The last stop of the June Canada Cup project for the MTB team wrapped up this weekend at Hardwood Hills in Barrie, ON. The team spent the weekend training at the venue, working on starts, intervals, technical skills and finding plenty of time to dial in the track. They even managed to get in a fun social ride on the Copeland Trails near Horseshoe Valley and a toonie race at Hardwood to work on some new race strategies.
Julia long had this to say about her experience on her first Canada Cup Project:
Having the week at hardwood to dial in some of the technical features was a huge bonus and definitely gave me a lot of confidence – I hit all the pro lines throughout my race. It was also a really great experience to ride some very different terrain and trails than what I’m used to back home in Whistler.
Come race day, the track was FAST! The day before the sky opened up with a decent amount of rain, which made for a tacky track, and making an already fun and fast track even more fun and fast. U15 rider Emilly Johnston was upgraded to the U17 category and took the silver medal, missing the gold by just 20 seconds. It was a great experience for her experience a bit more competition and see where she measures up against some of the girls she’ll be competing in the series with next year. Emily Handford captured another gold. It was a nail biting race that saw her sprint for the finish. Handford also managed to hold on to the Canada Cup leaders jersey for another race. Junior rider, Sean Fincham, took the silver medal behind local Hardwood rider, Quinton Disera. Sean had this to say about his race:
I had a rough start to the project with a bad head cold and some respiratory issues leading into Horseshoe Valley. This week I managed to rest up a bit, and focused on trying to be the best I could for the Hardwood race. I had a great start to the Hardwood race, holding Quinton’s wheel for the the first lap. Moving into the 2nd lap I launched several attacks, but just didn’t have enough left in the tank to keep it up. I didn’t have the strength to hold him as I still wasn’t feeling 100%. I raced my race from lap 3 on, and felt good coming across the line. Overall, I was very happy with the race and my performance.
The next stop on the schedule for the MTB Team is Nationals in Baie St. Paul, followed by the 5th stop on the Canada Cup MTB Series in St. Felicien, QC.
