Julia's Journal

2010-05-15T16:02:00.000-07:00

I was interviewed for an article that appeared in some of the Metroland papers, including the Arnprior Chronicle-Guide and the West Carleton Review, a couple of weeks ago. I grew up in the West Carleton area and went to High School in Arnprior, so it was neat to be featured in those papers.

Thanks to my friend, Jennifer Higginson, for mailing me a copy.

You can read the full article online here:
http://www.yourottawaregion.com/localprofile/article/806523--making-the-news

2010-05-11T18:45:00.001-07:00

My Team!

Here's a link to a feature article about my team, "Stevens racing Presented by the Cyclery", that appeared today on Canadiancyclist.com.

http://canadiancyclist.com/cycling4women_features.php?id=18969

I'm looking forward to a 3rd season racing with these women!

You can read more about my team here:
www.stevensracingcanada.com

2010-05-02T19:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from my trip to Europe as part of the 2010 World Championship Canadian National Track Cycling team. We spent a week in Apeldoorn, Holland before going into Copenhagen, Denmark for the World Championships. Apeldoorn is the sight of the 2011 World Championships, so this was a good opportunity for us to get to know the track before next year's Worlds while adjusting to jet lag before the competition began in Copenhagen.

Photos are courtesy of Fred Draisma - a cyclist, Canadian team fan and talented photographer who came out to watch our training sessions in Apeldoorn.

Team Pursuit training...

Tara and I discovering "Canada Lane" in Apeldoorn, Holland.
Photo courtesy Tanya Dubnicoff

2010-02-28T09:24:00.000-08:00

Canadian Cycling Association

02.23.10 - Canadian Track Team Announcement for Worlds

February 23, 2010 - The UCI has announced the qualification quotas for the upcoming World Track Championships in Copenhagen March 24-28, 2010. Canada started the international season with a successful Panamerican Championships, setting 1 Pan Am record, 5 Canadian Records, and winning 7 medals. Small teams were sent to the first two World Cups where newcomers to the Elite International scene gained valuable experience. Full teams competed in the last two World Cups where Canadian continued to set Canadian records and personal bests in every event they entered and came home with 6 medals. The success of the riders has earned the team starts in 11 events.

Team veteran and Olympian Zach Bell will be competing in the Points Race and Scratch Race. He won gold medals in both of these events at the World Cup in Beijing and is currently ranked second in the World in the points race. At the 2009 World Championships Bell gained a wild card entry in to the omnium, a new Olympic event, and came home with the silver medal. He finds himself in the same position going in to Copenhagen and does not currently have a start position.

Travis Smith, who is also a veteran of the National Team Program, will be competing in the Sprint and Keirin. He has had his strongest season so far since crashing and breaking his hip in 2007 and is pleased with how his training is going heading in to Worlds.

Smith will be joined by Stephane Cossette and Joseph Veloce for the Team Sprint. The team started their partnership with a bang by posting the third fastest time in qualifying at the third World Cup in Cali where they finished 4th. All three members are training in LA before leaving for Worlds where they hope put together a fast and technical perfect performance and improve on their 8th place World ranking.

Monique Sullivan will represent Canada in the 500 meter time trial and the Keirin. She has placed in the top 10 in both events in World Cups and is looking to do the same in Copenhagen.

Tara Whitten, World Silver medalist in the Omnium last year is looking to take one more step on the podium this year. She will compete in the Individual Pursuit and Points Race, events that she is currently ranked 3rd and 4th in the World respectively. Laura Brown, Steph Roorda, and reserve rider Julia Bradley will join Whitten in the Team Pursuit. This team has set a new Canadian record 3 of the 4 times they have raced internationally and placed on the podium each time winning a gold and bronze medal. Currently ranked 3rd in the World, these determined women have their sites set high for the World Championships.

Most of the team have set up a home base in LA over the winter months and will head to the Netherlands for a training camp before arriving in Copenhagen on March 20th. Fans are encouraged to cheer on the team via the wall on facebook (Canadian Track Cycling).

http://canadian-cycling.com/cca/media/news/2010/0223_track.shtml

2009-10-07T16:22:00.000-07:00

Fri, Aug. 28/09
Today was Day One of track competition for me. I qualified 3rd in the Individual Pursuit this morning which put me straight through to the bronze medal final this evening. I was racing against Steph Roorda in the final. It was a seesaw battle that saw the lead change many times. In the end, I won in a respectable time of 3:58.

Sat, Aug 29/09
Today was the Points race. It was 20km (100 laps) with sprints every 10 laps. I was in a group of 3 that lapped the field and duked it out for the top 2 places. I won the bronze medal in one a very aggressive points race.

Sun, Aug 30/ 09
Today was the final day of the National Championships. I raced in the 10km scratch race. It was 50 laps of the 200 metre track.

Three laps into the race, Laura Brown attacked. A Quebec rider was in front of me and she got out of her saddle to go with the break. Her chain snapped with the acceleration and I was stuck behind her to try and maneuver around. I had to "put on the brakes" then steer up and over.

Fortunately, everyone stayed upright but there was a break of three (Rachel Canning, Laura Brown and Tara Whitten) already one third of the way around the track. I put the hammer down and caught the remaining group. When I got to the front I drove it as hard as I could to try to get up to the break. Unfortunately, no one was able to stay with me so I put my head down and chased and chased and chased. I was chasing solo for a total of 27 laps.

One of the riders in the break of three (Rachel Canning) got dropped and the remaining two (Laura Brown and Tara Whitten) caught and lapped me. I jumped on their wheel and sat on until Canning was caught and I "unlapped" her. At this point the four of us were together with about 5 laps to go. Tara and Laura were set to battle for gold and I was duking it out for bronze with Rachel Canning. It was like two match sprints happening simultaneously. With 2.5 laps to go, I jumped and came across the line for a bronze medal.

I believe I was seeing stars for about an hour afterwards. It felt like I'd done a 50 lap pursuit! I was happy with the result given the bad luck I had at the beginning of the race. This was a good reminder for me never to give up. You just never know what can happen!

My results for the weekend:
Bronze medal: Individual Pursuit
Bronze medal: Points Race
Bronze medal: Scratch Race

Additional coverage on the Canadian Cycling Association’s website:
http://www.canadian-cycling.com/cca/media/news/2009/0829_tracknationals.shtml

2009-09-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

Check out the cool article on my sister, Charlotte's yoga blog. And I always thought tapas was just Spanish cuisine!

http://www.yogaflavoredlife.com/philosophy/what-is-tapas-bringing-fiery-enthusiasm-to-your-yoga-practice.html

2009-04-20T10:30:00.000-07:00

Calabogie Ontario Cup Road Race

This weekend marked the first race of the year with my new road team, Stevens Racing presented by the Cyclery. I finished on the podium in 2nd place. After being in a breakaway for the last 40 km of the 75 km race, it was a drag race to the line. My teammate, Sophie Matte finished 4th in the sprint and Trish K. Spooner and Sue Schlatter finished with the pack. Congrats to all the finishers!

2008-08-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

2008 Road Racing Season

Here are some pics from my 2008 racing season. I raced for the EMD Serono Stevens womens team. I did alot of travelling and racing in the US (primarily New York and Vermont) in the spring - Jiminy Peaks, Hollenbeck, Bear Mountain, Syracuse stage race and one or 2 others I can't remember! As a team, we raced the Calabogie Ontario Cup, where I placed 4th, the Montreal World Cup, the tour de PEI UCI stage race and National Road Championships in Beauce, Quebec. That is where my season ended. I got caught behind a crash that I could not avoid on a high speed descent and went down hard. My collarbone fractured in 4 places and I required surgery to have a plate put in.

This is me, Trish and Sophie in Syracuse after Sophie finished on the podium in the stage race.

