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The Canadian Shuffle

Rob Howard / 22.07.2005

The two Canadian teams here have been having difficulties finding late replacements with the female member of their team line ups, and both are starting the race with some very last minute preparations.

SupplierPipeline had been struggling to get a team together, and captain Bob Millar was despairing of finding a female racer, He’d all but given up, but his flight was booked and he wanted to see the Tour de France. “I couldn’t rent a car and got a ride with a guy dressed in tour gear, who dropped me off at a campsite,� he said, “and there I met Sarah. What are the chances of finding a female Canadian adventure racer (from Vancouver) by luck I wonder?�

“I was just cycle touring,� said Sarah, “and we got chatting and I was invited to race in the World Series. I was up for it but Bob didn’t know if the other two could still get flights, so we went our separate ways and I kept checking my emails. My mum was even acting as a go-between for messages. I don’t think she knows what I’m getting into! I’ve done a couple of Mind Over Mountain races before, but nothing quite like this.�

The other two team members (Bill Wells and Jeff MacInnis) did manage to get very last minute flights and are now on their way. They’ll miss the race briefing and are expected to arrive around 20.00, with the race starting at 06.00 in the morning. Just time to say hello to Sarah and off they go!

They are still in with a chance to qualify in their tough group. “Some of the teams above us are not here,� said Millar, “and Chasing Daylight tend to score points in the low 20’s. They are 12 points ahead of us, so if we can score 12 more than they do we might just make it.� (Ed. He later discoverd Chasing Daylight were not racing either.}

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