And So we RACE

On the evening of yet another points race I decided to bring you all a musing before I fall asleep. I am not sure what to write about this time…It is just business as usual I guess different form I guess, different hotel, hmmm.

I thought I would more nostalgic about being back at the Olympic venue. Coming from the airport I was really jacked when I saw the Olympic symbol again but other than that nothing huge. It is like a world cup…but I am relaxed. I hope I can race like a seasoned pro tomorrow. I certainly am starting to feel like it. Just happy to have a new opportunity to race. Try some new tricks, maybe use some old ones better. I know there is still lots to learn for me. Don’t get me wrong…I just feel like I am in a better head space to learn it. Nothing really distracts me from the racing anymore…at least not as easily as things used to. In Cali and now here I am just wanting to race…not cause I think I am flying or cause I think I will get my best result. But just because to me that is the most interesting thing going on here. The opportunity to race and try new things out. I am starting to get a training/racing data base now. So I can compare things…I think this is when you start making real progress. I have things that have worked and things that haven’t now. I don’t feel like I will be floundering out there, I feel like I am starting to get to a place where what I do will be quantifiable information I can use to improve my riding, training and preparation. All because I have a back drop of experience to compare it against. I feel like I might be in my first year of cycling university. I made it through high school…now I am in a position were I have the tools to start learning the really neat stuff about the sport. I am not scrambling like I have been for the last 4 years just to get there. Now I can take time and try things, gears and strategies. How exciting. Well I think so at least.

Back to Beijing

I am here in the airport doing an update on the “new look” page. It is still in the works but I think it is coming along well. I have really not done any work on it yet. It has all be a result of my good buddy Kevin Field down at 7th Groove.

So I came to the airport to day looking at an 11 hour economy flight to this next world cup. I love that it was direct from Vancouver. That always makes it nicer…at check in I decided to ask if I could use my AIR CANADA up grade certificates for my AIR CHINA flight. Ridiculousness I know but when the flights are this long you are willing to try anything.

“no we don’t take thouse.” Said the lady at the desk…big shocker…so I was ready to pony up the bucks for the bike and she took a look at my Air Canada elite card and then she says. Oh but you are a GOLD member so I can just upgrade you…we have the space….

WHAAAAA…serious…sweet
I was haveing a lot of talk on my last trip about how the perks of GOLD cards are not all they are cracked up to be. But just when you are about to loose faith you get something sweet like this. So here is hoping the flight goes well. I will try to do some updateing from china…maybe some POST Olympic pictures to see if the air has degraded back to its bad levels.

pursuit of…um..pain

Well I have been training for Points Race as many of you may know…as a result this is my face after a pursuit…for the love…that hurt. but the time was ok. Close to my PB’s and with not real work on it…but let me tell you I am opened up now…I just love this picture…I think Andrea pretty much got what pursuiting at this level is all about…the best part is every guy that does one will have this look in his eye at one point. Andrea is one of my roomates back in Burnaby…and let me tell you she is pretty good with the old camera as well…this could be a pain poster…or something…So yeah check out her other pictures on canadian cyclist or her web site.

Points race tomorrow…time to feel the burn.
later
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2 days to race start

Well after 12 hours of plane rides plane food and plane plain people…I am finally in Mallorca…not to shabby…did I mention that riding in europe is the best thing since sliced bread…no wait…its better than that…it is the best thing since fresh out of the oven home made sliced melty butter bread. I just needed to get that out. It has been “ok” weather her and honestly I want to move here and I have only been on 2 hours riding total…oh well enjoy the novelty.

The track is something else…if it is finished by Thursday…it is a totally constructions sight…and it won’t be done for the racing…the track itself is finished and the stands and “public” areas are done. But pretty much everything else is muttled with dry wall loosed wires and plumbing explosions. It is pretty crazy…if the sprinters can avoid the falling rebar everything should go off without a hitch.

Preparation has gone well and I think it will be a good ride for me…now it is just a matter of freshening up the legs. I am excited, stay tuned for Canadian Results and insider thoughts….

UP HERE

So As I said I would tell the story…mostly of the points race. It started with three guys taking a lap at a soft pedal pace. This ended up screwing me bad in the end. these guys didn;t get any more points the whole time. I am not sure what the pack was thinking…they just let them go…I think I actually said “are you serious” out loud in the race. Despite that the race average was still about 51.4kkm/hr. INSANE.

Anyway, I ended up scoring a lot of little points and working my ass off…I mad good choices but I didn’t make great ones…and in the end that was the difference between a much better result… and a good on. It was still good. But I have so much room to improve it is exciting.

I would have a good suffer face picture if I could find one…but the russian photage where not out in any kind of force.
But I am still tied for 1oth on the old WC standings…pretty sweet…here is hoping I can keep it up.

Thanks for the supporting emails…etc.

