July 26/27 2003 (Schweitzer Mountain, Idaho) – Some days it feels like you can fly. Those are the good days. 2003 has been a season of solid races for me. I knew I was pulling out some good races, but just couldn't coordinate the dig and luck on the same day for the win. I found it yesterday! I didn't expect to feel so good, but once the gun went off and I knew I was climbing well within my limits, I went with it. Given the length of our race I knew it would be sub two hours, so going out a little fast was a good thing. The course was also mostly single track with extreme dust/powder conditions! The kind of dust that takes minutes to settle. For those of you that have never riden in this kind of condition, it means that unless you are first, you can't see….or breathe!

Trish Sinclair (Gears Racing) and Alison Sydor (Trek/VW) were hot on my wheel entering the first bit of single track (7 min into race), then once the track opened up again and started climbing, it was only Trish that tried to overtake me for the next bit of single track. After that I only knew that someone was always lurking about 25-50 seconds behind me. After the race had finished I found out that the race for second was exciting and the place changed constantly! After Trish and Alison gave chase, there was Dara Marks (Sobe Headshocks), then it was Shonny Vanlandingham(Luna Chix), with Jimena Florit (RLX) finally taking the silver medal. My team mate, Mary Grigson, was charging hard but fell victim to bad mechanical luck. Unfortunately she was unable to finish, a very dissapointing day for Mary!

Results: 1st    Chrissy Redden       Subaru/Gary Fisher 2nd    Jimena Florit         RLX Polo Sport 3rd    Shonny Vanlandingham Luna Chix 4th    Alison Sydor         Trek/VW 5th    Dara Marks          Sobe Headshocks

My two teammates in the men's race were physched and ready to lay some smackdown. Ryder started hard and got to the single track first, but a hard-charging Roland Green (Trek/VW) wasn't about to let Ryder get away. After a tough, dry, hot, dusty battle, Roland took the win and Ryder took 4th! Walker Ferguson had a major crash which took him out of the race. He is healing well and is gearing up for the Short Track this afternoon.

Short Track Results

Women: 1st    Alison Sydor          Trek/VW 2nd    Chrissy Redden       Subaru/Gary Fisher 3rd    Sue Haywood         Trek/VW 4th    Katerina Hanusova      Luna Chix 5th    Shonny Vanlandingham  Luna Chix

Men: 1st    Jeremy Hogan-Kobelski 2nd    Seamus McGrath 3rd    Paul Rowney 4th    Ryder Hesjedal    Subaru/Gary Fisher

Special thanks to Judy (team therapist), Jim Verners (Selkirk Chiropractic) and Jenny (Victoria Massage Therapy) for helping me to heal my back injury. Also, thanks to Ian and Manitou for helping me find the perfect adjustment for my front fork. It was a long process, but obviously it was the winning combination. And of course, thanks to Subaru! I drove my WRX down to the race and loved every minute of the drive!!

Next Race is Norba #5 in Durango, CO Aug 16,17, 2003

Cheers, Chrissy

July 27, 2003 (Whistler, BC) – Whistler Resort was the scene for Gravity racers and FreeRiders all week. It was also the scene for support staff and international riders (ie: all those not racing in the Canadian Nationals). There were a lot of smiles during the week as my normally chill, relaxed, reserved team started doing runs on big bikes….with full pads! But, the real reason we came to Whistler….was to win the honour of being the National Champions of Canada. Both Ryder and I wanted the title and came with the intention of racing our legs off! I arrived late Wednesday night and spent the rest of the week riding the course, dipping my legs in the glacier river and resting (and listening to the tall tales of those doing chair lift runs!)

