Well as if we have not had enough bad luck this season. Deer runs into van, broken bikes, crashes, sicknesses, broken bones, concussion, etc etc. Now a low life/s has broken into the Team Van and stolen the 4 wheels, and GPS.

Well you have to see the funny side of things, they take our wheels and leave us with no way of direction! All of this happened 45mins before our departure to the National Championships. I managed to interrupt these low life’s as they felt very tough stealing from a great Community Program, stealing from kids! I can also let the Masters know that I do still have a “sprint”, I almost caught one of the “Men” as he jumped into his {or somebody else’s} Black SUV, luckily for me I did not catch him I guess. I think I had my ambitions mixed up with my capabilities, we will never know lol.

So our trip will be delayed, we will get new wheels, we will get a new GPS and we will get to Nationals, and we will perform!

To the people who stole from us, I hope you get a good price for the wheels, and I hope you can sleep well at night in the knowledge that you have stolen from kids!

http://www.ontariocycling.org/team-ontario-announced-2013-canada-summer-games-sherbrooke-qc/

Due to uncertain weather and track conditions… Coach Rick has cancelled tonight’s Race Series at Flamboro Speedway … however training will run tonight from the Ancaster Rotary Centre for all C1&2, Group A, B, Select and Masters riders. Training time will be 5 – 7 p.m. Any comments or complaints, contact Mother Nature.

Congratulations to Kristina Skovbjerg, Jesse Schultz for the 3rd placings at the Mississippi Mills TT on Saturday, this is both riders 1st O-Cup Podiums….

Well done and keep up the great work.

We also wish Jesse well, he had an argument with the pavement in Sundays RR, and the pavement won, he is ok…

The following is a race report by the Mississippi Mills Road race winner – Miles Eastwood.

Before Miles launches into his great report, I have to thank all of the riders who took part in the project. Daniel, Hillary, Saskia, Kaitlyn, Miles, James {BRrrr} Jesse, Stef ‘Stangler’ {aka hairy legs}. Many of these riders had their first real project experience, and they did very well. I think they all took big steps over the 3 days.

Through the Eyes of Miles!

The past weekend of June 8th and 9th saw two races, and six subsequent podiums for Team CHCH. The first day was a 36k Time Trial and saw podium places for Saskia Kowalchuk, Kaitlyn Steeves, Jesse Shultz, and myself. The team came away from that day happy with the good results, but still looking for a win.

That gave us plenty of motivation for day two, which was the 85k Pakenham Circuit Race. The course used a 42.5k circuit with a 5k gravel section halfway through, and our race did two laps for 85k. This race was a little bit different than others I have done, in that instead of racing in a category such as Junior Men or Cat 3, the race was run in waves, seeing us racing with a combination of Juniors, Cat 3s, Master 1s and 2s. Because of this mixed field, we didn’t really know who we were going up against, and couldn’t create a definite race plan going in. We decided that the best course of action would be to sit back for the first lap, get the lay of the land, and make the definitive move on the second lap. Right from the gun it became very evident that our newfound fellow riders weren’t too keen on the “sit back for the first lap”, as attacks began flying off the front right after the neutral start. My teammates James Orton and Jesse Schultz did well to stay up at the front and cover any moves that looked dangerous, and gave me a chance to take care of my legs, and try to figure out where was the best place to attack. What I found was that the first half of the circuit was hard, windy, and slightly uphill, and culminated in a fast hard gravel section. Once you were through the gravel, it was just a bit more climbing and you were out on a highway, with a slight downhill and a howling tailwind. I realized that nothing would be able to get away after the gravel section, so the move had to made before. Thanks to the efforts of my team the bunch was all together coming into the final lap, and I began the process of moving up through the group to get in position near the front. It seemed some of the other guys in the group had the same idea of strategy as me, as attacks started flying as we approached the gravel. I waited until there was a small group about 30 meters up the road, and made my move. I bridged quickly and went right past the group of riders, hoping they would jump on with me to give me someone to work with. A quick look over my shoulder let me see one Master do just this, and also see Junior rider Connor Byway bridging to join us. We quickly began working together, and took turns pulling as hard was we could to get away from the looming peleton. Luckily my attack was timed well, and soon we were on the gravel section. Our small group of three could navigate the loose terrain much more quickly than the large bunch, and also break the line of sight around the bends. After a very hard 5k we came back out onto paved roads, and continued working together to maintain our slender lead. Frequent checks over our shoulders showed that the bunch was still in sight, but I knew that if we could just get to the tailwind section we could make it to the finish away. We did just that, and nailed it over the last 10k, cruising at over 50kph with the bunch breathing down our necks. It was at about the 2k to go marker that I realized I had been so focused on keeping the break alive I hadn’t even thought about how to actually win. The final section was very fast, so there was no chance for a breakaway. It was destined for a sprint finish, and although I don’t fancy myself much of a sprinter, I positioned myself as best I could coming into the finale. Just before the finish there was a small descent into a hard right hander, and then 400m straight to the finish. Byway led as we approached the final corner, with myself on his wheel and the master behind me. Just before the corner the master attacked, and I quickly jumped on his wheel. We came around the corner very quickly and had to go wide to avoid crashing. Byway instead took the inside line a bit slower, but could begin accelerating more quickly. It looked as though he might have it, but I carried the speed out of the corner, jumped of the master, wound it up behind Byway and just got past him a few meters from the line.

