3 Days of racing in Michigan with David Byer
This article below was the race report given by Dave himself and I couldn't have said it better myself!
Day 1
Will is an aspiring
stagiare* for the OCTTO-Cervélo team. There is no better way to test out a
young talent than to subject him to a gruelling 3-Day Madison race.
For those of you who do not know; a Madison is a track racing event for teams of two riders. One rider is active in the race, at full speed or higher, sprinting for points throughout, while the other rider rides “relief” slowly at the top (outer edge) of the track outside of the race
action.
As the race rider approaches, the relief rider drops down the track offering an extended left hand in anticipation of a rider
exchange. The teammate who is in the race then grabs his partner’s hand and slings him into the action at full speed, transferring their respective momenta (and yes, this all takes place with only one hand controlling the bike at
50km/hr). The relief rider is now the active race rider and the race rider is elegated to the relief role and drifts up track to rest and recover at a slower
speed before the next exchange comes up. Riders exchange every time they catch
up with one another.
Sound crazy? Well, not if you are a true
pirate
Since Will and I had never raced together and we were up against a pretty stiff field, the first Madison was as much a shock as hitting the cold drink on
a stormy eve. The attacks rung off like cannon fire with the scallywags team of Matt Walp and Tony Bruley hitting us early along with the sea dogs team Brent DelRosario and Cale Denison. But as the first sprint for points approached us,
we witnessed the true beasts of the race: Blaine ‘After-burner’ Benson bolted away on a sling from partner Martin “The Vicious” Vecchio to take maximum
points.
This Ready-Aim-Fire pattern of the Vecchio and
Benson team repeated itself in the succeeding sprints for points as we did our best to clean up the 2nd place offerings. While the pairing of Nick Laughton
and Chris Matthews found their sea legs, a clear split emerged in the standings on the first night. Vecchio and Benson lead with OCTTO-Cervélo in second and Luke Cavender and Allan Antonuk nipping at our heels in third. The Kraken had
been released.
We retreated to our vessel docked in a safe harbour
and launched “Plan B”: to recover for the second day of racing. Recovery
involved tooling around the marina in a small “dingy” (basically a rubber raft
with a 4 horsepower outboard motor mounted to the back). Not being totally
familiar with boat life, I quickly learned a few lessons. One; unlike land
vehicles, like a gas pedal or motor cycle, the throttle on a boat motor does not
‘rebound’ when you let go of it. Two; a dingy might not stay exactly in place
if you jump on to it from a high dock. And three; a large tanker kicks off
waves big enough to flood your dingy, even when travelling at low speeds.
Day 2
A 3 Day Race is about
more than just swashbuckling Madison races. With two Madisons per night, teams also had to accumulate points in other events to be competitive. One test that
IVBP Director Dale Hughes always throws in is the One Mile Sprint. Two heats, one rider from each team in each heatŠ. First one across the line gets it. The
Mile might sound easy but she’s a beard burner. Just short enough to ensure a ballistic fast pace and just long enough to really sting, this is the Bloomer
Park equivalent of walking the plank.
I had taken the first heat with a long sprint over
Cavender, DelRosario and Vecchio the Vicious. Next up was William the Young flying the OCTTO-Cervélo Jolly Roger. Will sat in the group like a barracuda
stalking the depths. The tension swelled like a distant tsunami as the laps clicked down and Will hit hard, coming over the top of the group like a tidal
wave to win the sprint by 3 lengths. The kid has legs. 16 years old. A bit old in pirate years butŠ still
Day 3
Regardless of our plundering of the Mile
Sprint the previous evening, Vecchio the Vicious and After-Burner Benson
accumulated an insurmountable lead in the final Madison. While we were not
ready to say “die” it was mathematically impossible to catch them on Day 3. But
we do the attacking and let the peg-legged officials do the counting so we back
to swabbing the deck we went on the third Day.
