Cali Update 4

I’m back home now, buried in the textbooks preparing for my 4 exams this week. I figured I’d take a quick break to let everyone know how the last day of racing went in Cali.

Preparation was as usual, this time with a bit later start to the racing at 2:30. I did a quick roll-up on the rollers, a couple roller sprints, and then up on the track for a two standing starts to get prepped for the Team Sprint. Before I knew it, it was time to race. I’m not going to lie, I was a bit nervous. Not only was this a World Cup race, I also had two riders behind me who I did not want to let down. As my bike was being weighed, I envisioned my explosive start from the gate. Sandy, our mechanic, then brought up the bike and put it into the gate. Before the bike was even positioned correctly the timing clock had started it’s countdown from 50 seconds. I quickly jumped on and did up the straps on my pedals. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. BEEEEP. And I pushed and pulled as hard as I could for my one lap, then got out of the way for my teammates to finish their two laps. I looked up on the scoreboard and let out a silent cheer inside as I saw our qualifying time of 45.3 which put us in first position at the time. We had also just set a new Canadian record. There were still 4 teams to go, only two of which could go faster for the three laps. This put us in the bronze medal ride against the Ukranians. Again, in twenty minutes we repeated the process. Explode out of the gate, go fast, and get out of the way. All three team members did almost exactly the same time on our respective laps, but the Ukranians had gone two tenths faster, and we finished in fourth place. While a podium would have been nice, we were all pleased with our efforts, and our fourth place finish at our first world cup. We are all looking forward to the next world cup in Beijing where we can hopefully better on our performance!

Cali Update 3

Today was the individual sprints with both myself and Travis Smith representing Canada. I’ve been concentrating quite a bit on my start for team sprint, so I hadn’t done much speed work in the build up to this race. I was very happy to qualify tenth in the 200m with a time of 10.51. This gave me somewhat of a difficult ride in the first round. I was up against a faster French rider. The plan was to control the race and to keep the sprint short since this rider had won the Kilo and Keirin the night before. I drew position one for the start. The plan worked for the first part.  As he tried to jump over me I was able to match his acceleration and keep him on my hip. He pulled up and took another run, this time with more height. I matched his jump but he re-acclerated again. This time he got in front and stayed there until we crossed the finish line. I was pretty happy with how I raced tactically. Just a little bit more speed and I could very well have won that race.

Losing the 1/8th final put me in the B quarterfinals against a Japanese rider with a similar 200m time. I drew first position again. Lucky me. He decided to lead out the race with about one and a half to go, and I was happy to let him lead. I quickly got on his wheel but didn’t time my run right and ended up trying to pass him wayyy too high in the corners to no avail. This put me in 13th place overall. I’m happy with my performance in my first world cup so far although I know I could have done better. I’m looking forward to rip it up in the team sprint tomorrow. Those other guys better watch out for Team Canada!

In other cool news a few of us got to go up 42 floors to the roof of our hotel for a very nice view of the valley that Cali lies in. Cali is apparently much bigger than I imagined as well. Lights went on for quite a distance in each direction, all the way to the mountains (where we have been told the bandido’s live).

Cali Update 2

I’ve been here in this ‘mild’ (30 degree) Colombian weather for 6 days, and I’m getting a bit anxious to do some racing. We’ve done quite a bit of training on the track and I’m feeling ready and prepared to go fast in the next couple days. Tomorrow is the individual sprints, where myself and Travis Smith will be the two Canadian representatives. From what we’ve seen the field here looks pretty strong, with a few world champions in the lineup, but I’m just going to go out there and see what I can do.

I managed to stop by the track for a bit today to catch some mens Keirin action. The racing of course was fast and furious, but what was different from the other races I’ve been to was the roaring crowd. They were really excited and into the racing, especially when the Colombians were up. It was also quite the interesting experience getting a drive back to the hotel from one of the Colombian racers instead of waiting for the bus. From the way they drive here, its no wonder how good they are at Keirins!

I know this has been a short post, but it’s time to get to bed. Big day of racing tomorrow with my first World Cup event ever. For almost up-to-the-minute results you can check out www.tissottiming.com. Or for a bit more delayed recap of the racing, you can check back for more blog updates tomorrow.

