My first attempt at Bicycle Racing!

Canada Day Crit - Cat 5 Race

So I’ve decided to try my hand at a little bicycle racing this summer. Seeing as I am now racing on the Cdn Armed Forces CISM Team (read draft legal triathlon) I figured I’d better start learning how to really cycle. A friend of mine and an athlete I coach, James Dean, has been bicycle racing for a number of years and upgraded to Cat 2 at the end of last year. He recommended coming out and training with the newly formed United Cycle Elite Race Team so that I could learn the art of racing on the bike.  There is a small group of Cat 1&2 Riders (Connor, Ben, Kevin, James) that lead the group rides during the week. I took James up on the offer earlier this year and so far it has been a great learning experience.

This past week I started the adventure of Road Races. On Saturday I completed the Learn to Race Course taught by Shaun Adamson and put on by the Alberta Bicycle Association. It provided a brief overview of bicycle racing and then focused on some of the skills required to ride in a pack. On Sunday afternoon I completed the Northern Summer Series #1  Race– hosted by Juventus.  The Northern Summer Series is a somewhat laid back race series with no upgrade points available and only bragging rights on the line. It was an excellent opportunity to meet some of the Edmonton cycling crowd and perhaps more importantly provided me with a low key opportunity to practice drafting and some race tactics. I managed to stay in the front group of the Cat 5 cyclists and finished 5^th(while avoiding the sprint finish).

Cory and I during the Canada Day Crit.

The highlight of the week however was the Canada Day Crit. For the Cat 5 racers it was a 16 lap race (total length ~22kms) with points being awarded every fourth lap. My goals going into the race were: don’t get lapped, complete the race, and don’t crash. Seeing as this was my first “real” road race I had no idea what to expect, but had heard that Cat 5 racing can be chaos. I stayed near the front for the most of the race (doing a good percentage of the work) and made sure to avoid the sprints. I can thankfully report that I achieved my goals and surprisingly there were no crashes in the Cat 5 race. This was definitely a great experience. It was a great confidence boost realizing that I have the power to ride at the front of the Cat 5 pack, but at the same time somewhat humbling to realize that I don’t have the sprint power or race tactics to compete for points (or at least not yet!).

The remainder of the summer will be busy with triathlon, but I should still be able to squeeze the Tour de Bowness and Provincial ITT Championships into the schedule!

But up next...Cdn Forces Triathlon Nationals (Olympic Distance) in Gatineau on Saturday