The Pakenham Circuit Race was a good, hard, fast race, which I quite enjoyed and I think really suited my abilities. That being said, my victory would not have been possible without the support of both my teammates and my coach, Rick Lee. This was also the first weekend that I raced on not one, but TWO Argon 18 bikes, the E-116 for the TT and the Gallium Pro for the road race. It’s easy to be confident in a race when you know you’re riding on some of the best equipment in the peleton.

Provincial Criterium Championships

Less Than a Month Away

The Provincial Crit Champs return once again to the hallowed grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition. A technical course with hairpins and chicanes that will test the resolve of even the best sprinters and breakaway artists, the CHIN Picnic Criterium will determine who’s got what it takes to be on top in 2013.

https://reg.ccnbikes.com/index.php/event/chin-picnic-criterium-races-provincial-championships?utm_source=OCA+e-Newletter++June+6%2C+2013&utm_campaign=e-news+Feb+21%2C+2013&utm_medium=email

Tour de Charlevoix Race Report

After an exciting four stage race in Bais St. Paul Team CHCH came out with two stage wins and the over all GC. My fellow teammate Jack Burke had a fabulous TT in the second stage of the race and put himself in control of the race with a commanding lead followed closely by Adam Jamieson in second. Following the TT was the hill climb. In this stage the pack thinned out to about eight riders in the front of the group once the hill begun to kick up. CHCH finished strong in this stage with Jack Burke in second and me in fourth place.

The final stage was a 120 km race on a wet, foggy, rainy day. It suited me well as it was a climber’s course. At the start of this stage Jack lead the GC with me trailing by approximately 30 seconds as the backup for this race. Immediately Adam took off to cover a breakaway. He ended up staying in that break until unfortunately he broke his chain. The break was getting to far out so CHCH led by Simon Fothergill pulled that break back to about a 1:30, shortly after Simon had some bad luck by flatting and was unable to catch back on to the bunch. On the last 30k the hills picked up and the breakaway was caught. After a long tour Jack dropped from the front group that consisted of a handful of riders. I continued in that pack as it shrunk down to three riders over the many hills coming in to the finish. On the a steep slippery descent one rider disappeared off the wet road and into the woods. In the final sprint I took the stage win and the tour.

I had good legs throughout the whole tour but I could not have succeeded if it had not been for the efforts of my teammates and the fact that the Argon 18 performed for me flawlessly on the climbs and the descents. This was the best race I have had all year and I hope to build on this for the rest of the season.

Training/Racing Cancelled 6th June

You may choose to do your own training ride indoors or outdoors if you find a dry patch!

Is it SUMMER yet????

