NCCH 2014 Youth Cup Championship

The NCCH (National Cycling Centre Hamilton) Youth Cup Championships is the final race in the O-Cup series and also is a race for the youth championship title. The NCCH Youth Cup Championships attracts nearly 200 cycling racers from all over Ontario to compete for the title of provincial champion. The race is held in picturesque Ancaster, just outside of Hamilton, on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment. With rolling hills, this race is one of the season’s toughest races for the youth and is a fitting culmination of the racing year.

Debaets-Devos PRO-AM

The 2014 Debaets-Devos PRO-AM was held on Labour Day Monday in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Katrina (age 11) raced in the USA Cycling Junior 9-14 category against other girls and boys, ranging in age up to 14. Here in Ontario the youth are divided by smaller age groups and the boys and girls race separately. Although the youth ride together, the USA Cycling race prizes are awarded to boys and girls separately.

Birmingham Bike Festival

The Birmingham Bike Festival was held today in downtown Birmingham, Michigan. Katrina Pawley Mason was the only Courtesy Bicycles Race Team member that made the trek to the northern suburbs of Detroit to Birmingham, Michigan for the race. Katrina raced in the USA Cycling Junior 9-14 category against other girls and boys, ranging in age up to 14! In Ontario, the age group that she races against is 11-12 so the older girls and boys provided some very tough competition. The races in Ontario are also gender specific as the boys and girls generally do not race at the same speeds (it's not that boys go faster, many times they do not and girls in all age groups at times pass boys' groups many times after having 30 second start delay).

Ciociaro Thursday Night Series #10

Tonight was the last race in the Ciociaro Thursday Night Series. With the upcoming provincial criterium championships taking place at the Ciociaro in just under 2 weeks, the races were exceptionally fast with people bringing out their "A Games." Personally, we think that the racing was very fine.....and it was a great event to watch as spectators.

Of course that doesn't mean that Courtesy Bicycles Race Team wasn't there to race. We came to race and race we did! While we didn't have a full compliment of racers racing, including yours truly, we did manage to win 2 series titles during the night and our 2 riders that raced did so beautifully.....Not too bad with one of the smallest teams at the Thursday Night Series. With the weather once again cooperating and giving us a beautiful summer evening, the stage was set for a full turnout for all the fields and for some very tough racing.

Ciociaro Thursday Night Series #9

Another wonderful day for racing in Windsor. This week ended up being almost like the complete opposite of two weeks past. People came to race!!!!

The Courtesy Bicycles Race Team riders did a fantastic job although we were outnumbered and strategy was the ordine del giorno. Our riders Seth Makotoko, Aljonn Lacerna and Katrina Pawley Mason raced in the first race tonight and represented us most excellently. All three raced in the first race and the guys working to defend Seth's lead for the series and Katrina doing likewise in the girls youth group. Dave Muzzati also raced in the B race but the rest of us (yes that means George!), just didn't come to race.

Tour de Terra Cotta

The Tour de Terra Cotta, in its tenth year, is a series of cycling road races for youth and adults and includes approximately 700 racers from across Canada, the United States and across the globe. The races are held on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment in Caledon near Brampton, Ontario. The route is a nearly 9 km route square rural road route with a large climb up the Escarpment at the starting first corner and a steep decline just before the finish at the fourth corner, making for exciting and difficult ‘Tour de France-like’ conditions. The route is a closed course so riders can use the full road and can take corners very fast.

2014 Real Deal Youth Cup

The 2014 The Real Deal Youth Cup was held at the Honda Canada facility in Markham, Ontario. This was a new venue for the youth O-Cup series. The Honda Canada facility is on private property and is a really nice 1.5km 6-turn loop around the facility. Just under 90 youth from all over the province, ages 9-16 competed in the cycling competition organized by Real Deal Racing and the Ontario Cycling Association. Katrina was the only youth racer from the area racing in Markham and she did a fantastic job representing Courtesy Bicycles Race Team.

Ciociaro Thursday Night Series #8

Beautiful summer racing weather for us in Windsor tonight. Tonight's Ciociaro Thursday Race Series was once again a great night for Courtesy Bicycles Race Team. Our riders did a superb job even though we had a small contingent of racers. Seth Makotoko, Aljonn Lacerna and Katrina Pawley Mason raced in the first race tonight and represented us most excellently. The three racers were all racing in the first race and the guys were racing in the C category with Katrina in the girls youth group. Dave Muzzati was racing with Courtesy Bicycles Race Team colours in the B race but the rest of us just didn't come to race.

Ciociaro Thursday Night Series #7

Another beautiful summer night at the Ciociaro for the Thursday Race Series. Once again, Courtesy Bicycles Race Team was well-represented at the Ciociaro and our riders did a fantastic job. Ben Baillargeon, Aljonn Lacerna, Katrina Pawley Mason had great races and challenged the field. Our newest team addition, Seth Makotoko, came to race and added some nice action to the race. The four racers were all racing in the first race and the guys were racing in the C category with Katrina in the girls youth group.

The race started off quick and went to a fast race pace immediately. Ben was driving hard with a very early attack and pushing the group to the limits. The strains started to show by the end of the first lap with people dropping off the back.

Katrina was among the first group of people blown out the back by Ben's early attack. Everyone in the race was straining hard to keep up with the very spirited and fast pace. Within two laps, he had effectively cut the main group in half. Needless to say, Ben was not making friends....

Windsor Youth Cup

The Windsor Youth Cup was held at the Ciociaro Club. 66 youth from all over the province, ages 9-16 travelled for cycling racing in the competition organized by the East Side Riders Cycling Club and the Ontario Cycling Association. 3 local racers competed in the races representing Windsor and Essex County.

All youth compete in two different events and receive a combined score for the general classification (GC) to determine the results for the event. The first part of the youth race is an individual time trial, a race against the clock. The Squirt and PeeWee racers race 1.3km, Minime race 2.6km, while the oldest Cadet category races 3.9km. In the second part of the day, the youth compete as a group in the road race component, with the Squirts racing 6.5km, PeeWees 10.4km, Minimes 20.8km, and the Cadets racing 26km.

Ciociaro Thursday Night Series #6

Wow!!!! An excellent night for Courtesy Bicycles Race Team at the Ciociaro. Ben Baillargeon, Aljonn Lacerna and Katrina Pawley Mason all challenged the first race of the night. The guys were racing in the C category and Katrina in the girls youth group.