August 20/03 4:36 am - Jr Track Worlds, Shep Report, Quebec, Jeanson Skips Plouay, RISE Premiere

Posted by Editor on 08/20/03
 

Canadian Junior Track Worlds Team
Courtesy CCA

Some of Canada's top junior track riders have made their way to Moscow for the 2003 Junior Track World Championships. Canada has sent an eight member team to the event, six men and two women. The World Championships began today, August 20th, and conclude on Sunday, August 24th.

Selected to the team were the following riders:

Women:
Cynthia Beaulieu - QC
Audrey Lemieux - QC

Men:
Phil Abbott - AB
Spencer Atkinson - AB
Marsh Cooper - BC
Kevin Lacombe - QC
Mark McDonald - AB
Raphael Tremblay - QC

National Team Coach, Kurt Innes, is looking after the team while on the road. We are hoping to get daily reports from Kurt while he is in Moscow.


Shep Report - Durango Norba Final

The NORBA finals are always a bit pressure filled, with a good party afterward to blow off steam! This makes the plane ride filled with mixed emotions . . . hope that the results will come and sick feeling that they might not. Anyway I should have stole an oxygen mask from the plane . . . or maybe not. That would have removed the "altitude killed me" excuse from my torture-filled XC day.

Perhaps one of the most hairball starts I have ever done. The riders accelerated for 40 feet on deep wood chips, followed by a hard right hander through a puddle then dropping into a thirty foot wide mud hole . . . uh sketch to say the least. Managed to keep it upright. Brown punched it hard up the first pitch with a host of altituders on his wheel. Kabush and Seamus were a bit more conservative but Ryder would have none of it. After the intro loop we rolled up the steepest section of the course which stood at 30%! To all of our amazement Ryder stood on his big ring and instantly had 30 secs by the upper switchbacks. I flirted in the pacing section, but even back there it was hard not to notice the difference in speed Ryder was doing. By the start of the second lap Ryder had upped the gap to 45 sec with Wells digging deep to stay off the front of the chase. By now the chase consisted of Seamus, JHK, Swenson, Walker, Bishop, Brown, Kabush and Jay Henry. According to the all the riders involved this is how it stayed until the 2 mile rolly section at the top of the mountain (Wells, Kabush and Brown admitted to blowing before choosing a pacing regiment half way through) . With Ryder being a forgone conclusion, it was time to battle for the coyote scraps. Various riders tried attacks. Nothing was sticking until Seamus punched it followed by a counter by JHK. This reeled off Henry and Walker. Bishop put in chase eventually attacking the DH and passing both JHK and Shamoe. Walker kept Henry at bay to round out the podium. I struggled all day but, dug deep to finish my worst race of the year. Too bad cause I liked the course. Overall series podium: Hesjedal, JHK, Seamus, Bishop, Swenson. I slipped from 5th to 7th overall.

The cross country was bloody hard, but to nail a short track at this altitude you need to reach even deeper into the reserves. Seamus showed us all that he has amazing recovery and of course, nerve. Seamus attacked two laps in! Going into the final round JHK had 36 points over Seamus for the battle of the jersey. Seamus would have to win with JHK coming in no better than 4th . . . tough scenario. Feeling good, Seamus kept the gap over the initial first few laps. JHK was forced into chasing while Ryder and I sat on his wheel . . . Rowney the broken down aussie, Kaboom, Brown and Wells eventually chased on. As the pace slowed Ryder drove hard up the inside of the bridge and gapped the group off quick. I attempted to go up a few laps later but I wasn't making progress and I was only bringing JHK closer so back onto his wheel I went. Meanwhile the toughest man in the pack came off our group . . . Paul Rowney. With the overall at stake Paul was racing with a recently broken hand! It must have sucked descending a set of stairs for 20 laps! Ouch! He brought it home for 11th and 3rd overall. As the plot thickened, Kabush took a flyer with three to go causing Wells, JHK and Brown to fall off by 50 feet while I pursued in the middle. Little did I know that entering the last lap I would have the best seat in the house for an epic battle. JHK passed me then reeled in Kabush going into the second to last corner . . . seeing that third place was a national title he started to lean into Kabush on a high speed descent to the final corner. Kabush kept his elbows locked while hitting the slight, right hand berm and down to the ground went JHK. What a sight! I managed to sneak by him for 4th while Brown pegged 5th. JHK later related that he had to gamble with the inside move and there were no hard feeling towards Kabush. Shamoe takes the title!


