Tag Archive for: Pacific Cycling Centre

Two PCC athletes crowned Provincial Champions

Holly on a prime lap. PCC photo.

It was a great day for PCC on Sunday when two athletes were crowned 2023 BC Provincial Criterium Champions. National Criterium Champion Holly Simonson won the elite women’s race and Kimberly Chen was the victor in the U19 race.

Kimberly (front left) in the second peloton in the final stages of the race. PCC photo

The 35 lap race, part of the Victoria Grand Prix, was held on a perfect sunny day in the Inner Harbour in Victoria. Holly, Kimberly and PCC teammate Brenna Pauly had strong races.

Brenna leading the peloton. PCC photo

Holly won most of the prime laps, Brenna led the pack for a good part of the race and Kimberly looked solid in front of the second peloton. In the final lap Holly sprinted to the finish and Brenna was just pipped to a podium and finished fourth.

At the start line. PCC Photo

Kimberly Chen – U19 BC Provincial Criterium Champion. Photo: Kevin Chen

Holly Simonson crowned Criterium Champion

Photo credit: Dale Berg

After years of dedication, first as a junior and then as an elite cyclist, Holly Simonson won her first national title on Monday at the 2023 Nationals in the criterium. She and her teammate Emily Flynn had been racing crits for the LA Sweat team in the US for the past month in preparation for the Nationals.

“I had the chance to do the first part of Tour of America’s Dairyland, which was invaluable race experience and a place where I gained a lot of confidence through rolling in breaks with National and Pan Am champions,” Holly said.

Holly with teammate Emily Flynn. Photo credit: Gregoire Crevier

The Nationals were held in Edmonton and the criterium had a stacked field, Holly said. “It was a hard race but Emily and I worked so well together and animated the race, trusting each other and never giving up.”

“Emily spent time in a solo breakaway, which I then countered, and we had some other good attacks while also patrolling and covering other dangerous moves. After a late race prime I came back from near implosion, dangling near the back, and saw an opportunity to attack. I knew I had to go and didn’t hesitate. A few other women got on me fast and luckily were just as motivated to make a break stick. With five laps to go and the gap growing, it started to sink in that I could win. I knew I had to go early in the sprint, so I opened it up out of corner three and was able to hold it to the line.”

Holly sprinting to the finish. Photo credit: Gregoire Crevier

Holly is not only grateful for the support of her teammate but her coach, Houshang Amiri. “Many years of hard work and dreaming, and the belief of others, have led to this moment. I can’t thank my coach Houshang enough for his never wavering belief in me, and his expertise and guidance over the last eight years.”

National Criterium Champion

“I coached Holly from early Junior’s years and was always amazed how hard and smart she can race,” said Houshang. “Her hard work, commitment, motivation and ability to focus on the training process and push the boundaries shows in her results.”

PCC Athletes podium at Hatzic

Caleb Bender (centre) and Amiel Flett-Brown (right)

Two PCC athletes podiumed on Sunday at the Hatzic Valley Road Race in Mission, BC. Caleb Bender (Team California) won the elite race while Amiel Flett-Brown (Pathfinders Project) came third. The 116km race was ideal for fine tuning the athletes for the Canadian Road Nationals Championship later on this week Edmonton, Alberta.

Bender won the race with a final uphill push that gave him a one minute, 50 second lead from the main peloton. Flett-Brown was chasing the two leaders and was gaining time on them but ran out of the distance.

It was a long day for the two athletes and head coach Houshang Amiri, leaving PCC offices at Saanich Commonwealth Place at 5:45 am to take the ferry, returning at 8:30 pm. “But it was worth doing it,” said Amiri. “They both gained some good experience practicing their race skill tactics and dealing with challenging weather. It was very wet and raining and for first half and then sunny and warm for the second half of the race.”

Eight PCC coached riders are planning to race at the Canadian Road Nationals.

