Hard, cold, wet, miserable, and nasty were only a few of the words bike racers were using to describe the Russ Hays Sooke Classic Road Race and ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Provincial Championships yesterday. Some of the 184 competitors were still shivering an hour after finishing, or dropping out of, the challenging race through the twists and over the hills along West Coast Road.
"Oh man, the first half was brutal," said Victoria's Erinne Willock, of the road race, which was the second leg of this weekend's Bob W. Cameron Law Cycling Series. "Halfway through, I thought, 'I should quit.'"
But Willock is a Beijing Olympian, and no quitter. She turned for home, with the wind at her back, and won the 95-kilometre women's elite race in a time of two hours, 57 minutes. It was the first ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ championship for the 28-year-old, who has usually missed the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ title race while touring in Europe or elsewhere in North America.
"I finally won in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, after 10 years," Willock said, soaked, chilled, and smiling. Riding solo, rather than with a team, she won with patience, aggressive riding, and her strength as a hill climber -- Willock was the top woman in Friday's ProCity Racing Bear Mountain Hill Climb. "I made people chase me."
In the men's 140-kilometre race, a duo of Garneau Evolution riders combined to earn a victory for Vancouver's Tim Abercrombie, in 3:35.04. As the field gradually pulled apart on the climbs, Abercrombie, who said the fog and rain were like "riding through Braille," and teammate Curtis Dearden of Mill Bay, who finished fourth, found themselves among a small pack of five cyclists. Dearden helped push Abercrombie to the front of the line.
"It was really tough, but that made for a really memorable race," Dearden said.
One guy who'll definitely remember the Sooke race is Cuylar Conly of Saskatoon. The image of Conly's buddy and Westwood Cycle/Cannondale teammate Ryan Olson of Vancouver riding his bike through the parking lot at John Muir Elementary school carrying a toilet plunger might be hard to forget.
The plunger was somehow supposed to unlock the door to Conly's van, which was running, with the doors locked, and the keys inside.
Conly was in the front pack, about 50-kilometres into the elite race, when the chain on his bike broke. He hitch-hiked back to his van, freezing cold, and wound up locking both his keys and warm clothes inside. The plunger didn't work, and the pair had to wait for professional help.
"Tomorrow's another day," said Olson, who had just gotten over bronchitis, and took an early exit from the race. "I needed another layer [of clothes], a rain, jacket, parka, and maybe some leg warmers."
Both Olson and Conly were planning on recovering in time for today's La-Z-Boy Bastion Square Grand Prix set around a 900-metre loop around downtown Victoria. The Grand Prix, which starts at 8:30 a.m., with the elite racers going at noon and 1 p.m., is notorious for its 'crash corner' at Yates and Wharf streets, especially if it rains.
Tire tracks: Nick Hamilton and Jamie Sparling, and Jasmine Glaesser and Jessica Hannah placed second and third in the men's and women's elite races, respectively. In the junior divisions, Kyle Buckosky, Zachary Taylor, and Devin McClelland were the top three men, while Annie Ewart, Julia Garnet, and Kathleen Wenting were the fastest women. ... Garmin Tour de France member Ryder Hesjedal defeated 89 others to win the Bear Mountain Hill Climb on Friday, climbing the three-kilometre route in 7:05 minutes. Rob Bitton was second, and Corey Wallace third. On the women's side, Megan Rathwell and Shailie Sansbrook were second and third, behind Willock's time of 8:33. ... Today also features the Tim Hortons Timbits Challenge kids race, and the High School Race.
