Dates: Saturday, May 23-24, 2015

Events: Criterium, road race, individual time trial, General classification

Where: Penticton, BC
BC Junior Provincial Cycling Championships 2015
This year proved to be a successful one for team U Kon Echelon,
representing the Yukon at the BC Junior Provincials. Although all
athletes did an outstanding job on tough courses against tough
competitors, we did have a few places that made the Yukon really
shine. Ava Irving-Staley came third in the U 13 girls division in the time
trial, criterium and fourth in the road race. In the General
Classification she came third and won $25. Gabrielle Perrault of U Kon
won third in the road race, which took place over a grueling course.
Isla Hupe came 5/5 in all of her divisions but she overcame her fears
about the extreme downhill and uphill on the course. She finished
every race with a smile and shows much potential, as this was her first
outside race in any sport.
In U13 boys, Cauis Taggart-Cox proved that he could ride with a very
competitive group and hang in with them. Cauis placed 10th out of 15
in the General Classification, 11th in the crit, 10th of out 15th in the road
race, and 13 out of 15th in the road race. His brother Lucas was the
youngest in that category and although he placed last in the TT and
the crit , he placed 13/15 in the general classification and 13/15 in the
road race. Lucas shows much potential as he is only 9 competing with
11 and 12 year olds.
For U15 Micah Taggart Cox came 13/16 in the General Classification,
14/15 in the crit, 13/14 in the road race, and 15/15 in the time trial.
This is a very competitive category with many racers good enough to
race in a higher category. Micah did very well and hung on to the pack
in the crit and finished the road race, with some riders dropping out
because the course was difficult or they got dropped from the main
pack. Tristan Muir did a great time trial, placing 13/15, and 15/15 in his
crit as he got dropped from the pack. He and Micah also witnessed a
horrible crash during their race and the athlete injured was taken by
ambulance to the hospital after injuring his face in a face plant on the
corner. Tristan was not able to do the road race as he, his brother and
his mother all got what we suspect was food poisoning. He therefore
had no result in the GC either.
Cayla Jackson is our only parathlete, and she and one other girl
competed in the para athlete category, although both athletes results
are put in the regular results. Para competitions usually have different

distances and competitions to distinguish them. Cayla and Mel Pemble

did the same distance for the road race, and although both girls are
U17, both raced the U15 distance due to their para athlete
modifications in distance. Cayla raced the 42 km grueling road course
with Malcolm Taggart as her pilot with a time of 1 hour, 57 minutes.
Mel did her time on her own bike with a time of roughly 1 hour 40
minutes. Although they werent competing against each other, its
interesting to note their times. In Cayla s time trial, she did 15 km in
33.56, coming 14/15 in the u 15 distance division.
Finally, in the U19 male division, an extremely competitive division, we
had Ian Hansen and David Jackson. Both boys got praise from their
coach and other coaches for finishing the race. It was truly a grueling
course, with extreme uphills and one extreme downhill, which was
quite dangerous. In the time trial, Ian placed 14th and David 15 out of
15 riders. In this division there were 25 riders, some of whom are
national caliber. In the criterium, Ian placed 19/22, and David placed
21/22. In the road race, Ian finished 16 out of 23, and David placed
17/23. Many riders in this division did not finish. Yukon riders are
always told to finish no matter what, as sometimes riders quit if they
get dropped from the pack and we never allow athletes to do that. In
the General Classification, Ian placed 15/21 and David placed 16/21.
All in all, I am extremely proud of all of my athletes for showing
excellent sportsmanship, perseverance and the ability to ride with
southern racers in a pack. I am disappointed that there are not more
u13 girls cycling and competing at this race, but my goal is to bring
even more u13 girls next year and to work with younger girls to ensure
we have more girls in this wonderful sport.
The other thing I will mention is that initially two girls who were u15
were accidentally placed in the u13 division, so there were 7 riders.
They made mistakes in the results which was unfortunate because our
two third place finishers, Ava and Gabrielle, did not get to receive their
awards at the ceremony and Avas third place was accidentally given
to a U15 girl at the banquet. I did attend and stand behind the podium
in their place, but its not the same as being recognized publically. We
hope next year to be able to place in the top 3 again in the U13 female
division. It is not easy in the older categories to place unless you have
4-5 trainings per week as your training plan and a lot of race
experience. My goals as a coach for future are to have the younger
athletes train and race with me for at least 10 years and then be in a
better place to look at placing at Westerns and Canada Games.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call me at 393 4700 or

email me at trenairving@gmail.com
Sincerely,
Trena Irving
U Kon Echelon coach
Team Yukon Road Cycling coach