Two PCC athletes win Provincial Championships

Holly Simonson, Elite BC Road Race Champion. PCC photo.

Last weekend PCC coached cyclists competed in the BC Road Race and ITT Provincial Championships in Langley, BC. Two athletes came away with provincial crowns.

In the Junior Women category Kimberly Chen was 1st in the road race, following that up with a 3rd in the ITT. Holly Simonson won the Elite Women championship. Brenna Pauly was 4th.

In other results, in the U23 category, Caleb Bender was 2nd in the ITT and 8th in the road race. In the Elite Men Amiel Flett-Brown was 8th and Ethan Abbott, 16th in the road race.

Congratulations to everyone who raced.

 

Kimberly Chen, Junior BC Road Race Champion

Kimberly Chen wins National Title

Kimberly Chen – Junior National Champion. PCC photo.

PCC athlete Kimberly Chen recently competed at the 2023 Junior Track Championships in Bromont, Quebec achieving five podium finishes, including winning two gold medals.

The first day saw her coming third in the Keirin, a position she was very happy with as she admits she typically doesn’t do well in Keirin’s. The next day saw her set her best time that resulted in placing first in the sprint and being crowned national champion.

“At the sprint event I had a chance to rematch Alex Volstad, whom I was in the gold medal match-up with last year when I came second. To be able to put our abilities to the test again as we have both improved significantly in terms of tactics and power was fun for us both. She is one of the only other girls my age in Canada that can sprint well, and we have similar strengths so it’s always exciting racing against her. I managed to take the win this year, and I’m sure we will have more rematches in the future,” Kimberly said.

The team sprint was on day three and along with teammates Alex Volstad and Anabelle Thomas, had a strong ride beating Team Ontario by 0.111 seconds and setting a new Canadian record. Kimberly finished off the championships with third place finishes in the 500 metre TT and the Madison.

Team Sprint Champions. PCC photo.

She was very pleased with her overall performance in the championships. “Although my track-specific preparation time was relatively short, my goals were to be within sprint world standard times in the flying 200 and 500 metre TT and have a shot at going to the selection camp for worlds. I also wanted to see what I could achieve in terms of tactical ability and skill among the field. This trip was also still very much about learning and gaining experience since I am a first-year Junior. I did not quite hit the goal times in the 200 or 500, but they were both learning opportunities and I now know exactly what to work on for next year when I am a second-year Junior.”

Houshang Amiri has been coaching Kimberly since January since she joined the Victoria Hub program. “Kimberly showed her racing and competitive ability during the championship, showing a lot of potential, and she has a great future ahead of her.”

 

February camp held in cold conditions

PCC held its pre-season training camp last weekend in Victoria in unseasonably cold, wintery weather. But it proved to be perfect mental and physical preparation for the spring race season.

Snow arrived on the first day of the camp and so instead of an endurance ride, Coach Houshang Amiri changed it to a trainer session. “This was going to help us build our aerobic capacity, as well as our attacking intensity and sustained power that could closely simulate some of the energy systems we’ll be using in our spring opening races in March.” said PCC athlete Amiel Flett-Brown.

The second day was in the saddle with a focus on endurance and climbing techniques. This was done on some of the hills at the Metchosin road race course. “We had a few steady laps, feeling the steeper gradients and working on pedaling technique as well as descending skills,” said Flett-Brown.

The last two days featured long endurance rides that included sprints and pace line work. “We maximized volume as well as touched on the energy systems that we’ll be leaning on come race day with a few two-up team time trials,” added Flett-Brown.

The cold weather offered up some challenges for the riders and with the intensity of the endurance rides it was important to be well fuelled. Sponsor Gruppo Nutrition provided some Ride formula for the camp which kept the riders’ energy levels topped up. “The 65 grams of carbohydrates coming from a mix of maltodextrin, fructose and dextrose gives us the perfect ratios for long days when we mix in intensity to our training. The formula also contains electrolytes and a small amount of protein to help us stay hydrated and hit our macronutrient goals throughout the day,” said Flett-Brown.

