding it so no one else could take it, she pulled me around the into the final corner. the finishing stretch was one big hill, being careful as to where I launched my sprint I sat on for 30 meters then took off. I am so happy to have been apart of this race because I was able to try new tactics, learn to race with injuries, and figuring out how to read the pack and tactics of others.

once again congratulations to all the new Canadian Champions and Riders for some hard, aggressive racing!