July 29, 2004 – Having just returned from the Tour de l’Abitibi, I would have to say that this event was by far the most difficult race that I had ever experienced. The pace was not comparable to anything that I had ever ridden and it took a few stages to get used to the aggressive tactics of the other riders. That said, the Midweek Team of Mark Batty, Shawn Clarke, Kyle Douglas, Keith Gauld, Kris Lysionek and myself persevered and ended up doing fairly well.

Unfortunately, we lost Kris Lysionek early in the race due to a brutal crash on the crit circuit. As a team, we all worked extremely hard, rode aggressively, and got involved in some good breaks. Of course, there were the usual complaints of multiple crashes, broken equipment, road rash, saddle sores and general fatigue. This was definitely one of the greatest learning experiences of my cycling career.

I would like to thank Peter McCaffery for making the second Abitibi team possible, Peter Hurley for supporting us throughout the tour, and Brandon Crichton for working endlessly on our bikes.