June 21, 2010

Tour de Beauce

by Nic Hamilton

While delayed in the Quebec City airport I thought I would take the time to draft up some thoughts on my most recent race. Matt Bell and I were given the opportunity to race with the National Team during this year's edition of the Tour de Beauce. I had heard many stories and been given just many tips as warnings on how to do this race. The first story that nearly everyone told was of the food; from the first night until the last it was non-stop. The race buffet was incredible of seemingly endless supply which encompassed nearly everything one would want to eat. Notable mention included apple, cinnamon and raison crepes with a Canadian Maple cream syrup.

The race itself was 6 stages and covered over 800km of rural Quebec roads. The race traveled through many small towns including Thetford, a town made known because of an enormous open top mine. In the world of geology and mining the scales of measurement range from large to enormous, but this was vastly more magnificent than anything I had seen before. The rolling green hills had been swallowed and flattened by industry and the pillage for resources. Despite being a person partial to limiting my impact on the environment, I was very, very impressed. My curious mind wanted to abruptly change plans and go from spandex clad biker to a coverall wearing miner and explore the depths, but common sense got the better of me as I realized I was better suited to looking like a dork and pedaling bikes.

The race also had a very remarkable stage set in the heart of old Quebec City. Canada will be hosting two Pro Tour events (the top level in cycling) and the stage in Quebec City had been slightly altered to pose as a trial run for this upcoming event. The course itself was fast and technical as it twisted down narrow lane ways similar to that of smaller European roads as well as historical areas such as the Plains of Abraham and the Boulevard Champlain. Quebec City is a wonderful place and I still have many coffee shops and restaurants left to visit. Perhaps next year.

We came into the race with the intention of making it hard and being very aggressive and all the tenacity we brought culminated in setting Will Routley up for a podium finish on the final day. While this is the most measurable success we had, the presence we brought to the race was also noted as people thought we assembled the most competitive squad to represent the national team at Beauce in many years. This in itself is an accomplishment as there is a strong future in Canadian Cycling and being able to showcase it builds confidence and draws positive attention.

Like all big races, once one is under the belt you look forward to the next. I remember saying that about many races that are coming up on the calendar now. As for Beauce, I will slot it into that category as I am very eager to it again, however I will now narrow my focus in on Nationals and BC Superweek excited to rejoin the team in Alberta shortly.