Maple Bay mountain biker Jennifer Jackson has reclaimed her position atop the podium after winning Canadian X-Country Mountain Biking National Championships on July 22 in Kentville, Nova Scotia.
Jackson, who races for Liv Factory Racing, had previously won the elite women’s title in 2021, and also won the U23 national championship in 2017.
This time around she raced to a time of 1:28:21.4, more than six minutes and five seconds ahead of the next competitor.
What’s more, she placed second in the short track event as well.
It was a step up from the year before when she underwent adversity but still managed to podium in both events.
“Last year I finished third in both the [X-country) and [short track] in my first races back after breaking my elbow six weeks prior, so at the time I was just happy to be back racing and manage a podium, but also already looking ahead to this year to try and get the jersey back,” she explained.
What makes Jackson even more amazing is that last year she won the Enduro Nationals, a completely different cycling discipline.
She called that victory a surprise.
“It was after the end of my cross-country season, and a group of my friends were going so I decided it’d be a fun challenge and learning opportunity,” she explained. “I ride my XC bike for the majority of my training, but try to get out on the enduro bike at least once a week, sometimes more depending on the trail conditions or where I want to explore…and that translated to more confidence and awareness of my ability on the XC bike.”
Winning the X-Country Mountain Biking National Championships was her No. 1 goal of the year, and the conditions couldn’t have been more perfect for her to accomplish that feat.
“It was cool, I hadn’t ridden in the wet since the spring, but I guess it was time for all the training in the sloppy, wet, snowy winter we had this year in Duncan to pay off in full,” Jackson said. “I felt strong on the pedals without having to strain too much, but mostly just calm through the slimy mud and over the slippery roots.
“There couldn’t have been a better day to have that kind of composure on the bike. I’m so happy it came together.”
Jackson moved to the Cowichan region last winter after spending quite a bit of time here the previous summer with her boyfriend, who is also a professional mountain biker.
“The mountain biking community is so friendly and welcoming right away, there’s such a great variety of trails in the Cowichan Valley and people to ride with. I couldn’t imagine a better place to train and live,” Jackson said. “Sometimes I wish we didn’t travel so much for racing and had more time to ride and explore near home!”
Jackson heads to Scotland for the World Championships from Aug. 8-12, where she’ll race the short track and cross-country events.
“My goals are top-20 finishes,” she said.
After that there are two more World Cups in Europe, Andorra and Les Gets, then the Paris test event in September before the riders travel back for the final World Cup rounds in Snowshoe USA and Mont Sainte Anne in October.
