May 01, 2014 – The 2014 spring campaign for the Jet Fuel Coffee/Norco Bicycles team was an ambitious one, with the team travelling to California to begin the season with the best teams in North America. To prepare the riders headed south in the team sprinter at the beginning of February to put in the miles in the warm sun of Tucson, AZ.
The campaign began in earnest at the end of March with the San Dimas Stage Race, followed by the Redlands Classic, Winston-Salem Cycling Classic and the Joe Martin Stage Race. Four of these events are on the National Racing Calendar, with the Winston-Salem Classic categorized on the UCI calendar. This schedule was a challenging one and the riders from the team stepped up and rose to the occasion.
The campaign started with a bang when Anton sprinted out of a small breakaway on stage 2 of the San Dimas Stage Race, rocketing his Norco Tactic across the line in first place. His strength in the sprint apparently came as a surprise to his breakaway companions, and perhaps to Anton as well, as he had been labouring on the climbs during the race. His result shows that bicycle racing is about guts and perseverance. This finish wasn’t without controversy though. Directly after the finish line photographers were spread out across the road trying to capture the sprint, causing Anton and the other riders to swerve and run into a truck.
Anton’s frame was cracked which lead to a mad scramble to get him a new one as there were only two days between San Dimas and Redlands. Norco Bicycles came through with a drop shipment of a fresh frame to Anton, while a local bike shop Cyclery USA helped with the bike build. Other members of the team had also had a rough day at San Dimas and the La Bicicletta staff were also working hard to organize a second drop shipment that included a fresh shifter for Robert. With only two days between San Dimas and Redlands this was a bit of a mad scramble for everyone and part of the behind the scenes madness that can accompany bicycle racing.
The Redlands Classic was the first NRC event of the season, a five-day stage race that included a time trial, criterium and three challenging road stages. Hardest of all is the final circuit race that always starts off all-out in a sprint to get onto the circuit at the front of the group. The difficulty is that the road narrows as you reach the circuit, and immediately starts to climb, which every year creates gaps in the field. No one wants to be caught out in the split driving the opening kilometres to greater speeds. At Redlands the team took on a guest rider, Bailey McKnight from British Columbia. The team mandate is to create opportunity for Canadian riders and it was a positive experience to be able to support Bailey. Best of all he did not disappoint. On the opening road stage he broke away to establish the breakaway of the day. Bailey racked up King of the Mountain points throughout the day and secured himself the KOM jersey for two stages – a great showing at one of the bigger races in the United States. At Redlands Ryan was a great influence on some of the younger riders on the Jet Fuel Coffee/Norco Bicycles team, asking them about their racing, analyzing the day and making them think about what they might have done differently. Having Ryan on the team to help the younger riders learn how to race is invaluable.
Throughout the campaign Ryan, one of Canada’s top riders, proved that he is still amongst the best in North America riding towards the front of the results: 10th GC Redlands Classic, 7th Winston-Salem Cycling Classic, and 2nd GC at the Joe Martin Stage Race.
Further drop shipments took place at Joe Martin where Vitargo sent us a fresh shipment of water bottles and product to fuel the racing and the newest team clothing from Champion System was delivered. With the guys on the road for a total of two months the logistics of keeping the team supported never ends.
Best of all at the Joe Martin Stage Race, the final competition of the spring campaign, the team was able to step-up and support Ryan throughout the four days of racing and help him secure 2nd overall. When it mattered the Jet Fuel Coffee/Norco Bicycles riders helped the Jamis Hagens Berman team, who had the leader’s jersey, control the race and neutralize the breakaways. Despite working on the front for Ryan the young guns on the squad also showed well in the overall under 23 classification with Travis and Peter both finishing in the top-ten. Jet Fuel Coffee/Norco Bicycles showed this spring that they can race with the best in North America.
The team has to thank Bryan Bowers for his continued support of the program. Bryan drove the team’s Sprinter van across the continent to ensure that the riders had support and transportation at the events. Without support from Bryan the program would not be able to offer the riders the exciting opportunity to compete at these high level events. In addition the support we received from families that hosted the team across the various races is also appreciated.
Now the riders, and Bryan, will have a few weeks to recharge their batteries at home competing in Ontario events. They will have to live up to local expectations though as Joe Giuliano, a Jet Fuel/Norco stalwart and veteran of 15 years, won the traditional Ontario season opener, the Good Friday road race.
The summer racing schedule will begin in June and include the North Star GP, NRC; Canadian Nationals Championships; BC Superweek; and the Cascade Classic, NRC. There is lots of racing to come.
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