by Laura Brown

Teammate Shani Russell and I headed down to Washington for the Wenatchee Omnium Stage Race on May 16th and17th. Saturday morning consisted of a rolling 9-mile out-and-back time trial that seemed to have a head wind both ways! It was hard to find rhythm on this course and I was a bit concerned with my ride (note: a pre-ride would have helped!), but was very pleased to have finished in 3rd place, about 53 seconds down from the winner.

Saturday evening was the downtown twilight criterium. The pace was fast off the gun as the local women drove it at the front, sending attacks after attacks. The course was technical with a fast, bumpy, downhill right turn and a puncher of a climb on the opposite end. The women’s field of about 50 was split into a few groups and I managed to suffer it out and stay near the front. No attacks were able to stick and it was up to me to find a lead-out train to hop onto on the final laps, as it was clear that it was going to come down to a bunch sprint. I ended up sprinting for a solid 4th place.

I was 3rd overall going into the final 42-mile road race on Sunday afternoon. I knew this stage was going to be tough as the thermometers were topping out at the low to mid 30s and there was a lot of climbing to be had. I had two main goals: maintain my third place and stay hydrated! The start of the road race was on the time trial course and the field stuck together. But it wasn’t long before we were embarking on the 15-km climb up into the hot, Wenatchee hills. The field was scattered all over the course and it was tough to stick wheels with the lead climbers. I found myself climbing in the third group, with the leader of the race and the eventual race winner. We road steady hard up the climb and went ripping down on the descent. I won the pack sprint for 7th place.

I ended up tying for 3rd place points, but unlike general classification ties broken by the time trial, this omnium stage race tie was broken by who ever had more stage wins; being the other rider as she had won the road race. I ended up 4th overall and the top female Canadian. I was content with the way I raced and it felt great to be racing in the states with such a big field, full of depth and representation from most of the Pacific Northwest.

Next up: BC Cup and then the Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race in Washington once again.

A lot has happened the last 2 weeks and Local Ride has been on the podium all over North America. It started May 9 with the Rat Race on BC’s beautiful Sunshine Coast where Bianca Adolf had a stellar win in her first elite women’s competition. Even a snapped chain could not stop her from winning by over 2 minutes. The men were represented by Ryan Newsome, who just missed the third step of the podium, placing 4th in the Master’s category.

The next weekend saw more results for Local Ride Racing, starting in Quebec with Canada Cup XC race #1. Jean Ann and Sandra threw down hard, but were unable to match the speed of rising star Emily Batty. Jean Ann settled for a 4th place finish and Sandra fought back hard from 7th after a bout of chain suck to finish a strong 5th.

(l-r) Sandra Walter (Local Ride Women's MTB) 5th, Catherine Vipond (Norco Factory) 3rd, Emily Batty (Trek Store Toronto) 1st, Amanda Sin (3 Rox Racing) 2nd, Jean Ann McKirdy (Local Ride Women's MTB) 4th.

Back in Squamish, Local Ride again hit the podium at the Ore Crusher XC race. Jeanine has been training hard for the upcoming Test of Metal, and it has paid off, allowing her to get to the second step of the podium. Nice job! Again Ryan was kickin’ it for the men, improving on the previous week’s result by one spot to finish 3rd.

Last but not least, Laura Brown raced on the pavement south of the border in the Wenatchee Stage Race. She finished 3rd overall against a strong field of Pro 1/2 Women. Stay tuned for a race report from Laura detailing how she did in all 3 stages.

Up coming races:
May 22-24 – North Shore Mountain Festival
May 22 – Campbell Heights Road Race
May 30-31 – Enumclaw Stage Race

Local Ride Racing saw some of its strongest riders pin it to win it at one of BC’s toughest stage races – Race the Ridge – organized by Maple Ridge’s very own Local Ride Bike Shop.

Stage 1 – Thornhill Road Race: Using a slightly modified race course that ran in reverse, the first stage of Race the Ridge 2009 was a hit with every category of rider. With just the right amount of climbing, technical corners and an uphill finish it ensured that the strongest rider would win. In Category 4/5 Ryan Newsome just missed the split and finished in the second group in 13th place. The Cat 3 men saw an early two man break form with Local Ride’s own Steve Devantier pulling hard at the front. After three and a half laps of chasing the main field had been reduced to just 11 riders, which set up a 13 man sprint where Steve sprinted for a 2nd place finish with Mike “the carrot” Berkenpas not far behind in 6th. In the women’s Cat 3/4 Liz Chamberlain, Jenelle Cassidy, and Jeanine Ball battled hard right to the end with Liz securing 6th place, while Jenelle and Jeanine earned 12th and 18th spot respectively. Race the Ridge 2009 attracted the who’s who of Cat 1/2 women with Chelsea Bilsbarow, Shoshauna Laxson and Laura Brown suiting it up in the brick and blue for Local Ride Racing. Laura “Downtown” Brown came out of the gate guns blazing but was reduced to a spectator after dropping a chain at a critical point in the race. Shoshauna and Chelsea rode on but were unable to match the power of former team-mate and eventual overall winner Stephanie Roorda who bridge to an earlier break.

Stage 2 – Pitt Meadows Airport Time Trial: The 2009 Race the Ridge time trial will forever be known as the day the carrot chased the carrot. Local Ride’s resident strong man Roy Mcbeth set an early fast time of 22:15 on the Ford Road T.T course but due to Mike’s later start time he left a juicy opening for Mike “the carrot” to chase down. Mike’s scorching time of 22:12 earned him a fourth place on
the stage and fourth overall setting up an epic criterium that afternoon. In the women’s field Laura Brown came out with vengeance and set the fastest time of the day at 22:53 over the 16km course, while Liz Chamberlain posted a very respectable time of 26:14, also a big congratulation to Jeanine Ball for exceeding her personal expectations and setting a time of 29:49.

Stage 3 – An ode to the Harris Roubaix: Despite early trepidation the final stage of Race the Ridge 2009, that incorporated a gravel section into its 2km loop, garnered rave reviews from the peloton for its combination of technicality and fun factor. The men’s 4/5 saw up and comers Ryan Newsome and Andrew Kerr battle it out on the dyke and asphalt against a fast paced peloton of 33. In the men’s Cat 3 criterium it was the Local Ride Racing pain train with Roy and Steve acting as the locomotives pulling hard to secure the best possible position for Mike who was just 12 seconds back from a third place podium spot. Despite a highly competitive Cat 3 peloton and Steve crashing hard into the grass shoulder the pain train secured Mike 4 valuable seconds in primes and set him up for the final sprint to the finish and potential glory. Mike channelling his inner cyclocross rider railed the final gravel corner but was unable to out sprint eventual overall winner Jacob Schwingboth finishing a hard earned fourth. The five seconds awarded for fourth place coupled with the four seconds earned in the primes left Mike just a hair of the podium but still satisfied. Lastly, how could we forget the best placed Local Rider in the crit, Jenelle, who fought hard to maintain position on the last lap to finish a very strong 2nd behind Sara Nathan.

Congrats to all the riders who contested Race the Ridge. Fun was had by all. Finally, another big congratulation to Mike and Steve for earning enough points to move into the Cat 2 pro ranks!