Valley of the Sun Stage Race - First Result of the Year!
Hosted in Phoenix, Arizona Feb 13th to 15th, new Team Whistler rider Nels Guloien was the first on the Team to complete a bike race in the 2009 season. It was a great race and an early wake up call for the race season. It was also a great start to the team for him.
Day 1 was a 22 Km individual time trial and with little, to no experience in the TT, Nels suited up and rigged up his daugthers bike for the race. Right out of the starting ramp he experienced his first complication - a handlebar problem. Nels neglected to adequately tighten the stem cap securing the handlebar and spent the entire 35 minutes of pain and suffering pulling on the bars to keep them straight. Even with low expectations for his first ITT, Nels placed 20th out of the 50 or so in the Masters Men 50 plus Category.
Day 2 was the road race this went much smoother. The course was relatively flat and other than a strong wind, the weather was beautiful. The race was completed in just under 2 hours with no complications and he was feeling much more confident and managed to stay in the top ten the entire race finally finished 6th after a long sprint finish.
Day 3 was the crit and going into this race Nels was tentative. The course was rumoured to be dead flat with only six turns - a course that would favour the bigger, stronger riders. As it turned out, the course did have a fairly long climb - not super steep but enough to keep things interesting and to keep Nels in the race. He was able to stay up front with the leaders and felt pretty good. With 5 laps to go, a two man breakaway developed and he did my best to lead a chase group, sadly, to no avail. The chase group stayed together finishing with a sprint to the line. Perhaps he did too much work trying to reel in the breakaway which resulted in a 7th overall finish.
Overall, it was a great weekend and Nels looks forward to returning to Phoenix next year to mix it up with this very competitive US Masters field. Maybe next year a few more Team Whistler members will join!
UPCOMING EVENTS
- Mt. Washington BC Cup #6
Saturday, July 31, 2010
- BC TT Championships
Saturday, August 07, 2010
Provincial TT champs (location tbd)
- Mt. Seymour Challenge
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Regional level Road hill climb up this North Vancouver classic.
- Ken Quan / Team Whistler BC Cup XC
Sunday, August 08, 2010
BC Cup finals in the spirit of Ken Quan Ride on. Starting from the Riverside Campground and featuring also the Corridor Cup team event with defending SK champs Kelly and Dwayne. Details to follow. Ride on!
- Steveston Sockeye Spin
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Provincial level road crit in Steveston