It was becoming clear that the locals were uneasy
with our attempted conquests. With the top 3 teams securely on the podium already, the Vecchio/Benson duo forged an informal alliance with the other local
powerhouse of Luke “The cadaver” Cavender and Allan Antonuk. They wanted a 1-2 Michigan native finish. Could you blame them? If pirates were attacking, you
would defend your home lumber as well.
The collusion really became obvious to us during
the Miss & Out event. Also known as Devil Take the Hindmost, this race
starts with all riders on the track. Every second lap, the last person across
the line is eliminated until we get down to three. From there, it is a two lap sprint for the finish. The higher up you place, the more points you rack up for
your team. The Miss & Out is a constant battle for position. Vecchio and Benson had built much of their points advantage by winning these events working
together to “box in” William the young and myself.
Cavender The Cadaver had also cleverly aligned himself with the first place team to attempt to catapult his squad over us in
the standings. So, on the last Miss & Out, we had to employ a strategy of riding hard tempo side by side on the front of the pack to avoid getting “boxed”
by the locals…The hard man’s strategy – Pirate style. After fighting our way to
the front in the opening laps, it was on. William the Young took to the pole lane and I rode dutifully on his right hip; the old Captain and Rear Admiral
routine.
We kept the pace sturdy and picked it up any time someone challenged us at the front. We held our own until one rider from every team was eliminated
except for the brazen Vecchio/Benson duo. This meant that we would combine for
the second highest point total on the event and further cement our 2nd place finish. Job done and legs heavy, we were over taken on the front and Will
succumbed in the next elimination.
But I wanted blood so I took a few more stabs at
the front to knock out Cale Denison and found myself back in the dreaded “box”;
Benson in front of me, Vecchio to my right and Cavender just past him,
preventing my slowing down to escape from the back door. I could hear Cavender
telling Vecchio to “keep him there”. As we approached the elimination, I saw a
sliver of light open between Vecchio’s right hand and Benson so I thrust my bars
straight into the gap. With a gentle nudge, I found my way through the gap to
take out Cavender the Cadaver.
At that moment, I felt like I was in that dingy
competing with a giant tanker for space on the St Clair. I was bounced around
and three of the four horses powering that engine were lying on the side of the
road. Blaine “after Burner” Benson rode me up the track and motioned to Vecchio
to attack. I was done for.
We sailed on into the final Madison and fought till
the end. At this point, it was tough just to hold on to second. But, I had
learned that Michigan hates to be invaded and will battle hard with any
interlopers.
Also, I learned that Will is a tough little sea
biscuit. He held his own against an older and more experienced group of
competitors. Currently, he is preparing for Junior World Championships in New
Zealand and OCTTO-Cervélo wishes him luck.
Day 1
Will is an aspiring
stagiare* for the OCTTO-Cervélo team. There is no better way to test out a
young talent than to subject him to a gruelling 3-Day Madison race.
For those of you who do not know; a Madison is a track racing event for teams of two riders. One rider is active in the race, at full speed or higher, sprinting for points throughout, while the other rider rides “relief” slowly at the top (outer edge) of the track outside of the race
action.
As the race rider approaches, the relief rider drops down the track offering an extended left hand in anticipation of a rider
exchange. The teammate who is in the race then grabs his partner’s hand and slings him into the action at full speed, transferring their respective momenta (and yes, this all takes place with only one hand controlling the bike at
50km/hr). The relief rider is now the active race rider and the race rider is elegated to the relief role and drifts up track to rest and recover at a slower
speed before the next exchange comes up. Riders exchange every time they catch
up with one another.
Sound crazy? Well, not if you are a true
pirate
Since Will and I had never raced together and we were up against a pretty stiff field, the first Madison was as much a shock as hitting the cold drink on
a stormy eve. The attacks rung off like cannon fire with the scallywags team of Matt Walp and Tony Bruley hitting us early along with the sea dogs team Brent DelRosario and Cale Denison. But as the first sprint for points approached us,
we witnessed the true beasts of the race: Blaine ‘After-burner’ Benson bolted away on a sling from partner Martin “The Vicious” Vecchio to take maximum
points.