Montreal World Cup - epic conditions and poor Quebec roads made for an interesting race. I was happy with how I raced, and impressed with my teammate, Sue Schlatter's, 33rd place in a World Class field. Just for the record, this Stevens road bike is the lightest and stiffest bike I've ever ridden. What a treat!

Trish and me racing together at the World Cup in Montreal.

EMD Serono Stevens Women's team at the tour de PEI.
l to r: Sue, me, Ireen, Sophie, Trish, Julie (DS)

This is me and Sophie on a bus shelter in Charlottetown, PEI! Apparently we were the poster girls for the '08 tour de PEI. The picture was from '07. Sophie is in red and yellow and I'm in the blue Advil jersey right beside Sophie. We always seem to be close to one another in races so it was pretty funny to see us on the bus shelter, especially because we were on different teams last year.

2008-02-22T12:37:00.000-08:00

CBC Radio: Outfront

My piece ran on CBC Radio's "Outfront" last night! If you missed it, you can listen to it online:
http://www.cbc.ca/outfront/listen/2008/08-02-21.html

Like a Pack of Wolves
by Julia Bradley

Julia Bradley lives and breathes bicycle racing. An elite athlete, she reveals the animal instincts that give a competitor the jump on the pack in a sport where one dare not show weakness.

Producers: Lindsay Michael & Neil Sandell

2008-02-22T12:15:00.000-08:00

Track World Cup #4 - Copenhagen, Denmark

The 4th and final World Cup race was held in Copenhagen, Denmark over the weekend. I raced in 3 races at the World Cup. Saturday was the Pursuit and Scratch race and Sunday was the Points race.

Individual Pursuit:
Personal best performances and strange races were the theme of the day on Saturday. I did a 3:55Pursuit, a personal best by 0.2 seconds and 5 seconds faster than I did at the LA World Cup, where I was sick. My first lap was a bit slow and I threw in a quick 2nd lap and set a good pace on the third lap. I started to fade a bit in the 2nd kilometre and was passed by a Russian rider as I came into the home straight with 4 laps (1km) to go. This is usually good motivation for me as it gives me something to focus on and a rabit to chase. Unfortunately, the Russian slowed down after passing me like someone had jumped on her back. I actually had to back right off to avoid drafting just when I wanted to give my finishing kick. I even contemplated repassing her, but that is illegal by UCI rules, and I would have been disqualified had I done that. So for my last kilo, I was stuck behind her going slower than I wanted to. It was quite a strange situation and I was disappointed that I couldn't have really killed it in the last kilo, as I felt that I may have been able to take up to 2 seconds off my time. However, it was a personal best and that's always a good thing! End result: 20th.

Scratch Race:
A few hours later, my focus was on the Scratch race qualifier. I had the race of my life. I felt strong, confident and raced better than I’ve ever raced. It was 20 laps (5km) and 12 riders from each of the 2 heats go through to the final. Once the pack got rolling, the speed remained high for the duration. I felt comfortable moving around the pack and my legs felt great with the quick pace. With 3 laps to go, I jumped into a hole in the pole lane and the wave of riders seemed to be moving well in that line. I was in a great position coming into the bell lap (1 lap to go) and just needed to hold my position to get through in the top 12. We crossed the finish line and I had no trouble hanging onto the group. I even had the feeling that I could have gone faster if there weren't riders in front of me. I finished somewhere in the top 12 which should have put me through to the World Cup final. However.....

As we approached that last lap, going into what I thought was the finish, the bell rang again. Some riders heard this and some didn't. Some riders slowed down like the race was over and some sped up like they were going into the last lap of a scratch race. As a result of the confusion, there was a crash and the crash was right in front of me. I had nowhere to go but over a person/bike, and down I went. I suffered some scratches, bruising, and a good hit on the lower back, which seemed to shift my back and pelvis out of whack. I also cracked my helmet and took a piece out of my disc wheel.

I am quite sure that the person who was running the lap counter screwed up. Early in the race, a solo rider took a lap on the pack. That meant the pack should race for only 19, not 20 laps. I believe that the first finish bell was for 19 laps when the race really should have ended and the second bell was for 20 laps, and was a mistake by the officials. I was given a result based on the "second" finish (after I crashed). Because the crash took place within a lap of the finish, they still gave me an official placing of 15th - everyone who crashed got placed at the back of the pack, but it was not enough to go through to the final.

As much as the end result was disappointing for me, I knew that I had raced my best ever scratch race. My preparation was good, my speed was great and my fitness was there.

Points Race:
I woke up Sunday feeling pretty banged up but warmed up and got ready for the points race. The race was 10 km with 4 sprints. The gun went off after the neutral lap and I attacked. 3 of us were off the front. As soon as I tried to put power on the pedals, I knew my legs weren't going to cooperate. The hit I took on my left SI joint from the previous day's crash had shifted my lower back and pelvis and I had trouble putting out power. I struggled to pull through with my breakaway companions. We stayed away for the first sprint and and I picked up a point which put me in 4th position after sprint #1. The pack caught us somewhere between the first and second sprint. It was all I could do to sit in and when the pace picked up, I was off the back alone. Eventually, I was lapped by the field and finished outside of the top 12. I knew why I was hurting but at least I'd tried something in the race.

My coach, Steve, puts things into perspective and I'll quote him directly: "There's an important lesson here. Sometimes you actually ride very well but things happen that make so that the actual quality of your effort doesn't show up on the scoreboard or results. In those instances, it's very important to be aware of what you've accomplished and how it is good. The results only tell a small part of what actually happens in a competition."

My preparation leading up to this weekend was good and I felt that I was on par with the best in the world. This weekend marks the end of my track season and the beginning of a short period of rest and relaxation before road racing season begins. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank those who have made it possible for me to compete on the 2007/ 2008 International Track cycling circuit.

Firstly, I am grateful to Planet Energy for sponsoring the Team R.A.C.E. Pro Track Team for the second year.

Thank you to my sponsors at Oakley and System Fitness. I am grateful to my coach, Steve Karpik, whose dedication and belief in me is unwavering. Thanks also to my strength trainer, Dennis Lindsay.

I was very touched by the generosity of several individuals who made donations to my World Cup racing fund. I'd like to acknowledge each one. Thank you: Peter Mansbridge, Deen Karim, Donna Morissette, Nancy Kelly, Abby Thom, Ian Kalushner, Andrea Cardillo, Mary Mather, Nicholas Tustin, Ronda Clanfield ,Knowlton Nash and Lorraine Thompson-Nash, Geraldine Connelly, Monica and Jonathan Whitten, Richard Rogers, Elizabeth Johnson, Tamir Kojfman, Leslie Stojsic, Mark and Rhonda Bulgutch, Gail Chang, Jennifer Leask, Micheal D'Souza, Melinda Lehman, Anne Carroll, Toni Tosti, Michael Santianni, Alison Smith, Mark Harrison and Jennifer Harwood, Steph Jenzer, Vish Gajadhar, Jeff Goldhar, Terry Auciello and Ruby Buiza, Romilla Karnick, Kalli Roger and Stephen Booth, Carmine Caravaggio, Jeff Keay. Thanks also to Fred Parker who helped drum up support for my endeavours.

I must also thank Todd Hayes for loaning me his front disc wheel for the Pursuit.

As always, a very special thank you is reserved for Sherali, who has been a constant source of support and inspiration. And finally, to my family and friends who are always supportive of my endeavours to realize my potential as an athlete and proud of me no matter how things go.

2008-02-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Kobenhavn

I'm in Copenhagen, Denmark for the World Cup this weekend (Feb 15-17). Here's a few pics of my first couple days in the city. The weather has been pleasant, at least compared to Toronto. It's been 5-10 degrees. But the track is indoors, so it doesn't really matter too much, I guess. Anyway, it's a great city!