The women started at the very bottom of a hill in Whistler Village. The first of four laps brought Marie-Helen Promont (Oryx) to a commanding lead! She unleashed her fury on the rest of the field! By the end of the lap, she had a one minute gap and the race would be for silver. Myself (Chrissy Redden-Subaru/Gary Fisher) and Alison Sydor (Trek/VW) battled while an ever present Trish Sinclair (Gears Racing) stocked us about 30 seconds to one minute behind. Any mistakes would be costly! Starting the final lap, I surged on the initial climb and got a gap over Alison. I knew I had to be smooth and continue the attack to capture the silver. I knew it would be tough, as Alison is a fierce competitor. Never one to give up, so never one to discount! There's a reason she was 3-time World Champion! I managed to maintain my gap and finished ahead of Alison by about 15 seconds….but about three minutes behind the new National Champion of Canada – Marie Helen Promont!! Yet again, a spectacular ride for this young rider from Quebec.

The men's race was similar, but the commanding attack happened about half way into the race! My team-mate Ryder Hesjedal held on and captured the silver medal as well! Congrats Ryder!

And many, many thanks to the team for coming to Whistler to help us Canucks out! Judy, Ian and Tyler, you guys have done so much! And thanks to the gang at Gary Fisher who are behind the team 100%! You guys deserve so many thanks! Sometimes behind the scenes….but you should be on the podium with us!!

June 21,22, 2003 – We came, we raced, we're getting ready for the World Cup next week in Mt. St. Anne, Quebec! This weekend was definitely a good weekend with Ryder Hesjedal placing 3rd in  the men's cross-country and Chrissy Redden podiuming both days with a 5th and  3rd in the cross-country and short track, respectively. We had much better weather this week with only scattered showers during the day and solid rain at night (compared with rain, rain and more rain in West Virginia). The 7km cross-country course held up quite well, but still had numerous boggy sections.

The downhill was typical Mt. Snow style…..technical!! This is normally one of my favourite venues, so I was really excited to start racing. The pace went out fast for the cross-country and I found myself off the back of the lead group of four – Jimena Florit (RLX), Alison Sydor (Trek/VW), Mary McConneloug (Seven Cycles) and Willow Koerber (RLX). I seemed to be plagued with small mistakes the whole race, each costing only seconds, but adding up! Plus, the others were on! By the final of three laps, Alison and Mary were attacking each other, and Jimena was making a final surge. The final result was:

1st – Mary McConneloug    Seven Cycles 2nd – Jimena Florit         RLX 3rd – Alison Sydor         Trek/VW 4th – Willow Koerber       RLX 5th – Chrissy Redden       Subaru/Gary Fisher

My team-mates Mary Grigson and Walker Ferguson had unsuccessful days and ended up at the rig early. Mary had a bad crash, but is OK and will be resting up for…. (its a secret….)

The short track was looking really good, until it started raining an 1/2 hr before the start of the women's race. I didn't even notice. I had my special IRC tires on. I was there to win. I didn't. Yes, I'm bummed, but excited for Katerina Hanusova (Luna), who did! It was a fast, technical, aggressive race with quite a few crashes. I really wanted to stay at the front and maintain a fast pace, but it seemed only a few would work and I was definitely marked.

I tried a few attempts to get away, but, the only thing they accomplished was to tire me out. With 2 laps to go, Katerina got a small gap, then attacked HARD! I tried to bring it back, but I had Sue and Alison on my wheel, they came by me at the 1 lap to go mark, and Katerina was actually gaining time! She was motivated and I could see she could hold it! The three of us crested the hill and as Alison stalled a little, Sue got a small gap. By the time I got around Alison, Sue was gone! I rallied the downhill thinking the best I could do was 3rd, but then I saw Alison try a gutsy pass on my outside of a greasy, wet corner. All I could see was a Trek/Canadian team jersey going into the Shimano banner. From there I crested the chairlift climb, but wasn't in the clear. It seemed that McConneloug was catching me! When would this last lap end?? I turned the final corner into the finishing straight, but went wide and lost some time. I heard some huge cheering and knew that McConneloug was on my wheel. I just went for the line and had to throw my bike forward in order to capture 3rd. It was definitely a photo finish! Exciting!

Results:

1st – Katerina Hanusova     Luna Chix 2nd – Sue Haywood        Trek/VW 3rd – Chrissy Redden       Subaru/Gary Fisher 4th – Mary McConneloug    Seven Cycles 5th – Jimena Florit         RLX

The men's race was equally exciting!! Seamus McGrath (Har0/Lee Dungarees) captured his first NORBA Win!!! The crowd went absolutely WILD!!