This Ready-Aim-Fire pattern of the Vecchio and
Benson team repeated itself in the succeeding sprints for points as we did our best to clean up the 2nd place offerings. While the pairing of Nick Laughton
and Chris Matthews found their sea legs, a clear split emerged in the standings on the first night. Vecchio and Benson lead with OCTTO-Cervélo in second and Luke Cavender and Allan Antonuk nipping at our heels in third. The Kraken had
been released.
We retreated to our vessel docked in a safe harbour
and launched “Plan B”: to recover for the second day of racing. Recovery
involved tooling around the marina in a small “dingy” (basically a rubber raft
with a 4 horsepower outboard motor mounted to the back). Not being totally
familiar with boat life, I quickly learned a few lessons. One; unlike land
vehicles, like a gas pedal or motor cycle, the throttle on a boat motor does not
‘rebound’ when you let go of it. Two; a dingy might not stay exactly in place
if you jump on to it from a high dock. And three; a large tanker kicks off
waves big enough to flood your dingy, even when travelling at low speeds.
Day 2
A 3 Day Race is about
more than just swashbuckling Madison races. With two Madisons per night, teams also had to accumulate points in other events to be competitive. One test that
IVBP Director Dale Hughes always throws in is the One Mile Sprint. Two heats, one rider from each team in each heatŠ. First one across the line gets it. The
Mile might sound easy but she’s a beard burner. Just short enough to ensure a ballistic fast pace and just long enough to really sting, this is the Bloomer
Park equivalent of walking the plank.
I had taken the first heat with a long sprint over
Cavender, DelRosario and Vecchio the Vicious. Next up was William the Young flying the OCTTO-Cervélo Jolly Roger. Will sat in the group like a barracuda
stalking the depths. The tension swelled like a distant tsunami as the laps clicked down and Will hit hard, coming over the top of the group like a tidal
wave to win the sprint by 3 lengths. The kid has legs. 16 years old. A bit old in pirate years butŠ still
Day 3
Regardless of our plundering of the Mile
Sprint the previous evening, Vecchio the Vicious and After-Burner Benson
accumulated an insurmountable lead in the final Madison. While we were not
ready to say “die” it was mathematically impossible to catch them on Day 3. But
we do the attacking and let the peg-legged officials do the counting so we back
to swabbing the deck we went on the third Day.
It was becoming clear that the locals were uneasy
with our attempted conquests. With the top 3 teams securely on the podium already, the Vecchio/Benson duo forged an informal alliance with the other local
powerhouse of Luke “The cadaver” Cavender and Allan Antonuk. They wanted a 1-2 Michigan native finish. Could you blame them? If pirates were attacking, you
would defend your home lumber as well.
The collusion really became obvious to us during
the Miss & Out event. Also known as Devil Take the Hindmost, this race
starts with all riders on the track. Every second lap, the last person across
the line is eliminated until we get down to three. From there, it is a two lap sprint for the finish. The higher up you place, the more points you rack up for
your team. The Miss & Out is a constant battle for position. Vecchio and Benson had built much of their points advantage by winning these events working
together to “box in” William the young and myself.
Cavender The Cadaver had also cleverly aligned himself with the first place team to attempt to catapult his squad over us in
the standings. So, on the last Miss & Out, we had to employ a strategy of riding hard tempo side by side on the front of the pack to avoid getting “boxed”
by the locals…The hard man’s strategy – Pirate style. After fighting our way to
the front in the opening laps, it was on. William the Young took to the pole lane and I rode dutifully on his right hip; the old Captain and Rear Admiral
routine.
We kept the pace sturdy and picked it up any time someone challenged us at the front. We held our own until one rider from every team was eliminated
except for the brazen Vecchio/Benson duo. This meant that we would combine for
the second highest point total on the event and further cement our 2nd place finish. Job done and legs heavy, we were over taken on the front and Will
succumbed in the next elimination.
