Jackson rolls into town
SUPERWEEK: Abbotsford native began as a runner and triathlete but now rides full time
Alison Jackson suffered through a flat tire in her first-ever bike race, and that’s the second most bizarre thing to happen to her that day.
The 26-year-old from Abbotsford, who is one of the highlighted competitors for this latest rendition of the B.C. Superweek series, had her handlebars fall clean off during that 2010 event. A cross-country runner and triathlete by trade, she had been coaxed into racing that day by members of the Mission-based Phoenix Velo cycling club.
“Haha,” she stated in an email interview earlier this week from a training camp in Boise, Idaho. “It’s a good memory.”
Jackson, who is riding these days for the California-based pro team Twenty16, has recollections now with more positive endings.
She is coming off a win in the women’s criterium at last week’s Canadian road-race national championships in Saint-Georges, Que.
Last year at Superweek, Jackson won the Tour de White Rock omnium, highlighted by a first-place finish in the hill climb. She also came in second in the Tour de Delta criterium.
Jackson is full-time into bike racing now and that’s a statement in itself. She moved to B.C. for university from Vermilion, Alta., which is “two hours from the nearest bike shop.” She competed at the 2012 and 2014 world triathlon championships and the 2014 FISU collegiate cross-country championships.
She says, in fact, that since her collegiate cross-country season at Trinity Western University ended in November, she’s been on one 15-minute run and that’s it.
“It’s crazy to think about, but I want to do this well and give it my best shot, so that means narrowing my focus,” explained the 5-foot-5 Jackson.
The racing has “more tactics and options to play with,” than the bike portion of a triathlon, she contends.
Her training is much different as well. When triathlons were her primary objective, she aimed at having “a really well-balanced body,” because she was working in “three different sports with different movements.”
She’s stressing yoga now, in a bid to increase her mobility in her hips and strengthen her core and her back.
She counts Langley’s Svein Tuft, 38, who’s currently at the Tour de France, as one of her cycling role models.
“I haven’t ‘met’ him, but we did get set up to have a Skype conversation and I’ve been able to shoot him a few more emails with questions since,” Jackson explained. “It is a special thing that Svein is interested in giving back to his local cycling community.”
Her husband of four years, Alex Jackson, has become hooked as well. He has taken to shooting pictures and videos of cyclists and races. They can be found at ajcmedia.ca.