Eight PCC athletes competed in the Tour de Bloom Stage Race last weekend, which resulted in a GC win for Caleb Bender, his first Tour win, and a third place for Holly Simonson in the final road race.

The race was a three-day cycling event from May 3-5, held under perfect weather in the Wenatchee Valley, WA. Stage 1 was a road race in Plain on Friday; stage 2 was a Merckx-style time trial on Saturday morning, and stage three a twilight criterium in downtown Wenatchee on Saturday afternoon. The final stage 4 road race was among the rolling wheat fields near Waterville in adjacent Douglas County on Sunday.

“Tour de Bloom was a great experience and I had so much fun competing in the race, with every course being really challenging,” Caleb said about the weekend’s racing, who races for TaG Cycling.

Competing in Category 3, he started off strong in Friday’s road race finishing fourth. “I had a really great start to the race. I followed a couple moves early on, but nothing stuck, and the race came down to the final climb,” he said. “I was happily surprised to find that I was positioned well at the base of the climb, and the legs felt good enough to stick with the three leaders up the climb until the final sprint to take fourth.”

He rode well on both the time trial and the criterium on the Saturday to maintain his GC position, but it was the final road race that was the highlight. Feeling comfortable on the course, he said it resembled the rolling hills of his native province, Saskatchewan. He had a tactic in mind: “I knew I wanted to get in a break on the day, and set out wanting to make up some time, being a few seconds off the GC podium.” He made an early break with three other riders, quickly creating a large gap. “We worked well together and managed to keep on pushing for the rest of the race growing the gap even more on the last lap. The breakaway stuck until the line, and I managed second in the final sprint! We also got a large enough gap on the pack for me to take my first GC win!”

“Overall I am really happy with how the weekend went. Huge thanks to Houshang and Pacific Cycling Centre for all of the coaching, support, and guidance. It means so much to have such a great and supportive coach, and I am happy with how much I have improved as a rider because of it!”

That same weekend Alex Amiri raced in the 2019 Tour of Gila in Silver City New Mexico with his host team “Team California”.

“These were the final races of our pre-competition phase and I am happy where each of those athletes are at this time of the year with their form and development,” said head coach Houshang Amiri.

PCC athletes excelled at the Tour of Walla Walla last weekend in Washington. Holly Simonson and Brenna Pauly rode the four-stage race for Team Red Truck and Holly recorded a win on the second stage.

The weekend started with the Wilson Hollow Time Trial – a 11km out and back route. Holly had a strong ride and going into stage two was fifth overall. Stage two was the Waitsburg Road Race. “Things got super exciting as the team began to bring the heat early on,” Holly recalls. “We started launching attacks, taking turns and forcing the pack to chase us down repeatedly. Eventually a few started sticking, notably we had Brenna get away and she had a solo break for around 15kms of the first lap.”

With her TRT teammates support Holly continued to push and attack. “My breakaway partner was lower in GC than I was going into the stage, so I knew that by working with her and taking it to the line, we would both move up, but I wouldn’t be in jeopardy of her beating me in the overall unless something unexpected happened.” At the final climb Holly gave it her all. “I gave my last ounce of energy to get out of the saddle and took the lead in the final 200m, taking the win for TRT. I found out that I had moved into first in the GC! The whole team was really excited to have shaken up the overall standings after working so hard and executing a plan perfectly.”

Stage three was the 60-minute criterium and with a small field Holly and her team were very optimistic. ”We raced aggressively starting about 20mins into the race, hoping to set up a break with one of us either solo or with someone a bit lower on GC. That ended up not being in the cards, and the bunch was still together going into the last couple laps.” Holly ended up third on the stage.

Sunday, and the final stage, came and went with more than a little excitement, Holly recalls. “We went into the day with hopes to hold the GC lead, and also to take another stage win. Neither of these ended up happening, but not for lack of a fight! the whole team gave it their all in the super windy and tough 100km race.”

Holly, Brenna and the other strong racers, rotated for lead for the entire race with Holly coming third on the stage with her team moving into second and third overall to finish off the weekend.

“Part of bike racing is dealing with unexpected scenarios and doing everything in the team’s power to come out with the wanted results,” Holly said. “We certainly did that on the day and came up just a little bit short of the win but smiling all the same. The experience of holding a jersey at a stage race for my first time was super fun, and I was so lucky to be there with a team who put everything out on the road to defend it. A big thanks to my coach, Houshang Amiri, whose advice and expertise keep me in check and who always supports me racing with my heart and with an open mind, gaining experience and strength in any way I can.”

Pacific Cycling Centre held their annual February road camp from February 20-24 in Greater Victoria.  The five-day camp took place during university reading break allowing most PCC-trained athletes to take part. The camp provided on excellent training environment and mentorship opportunities for PCC younger riders.

Day one of the camp was allocated for testing and evaluation, followed by four days of training with specific targets in mind for each day and each ride. The daily rides of five-six hours were spent on some iconic Greater Victoria roads, including Lands End, Willis Point, the Observatory hill and the scenic waterfront.

The Camp included an in-class information session with a review of some of the latest research and talked about the fundamentals of endurance training, adaptation and monitoring. Each rider’s power tap files were analyzed and reviewed in a group setting with PCC head coach, Houshang Amiri providing feedback.

“This was an inclusive camp for PCC coached riders and I was happy to see how each rider rode during this camp,” said Amiri. “I was monitoring each rider’s physical response to the endurance rides and we also spent time on nutrition instruction on and off the bike. This was a good boost and loading week for the group of young athletes going to Redlands next month with their teams. This was a successful camp and we accomplished the camp objectives.”

For Brenna Pauly this was her first PCC camp. “I knew the camp would be a great opportunity to get in some quality kilometers for the upcoming race season, but it went beyond my expectations and offered an excellent training environment that pushed me to achieve my largest mileage in four days to date. Despite adverse weather conditions the group cheerily assembled every morning to hit some big miles with some intensity in the form of TT’s and hill climbs. From my perspective the group clicked really well, which allowed us all to get the most out of every ride. Personally, I found that was able to optimize my recovery each night by rolling, stretching and preparing homemade bars for the rides. This allowed me to consistently be able to sustain the big mileage throughout the weekend. Thanks again to Houshang for assembling such a great group and always being so supportive on these rides. I’m looking forward now to starting the race season!”

Coming off a very successful Western Track Challenge in January, Amiel Flett-Brown saw the camp as valuable preparation for the upcoming season. “The camp provided valuable insights into the progress we made over the winter and what the road ahead will look like. For me the most important part of PCC’s pre-season camp was getting a chance to work through my zones on every ride and get in some hard yards in before the season gets underway. After a long season of base miles and strength training it’s good to run through the paces and test out some hard efforts up the local climbs in Victoria. Head coach Houshang Amiri provided valuable insights into training data, periodized nutrition planning, annual race program plotting and a chance to brush up on some tactics and race awareness. With the camp in the books I am feeling prepared for what is ahead and ready for the first races of the upcoming season.”

Parker Swanstrom was happy to get out on the road after some enforced training indoors. “These camps also help keep me motivated on the trainer because I know that even though at the moment, I may be in my garage doing efforts and not having the most fun, I can look forward to the camps like these where I can get outside and ride with like-minded people and have fun. The support from Houshang and the group helped keep me motivated and wanting to do more. Every one of these camps that I attend I always learn valuable skills and lessons. From everything from gearing to nutrition I feel I have gotten both stronger and smarter as a rider during these camps.”

Camp Nutrition was provided by Infinit Nutrition Canada.