July 16/99 4:22 am - Canada Cup #5 News, Results from Western Canada Games

Posted by Editoress on 07/16/99
 

Canada Cup #5 News

Rocky Mountain House (RMH) is experiencing venue problems again. However the organizer is not at fault or can't easily solve the issue, only Mother Nature can.

DH practice was cancelled yesterday due to environmental concerns. The course has approx. a foot of snow at the top of the course. One racer got into the spirit of weather and built a snow man at the top.

Lowering the start line is one possibility for organizers, but the best solution would be for Mother Nature to cooperate and move Alberta out of the ice age climate.

Bring out the snow tires!

courtesy DH Dave


I spoke with our western correspondent Greg Flaaten who will be reporting from the race this weekend. He says that organizers are discussing changing the course, and should be able to let riders know by this evening what the plan is. Greg has promised to do his best calling me lap by lap with coverage of the Elite men and women, but also warned me that cell coverage in the area is not good! Editoress


Western Canada Games
Information provided by Sandra Walter on Team BC.
Thanks to Rodney Hsu for forwarding it!

The road race of Western Canada Games took place today (July 15). All day the weather has been miserable, constant rain throughout the entire race. The race course was quite dull, typical Saskatchewan terrain - relatively flat with a few gradual climbs. It was also pretty straight, a simply out-and-back venture. Fun stuff! The women's race was 70km and the men's race was 100km.

In the women's race, the pack started out with 19 riders. Team BC totally dominated the whole time with tons of attempts at two-women breaks and a couple of echelons. However it didn't work because no one else was working to breakaway either. The pace was not very fast, at some point it was down to 20km/hour. Team BC finished 1, 2, 3! Lisa Sweeney from Langley was the winner, followed by Victoria's Clare Hall-Patch and Erica Drew.

In the men's road race, Team BC also finished top three! Alistair Howard broke away 20km after the start with an Albertan rider. The two rode together for 20km before Alistair rode away. He solo finished. The entire pack was pretty much shattered by the end of the race.

The mountain bike race takes place tomorrow (July 16), so more news to come!