Steph, Steve and I go and check out the track in Copenhagen. Yippee!

A beautiful track - very smooth and looks fast!

We've also had a chance to do some sightseeing downtown. Here's a typical intersection filled with cyclists commuting everywhere. If only North American city streets were filled with bikes like this. Dreamy!

2008-01-23T16:32:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from my trip to Australia. First, here's me and Mina in front of the Opera House in Sydney - gotta have a pic of that!

The racing fans in Latrobe, Tasmania, having turkey leftover lunches on boxing day.

This is the track in Devonport, Tasmania. There were 2 days of racing on this track during the Tasmanian Christmas Carnivals.

Emma and me with our "Ute" - that's short for Utility Vehicle.

Saying hi to the Wallabyes

Sprinting in the Points race at the Silverdome in Launceston, Tasmania - a beautiful track!

The Woodchopping competition in the middle of the track at the Silverdome

Tasmanian Devils - the real ones!

The blue track in Burnie, Tasmania

Giving the fans a high-five.

Making the paper after a podium finish in the Wheelrace in Burnie

Devonport racing

Relaxing on the beach in Tassie on a day off racing the Carnivals.

The track in Canberra

The Canberra track - 2 poisonous snakes live in the grass on the infield.

Waiting to start a handicap race with my pusher, Ron, at a Carnival race at the Sydney velodrome

"Revolution 2" in Melbourne - Dec. 19/07

2007-12-28T04:51:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from Australia!

I went for a lovely road ride in Canberra on Christmas morning with Emma, her sister Kate, and Kate's husband Chris. They showed me the sights and we even saw some kangaroos! That afternoon, Emma and I flew to Tasmania where we are racing in the Tassie Christmas carnivals. I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

2007-12-26T18:09:00.000-08:00

Latrobe, Tasmania

This is what the Tassie Carnivals are all about.... Handicap racing. Riders start on different marks on the track, their handicap determined by an official "handicapper". If the handicapper has done their job right, the riders should be crossing the finish line at the same time and sprinting for the win. If done correctly, it makes for an exciting finish. "Pushers" hold the riders at the start and give them a big push when the gun goes off. Here's an example. That's fellow Canadian Keith Thorarinson in the red.

2007-09-11T06:49:00.000-07:00

2007 Canadian National Track Championships

The 2007 Track Nationals were held in Dieppe, New Brunswick from Sept 6-9. I competed in the Points Race, Individual Pursuit and Omnium.

Thurs, Sept 6 - 25 km Points Race (7th):

The points race was 100 laps for a total of 25 km. There were sprints every 10 laps with the top riders getting 5, 3, 2 and 1 point respectively for the 1st 4 riders across the finish line each sprint. If a rider laps the field, 20 points is awarded.

The race was active, with many attacks throughout. I attempted to get away many times throughout the race and was successful in my last attempt with 9 laps to go and stayed away to the finish to gain maximum points in the last sprint. I finished 7th overall.

Fri, Sept 7 - 3,000 metre Individual Pursuit (3rd - bronze):

The weather was very Pursuit-unfriendly - strong, gusty winds made for very slow conditions for everyone. I qualified 3rd in a time of 4:04. This put me straight into the bronze medal round, which was 2 hours later.

After my first ride, I analyzed my SRM data and figured I could go faster. My goal in the final was to do as fast a time as I could and leave nothing on the track. I refocussed on the final and had a great ride in the still-windy conditions, doing a 4:01. I won the bronze by 6 seconds over my opponent, and was only 3.5 seconds slower than gold medallist, Lyne Bessette. I also had the fastest final kilo of all the finalists. My kilo splits were 1:22, 1:19, 1:18.

Sun, Sept 9 - Omnium (5th):

This is a new event in which riders compete in 5 different events over the course of the day to earn points, with the best overall rider taking the win. The Omnium consists of 2 sprint events - the flying 200 metre time trial and standing 500 metre time trial, and 3 shortened endurance events - a 5 km Scratch race, 2 km Pursuit and 10 km Points race.

In the Scratch race, I attacked with 5 laps to go and soloed in for the win. (I have this race on video as well and will be posting it)

I also had a great Pursuit, placing 2nd, only 1 second behind the winner. In the Points race, I rode extremely aggressively, attacking at least 7 times in the 10 km race. The pack wouldn't let anything get away and I finished 8th.

Here are my Omnium results:
9th: Flying 200
1st: 5 km Scratch race
2nd: 2 km Pursuit
8th: 10 km Points race
7th: 500 metre TT

5th: Omnium

Special thanks to my coach, Steve Karpik and his significant other, Susan Brown, for their tireless help at Nationals and all year round. Thanks also to Darryl Winger for helping out in Dieppe. What a team! All of Steve's track athletes won medals at their National Championship events this year. Congratulations to Todd Hayes, Will Lampe and Joanna Wiersma - time to give Steve that raise!

Thanks to team R.A.C.E. for their support this season. I'm looking forward to representing team R.A.C.E. once again on the World Cup Track circuit again this year!

2007-09-08T18:43:00.000-07:00

National Track Championships: Bronze in the 3,000 metre Individual Pursuit

More details of the National Track Championships weekend to come.

2007-08-03T19:24:00.000-07:00

Tour de Toona (July 23-29)

I decided about 2 weeks before this race that I was gonna give it a shot. Since the Fitchburg stage race fell through for me, I decided that I wanted to do some more road racing and was looking for a challenge. Well, I needn't have looked any further than the tour de Toona, arguably the hardest women's stage race in North America.

For those of you who might not be familiar with this particular race, it is a 7 day stage race in and around Altoona, Pennsylvania, that covers 667 km of racing, has equal length races to the men's racing and attracts the best teams in North America. It is a key event for all the big teams so it is very competitive. Over 100 women started the race.

I was guest riding with "Verducci Breakaway" women's professional team for the race. We had 5 riders for the race: U.S. Crit Champ, Theresa Cliff-Ryan, Americans Kacey Manderfield and Jackie Crowell, Australian Jess MacLean and me. Here is a brief blurb about each stage.

Stage 1 - Team Time Trial (17.1 km):
Since our team had never done a time trial together, we decided to play it safe and just ride it on our road bikes without any TT equipment (not that we actually had any anyway). While the big teams hauled out their TT bikes, wheels, helmets, skinsuits, etc, we just rode it on our road bikes.

It was a hard effort and I think we did quite well considering we'd never done a TTT before and had never raced together as a team. We placed 14th, 2:53 behind the winning team, Webcor.

14th: 2:53 behind winner

Stage 2 - Vintondale to Cairnbrook RR (78.2 km):

Since this was a new stage this year, noone knew exactly what to expect. Since I have never done Toona before, I didn't know what to expect with any of the stages. Looking at the race manual, it looked like there was some kind of climb 10 miles into the race. The pack raced to the start of this climb, and the climb hit us like a wall. Steep switchbacks split things up immediately. A few groups formed as a result of this early climb. About halfway through the race, we got hit with torrential downpours, at which point my SRM decided to check out. (dam!) We had trouble seeing at times, and had to take it quite easy on the many descents. I finished the race with a group of 18 riders, 18 min down on the winner. I get to start tomorrow!

89th: 18:39 behind winner

Stage 3 - Johnstown to Altoona Point to Point Road Race (154.3 km):

I hung in with the pack all the way to the start of the big climb, Blue Knob, where groups formed and I finished with a group of 15 riders.

I felt good today and enjoyed today's race.

72nd: 16:39 behind winner

Stage 4 - Circuit Road Race - Downtown Hollidaysburg (96.6 km):

The race started out FAST and stayed that way. Single file from the gun. I got gapped and dropped on the climb on the first of 3 laps. There was a small group of us who chased through the caravan harder than I've ever chased. We made no ground and eventually lost contact. Apparently the pace did not let up the entire race, and the peloton averaged somewhere around 40 km/h. Once everyone in my chase group caught their breath, we rolled through and tried not to lose too much time. We got pulled with one lap to go and were given a prorated time within the time cut. Starting tomorrow.

