Rolling into 2017...
Wow... it's been a while! Life has really picked up over the past couple of months between my cycling career, school, and just life in general! Mentally, I feel like I'm in a good place, balancing my online courses and finishing up the Cyclocross season on a positive note while having fun with all of my friends! Taking a year "off" before university, has been as rewarding as I could have hoped, ultimately it has allowed me to take the time to discover who I am, and what I want in my life!
The past few months I've had the privilege to compete at MTB nationals, travel to the states a couple times for some UCI Cyclocross races while meeting some incredible people.
MTB Nationals in Baie St. Paul Quebec fell short of my expectations, however, the course was incredible... technical, challenging, and incredibly fun. The course designers did an excellent job of converting the older course into the finale that was Nationals. I had the best support crew between the Ontario Cycling organization/team, Sean Kelly, MacArthur our mechanic, Laura Bietola, and my coach Rob Holmgren.
Unfortunately, it just wasn't my day, legs felt strong, but mentally I was psyched out after a crash early on in the race. In times like this, I find it's best not to dwell on disappointment, but to learn and move on. Our Junior National Team coach Ian Hughes has told us, "You have 24 hours to feel like sh@t after a bad race, or feel on top of the world after a good one.". After that it's time to focus on the next objective, for me that was the Cyclocross season and MTB provincials!
BUT THROUGH A RANDOM SEQUENCE OF EVENTS.... I BECAME A ROADIE!
In an attempt to begin training for the Cyclocross season which I was hoping to make a good effort for, I began racing some Ontario level crits, even road provincials where I placed 2nd racing as the sole Centurion Next Wave women's rider. I was lucky to team up with Kassandra Kriarakis from Kallisto who helped me figure out, road racing can actually be REALLY REALLY FUN!
Then, probably one of my favourite trips this year... VERMONT, THE GREEN MOUNTAIN STAGE RACE. To this day, I am shocked by how much I enjoyed this four day stage race with Team Ontario. Going into this event, I didn't really know what to expect, one of my best friends Sarah Fabbro and I were relying on our teammates Ruby West and (once again) Kassandra Kriarakis to guide us through this crazy new world of stage racing.
The first day was the time trial, I myself was having a great race until I got a mechanical on the last climb...
The third and fourth day were the most memorable for me.
The third day was the long day, 103 km, App Gap day. Going into this stage, our team realized we could get Ruby into the Sprint Jersey, climbing jersey, and possibly... the leaders jersey. The race began and we maintained a decent pace until the first assigned sprint approached. I was sitting mid pack with Sarah, with Ruby and Kassandra in my perspective just ahead.
To my understanding, we were NOT planning on going for the sprints, we had only planned to attack on the climbs. However... as we got closer I noticed Kassandra sneaking her way up to the front.. and I'm thinking she better not be going to pull right now when we/ve got 70 km left and 3 QOM's coming up! But then I noticed Ruby was behind her... weird. Now we're ramping up the speed and Kassandra is still on front... now you have to realize, as juniors we're forced to use "junior gearing" which limits the amount of gears we can use. However the women we were racing against were older and had no gear restriction. So now I realize, KASSANDRA IS LEADING RUBY OUT FOR THIS SPRINT! Holy sh&#$%t!! Not only did she lead her out, but Ruby got the sprint! That was the first insane moment of the race.
Next up, was the first QOM, as we approached, I realized I was closest to the front, Ruby second. We made eye contact and it was clear it was my turn to lead out. (insert freaking out face) The problem was that I'm not that experienced with the whole leading out thing so I started very early... I began attacking and soon I was on the front pushing a fast pace... the group started separating with Ruby behind me... I managed to hold the pace until a couple hundred meters before the peak of the climb and then "pulled aside" to let Ruby do her magic. This girl can climb. She got the QOM. Downside... I was so gassed that I got dropped after my pull... I thought I was going to have to ride the rest of the race solo... however, I began grouping up with others who hadn't made it with the lead group. Soon enough there was a massive pack of us including myself and Kassandra... and Ruby and Sarah were still in the lead group! All we could do was hope they were doing ok together. But as we rode on I realized I did not want to just "ride" the rest of the race. All of the major contenders for the leaders jersey were still in the main group, and it would be hard for Sarah and Ruby to create a big presence with just the two of them... Kassandra and I started working our group to try and make it back... and within the last 20 km... WE MADE IT ! We regrouped with Sarah and Ruby... turns out Sarah had led Ruby out a couple times to get another QOM! Now it was getting tight, there was one more QOM left and then the final climb up App Gap. We all felt strong and determined to show everyone how strong we were. The final QOM approached up Baby Gap (which was not baby-like by any means) , we set up a solid lead out, and bam, another QOM. Soon after this I was riding with Ruby and we realized... we could win this. I felt like I had a lot left in the tank so I became the designated lead out for the final climb, again, holy sh%$$#@t!!!
