June 15, 2007 – Moriah-Jo MacGregor (AE Sports Development) has been a fixture on the B.C. scene for sometime, and for the last few seasons has been venturing stateside more and more to race in the competitive NRC scene. This season is shaping up to be a breakthrough year for McGregor, who originally hails from Dawson City, Yukon but now lives in Kitsilano in Vancouver, B.C.

MacGregor came second this spring in the Pacific Northwest classic Tuhuya-Seabeck-Tahuya, before breaking through on the NRC circuit with a 5th place finish on stage one of Joe Martin Stage Race, after spending all day in the breakaway.

MacGregor recently finishd 3rd at the B.C. Road Championships on the challenging Westside Classic course, her best result to date in BC.

But she eclipsed these performances this past week with a strong 6th place finish on the general classification at the inaugural Tour de PEI, a UCI 2.2 stage race for the women. Riding on a composite team for the Atlantic Cycling Centre, MacGregor’s GC placement came on the strength of her impressive 5th place finish in the savagely windy Stage 2 time trial.

Pedal caught up with MacGregor today while she was on a 16-hr bus trip that the riders endured to return to Montreal (apparently the international field was working their way through Sex and the City DVD’s to pass the time).

How long have you been racing?

Moriah-Jo MacGregor: About 7-8 years pretty much all in B.C. with the exception of a number of NRC races over the past few years.

What would you say is your biggest strength? ?

MM: My time trailing – it’s also what I like best, so that makes it easier to do well in TTs and they’ve always been my favorite event. Prior to this race, the time trial at the Road Nationals was my big focus and goal, and now I have some really positive results here to reinforce that.

Had you hoped for a breakthrough ride at PEI?

MM: I’d hoped to ride well, but it just kind of turned out this way. I only knew for sure about three weeks ago that I’d be able to attend the event. It’s just the way my schedule worked out with my AE Sports Development team that I was able to ride with the Atlantic Cycling Centre in PEI.

It’s been a bit of a “pinch-me I’m dreaming” kind of week.

The race was awesome, the organization was incredible and they took really good care of us. There were just tons of people that came out to watch, which is surprising since I didn’t imagine there was a huge cycling community here. Everyday there were classrooms of school kids on the side of the road. Last night at the crit I couldn’t hear my own race radio because the crowds were so loud. It really looks like this event has bright future.

The weather certainly seemed to be an improvement after the racing at the Tour du Grand Montreal!

MM: We were lucky to avoid any rain. But it’s bloody windy on the island! It was absolutely nuts in the TT. I rode out in 16 minutes and it took me over 30 to get back. I probably shouldn’t admit this but I thought the TT was only 22km long when I started, so I was horrified because I thought my time was going to be so bad. It totally forced me to dig deeper, and then I found out the course was 28km!

It’s an impressive performance against this caliber of field at a UCI race.

MM: Having to opportunity to earn some UCI points for Canada is a pretty huge personal accomplishment for me. It wasn’t a goal going in, but it’s nice to be able to contribute to the nation’s rankings going into an Olympic year, and Joelle (Numainville) scored some points in the crit as well.

Was that something you were thinking about during the race?

MM: I was just focusing on trying to hang onto my GC position. I was glued to the Aussie girl’s (former triathlete Jocelyn Loanne) wheel in the crit to make sure she didn’t get any time bonuses to pass me in the GC.

Our composite team had never ridden together before thsi race. I’d raced with Krystal (Jeffs) last year at Montreal, but that was it. It was neat to see how everyone really gelled and worked well together over a week. It was very cool to see this evolution over such a short space of time, and the Atlantic staff also took great care of us all.

What are your goals for the future?

MM: To just keep riding and improving and to be a domestique on a big team.

Best of luck.

MM: Thanks a lot!