New Year, new team, new supporters.

2019 is now underway. Racing this year started later than usual for me. After four years of racing by the end of February in Europe, myself and the team started things off in Malaysia. Our first race was Tour de Iskander Johor, taking place in the Johor province of Malaysia. After the organizer shortened the race from five days down to just three, we knew we had to make the most of the long trip. The team worked like a charm straight from the start, and we managed to bag our first UCI win on our first attempt with Ryan Roth winning the stage and taking the leaders jersey. Ryan managed to take the stage from the early breakaway. I came home with 5th on the day.

The race was not particularly difficult on paper, but we were all hurting in the near 40 degree heat. On stage two, we were the ones with weight on our shoulders. The stage was 170 km and I must have had over 20 bottles of water to try and manage the dehydration. Things were very much going our way, that was until a small group of four riders got away with 50 km to go and no other team was willing to help manage the gap.

The A Team

Teammate Dylan M. and I did our best to manage the situation in those closing kilometers, but it was to no avail. The heat was really getting to me and my pulls were simply not strong enough to even maintain the gap to the four leaders. Afterwards we all agreed that there was not much more to be done. Many teams were willing to throw away any chance of a good result by not helping us and allowing themselves to be completely taken out of the game.

Relaxing on the left

The last day was hot again, though some rain started to fall in the final minutes of the race which was greatly appreciated on my part. I was able to cool down and for the first time this trip felt comfortable on the bike. I may have jumped the gun a little, attacking minutes after the rain started to fall out of pure excitement. After I came back to the peleton I took up my driving position for the guys, keeping them in the best position I could. There were certainly a few elbows and body blows as I fought to hold our position against the Australian St Georges team.

The last stage ended with nothing to write home about, Ryan held down 6th on GC and luckily was also able to hold onto the points jersey via that stage one victory. Overall a great week for the team and great insight into how Asia Tour racing unfolds. The team did work well together right from the start, I have been on teams that don’t, and I am telling you it makes all the difference. If you start every race with your teammates butting heads, how are you supposed to deal with the other 20 teams who are actively working against you? If we can keep up what I saw in Malaysia, it should be a good year.

As close as I got to the F1 circuit.

Dreamy

After a quick day trip to Singapore for some of the best duck meat dumplings I have ever had, it was time to head back to the airport for my insane travel day (2 actually) back to Ontario. I linked up with Will Elliott and we started planning our next adventure to do a gravel race called Paris-2-Ancaster. I was a debutant but had heard many great things about the event. After a recon ride with some of the areas local heroes like Gunnar Holmgren, Jenn Jackson, and Ruby West my excitement was curbed slightly. That group destroyed me on the mud sectors of the course. I thought there would be enough road that I could get away, and I was almost right.

As close as I will ever get to Santa's place.

During the race, teammate Ryan and I were playing catch-up all day long, loosing time on the mud and clawing it back on the road. Good thing Ryan is strong as an ox and kept dragging us back into the lead group. Will did one better though, attacking early with over 40 km to go with one other rider and staying ahead of the lead group. Ryan and I would do our best to cover moves that were trying to get up to Will. One bridging move of five got away, just as Ryan and I were getting back to the leaders after botching yet another field of mud.

Final climb at P2A 2019

Will made it past the last two mud shoots and was on the final six-minute climb up to the finish line. I had lost contact with the now lead group in the mud shoots, but I was no longer in it to win it. Will gave it everything he had. Only to be caught by one man, Peter Diesera. Peter, who is Will's neighbor, is Canada’s MTB national champion. Peter managed to catch Will inside the final 50 meters of the race. There is a heartbreaking video of Peter sprinting and Will being beaten, after a huge effort. Hats off to them both for putting on a pretty exciting race for the tons of people lining that final dirt road climb. And another thanks to the organizers for putting on such a cool event, over 3000 people cannot be easy to manage - but they did, Chapeau!

First time in the new kit on home roads

None of these stories would be possible without the people working in the background to get the team off the ground, and those who support me from here on the East Coast. Special thanks to Rick Lee and Amanda O'Connor for getting X-Speed off the ground. And to my personal sponsors Oregan's Subaru, McInnes Cooper, Java Blend Coffee roasters, and of course Specialized Canada/Sweet Ride Cycling for getting me the best gear on the planet.

That’s all for now, the season is long and there will be more highlights I am sure. In the meantime, I have some training and exams to get done before a big block of racing that includes, Charlevoix, Saguenay, Nationals and BC Superweek. Thanks for reading.

Questionable

Sunrise over Singapore