In July it seemed to rain every day in Ontario.
Racing in the Ottawa GP was a very wet undertaking. It poured on us throughout the race. Bryson and I were both involved with crashes, but Jamie held on for a top-ten finish. The next day was the Provincial Crit, also in Ottawa. For some reason they thought it would be a good idea to allow non-Ontario riders in the race. One Ontario rider brought 5 Quebecers to help him out, and since they didn’t care about medals, the tactics were negative. No excuses, just irritating. I finished 9th overall (5th Ontario rider).
On to Burlington and the Provincial Road Championships, and more rain. This time we had a lot of close lightning as well. They cancelled the Canadian Open Golf Tournament that was just down the street, but we continued to race. The course is a nice and hilly circuit, and will be used for the Nationals in 2 years. Jet Fuel had one guy in the break, me. I started cramping badly with 2 laps to go, got dropped, came back on the decent, then got dropped again. I road in for 9th (4th Elite).
Next up, my all-time favourite, Montreal-Quebec. I do love this race, and was very happy to have the chance to do it again. The attacks started early and Jet Fuel covered everything, and made attacks of our own. We were not going to miss “the move”. I flatted, Kevin waited and we chased hard for 15km behind the team car while under surveillance from the commissaires, (no holding on allowed!). Nearing the finish I was in the top ten, the break split, and I was in the 2nd group. The podium was out of reach, but 6th was still possible. 2km to go I crashed! Total drag, I got up still hoping to come top ten. I got my leg over my bike when 15 riders came around the corner and nearly ran into me. I had to get my self together and finished 23rd. Did I mention that it was raining all day? After 248km, and almost 6 hours in the saddle, crashing was a tough pill to swallow.
The nice weather is here now and it feels very good.
Check our results and schedule for the latest. Next big races… Windsor Tour di Via Italia and Univest GP.