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Commonwealth Games a `dream' EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer Count Georgetown resident Amy Moore among the outdoor enthusiasts who aren't complaining about the unseasonably mild winter in Halton Hills in 2006. The 32-year-old professional cyclist was able to train a little more than usual in this area thanks to the lack of snow as she prepared to compete for Canada at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, which began this week. Yes, there was a three-week training stint in Mallorca, Spain with her new T-Mobile world-class pro team to break the monotony of an Ontario winter, but Moore and husband Michael have extensively toured the hills of this area, and when it has snowed, mountain bikes have come in handy. "We're going to be racing against the Australians, who are in peak shape because they just finished their summer season, so we as Canadians have to try to stay on equal ground," said Moore, a Welland native who didn't take up cycling seriously until 1997. And while Moore has competed at large-scale events such as the AMY MOORE world championships, the Tour de France and many other stage races, she is eager to be part of the six-person Canadian women's road race team that figures to be in contention for at least one medal. "I just found out (in early January) that I made the team and it's just been a wild dream for me," she said. "The Commonwealth Games is a special event because it's got a different atmosphere with all of the other sports mixed in and that's something I haven't experienced before." Moore will likely take on the "domestique" role on both the Canadian and T-Mobile teams, riding in a support position to help her leading teammate on the day achieve victory. Veteran Canadian rider Lyne Bessette is a teammate of Moore's on both of those teams and is considered a strong medal candidate in Melbourne. Moore has a busy 2006 ahead of her, mainly with the star-laden T-Mobile organization, which lists former world champs Jan Ullrich and Udith Arndt in its stable of riders. After returning from Down Under, the team will head to Europe until the end of May before coming back to North America for a World Cup race in Montreal. Moore decided to leave a technical support job with Oracle eight years ago to pursue her Local teams vying for OMHA titles No fewer than five Georgetown Raider rep teams have made it to the finals of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association playdowns and all of them will be in action on home ice this weekend. Tonight (friday) at 9 p.m. at the Mold-Masters SportsPlex, Georgetown's Goebelle MacAdam Alexander bantam AE Raiders take on Caledon in the opener of their best-of-five Group 1 championship. After a 5-1 home win Tuesday night to start things off, Georgetown's McMaster's Meats & Deli atom AA Raiders play in Uxbridge Saturday and host game three Sunday at noon at Memorial Arena. The Georgetown RV bantam AA Raiders won game one of their best-offive matchup with Newmarket here on Tuesday 5-3 and hosted game two last night (Thursday), with an opportunity to wrap up the series on the road either Saturday or Sunday. The Georgetown Toyota peewee AA Raiders dropped game one of their final series in Barrie 4-3 on Wednesday and are looking to even the score tonight at the Mold-Masters SportsPlex beginning at 7:30 p.m. Georgetown's Sports Unlimited minor atom AE Raiders hosted the opener of their showdown with Aurora last night and will be back for game three at the Memorial rink Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Another Georgetown team just fell short of playing for another OMHA title, as the McNally Construction novice AEs were edged 4-3 in the eighth-and-deciding contest of their best-of-seven series. The final four games of that matchup were decided by one goal, with Caledon taking the last three to cap the incredible comeback. The only Acton Minor Hockey Association team remaining in the OMHA playdowns, the atom BB Tanners, were swept by Petrolia in their semi-final series last week. Georgetown resident Amy Moore will be on the Canadian team competing in the women's cycling road race a week from Sunday at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. While Moore has raced in many world-class cycling events first hand before, she's eager to see what a Games experience is like and help Canada get onto the medal podium. ambition to go as far as she could in cycling and be amongst the elite riders on the planet. "(The 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China) are always in the back of my mind but I'm taking this year-by-year," added Moore, whose coach, former national team rider Denise Kelly, also resides in Georgetown. "I'll see how this year goes and if I'm still enjoying and loving what I'm doing, then I'll continue. I don't want to set up too many expectations because it's all about enjoying this and yet still having those dreams of gold." The Commonwealth Games women's cycling road race will take place on the final day of the two-week competition on Sunday, March 26. (Eamonn Maher can be reached at emaher@independentfreepress.com)