Nationals Race report

I was really looking forward to racing Junior Nationals this year. I felt that I had trained pretty hard this year and had a very good chance of doing well. The first day we rode in Quebec it was very muggy and hot and had a chance of rain that whole time that we were out in Quebec. I was hoping for the weather to change before I had to race the ITT.

The day of the ITT, the weather had changed a bit as it was cooler and the humidity was down.  It was pretty windy by Quebec standards but not by a Saskatchewan’s though… there was no 40km an hour wind that a person had to fight that day so that made me happy. The course was that same as last year with the only change that the junior girls had to race 20km instead of 15km. The course was tough on the way out being mostly up hill, so I was about 2 minutes faster on the way back. I put everything into that race and I really don’t think that I could have gone harder.  I was very happy with my time and the fact that I got first place.  It’s really nice when all the hard work, time and training you put into it pays off.

The day of the road race it started to pour once we got to the race site. There was really no warm up because of the rain and  when we rode in it you were soaked in a matter of seconds.  Before the race started I rode a bit for 5 minutes and was soaked. At the start line all I could do was put a big smile on my face and pretend that the rain didn’t bother me one bit and think to myself that at least it’s not too cold or snowing or hailing like some Sask races I’ve raced.

During the race there were lots of attacks by Quebec and Ontario which I covered and chased down. I tried some attacks of my own in the race but my every move was covered or chased down by most of the provinces.  The race was a hard one to break away from and we had a hard time dropping girls from the group also… the pace was either slow or people were throwing attacks out.  At about 15km to go a Quebec girl attacked and I thought that one of the other teams were going to chase that girl down, so I didn’t try to go after her. But then to my surprise no one chased. A couple of girls and my self tried to chase her down, but we couldn’t. The race ended in a sprint finish, with me placing 4^th.

I was happy with my finish, but like every racer looking back on a race, I wished I could have done some things differently than I did.

I would just like to say a big thank you to the BC cycling team and coaches for being with me at the race. They were a great help to me during the races and the days prior to the races also. It was great that they let me come along and stay with the group. And a bigger thanks to Sask Cycling, Frank Matus and everyone else for sending  and supporting me along the way - couldn't do it without you guys...

See you on the road...

Julia