Fresh Air Experience/Ottawa Bicycle Club
Report for June 2011
The Killington Stage Race was contested from May 30th to June 1st and our young team competed in the Pro/1/2 race. The organizer (also of the Green Mountain Stage Race) granted the team two free entries for bringing our full squad of 7, and this was appreciated. The race offered us the opportunity to live together over 3 days of racing and we continue to build team spirit. The fast first stage was managed perfectly with Ben Andrew sheltering Cuylar throughout the day to set up for the second stage, a 20km ITT. Of the 113 racers completing day 2, Cuylar finished 46th will all of the team inside the top 100. On day 3, a single loop race finishing with 8km of climbing, the battle started at the base of the climb. Regardless of the punctures, medicals, and rough racing, the team ran up the results with Cuylar finishing the GC in 31st position and 3 of our 18 year olds inside the top 70.
Here is a picture of the van being loaded up for the drive home, with 13 bicycles and 20 sets of wheels, in addition to our regular baggage.
Killington brought an end to that racing phase, and a return to hard training saw Philippe Bergeron and Cuylar Conly attend the Almonte 40km ITT in Calabogie. Cuylar won the event with a time of 54:32 and Philippe in 4th at 58:26, his first ever 40km ITT. The Almonte club members present expressed great interest in our support of U23 athletes, for it is not often that their events are dominated by younger riders. After the ITT,
Cuylar and Philippe enjoyed the 100km training ride home to Ottawa.
A select group competed at the Kitchener-Waterloo O-Cup on June 12th. The racing was hard from the gun and the battle was on in the crosswinds, in the pylons, and against organizers’ cars mixed up in the peleton. Mason Costa suffered a bad crash and broke a set of wheels, fork, helmet, and glasses and suffered a concussion. Our equipment sponsors are replacing equipment and Mason is recovering from his concussion. We follow the CCA’s Concussion Assessment Tool (CAT) to monitor recovery, and it will be slow. Doctors and coach are also working with Lucas Bent as he adapts to his recently-discovered case of athletic-induced asthma which has knocked him out of racing for the first half of the year.
On June 17th the team entered 4 athletes in the Preston Street Criterium, and the team was very active in the race as sponsor Dennis Thomasson watched on from the Fresh Air Experience promo vehicle on Preston Street. Philippe has stepped up in his first complete season of racing (at the Pro/1 level) and battled in the peleton. Phil rolled a tubular in corner 1 and existed the race after a few laps due to the bruising suffered in his crash. Derek Harnden took his place in the mid-race escape, preparing the finale for Cuylar. Crashes in the last lap slowed our finishing efforts to 10th and 11th; yet the prize money was sufficient to provide a healthy pizza dinner to all of the team for their hard work.
The final project of the first half of the seaon is the National Elite Road Championships in Burlington, Ontario from June 22nd to 25th. We had 3 entries in the very technical 43km ITT, Brian, Cuylar, and Philippe. This is the race of truth, and was a key goal for our riders to measure themselves against the best elite men in Canada. Cuylar finished 7th U23, 1:00:16 (16th overall) and was 1 minute out of the bronze medal. Brian (1:04:13) and Philippe (1:05:54) were both well placed for their first attempt at a National championship event.
The road race was contested over the 600m long Rattlesnake climb with grades up to 22% against 170 elite riders including pros riding in Europe and North America. A very large crash on the first lap gapped a few of the riders, stopping the entire peleton as 35 riders hit the deck from gutter to gutter. No injuries or mechanicals resulted, but the gap would not be closed to the front again. Racing at this level requires luck, perfect timing, and good legs. Lessons were taken from this event as chase groups were pulled from the race over the next 150km and the team was able to watch the 30 finishers battle for elite titles.
Pictured above are Brian Trafford, Derek Harnden, Ben Andrew, Philippe Bergeron, and Cuylar Conly.
The team is now assembled in Ottawa with high school and exams completed. We regularly compete and train at the Seenite Criteriums, Park races, and the OBC time trials. On June 30th, a clutch of personal best times was recorded with Philippe Bergeron 19:47, Brian Trafford 20:00, and Derek Harnden 20:34. Our community regularly comments to me that it is good to see U23 athletes at the top of our results, as it shows depth in the development programs of the club.
Upcoming Events: Ontario Provincial Road Championships July 24, Tour of the Catskills August 5-7th, Montreal Quebec August 14th, Ontario Provincial ITT August 21st.
Keep updated with the team on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/Team.FreshAirExperience.OttawaBicycleClub
And we can be found on Twitter @U23Project
Michael DeKelver
Team Manager and Coach
Fresh Air Experience/Ottawa Bicycle Club
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