Woeful worlds and the return to road
April first always seems to mark a shift in my universe. A winter of track has come to and end and a long road always sits before me.
As a whole, the track campaign went quite well this year. Podium finishes at each of the world cups and a 6th place at worlds along with winning the OVERALL in the world cup series has put me in a great position for the Olympics next year. There are still many places to improve. The Worlds 6th was about as bad as I thought I could do going in. The plus side to this is it is the first time I have been disappointed with such a result at worlds, but it was very possible to do more. The World cup was never on the radar though so it kind of makes up for it. I will however have to figure out how to get the results on the day I want them….the Olympics is not a series.
After the racing in Apeldorn I made my way to the Spidertech team house in the south of France. I have had some beautiful rides here and been keeping some pressure on the pedals. I start racing with a UCI 1.1 race on April 3 in Bretagne. It will be harsh awakening I am sure and I have spent the better part of the week trying to mentally prepare. Here is hoping I will be able to find some road legs in time to make some real contributions in these early days.
Dale P. on April 6th, 2011
Hi Zach!
It’s nice to admit your disappointments. It’s cliche, but yeah life is full of it. The good thing about it is the experience. What have you learned? What have you seen in yourself? What needs improvement? Have you won just about every race there is, then the whole thing would be boring. I’m sure you already realize this. But here’s what I’m hoping: Despite some setbacks, I hope you won’t dwell on this for too long. You’ve done great things, and seeing as how you’ve managed to bring your country in the map of track cycling almost single-handedly, then you deserve a hero’s treatment. Rest easy and take comfort in the fact that there are people supporting you wherever they may be. And surprise, surprise, I’m not even from Canada. Just another fan from the Philippines. You have some good people (expats and locals) supporting you here thousands of miles across the Pacific.
Dale