Report by Scott Gerrie,
Manager Team Biovail/Cervélo
The cool mist on our sunglass turned to a steam which quickly
fogged our
vision, as we faced the monstrous climbs. From the bottom it
looked like a
staircase about a hundred stories high. It was so steep, that the
climb
seemed to eat the riders at each step. An amazing sight, I’m sure
for the
spectators!
This race was like a giant criterium with “a few” big hills. The
reflectors
all over the road, the potholes, and the corners worked wonders
for taking
your mind of the impending climbs!
The race starts with two ‘parade’ laps of approximately 1 mile
each around
the start finish area. Then the women headed out for 5 big laps,
up both
the Fillmore and Taylor climbs, followed by one short lap, which
includes
only the Taylor climb. The race was fast right from the gun, and
the parade
laps flew by at 45-plus kilometers an hour. For many this was a
sense of
things to come! The pace did not slow until the climb up
Fillmore, an 18%
grade, which seemed to cause an instant separation of the field.
Leigh, Jen
S., Jen M. and Rhonda held their own and maintained their position
within
the field. However, the fast downhill leading up to the next 18%
climb did
not give much time to recover, and this seemed to take its toll on
the
field.
In the last few laps a select few made up the final group that
finished
together. Any early attack from Manon Jutras of Quark Cycling
would be the
first move of the day. There were several other small breaks
during the race
with Webcor, Victory Brewing and Versicherung/Lietzsport plus a
few others
all taking turns. It was not until the last time up Taylor that
Nicole Cooke
of Safi-Pasta Zara Manhattan made her final and deciding move; Lynn Bessette of
Quark
tried to follow but was unable. A group of 16 riders followed
close behind
the winning rider. The largest group left on the road included
Biovail
rider, Leigh Hobson who finished 24th overall and was the 7th
Canadian on
this grueling course. Jen Stephenson finished well with the 3rd
group on the
course which contained riders from Victory Brewing, Webcor,
Genesis Scuba
and Palo Alto Bicycles.
Biovail riders worked well together, in the toughest race in North
America,
with an Olympic Medalist and National Champions present. It was a
great race
to end a great year, congratulations to all. A special thanks to
our feeders
Judy Quillin and Nicole Gilinsky and to John Winman, Mark Davies
and Ken
Villazor for all your help in getting bikes ready, to helping out
with the
photo shoot and making this a great weekend.
Thank you to our sponsors; Biovail Corporation, Cervélo Cycles,
DapaSoft,
Clif Bar & Shots, Verge Sport, ProNet - Selle Italia, Giro
Helmets, Port
Credit Physiotherapy, Tri-Flow, Velomax Wheels
Team Biovail - Cervelo for T-Mobile
Bib #81 - HOBSEN Leigh (CAN)
Bib #82 - STEPHENSON Jennifer (CAN)
Bib #83 - MAGUR Jenn (USA)
Bib #84 - GUZDA Rhonda (CAN)
Bib #85 - GARNETT Anna (CAN)
Bib #86 - FARRELL Julia (CAN)
Bib #87 - DODMAN Nanci (CAN)
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