But I wanted blood so I took a few more stabs at
the front to knock out Cale Denison and found myself back in the dreaded “box”;
Benson in front of me, Vecchio to my right and Cavender just past him,
preventing my slowing down to escape from the back door. I could hear Cavender
telling Vecchio to “keep him there”. As we approached the elimination, I saw a
sliver of light open between Vecchio’s right hand and Benson so I thrust my bars
straight into the gap. With a gentle nudge, I found my way through the gap to
take out Cavender the Cadaver.
At that moment, I felt like I was in that dingy
competing with a giant tanker for space on the St Clair. I was bounced around
and three of the four horses powering that engine were lying on the side of the
road. Blaine “after Burner” Benson rode me up the track and motioned to Vecchio
to attack. I was done for.
We sailed on into the final Madison and fought till
the end. At this point, it was tough just to hold on to second. But, I had
learned that Michigan hates to be invaded and will battle hard with any
interlopers.
Also, I learned that Will is a tough little sea
biscuit. He held his own against an older and more experienced group of
competitors. Currently, he is preparing for Junior World Championships in New
Zealand and OCTTO-Cervélo wishes him luck.
Words of wisdom from Olympian Zach Bell
Today I sent Canadian Olympian Zach Bell , a little message on Facebook wishing him luck in his upcoming races at the 2012 Olympics and asked if he had any advice for while I am traveling to New Zeland for my first World Championship and this is the amazing reply I got!
" When you are training stay in the moment and get the most out of each effort.
Say "this is what I am going to do/get out of this effort" and do it...don't
get over loaded just focus on simple things one at a time and they will build on
each other.
The best advice I ever got was that running a marathon is
a lot easier if you just have to think about getting to the next telephone pole.
If you do all the little steps one by one and do them all right you will get
the most out of yourself.
Finally don't get frustrated by small gains.
At your age you are going to want to go faster and faster. Any gain is a good
gain...and over time the build to top performances. In my time on the track I
have gone from a 4:57 to a 4:25 with gains of 1 - 3 sec that's all. Once you
understand these things training goals become reasonable and everything seems
doable.
Good luck.
Zach
" When you are training stay in the moment and get the most out of each effort.
Say "this is what I am going to do/get out of this effort" and do it...don't
get over loaded just focus on simple things one at a time and they will build on
each other.
The best advice I ever got was that running a marathon is
a lot easier if you just have to think about getting to the next telephone pole.
If you do all the little steps one by one and do them all right you will get
the most out of yourself.
Finally don't get frustrated by small gains.
At your age you are going to want to go faster and faster. Any gain is a good
gain...and over time the build to top performances. In my time on the track I
have gone from a 4:57 to a 4:25 with gains of 1 - 3 sec that's all. Once you
understand these things training goals become reasonable and everything seems
doable.
Good luck.
Zach
Updates.
Le tour de Reves (Abitibi)
Making Dream happen
Over the years the Forest City Velodrome has produced many talented young athletes who have advanced their cycling careers internationally. Resources for these young athletes have been extremely tight in recent years, and for this reason the FCV has begun a fundraising drive for local 16 year old racer, myself; Will Simonds.
I need your help.... I have been nominated for Team Ontario this summer and have earned a spot on the Canadian team for the 2012 Junior World Track Championships in New Zealand this August. To attend all of the competitions over the next 3 months, costs are estimated to be $8,500.00. As a Junior, all the projects are self-funded there is no assistance from the CCA (unfortunately).
These are important steps in my ultimate dream to represent Canada at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Ideally we would like to come up with 50% of the funds needed to pursue his dreams. The FCV is planning a special night of racing (September 29th) for Businesses and Individuals who help raise funds for Will over the coming few months.
Donors will recieve FREE admission to racing at the FCV on Saturday September 29th and each donor will recieve a T-Shirt and a personalized thank you card for "Making Dreams Happen".
Please make donations payable to the Forest City Velodrome who will track the donors and collect the funds on behalf of Will. Cheques can be mailed to Will Simonds, c/o FCV, 65 Karen Walk, Waterloo Ontario . N2L-5X1.