Cali Update 1

Day one of my trip to Cali isn’t even over and it’s already been a pretty interesting trip. I met up with the BC crew at Pearson International and we proceeded to check in to the first leg of my flight (the second leg of theirs) to Miami International. This flight went off without a hitch, until we were about 10m from the ground in Miami, the engines began to road and we accelerated. Next thing you knew we were back in the air, being told the pilots had to execute a ‘Go Around’ because there was another aircraft occupying the runway. Fast forward a few hours of sitting in the Miami airport waiting to catch the next flight to Cali. Again we’re back on the plane, this time accompanied by all the athletes who began their trip in Los Angeles this morning. I just settle into my seat, and start eating the complimentary meal (Yes, an airline finally gave us some free food!), when the stewards make an announcement on the PA system asking if there are any doctors available to help out. Uh oh….After playing around with some oxygen masks apparently they decided to make an emergency landing. Here I am now, in Montego Bay, Jamaica maaannnn. The sick passenger is now off the plane, but we’ve been told ‘we have to wait for a flight plan, aircraft inspection (since we landed overweight) and refueling before we can take off again’. We’ve been on the ground for at least 45 minutes now, and the only inspection I saw out the window was some lady with a flashlight walking up and down the plane once. “Lets see… 1 wing… 2 wings… alright, good. Inspection complete,” as she gives herself a pat on the back for a job well done. Good stuff. I feel safe now. And it seems like they are having some difficulty with this ‘fight plan’. Hows this sound.. go fast, fly south, continue until we reach Cali. Finally, the refueling truck has showed up so hopefully we’ll be back in the air shortly. Thats all for now. I’m going to try my best to give you a few updates this next week from Colombia, so keep tuned!

Match Sprint

Today we got to do a bit of technical match sprinting. It was a ton of fun, and something we don’t get the chance to do very often. Here’s a video of me and Travis racing. We’re tied 1-1 after the days races.

World Cup Prep Camp

Wow, what a crazy week it’s been here in LA. We’ve had some great sessions, with a lot of help from the numerous CCA staff and coaches down here, and everybody seems to keep getting faster and faster! Having such a big group helps motivate everyone and encourages healthy competition within the group pushing everyone to go harder. Yesterday we must have had 10-12 sprinters training with our group including USA sprinters Jimmy Watkins and Adam Duvendeck.

We’ve been doing quite a bit of team sprint work this week to prepare for the upcoming World Cup in Colombia at the beginning of Decenber, but we have yet to officially decide our starting order. Hopefully we’ll get to that soon. For now, it looks like I’ll be starter, with Cossette and Smith’s order yet to be determined.

Of course the week wouldn’t be complete without the friendly CCES drug testers visiting the team. Right after our training yesterday five of us were chosen to give samples at the track, including first timer Stevie Meyer (he was pretty excited). Nine other athletes had been tested the previous night back at the hotel. When I was notified, I was still in my wet shorts, just after getting out of the ice tub, and of course I had to stay in sight of my chaperone, so was not allowed to go change in the changeroom. So instead I had to pull a quick change under a towel in the middle of the track to get into regular pants. By the time we finished this process and got back to the hotel, it was 2pm. After a quick bite and a change of clothes, we were back at the track to do a quick weight session with local trainer Ron. For warm-up and cool-down we got to play quick games of volleyball and basketball. Needless to say, track cyclists should not play either of these sports in public. It was a blast though, and gave us a chance to have some fun and relax. After getting back to the hotel again, we scrambled to shower and make some dinner before heading down to have the daily team meeting. Finally, after the meeting it was massage time. It was 7:30 before the days activities were over. I brought some textbooks to do a bit of studying, but with days like that, it’s been pretty hard to find the time to sit down and get work done.

One more day of hard training tomorrow, then it’s back home again for 6 days before heading to Colombia!

Chicago Airport

Here I am, sitting in Chicago waiting for my next flight to LAX. This time on my way to the CCA training camp, I flew out of Buffalo, since essentially it was less than half the price of flying from TO. This was my first time to Buffalo International, so I had no idea how far it was from my house. Of course the obvious thing to do would be to rely on Mapquest to give an accurate driving time, but Mapquest led us astray. Mapquest estimated 90mins of driving time, when in reality, it only took 45mins. That, combined with the fact that Stevie was coming with me, (and we all know how Steve likes to be ‘early’) got us to the airport 2.5 hours before our domestic flight. I’ve been compensating for my lack of sleep with high doses of caffeine. I’m on my third cup of coffee today. Well, its time to go board my next flight. Look for more updates from LA this week!

