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Bicycle Nova Scotia's main focus is the organization of competitive cycling within the province. In this section of the site you will find events calendars, race info, race results and photos. Enjoy! Hope to see you at the races!

June 08, 2004

Road Provincials Race Report

June 6th saw the second annual Sea Level Cycling Lobster Crawl take over the lovely town of Yarmouth, NS to the delight of both spectators and racers. Although the lobsters may have been crawling, the 65+ racers in attendance certainly weren't!

Racing in all categories was hard fought and when the timing clocks finally came to rest everyone agreed that worthy provincial champions had been crowned in all categories. As an added bonus to the prestige of being Provincial Champion, winners were awarded ultra-chic custom Provincial Champions jerseys to wear for the next 12 months! This fact alone set many young hearts racing long before the starting gun was ever fired. In only their second year of hosting road races the Sea Level Cycling Club exhibited an amazing level of organization and offered up all around 'good times'. Racers and volunteers were greeted with a generous entry package at registration and the promise of a Lobster dinner at the awards ceremony. Many riders took their families and made a weekend of it. Such unique investments are undoubtedly part of the reason that many racers made plans to attend this race months prior.

The course consisted of 22kms of relatively flawless pavement that featured outstanding views of the Gulf of Maine and the rolling farmland around Yarmouth. The loop contained one sharp climb at the start/finish area that provided an excellent ramp for racers to attack on. It also kept finishing speeds down and made for painful sprints to the finish line! Strong headwinds in the final 10 kms of the course also ensured that riders were challenged right to the line. Racers and Supporters were ecstatic at the sunny, warm conditions that blanketed the Yarmouth area all weekend.

The Novice race witnessed Sea Level's Hardy Vaughn perform a solo effort to win his race in under 1.5 hours. The Senior 4 race was all about TJ Worden-Rogers' 3 hour solo effort which earned him 1st place.

The Under 17 race saw the talented trio of Adrien Comeau, Kyle Gallant and David Tower fighting for podium positions but it was Comeau, from nearby Meteghan, who earned the coveted Provincial Champion's jersey for the next year. Older brother Daniel Comeau will almost certainly be looking over his shoulder soon as the younger Adrien continues his ascension!

The Masters A and B field made up about 50% of total entrants so this large pack promised to have lots of fireworks... and they didn't disappoint! A last lap crash threw confusion into the field but... "that's racing" Former junior and senior superstar of the 80's Gerald Walsh proved that some people just never get old by pounding the Master B field (and the Master A field!) into submission in 2:35:48. Doug MacDougall of Sea Level snuck in for 2nd place before the next 6 racers sprinted in to fight for 3rd. Wayne Titus again proved his sprinting ability by taking the bronze from the other five contenders.

The Master A pack saw somewhat of an upset as an inform Kevin Bezner, fresh back from racing in Fredericton the previous week, beat "Big Ring/Big Tide" Master A winner Scott Bonnell by a tight 8 seconds. Metro's Jamie McLellan took the bronze less than a minute later.

The prestigious Junior race saw fierce wheel to wheel battles between several closely matched racers. After almost 3 hours of racing, however, it was Cyclesmith's Marc Trussler who delivered the knockout sprint for the Gold. Geoff O'Toole (Cyclesmith) and Valley Stove and Cycle hotrod Garrett McLeod rounded out the podium within a couple bike lengths of each other.

Fortunately the women's field saw a relatively excellent turnout as 7 women, including an excellent contingent of 3 Sea Level riders, raced hard for the Champion's jersey. Although Sea Level's Sherri Goodwin and Rhonda Cook took two spots on the podium it was Bicycles Plus' Andrea Moritz who stood atop it at the end. Can anyone challenge Andrea for a win in 2004? Rumour has it that a certain Annapolis Valley rider is preparing a la Ullrich style for the Gaspereau stage race in July...

The Senior Men's race could more accurately be called the "Dustin MacBurnie Show." Fresh back from a successful stint in Europe as a member of Canada's National Espoir team, Dustin was eager to demonstrate his fitness and the other racers were eager to test themselves against him.

The first half of the 133km race only saw one serious break, containing Mark Foster (Cyclesmith), Chad Lennon (Hub Racing) and Justin St Onge (Spokebenders), get a significant gap. A 20 km pull by Dustin, however, saw the break swallowed up by the pack (all 7...) by the halfway mark of the race. Continued attacks throughout the race failed to split the field until the kms took their toll. At the start of the final lap, another blistering acceleration by
MacBurnie saw Dustin, Terry Tomlin(Opus/OGC) and Chad Lennon get a race winning gap. Dustin took the win in a sprint from Lennon, while Tomlin rolled in over a minute later to round out the podium. Afterwards, racers wholeheartedly agreed that, not only had Dustin done the lion's share of the attacking and chasing, but he also managed to pull off the win...all without any team-mates!

The ever dedicated Cathy Dunbar and her talented assistants, Jackie Goodwin and Marilyn MacDonald, ensured fair racing and timely results. The local RCMP detachment and the other volunteers of the Sea Level Cycling Club ensured that the Lobster dinner and the generous awards ceremony were carried off without a hitch.

Sea Level Cycling- and the racers- would like to thank the events sponsors: Doctors NS.com, Norco Bicycles, Manser's Bicycle Shop and TPI- Travel Professionals International for their support and generosity.

The next report is next week after the Campbellton, NB Stage Race...see you there!

Terry T.