Well, it has been a few days now since the Cyclo-Cross World Championships. My bikes are in the garage. Clean and ready to be ridden. But I’m not riding them. I thought about it. Then I changed my mind. I’m on my “off-season break”. Two weeks of non-bike riding. Seems strange to be in warm and dry Belgium right now and to not be riding. But I have to consider the big picture, the future, the next season. And truth be told, I’ve got a bit of a nasty injury that I need to heal. I ended up with a wicked shinsplint (I think – self-diagnosis) the week before Worlds. It was so painful at points that I could barely walk. So now I’m doing the smart thing and resting, letting my leg heal. It is amazing what adrenaline can do – I didn’t feel the pain at all during the race, but as soon as I was back at the hotel and had taken off my magic Team Canada skinsuit, the pain came back with resounding fury. Ah well, small price to pay for the season and race of my life.

Speaking of which, here are some photos that I snagged off of Sharon Harrison’s Facebook photo page. Thanks Sharon for the photos and cheering.

So what’s next? Well, I’m taking a couple weeks off from the bike. I’m going to do my best to not think about bikes, read about bikes, and be bike obsessed. I’m hoping that the sights and sounds of London, England will help keep me on the straight and narrow for a week or so! I’m flying home to Ottawa on Feb. 15. As much as I love being in Belgium and Europe, I am looking forward to getting home. I miss my “things”, my cat, my friends, Chapters, the Food Network. It will be refreshing to have a bit of a different routine for a while – I’m also on the job hunt so if you need a freelance writer, technical writer, editor, “jack of all trades writer” – send me an email.

This is the time of the season when I should be reflecting, analyzing, and assessing what worked, didn’t work, and where I want to go. But frankly, I don’t want to do this now. I’ve kind of been thinking about and writing about this stuff all year. I do believe that this season was a break-through year for me. I made some big strides. I know where I want to be. I have a more clear picture of how to get there. I’m stoked for the 2010 – 2011 season.

But for now, I need to take a break. So, this means that this web site will be silent for the next week or so. I may pop in and throw a post up. But a break is a break – I’m going to try really hard to not be bike obsessed. There are some exciting changes in store for the next season. I’m really excited to tell you all about this, but all in due time.

Really, the best way to close of the 2009 – 2010 season is to simply say this: Thank You.

Thanks to my sponsors for their continued support and commitment. Check out this amazing blog post from KingsBridge Disaster Recovery.

Thanks to you my readers – you are my rock – posting amazing comments, cheering for me, sending me super positive emails (I’m doing my best to respond to the emails – I promise to get a response out to you today…).

Thanks to Marc – I truly couldn’t do this without him. While I was out training, recovering, and “living the life”, he was glued to his computer working hard and wishing he was out with me having fun on bikes. His patience, support, calming-influence, technical advice, bike mechanics, and belief in me are worth more than I can ever explain.

See you out there on the road and trails. I’ll be dusting off my trusty mountain bike and hitting up the trails, so ping me if you want to hook up for a ride.

Okay, I’m off to think about and read about things other than bikes… Just need to figure out what that is!

I’m still riding a pretty strong wave of emotions from the race. Amazing what feelings of pride, success, and confidence can do! We had a great morning in Prague. Walked around, took in a few sights and have made plans to return. Such a beautiful city.

But I digress, what you really want are the photos! Here are photos from the pre-race action:

Race action – thanks to Luc for these photos:

Race photo taken by Cor Vos:

Race photos taken by Rob Jones:

Here is a post-race photo of Alex, myself, and Marc:

Me and U23 Mongolian team:

This is myself and Miroslav. Miroslav lives in Chicago but returned to the Czech Republic because his brother was announcing the race (along with Richard Fries):

Team Ottawa/Chelsea:

Team Canada 2010:

Thanks again for the support. Many thanks to Matthew Knight of the Canadian Cycling Association, he made it super easy to concentrate on the racing – Matt did basically everything for us – number pick-up, registration, transponders, etc (all the stuff I’m used to doing at a World Cup). Huge shout out to Alex Sanna of Soigneur Race Services for his amazing work through-out the week – cleaning, fixing, tweaking my bikes and being there on race day for anything I needed. Marc was amazing this entire time – his support, patience, guidance, reassurances, and bike work were outstanding and definitely played a huge role in my getting to and racing in the Cyclo-Cross World Championships. Couldn’t have done it without you Marc!