I need your help.... I have been nominated for Team Ontario this summer and have earned a spot on the Canadian team for the 2012 Junior World Track Championships in New Zealand this August. To attend all of the competitions over the next 3 months, costs are estimated to be $8,500.00. As a Junior, all the projects are self-funded there is no assistance from the CCA (unfortunately).
These are important steps in my ultimate dream to represent Canada at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Ideally we would like to come up with 50% of the funds needed to pursue his dreams. The FCV is planning a special night of racing (September 29th) for Businesses and Individuals who help raise funds for Will over the coming few months.
Donors will recieve FREE admission to racing at the FCV on Saturday September 29th and each donor will recieve a T-Shirt and a personalized thank you card for "Making Dreams Happen".
Please make donations payable to the Forest City Velodrome who will track the donors and collect the funds on behalf of Will. Cheques can be mailed to Will Simonds, c/o FCV, 65 Karen Walk, Waterloo Ontario . N2L-5X1.
2012 World championships!
Today I got the best email ever, the letter saying I was chosen to represent Canada at the 2012 junior world track cycling championships in New Zealand. Super pumped for the preparation ahead and the experience of racing at the highest level you can. I just want to give a quick thanks to my coach Rob Good for his awesome coaching over the past year to get me here!. Also on a side note I was chosen to represent Ontario at the 2012 junior national road championships, super pumped but need to find the $$$ to get there. I hope I can because this would be amazing training and preparation for the world championships :).
Racing At Bloomer park velodrome!
It was an amazing Friday evening when Joakim and I rolled up to the track at Bloomer Park. And we were ready for a great night of racing. The way the Friday night races work at bloom park velodrome is this: you have A partner that you race with the whole night, and through out the night you collect points in different races and sprints and all the points are to be added up at the end of the night to determine the winner. For the racing that night my partner was a veteran cyclist Mike Rennaboug and we were racing the A category against some of the best cyclists in the northern United States. The night started with a 4mile madison that was quick from the GUN!. Mike and I put in a tremendous effort but the real stars of that first race was Martin Veckio and his partner, they put out a great effort with almost putting a lap on the whole field except 2 teams , grey (us) and black. After that first race Mike and I were in second place. The next race on the schedule was an 8** lap scratch race (seemed more like keirn then anything: P) But none the less we lined up 8 at a time. I decided to take the wheel of my friend Joakim ( who just happens to be Canadian national keirn champion , sprint champion and kilo champion) anyways I thought it was a good wheel J. The first few laps of the race played out pretty dull. Joakim took the front and wasn’t going to let it go , I put in an effort to bring the group up the track to try to get an advantage on my friend and the rest of field but this was short lived if I wanted to keep my spot on his wheel. With 2 ½ laps to go I decided it was time to go and put in a dig to get to the front ( not the best Idea to leave a wheel I was on like that) The race ran its course and I found myself 4th at the finish due to some poor tactics on my part. But we moved on from this and Mike and I found ourselves in 3rd overall going into the miss and out race. The race was large and started with all 16 riders, it seemed everyone was a little on edge because it was the first large group race of the year for many of these riders…..with a pretty easy first 5 minutes of the race (me staying on the front) we came down to the final 3 riders , me , Martin , and a rider from the black team. With another poor judgment on my part I took the second spot and third rider boxed me in so I couldn’t sprint for the line but overall I felt good about that race because those were two of the best Pro ½ riders in Michigan. With the finale of the night coming up I took the rail for the start of the ten mile madison. With a couple of attacks going out at the start the blue , black team gained a lap on the field and were soon joined by me and my partner. For the rest of the race, most of the teams were spread out all over the track chasing down each other. And coming into the final 8 laps I took a double pull to time Mike to throw in for the sprint, but when this happened , an attack went out and pushed our timing off…in the end I was thrown into the race with 2 to go and went for the line. After a great hard race Mike and I finished in 3rd overall taking home a little cash for our hard efforts that evening. Special thanks to the people who put on the race and the band playing…. It was truly a great NIGHT!