All in all, a fantastic weekend!! Thanks to Tyler and Judd for cheering from the heart and giving splits! You guys were EVERYWHERE!! The drums on the gravel climb were….inspiring!!  You guys rock!!!!

OK, check out the pic from the cross-country.

til next week, Chrissy

July 11-13, 2003 (Vancouver, BC) – This was the race that much of the Canadians were looking forward to. West Coast style riding!! Grouse Mt. is located on top of a tram which departs from North Vancouver and travels 2,500 ft to spectacular views of the Juan de Fuca and Olympic Mountain Ranges….as well as the city of Vancouver!  The ski area is normally closed to mountain bikes, but opens its trails for the world cup circuit every year!  This year the weekend's events were Downhill, Trials, Jumping and Cross-Country.  The Subaru/Gary Fisher Team came to rule the Cross-country.  With two Canadians, the Espoir World Cup leader and a motivated Aussie, the team was excited to be in the mix of the circuit again!

The course was a 4.5 km loop that was extremely spectator friendly! There was a lot of single track technical descents and some entertaining wooded sections close to the pond. The week before the race was hot and dry, so the course was really loose and fast, but the day before the event the skies opened and dumped large amounts of rain on the course.  I woke up to pouring rain.  Oh well, should be fun, I tried to comfort myself. Taking the tram up with Tyler in the morning was almost surreal, as we glided through the fog, and as we neared the top, the temperature dropped and the rain started. By the time I got to our warm-up tent, it was pouring rain.

I jumped on the trainer only to stay warm. But, that got me into the warm-up mode and soon I was completing my warm-up. Judy was heavy with the heat cream on the legs, so I was good to rally up the first climb and maintain a good position into the first bit of single track. This was a really important strategy, as this descent was about 1 km long and VERY muddy, rough and technical.  I needed to be in a good position to ensure a good finish! With my #9 number plate, I lined up on the front row. That was a position I have been working on all year and it felt good to finally have it!

The start was fast, of course, and after two start loops we raced up the climb.  But my gearing was all wrong. Something had slipped (perhaps I hit a hole in the start loop?). I needed to do a kick fix, I couldn't even pedal smoothly, let alone try and compete with the best in the world. My quick thinking put me off the bike, but unfortunately it wasn't a quick fix….it was a minute fix!  That minute cost me about 60 spots. The single track was a bogged up traffic line-up.  We're talking Toronto at about 5:30pm….across the 401!  By the time I finished my 1st of six laps, I had lost about seven minutes to Gunn-Rita and was in about 40th position!  There were three people that didn't let me give up!  Thanks Yuri, Tyler and Judd!  You guys cheered me on to an eventual 17th place!  Not a great race, but certainly I tried to salvage some well earned points….plus I was out there for 2 hrs and 25 minutes, so a good training day!

Mary also had an eventful day, and finished up with some good UCI points! Gunn-Rita Dahl is still on fine form and crushed the field with about a 5-minute gap over Alison Sydor(Trek/VW), Sue Haywood (Trek/VW) and Marie-Helen Promont (Oryx)!! You guys rocked it! Congrats!

The men's race saw on and off pouring rain, lots of crashes, flats and complete physical shut downs! But our boys from the ROC did well!! Ryder finished up an impressive 4th!! And Liam held onto the Espoir World Cup Leader's Jersey!!

Check out the photo, it's of Mary on one of the gnarly descents!  That was the best pic of the day!!

I'm just on the BC ferry heading to Whistler, BC for the Canadian National Championships!! This should be a very exciting and challenging race. Be sure to keep up with all the results of your favourite riders….

Chrissy 🙂

June 16, 2003 – Day One: Cross-country

Take:
Technical course + Two 10-mile loops + Lots of rain in the proceeding weeks +
Thunderstorms and constant rain all day Friday = Excellent conditions for the
Subaru/Gary Fisher Team!!

