By Sarah Tone, Communications Coordinator

In the Manitoba Cycling community, the Gauthier family stands out. Fifteen-year-old Aimee and her brother Aiden who is older by 2 years, are both at the Canada Summer Games for the first time. That being said, they are already CSG veterans, with this being their second week of competition. They both competed in the mountain bike events last week and have parked their mountain bikes and hopped on their road bikes this week for an additional three events.

Leading up to the Games, they both had a very busy summer and made up for some training and racing time lost during the pandemic. They both attended Penticton, BC for a team training camp, and later on to Canmore for another team camp as well as racing. Their passports also got a workout when they attended three different multi-day races in the northern USA; a series of criterium races in Iowa, Tour of America’s Dairyland in Wisconsin, and the Intelligentsia Cup in Chicago, Illinois. Aiden and a few teammates also made a quick trip to Edmonton for the Canadian Cycling National Road Championships.

Of course, their biggest supporters are their parents; Candace and Brad. Naturally, they are excited to be here in Niagara to support their kids and the rest of Team Toba. Being on the sidelines at cycling events is nothing new to them. They have literally flown and driven thousands of kilometers to assist their kids and the other members of the Herd, by attending most of the events mentioned earlier. One could best describe them as “team mom and dad” on the road.

Fortunately, Candace has the flexibility to work remotely, but when not cheering on her kids at race events, she can also be spotted with a clipboard, officiating local races. And Brad; well he also likes to keep busy with co-organizing annual local races;  a mountain bike race and a cyclocross race which is scheduled for next month.

Although this will end the mountain and road seasons, the racing is far from over this year. The cyclocross season will be in full swing shortly. Since the Manitoba cyclocross season is quite full, the Gauthiers can settle into their own beds for a while and rest up for next summer.