April 12, 2009

Trek invades the podium in Banff

Stage 1 - 7km Hill Climb
Everyone Participated in this event. We started south on highway 93 where it intersects with the trans-canada. Basically everyone rode hard for about 15 mins. The RBS put up the fastest time and was followed by 3 of his teammates. That's right, we swept the top 4, CHA-CHING.


Stage 2 - Highway 1A 80km "Sprint Road Race"
This was one of the most beautiful courses I have ever done. I rode soooo strong this day. I marked the break and then went solo near the end to EASILY claim the first mass start stage of the event. PSYC! That was a warped-perception test. The race was nothing like this. At the halfway point I did mark the day's major break. When it started to get established I just sat at the back. Being that we held the top 4 in GC I really felt that I had no obligation to drive a break. TRestoration were doing the lions share of the work with CRAZY DEVRIES and JSherb taking some solid pulls. In the closing KMs the gap was deteriorating so I made the call to go solo. I just BARELY held the fast charging pack off to take the Dub. The organizer's report says I beat Tim Sherbs and Big Mac in a sprint, but I assure you that is wrong. I don't sprint well.


Stage 3 - 21km ITT
Before the start we issued several protests regarding pack time and a 1:00 penalty that was issued to Rob. I went straight to Carol Mayne who didn't hesitate one bit in listening and remedying our problems. Our concerns were instantly put to rest. GORGEOUS ROUTE!!! Extremely scenic course around lake minnewanka. I don't spell. This was another TRT Sweep. My legs did me well and delivered another dub, Vroomkets took second and the RBS rounded out the podium in third. Not much to report here... we just rode hard on some nice roads and did our best to avoid goats, elk, bears and tour buses.


Stage 4 - 45 minute Criterium
What do you get when..... you have a 1km course with 4 corners + a 180 meridian, man holes everywhere, patio-slab corners, NARROW ROADS, a thin layer of dust cover, 90 guys, and large motivating crowds? SKETCHY. After about 15 mins of racing we had finally taken control of the front. It took a lot of Dodge, dip, duck, dive and Dodging to avoid hitting the pavement. There were crashes everywhere. But with 6 TRTs on the front I finally felt safe. After some solid tempo we pulled the old "Saturn Sit-up" in the 180. Thuss was sitting 3rd wheel and hit the brakes and went wide in the corner sending Rob and Vroomkets clear. There was some panic in the pack and SLaLA and PTich were able to get across. (Side Note... I always rag on triathletes for being poor bike handlers. Paul Tichelaar is not a bad bike handler. He is not an average bike handler. He is an excellent bike handler. He did a great job of putting himself in the break.) From then on the race was over. I made a pretty pathetic attempt of getting across but failed. Eventually the race ended and unlike nearly every other team, all 6 TRTs were road rash free. Rob and Dave ended up 2nd and 3rd. Hmmm....


Stage 5 - 117km Tunnel Mountain Race
Trace and Thuss are MACHINES. They spent the whole race on the front, while Rob, Dave and Nic also rolled in the wind. A few breaks went but in the closing KMs it was still together. Vroomkets kicked it into high gear on the final descent about 1km out. His super punch carried him to the line taking the win. The other 3 of us in the GC finished in the Pack to hold our spots. A great race for the team was finished. All in all an amazing weekend with an amazing billet, great family time, and a beautiful course.