True or false: all is fair in love and war? On the weekend of July 5-6th at the British Columbia Provincial Track Championships in Victoria, Matt Chater of Whistler, B.C. came face to face with this question and by the end of the weekend his naïve presentiments had changed.

Chater had qualified for the bronze medal sprint round against Vancouver's, Murray Solemn and prior to competing they had discussed the outcome of the race. Solemn, tired and worn-out, told Chater he wasn't going to sprint. However, when the time came he blasted past Chater to take the first win. Fortunately for Chater it was best out of three and he rode the next few races with fire in his eyes winning two straight!

” A bike racer will win at all costs – no exceptions,” commented Keith Bruneau of Victoria, B.C. Bruneau, a veteran to cycling, competed in Barbados earlier this season and is still recovering from the price of trying to win: a bruised kidney and pelvis, a broken radius and nerve damage. “Despite my injuries, I was satisfied with my performances here at Provincials,” said Bruneau, who took gold in all the sprint events except the Kilo. He was impressed at the caliber of racing and said it was a big improvement from last year. He was especially impressed with Matt Usborne, who is otherwise known as the “once a year pursuiter”, who won the 4km Individual Pursuit in a time of 5:07 and Breanna Loster who took gold in the Sprints, Points Race, Keirin and 500 metres.

Loster was most excited with her flying 200 meter time-trial and says she is looking forward to contesting the “one second coffee rule” at Nationals. “Last year, Lori-Anne Muenzer and I began the coffee-rule competition, she has to beat me by one second at Nationals or she owes me a coffee, “explained Loster. With motivation like that Loster is sure to be training hard throughout the month prior to the National Championships in Bromont, Quebec on the 14th-17th of August.

Meanwhile, simultaneously on the other side of the country on July 5-6th, the Quebec Track Championships were also in full swing. There was not only a good turn-out of Quebec athletes but every western province, except Saskatchewan, was represented: Erin Carter from Manitoba (who lives in British Columbia), Ryan Mckenzie from Alberta, Glen Rendall from Ontario along with many other Provincial Ontario Track riders. These athletes were allowed to compete but were not awarded provincial titles.

According to Murphy's Law an outdoor track race can never be without rain, therefore it wasn't too surprising when Saturday morning arrived with rain! However, by three in the afternoon the track was dry and the athletes were keen to get started.  Due to lack of daylight, there was only enough time left in the day to complete the 200 meter Time-Trials and the Individual Pursuits. There were many great performances, but two junior riders Audrey Lemieux from Alma, Quebec and Kevin Lacombe from Abitibi, Quebec put in spectacular performances. Lemieux, who was riding the Bromont track for the first time this year, easily won gold in the Junior Women's Individual Pursuit with a time of 2:45 minutes. This time qualified her for the Junior Track World Championships in Moscow, Russia in mid-August. Lacombe, with similar track experience, also easily won the Junior Men's Pursuit title but just missed out qualifying for Worlds by five hundredths of second. (note: two weeks later he qualified easily with a time of 3:40minutes)

The following day of competition again exhibited the strength of junior track talent in Quebec. In the morning, Cynthia Beaulieu of Windsor, QC grabbed the Junior Women's 500 meter title in a time of 39.45, which also qualified her for Junior Worlds. At the same time, Lacombe kept up his impressive winning streak by taking home gold in the Kilo and the Junior Men's Points Race. “These were the best sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat races I've seen,” said an enthusiastic recreational cyclist who had been passing by the Bromont Center and had stopped to watch. The races he was describing were the Points Race events. In all but the Junior Men's event, there was only a one point margin between first and second place which made for some very thrilling races. In the end, it was Lemieux, Carter and Rendall who all took gold in their respective Junior Women, Senior Women and Senior Men Points Races.

