Race Results & News
A rough day!
Unfortunately, we knew the day would come, and our streak of podium finishes finally ended on June 14th at the annual KW Classic circuit race. The course is a fast 4.9km loop that generally comes down to a sprint finish, and without a pure sprinter in the team, we knew it was going to be challenging to achieve a strong result. With Greg, Steve, Pav, Francois, Bruce and Stirling on the line, the plan was to be attentive and follow any dangerous moves early on and start to become aggressive after 70km to try and get a small group away. With a rough start, Stirling flatted 4 laps in and a slow wheel change from the support vehicle effectively took him out of the race. The team continued to race strong and although there were numerous attempts to break up the field by our team and others, the race came down to a sprint finish where Greg managed 9th place.
2 Wins and 3rd Overall in the Milford-Picton Stage Race!
The weekend of June 6/7, Bruce and Stirling headed to Prince Edward County for the Milford-Picton Stage race. The racing started on Saturday with a 20km time trial in the morning and a circuit race in the early evening that was 110minutes in length. To cap of the weekend’s racing, there was a 127km road race on Sunday.
We were on the road Saturday by 7am which should have given us plenty of time for the 2.5 hour drive and about 45 minutes to warm up for the time trial. Unfortunately, unexpected construction resulted in us arriving just in time to unload our bikes, sign in and line up for the start with no warm up. Time trials are definitely better performed with a good warm up! In the end Stirling managed 7th and Bruce just rolled through the course content to save his energy for the weekend of racing.
With an afternoon of relaxing, we were back in race mode for the start of the circuit race. The course was 6.9km and had the mix of a road race with some tight turns through the town of Picton that also made it feel like a criterium. The course had a steep climb (about 1km in length) that immediately started to break up the peleton. About 10 of us made the final selection, and the racing continued to be aggressive. With 2 laps to go, Bruce jumped away from the group and soloed to his first victory of the season! Stirling rolled in 9th place and Bruce moved up to 4th place in the General Classification.
Greg joined us for the Sunday road race, as did about another 30-40 riders who didn't want to race all the stages. With all the fresh legs, it was going to make for some tough racing for those of us who had already been racing. The plan was to work for Bruce to try and improve his overall placing in the GC. Stirling and Greg worked to keep things in check for Bruce as there were constant attacks coming from the field. With 2 laps to go (32km), Stirling moved to the front of the pack to chase a Cyclery rider who was 100m up the road, and opened up an unexpected gap. He bridged up to the other rider and were soon out of sight from the pack. With 6km to go, they had a 1 min gap which was just enough to get them to the finish. Stirling came across the line to win his first race of the season! Greg sprinted for 5th place and Bruce came across in 15th place. Stirling's win was enough to move him into 3rd place in the overall GC, and Bruce finished 7th.
A great weekend of racing and a special thanks to the Midweek Cycling Club, Craig Fagen, the towns of Milford and Picton and all the volunteers for a great weekend of racing
Greg gets the gold for the team!
The weekend of May 24th had The Healing Cycle sending 4 riders to the first ever Owen Sound O-Cup. To date, this was the longest race of the year at 124km on a relatively flat but undulating course, with good weather, and as expected, stiff winds. With Pav being the current Ontario Cup point’s leader, the team needed to balance going for the win and helping Pav obtain more points to remain in the lead. Throughout the race, Pav kept a watchful eye on his closest rival in the point’s race in case he tried to break clear to gain more points. A group of 3 riders eventually did go clear at 45km and stayed out there for over 40km until work from Francois and 2 riders from rival teams helped neutralize it. In the last 15km there were many small group attacks with Bruce and Greg covering most of these to ensure we had a strong finish. With 5 km to go on a technical twisty stretch of the course, Bruce launched an attack and broke clear alone for 3km taking the pressure of the team to chase late race breakaways. With Bruce back in the pack, the sprint finish came down to a 2 up drag race for the last 250m between Greg and a rider from the Ziggy’s team, and it was a well timed bike throw by Greg that won the race by the slimmest of margins, 200ths/sec! Pav finished a credible 9th place adding valuable points to further increase his O-Cup lead!
Pav gets another podium finish for the team with 3rd place!
