Rundle Mountain Cycling Club road races provide more than top level competition for experienced riders; it’s also fertile ground for the next generation of Bow Valley athletes to blossom.
Eva Poidevin won her second provincial road championship in two years, taking the U17 road race win.
“It’s fun just to get out on our bikes,” Poidevin said.
She prefers shorter races such as time trials and hill climbs to the long efforts, but has shown talent in each discipline.
“It’s definitely a good feeling to win. We went with the U17 boys and they had a pretty fast pace. Their category was pretty competitive, so my goal was to stick for as long as possible,” Poidevin said. “Keeping steady is important and not just drifting off.”
Sean Parker considers himself a mountain biker first, but that didn’t stop him from winning silver in the U17 hill climb winning the provincial championship in the U15 road race.
The 14-year-old scorched the field last weekend on the mountain bike trails, and borrowed a bike to earn his first road win on Sunday (July 12).
“This was my first road race ever. The hills were quite challenging, with quite a bit of vertical. I was sitting back with (teammate Connor Howe) and we attacked on our last lap,” Parker said.
He said the strategy between road and mountain biking is quite different, but after the past weekend, he said he’ll give road biking another try. After two weekends of racing, he’s ready for a break.
Howe is an accomplished speed skater, but also faired well on the road bike. He was fourth in the U17 crit race, third in the hill climb and third in the road race this weekend. He said both sports compliment each other well.
“Endurance and racing strategy makes it similar,” Howe said.
Howe is moving to Calgary to concentrate on speed skating, but said he’ll still get out on the bike for fitness.
