June 4/01 8:34 am - Wedge Report, Atomic Road Race (B.C.), Camp Fortune Report

Posted by Editor on 06/4/01
 

Wedge Report

Waking up in Redlands, California, after the long journey back from Ireland, I was momentarily taken aback by the beautiful colored fog in the valley. Another rub of the eyes and I could barely make out the mountains just north of town. As the day wore on, the fog did not lift, as one would expect on the Miramichi river or the Bay of Fundy, but it got more purple, and by the end of the day it was brown. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to SUV hell!

The racing up at Big Bear, about an hours drive north and 8000 ft straight up, was at least out of the horrid carcinogenic smog, but breathing was not much easier. The course is a large loop which we do 3 times, which has about 30 minutes of climbing, and 10 minutes of descending, mostly on open fire road, with no major technical obstacles.

The boys opened her up at the start, with the lead group forming quickly, consisting of Molday, Hesjedal, Green, Hestler, Larson, and a few others, with Geoff Kabush and I just off the back, trying to pace ourselves with the altitude. Geoff and Andreas were out early with double flats, while I rode steady, breathing through a straw and placing 28th. Up front, Molday killed everyone (and then put in false teeth for the photographers at the line), and Roland was second, while Seamus, Ryder and Chris Sheppard (with one flat) made the top 15

In the Short-Track race, it was a Canadian 1-2-3. Ryder Hesjedal motorcrossed Seamus Mcgrath on the last lap for first, and Roland ended up 3rd. I started at the back and made 'er up to 13th, which gives me a fighting chance for the next Norba race, which will be in West Virginia in a few weeks.

Up next for me are the USPRO Championship races in Trenton, Lancaster and the big one in Philly. Anyone know what time it is???

Peter Wedge


BC Cup #2 - Atomic Road Race
Courtesy Paul Beard

June 3, 2001
Langley, B.C.

A rainy morning in Vancouver meant sunny racing an hour East in Langley. Special thanks to the commissaires, marshals and sponsors for making a safe and successful event.

Men's 1/2 Recap
The race started with several 1 to 3 man breaks which were unsuccessful for the first 3 laps. A breakaway group finally formed with about 12 riders going 3-4 laps working hard. They had about 25 seconds on the group at the biggest point. Around lap 7 the breakaway group was caught and immediately Min Van Velzen and Scott Goguen shot off the front gapping the field. Their lead grew every lap until the end as they were working very well together. Min tried to drop Scott out of the gully but Scott hung on and won the sprint finish. Third place went to Cory Lange, nearly catching the leaders by the finish.

BC Cup Men Cat 1/2 (130km)
(1) Scott Goguen
(2) Min Van Velzen
(3) Cory Lange
(4) Chris Worsfold
(5) Brian Green
(6) Sean Dawson
(7) Richard Minichello
(8) Gary James
(9) James Neil
(10) Luca Segato
(11) Nick Rowe
(12) Dan Macdonald

BC Cup Women (78km)
(1) Lisa Sweeney
(2) Marni Prazsky
(3) Barbara Bialokuz
(4) Dawn Berg ***
(5) Leigh Anne Collis
(6) Moriagh Beattie
(6) Meghan Cressman
(6) Nina Krack
(6) Selena Lawrie
(6) Dede Williams
(6) Alison Testroete
(6) Jessica Hannah ***
(13) Valerie Chartrand
(14) Kelly Jones ***
(15) Kerry Duval
*** Category 4 women

Men Cat 3 (104km)
(1) Martin Willock
(2) Jusi Jaakkola
(3) Howie James
(4) Quinn Anderson

Men Cat 4/5 (78km)
(1) David Haywood
(2) Ryan McNamara
(3) Wendell Challenger
(4) Jeff McKee
(5) Philip Burgess
(6) Gavin Forsyth
(7) Demetrios Tsilemos
(8) Brandon Archer
(9) Mike Charuk
(10) Gerald Sawatzky

Race Organizer: Owen Scott


Camp Fortune Report
Courtesy John Holman - Team Ontario Manager

Well, Fortune turned out to be one more tedious day. For athletes as well as spectators, and other officials. At 6:30 AM the forcast appeared to be a good one, a night of no rain, and what appeared to be a morning of overcast skies. Well, the skies of Fortune were not so promising as at 7:30 the rain began to sprinkle. Shortly thereafter the skies opened up. Rain all day long.

Many soaked to the bone and the course changing from rider to rider, and from fog patch to fog patch, the race began.

Ontario was well represented by a handful of its top elite and junior men riders. Leading the squad was Matt Nielsen who put the hammer down on the competition and won the first race, which was the UCI E2 points race. He won with a commanding lead and a smooth clean run. Next up is the infamous Eric Cseff, well known in Canada and abroad for his stellar riding skills. Having just come back from his winter off with a healing broken wrist, as well as only having ridden his bike a handful of times, he showed the riders that he still had what it took to claim 2nd place. Jason Reinders was next to head down the hill getting a top ten finish, and Paul Berger having a decent run considering the conditions placing well (full results
unavailable right now Ed. Note: they were posted in Daily News earlier today)

The Juniors were a strong team, taking 3 of the top ten places, with Andrew Danyluk in third, Brad Holmes in 7th, Dan Skinner in 9th and Marcus Dagenais placing well with a sprained thumb (which he had injured in training the day before).

The second race saw the senior Ontario team race again, but only two took to the start line, with others bowing out to injuries as well as technical problems. Matt Nielsen again showed the crowd and the other competitors that he has what it takes to be on in these conditions, taking 2nd place - missing the top of the podium by 0.3 of a second. Jason Reinders also placed well despite the conditions.

We are now settling in here at the fantastic new Bromont National Cycling Centre; the new home of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic track. The Intersports women's road team is also in town after the Montreal World Cup race. The facilities as well as the staff here are superb. Feels just like home, a spectacle to be seen. We hope to take full advantage of the area while we are here.
Training at Ski Bromont, road rides in the area, as well as a chance to test their mettle on the track. Eric Van Den Eynde (national team coach) will be assisting with a few of the sessions as well.

I would like take this time to thank many of the people who have made this project a reality. Those involved deserve a great amount of thanks.