79th: 18:17 behind winner

Stage 5 - Circuit Road Race - Memorial Park, Martinsburg (123.6 km)

Today's circuit was one of the flatter days. I felt good. A group of 13 or so riders got away with a couple laps to go. There were torrential downpours and at times I could not even see in front of me. My teammate, Theresa Cliff-Ryan, won both sprints by a healthy margin. I finished with the main pack in 53rd.

53rd: 1:27 behind winner

Stage 6 - Road Race - Jaffa Shrine to Altoona (158.5 km):

The race started on a hilly, fast circuit which was fairly technical. We started the race at 8am today which meant a 5 am wake up call. The lack of sleep didn't help with my recovery from the previous day and I got dropped 20 km into the 158 km stage. Not good. I was hoping to regroup with a few others and perhaps catch up to the caravan after the sprints but a marshall directed me and another rider off course and we lost at least 10 minutes. By the time we found our way back onto the race course, there was no way we were catching anyone, we were so far behind. We knew the race was over but decided that we wanted to finish the race anyway. We did, but were outside the time limit and not allowed to start tomorrow. Just as well since my legs were utterly fried after riding 150 km without a group.

78th: 50 min behind winner (OTL - Outside time limit)

Stage 7 - Criterium - Downtown Altoona (48.3 km)

No racing for me today. The race was won by Laura Van Gilder. Theresa placed 6th today and also placed in the sprints, putting her 2nd in the final standings for the Sprint jersey. Congrats Theresa!

For full results, reports and photos, check out:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2007/jul07/toona07/default

Thanks to Gary Ryan for having me on the team and for working hard as our manager all week. Also, thanks to the team's sponsor, Phil, for helping us out!

2007-07-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

Ottawa Race Weekend (July 14,15)

Team R.A.C.E. Women's team report:

The team R.A.C.E. women's team headed to Ottawa this weekend for a fun filled weekend of racing. Saturday, July 14 was the Grand Prix Road race in the Gatineau Hills and Sun, July 15 was the Provincial Criterium championships.

Grand Prix Road Race:
Diana Joness, Julia Bradley and the team's newest member, Jill Vale raced in the Senior 1-2 women's field which was combined with the Masters 40+ men. They did 4 laps of the hilly 21 km circuit for a total of 84 km. The pack sorted itself out fairly quickly on the first ascent. In the end, Julia Bradley won a bunch sprint finish for 8th place, Jill Vale placed 14th and Diana Joness came in 17th.

Celeste Merey came back from a month long illness and raced in the Women's 3-4 field. In her first race in 6 weeks, she had a solid race and placed 17th in her category.

Provincial Criterium Championships:
The race was held on an interesting, fairly technical circuit which included 4 turns and a chicane leading into a short, steep hill, followed by a fast descent.

All women's categories raced together, making for a fairly large field. Julia and Celeste represented team R.A.C.E. in the crit. Unfortunately, Diana had to sit out this race due to illness.

The race started out fast and remained active throughout. The Cyclery women's team were active throughout the race and sent several riders off the front, making the rest of the pack chase. With 3 laps to go, one of the Cyclery riders got away and stayed away for the win. In the pack sprint for 2nd, Julia Bradley came in just behind Jennifer Stephenson for 3rd, collecting a Bronze medal in the Elite Women's category. Celeste placed 4th in the women's 3-4 category.

Congratulations to all Team R.A.C.E. members who raced this weekend in Ottawa. We were represented in the elite women's, elite men's and masters men's categories.

Special thanks to Charlotte Bradley and her family for housing and feeding the women's team all weekend - no easy feat!

2007-07-16T21:22:00.000-07:00

Trexlertown "Tandemonium" track race weekend (July 6,7)

I headed down to Trexlertown, Pennsylvania for their Professional track Race series. It was my first time back on the track since I competed in the Manchester World Cup in February.

It was "Tandemonium" weekend. The main event of the weekend was the US National Tandem championships. One of the teams broke the track's flying lap record that was set back in 1993, covering the 333 metres in a time of 17.35 seconds.

There was racing for the women (on regular bikes!) Friday night and Saturday night. Friday night we had 3 different mass start races. I used the racing Friday night to get my legs back in track mode.

Saturday's racing included a few sprint type races -Keirin (the one behind the motorbike), Chariot (mass start 1.5 laps), 2 km scratch race and a 5 km scratch race. The 5km scratch race was fast paced throughout the entire race and with 2 laps to go there were only 3 of us left going for the win. I kicked it with 1 lap to go and drove it to the line. Australian Monique Hanley nipped me at the finish line in a very close sprint and I ended up 2nd.

Here's a link to a pic from cyclingnews.com:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/track.php?id=/photos/2007/jul07/tandemsprintnats07/070706-Velo-Tandem-020

For full results, report and photos, see cyclingnews.com:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/track.php?id=track/2007/jul07/tandemsprintnats07

Coming up:
- OBC (Ottawa Bicycle Club) Grand Prix Road Race: Gatineau, Quebec (July 14)
- Ontario Provincial Criterium Championships: Ottawa, Ontario (July 15)
- International Women's Challenge Track Race: Trexlertown, Pennsylvania (July 20)
- Tour de Toona Stage race: Altoona, Pennsylvania (July 23-29)

2007-07-03T19:36:00.000-07:00

Mock stage racing (June 27 to July 1)

My plans to race the Fitchburg Longsjo stage race in Massachusetts last weekend got cancelled, so I decided to make a little stage race of my own - always fun to do when you're the only one doing all stages....

So, this is what I did:
Wed: 95 km easy group ride
Thurs: 15 km club Time Trial (5th)
Fri: Intervals
Sat: CHIN Picnic Criterium (4th)
Sun: 85 km hard group ride

Here's a picture of our group racing past a pile of tires at the CHIN Picnic race in Toronto.

2007-07-02T19:28:00.000-07:00

Tour de PEI Stage race - UCI 2.2 (June 10-14)

This was the first year for the Tour de PEI, a 4 day, 5 stage UCI road race put on by the organizers of the Montreal World Cup and tour de Grand Montreal. The idea behind having 3 big races back to back was to give the international teams coming to Canada for the World Cup lots of racing while they were here and to motivate them to come over for the racing.

I rode for the "Advil-Chapstick" womens composite team in PEI. Our team was well taken care of by Sean Scott, our team director and Scott Kelly, our mechanic for the week.

The organization of the race was exceptional. The athletes were treated really well. We were fed 3 meals a day, put up in accomodations and transported all around the island on a coach bus. I highly recommend this race to anyone who is thinking about doing it next year. Apparently, the race has a 3 year commitment from their sponsors and I definitely plan to be back next year.

Here's a brief race report:

Stage 1: Sunday was a circuit race. There were many attacks and I hung on for the first half of the race, even making a presence at the front of the group and going with surges. My legs went into a bit of shock after several surges from the pack and I couldn't hang on with just over 4 laps to go after getting caught in the back half of a split. I finished with a small group within the time cut, 11 minutes back.

Stage 2: Monday's race was a 28.8 km Time Trial across confederation bridge. It was a really big deal that they closed the bridge - only the 2nd time they've ever closed it. It was a straight on tail wind going out and a straight on strong headwind coming back. I peaked at 67.5 km/ hour going out and struggled to do over 20 km/h returning. I finished a little more than halfway down the field - legs were pretty toast. Some of the top results from today were questionable. I think the commissaires made some mistakes and riders were given faster times (not me), and unfortunately it was not resolved, affecting the overall General classification. My teammate, Elisa Gagnon told the commissaires that the time they gave her was wrong (too fast by 4 minutes) and they corrected it.