Kw Classic road race
Yesterday I was in at the infamous K-W classic road race, which happens to be one of my favourite races of the year. Hats off to the organizers who set up a great race this year, it was really top notch!. Anyways the day started well and it was almost 34 degrees out, I was a little nervous going into the race due to the fact I had a brand new set of carbon wheels on and had no clue how they would handle! A field of 64 rolled up to the line at 10:45 to get their spot. The race started quick and didn’t let up much thought the 80km. A few attacks went off the front but were short lived due to the waterloo cycling team on the front pulling them back. My goal for this race was to stay in the top 5-10 riders during the whole race because I know how easy it is to get caught up at the back and not able to move up due to the yellow line rule in Ontario. I was active in the race setting up a few breaks but none that lasted more than 4km. And as we rolled up to the final 10km the pace increased so as not to promote any attacks going out before the sprint. I moved my way to the middle of the pack but coming into the last 2km there was no room to move up anymore. We came around the final shicane to the 1km straight flat finish and I found myself 3rd out of the juniors at the finish. I was pleased ..but it wasn’t a first :) If you’re a cyclist you know how it is! The lead group finished a total of 22 riders, a bit down from the starting 64!. Overall I had a good race and am pretty sure I secured a spot on the provincial team for nationals and Abitibi, but should find out 100% this week!.... but for next weekend its back to the boards for me. I will be in Michigan U.S.A for some much missed track racing on Friday, joined with my friend Joakim Albert of Quebec City!
Awaiting news
Waiting for the word on the team for the junior world championships, should be out in the next couple days till then its a waiting game :) fingers crossed!
My experience in Guatamala
I recently just returned from Guatemala at the junior pan am games. This being my first
International experience racing for the national team it was huge change from the usual
Racing here in Canada. We started with a trip to L.A at the ADT velodrome which is an OUTSTANDING facility. Not to many years ago a track world cup was held there and it was awesometo be riding on the same boards as Sir Chris Hoy and my personal hero Zach Bell. The reason we went to L.A was get the whole team together and ride as a team to see which riders would be doing which events for the track. After 5 days of riding and practicing with the other riders the coaches gathered us out in the nice Cali sun. Told everyone there events, I was chosen to ride the points race along with marc-Antoine Noel, Team pursuit with Aidon Caves ( who later went on to come 3rd in the omnium) Eric Johnston and Adam Reddy. Finally my last event on the track would be the Madison with my partner Alex Pinard.
After a long hard flight we arrived in Guatemala about 9pm and we hopped in a "sketchy" van and went to the hotel which was really nice to my surprise, our room was very large and it was great because the Guatemala cycling association paid for our accommodations! Thank you. We got to our rooms that night and went straight to bed!. The next day we went to the velodrome for the first time, legs were stiff but that day was just to get the "crap" out of legs so it was not a big deal. The next day we practiced our team pursuit as a team for the first time and it was a little rough considering it was only our second day on the track, but legs were feeling okay. After we went back and our team prepared for the first day of racing. The next day was the first day of racing in which I did not race ...so basically I just went to ride the rollers to keep the legs moving. The day after was our team pursuit, Canada was up 9th and I was nervous. The race started well at our set times of 16.0-16.50 ( 58-57kph) but after the 2km mark we lost Adam reddy, things were okay for a kilometer then at 3 km mark we started to tire out and started to slip with 2 laps to go. Our final time was 4:36.27 (good for 6th place). Needless to say the team was disappointed but we moved on. My next race was Points Race (DEATH RACE), the race started well but with about 60 laps to do I got in a large crash with a Columbian rider and ripped up my leg. The coaches changed my wheels in 30 seconds and got me back on the track. I gave it 100% but in the end the adrenaline from the crash wore off so the pain started to come, I pulled out with 15laps to go. After the race I had my cuts washed out and went back to the hotel for some much need R&R. My last race on the track was the madison which seemed to start out okay but ended not well, my partner Alex was not having a good day and couldn’t keep up , forcing me to do double and triple pulls to stay with the pack , eventually I couldn’t keep doing the whole race by myself so we dropped off the back and were pulled from the race with 10laps to go. This for me was a learning experience that would stay with me forever. i just hope for better luck at the world championships if I am chosen. The Madison concluded my track racing in Guatemala and it was a great race indeed but it was not over, On Sunday I was to do the 107km road race in the heat of the city streets. I love track riding but there’s nothing like grabbing a road bike and going out on the streets. The Race started fast roughly 50-55kph and we dropped about half the pack within the first 40km, I tried to stay in the front 10 riders (out of 110) and was basically in the first five till 15km to go where I was caught up in a bad feed and let a gap form of about 6-8 bike lengths on the hill and couldn’t bring it back. I finished the race in 53rd which was okay for my first UCI road race. Overall my experience in Guatemala was amazing , I learned a lot about myself and the completion and can't wait to hopefully further it in New Zealand at the world championships.
