The technical skills of track and neo road pro Adam Jamieson
When the Canadian men’s team pursuit squad took to the boards of the track in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, it helped that the four riders were good bike handlers. They faced Belgium and hoped to take their first-ever gold medal at the second edition of the track World Cup. “There were gusts going across the track, making it a more technical ride,” said Adam Jamieson. “There was a door open by the back straight. It caused gusts that would blip you, sometimes as much as half a metre. Even though we don’t have as many hours on the track as a lot of the other teams, we know how to adapt really well. We have a lot of really good bike handlers.” The skills of Jamieson, Aidan Caves, Jay Lamoureux, Bayley Simpson, with Ed Veal as the alternate, won the crew gold.
A little more than three weeks later, in late November, Jamieson was at the team house of An Post Chain Reaction in Buggenhout, Belgium. The 21-year-old rider from Barrie, Ont., signed on to the Ireland-based continental team for 2017. Fellow Canadian and track rider Sean Mackinnon is also on the team. At that time, Jamieson had the house to himself. He was riding in temperatures that averaged 5 C. He expected to be in Europe pretty consistently until March, training and doing some road racing. Then it would be off to what he calls his local velodrome in Milton, Ont. He and the track team would prepare for the track world championships in Hong Kong in mid-april.
At the team house in Buggenhout, Jamieson had access to a car. “Like all cars here, it’s standard,” he said. “I can’t drive standard, yet. I’m really bummed out. I was going to pay for lessons, but I think I’ll wait until I get home.” The young and talented bike handler still has more technical skills to learn.