I was interviewed for an article that appeared in some of the Metroland papers, including the Arnprior Chronicle-Guide and the West Carleton Review, a couple of weeks ago. I grew up in the West Carleton area and went to High School in Arnprior, so it was neat to be featured in those papers.

Thanks to my friend, Jennifer Higginson, for mailing me a copy.

You can read the full article online here:
http://www.yourottawaregion.com/localprofile/article/806523--making-the-news

My Team!

Here's a link to a feature article about my team, "Stevens racing Presented by the Cyclery", that appeared today on Canadiancyclist.com.

http://canadiancyclist.com/cycling4women_features.php?id=18969

I'm looking forward to a 3rd season racing with these women!

You can read more about my team here:
www.stevensracingcanada.com

Here are some pictures from my trip to Europe as part of the 2010 World Championship Canadian National Track Cycling team. We spent a week in Apeldoorn, Holland before going into Copenhagen, Denmark for the World Championships. Apeldoorn is the sight of the 2011 World Championships, so this was a good opportunity for us to get to know the track before next year's Worlds while adjusting to jet lag before the competition began in Copenhagen.

Photos are courtesy of Fred Draisma - a cyclist, Canadian team fan and talented photographer who came out to watch our training sessions in Apeldoorn.

Team Pursuit training...





Tara and I discovering "Canada Lane" in Apeldoorn, Holland.
Photo courtesy Tanya Dubnicoff

Canadian Cycling Association

02.23.10 - Canadian Track Team Announcement for Worlds

February 23, 2010 - The UCI has announced the qualification quotas for the upcoming World Track Championships in Copenhagen March 24-28, 2010. Canada started the international season with a successful Panamerican Championships, setting 1 Pan Am record, 5 Canadian Records, and winning 7 medals. Small teams were sent to the first two World Cups where newcomers to the Elite International scene gained valuable experience. Full teams competed in the last two World Cups where Canadian continued to set Canadian records and personal bests in every event they entered and came home with 6 medals. The success of the riders has earned the team starts in 11 events.

Team veteran and Olympian Zach Bell will be competing in the Points Race and Scratch Race. He won gold medals in both of these events at the World Cup in Beijing and is currently ranked second in the World in the points race. At the 2009 World Championships Bell gained a wild card entry in to the omnium, a new Olympic event, and came home with the silver medal. He finds himself in the same position going in to Copenhagen and does not currently have a start position.

Travis Smith, who is also a veteran of the National Team Program, will be competing in the Sprint and Keirin. He has had his strongest season so far since crashing and breaking his hip in 2007 and is pleased with how his training is going heading in to Worlds.

Smith will be joined by Stephane Cossette and Joseph Veloce for the Team Sprint. The team started their partnership with a bang by posting the third fastest time in qualifying at the third World Cup in Cali where they finished 4th. All three members are training in LA before leaving for Worlds where they hope put together a fast and technical perfect performance and improve on their 8th place World ranking.

Monique Sullivan will represent Canada in the 500 meter time trial and the Keirin. She has placed in the top 10 in both events in World Cups and is looking to do the same in Copenhagen.

Tara Whitten, World Silver medalist in the Omnium last year is looking to take one more step on the podium this year. She will compete in the Individual Pursuit and Points Race, events that she is currently ranked 3rd and 4th in the World respectively. Laura Brown, Steph Roorda, and reserve rider Julia Bradley will join Whitten in the Team Pursuit. This team has set a new Canadian record 3 of the 4 times they have raced internationally and placed on the podium each time winning a gold and bronze medal. Currently ranked 3rd in the World, these determined women have their sites set high for the World Championships.

Most of the team have set up a home base in LA over the winter months and will head to the Netherlands for a training camp before arriving in Copenhagen on March 20th. Fans are encouraged to cheer on the team via the wall on facebook (Canadian Track Cycling).

http://canadian-cycling.com/cca/media/news/2010/0223_track.shtml

Fri, Aug. 28/09
Today was Day One of track competition for me. I qualified 3rd in the Individual Pursuit this morning which put me straight through to the bronze medal final this evening. I was racing against Steph Roorda in the final. It was a seesaw battle that saw the lead change many times. In the end, I won in a respectable time of 3:58.

Sat, Aug 29/09
Today was the Points race. It was 20km (100 laps) with sprints every 10 laps. I was in a group of 3 that lapped the field and duked it out for the top 2 places. I won the bronze medal in one a very aggressive points race.

Sun, Aug 30/ 09
Today was the final day of the National Championships. I raced in the 10km scratch race. It was 50 laps of the 200 metre track.

Three laps into the race, Laura Brown attacked. A Quebec rider was in front of me and she got out of her saddle to go with the break. Her chain snapped with the acceleration and I was stuck behind her to try and maneuver around. I had to "put on the brakes" then steer up and over.

Fortunately, everyone stayed upright but there was a break of three (Rachel Canning, Laura Brown and Tara Whitten) already one third of the way around the track. I put the hammer down and caught the remaining group. When I got to the front I drove it as hard as I could to try to get up to the break. Unfortunately, no one was able to stay with me so I put my head down and chased and chased and chased. I was chasing solo for a total of 27 laps.

One of the riders in the break of three (Rachel Canning) got dropped and the remaining two (Laura Brown and Tara Whitten) caught and lapped me. I jumped on their wheel and sat on until Canning was caught and I "unlapped" her. At this point the four of us were together with about 5 laps to go. Tara and Laura were set to battle for gold and I was duking it out for bronze with Rachel Canning. It was like two match sprints happening simultaneously. With 2.5 laps to go, I jumped and came across the line for a bronze medal.

I believe I was seeing stars for about an hour afterwards. It felt like I'd done a 50 lap pursuit! I was happy with the result given the bad luck I had at the beginning of the race. This was a good reminder for me never to give up. You just never know what can happen!

My results for the weekend:
Bronze medal: Individual Pursuit
Bronze medal: Points Race
Bronze medal: Scratch Race


Additional coverage on the Canadian Cycling Association’s website:
http://www.canadian-cycling.com/cca/media/news/2009/0829_tracknationals.shtml

Check out the cool article on my sister, Charlotte's yoga blog. And I always thought tapas was just Spanish cuisine!

http://www.yogaflavoredlife.com/philosophy/what-is-tapas-bringing-fiery-enthusiasm-to-your-yoga-practice.html

Calabogie Ontario Cup Road Race

This weekend marked the first race of the year with my new road team, Stevens Racing presented by the Cyclery. I finished on the podium in 2nd place. After being in a breakaway for the last 40 km of the 75 km race, it was a drag race to the line. My teammate, Sophie Matte finished 4th in the sprint and Trish K. Spooner and Sue Schlatter finished with the pack. Congrats to all the finishers!