Jean Ann is Back on the Bike - And Loving It!

After an extended period of time off, due to that nasty crash that I had in the Edmonton Canada Cup in June, I was happy to get back on the bike and try out my first mountain bike race since the incident. My friends at Golden Ears Physiotherapy had taken excelent care of me, in rehabing my injury, and with my back 100%, once again, I decided it was time to try out a race.

I headed over to Mount Washington for the BC Cup, with my teammate Ryan, Friday morning, and had a fun time trying to keep up to him on our two lap pre ride. When I asked him what intensity he was riding, he said ofhandedley "oh maybe 60%". Ouch, maybe this was going to hurt me more than I had thought.

The course was in excellent condition, perfectly dry. The last time I had raced at Mount Washington was at the National Championships in 2007, in which the course was slimey with mud and had me running up all of the climbs. Everything was rideable, and so fun.

On race day, the elite women started at the back of the men's field. Catherine Short and Joele Guynup, the current BC Cup leader, set the pace for the start, and then I started setting my own pace up the climb. My climbing legs were pretty good, and was able to start getting a gap right away. From there I was able to slowly extend my lead. It was a short race, only three laps, which had me finishing in about 1h and 15 minutes, nine minutes ahead of second place. I was pleased with this, since I came into the race unsure of my fitness and riding abilities after so much time off the bike. Joele came in second place, with Catherine Short close behind. Joele retains her BC Cup leader's jersey.

Another hilight of the race, was when my teammate Ryan came by me mid race with the lead Master's group. He was looking strong, and came through for his first Expert class win. The other Local Ride Racer there, Chelsea Bilsbarrow, also came through for a win in the Expert Women's class, making it 3 for 3 in the team gold medal count. Ryan is now sitting 2nd in the BC Cup series, and riding strong. We are all rooting for him in the upcommiong BC Cup finals in Sun Peaks on the 22nd.

Ryan showing off some gold.

Pickle won the Expert Women's category.

It was a fun weekend, and great to be back on the bike and able to race again. I will be doing a couple more local races, mostly on the road, in August, and then looking to a full and fun cyclocross season this fall.