Last weekend, I competed in the 2015 Canadian Track Cycling Championships held in Milton, ON at the new Mattamy Velodrome. This was a jam packed weekend full of racing right from Friday morning at 9am all the way through to Sunday at 7pm. My weekend started with a 6 am wakeup call on Friday morning in order to be at the track by 7, this would ensure us lots of time to get all of our equipment properly set up for racing and warmups. Once I had everything set up we had a team meeting with 'Teams of Ontario' to go over how the day would play out with the team events. With the meeting finished I headed off to get changed and start my warmup for team sprint qualifying ride. After a solid warmup I got ready to head to the start line. In order to pass bike check, our mechanic Murray needed to make a slight adjustment to my seat to make it legal. Since I was the rider that did the first lap of the race, my coach Rob took my bike and placed it in the starting gate and I got on my bike, when the three of us got comfortably onto our bikes the countdown clock started, 50 seconds to go, then 30 seconds to go, then the 10 second warning, 5..4..3..2..1.....and I burst out of gate giving it everything I had to start as fast as I could and get the rest of the team off to a good start. Our final rider crossed the line and when I looked at the big screen I was very pleased to the number one beside our name, the meant we had qualified with fastest time so far and if we held onto that top spot we had earned our way into the gold medal final later that night. We had managed to keep the top qualifying spot by over a second, giving us a lot of confidence heading into the finals later that evening. That was it for me for the morning session, I got changed and cleaned up and headed up to the stands to watch all the Team Pursuit qualifiers with parents. Heading on to the gold medal final I had another solid warmup and was feeling really excited and ready to go after the national championship. We got into the gate and began the countdown, after a very strong start lap I rolled around the top of the track waiting to see the final result, we had done it. We were National Champions!!!!!! So much happiness ran through me at point and I Didn't even know what to say. After lots of podiums and hugs it was time to head home and rest up and refuel for the second day of competition. The second day began as another early morning wake up and we arrived at the track a little after 7am. Up first for me today was the 200m TT to seed us for the sprint tournament later on. I went up and was feeling very confident about how the ride went unfortunately the times don't lie and I ended up qualifying in 5th position, I was a little unhappy with my ride seeing that I was aiming for a much faster time but all things considered it was still a fast time and it had qualified me for the sprint tournament. The top 16 riders would qualify for the sprint rounds, since I qualified in 5th position, I went up against the 12th place qualifier in the first round, I was a little nervous going into this first ride since it had been my first match sprint race since the spring and the fact that I was unhappy with my qualifying time. With constant reassurance from my coaches Dave and Rob I went to the start line a little more confident and was able to ride the race tactically smart, giving me the ability to comfortably win the first round. That had wrapped up the second day of competition for me so I headed out to rest up for the final day of competition. Here we go, the final day of competition at track nationals, after another early arrival to the track I found myself again nervous and uneasy about how the day would play out, since it was only the completion of the sprint tournament happening during that morning session there were not many riders at the track. Murray Solem, another one of our coaches had taken a few us aside to do a pre race activation before we started our warmups, I think it actually helped quite a bit because I was feeling ready to go. in the 1/4 final I was against another rider form Quebec who had qualified just one spot ahead of me by 2 tenths of a second. I decided to race this one from the front, keeping a watch of my shoulder for where the other rider was, he got the jump on me using the track to accelerate very quickly and gain about a 20 metre gap, working as hard as I possibly could, I was able to close the gap and get around him to win the round bike just under half a wheels length. Moving on to the semi-final I was against the number one qualifier would had a significantly faster time than I did, I rode as best as I could trying to outsmart him but in the end he was the faster rider and he won the round. Losing that ride put me into the bronze medal race against a Quebec rider, the finals were best 2 out of 3 and I was able to win in two rides and secure the bronze medal. Onto my final event of the weekend, the 500m TT, two laps full on trying to get the fastest time possible. Since I was not part of the omnium event I was the second heat up, alongside my teammate Je'land Sydney. Since we are both sprinters we were looking to medal in this event and we had gone out and set two very fast times, he sat in first while I sat in second, these times would stand that way until the final heat where Riley Pickrell from BC nearly took the win, missing it by just 2 one hundredths of second!! I had ended up in third position giving me the bronze medal. I was very happy with way the weekend turned out, to think just 8 weeks prior racing these national championships was going to a coin toss. The success of this past weekend is because of the constant support of family, friends, coaches and doctors, but most of all the unconditional support of my parents and for that I am extremely grateful because none of this would be possible with out them. I would love to also thank everyone that cheered me on during my racing, it certainly helps! Thanks again, Nick P.S be sure to check out the picture section for a few pictures from the weekend! Just 7 weeks ago I was told by doctors that competing at the Canadian Track Cycling Championships would be totally out of the question, they told me that the bone would not be strong enough to handle the tension that goes through the shoulder while racing, they told me that it would be at least 3 weeks after surgery until I could even think about riding a bike again (I rode on the trainer four days after surgery). But boy oh boy did I ever prove them wrong!
Track nationals has been what I have been training for and building to all year long, I had some high expectations and goals for myself at these championships. When the accident happened I thought of it as the end of my season rather than just a little speed bump. Everyone told me that there was always next year and that I needed to focus on getting better and not worry about racing for a while. I didn't take that too well, I told myself I would do anything and everything to be back in time to race. Its been a long road since August 13th when I had a crash in training and broke my left collarbone. Since then I have had countless trips to chiropractors, physiotherapists, sports doctors and massage therapists. I can now finally say that I am 99% back to where I should be, and with that comes extreme happiness and joy. With just under a week until my first day of competition at the 2015 track nationals, I begin to look back and think about all the people that made my recovery so quick. It is all these individuals that I have to thank for getting me back into tiptop shape before competition especially my coaches and parents for believing in me and constantly pushing me, without you guys I have no idea where I would be! I hope that next week I will be able to perform at my absolute best and still be able to fulfill some of my goals. I promise to give you guys a full report as soon as the competition ends. I race from October 9th-11th so wish me lots of luck! Cheers. Nick |
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