Team 麻豆社国产riders brought home bronze medals from the BC Summer Games in Kelowna last weekend (July 25-27).Kristin Drygas and Summer Griffin, both 15, exchanged cross-country bikes for roadies to compete in cycling events open to athletes 13 to 16 years of age.Drygas, who is usually more of a long distance cyclist, actually excelled at the type of race she had the least confidence in: the 100-metre street sprint."I was not planning on medaling in that one. I was actually planning to come in last," she said."I thought I was going to do really well in the distances but I was really wrong."Drygas beat five other competitors to win her heat and advance to the finals to compete against three other racers, one of who had been sweeping the longer distance events the entire day.Drygas pulled into second after the start and was gunning for first when her gears jumped and she almost lost her chain, slowing her pace. The third-place finish was a great achievement and marks a development in her skills set.In fact, the long distance road courses proved more complicated this time around. With five races in one day, Drygas used the first couple of races to piece together her strategy. It turned out that it was hard to deviate from the strongest rider's pace and still make up time by the end of the race. So even though leading the pack demands more energy than drafting, Drygas found she had the energy to compromise. "The best way was basically to pull, which means to lead out the whole way, but it's the most difficult because when you're leading you're working 30 to 75 per cent more than everybody else who is drafting," she said.However, an ongoing knee problem flared up and she decided to pull back in line, which dropped her back a number of places. She drafted with another rider through one of the races to earn fourth place in a longer distance competition.Besides the unexpected finishes, Drygas most enjoyed the BC Summer Games because it gave her a chance to mingle with other athletes from other disciplines. For instance, the roadies stayed with the BMXers in one of the schools that was designated as living quarters. In a noncompetitive relay race, the roadies and BMXers exchanged wheels."It was so much fun," said Drygas of her time on the BMX track. "They were trying to teach me how to jump, which didn't really go right, though."It was a really cool experience to get out there and meet all these new people. I made a whole bunch of new friends from different disciplines."Meanwhile, Griffin earned bronze in the road scratch race, which would be the first of five races. She crashed in the third race after a rider ahead of her took a fall. Although the crash took her out of that race, she shook off the pain in her legs to continue competing in the final two races. In golf, Amanda Woida shot an 88 and an 83 for a total of 171 to earn 10th place on the golf course. More Okamoto shot a 94 and a 91 for a total of 185 and 16th place. Jacob Dickau was the only 麻豆社国产lacrosse player on the Zone 5 team. The squad placed sixth.