Stage 1: crit.
Friday may 31st was our first stage in the Charlevoix stage race with a 30 lap crit with each lap being 1.2km long. With everyone fired up and ready to start the tour despite the cold and wet conditions this race was all out from the start which sadly caused a mechanical off the start for our team mate Adam Jamieson which made it impossible for him to catch back on to the group in time. The rest of the team had a solid crit race spending time at the front and continuing to launch breaks off the front in order to keep the pace high. Coming into the final chicane just before the finish we were all still on the front but due to our lesser sprinting abilities and burning a few too many matches with our break always earlier in the race we were not able to secure a podium spot.

Stage 2: ITT
Saturday morning was another early morning for team CHCH/NCCH after being up late the previous night fine tuning our time trialing bikes and the infamous “12 hour flu” still taking a toll on the team. Regardless of this the entire team was fired up and ready to light it up when the clock finished counting down. With conditions better but still not ideal and none of our team actually seeing the course yet all the CHCH/NCCH boys still managed to have great time trials with myself taking the win by completing the 15.7km course in 20:15, Adam Jamieson taking second 12 seconds back from my time, Will Elliot taking 4th 31 seconds back, Martin Rupes went 7th 50 seconds back and Simon Fothergill going 16th 1:26 back. With our team stoked off of securing the first two spots in the GC and having the rest of the team high in the GC as well we quickly packed up and headed back to the house.

Stage 3: hill climb
After a quick break at the house to eat a bit and ready the bikes and gear for the next hill climb stage we were off again in the van to Bai St. Paul. Going into this race our whole team was excited but also curious as to how this race would unfold and how the GC may adjust after this stage as it was not a typical stage for junior racing in North America. The stage consisted of a 8km flat straight which was just the first half of the TT course we had raced only a few hours ago, then a hard right hand hair pin turn to take us straight up a mountain where we would climb 275 meters in the final 4km with the first km. Averaging around 19-20%!!. Riding out to this climb we knew it would be fast and expected there to be some riders who knew they were not the best climbers to try and break away for a head start. However what we did not know is that there was a tail wind pushing us for the entire 8km making the pace so fast it was impossible for anyone to get a gap on the group. The group stayed together for the first flat section but as soon as we hit the base of the climb the race turned into a full on sprint up what seemed to be like a wall, absolutely decimating the peloton and leaving a break of about 9 riders go up the road by the top of this first steep section. Lucky for us our team is filled with climbers and time trial specialist’s which helped us have Will Elliot, Adam Jamieson and myself all in the break. The pace mellowed out a bit after the first 1km hit and individual breaks started to burst off the front. Our team was feeling good and we managed to cover each one and even when our break started to widdle down as we dropped more and more riders off the back the 3 of us managed to stay together and finish the climb with myself finishing second, Will Eliot coming 4th and Adam Jamieson grabbing onto 8th. The next group came in around 30-40 seconds back from the winner with Martin Rupes finishing 14th and Simon Fothergill finishing 20th. After the race was done everyone was in high spirits and saying regardless of the cold wet weather it was one of the best races they have ever done on a bike and had a great time. To top it off due to the incredible amounts of fog we had all weekend, from about half way up the mountain until the top everyone was riding in fog so thick you could not see 100m up the road. This really gave everyone the grand tour mountain pass feeling which was very cool for everyone in the race.

