April 30/00 8:57 am - Obit, Canadians in US, Houffalize Followup, BC Cup #1

Posted by Editor on 04/30/00
 

Obituary for Bret McConnachie

Bret McConnachie passed away on April 11th at the age of 41. Those who knew Bret remember a warmth and calmess, always a part of Bret, even when the stresses of work were high. He worked at Rocky Mountain Bicycles for several years and left in 1997 for a position as Western Canadian Sales Manager for Cannondale Bicycles. Most of us who knew Bret professionally did not know of his terminal illness and his daily battles for health. However, we all were very aware of his love for life; for his wife and daughter, for sailboats and fast cars and of the years he dedicated to the bike industry. Bret - we all thank you for the short time we had, for the reminder that every day is a gift.

Joan Jones
Director, West Coast School of Mountain Biking


Final Hello From Frisco!
(Courtesy Kyle Hudson)

Kyle Hudson, from the Intersports Cycling Team, sent in a final report from the US Track Trials in Frisco, Texas.

Yesterday (Saturday, April 29th) saw some super fast times for the women in the 500m TT, as well as a miss-and-out, and for the me the highlight being the Keirin.

Mandy Poitras had a super ride in the 500, clocking a time of 37.605sec good for 9th place, and Andrea Hannos clocked a 40.007, in a warm-up ride for the miss-and-out to come later.

Other Canadians:

Tanya Dubnicoff 36.155 1st
Lori-Ann Muenzer 36.493 4th
Susan Auch 37.751 10th
Stephanie Hannos 41.142 20th

Women's Miss-and-out

Mandy Poitras 5th
Stephanie Hannos 7th
Lori-Ann Muenzer 12th
Andrea Hannos 13th

Tyler Hansen, Keith Bruneau and myself were all shut out in the Keirin qualifying heats, soon after I managed to win my repechage heat and move on to the semi finals, along with other Canadians Lars Madsen, Doug Baron and Murray Solem. The semis, needing to be top 4 to get to the final, saw Murray slide in for 4th place in his heat, and myself placing third after putting up with some rough riding by world champion in this event, Marty Nothstein. The final was a learning experience, or falling victim to some superb riding by Marty and second place finisher Marcelo Arrue. Two of the fastest sprinters in the world made it very tough for all others to come around, so Murray and I rolled in 7th and 8th respectively.

On a personal note, this was the first Keirin semi or final I have ever ridden in at any level of event! Someone once asked me what I was best at? My answer was. "Surprising people." That I did in this event, nobody more surprised than myself. I think it's going to be a great year!

So long for now,

Kyle Hudson


Final Houffalize Report

Neil Ross (assistant to national coach Yury Kacherine), called in one last time after the races today to make sure that we had received everything. Thanks, Neil - the assistance of yourself, Trish Sinclair, Roland Green, Peter Wedge and Lesley Tomlinson ensured that Canadian enthusiasts stayed informed!

We would also like to thank Phil Reinaers of the European Alison Sydor Fan Club for his assistance in getting results. Phil managed to talk to Alison about her relatively (for her) poor performance in finishing 11th. "Alison said that it was a really bad day for her. She wasn't feeling in good shape, and it has been a long time since she has had such a bad day. However, she is already focussed on the race next weekend (in St Wendel, Germany)."


BC Cup #1 - Nanaimo, BC

We finally have complete results for last weekend's race (April 16th). For all other categories, go here