Double Days and Early Wake Up Calls

This past week has been pretty intense as far as training goes. Almost every day has been a double day, unfortunately mostly on the trainer. It’s not so easy to navigate the streets of Hamilton with a track bike and a 96″ gear. Needless to say, my legs were pretty sore, and I was very exhausted. Thank goodness school has slowed down a bit, with all my midterms finished. On Thursday night I went for a much needed massage to freshen up the legs. The only question I’ve been asking myself since then, is why don’t I go more often?! Never mind ‘The Stick’ and foam rollers, nothing compares to a real massage for loosening up the legs.

After a very exhausting week, I was looking forward to the weekend, to be able to sleep in. My goal was to sleep in until a minimum of 11am… but unfortunately that didn’t happen. Bright and early in the morning, at 730, I wake up to the doorbell ringing. I figured it’s just some stupid solicitor, and like everyone else in my house I ignore the doorbell. Then it comes again.. DING DONG…What the heck is this guy doing, I thought. Nobody else was getting up to answer the door so I figured I’d better do it, and then I’d be able to head back to bed. Nope… wrong again… I answer the door and it’s the drug testers, asking me to pee in a cup. It was a pretty uneventful collection, but by the time it was done, there was no going back to sleep. It was time to get started with the day and do some training.

I can’t believe its already the middle of November! Only one more week ’til I head back to LA, for another CCA training camp. I’m hoping to be able to check out some apartments while I’m in LA, for a potential temporary move to the sunshine. I think I need to be at the track more often, and moving to LA is the only way that can really happen. I have a meeting with the Dean this week to see if we can arrange something with school. And then, after LA I am home for 6 days before heading off to Cali, Colombia, for my first World Cup event. I’m pretty excited to see how the Canadian Team can do in Cali.

Well, time to do some work, and hopefully get ahead to make up for the weeks of school I’ll be missing in the near future.

‘Til next time.

 

Another Video Summary

Thanks to Michelle from PISE, here is another video summary of the Canadian Track Team camp in LA:

National Team Camp – Los Angeles

Hey Everyone,

I’m just sitting here on a plane right now, heading for the Toronto International Airport. There aren’t any good movies or shows on right now, so I figured I’d give you guys an update on what I’ve been up to.

I’ve just spent the last week in sunny California, where I attended another National Team Track Camp, put on by the CCA. The actual camp started on Tuesday, but I went down to LA a bit early, basically because it only meant missing one more day of school, but gave me three extra days of training at the ADT/Home Depot Center Velodrome. Oh, and of course the extra sun was nice too!

For those of you who have never seen this center, it is absolutely amazing. It has acres of sports field, courts, stadiums, and training facilities, and is also home to the LA Galaxy MLS soccer team. The velodrome itself is also quite beautiful, especially compared to the tracks we have currently in Canada.

I spent the first few days in LA training on the track with Travis Smith, and Stephane Cossette, two of Canada’s other track sprinters, as well as American Adam Duvendeck. We even got a chance to do a quick weight session with Adam, where he was nice enough to correct my squat form, which was lacking so say the least. We also did some intense core work. (which left my abs feeling sore for the next three days) Note to self: Do more sit-ups!

On Tuesday, the rest of the Canadian team arrived (26 athletes in total), along with numerous coaches and support staff. It was great to have so many elite athletes all training and living together. We all pushed each other to our limits and have all improved because of this. Having so many elite athletes together also enabled us to do some race simulations, which is unfortunately not something we can do very often. Not only do we need to develop our speed, but we need to work on developing our tactics so we can learn how to win races. On Friday night, we threw on the double discs, and had some fun qualifying and racing in a sprint tournament. This was by far the best part of the camp.

I would just like to say thank you to all the coaches, support staff, and to the CCA for a great camp.

The announcement over the PA has just informed us that the ground temperature at the Toronto Airport is less than ten degrees!  Not quite the 30 degrees I was used to in LA. Who knows, maybe I’ll have to move? I wouldn’t mind training on a real velodrome everyday, rather than the cold roads of Ontario. And the added benefit of California beaches 15mins away wouldn’t be so bad either.

For now though, its back to real life. Time to catch up on school and get studying for all the midterms coming up!