Stage 4: road race
With everyone in high spirits about our previous results in the race and now heading into the final stage we were a bit disappointed to find ourselves again racing in the freezing cold, rain and hail but none the less everyone on the team layered up and got ready to race with some of us still feeling the symptoms of the “12 hour flu”. The race started off fairly mellow but with every rolling little hill the pace would instantly go to full gas, straining the legs early on. After only a few km’s in a break of 5 went up the road with all the major teams represented and for us this was Adam Jamieson. The break managed to stay away and gain some time on the group now that no one was chasing but what we did not realize is how far up the road the break really was. After about 60km into the race the “12 hour flu” had taken its toll on Martin Rupes taking him out of the bike race with many others and after coming around a corner and looking up a hill we could see a rider standing on the side looking like they had a mechanical. Our stomachs really got twirled into knots when we got close enough to notice it was Adam Jamieson stranded out of the race with a broken chain. Adam yelled at me, Will and Simon that there was now a 5 and a half minute gap up the road to the break and now with all the major teams except for us represented the pressure really came down on us. Knowing this the other teams instantly decided they were not going to do a thing for the rest of the race and take the free ride which left myself, Will and Simon to bring back the break then hold on till the end. Sadly after only a few Km’s of hammering at the front another mechanical affected our team taking Simon out of the bike race. With now only me and Will working on the front to bring back the break you could tell we were slowly burning matches up. On the positive side our hard work paid off allowing us to take a 4 man break of 5 and a half minutes down to 2 and a half minutes in only a few km’s and at about 85km’s into the race we had caught 3 riders in the break leaving a solo rider 3 and a half minutes up the road. The race continued to be relentless and the climbs were all leg snappers with fresh riders jumping off the front and myself and Will having to stay on the front to continue to work back the break. At about 95km’s we started the biggest climb of the race which again like in the hill climb absolutely shelled what was left of the peloton. The pace was extremely high and only about a 100 meters into the climb we caught the solo break. Once we had caught the break the other teams instantly raised the pace again making the race even harder. At 106km’s of the 120km’s the race for myself was over as I just had absolutely nothing left in my legs after spending the entire day at the front and responding to countless breaks on the climbs. Completely shattered I fell off the break leaving my team mate Will Eliot to hold on to the GC for the next 14 brutal km’s. Will managed to go on and not only win the GC but also win the stage making the trip a huge success for our team and he says it was his biggest win of his cycling career. Congrats Nub you earned it buddy. With the team slowly being reunited at the finish line freezing cold and exhausted we managed to take a bus organized by the race back to our trailer at the start where we could pack up and head back to the house with 2 stage wins, 2 second places in stages and a tour win all locked up by CHCH/NCCH.

The trip was an amazing experience and despite almost the entire team being so sick they questioned being able to race and a number of mechanicals and other problems that were out of our control our team managed to rise up and take home some gold and silver at the 15th annual Charlevoix stage race.
Amazing racing to all and we hope to be back next year.

Special thanks to Rick Lee (head coach and team manager) for leading the project and making sure we were all good to go and knew what we were doing, Madeleine McConnell (a racer unable to race due to injury but helped us out immensely throughout the entire project), the NCCH and all of our sponsors for giving us the best possible gear to perform at our best and give us one less thing to have to worry about and the Jamieson family for being at all the stages to assist us with anything and helping to make things run smoothly.
Race report by: Jack Burke

Will Elliott has won the Junior Men Charlevoix stage race in Quebec after the final and toughest stage today, a 120km rain soaked and misty day on an extremely tough course.

Team CHCH had a number of mishaps over the weekend, however the strength and resilience of the team has been rewarded with a fantastic win.

Shortly after his win, Will said, “This has been the biggest win of my cycling career, my team mates were fantastic, I could not have done it without them. I am just so happy right now, I had great legs today, and I loved the tough course”.

Head Coach Rick Lee had this to say “We went into the final stage with the Tour Leader – Jack Burke, and Will in 2nd place. it was always the plan, that if Jack got into difficulties that Will would take over the ‘reigns’. The stage started well with Adam Jamieson in and early break with a Rocky Mountain Team rider which stretched out to over 5 minutes, unfortunately Adam had another mechanical which forced him to retire, in addition we had Martin Rupes out sick, and Simon Forthergill with a flat. So we were down to our 2 riders who were 1st and 2nd on GC, so it was obvious that we would be attacked, and unfortunately Jack dropped off the pace in the final 20kms of the race. Will was brilliant, taking the stage and the overall Tour win, I could not be happier for him and the Team.”

“2013 has been a great year for Team CHCH Junior Men, with wins in Battenkill USA, Dragons Tour USA, Lake of Bays, Niagara Classic, Granby TT. It all looks good as we now taper for the Nationals” said Rick.

Saskia Kowalchuk had a tough day in the office, yet is looking to be riding into top TT form for Nationals in 3 weeks.

Meanwhile at the KW Classic in Ontario, Miles Eastwood took 2nd in the Junior Men, Rob Stockl 2nd in M3, Kaitlyn Steeves 3rd Women Elite 3..

Well done to all!