eva baldi
Luskville July 22, 2022
From July 22 to 30, Luskville cyclist Isabel Holt competed in the Jeux du Québec.
With the support of her parents Myriam and Dough, who have always had an interest in cycling, Holt began cycling at age five.
“I started doing small local races. And since then, I’ve just loved it and just kept doing it,” noted Holt.
Holt trains with the Ottawa Bicycle Club racing program, and she trains three days a week. The team is based in Ottawa but they hold many of their practices in Gatineau.
“On Tuesdays, we go in the Gatineau Park and we do like a ton of intensity. We do hill . . .
climbing, and hill repeats. Then on the Wednesday practices we usually go right across the bridge around Tunney’s Pasture and we do technical work. So we’ll learn our cornering and do sprint practices and like all those technical things that would help us in a race. And then on the Sunday practices, we do long endurance rides. So we’ll do like 100 kilometers, maybe even more,” said Holt.
Holt explained that she qualified for the Outaouais team against some very strong competitors. The Jeux du Québec is a busy environment, Holt noted that teams from all over the region set up large tents where they would warm up and spend time in between their races.
Holt competed in the under 15 division, competing alongside cyclists ages 12 to 14 years old. At only 12 years old, Holt was one of the youngest competitors. Despite this, she competed in all five road cycling events; time trial, team timed trial, 40km road race, sprints, and criterium. Holt explained that she is strongest in the sprint event, coming fourth in her division.
Holt pointed out that racing competitions do not come without their challenges. She said that she had to learn to not let people push her around, as the youngest racer she was often forced to the front of the pack by the other competitors. This means that she received the most wind, making her use up the most energy. She notes that this is something that she had to work on, however she says that the issue is now completely resolved.
Though Holt does not have any set goals, she continues to love cycling and hopes to see where the sport takes her in the future.
I don’t really have any long term future goals. I just kind of go with the flow and do things like the race that I feel like I’m capable of doing. I’m just kind of seeing where it takes me,” said Holt.
Holt thanked her parents and her coaches for their constant support in helping her make it to the Jeux to Quebec.
“My coaches have been super supportive and putting on all the practices and coming and supporting everyone. Also, my parents for driving me to all of my practices and cheering for me and always being super loving and supportive when it comes to racing.” said Holt.
