Maggie Coles-Lyster

Hey everyone! Oh man does time fly by! It has been one year since my appendix and here's an update as to how this year has gone for me! So after about two months in the hospital and missing school, I returned to my usual life, ahead in science class and completely caught up in everything else! I gained back the 20 pounds I lost very quickly, and started fitting my clothes again! I started out with some longer slower rides then, with the help of physio, everything was feeling good so I started racing at the end of the Springs Series just in time for the stage race! Most of my first races back (especially long, hard road races), I would finish the race with a killer stomach ache. It felt as if you have had the flu and ate something that gave you food poisoning as well. The stomach aches would last for usually 1 hour afterwards and would prohibit me from being able to walk. All it was was the scar tissue getting stretched or something, but man it hurt! I did months of physio and...

And it's finally ready to post... ;) My first time in Winnipeg! We left rainy BC, to arrive in sunny (!) Winnipeg on October 23-26. My dad, my grandparents and I all went (with the Troublemaker- my bike ;) and arrived there with 2 days before the race. After getting picked up from the airport by a huge bus, we went to the hotel and chilled out before going out for dinner. We hung in the hot tub that night and stood on the corner of Portage and Maine :) The following day, we went around to see my grandpa's old house and sight see around Winnipeg. Then, it was back to the Farimont and out to the Forks for a pre-ride of the course. My first impression of the course was that it was fast and smooth (tons of flow) but took a really big toll on you with a run up followed by 2 rideable sand pits and stairs. We met up with the Local Ride team, rode the course, then went back to the hotel for dinner and to pin the numbers, as well as a hot tub and steam room session (I lasted 2 minut...

Last Monday we took the ferry (yet again!) over to Nanaimo for Cyclocross Provincials. After meeting up with team and a good sob after hitting a raccoon, we piled into the van, hit the ferry and made it to the race with 40 min before the start of the u17 women (race #1 for me). It was just enough time for me to do a lap of the fast, dry and hilly cross course. I knew it pretty well as it was the same course as last year. It was finally time to go, and I got the hole shot right off the start and was able to hold it throughout the 3 lap race. After three laps of running up 50 stairs, a couple of hills and battling through two sand pits, I knew the course like the back of my hand, and was ready to race the Elite Women's race with 16 other women!  I had around 2 hours in between my races to have a waffle and heckle on the other riders, but eventually, it was that time again and this time, it was pouring with rain. After warming up on the trainer to some good tunes, and jogging ar...

Whistler Cyclocross brought an awesome double header weekend, with a very professionally-run race, fun atmosphere and a very unique course! It all started out with day 1 of Whistler Cyclocross with a very mountain bike like course with a long run-up, multiple switch backs and then to contrast the mountain bike part, a windy ride through the town! I was racing elite women which went in the afternoon and gave me lots of time to pre-ride the course and help my sister work on her lines! In the early afternoon we were off and I was fast to clip in and first dismounted and up the stairs. Having five very strong women in the race meant you had to give it your all and had no choice but to "leave everything on the course." After one lap, the group split and I had to spend much of the race battling with the two ahead of me to the finish. On and off the bike, a crash here and there and after a 45 minute race, I finished in fifth place not too far off of the others, but had no doubt th...

Walking into the Burnaby velodrome last Friday, the temperature dropped while my nerves soared! This past weekend was the BC Track Provincial champs and the second event in the BC Premier Track Championships after Trackfest 2. I had signed up or all of the events and so, after warming up, the day opened with the Team Pursuit and Team Sprint. Teammate Clara Mackenzie and I rocked the sprint while our Team Pursuit team rode a solid ride. Sadly, there wasn't another u19 women's Team Pursuit team for a us to race against. It would be so cool to see more girls out at the track racing! The morning also included a very aggressive Scratch race and an Individual Pursuit. The Scratch race had everyone constantly out of the saddle as attacks after attacks were launched. With three laps to go, I jumped, and got away to solo out the last 600 meters and win the Scratch race! I got the win and a PB in the Individual Pursuit, which I have been focusing on and getting used to riding in the ...