The annual Niagara Classic held by the St. Catharines Cycling Club took place on Sunday May 17th. With almost a full roster of riders; Steve, Pav, Stirling, Bruce, Jean-Paul and Francois were eager to keep our trend of podium finishes intact. The plan was to be attentive for the first 60km of the race and conserve as much as possible for when the real racing started. Only 3 laps into the 8 lap race, a significant split in the field occurred along on the back of the course with the strong cross wind. Luckily, Steve, Pav and Stirling were safely up front, and not to let an opportunity go, Steve and Pav aggressively drove the front of the race to the climb and started the main move of the day with 10 riders that also included Stirling. The group started cooperating immediately and we quickly opened up a minute and a half lead and as the race progressed the gap grew to over 4 minutes by the end. Not content to wait for the sprint finish against Kevin Davis, the 3 of us started attacking on the last lap and unfortunately nothing stuck. In the finish, Pav had the strongest legs of the 3 of us and finished 3rd with Steve taking 6th place and Stirling 9th.
As a side note, due to consistent performances to date, Pav holds 1st place in the Ontario Cup Standings and Stirling is in 8th overall.
Steve Claims 2nd Spot on the Podium!
The weekend of May 9th had Bruce, Steve, Greg and Francois heading south of the border for the 16th Annual Bristol Road race in the Finger Lakes area of New York State. Our race was 3 laps of a 17 mile course that had one significant hill that was the deciding factor in the race each lap. Within the first 2km of the race, Francois broke away with another rider and was clear of the pack and out of sight quickly. Stirling and Bruce kept near the front of the pack to help keep the pace low so Francois could keep out front. It wasn't until the 2nd lap on the top of the climb that the pack finally caught Francois, which was great for the team as it gave us another rider at the front of the race to help control things for the final lap. Bruce and Francois rode aggressively to save Steve and Greg's legs for the last and decisive time up the climb. As expected our fellow Canadian from the Z-Team, Carmine attacked and only Steve was able to follow. Clear of the front, the two of them charged to the line with Steve finishing just behind Carmine's wheel for 2nd place, his 1st podium of the year! To round out the day, Greg finished 4th, Bruce 8th and Francois was able to hold onto 14th place after a hard days work for the team.
Springbank Park, London Ontario – 1st Place!
On May 3rd, Greg, Stirling, and Bruce lined up for a race along the Thames River in London Ontario for the annual Springbank Classic.
With a small team, it was decided that Bruce and Stirling would be the active ones throughout the race in order to protect Greg for the usual sprint finish on this highly technical course. The two “Domestiques” were active throughout the race, either initiating attacks or following them, and when required driving the front of pack to close the gap on any that got away.
In the end, Greg came to the line with fresh legs and was able to power away from the rest of the field to take the top podium spot.
Another successful weekend of great teamwork and a podium finish!
Bloomfield New York – 1st Place!
This past weekend saw Greg, Stirling, Francois and Jean-Paul travel south of the border for a race put on by the Genesee Valley Cycling Club based out of Rochester. Not knowing what to expect is what makes travelling to a new race exciting, and the course didn’t disappoint.
Greg signed up for the 40+ race of 45 miles while everyone else was registered for the PRO-1-2-3 race that was 68 miles. Although JP and Stirling were wishing they were 40 and could race with the “Seniors”, Francois was scratching his head wondering why he signed up to race with all the young guys.
Greg’s race contained a number of familiar faces from the Z-team that is based out of the Toronto area. Greg didn’t disappoint and won the race by breaking away with Carmine Carvaggio from the Z-Team after the first lap of their race and outsprinted him for the win.
In the PRO-1-2-3 race, the surges started right away and didn’t ease off. In lap 3 of the 6 lap race, the final selection was made after a flurry of attacks and Stirling was able get away with the lead group of 10 riders. The action continued, and the group broke up further and Stirling eventually finished 8th.
Francois had some bad luck in the beginning of the race by getting pushed into the ditch and losing contact with the main group but continued to complete 4 laps on his own. JP was right up in the action until the final selection of the race in lap 3 that really broke up the field and finished 5 of the 6 laps.
Another successful weekend with our first win of the season and another top 10 finish!
Good Friday Road Race (O-Cup #1)
The team achieves a silver medal in its first race of the season!
With a full roster of riders the Healing Cycle Race Team set out to achieve its first podium finish of the year in the 93km spring classic held in Westover, Ontario.
Only 3km into the race Stirling initiated a breakaway that would go the distance to the end. With the strong support of the team, the move was soon joined by Pav to form a final group of seven riders that would sprint it out at the end of a long day.
With a fast charging pack, Bruce, Greg, Steve and the rest of the team closely guarded the front of the race to ensure that no other teams were able to put a rider in the break.
In the final sprint, Pav was able to hold his own and achieve his first-ever podium finish in a road race in 2nd place, with Stirling rolling in 6th place.
Thanks to the Hamilton Cycling Club and all the volunteers for organizing a great event!
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