May 2010

Trek Red Truck Ready for a Throw Down!

Women's Road Race

The Trek Red Truck women's team had a fantastic race this past weekend at the 80km Campbell Heights Road Race, finishing first and third.

Our race was 10 laps of the course with two short, but steep climbs. The women's field was relatively small because of a stage race in Washington the same weekend, but we were still motivated to try out some team tactics and see what we could do to make the race interesting.

Our original plan was to wait until later on in the race to break up the field on the hills, but it was so slow off the start that we got impatient. On the third lap I attacked up a climb, which broke up the race and left a group of seven girls. Thankfully the pace picked up a little after this and more people would work on the front.

On the fifth lap, another girl, Shailie, attacked up the second climb and I followed her wheel. This ended up working really well because both Shani and Noe happened to be at the front at this moment and slowed down the race. When I realized what an impressive gap we established in such a short amount of time, it seemed like it might be possible to stay away. Shailie and I worked together for three laps until I got a gap going up one of the climbs. It was solo from there for two laps until the finish. I freaked out a little when I flatted just 2 km from the finish! Thankfully I was able to get a speedy wheel change and still finish in the lead. The group never caught Shailie, but Noe was able to lead out Shani to take third in the bunch sprint! Overall, there was some great teamwork in this race and I'm very excited for the rest of the season.

Men's Road Race

Last Sunday, Trek Red Truck showed up in Surrey ready to throw down at the Campbell Heights road race. The attacks started as soon as the gun went off. Adam Thuss, Dan Skinner and Marsh Cooper were especially active in the first 20 kilometers. The flurry of attacks quickly wore down the pack and eventually four riders, including Matt Bell from Red Truck, were allowed to escape the field just after the feed zone climb.

With all the big teams represented, the group was given free rein and quickly built up a two-minute lead on the peloton. The leading group rolled well for the next 100k as the riders behind were content to let them stay away and decided the podium. Unfortunately the finale didn't go as planned and Matt Bell got out sprinted to the line managing only third place. With the final podium decided, the race for 5th place was on and Nate Macdonald soloed away from a late chasing group to take the first spot behind the breakaway.