Here's Superweek Part 1! Better late than never! Sooo... last year, Superweek was all about trying to finish a crit (which I didn't quite accomplish). Going into this years week of racing, I did not really know what to expect. I knew that I had definitely improved from last year, as I had finished 6th place in both of the high speed, cat. 1/2/3 Bastion Square Grand Prix and Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race crits. Yet, with all the big, powerful teams like Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies coming to race, I knew I was in for a sufferfest. The first race I did was the MK Delta criterium. I had done continuous visualization before and during Superweek so I went in feeling fit and strong, both mentally and physically. I made sure I had great position at the start, and the race was off!! Every lap, there would be either accelerations or attacks on the hill, but no one was able to stay away. I took great corners and the whole time, I kept thinking, move up, move up! There were...

So, back to Elma for the Northwest Juniors Classic Stage Race!! A totally professionally run (not to mention, epic) stage race in Washington! On top of great racing, I mean, how often do you really get to race around an abandoned nuclear power plant?! The weekend started off with us arriving at the Elma RV Park resort and after a day in Olympia, we met up with team mate Clara Mackenzie to ride the time trial course (the actual course- last year we pre-rode something completely different ;-) Saturday morning we got up and rode to the tt course. After lots of talking with my dad (coach) and visualisation, I knew exactly how I was going to ride the perfect time trial! A great warm up with a good playlist consisting of Eminem and Nicki Minaj and I was off! A perfect track-like start and very well executed time trial and I finished 2nd place behind Hannah Green (BYRDS) and beat my last years time by 3 min 56 seconds! I went into the crit with a goal to make it super aggressive and make ...

What better way to prepare for Superweek than 3 full days of track racing?! TrackFest 1 was an epic (not to mention warm weathered) weekend of track racing, with a small but strong u17/u19 women's category. The weekend started out with me making the journey out to Victoria... without my dad! A big milestone for me ;) Anyway, I saw a pod of orcas on the ferry, then got picked up by my Clara Mackenzie on the other side! Off to the track!! The Friday evening started off with a Team Pursuit with Clara, Gillian Ellsay and I on a team, which was a lot of fun. I hadn't been on the track in a while, so it was a good test to see how everything felt and such without having to attack and ride in a pack! Following that was the Kieran, where I got pushed back to second-to-last wheel at the start behind the motorcycle, but I managed to come around with one lap to go and win the race. The next day was a long, full day of aggressive racing! It started with the Flying 200 were I didn...

This was my third weekend on the island after coming over for the Dove Creek Stage Race, and the Podium Search- put on by the Canadian Sport Institute: it was well organised, lots of fun and really interesting to see our how I did in each test. Then it was the Robert Cameron Law Cycling Series and last was this race, the Youth Road Provincials and time trial Provincials in the Comox Valley! I got to pre-ride the road course the day before the race and discuss with my team mate, Clara Mackenzie, our strategy for the following day. I raced u17 women, but we were put with the u19 women for the road race which made for more aggressive racing and a larger category. All the youth at the start of the Youth Provincial Road Race Guys are such posers :-P Sooo, race day... After riding up to the race, we rolled out, warmed up and were off! The first 2 laps (out of 7)  stayed pretty tame, until I attacked on the hill at the start/finish. Gillian Ellsay was on me right away, with t...

