Tour De la Relève Internationale de Rimouski

This week I pushed myself as hard as I could, learning my limits and getting to know my abilities. I raced for Mt. Borah at the Tour de Rimouski.  It was by far the best racing experience I've ever had.  I arrived with the team in Quebec not knowing what to expect.

Borah Development 3 (Girls 17-18)

Borah Development 1 (Boys 15-16)

Borah Development 2 (Girls 15-16) L to R: Hanna, me, Zoe, Rachael

I stayed in an apartment with my teammates in my age category - Zoe Reeves (from Michigan), Hanna Berkooz (from Michigan), and Rachael Jensen (from Wisconsin).  The first day I was there, I didn't race. The 17-18 girls on my team did a race in the morning in Rimouski. We cheered them on and also pre-rode the team time trial and individual time trial course. It is truly beautiful in Rimouski! It really reminded me of Germany because of all the mountains and rolling fields just outside Rimouski.

We went exploring :)

 

The team (except for Ian McShane - not sure where he is..)
Aren't our team kits cool?! Pink helmets, glasses, shirts, bibs,
and socks!  Definitely the coolest there!

The next day was the first day of the tour.  The course was 68.8 km long with some really huge hills.  I have never in my life climbed as much as I did that first day! (What I didn't know then was that stage 1 is not the hardest stage).  We took a school bus there and the bus did the course backwards to get to the start line.  I couldn't believe that we were going to have to climb all of these hills we were going down! We had to sign in before the race, just like in the Tour de France.  About half a kilometer into the race, there was already a big hill of 17%.  I got dropped after a few kilometers into the race. I eventually found some French-Canadian girls who worked with me until the end of the race.  I still cannot get over the fact that the hills just kept going up.  I remembering turning a corner after a huge climb and what did I see? Another huge climb!  I really respect everyone who wore the King of the Mountain jersey - those hills were insanely steep!  Two of my teammates were out after the first race. Hanna Berkooz had a flat about 10 km from the end and Karen Brocket (17-18) broke her derailleur. Josey Weik crashed a few kilometers before the end of the race but got back up and finished.
Later that afternoon, we had the team time trial. It didn't go very well but was again, really fun.  We didn't ride with aero bars because "the time trial is so short" even though most of the teams did.  It started raining just before the time trial and I was quite suprised how much I enjoyed riding in the rain. The results are really confusing to look at so I'm pretty sure my team (Borah Development 2) was 11th out of 17 teams.  I learned a lot about team time trials and I'm sure that I'd like to try doing the team persuit at track nationals next year.
The next day was almost as brutal as the first.  I stayed with the main pack for just over 20 kilometers but of course, got dropped again.  I was working with my teammate, Rachael Jensen and a group of around 8 girls.  Eventually, a big white truck pulled just in front of us when I realized what it was for - to pace off of! It was so incredibly cool getting to motor pace off of a huge truck and I really felt like I was in the Tour de France ;).  I finished the 75 km race a few minutes after Rachael did.  The best result from our team was Emily Elbers finishing 3rd in the group sprint.

Emily Erbers on the podium

On Saturday was the individual time trial and the criterium.  It was a 6km time trial.
 Later that day was the event I'd looked forward to the whole time.  I stayed with the main group the whole time and couldn't believe the rubber-band effect in the group.  I tried to get toward the front which really helped.  After being in a few quick breakaways (one with the girl in the Malliot Jaune!) and trying to slow the pack down once Zoe Reeves broke away, I felt really great. I was fourth wheel on the second to last lap, ready for the soon coming sprint finish. In the last turn on the second lap, Emma White, who was at the front of the group, crashed. We were going around 28/29 mph and of course, I went right into the back of the girl in front of me.  It all happened so fast but I do remember all the screaming.  My chain half fell off so I quickly put it on and finished the race.  I cannot begin to say how upset I was that I crashed in my best event.

Me in the criterium in the second place position

 But soon I realized that it just wasn't meant to be and that I was incredibly lucky. I know that there were girls on cruches the next day and a girl with a broken collar bone. I came out great with lots of road rash but hardly deep at all. Emily Bramel (Borah 3) ended up 10th and Zoe Reeves came 13th. The Borah boys did a great job sticking with the main group with Josey Weik ending up 21st and Michael Gaines with 29th in a pack of 90 guys!
The last day was the hardest day (when I thought it couldn't get any worse..). But was really fun! It was a 5 lap 10km circuit race. The hill was super steep and lasted about mile?.  It was probably the slowest mile I have ever done in my whole life.
Everyone in my team did a great job sticking with the main pack until the end of the race. I couldn't believe how well all the boys on Borah did considering there were 94 men who started the race! It was amazing getting to race this as it is seriously a mini-Tour de France! (There were motor bikes in front, a caravan behind the peleton, cars to pace off of!). I had sooo much fun meeting everyone on the team. I will miss every one of them.
This whole week has been such a blast! I didn't do very well but this event was a big eye-opener for me. It was amazing getting picked to ride this race and I would like to thank Larry Martin for picking me. I'd also like to thank Jean for being my mom away from home!  Also, Oscar the mechanic did an amazing job making sure our bikes were in perfect condition for the next race. These adults are really great people and I can't wait to see them again in the future.  I'd also like to thank everyone on the Wolverines who has helped me get where I am now so I can have an amazing experience like this! I really appreciate everything everyone has does for me.

Corey Osborne finished with the best result out of the girls
on our team - 5th place overall!

Josey Weik finished with the best result out of
the Borah guys in 36th place.

Just so everyone is aware... While I was away in Quebec, my brother was off winning his first national medal! (3rd place in the standing 500m with a time of 37.88 seconds)..