Catching Up with Jenny Trew

For those familiar with the names and faces of the Canada’s women’s racing scene, the name Jenny Trew stands out. A constant threat in any bike race, Trew is known for her sprinting capabilities. This season, Trew has moved from the west coast to live in Ottawa, ON. With this move comes a new team – Équipe Specialized Mazda Samson and a renewed focus on her cycling career.

Trew is racing the Southeast Criterium Series this week with the BMW Bianchi team based out of Raleigh, North Carolina. In amongst the racing, recovery and coffee shop visits, Trew sat down at her computer to answer a few questions about the week of racing, her season, and the changes she has made this year.

How is the racing going for you?
The racing is going really well! It’s been fun to “live the dream” again. Coffee rides in the morning and racing in the evening – really does it get better than that? There have been some challenges – like the driving rain at Athens (where I was crashed out with 1 to go!) – but all in all it’s been a great experience so far. I’m not satisfied with my results – but I feel like I’m building into the week – so the best is yet to come!
Highlights of the week of racing so far?
The real highlight of the racing so far has got to be just being back in the fold of the traveling circus. These races are incredible for the support that the surrounding communities provide. Our current host house here in Beaufort (pronounced Buferd), South Carolina is unreal. The last two nights we have been served with two of the best meals I can remember! It’s just so great to be back racing again!
Who are you racing with this week?
For this week of racing I have been lucky enough to join up with the BMW Bianchi team based out of Raleigh, North Carolina. The girls here are Sarah Caravella, Kate Ross and Jenette Williams. We are having a great time – they are awesome and we are currently leading the USA Crits Speedweek team standings to boot! Mind you, they do enjoy making fun of my funny talk, eh?
What made you decide to travel south for this week of racing?
I came down to do Speedweek two years ago when I was riding with Vanderkitten. The week of racing is really well put together and I particularly enjoy that each day you learn something new and you’re able to apply it in the next day’s racing. It’s been an interesting experience as last time I was down here it was one of my peak’s for the season, but this year I’m trying to ramp things up a little slower, so I’m using it more as a training block…the nice part is that I seem to be doing about as well! The bottom line being that the racing is of a really high calibre and it’s really fun to test yourself day in, day out.
What’s next for you after this week of racing?
From here I’m headed to Arkansas to race the Joe Martin Stage Race. On that note, if you happen to know anyone headed from the Atlanta area over to Fayetteville, I’m still looking for a ride…
How is your season going? It is still early in the season, how is your form?
I’m pretty happy with how my season’s going to date. Traditionally I have been a really fast starter (meaning, I am the queen of the Spring Series racing in early March). While it’s always fun to be fast – I’m trying to build things up a little slower this year with an aim of hitting my first peak around Nationals. I feel like I have a strong base from a winter in Tucson and this week is my first real infusion of speed. My jump isn’t where I would like it to be – but it’s nice to have things to work on in the month of April – it means you have upward mobility!
Care to tell us about your goals for the season?
As I touched on a little previously – I’m looking to set my first peak around Nationals, but I’m also really looking forward to the races in the Gatineau,Quebec – it’s not every day you have a UCI race that starts less than 2 kilometers from your front door! I’m also hoping to head over to Europe for part of the summer – I really enjoyed the racing there last year and I’ve been yearning to get back over there.
My overarching goal for the year was to regain my health after the premature ending to my 2009 season and that appears to have been accomplished – now I need to build on last year’s success!
You’ve moved, bought a house, and got married – a lot to do in a short period of time – how do you keep the bike – life balance?
I won’t lie – it’s been a bit of a whirlwind – but it’s all been so exciting! I’m really lucky to have an incredibly supportive husband in Chris – and honestly that makes all the difference. After burning myself out last year, I’ve worked hard on minimizing the unneeded stressors in my life and enjoying all the great things that are coming my way. The Ottawa cycling community has been incredible in welcoming me into its fold and honestly it’s just so nice to finally have a solid homebase – it was hard to leave for this trip! But it’s easy to be successful in sport when everything else has fallen into line 🙂