Surviving as a Student/Bike Racer 101

Tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons of things have changed since I’ve last written in my blog…

It’s crazy to think that I am almost finished my first year of University!!!! For those of you that don’t know, I am studying Kinesiology and living in residence at the University of Waterloo. A week after Junior Track Worlds in August, I moved to Waterloo and started my University career. I have enjoyed every second of living in residence and meeting so many new and amazing people. I have also loved the fact that everything I am learning is teaching me more and more about my body as an athlete. This year has proven to me how passionate I really am about health, fitness and nutrition (and cycling of course). 

Which brings me to my next topic…. cycling. Yes, I am still training and racing on the track and on the road. And yes, it is difficult to manage at times with a full course load. However, I do feel like school and training help each other in a way... When I find myself stressed out with school work, I squeeze in a bike ride or a workout and almost instantly feel like a load was taken off. Right now, I am enjoying the challenge of balancing training and university.

 I’ve also signed with a new team for this year, High Gate Racing. I feel so lucky to be on a team with so many amazing women. The kindness, support, and strength this team has is something I feel so lucky to be a part of. In terms of racing, track season wrapped up last weekend for me with a win in the Provincial Championship Points Race. This was a pretty special moment, especially because all of my new High Gate Racing teammates were at the velodrome watching me and my amazing teammate Aubrie! My friends from Waterloo even streamed it online to watch the race. It was an amazing feeling for everything to come together, especially after all of the unknowns and doubt that of what university life would bring.

Here is a list of a couple tools that I use throughout racing and also use here at University…My days are pretty hectic, so I wanted to share a couple of things that have helped me with the transition to uni and help me deal with the associated anxiety of balancing racing and school:

1.     Living in the present moment. This one can definitely apply to training, racing and school. At races, I often find myself getting anxious to the point where I almost feel sick. In moments like this, I find my brain taking me somewhere else that I am comfortable and relaxed, such as my home or on a vacation. Recently though, I have been really trying to “stay” where I am. I feel SOO extremely lucky to be able to go to the track, see a lot of my favourite people that are supporting me, and ride my bike because I CAN and I WANT to. Why would I want to be anywhere else? Being able to race and attend university are amazing experiences that don’t last forever and I don’t want to fly by me. I have noticed that practicing mindfulness and being in the moment has really helped me get the most out of the fantastic days and the tougher days (whether that be cycling, school or work) because there is always something to learn from both of them.

2.     Staying organized and prioritizing. I found this especially important when it came to juggling lectures, tutorials, midterms, deadlines, training, friends, family and races. When I have everything mapped out in front of me, I am better able to prioritize what is more important at that specific moment. Having multiple calendars has helped me plan out my day, week and month so that I can get everything I need to get done, done!

3.     Remembering the bigger picture. This has been the hardest one for me. Sometimes I get caught up in what everybody else is doing and need to bring myself back to the fact that I chose to be here because I want to be here. Sometimes I worry about not getting in as much training if I would if I stayed at home, but I am doing what I need to do and want to do at this moment in time. I have a poster on my wall that says: “Life’s about the journey, not the destination” (with a picture of a bike on it…cheesy, I know)… But for some reason I have really connected to that quote this year. This can apply to racing also, as I know it is easy to look at every race as the end-all-be-all race. I will never forget my coaches over the years saying “It’s JUST a bike race.” Remembering this helps me put things into perspective. Zoom out every once in a while. Where you are at is a small piece of the puzzle and there are many more pieces to come.

4.     Taking care of your body. This year especially, I have learned the importance of health and taking care of yourself. Busy schedules can easily take time away from self care and healthy habits, but guess what? Healthy eating and self care can actually make you a more productive and happy person so you can tackle EVEN MORE in a day. Making time to do a face mask, spend time with friends, watch Netflix, etc is so so so important to being able to juggle everything.

Healthy eating + self care + sleep + training = productive Ali

These past few months have been full of changes, opportunity, new friendships and so many more unknowns (which I’m ok with!). It was hard to make the decision to pursue university full time, but honestly, I can’t imagine my life any different.

Thank you to all the amazing people and sponsors that have supported me through this journey!