I began attacking up the final climb. Hard. Within a couple minutes, we had dropped majority of the pack, and soon enough it was just me pulling, Ruby, and four other riders. As I pulled off I watched as the four jersey contenders raced up the rest of the climb...I crossed the finish line desperate to find Ruby. I found Sean Kelly, our coach first who told me she got 2nd! An amazing finish!!Soon enough the four of us girls found each other and we celebrated together our incredible accomplishments... individually and as a team. In this moment, it's easy to feel like you're part of a family, working together and appreciating each other. I would have never got to feel like this if I hadn't decided to try something different. Best. Team. Eva.
Not long after the Vermont race did mountain biking come to an end, finishing up with one last race in Sir Sam's I was happy to take the win at mtb provincials, feeling proud to ride my revolver one last time...
Next up: Cyclocross. No one was as surprised as I was to find myself racing the top women Cyclocross racers in the world at various US CX races! It was as if one weekend I was having a blast stirring up trouble at Ontario Cup races to hopping in the van with some fellow team mates, crashing with 4 other guys in one hotel room, then racing incredible women like Katie Compton! (if you don't know who she is, google it. she's fast).
I honestly would never have made it out to these races without the encouragement (/harassment) from my coach Rob Holmgren. He convinced me I had enough talent to race in the big leagues which was the little push I think I needed to take the CX season a little more seriously. While maintaining the "fun" factor, the past couple months I've been having the time of my life, travelling, and causing some trouble on the race scene.
Feeling as if I'd quickly gained confidence, I approached CX Nationals with a more intense mentality than I have before previously with Cyclocross races. The race was one consisted of mud, mud, running, and more mud. BEST RACE EVAAA, comparable to conditions many Ontarians were fortunate to experience earlier this year at a mountain bike Ocup (the Duntroon race for those who were there to run it), it was pretty insane. I fought hard throughout the race and came away with a podium finish. An amazing way to end the season.
After an incredible year, it is safe to say... I've already started counting down the days until I can race again! Thank you to my team Angry Johnny's Cycling for supporting me all year, for showing me that with the right attitude you can accomplish anything. Thank you to my sponsors at Norco for helping me all year whenever I needed you, to my parents for supporting me, Team Ontario's Mike Suraci and Sean Kelly, my coach Rob Holmgren and Lisa Holmgren for motivating me all year, and to all of my friends and family for making everyday something to look forward to.
NOW....
Tis the off season to be jolly FALALALALA... just kidding! LETS GET RIDING
The past few months I've had the privilege to compete at MTB nationals, travel to the states a couple times for some UCI Cyclocross races while meeting some incredible people.
MTB Nationals in Baie St. Paul Quebec fell short of my expectations, however, the course was incredible... technical, challenging, and incredibly fun. The course designers did an excellent job of converting the older course into the finale that was Nationals. I had the best support crew between the Ontario Cycling organization/team, Sean Kelly, MacArthur our mechanic, Laura Bietola, and my coach Rob Holmgren.
Unfortunately, it just wasn't my day, legs felt strong, but mentally I was psyched out after a crash early on in the race. In times like this, I find it's best not to dwell on disappointment, but to learn and move on. Our Junior National Team coach Ian Hughes has told us, "You have 24 hours to feel like sh@t after a bad race, or feel on top of the world after a good one.". After that it's time to focus on the next objective, for me that was the Cyclocross season and MTB provincials!
BUT THROUGH A RANDOM SEQUENCE OF EVENTS.... I BECAME A ROADIE!
In an attempt to begin training for the Cyclocross season which I was hoping to make a good effort for, I began racing some Ontario level crits, even road provincials where I placed 2nd racing as the sole Centurion Next Wave women's rider. I was lucky to team up with Kassandra Kriarakis from Kallisto who helped me figure out, road racing can actually be REALLY REALLY FUN!
Then, probably one of my favourite trips this year... VERMONT, THE GREEN MOUNTAIN STAGE RACE. To this day, I am shocked by how much I enjoyed this four day stage race with Team Ontario. Going into this event, I didn't really know what to expect, one of my best friends Sarah Fabbro and I were relying on our teammates Ruby West and (once again) Kassandra Kriarakis to guide us through this crazy new world of stage racing.