It was a big weekend not only for Canadian Track riders at the provincial level but at the international level as well. Canada sent a small contingent of track riders to take part in the “B” World Championships at the World Track Training Center in Aigle, Switzerland from August 5th-9th. “The Center is one of the nicest facilities that I have seen. The athletes that are allowed to train there are very fortunate,” said Mark Ernsting of British Columbia, who lives and trains full time in Texas and is one of the 2004 Olympic Track hopefuls. He was hoping for a top two placing in the Pursuit and the Points Race, as it was the first qualifying event for the Olympic Games, but the competition was tough and he was content with his 5th place in the Pursuit and 9th in the Points Race. The two other Canadian competitors were Jean-Francois LaRoche of Quebec who competed in the pursuit finishing 10th and Steen Madsen of Alberta, who finished third in the Match Sprints but was forced to withdraw from the Keirin due to injury. “Steen had a very unfortunate crash coming out of turn four during the Keirin. Two riders fell in front of him with two laps to go. Steen tried to go high, but there was no way for him to avoid the fall. It was a crash that hurt me inside,” said an emotional Ernsting, “Steen has always been a good friend of mine when we are on these trips. It's never nice to see anyone get hurt, especially not your team mate and friend. I wish him the best recovery.”

A weekend that began with a battle in Western Canada ended in compassion across seas.

Results

British Columbia Provincal Championships – Victoria, BC, July 5-6, 2003

Keirin – Elite Men: 1. Keith Bruneau, 2. Sam Whittingham, 3. Matthew Chater
Junior/Master Men: 1. Charles Durant, 2. Kerrv Blain, 3. Wayne Walker,
Women: 1. Breanna Loster, 2. Alena Rodomskv, 3. Erinne Willock

Points Race – Elite Men: 1. Sam Whittingham, 2. Murray Solemn, 3. Ryan
McNamara,  Junior/Master Men: 1. Scott Crump (junior), 2. Luis Bernhardt,
3. Chris Anstev,  Women: 1. Breanna Loster, 2. Erinne Willock, 3. Angella
Goran

Scratch Race – Elite Men: 1. Scott Liberte, 2. Sam Whittingham, 3. Murray
Solemn,  Junior/Master Men: 1. Charles Durrant, 2. Scott Crump (junior), 3.
Luis Bernhardt,   Women: 1. Jessica Anderson (junior), 2. Skye Larlee, 3.
Katharine Hobor (junior)

Match Sprint – Elite Men: 1. Keith Bruneau, 2. Sam Whittingham, 3. Matthew
Chater,  Master Men: 1. Charles Durrant, 2. Kerrv Blain, 3. Mark Butschler,
Junior: 1. Ben MacInnis, 2. Scott Crump,  Senior Women: 1. Breanna Loster,
2. Alena Rodomskv, 3. Kelly Holtan,  Junior Women: 1. Jessica Anderson, 2.
Kat Hobor, 3. Skye Larlee

Individual Pursuit – Elite Men: 1. Mathew Usborne, 2. Scott Liberte, 3. Sam
Whittingham,  Master Men: 1. Charles Durrant,  Junior Men: 1. Scott Crump,
2. Ben MacInnis, Senior Women: 1. Carrie Tuck, 2. Erinne Willock, 3.
Angella Goran,  Junior Women: 1. Jessica Anderson, 2. Skye Larlee, 3.
Katherine Hobor

Kilo –  Elite Men: 1. Murray Solmen, 2. Keith Bruneau, 3. Sam Whittingham,
Junior Men: 1. Scott Crump, 2. Ben MacInnis

500 Meters – Master Men: 1. Charles Durrant, 2. Kerrv Blain, 3. Mark
Butschler,  Senior Women: 1. Breanna Loster, 2. Carrie Tuck, 3. Erinne
Willock.  Junior Women: 1. Jessica Anderson, 2. Katharine Hobor, 3. Skye
Larlee

Team Sprint – 1. Murray Solemn, Scott Liberte, Matt Chater, 2. Ryan Clarke,
Vinko Poldrugovac, Eric Holland, 3. Keith Bruneau, Sam Whittingham, Tony
Zarsadias