  

Ali

Summer 2017 Update

It’s been a crazy and amazing year! I can’t believe so long has past since I’ve written in my blog.

I’ll fill you in on the highlights of my year. This year was filled with exciting moments, tough moments, and lots of changes!

I had a really fun winter racing and training at the track a couple of times a week. This is the first year I’ve been able to drive myself to and from the velodrome in Milton, so I’ve gotten to know the 400 and 401 quite well!

The highlight of the season was winning the omnium at the Milton International Challenge in October and winning the Points Race and Individual Pursuit at Track Provincials in March. Between these two races, I attended a couple of training camps at the Velodrome and a training camp in California which definitely pushed my physical limits!

In April, I raced at track nationals and PB’d (set a new personal best)  in my individual pursuit, qualifying me to go to Junior Track Worlds again this year as a member of the Junior Women’s Team Pursuit squad! I’m so excited to represent Canada this year, this time in ITALY!!

Moving on to the road season, I raced a couple of early season Ontario Cup races and felt that things weren’t coming together. It’s been one of those seasons that I just haven’t felt like I’m performing quite as well as I would have hoped. I have continued to train hard and reassure myself that everything will eventually work out and come together. I’ve learned the importance of listening to my body and maintaining a good mindset through this tough time. It’s hard to feel the way I’ve been feeling, but I know that getting through this period of time will only help me build the strength and perseverance needed in this sport.

In June, I headed to Gatineau for Junior Road Nationals with Team Ontario. Needless to say, I hit a patch of bad luck.This experience was another test of my strength and perseverance! The results did not show the amount of work I did in the races, and the bruises and road rash I obtained from these races represent my tough spirit and determination. I am now focusing on training really hard so I’ll be fit and ready for the World Championships.

On the start line at road nationals

Cycling is a huge part of my life, but another important thing going on right now is the fact that I GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!! This is a huge accomplishment for me as I’ve worked extremely hard to balance school and cycling. I was lucky to have my last semester of grade 12 include a co-op placement at The Miller Health Centre in Orillia. I learned so much about the field of chiropractic health care and was inspired every day by the amazing staff and doctors. If it wasn’t for my supportive co-op employers, school community and teachers, I don’t know if I could have done it! I’m also really excited to say that I’ll be attending the University of Waterloo taking a Bachelor of Science in  Kinesiology this fall.

                           Here is a picture of me and my boyfriend Andrew at my prom!

I feel very fortunate to have some exciting things to look forward to, but right I’m enjoying training very hard and staying close to home. This time is really important to me as I love spending time with my friends, family and boyfriend. I am also working at my part time job at  Webers Hamburgers to help fund  my trip to the World Championships as well as University. I leave for the pre-worlds training camp on August 6th and return from Italy on the 28th, which gives me a whole 4 days to pack for University and become a Waterloo Warrior!

A big thank you goes out to Clif Bar for continuing to fuel my training. This year I'll be bringing Clif Bars to Italy!

There are a lot of exciting changes happening right now. Writing about them and sharing them on my blog makes it seem so much more real!! AHH!!!

Thanks to the support of my family and friends through the ups and the downs as I look forward to what’s ahead!

Ali

My experience at Track Worlds!

We arrived in Geneva, Switzerland after a long 7-hour flight with little sleep. Surprisingly enough, I wasn’t even tired...the excitement of being in Switzerland kept me awake!

After we settled into the chalet in the mountains we were staying in, we headed to the velodrome to unpack bikes and took a look at the track we would be racing on in a few days.

First time seeing the track...all smiles from Maggie!

The Track is in a town called Aigle, and the velodrome just so happened to be the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) headquarters, which was pretty cool! 

Unlike the track I was used to in Milton (250m), this track is 200m. The first time we walked in the infield, I was absolutely blown away by the fact that I was at a World Championship event... The energy in the velodrome was unreal and made me so excited to race amongst the best in the world.

We went for a road ride later that day to spin out our legs from the flight. As we biked down the cycling trail, I took in as much as I could of the beautiful views! There was a specific moment where we were riding along a river, with green grass and purple flowers along the path, huge snow covered Swiss Alps up against the blue sky...it was like a postcard!

