Barry's Roubaix

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. Although, it was a good challenge to race with the 1/2 women to get the pack experience and some hard race efforts in. The race stayed pretty tame the first few laps, so on the second lap, I decided to attack just before we entered the dykes... but came in with too much speed and slipped out in the corner! I got up as quickly as possible and started my chase back onto the group. As I was nearing the pack, Kelsey came back to help draft me back onto the group!! Thank you so much, Kelsey!! As I was already exhausted I sat on the back catching my breath for a bit and then joined in with pace line. After chasing on and the pace picking up, my legs just wouldn't allow me to keep up with the accelerations and I got dropped!

All in all, it was a good start to the season and congrats to Sandra Walter who won Barry's Roubaix (road race) and Kelsey MacDonald who got sixth in the sprint finish and was the top cat. 3/4 women!

Thanks always to Local Ride Racing, Golden Ears Physio, Kicking Horse Coffee, Giant Bicycles, Cycles Lambert and Cycling BC and Power2Max for the continuous support!

Racing Barry's Roubaix with teammate Kelsey MacDonald
Photo By: Sue Weston


Winning the Airport TT in Open Women's
Photo By: Paul Craig/Sue Weston



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