For the first time in a few years, UBC TSC Cycling made the long drive to Montana for the 2019 Montana State Bobcat Classic. Our athletes arrived on a beautifully sunny Friday afternoon, and went for a ride up Hyalite Canyon near Bozeman.
Saturday’s races were held at the Lewis and Clark Caves State Park. The road race featured a tough climb on a massive course with a brutal final climb up to the finish. In the Men’s A, Damian Parlee attacked on the hill on the first lap and worked with 2 others to stay away until the final climb and finished an impressive 4th. In the Men’s B, Declan Kelly stormed up the final hill dropping all his competitors to take 1st place. In the Women’s C, the group splintered on a hill, with May Constabel chasing down the women’s B field and Emily Butts in pursuit. On top of the climb, May and Emily finished 1st and 2nd, respectively. The Men’s C Alan Ehrenholz and Kevin KC Wong fought their way to 5th and 8th place finishes in a 1 lap race.
The TTT route brought riders through a beautiful canyon, passing a cave on the way. UBC TSC Cycling finished 1st in both Men’s A and Women’s C categories. The time trial finished just as a storm swept in, with rain and wind coming down as we packed up for the drive to Missoula.
The crit course was a lap around an elementary school with a nice sweeping turn around the back. Because of the rain there were many worms on the road. Damian fought hard for a 3rd place podium finish in his final collegiate crit. Declan continued his winning streak in the Men’s B, taking a few primes and the win. In the Women’s C, May took all the primes and the win, with Emily close behind in 3rd. In the Men’s C crit, Kevin went off the front immediately after the start, temporarily stringing out the pack. Kevin and Alan finished 4th and 5th, respectively. After the last crit, the cars were loaded and we began the long drive from Missoula to Vancouver.
We wrapped up our most successful collegiate season ever at Conference Championships in Moscow, Idaho hosted by Idaho Vandal Cycling. We raced through the scenic Palouse all weekend in all sorts of weather!
Saturday was an incredibly windy day on a 37km loop road race course. In the Men’s C, Matthew Anthony and Alan Ehrenholz battled through winds to finish 5th and 7th. In the Women’s C,May Constabel and Jade Levine faced the same winds and almost caught the Men’s C field approaching the first major climb. May finished 1st, and Jade finished 4th in her first collegiate road race.Zack Michaels made the break in the Men’s B in the first of his two laps around the course, working hard to finish 3rd, despite the wind and hail. In the women’s B, Fiona Majendi came 1st out of the only two finishers. Declan Kelly was our only Men’s A rider this weekend, freshly upgraded. He was out in the elements the longest and put in solid efforts despite Mother Nature’s best attempt.
The TTT took place in Genesee, Idaho. The same winds blew just as strong as we locked in our TTT general classification win, almost 15 minutes faster than the next team. Both our Men’s A and Women’s B teams won their respective categories. According to locals, this was the windiest day of the year out on the Palouse.
Sunday was the championship crit on the University of Idaho campus. In Men’s C the group shattered on the hill in the first few laps, Matthew made the early break and sprinted to 3rd. Alan chased the whole race, putting in serious efforts to finish 8th out of 22 starters. In the Women’s C, May sprinted for the first prime and managed to break away on the descent. She stayed away for the remaining 22 minutes, taking the rest of the primes and the win. In her first crit Jade held on for 4th place. In the Men’s B, Zack sprinted and came away with 2nd in multiple primes and finished 6th. In the Women’s B, Fiona followed an early attack and stayed away to take 2nd. In his first Men’s A crit, Declan scooped up a few prime points and finished 5th.
After the crit was the award ceremony, we won 1st first team overall in Men’s A, B, and C, and Women’s C; and 2nd overall in Women’s B. We also took home first in the TTT General Classification. The most exciting award we picked up was 1st overall team omnium! The trophy and plate will be on display in the Student Recreation Centre (SRC) trophy case soon.
Overall we had an extremely successful race season, this wouldn’t have been possible without the tireless dedication of our athletes. Our partnership with Method Indoor Spin has had a significant impact on our level of fitness and our cohesion as a team this year! We are extremely grateful to Method for all their donation has allowed us to accomplish! We would like to thank our executives for the hard work they put into organizing a busy race season. We would also like to thank our homestays, without your donation we would not be able to attend these races! Finally we’d like to thank the UBC Thunderbird Sport Clubs Office, your guidance and support has allowed us to compete to the best of our ability this past race season.