The Proof:
Ryder Hesjedal – 1st Men's Cross Country
Chrissy Redden – 2nd Women's Cross Country
Mary Grigson – 5th Women's Cross Country
Walker Ferguson – 9th Men's Cross Country

The Story:
Due to my bad placing at the previous Norba race in Big Bear, I started on
the third row today. I knew I had to have an incredible start, as we dipped
into the most technical descent of the course within a couple minutes. I
enter the first downhill in third. There was slipping, and general chaos as
there was no real line and the fastest option was stay on the bike and hope
for no trees getting in the way. We entered the bottom single track with Sue
Haywood (Trek/VW) with a good lead over Katrina Hanusova (Luna) and Willow
Koerber (RLX). I was close behind.

After that bit of single track I had closed the gap to second and third,
passed them, then had my sights on Sue. After a short steep climb, we
entered a boggy one mile wood section. This section was rideable when I had
pre-rode, so obviously I tried riding, but I ended up
running/riding/fumbling. About midway thru this section, Katrina ran by me,
followed by Alison Dunlap (Luna). This was frustrating.

Next, Jimena Florit (RLX) passed me, so I started running, only. This was
good enough to exit
that section in fifth. We finished off lap one in this order. By the bottom
of the descent the order had changed as Alison crashed and pulled out and
Jimena passed Katrina to take the lead. By the time we hit the bog section
again, I had bridged up to Sue, passed her and started catching up to
Katrina. I bridge, then passed Katrina in the final two miles. The final
results were:

1st Jimena Florit (RLX)
2nd Chrissy Redden (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
3rd Katrina Hanusova (Luna)
4th Sue Haywood (Trek/VW and West Virginia Tourism)
5th Mary Grigson (Subaru/Gary Fisher)

6th Trish Sinclair (Gears Racing)
9th Melanie McQuaid (Ford Outfitters)
(gotta list my training partners….!!)

Day 2:

Again, lots of rain! It rained constantly from 10am to 3pm!! The short track
held up as the finishing straight was asphalt and the back section was
gravel. Only a small off-camber grass section. I felt confident after
pre-riding because this was the same course as in 2001…..I won that! The
race started fast and a group of about 12 formed at the front. Jimena got
crashed out in the first lap so she lost quite a bit of time, basically
putting her out of contention. The race stayed steady with attacks from
Melanie McQuaid, Trish Sinclair, myself and Dara Marks (SOBE Headshocks).
Sue was playing it smart, staying out of the wind, whereas I liked the front
because there was less mud spraying in the eyes! We were down to a tight and
motivated group of seven with three laps to go. Dara took a huge attack, but
Sue and I were right there….waiting…. then Sue went with two to go. I
knew I should have went, but Sue just went first. I quickly got on Sue's
wheel. I attacked hard to get around her on the final lap, but she was too
strong. I then attempted another pass on the downhill, but again, she was
ready and too motivated for the win in her home state. My only chance now
was to take her on the line and although I knew this would be near
impossible on a 25m stretch, I knew I had to try. We went into the final 180
degree corner almost together, she went wide, I went tight. She fumbled,
just for a millisecond, with her gears. This was enough for me to sneak by
the inside and take the lead. I push with every fibre in my legs to hold her
off for the win. And, I won. What a great feeling to have been second
yesterday and 1st today. I'm psyched for the next two weekends in Mt. Snow,
Vermont and my favourite course, Mt. St. Anne, Quebec!

Results:

1st Chrissy Redden (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
2nd Sue Haywood (Trek/VW)
3rd Katrina Hanusova ( Luna)
4th Mary McConnoloug (Seven Cycles)
5th Melanie McQuaid (Ford Outfitters)

There were a few behind the scenes people that helped my motivation and
preparation for this weekend. They are HepC and the E-Town boys, helping me
to adhere to my strict diet while training in Victoria. Marnie McBean for
sharing a special motivational Barcelona Olympic story. My teammate Ryder
for entertaining me during our epic 13hr travel day. Our team mechanic Ian
for dealing with our grossly muddy bikes….everyday! Our team soigneur Judy
for saving my legs!

And, of course, all my amazing sponsors!! Check out my website for all their
details!! www.chrissyredden.com