Regional Short Track at Bromont National Cycling Center
Courtesy BCC

Wednesday, August 27th with 6:45 pm start time. Open class category for men and women. The cost is $20 per rider and there is a 100% payback in prize money. 1st place prize money is 40% of total registrations for open class. Course is about 1 km long of rolling terrain with tight corners. Race duration will be about 25 to 30 minutes. For information, contact the Bromont National Cycling Center - ian@cyclisme-bromont.ca


Team Rona-Esker at Plouay World Cup - Jeanson to Skip Race
Courtesy Rona-Esker

Montreal, August 20, 2003 - In the days ahead, the RONA/Esker women's cycling team will compete for the first time outside North America, arriving in France in time for the Plouay Women's World Cup race on August 23 and the Trophée d'Or cycling competition August 27 to August 31.

Team members competing at Plouay and Trophée d'Or will include Magali Le Floc'h and Catherine Marsal, both French nationals, Canadians Andrea Hannos and Erinne Willock, Karen Bockel of Germany and New Zealander Melissa Holt. So Geneviève Jeanson, who won Saturday's Mount Washington Hill Climb, will not be joining the team for the French tour.

"I had some tough choices to make," coach André Aubut explains. "A women's cycling team is limited to six riders and I had constraints. For our first races in France, Catherine (Marsal) and Magali (Le Floc'h) were inevitable choices, obviously. As for the four others, they absolutely had to ride in these races, either because I had already committed myself when I negotiated their contract this year, or else because they have to maximize their chances of gaining an entry into the Worlds. As Canadian champion, Geneviève is automatically guaranteed a spot on the Canadian team, but other girls on the team have a good chance of being chosen by their respective national cycling formations. I owe them this opportunity to stand out in these races where they can really demonstrate their potential."

Geneviève Jeanson is taking it all philosophically. "Sure, I would have liked to go along," she says, "but there will be another time. My teammates have worked very hard for me since the start of this season. If the best way to help them now is to keep out of these races and give them a break, I'm glad to do it. Besides, it'll give people more of an opportunity to see just how much depth there is on our team."

Jeanson won't be sitting idle in any case. From August 29 to September 2, she'll take part in the Green Mountain Stage Race in Vermont, where she'll meet up with teammate Kristen LaSasso. For this race, the two RONA/Esker cyclists can count on one-time backup from New Zealander Johanna Buick, American Katheryn Curi and Israeli Shani Bloch.


RISE - Vancouver Premiere
Courtesy Warwick Patterson

We are having a big all-ages premiere of RISE on Wednesday, August 27th at Centennial Theatre. All proceeds will be going to the North Shore Mountain Bike Association's trail maintenance efforts. So, come support a good cause, catch a cool new movie, and get a chance to win lots of great draw prizes!

TICKETS: The Centennial Theatre Centre Box Office is open from 12 to 4, Monday through Saturday and one hour prior to show time. Come in to purchase your tickets or call the Box Office at 604-984-4484 to order tickets with a Visa or MasterCard. The Box Office is located on the West Side of the theatre, on Lonsdale Avenue. There will also be tickets available at the door prior to the premiere. www.centennialtheatre.com for details and location.

This movie has a little something to appeal to many different riders...lots of fast flowy singletrack riding, to World Cup downhilling, to bmx dirt jumping. Come join us! More details at www.mtbfilms.com.


Mary Grigson Announces Her Retirement
Courtesy Subaru-Gary Fisher

Subaru-Gary Fisher athlete Mary Grigson announced her retirement from full-time professional racing this last weekend at the NORBA Final in Durango, Colorado. Mary is a fierce competitor and one of the most prolific riders in Mountain Bike history, with over 20 victories and 40 podium finishes. Mary also won the US NORBA Series Title in 2000 and 2001, competed twice in the Olympics, 24 Hour Solo World Champion in 2001, and is a five time National Champion of Australia. Mary has been with the team for the last 4 years

Her retirement was announced on the start line of the Short Track on Sunday in Durango. At the start of the race, Mary blasted off the front and lead for the first 5 laps trying to keep the pace high to assist her teammate Chrissy Redden who was in a fight for 3rd overall in the series. Having shot all the bullets in the chamber, Mary pulled over at the start finish line and enjoyed the rest of the race from the announcers stand, "I was just so spent from the effort at the front, I decided to just watch and enjoy the rest of my last race."

Mary will compete through the end of this year and then will be pursuing a career in nursing. Mary has been an integral part of the Subaru-Gary Fisher mountain bike team, we wish her well, and she will be greatly missed!