Of course I always go into a race ready to win- especially the BC Road Champs were I got to race cat. 1/2/3 with some pro's like Anika Todd, Annie Ewart and Denise Ramsden. I proved to myself in at the Enumclaw Stage Race that I could stay in and race with the cat. 1/2/3's, so I had no doubt that it was going to be an epic weekend of racing for me! After a ferry ride over, the weekend started with the Hotel Zed time trial along the water. I practised my corners, did a good warm up.... and missed my start!!! Ugh! Everyone I talked to afterwards though, told me that that was going to happen to me one day! Anyway, I still felt that I had a good tt (besides being 2-3 minutes behind everyone else) and applied everything from the corners to my speed that my dad and I had talked about! Next up was the Accent Inns Cycling Classic Provincial Road Race! I raced this course last year, so I knew the course and how hard yet epic it actually is. The race started out well, with me up ther...

The Sunshine Coaster and Ore Crusher were so much fun!! Judging by the fact that walking was a painful chore afterwards, I definitely pushed myself to my max, and now, I just need to work on skill!! I found that in both races, being a road racer and all, I was able to power up the non-technical climbs and flats and use those to my advantage, it was just when we hit the more technical sections that I couldn't ride them very fast. I found it very helpful having cyclocross skills for those obstacles that I couldn't ride- being able to dismount and mount quickly and run with my bike until I could get back on. The Sunshine Coaster was the first mountain bike race that I had ever done, and wasn't quite sure what to expect despite the pre-race talks from my Local Ride teammates. I had a really good start, and was right up there on the climbs, once we hit the more technical trails I lost some ground, but again, was able to make it up on the non-technical climbs that followed! The...

All year, I've look forward to the Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race in Enumclaw Washington , due to the big women’s categories, awesome atmosphere and super fun courses! This year, I raced cat. 3 women, which were combined with the cat. ½ women but got scored separately. The field size was the biggest field I had raced since Superweek. There were 16 cat.3’s and 25 cat ½’s!!! It challenged me to race aggressively to stay in good pack position and to be up there to counter-attack and go with the breaks that I could. This year was especially awesome as I got to race with my new teammate, BC junior, Clara Mackenzie. Although the pack was very strong and it was difficult to work with team tactics, we went in with a plan, and I found it really nice to have someone there to cover you when possible and as moral support. This was our first race together and we proved that we make a great, determined team, not to mention that Clara looks awesome in the Local Ride blue and orange! After pre...

This was the first opportunity so far this year where I got to race with just cat. 3/4 women, so it turned out to be a really aggressive field. The weekend started off with the road race, a fairly hilly course. My teammate Kelsey MacDonald and I pushed the pace on the hills on the first lap, to see who we could knock off the back. Some attacks where initiated, but none stuck. On the second lap, I attacked on the steepest hill, knowing that the decent included some corners where I could get out of sight. After launching the attack, no one seemed to react that quickly. I pushed myself as hard as I could, until I was caught by a chase of two girls right on my tail. We worked together for the remaining three laps, and it came down to an aggressive entrance to the sprint finish with attacks being launched and elbows out. In the uphill sprint finish, Louisa Scarlett took the win with a very strong sprint followed by me for second and Gillian Ellsay in third place. I knew, going into the ti...

The first thing I have to say is "Oh my gosh! It was sunny!" unlike last year, where we couldn't even tell which teams the racers were on, because they were covered in so much mud! So, after working on the TT bike for a bit, I went into the time trial feeling pretty confident (it also helps that I knew the course really well). The time trial did go really well! I pushed myself to my max and, when I finished, I could have sworn my head was going to blow up or I was going to throw up! I ended winning the TT in the Open Women's field! Barry's Roubaix hurt a lot! Teammates Sandra Walter and Kelsey MacDonald and I went in with a race plan and it was so awesome to race with teammates!!! It changes the race experience a lot- having someone there supporting and covering your attacks and helping you make decisions as you race. Anyways, the Open Women were put with the cat. 1/2 women to race, as, sadly, we did not have the numbers to have a proper field of our own. Alth...