Stage 3: Tuesday featured a 121 km road race. One big loop. It was WINDY again (Hey - we're on an island. What do you expect I guess?). My legs finally started coming around today and I felt good. There's definitely something to be said for not working and only having to concentrate on racing! There was alot of gutter action with the crosswinds today and I chased back a few times after thinking I was dropped for good. I managed to (sort of) finish with the main group. With 1 km to go, there was alot of jostling for positioning going into the sprint. I was with the main pack and got kinda shoved onto the side of the road. I did a bit of cyclocross and got back on the road but the pack was flying and I couldn't catch them as they set were setting up for the sprint. I finished in 65th?, just 15 secs or so behind the main pack. It was good to feel the fitness that I know I have starting to kick in.

There's been a banquet every night and we've been treated really well. Tonight's was at Cavendish, home of Ann of Green Gables. They had an "Avonlea" band, featuring the entire cast of characters from the book. Quite funny! The weather has been great. Not too hot and no rain yet.

Stage 4: Wednesday was the 4th out of 5 stages in the tour. We did a point to point 96 km road race. The terrain was rolling and there were 3 sprints and 3 QOM (Queen of the Moutain) sprints. The pace felt a little more relaxed today (that's to say I wasn't feeling my heart in my throat for the entire 2 hours and 33 minutes). Also, I felt like my race legs were really starting to come around. Oftentimes at this point in a stage race, I really start to suffer by I seem to be getting stronger every day - a good sign my fitness is there waiting to come out!

The first sprint was at the 24 km mark, and I was up near the front for it, so after the sprinters did their thing, an Expresscopy team rider attacked. I was in the right place, and went with her. It didn't last long, but it was good to test out my legs and see how I was feeling. Shortly after that, the pack was riding along slowly, and I tried to see if I could just roll off the front, as sometimes the pack will let that happen if the rider is not an overall contender. Again, it was shortlived, but fun to play around.

With about 10 km left in the race, some of the main contenders tried to go up the road, including the overall stage leader, Diana Zilute from Lithuania. I was near the front and tried to go with them, but could not even hold their wheels. There are some seriously strong riders in this field. I thought this break would stick, but we ended up all coming together a few minutes later.

In the end, an Australian and a Russian rider got a bit of a gap on the field and finished 1st and 2nd. The last QOM was 2km before the finish and I got dropped on this but managed to bridge up through the caravan to catch back onto the main pack to finish with them. I think my place was 50-something?, same time as 3rd.

Last day is tomorrow - a 50 km crit in Charlottetown, then a big party afterwards featuring some Canadian rock n roll!

Stage 5: The last stage of the tour de PEI was a criterium in Charlottetown. It was a fairly straightforward course but not without a few crashes. I got caught behind/ beside one in the first half of the race. I got back in but was not in good position and got behind a rider who gapped us. So... I chased with a few other riders and we managed to stay in long enough before getting lapped that we got a finishing time. The stage was won by Giorgia Bronzini and former World Champ Diana Ziliute took the overall title.

In the evening we had a big banquet with awesome food. Great race!!!

For full results and reports go to: www.cyclingnews.com

2007-05-30T16:41:00.000-07:00

Winning in Syracuse!

The team RACE women hit the road again, heading to Syracuse, New York for the "Syracuse Race Weekend" stage race. Diana Joness and I raced in the Senior 1-2 category and Celeste Merey raced with the Cat 4 Women.

The weekend consisted of 3 races - a 66 mile hilly road race (33 miles for the women's category 3-4), a 1 mile time trial and a 20 mile criterium in Onondaga Park in downtown Syracuse.

ROAD RACE:
The weekend kicked off Saturday morning with the road race. The temperature was hot and the course was hilly! The senior 1-2 women did 2 laps of a 33 mile circuit and the cat 4's did 1 lap.

Women 1-2:
Each lap featured a long, hard climb that splintered the field. 3 riders got away on the climb and stayed away until the finish. 5 of us chased in the 2nd group. Diana and I were both in the second group. The finish line was at the top of a 400 metre climb and we sprinted it out for 4th place. I finished up 5th and Diana came 8th.

1) Jocelyn Loane (Australian National Team)
2) Candice Sullivan (CATS)
3) Yvette Labombard (JW Dundee's)
5) Julia Bradley (Team RACE)
8) Diana Joness (Team RACE)

Women 4:
Celeste Merey was the lone representative for Team RACE in the women's 4 field. She had a good race and finished 15th out of the 23 starters for the day.

1) Martha Bush (CRCA/Sanchez-Metro)
2) Amy Kneale (VeloSportivo.com)
3) Debrah Mattemand (Jobone BBX)
15) Celeste Merey (Team RACE)

TIME TRIAL:
After a bit of food and a brief rest, we hit the road again for a 1 mile Time Trial. The course was a fun, twisty circuit that went from the road to the bike path and back on the road again. It was a really fun course and quite a contrast from the day's earlier stage.

Women 1-2:
I raced through the circuit in 2 minutes and 24.47 seconds, just over 1 second behind the winner to take 2nd place in the stage. Diana also had a strong performance, finishing 5th in 2:33.22.

1) Candice Sullivan (CATS)
2) Julia Bradley (Team RACE)
3) Jocelyn Loane (Australian National Team)
5) Diana Joness (Team RACE)

Women 4:
Celeste improved upon her earlier performance of the day to finish up 14th in a time of 2:48.44.

1) Jenny Ives (CBRC)
2) Martha Bush (CRCA/Sanchez-Metro)
3) Heather Mclendon (GVCC)
14) Celeste Merey (Team RACE)

CRITERIUM:
The women got up early Sunday morning to race the criterium in the Onondaga Park. The course featured a small climb and downhill just before flattening out for the start/finish. The road was wide with rough patches of pavement on a round circuit, without any real corners to speak of.

Women 1-2:
After Saturday's races, I went into the criterium in the 1st place in General Classification. Diana patrolled the front of the group for the entire race, chasing down attacks and protecting me from the wind. There were a few primes that she resisted going for in order to work for me. (The massage and the beer primes were the toughest for her to resist). Good job Diana - that was real team work!! In the end, it was a drag race to the finish. I finished 2nd in a very, very close sprint and maintained my lead to take the overall win.

1) Caryl Gale (CRCA-Comedy Central)
2) Julia Bradley (Team RACE)
3) Gaetane Perreaut (Velo Bella)
6) Diana Joness (Team RACE)

Women 4:
Celeste had great legs in the crit. She went for the beer prime but got pipped at the line. She improved once again on her previous day's performances and cracked the top 10, finishing a solid 9th.

1) Martha Bush (CRCA/Sanchez-Metro)
2) Jenny Ives (CBRC)
3) Nancy Heller (tri state velo)
9) Celeste Merey (Team RACE)

FINAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION:
Women 1-2:
1) Julia Bradley (Team RACE)
2) Caryl Gale (CRCA-Comedy Central)
3) Yvette Labombard (JW Dundee's)
4) Diana Joness (Team RACE)

Women 4:
1) Martha Bush (CRCA/Sanchez-Metro)
2) Jenny Ives (CBRC)
3) Heather Mclendon (GVCC)
14) Celeste Merey (Team RACE)

It was a successful weekend for Team RACE. We had 11 riders representing 3 different categories and our presence did not go unnoticed. After winning the overall General Classification, the announcer called me to the stage to find out exactly what team RACE was all about.

Congratulations to all the team RACE members who raced in Syracuse. A special thanks to Amy Moore for standing out in the heat to feed all of us in the road race on Saturday and to James Layfield who came out early Sunday morning to cheer on the women's team.

For full results go to:
www.syracuseraceweekend.com

2007-05-15T14:50:00.001-07:00

First road race of the year - on the podium!