International experience racing for the national team it was huge change from the usual
Racing here in Canada. We started with a trip to L.A at the ADT velodrome which is an OUTSTANDING facility. Not to many years ago a track world cup was held there and it was awesometo be riding on the same boards as Sir Chris Hoy and my personal hero Zach Bell. The reason we went to L.A was get the whole team together and ride as a team to see which riders would be doing which events for the track. After 5 days of riding and practicing with the other riders the coaches gathered us out in the nice Cali sun. Told everyone there events, I was chosen to ride the points race along with marc-Antoine Noel, Team pursuit with Aidon Caves ( who later went on to come 3rd in the omnium) Eric Johnston and Adam Reddy. Finally my last event on the track would be the Madison with my partner Alex Pinard.
After a long hard flight we arrived in Guatemala about 9pm and we hopped in a "sketchy" van and went to the hotel which was really nice to my surprise, our room was very large and it was great because the Guatemala cycling association paid for our accommodations! Thank you. We got to our rooms that night and went straight to bed!. The next day we went to the velodrome for the first time, legs were stiff but that day was just to get the "crap" out of legs so it was not a big deal. The next day we practiced our team pursuit as a team for the first time and it was a little rough considering it was only our second day on the track, but legs were feeling okay. After we went back and our team prepared for the first day of racing. The next day was the first day of racing in which I did not race ...so basically I just went to ride the rollers to keep the legs moving. The day after was our team pursuit, Canada was up 9th and I was nervous. The race started well at our set times of 16.0-16.50 ( 58-57kph) but after the 2km mark we lost Adam reddy, things were okay for a kilometer then at 3 km mark we started to tire out and started to slip with 2 laps to go. Our final time was 4:36.27 (good for 6th place). Needless to say the team was disappointed but we moved on. My next race was Points Race (DEATH RACE), the race started well but with about 60 laps to do I got in a large crash with a Columbian rider and ripped up my leg. The coaches changed my wheels in 30 seconds and got me back on the track. I gave it 100% but in the end the adrenaline from the crash wore off so the pain started to come, I pulled out with 15laps to go. After the race I had my cuts washed out and went back to the hotel for some much need R&R. My last race on the track was the madison which seemed to start out okay but ended not well, my partner Alex was not having a good day and couldn’t keep up , forcing me to do double and triple pulls to stay with the pack , eventually I couldn’t keep doing the whole race by myself so we dropped off the back and were pulled from the race with 10laps to go. This for me was a learning experience that would stay with me forever. i just hope for better luck at the world championships if I am chosen. The Madison concluded my track racing in Guatemala and it was a great race indeed but it was not over, On Sunday I was to do the 107km road race in the heat of the city streets. I love track riding but there’s nothing like grabbing a road bike and going out on the streets. The Race started fast roughly 50-55kph and we dropped about half the pack within the first 40km, I tried to stay in the front 10 riders (out of 110) and was basically in the first five till 15km to go where I was caught up in a bad feed and let a gap form of about 6-8 bike lengths on the hill and couldn’t bring it back. I finished the race in 53rd which was okay for my first UCI road race. Overall my experience in Guatemala was amazing , I learned a lot about myself and the completion and can't wait to hopefully further it in New Zealand at the world championships.