Well, this is the last “night before” for the 2009 – 2010 cyclo-cross season. The day before my last race of the season. Kind of cool to finish the season at the Cyclo-Cross World Championships. But kind of sad to see the season ending. It has been a break-through year for me. I’ve pushed myself harder physically, mentally, and technically than I ever have.

The good thing is knowing that I’ve still got more in me. I see this really as my first season of racing cyclo-cross. I’ve come a long way this season but I’ve still got so much more to learn. This is a good thing. I’m thankful for this situation. I know that with more hardwork during the off-season and in-season, I’ll return for 2010 – 2011 even more prepared than I am now.

I’m feeling pretty good. Had a good dose of the nerves earlier today. But this has passed. I knew it would happen, just sure when it would happen. Got in a solid opening work-out on the trainer today. I watched the junior boys’ race as I pedaled away. It was nice to have Jared Stafford (who raced in the U23 race today) keeping me company while I sweated it out. We watched the race, oohed and ahed at the television and then Jared zipped off for his race.

Many congrats to the young Canadians who raced today: Conor O’Brien, Kris Dahl, Mack Carson, Keirnan Orange and Jared Stafford. For some of these young guys, it was their first racing experience in Europe. Not easy to have your first race in Europe happen at the World Championships. The energy these guys had at supper, reliving the race and talking about what happened was pretty energizing. I think this is one of the best aspects of racing, being able to sit around and talk about the race afterwards.

Well, my numbers are pinned on. Race bag is packed. Pre-ride clothes are organized. Pre-race food is ready. Bikes are in tip top shape thanks to Marc. I’m ready to go. I’m getting to the course early as usual. I’m a creature of habit and like to arrive three hours in advance. For some people this is overkill but I like to have time. I always run into someone and get talking… I also need to get out on the course and ride a few laps. The conditions have changed a lot since I was last on it. I also don’t like to be rushed. So three hours is perfect for me.

Alright, next update from me will be a Cyclo-Cross World Championships race report. Man, I get the chills just writing that!

Couldn’t do this without the amazing support from my sponsors, my coach, Marc and you.

Remember when you were a kid and you were counting the days to your birthday or maybe Christmas? You’d ask your parents over and over again – “how many more sleeps?”. You would kind of feel sick with excitement when you hear the magical number “2”. Only 2 more sleeps!! Wow – it is almost here. The day after tomorrow.

This is how I’m feeling. I’m ready for it. I’ve had a great week here in Tabor. Lots of time spent on the course today and yesterday. Some quality trainer sessions earlier in the week to flush my legs and body out from the travel. Now I just want race day to be here.

Not because I’m feeling anxious or nervous. Rather the opposite. I’m so excited to be racing in the Cyclo-Cross World Championships. I’ve been thinking about this for two years. And now I’m only two sleeps away from it. Awesome.

Had a solid session out on the course this morning. I decided I wanted to ride in the morning – rather than during the official training time. I find it hard to practice specific sections of the course when there are lots of people about. So Marc was willing to take us out this morning and help us drill the course. He helped myself and Connor break down the key sections – looking at lines, exits, entrances, and offering us lots of confidence. This helped so much. After spending a long time on one lap breaking everything down. I set out for one complete lap with no stops. I had a pretty good lap. I was feeling good about how I rode the lap and then even more so when Marc said “I’d have to say that was a pretty good lap you just rode”. This made me feel fantastic.

Now of course with the warmer temperatures this afternoon, the course has softened and a lot of the ice has melted. I kind of expected this. I’m sure it will change even more between now and Sunday. I’m not sweating this. I’ll get out to the course nice and early on Sunday and get in a few more laps before the race so I can get a feel for the changes.

At least I can go to sleep with an excellent picture of the course in my head. One of the keys to this race course is maintaining momentum. There are so many easy spots where one can loose speed without even realizing it. So I’ve got a good mental image of the course that I can replay so I can remember the key sections. There is nothing worse than “forgetting” about a steep incline or descent and having it surprise you during the race.