This weekend marked the start of the road racing season for the Team R.A.C.E. Women's road team. Celeste Merey, Diana Joness, and I raced in Brockville at the Brockville Road Race for Habitat. The race is held on a 9.6 kilometer flat- to- rolling circuit and starts in the small town, Lyn, Ontario. We did 8 laps for a total of 78 km.

The race went off in 3 waves, and the senior women were grouped with various senior and masters men's categories. There were a total of 64 riders in our field, 25 of them women.

There were many breakaway attempts including a valiant effort by Diana, but nothing was able to stay away in the windy conditions. The race organizers had some organizational issues, and our group had to restart the race after one lap because we were catching the group in front of us! Also, when the Senior 1-2 Men's group passed us, there was a major mixing of categories, as noone could tell who was in what group. Miraculously, we all got sorted out on the last lap and our group finished together.

New to the Team R.A.C.E. Women's team this year is Senior 3 rider Celeste Merey. Celeste had a great day and pushed herself to hang in with the main pack of riders for 5 laps. Way to go Celeste! Watch for Celeste to come on strong as the season progresses.

Diana and I were in the main pack going into the last lap. With 3 kilometres to go, there was a crash that took Diana down. She picked herself up and managed to finish solo, 1:33 behind the group in 12th place. Until this point, Diana was feeling great and was hoping for a strong finish.

I got stuck behind some tired riders going into the sprint and had to go wide into the crosswind to make up a gap. Despite this, I managed to finish 2nd in the women's category and 2nd out the entire group of 64.

Next up for the women's team: Diana will be racing at the "Niagara Classic Road Race" this weekend in Pelham, Ontario. Then on May 26 and 27, Diana, Celeste and I will be heading to Syracuse, NY for the "Syracuse Race Weekend" stage race.

Full results from all categories can be found here:
http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pages/results/brockvilleresults_2.htm

All the best!

Julia Bradley
Team R.A.C.E.
www.juliabradley.net

2007-04-17T09:39:00.000-07:00

Manchester World Cup #4 - Women's Scratch Race Qualifying Heat #1 - Feb. 25/07

Here is some video from the first few minutes of the Women's Scratch race qualifier at the Manchester World Cup #3 (Feb 25/07).

I had a good race. I sat in the top 5 for most of the race, followed moves and had good positioning and reaction. Towards the end of the race I went on an attack but got caught with about a lap to go. I didn't qualify for the final but it was a great race - very fast and aggressive, quite different from the Scratch race at the L.A. World Cup.

I'm in the blue and yellow Team R.A.C.E. skinsuit with the blue helmet.

Videographer: Sherali Najak

2007-04-14T09:56:00.001-07:00

Some video of me climbing in South Carolina at Table Rock State Park in March. We were checking out my climbing position on my "easy" day. For that, we found the steepest climb in the park!

Videographer: Susan Brown

2007-03-19T16:45:00.000-07:00

South Carolina Training Camp (March 2-10)

This year, training in South Carolina marked the end of my Track racing Season and the start of a new season. It was nice to get away for a "holiday" with a great group of people and train our butts off in the mountains.

Our group consisted of: myself, Celeste, Diana, Emma, Michelle, Jana, Steve and Susan.

We were training near Greenville, South Carolina, which is a 16 hour drive from Toronto and we usually do the drive in 2 days. This year, my friend Diana and I decided to do the drive straight through, thus "saving" a day. We left my place at 9am and arrived at the doorsteps of our cabin at half past midnight. I was pretty tired by the time I got there and took a couple days to recover. I was still recovering a bit from the travel and jetlag from Manchester, but some rest, riding and fresh air in the mountains was all I needed.

We did all the classic rides that I'm so familiar with after going to SC for the last 9 years - the Blue Ridge Parkway, Saluda, Caesar's Head, Pumpkintown, the Continental Divide Sassafraz, which is a 7.3 km steep, leg busting ascent - as hard of a climb as you'll find anywhere! Fun times! Every year, we do the Caesar's Head climb as a time trial, and this year I did a personal best, both in terms of time and wattage!

What a life! Eat, sleep, ride...

Getting ready for my first road ride of the year.

Diana and in beautiful Pumpkintown.

Steve is exhausted after the Blue Ridge ride.

Our chefs for the evening: Diana and Michelle

Barbecue night. On the menu? Steaks and Veggie Kebabs. Yum!
We made a friend in South Carolina - Officer Joey.

How cute is this guy?!

Photos courtesy Susan Brown

2007-03-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

Manchester World Cup #4 (Feb 23-25/07)

INDIVIDUAL PURSUIT:

First up for me was the Women's Individual Pursuit qualifier. All riders race for a time, with the top 4 riders going through to the final. It is a 3 km race and I like to break it down into 3 parts. My first kilometre is about pacing, my second is about pushing through and my 3rd is about "all-out!".

I started out with a controlled pace in the first km, then sagged a bit in the middle km. The Chinese rider who started across from me caught me with 5 laps of the 12 lap race, and something clicked in my head. I forgot about thinking and just went as hard as I could. I used her as my rabbit and kept her within my sight. I finished the race in a Personal Best time of 3:55!! The last kilometre was done on pure guts because my legs were screaming with lactic acid and I was completely anaerobic. This was where all the hours of training kicked in. I rolled off the track and could not even lift my legs over the bike. I have never in all of my racing career felt so ill after a race - just the way you're supposed to feel if you've done a Pursuit properly! Am I sick or what?!

My result in the Pursuit was 18th, but my last km of the race was the 12th fastest of all riders, showing that I have potential to go ALOT faster. I can't wait to do it again. Success!

Phil Liggett was announcing the events at the track this weekend. It was pretty surreal to be in the starting blocks at a World Cup and to hear: "Julia Bradley of Team R.A.C.E. out of Canada is up next" Also, Eurosport was doing live television coverage of the World Cup all weekend.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/ posted this picture of me right after my ride:http://www.cyclingnews.com/track.php?id=/photos/2006/worldcup0607/manchester07/manchester072/IMG_0627

SCRATCH RACE:

Unlike the slow pace of the Scratch race at the last World Cup in Los Angeles, this was good, fast racing. There was no letting up and there were lots of attacks and counter attacks. A few riders got away in a break so there were only about 8 spots left in the pack to qualify for the final (top 12 in each heat qualify for the final).

I was sitting in the top 5 for the whole race and felt good. With 4 laps to go, I took a flyer and went as hard as I could. I got a slight gap on the group but they were reluctant to let me get away and I got caught with a lap and a half left in the race. After the attack, I didn't have anything left in my legs to contend the sprinters in the drag race to the finish and finished outside the top 12.

I was really happy with how I raced in both the Pursuit and the Scratch race, mixing it up with the best. I'm feeling more and more at ease and am learning each time I get out there. I'm especially pleased with my racing in L.A. and Manchester considering I had a serious injury in the fall and had to come back from a badly fractured shoulder. Can't wait for the new season to start - only a month away now!!

I'd like to thank my sponsors at Planet Energy and Team R.A.C.E. I'd also like to thank the following: my coach, Steve Karpik, Todd Hayes for loaning me his wheel and Joanna Wiersma for loaning me her helmet! A special thanks to Sherali for coming all the way over to England for the weekend to support me. It was amazing to have him there!

2007-02-17T09:07:00.000-08:00

Here are some more pics from the L.A. World Cup (Jan 19-21).

