On Wednesday July 3rd 21 athletes from Team BC, Team Alberta, Team Quebec and Team Canada travel first to Montreal and on to Pittsburg for the USABMX UCI rounds at the South Park track and then back up to Coteau-du-lac, QC for a week of training and the first two rounds of the Canada Cup series.
We arrived in Montreal on Wednesday evening and met up with Team Quebec and the Alberta riders. We drove for about three hours to our halfway point in Watertown, New York arriving at midnight. On Thursday we got up and drove the rest of the way to Pittsburgh making for a very long drive especially after the flight to Montreal and all the driving the day before. We arrived too late to go to the track on Thursday evening but we went for a ride around the hotel and did some sprints. On Friday the girls left for the track at around noon to go to practice I was ill so I only got one lap on the track and ended up going back to the hotel when the vans went to get the boys and elites for their practices. On Saturday morning I got a flat tire so I missed my first practice. I was lucky to also have the pro practice so it gave me some time on the track before the race. On Saturday the junior girls race had five riders so we were total p
oints but the 17- 20 girls class had 19 rides. I came in fifth in Junior girls and eight in 17-20 girls. On Sunday the pros had warm up on the track before racing so we were all at the track very early. Right before mains it began to pour and the track became a slip and slide, this was the most slippery track I have ever been on. I came in fourth in junior girls and fifth in 17-20 girls despite crashing in my main. After racing we packed up and headed back to Montreal with a bit of a delay when we got a flat on the Quebec trailer. The track was down hill and very well maintained so the racers could go a lot faster than normal which made it really fun to ride. This was my first American race and it was also my first UCI race and I enjoyed myself a lot.
Erin Kinnie
This was my second time in Quebec and first time in Montreal and it definitely did not disappoint. The track in Coteau-du-lac was a lot of fun especially the corners which were pretty slick and made for some very exciting race action. On Saturday I came away with the win in junior men but on Sunday I had an unfortunate incident in the second turn all by myself
while I was in front but there is nothing I can do about that. When we weren’t at the track we were most likely at the canal that runs through Valleyfield trying to cool off from the long days at the track or downtown at the festival they had for the 75th annual Valleyfield Regatta boat race which was very cool to see. Everything about this trip was great and I had a lot of fun.
Hayden Mechielsen
Canada Cup #1 – Results
Junior Female – Erin Kinne 3rd place
Junior Male – Hayden Mechielsen – 1st place
Elite Female – Rosemary Adams – 1st place
Elite Male – Connor McCormack – 2nd Place
– Mischa Partridge – 3rd place
– James Palmer – 4th place
Canada Cup #2 – Results
Junior Female – Erin Kinne 3rd place
Junior Male – Hayden Mechielsen – 7th place
Elite Female – Rosemary Adams – 2nd place
Elite Male – Connor McCormack – 2nd Place
– Brandon Reid – 3rd place
– Mischa Partridge – 6th place
– James Palmer – 7th place