PCC athletes will be competing in some spring races starting with the Thunderbird Road Race on March 5 and the Wix Brown Circuit Race on March 11, both in Langley, BC. Five PCC athletes will also be racing in Tucson, AZ.

Registration open for Pre-season Training Camp

Pacific Cycling Centre will host a pre-season training camp from February 23 -26, 2023. The camp will be held in Victoria, BC and led by Head Coach Houshang Amiri.

The focus will be to prepare athletes for the upcoming season in a vibrant, stimulating group training setting. The camp will further identify athlete goals for the 2023 season and will include endurance rides where you will be evaluated on your aerobic base and power.

The four-day camp will feature daily rides from four-five hours in duration. The rides will include hill climbs and a time trial with a focus on technique and sharpening cycling skills. The camp will also include two training presentations.

All levels of riders are welcome from different cycling disciplines. Depending on the size of the camp riders will be divided into groups according to their level and ability.

Cost for the camp is $750+ GST. The deadline to apply is February 15.

Information and Registration

PCC January Camp a Success

 

Last weekend PCC completed its second pre-season camp in Victoria. The camp was planned and structured to provide on opportunity for benchmarking the participants current aerobic fitness in a group training setting. This enabled each athlete and the head coach to better prepare and plan the next block of training.

The first day on the road included speed assessments with 10 and 20 minute sprint efforts. That evening was an education session where coach Houshang Amiri talked about the major points of the Key Performance Factors based on season and race demands. This was followed by a group workshop, discussing the KPF topics.

Day two was a climbing day, with a focus on short 1 – 5 minute climbs around Victoria.

The third and final day was focused on technical skills including lead out and sprinting skills and speed. An easy 20 km was then followed by TTT and pace line skills.

Amiri was pleased with the camp results. “Based on the feedback from the athletes and my observation we achieved the camp goal and objectives.”

Amiel Flett-Brown attended the camp and concurred.

“This January’s camp was a perfect loading block for everyone who came out. With the racing season fast approaching, we all needed to get in a mix of climbing, speed, endurance and technical tune ups to get ready for the next phase of winter training. Coach Houshang’s expert guidance and planning helped us navigate 360 km of riding in 13.5 hours with a 3,133 m of elevation gain over the three days. The group’s morale was high and the positive energy kept us going through some challenging weather. Thanks to Coach Houshang’s expert planning and on road decision making, riders of all ability levels were performing at their best.”

The next camp will be from February 23 – 26. Registration will open in a few days.

Season’s Greetings

The best of the holiday season and wishing everyone a Happy New Year from the Pacific Cycling Centre.

 

Registration open for January camp

Pacific Cycling Centre will host its second training camp of the season from January 20 -22, 2023. The camp will be held in Victoria, BC and led by Head Coach Houshang Amiri.

The focus will be building on the skills and endurance learnt from the December camp in a vibrant, stimulating group training setting. The camp will further identify athlete goals for the 2023 season and the long rides will boost aerobic capacity for cycling disciplines such as road, track, MTB, and triathlon.

The three-day camp will feature daily rides from three-four hours in duration. The rides will include hill climbs and a time trial with a focus on technique and sharpening cycling skills. The camp will also include a training presentation.

All levels of riders are welcome from different cycling disciplines. Depending on the size of the camp riders will be divided into groups according to their level and ability.

Cost for the camp is $570 + GST. The deadline to apply is January 6. A 10% discount will be given if full payment is made by the deadline date.

Information and Registration

 

Pacific Cycling Centre

Pacific Cycling Centre (PCC) provides coaching and training services for Elite, Masters, and Junior athletes in road, mountain bike, track, and cyclo-cross.

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100, 4636 Elk Lane Drive
Victoria, BC V8Z 5M1

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