Cyclists may drop like flies during the annual Canadian Road Championships, but that didn’t scare off Patrick Paquette. Last month, he competed against 130 of the best cyclists in Canada, and was one of the 65 who finished.
Paquette really did beat the odds. After cycling competitively for little over a year, he was invited to compete at the championships, alongside full-time riders who had checked the Olympics and the Tour de France off their to-do list. Paquette, one of the only cyclists in the race who wasn’t sponsored, finished the 182-kilometre course in 56th place.
“For me, it was my first bigger race like that, so it was a good experience to ride with those guys,” the Powell River-raised biker explained. After kicking off the race with a torrential downpour—“I’ve never seen it rain that hard,” Paquette said—riders rode seven laps around a 14-kilometre circuit lacing through Lac Megantic, Quebec. Paquette finished the race in just over five hours.
Paquette started cycling after his employer, BC Hydro, moved him up north to Hudson’s Hope, a quaint town near Fort St. John. Although the 24-year-old had been competing as a triathlete, even qualifying for a competition in Beijing, he decided to stick to biking after the move. “There wasn’t anywhere to swim there,” he explained, “and I do like cycling the best.”
Because he wasn’t sponsored, Paquette relied on the help of friends within the community. He explained how people would motorpace him, a practice where a truck is driven in front of a cyclist to simulate riding in a group. “Anyone in the town would do it, but it was kind of funny because no one really knew how it worked,” the cyclist said, laughing.
In addition to this, Paquette trained on a stationary bike for up to five hours a day after work. He would also ride the 160 kilometres there and back from Fort St. John. “It doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re working full time, that’s a lot.”
The cyclist said he’s especially grateful for the help of Lorne Morrow, the owner of Avid Fitness Center. “He really helped me get ready for the race in Quebec,” he explained.
Paquette is also grateful for the power cycling has to bring his family together. He called his father his biggest fan. “Me and my dad talk about it [over the phone] almost every night,” he explained. Because the championships were in Quebec, Paquette also had the rare opportunity to see some of his Quebecois family members.
Up next for the cyclist is a move to Coquitlam, which will put him both closer to home and closer to the action. Living in the Vancouver area will help him push himself and allow him to race more often, he said.
“My goal is to go back to nationals,” Paquette explained. “Next year I’ll be more confident...Who knows what position I can come in?”