Madison – 1. Sam Whittingham, Tony Zarsadias, 2. Scott Liberte, Murray
Solemn, 3. Matt Chater, Luis Bernhardt

Quebec Provincial Championships – Bromont, Quebec, July 5-6, 2003

Pursuit –  Elite Men: 1. Glen Rendall (Ontario), 2. Pascal Choquette, 3.
Bruno Langlois,  Junior Men: 1. Kevin Lacombe, 2. David Roy, 3. Charly
Vives,  Senior Women: 1. Erin Carter (Manitoba), 2. Julia Bradley
(Ontario), 3. Magalie Boulay,  Junior Women: 1. Audrey Lemieux, 2. Mylene
Laliberte, 3. Pascale Lemieux

Match Sprint – Elite Men: 1. Alexandre Maurais, 2. Ryan McKenzie (Alberta),
3. Keith Thorarinson,  Junior Men: 1. Francis Labonte, 2. Raphael Tremblay,
3. Charly Vives,  Senior Women: 1. Erin Carter (Manitoba), 2. Magalie
Boulay, 3. Michelle d”Amours,  Junior Women: 1. Cynthia Beaulieu, 2. Mylene
Laliberte, 3. Audrey Lemieux

Points Race – Elite Men: Glen Rendall (Ontario), 2. Sebastien Pilotte, 3.
Martin St-Laurent,  Junior Men: Kevin Lacombe, 2. Raphael Tremlay, 3.
Jean-Luc Pilotte,  Senior Women: 1. Erin Carter (Manitoba), 2. Julia
Bradley (Ontario), 3. Genevieve Gagnon,  Junior Men: 1. Audrey Lemieux, 2.
Mylene Laliberte, 3. Cynthia Beaulieu

Kilo – Senior Men: 1. Yannick Morin, 2. Alexandre Maurais, 3. Ryan
McKenzie,  Junior Men: 1. Kevin Lacombe, 2. Raphael Tremblay, 3. Francis
Labonte

500 Meter: Senior Women: 1. Julia Bradley, 2. Erin Carter, 3. Magalie
Boulay,  Junior Women: 1. Cynthia Beaulieu, 2. Mylene Laliberte, 3. Marilou
Asselin

B Track World Championships – Aigle, Switzerland, July 5-6, 2003

Keirin-  Men: 1. Chi Bum Kim (KOR), 2. Mun Young Kim (KOR), 3. Raymond
Clarke (IRL),

Match Sprint – Men: 1. Yang Hee Chun (KOR), 2. Kim Chi Bum (KOR), 3. Steen
Madsen (CAN),  Women: 1. Evgenia Radanova (BUL), 2. Maya Tachikawa (JPN),
3. Min Hye Lee (KOR)

Individual Pursuit – Men: 1. Alireza Haghi (IRI), 2. Vachim Kravchenko
(KAZ), 3. Luca Barazzuhi (ECU), 5. Mark Ernsting (CAN), 10. Jean-Francois
LaRoche (CAN),  Women: 1. Karin Thuerig (SUI), 2. Evelyn Garcia (ESA), 3.
Anel Wasserman (RSA)

Points Race – Men: Sergey Lavrenenko (KAZ), 2. Tanha Abbas (IRA), 3. Attila
Arvai (HUN), 9. Mark Ernsting (CAN),  Women: 1. Song Hee Han (KOR), 2. Uyun
Muzizah (INA), 3. Santia Tri Kusuma (INA),  Kilo – Men: 1. Chih Hsun Lin
(TPE), 2. Radoslav Konstantinov (BUL), 3. Jeong Wook Choi (KOR)

500m – Women: 1. Sauyri Osug (JPN), 2. Sun Yi Kim (KOR), 3. Santia Tri
Kosuma (INA),

Elimination – Men: 1. Attila Arvai (HUN), 2. Ngai Ching Wong (HKG), 3.
Emile Ahragham (TRI), 11. Mark Ernsting (CAN)