If you missed my diary on CBC Radio's "Inside Track" last Sunday, you can now listen to it online. Check it out and let me know what you think! Click on the link below then scroll to the bottom of the page. You'll find my piece under "Cycling"

http://www.cbc.ca/insidetrack/highlights/c.html

2007-02-17T08:52:00.000-08:00

Team R.A.C.E. is all about the charitable foundation (Race Against Cancer Everywhere), and recently I got to participate in one of the foundation's charities, "The Inside Ride"

"The Inside Ride" raises money for children's cancer camps while encouraging teens to get active. The inaugural "Inside Ride" was held at Ursula Franklin Academy. There are teams that compete against each other, with each team member riding for a short period of time. The distances are calculated and the team with the most distance at the end of the ride is declared the winner. This group of kids was so positive and it was really fun to be a part of this fundraiser!

2007-02-16T20:07:00.000-08:00

Some more work pics. These are of the Montreal Liberal Convention from last fall. Who said Canadian politics wasn't exciting? This was one cool gig- not at all what I expected. The convention reminded me of a bike race - alliances were formed, strategies played out, and it was not the strongest, frontrunning candidate that won. I mean, after all, how many people really knew much about Stephane Dion before he became Liberal leader? I have to admit, I wasn't very familiar with the guy before the convention. Here's a pic of me in the "truck" (mobile control room). That's Fred sitting beside me directing and Joe switching the show. The second shot is the convention room floor at a particularly quiet time of day.

2007-02-16T19:42:00.000-08:00

I work as an Associate Director at CBC Television on the National news and News Specials. I work with a great group of people on a daily basis so I wanted to post a pic of the crew that I work with on the National. That's me in the back row, 5 people from the left, wearing a white jacket. You might recognize the guy in the suit if you watch CBC...

I had the opportunity to go to Whitehorse in October to work on the Yukon elections. Here are 3 photos from that trip. The picture with the flags is of the set we used as our TV studio. It was located in the legislature building. There's another pic of me with Rona, the director, and Mark, a producer, as we rehearsed. On our day off, a whole gang of us drove to Skagway, Alaska and got really cool stamps on our passports. The stamps are of a steam train. What beautiful scenery on the drive to Alaska - truly god's country! Yet no wildlife...

2007-02-16T19:21:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos that I took while visiting David Tiemeyer in Estes Park, Colorado. My coach, Steve and I went there for the weekend in November to do a custom bike fitting for a custom Pursuit Bike. We spent half a day dialling into the ideal pursuit position then David took Steve and I for a tour through the park where we saw lots of wildlife!!

By the way, the bike he built for me is awesome! What a great fit. It's actually the 2nd bike I've had him build for me. The first one is my Points race track bike. I highly recommend his work. He's also an awesome guy. Check out his website at www.tiemeyercycles.com

2007-02-11T09:28:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

Lots has happened in the last 6 months, so here is a quick, 30 second update.

After crashing at the track in T-Town in August '06 and fracturing my shoulder, I was unable to compete at the Canadian National Championships. I spent a frustrating fall rehabbing and getting back into shape. This frustration just fuelled my passion to compete at the highest level possible. That brings me to the most exciting news: I'm racing on the newly formed UCI professional track team: Team R.A.C.E. (www.teamrace.com), powered by Planet Energy (www.planetenergy.ca) I've already competed in my first world cup in Los Angeles (Jan 19-21) [see attached photo of me competing in the Pursuit in L.A.] and am getting ready to go to Manchester for World Cup # 4 (Feb 23-25).

Also, I'll be making my radio debut TODAY at 1:30 pm on the Nationally syndicated CBC radio show "Inside Track". Tune in to CBC Radio One between 1:30 and 2:00 to hear my honest and candid diary of my adventures at my first World Cup competition in L.A. The diary is preceded by a studio interview with host Robin Brown. If you miss today's show, you can listen to it online starting Monday at: http://www.cbc.ca/insidetrack/highlights/c.html Enjoy!!

Talk soon!
Julia

2006-08-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted something here. I've been doing lots of road racing since Nature Valley, including the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Stage Race and Superweek in Milwaukee. Both were awesome experiences and good, hard racing. I'm not sure how many states I've been through in the past few weeks, but I know it's alot!

Fitchburg Longsjo Classic - Fitchburg, Massachussetts (June 29 to July 2)

My teammate, Diana Joness and I went to Fitchburg together and the first adventure we experienced was just in getting there. Little to our knowledge, upper state New York had flooded and the major highway we needed to take (I-90) came to a sudden close just as we approached Rochester. After consulting with a friendly trucker who gave us his map book, we decided on a route that looked like it would be just great. Unfortunately, there were countless other wandering travelers who were in the same boat. We ended up in lineups of cars for hours on end, winding our way up and down Upper State NY in a zig zag pattern. What was supposed to be a 6 hour drive turned into 14 hours of stop and go. We arrived at our hotel at 3 am.

Stage 1 was a 10 km rolling time trial. I was one of the first riders off. Just as I was finishing my warmup, the skies opened up and a major storm blew in. I was doubting that they would start the riders as I watched the lightning strike from under my warmup tent. It calmed down just enough to allow racing. I ended up racing in the stormy conditions, and it cleared up after I finished. Unfortunately (for me), all the women who went in the second half of the start list had calm, post-storm conditions. O well – what can you do? I had a decent ride and came in 31st out of 71 starters.

The second stage was a hilly circuit race. I was with the main group when I got a flat just before the climb, halfway into the race. There was no way of catching the group after a wheel change and I finished 59th, 10 minutes down. Unfortunately, Diana crashed early in the race which resulted in quite a gash in her elbow. She toughed it out and finished the race.

Day 3 was a very hilly road race, which finished on a very, steep climb. I hung in for the first few laps and rode with a small group for the remainder of the race. I was 59th, 9 minutes behind Kiwi World pursuit record holder, Sarah Ulmer. Who says trackies can’t climb? Diana had a pretty rough day. She was dropped early, but really toughed it out and rode the entire 100 plus km alone. She even refused a push that was offered by a friendly spectator on the last climb, a decision which she later regretted. What a tough chick!

Superweek - Milwaukee, Wisconsin (July 10 – 15)

This is one race I’ve always wanted to check out. I’ve heard so many great things about superweek and it did not disappoint.

First of all, Maogosha and I stayed with the most amazing host family (Ann, Dan and Natalie) in the beautiful town of Cedarburg, Wisconsin. We had so much fun with them. Our spots are reserved for next year! Here is a picture of Mao, me and Natalie (photo courtesy of Dan), and Ann and me taking a spin on the bike paths of Cedarburg.

The variety of courses at Superweek is what makes it really cool. The week starts off with road races and long circuit races, then you get into the more technical crits as the week goes on. I had some good races, especially on day 2 which was the longest road race of the week. I got into a break of 7 which we thought would stick because all the teams were represented. Alas, we got caught with about a lap to go in the race. I got caught up in a crash, which caused me to chase for several kilometres, not really making for a strong finish.

Overall, the week was super-fun and again provided some good, hard training! More importantly, Mao and I discovered "Marshall's" and had a little shopping spree. She made me walk around the store in 5 inch high green heels for her amusement. Sadly, I don't have a picture of that.

2006-06-23T10:28:00.000-07:00

Nature Valley Grand Prix Stage Race - Minneapolis, Minnesota (June 14 to 18)

The Nature Valley Grand Prix is a “Women’s Prestige Series” and NRC (National Race Calender) event on the North American Road Racing calendar. This year's race attracted the strongest women’s pro teams in North America as well as some world class international riders such as Pursuit World Record holder, New Zealand’s Sarah Ulmer and the New Zealand National team, and World Pursuit Champion, Australia's Katie Mactier. The 5 day stage race is held in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area of Minnesota.

The racing was fast and hard as most riders are coming into their peak for the upcoming Canadian and U.S. National Road Championships. In addition to being on the NRC circuit, Nature Valley is also part of the "Women's Prestige" Series and all the heavy-hitters were present as the teams vied for points in the "Prestige" series. The top 8 teams in the series, which includes the NVGP and the "Tour de Toona" in July, are offered a stipend to go to Bermuda in September for the final race of the series, so the stakes were high all around.