Tipping Point

Well I think the beatings on friday got me fired up for the points on saturday…I came out pissed and tried to stamp some authority on a race that I feel holds my future on the track. I qualified 2nd in my heat behind olympic gold medalist Mikhail Ignatiev. A good start no prizes but it got the job done and got me feeling better about my riding anyway.

The final came around again in only a few hours so I went back to my casino/hotel and ate a casino/hotel sammy…that was gross and not ideal but fuel anyway.

In the final it was pinned from the gun. I scooped some points in the first sprint then a dangerous group rolled away and I wasn’t there..bad move…but with me and a few others working for almost 60 laps we held them at half a lap and slowly pulled them back. Then once we where a group I rolled away. And who else was with you ask, Mikhail Ignatiev. Dude was a wrecking ball…oh yeah and did I mention he rode the team pursuit and won only 5 min before…the rest of the race was just him putting the wreck on…and me hanging on…in the final sprint I had a good turn of speed but bad position…with smarter riding and similar legs I can improve on the 8th place finish I had here…but it was a good start to a world cup season that I hope is on an upward trend…coming in I didn’t feel like I would ride very well…and thel legs didn’t feel great here. I rode with alot of fight but in the end the job got done…more or less. Anyway I will be heading home to BC and hopefully get a solid 2 weeks in before I head to Moscow…If I can keep my form moving in this upward direction I think moscow will be a good race for me.

Thanks for all the support and emails over the past few days…it helped a lot.

We need Some “POOP OFF”

Well After the first day of racing at sydney we team Canada has come out a little worse off then a porche under a telephone wire. Travis, Gina and I all…all seasoned competitors came out looking like JIT’s…What the heck happened. We have all raced at this level before…what is the problem? Well the general concensis seems to be lack of current experneience. We have experience yes but the first world cup is always a wake up call… “johnson pull your head out of your ass”. I basically rode a respectable pursuit…good time (4:35 somthing) and 2o min later jumped on the track for the scratch qualification…granted I was probably the only guy doing that and if I had been in the race and not had the legs maybe I would complain but that is not what happened…I had the legs legs where comfortable infact. I just made a tactical errors…was not cut trought didn’t grab the balls of it or whatever…in the end I didn’t qualify in a race I should have been able to no problem. I just made a bad move…granted it was a very bad move…probably the worst move of my international career actually…and in the end it made for no spot in the scratch final. Now don’t worry I am going to brush off pic up and hit it hard for the points tomrrow…that is the one I am REALLY here for anyway…the scratch was almost an option…and I am happy with my pursuit time…even if it didn’t put me where I expected it too.

But the long and the short of it is…we need to race more…not sally johnson sissy races but really hard ass stuff…at least once before we roll into a world cup. Every year we all come out with good motors and make tactical mistakes against guys that have 1 or 2 mor races allready under their belts this season…no point in puttinhg all your eggs in one basket if there is a hole in the bottum that you can see. I am lucky cause the stupidity I seemed to suffer from came in the least important race for me this year…if there was one race this year I could suck in it was the scratch here. Anyway I am going to use the poo remover to clean teh crap out of my sheets and use more than cromagnon portions of my brain tomrrow…that with my half decent engine right now should produce something a little better. Wish me luck…

Congrats are in order…

Well I am over her in the land of Aus and the world seems to be spinning all around me…and as a track cyclist it should be the other way around…I just heard that my man Ryan Mckenzie just got hitched to his hip and GROOOOVY broad Laura…Well dang yo…god on you and a big shout out of congratulations. I would say I hope you are very happy together…but I know you are so no need for hope.

As for the rest of you out there in blog world. Well I am busy planning some interesting things…I may have a guest blogger join the Z-Rail feed on a some what permamnet basis…to bring a little edge to line. I will also have some interesting pics and fottage once I return from the world cup. It is the first time I haven’t had to Race Pack Fly on sunday…so I will have some free time to wonder the beach or check out the nitty gritty of one of the worlds most famed citys…

LOST FOOTAGE VOL. II

On The DL

Well, things could be going a bit better. In the last week I have found myself on the disabled list. In other words, I have been having some knee issues, but the good news is I have been smart enough and have had enough help from doctors and physios around me that I have at least remained day to day. The bummer part is the races that I am missing because of it. Captech was like our teams home base race; CSC is, well its CSC - one of the most intense crits in the US. And today I will be missing Lancaster. It is unfortunate because I have been riding quite well but I guess that is life as a cyclist. I believe I have made the right decisions though. My knee is near better after only one week and starting anyone of these tough races could have put me further back. It is still hard to sit out what is one of the major peak times of the season. But it is for the greater good.

On another note, The Super hero Contest is over and SPIDERMAN has made a late surge from behind to nip the paper boy Robbie MC style at the line. Congratulations to the winner your prize pack will be mailed out mid month when I arrive back in Canada. And thanks to all who took part. I will try to cook up more interesting things later on. Better prizes too.

Anyway I leave for Pan Ams tomorrow so todays recovery of the knee will be crucial. Wish me luck.