Is it summer yet?
After a brutally long winter, Manitoba’s cycling athletes descended on arguably their most popular training area – Bird’s Hill Park – for a race to see who has the quickest time around the park.
An icon in the local cycling community for over three decades, Tim Woodcock, his wife Arlene, and his friends from Woodcock Cycle put on the event, and Thursday night was the first of three such events in the month of May.
Scott Thomson riding his time trial, a race against the clock.
There was a good turnout with 41 riders, and all types of racers from all age categories were represented.
A time trial, also known as a ‘T.T.’, is not a traditional race in the sense of groups of people racing together – it’s all about how to get from A to B in the shortest amount of time possible on your own.
Cyclists are obsessive about time. A few hundredths of a second can mean victory. They are so obsessed, in fact, that the upper echelons of the local racing community spend thousands of dollars on equipment, thousands of hours training, and impeccable attention to detail when it comes to managing aerodynamic flow.
But it’s not just cutting edge engineering that gets them to the finish faster. These human machines are a spectacle to watch. The amazing power that they have due to both genetics and tenacity, propels them along the North and South drives in the park with jet-like speed.
Cyclist David Ristau racing his time trial.
Racers were allowed to choose between one or two laps at the day of the race, and the results were impressive.
The fastest time for the two lap course was 17-year-old local road racer Willem Boersma at 31:19, which translates into an average speed of 43.22 kms/hr.
Willem Boersma, 17, had fastest time of the day.
The second fastest time for the two lap course was local racer Don Sawatzky, with a time of 31:31, or 43.03 kms/hr. Sawatzky is 53 years old.
There were 20 racers in the one lap course, and the fastest time was triathlete Davis Sohor with a time of 16:02, or 42.3 kms/hr.
The youngest rider was 12-years-old, and had a speed of 28 kms/hr, while the oldest rider at 58 had a speed of 35 kms/hr.
May 15th and May 29th will have two more such events at Bird’s Hill Park. Cost is $15 per race, and you don’t need a bicycle license to race. Helmets are mandatory. Check in time is 5:30 p.m., with the racing following.
For more information, visit http://www.woodcockcycle.com/about/tri-vs-roadies-pg431.htm
The Winnipeg Triathlon Club is holding duathlon (run/bike/run) races at Bird’s Hill Park every Tuesday (May 6, 13, 20 and 27) of the month. Fees are low, and the races involve any age and skill level. Visit http://birdshillduathlon.com/