So, time to re-cap the last month! Over Spring Break my family and I drove down to California (for vacation and to ride). It made for a great father- daughter, mother- daughter training camp! I got my first ride in heading out of Santa Cruz. My dad and I were supposed to be picked up by the rest of the gang who were coming a few hours behind us, but, of course, they couldn't find us, so we were left out in the sun to burn our first day in Cali. Turned into a great tan later on, though. We then drove down through Santa Barbara. Didn't get a chance to ride then as we were only there for a day and had family to visit. Although, once we got to Laguna Beach, we got some good, long rides out along the beach, which was just gorgeous. It was soo nice to just get up and go out in a jersey and shorts in the morning, and still be warm! Our last leg of the journey was 5 days in Palm Springs where I couldn't stop gawking at the canyons as we rode! My favorite ride out there was probab...

I never want to have to experience that again! Well.. duh! I only have one appendix! Anyway, back in November, right as I was peeking for Cyclocross Nationals, I started feeling sick and my parents took me to the clinic. We thought I had a burst appendix because the pain was on the right side, but the doctor diagnosed me with just a bad stomach flu- I mean, there was a lot of sickness going around then.. but still. Apparently, "a girl with a burst appendix doesn't stand with her hands on her hips." Well, that was kind of my way of holding myself together!! I couldn't really eat or drink anything for the next few days and started losing weight fast! Eventually, we talked to a nurse on the phone, because my nausea was so bad, but he, again diagnosed me with the stomach flu! When I still didn't get better, we went to see our family doctor, who sent me to the hospital for blood tests and X-Rays (still thinking it was the flu), which didn't help diagnose me at all....

When we first arrived in Elma for the Rapha Junior Stage Race on August 2 nd , I was already so nervous. I could not stop picturing how the races would play out, using the strategies that me and my dad had talked endlessly about. We went out and rode the courses that evening, explaining techniques to my younger sister Kaelen, who was about to get a taste of stage racing for her first time. Seeing the course eased some of my nerves and excitement started to set in. The courses were amazing! Being surrounded by the abandoned nuclear power plants made for a very unique (and somewhat creepy) atmosphere! We arrived at the time trial the next morning, and I couldn't suppress the smile on my face! My stomach was tied in a knot of nerves and I felt like I was going to throw up! Boy, I love race days! After signing in, pinning my number and watching my sister sprint away, all smiles, in her first T-T, I got on the trainer with my i-pod blasting J.LO, for my warm-up. My dad (coach) instru...

Track Provincials was such a fun weekend of racing! I got upgraded this year and was allowed to race with the under 17 girls. It was at the outdoor track in Victoria which is 333 meters, a lot longer than Burnaby, therefore, warm up consisted of learning the lines and average times. We got a warm-up in on Friday, but racing got rained-out. So it was back to the campsite for a good night sleep and some visualization before racing on Saturday! The first race was the Flying 200 and I got my best time of 13.8 seconds and came second after Rachel Carey, who had an incredible time of 13.1 seconds! The next races past by in a blur of warm-ups, racing and cool-downs. The first mass race was a Points race, and it was a powerful one as we raced with the U19’s and Elite women! I got four points, but they were not enough to compete for top three. I apparently needed to get that race under my belt before I proceeded with the rest of my weekend, because, I then won the Kierin and got second in ...

Superweek was the experience of a lifetime! Lining up beside and racing with Olympians! I had to get special permission to race on senior gearing and was thrilled when I found out that Cycling BC accepted our request! The UBC grand prix was the first race I did as I was away for Tour de Delta (next year, I am definitely racing it!!!) and I got dropped probably within the first 10 minutes. It was a hard course, and I also wasn’t quite expecting the pace to be so fast! On top of that, I had trouble clipping in right away! Getting dropped and pulled was quite disappointing, but my dad kept endlessly pointing that I was fourteen years old and who I was racing against. He would also note that I was not the first person to be pulled! Gastown was absolutely incredible! I got tips from and warmed up with Laura Brown, and got called up next to her for being the youngest person to ever race Gastown!! This time I lasted 15 minutes in the race and was much more confident around the corners! I...