All four Local Ride Racing ladies near the front of the pack: Julia, Rachel, Jean Ann and Sandra.The racers enjoyed the luxury of a closed course on a beautiful 10.5km loop around the UBC Endowment Lands, including Sandra's Favourite Road in Vancouver: Discovery Street. "Whenever I've ridden Discovery, I thought: 'Why can't there be more roads like this in Vancouver?' Plus, it was freshly paved, which made it oh-so smooth and fast!" said Sandra.
The Local Ride Racing elite women's road team had four ladies in contention at the BC Cup race. Newcomer to the team, Julia, showed her strength in some early powerhouse attacks and Rachel also supported the team with her extensive race savvy. While Julia and Rachel did not make the decisive split with Jean Ann and Sandra, their efforts for the team made a huge impact on the race. They placed 13th and 14th, respectively.
(l-r) Barry, Sandra, Dave, Jean Ann, Paul, Julia, Rachel. Thanks to everyone for their race-day support!Backtracking a little, May 30 saw Jean Ann and Sandra on the podium again in the four-lap elite women's race at Canada Cup XC #3 at Hardwood Ski & Bike in Ontario. It was full-on summertime in Ontario with temps in the 30s, but the duo played it smart, backing off a little at the beginning of the race to avoid blowing up due to overheating. They were then able to turn it on at the end and finish strong. Jean Ann placed fourth and Sandra was fifth, so both got to enjoy a little more podium time together - always a blast! Jean Ann is ranked third overall in the series, while Sandra is only 5 points behind in 4th. Things are close!
Fun times on the podium (l-r): Sandra 5th, Mical Dyck 2nd, Emily Batty 1st, Amanda Sin 3rd, Jean Ann 4th.Sandra and Jean Ann spent the week in Ontario near beautiful Horseshoe Valley, what Jean Ann considers "the nicest part of Ontario." (This is a big compliment!) Their gracious hosts, Dawn and Ron, are also avid cyclists and have spent many a day on the race course or in the feed zone (or both, of which Sunday was an example for Ron - THANK YOU!). They are also the owners of Velocity Bike & Multisport in Orillia - a fabulous independently owned shop with friendly and incredibly knowledgeable staff. Velocity took the edge off of Sandra and Jean Ann's homesickness a little. Sandra said: "Velocity is like Local Ride in Ontario. They should join forces!"
Jean Ann hangs out under the Velocity tent at the Wednesday Night Races at Hardwood, waiting to test ride one of the shop's sweet demo bikes.
BBQ and beer on the patio at Dawn and Ron's. It really did feel like home. Dawn and Ron were lucky to get rid of them!
