Laura Brown: From pack-fill to podiums

Usually, spring and summer mark the off-season for track rider Laura Brown. But this spring, the Vancouver-based rider did anything but soft pedal out of a successful track season. She won a bronze in the team pursuit at the world track championships in February in Minsk, Belarus with teammates Gillian Carleton and Jasmin Glaesser. Two months later, the member of Colavita/Fine Cooking had her first win as a professional road racer at the Coastal Empire Cycle Fest, which is part of the USA Crits Speed Week. To say the change is working is an understatement. However, she’s not leaving the track behind.

“I needed a change of scenery and to challenge myself more,” Brown said. “This is all just part of the plan for the track competitions at the upcoming Rio Olympics. I also wanted to give road racing a shot. I always enjoyed it. I just couldn’t put in the time or the energy over the summers to commit to a full season. I thought it was perfect timing now in a post-Olympic year.”

She will be racing to the end of summer and will then compete the in the national track championships in Dieppe, N.B., during the last week of August and into September. Then it will be on to the first track World Cup in November.

Her road season includes two events at the Grand Prix Cycliste Gatineau, the road race on Saturday and the time trial on Monday. Brown rode in the first instalment of the event in 2010.

“I loved it,’” she said. “I never did the Montreal World Cup or the Tour de PEI. So, it was my first big race, my first UCI women’s race on the road, and it was in Canada. I remember the High Road women’s team was there. It was neat to have that calibre of racing in our own country. I’m really forward to going back.”

She then joked self-effacingly about her first appearance: “The first year I did it, I was just pack-fill.”

“At the time, I didn’t know what to expect,” Brown said. “It was pretty fast and I wasn’t used to riding in that big or aggressive of a pack. But this year, with more races like that under my belt, I think I’ll be more comfortable. I’ll be more active in the race. I hope to contribute by making the race more exciting and hard.”

Brown will be in Gatineau with five other Colavita/Fine Cooking teammates, including fellow Canuck, Leah Guloien. Brown was understandably cagey when asked about her team’s strategy for the race, not wanting to give too much away. But what she did say revealed a little about her group’s plan for the race that often ends in a big dash for the line.

“We are bringing Jen Purcell, who’s our sprinter,” Brown said. “Stay tuned for some exciting and aggressive racing, if you know what I mean.”

On Saturday, tune into our live coverage of the Grand Prix Cycliste Gatineau.