For me, the goal for this stage race was to gain fitness for races later in the season. I wanted to race as hard and fast as I could and stay within the allotted timecuts so that I could start the next day's racing. On all those notes, the racing was a success. I also posted personal high wattage outputs, showing that my fitness and training are going in the right direction. I'm looking forward to the fitness gain that I'm sure to have after this gruelling week of racing - there's no training like racing!

To say the racing was hard was an understatement. The 5-stage race which included a time trial, 2 road races and 2 crits, with one of the crits featuring a climb with an 18% grade on every lap - had every possible element that could make a race epic: crosswinds, crashes, hail, and heat. Teams used the windy conditions to ride the peloton into the gutter and shatter the field in the road races while keeping the pace at an utter max in both crits.

Out of the 135 women who started this race, I placed 67th in the overall general classification. If anyone is looking for a great, well-organized, challenging race, this is one that I would not hesitate to recommend! It's worth the 14 hour drive to Minneapolis. I will be back next year!

For full report, results and photos for the Nature Valley Grand Prix Stage race, see: www.cyclingnews.com

Next week, I'm off to the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Stage Race in Massachussetts - another NRC stage race - with my team R.A.C.E. teammate, Diana Joness.

Thanks to my sponsors and friends at team R.A.C.E., CBC, Lazer Helmets, Rudy Project, Proformance Athlete's Gym and coach Karpik. Also, thanks to our host-house Mom, Connie for making us all feel at home.

Happy riding!
Julia

2006-06-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

Trexlertown UCI Track Races (June 3 and June 9)

I have just returned from Trexlertown, Pennsylvania where I competed in my first UCI track races. I had 3 top-10 finishes in a field that was stacked with great riders. Both the men’s and women’s fields boasted World Champions and Olympians. The racing was definitely the most exciting and competitive track racing that I’ve been a part of.

Here are the details of some of my races:

Points Race (UCI): 7th place
The 36 lap points race had sprints every 6 laps that went 4 places deep (5, 3, 2, 1 points for the first 4 riders across the line each sprint). With 12 laps remaining in the race, I attacked and got away from the field solo. I came within a straightaway of lapping the field until a sprint lap got the group going and the chase began. I heard the announcer say that if I caught the field, I would win the race but with only a third of a lap left in the race I got caught by some riders and ended up 7th with 5 points.

Keirin (UCI): 7th place
The Keirin is a sprint race in which a group is motorpaced behind a motorbike for about 4 and a half laps of the 333 metre track. The motor brings the riders up to about 45 km/h before pulling off the front. After that, it’s a drag race to the finish.
In the semi finals, I placed 4th, just one place out of making the finals. Then I raced the 7th through 12th race and won, placing 7th overall.

Scratch Race (UCI): 9th place
The 5km scratch race is basically a race to the finish line - first across the line wins. With World Champion Sprint medalist, Jennie Reed in the race, it came down to a fight for her wheel. With a lap and a half to go in the race, I found myself in the perfect position for a podium finish – on Jennie’s wheel! Things got pretty aggressive and I backed off and let someone take it from me. I lost some momentum and sprinted in for a 9th place finish. In the unforgiving, high speed sport of track cycling, a slight error can cost you a race and this was a good reminder of that.

The track in T-Town is definitely the hotbed of cycling in North America and I can’t wait to go back for my next race there on July 7, the "International Women’s Challenge", where women’s racing will be the featured event of their Friday night race series.
In the meantime, I’m on my way to the Nature Valley Grand Prix Stage race in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It’s part of the "Women’s Prestige Race Series" and the 150 rider field limit is at capacity. I can’t remember seeing a women’s field of that size in North America. It is going to be a good race! Racing starts Wed, June 14 and goes until Sun, June 18. Stay tuned!

Thanks to my sponsors and teammates at team R.A.C.E. for your support. Happy riding!

Julia

Pictures from racing in T-Town can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehighvalleyvelodrome/sets/72157594156599753/

2006-05-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

2006 Provincial Track Championships Race Report (April 26/06)

The 2006 Provincial Track Cycling Championships were held at the Forest City Velodrome in London, Ontario. This is one of only 3 indoor tracks in North America, built just 1 year ago. It is the smallest velodrome in North America. It's 138 metres in length and has sharp 50 degree bankings. With over 70 riders registered for the championships, the field was the largest that Ontario has seen in many years, showing that the sport of Track Cycling in Ontario has grown back to exciting new levels of days gone by. 1982 World Champion and Multiple World Record holder, Gord Singleton was racing on the weekend. He showed everyone that he is still in great form, competing with the Senior Men. He won the Silver Medal in the Senior Men's Sprint and the Bronze in the Senior Men's Kilometre Time Trial.

My first race was on Friday night. It was the 500 metre Time Trial. It took almost 4 laps of the 138 metre track to cover the distance. I clocked in at a time of 41.36 seconds, winning a silver medal, just 0.18 seconds off of first place.

Racing started up again Saturday afternoon with the Individual Pursuit. I had a decent ride in a time of 4:10.66 and won the Gold medal. Next up for me was the Scratch race which took place Saturday night. Maogosha Pyjor and I attacked the field 3 laps into the 60 lap race. We worked together to lap the other riders twice. It came down to a sprint for first and I fell short by half a bike length. Maogosha won and I came second.

Sunday's racing consisted of the Points Race and the Team Pursuit, which was a demonstration event for the Championships. The Points race saw my second Gold medal of the weekend, bringing the overall tally for the weekend to 2 Golds and 2 Silver Medals.

I will be focussing my training for the next month on preparing for the Lehigh Valley Velodrome's opening season track races on June 3 and June 9. These are UCI sanctioned races and should draw some International level track riders looking for UCI points, so there will be some very competitive racing. This track is located in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania:
http://www.lvvelo.org

Julia's Ontario Provincial Track Racing Results:
Gold Medal: Individual Pursuit, Points RaceSilver Medal: 500 metre Time Trial, Scratch Race
Full Women's results can be found here:
http://www.forestcityvelodrome.ca/results/Results_April_21-23_06_Women.pdf

2006-05-17T14:32:00.000-07:00

Mosport Race - Ontario Cup #1 Road Race (April 19/06)

Over 70 women lined up for the start of the Women's race at the 2006 Ontario Cup road race at Mosport race track in Bowmanville. In my 9 years of racing, this is by far the largest women's field I have ever seen at an Ontario road race! It's exciting to see that the sport has grown to this extent!

Mosport marked my first race with my new team, "Team R.A.C.E.". I'm really excited to be racing for this awesome team. The women on the team come from a variety of backgrounds including triathlon and running and a few of the women do Ironman triathlons as well as road racing.

There were 6 women from my team racing at Mosport and the excitement level was high! We also had our own personal cheering squad - a couple of the guys from the men's team cheered for us every lap around the 4km course. What a team!

I went right to the front when the starting gun went off. Since there were so many unknown faces and the winds were extremely strong and blew the group around, I decided to stay very near the front of the pack and keep out of trouble. I was grateful for this decision when I heard the sound of more than one crash behind me.

This race capped a very hard training week for me and I was feeling it in my legs less than halfway through the race. Yikes! I knew I was in trouble when the pace picked up on the climb. I went to stand up and I had to sit back down because my legs were cramping so badly. I spun my way up the climb and was yo-yoing off the back but managed to hang on to the lead group of 22 riders for the rest of the race to place 22nd.

A couple of light days of recovering are definitely in the cards for me as I look ahead to a full weekend of racing at the Ontario Track Championships in London, Ontario next weekend. I'll be competing in the Pursuit, Match Sprints, Points Race and Scratch Race in preparation for some UCI track races in Trexlertown in June. Stay tuned for a full report from London.