I had a pretty chilled out afternoon. Marc went back out to the course in the afternoon with some more of the junior boys to help them ride the course. I settled into the hotel room and basically surfed the WWW. I hopped on the trainer for a light 30 minutes of pedaling just to keep my legs loose. And now I’m just relaxing again. Marc is busy working on the bikes for the racing tomorrow. Everyone except me is racing tomorrow so there is lots of action happening right now.

I’ve got a good opening work out for tomorrow and then I’ll simply relax in my room. Do some stretching. Sleep a bit. Surf the WWW. Read. All the usual stuff.

In my typical fashion, I’ve been doing some planning for the 2010-2011 season. The 2011 World Cup schedule has been announced for the season. Looks like I’ll be making a trip to Switzerland for the first World Cup of the season and then I’ll be back in the Czech Republic for the second World Cup. Busy times. Fast times. Fun times.

I’m feeling your positive vibes and good wishes. Thank-you. Keep them coming!

Hit up the World Championships course this afternoon for a bit of pre-riding. It is as we expected – icy. Most of the corners are glare ice. But with some special ice riding techniques and a boatload of confidence, the course is super fun.

Actually – I really like it. There is nothing “crazy” or “scary” on the course. I think the key is stay relaxed and to really try to maintain speed. There are some steep ups after the start section that get the heart rate up and the pain in the legs. There are some definite leg sucking, lung burning climbs. The two stair sections are challenging because the steps are so big. A tricky off-camber thrown in to rattle the nerves a bit. The fly-over is okay – the entrance is a bit tricky – definitely need to get the post swinging action down. The descent and corner off the fly-over are fast and slippery.

Definitely a course that keeps you on your toes. I’ve watched the video of the Czech National Championships so many times, but the video does not do the course justice. I didn’t realize how much the camera deadens out the steepness of the ground. There is a reason why the guys are running on what “appears” to be “flat ground”. Trust me – that is not flat ground – those are climbs.

All in all, a great day out on the ‘cross bike. I started with the Dugast Pipistrellos – these aren’t bad but I need a bit more traction. So I switched to the Dugast Rhinos with super low pressure – seemed better. But the course will change a lot between now and Sunday – it is supposed to warm-up so that could turn some of the ice into slush. We’ll see on Sunday.

Many many thanks to Marc. He was awesome today. He rode with me and gave lots of amazing advice and extra confidence. He calmed me down when my nerves were getting a bit rattled. Shouted encouragement and reminded me to keep on pedaling. I even heard a few “that’s it!” and “good job”.

Huge thanks to Alex Sanna of Soigneur Race Services for his outstanding support today. He was in the pits, making sure everything was okay. Also thanks to Matthew Knight from the CCA for standing out there in the pits, ready with a pump and for taking some photos of us all pre-riding. Standing in the pits and being ready as soon as a rider comes in with a problem, is a pretty thankless role and one that is often not appreciated enough. So many thanks to Alex and Matt for standing out there for us this afternoon.

Also thanks to Marc and Alex for taking care of the bikes. I don’t have to do a thing. Marc and Alex are cleaning all of the Team Canada bikes, making sure the bikes are running correctly, and are pretty much available at all times to help us out with technical and mechanical questions.

Really is feeling like a team atmosphere here. Nice. It helps to be surrounded with so many friendly people. I think it helps us racers relax a bit, knowing that all we need to do is pedal our bikes. So many thanks to Marc, Alex, and Matt.

Heading out on the course again tomorrow. Tomorrow the goal of the training will be to break down the key sections of the course and run through them as many times as it takes for me to dial them in and feel confident and fast on them. Probably will try a bunch of different tires and pressure as well.

I’ve got to say it was super awesome to be out there with my Team Canada jacket on. It definitely turned a lot of heads. Nothing quite like the feeling of riding with the maple leaf on your back. Definitely makes the pedals turn a bit more easily.

Alright, it is time for supper. I’ll check in with you tomorrow. Feeling it right now. Loving it. Everything was worth it to get to this point. I just can’t believe it! Today I warmed up on the race course for the Cyclo-Cross World Championships! Amazing!

WE DID IT! THANK-YOU!