The first day was the time trial, I myself was having a great race until I got a mechanical on the last climb...
The third and fourth day were the most memorable for me.
The third day was the long day, 103 km, App Gap day. Going into this stage, our team realized we could get Ruby into the Sprint Jersey, climbing jersey, and possibly... the leaders jersey. The race began and we maintained a decent pace until the first assigned sprint approached. I was sitting mid pack with Sarah, with Ruby and Kassandra in my perspective just ahead.
To my understanding, we were NOT planning on going for the sprints, we had only planned to attack on the climbs. However... as we got closer I noticed Kassandra sneaking her way up to the front.. and I'm thinking she better not be going to pull right now when we/ve got 70 km left and 3 QOM's coming up! But then I noticed Ruby was behind her... weird. Now we're ramping up the speed and Kassandra is still on front... now you have to realize, as juniors we're forced to use "junior gearing" which limits the amount of gears we can use. However the women we were racing against were older and had no gear restriction. So now I realize, KASSANDRA IS LEADING RUBY OUT FOR THIS SPRINT! Holy sh&#$%t!! Not only did she lead her out, but Ruby got the sprint! That was the first insane moment of the race.
Next up, was the first QOM, as we approached, I realized I was closest to the front, Ruby second. We made eye contact and it was clear it was my turn to lead out. (insert freaking out face) The problem was that I'm not that experienced with the whole leading out thing so I started very early... I began attacking and soon I was on the front pushing a fast pace... the group started separating with Ruby behind me... I managed to hold the pace until a couple hundred meters before the peak of the climb and then "pulled aside" to let Ruby do her magic. This girl can climb. She got the QOM. Downside... I was so gassed that I got dropped after my pull... I thought I was going to have to ride the rest of the race solo... however, I began grouping up with others who hadn't made it with the lead group. Soon enough there was a massive pack of us including myself and Kassandra... and Ruby and Sarah were still in the lead group! All we could do was hope they were doing ok together. But as we rode on I realized I did not want to just "ride" the rest of the race. All of the major contenders for the leaders jersey were still in the main group, and it would be hard for Sarah and Ruby to create a big presence with just the two of them... Kassandra and I started working our group to try and make it back... and within the last 20 km... WE MADE IT ! We regrouped with Sarah and Ruby... turns out Sarah had led Ruby out a couple times to get another QOM! Now it was getting tight, there was one more QOM left and then the final climb up App Gap. We all felt strong and determined to show everyone how strong we were. The final QOM approached up Baby Gap (which was not baby-like by any means) , we set up a solid lead out, and bam, another QOM. Soon after this I was riding with Ruby and we realized... we could win this. I felt like I had a lot left in the tank so I became the designated lead out for the final climb, again, holy sh%$$#@t!!!
I began attacking up the final climb. Hard. Within a couple minutes, we had dropped majority of the pack, and soon enough it was just me pulling, Ruby, and four other riders. As I pulled off I watched as the four jersey contenders raced up the rest of the climb...I crossed the finish line desperate to find Ruby. I found Sean Kelly, our coach first who told me she got 2nd! An amazing finish!!Soon enough the four of us girls found each other and we celebrated together our incredible accomplishments... individually and as a team. In this moment, it's easy to feel like you're part of a family, working together and appreciating each other. I would have never got to feel like this if I hadn't decided to try something different. Best. Team. Eva.
Not long after the Vermont race did mountain biking come to an end, finishing up with one last race in Sir Sam's I was happy to take the win at mtb provincials, feeling proud to ride my revolver one last time...
Next up: Cyclocross. No one was as surprised as I was to find myself racing the top women Cyclocross racers in the world at various US CX races! It was as if one weekend I was having a blast stirring up trouble at Ontario Cup races to hopping in the van with some fellow team mates, crashing with 4 other guys in one hotel room, then racing incredible women like Katie Compton! (if you don't know who she is, google it. she's fast).
Feeling as if I'd quickly gained confidence, I approached CX Nationals with a more intense mentality than I have before previously with Cyclocross races. The race was one consisted of mud, mud, running, and more mud. BEST RACE EVAAA, comparable to conditions many Ontarians were fortunate to experience earlier this year at a mountain bike Ocup (the Duntroon race for those who were there to run it), it was pretty insane. I fought hard throughout the race and came away with a podium finish. An amazing way to end the season.
NOW....
Tis the off season to be jolly FALALALALA... just kidding! LETS GET RIDING
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