The next day we had our first training session at the velodrome. Today was a good opportunity to feel out the differences on the track. Since it is a different size than Milton, the corners and straights are also quite different so it was very important for us as a Team Pursuit to adapt to these differences before race day. After training, we went grocery shopping and I found it really interesting to look at all of the different European foods. A Lot of them were familiar to me because of my Dutch Dad and Oma and Opa, which was comforting.

On July 18th, two days from racing, Devaney, Tristan, Alex and I decided to go on an adventure to the Aigle Castle (Château d’Aigle). It was very cool!

On the last day before the first race, all of us girls painted our nails red for Canada and exchanged positive energy and advice. At this point, we were all starting to get nervous, so talking through our nerves and anticipation helped ease the anxiety. If I look back to the first day of the pre-worlds camp in Milton and our relationship then, we have come so far as teammates and friends. I feel so lucky to have become so close with these amazing girls, and am going to miss them a lot. Going into this project I didn’t really know anyone except for my Kallisto-FCV teammate and close friend Nick, but I feel as though I have come out of this experience with so many new connections and friendships with people all over Canada!

Yep, those mountains are real!!!

Team Canada 2016

Finally...the moment we’ve all been waiting for...RACE DAY!!

I woke up early this morning and carried through my normal race day routine…

1. Drink a bottle of water
2. Make coffee and oatmeal
3. Write my intentions and goals for the day in my journal

After this, I went outside, took a couple of deep breaths of the crisp Swiss air and spun out my legs on the rollers while overlooking the mountains.

I packed my bag and we headed to the velodrome!

I had a few hours to kill at the track before my races, so I did some mindful breathing and listened to music to get into “race mode”.

First up, I had the points race qualifier...There were two heats of the points race, with 12 girls in each heat and 9 girls from each heat moving on to the final. I attentively watched the first heat race and got a bit of an idea of speed and racing style.

The qualifier race was not as quick as I thought it would be, I almost lapped the field, crossing the line solo to receive 5 points, which basically secured me a spot in the final. Then the last lap came, and, well……..Let's just say I will be taking a few pieces of the Aigle track home with me..in my butt!

Where else was I suppose to go?????

I think the French girl broke my fall.....sorry!

Despite getting caught in a crash, I still qualified for the finals. The finals was a 100 lap race, which is 20km.

I went into the finals with the same mindset as I did with the qualifiers. I set three goals for myself:

1. Deep breaths on the start line
2. Recognize the fast wheels and stay on them
3. Be attentive and ready at all times for attacks

To be completely honest, by the time I was halfway through the race, my goal was just to finish...so technically I met my goal! ;)

That race was by far the hardest race I have ever raced in my life. I was maxed out the entire time, and by the end of it had given so much that I actually had goosebumps all over my body and started shivering. I have never put my body through so much pain!

And somehow I enjoyed every minute of it!

The next day we had the Team Pursuit finals. I was getting ready for my warm up, and I looked up in the stands to see my cousins from Holland waving at me! It was an amazing surprise to have them travel from Holland to watch me race.

We faced France in the fight for bronze. It was a tough battle, and unfortunately, France came out as the stronger team. It was a bit emotional being so close to a spot on the podium, however, we raced our hearts out and are still extremely happy with a 4th place in the world.

Racing at this level was extremely eye opening. I’m now done racing, I can say I completed my first world championships and had a blast while doing it! This was a life-changing experience, and I learned a lot about myself. I can’t wait to get home and work as hard as I can to be the best I can be.

**Some of the big take-aways***

-Unless you want coffee with a bunch of ice cream in it, don’t order an “iced coffee”....I learned that the hard way ;)

-Knowing this is a major competition, I guess I expected that all the athletes would be ultra focused all the time...but it was amazing to walk by different countries and exchange smiles and even chat a bit!

Thanks to the support of Kallisto-FCV, Ontario Cycling and Cycling Canada for granting me this incredible opportunity. I will never forget this experience and it I know it will help me become an even stronger bike racer and person.

First Pre-Worlds Update!

Hello friends, family and fellow cyclists!

I finally had the chance to write the first update of my adventure to Junior Track Worlds!

The month of June was super hectic, between racing, exams at school and preparing myself mentally and physically for my trip.

Exams at school went well, and I have to say....I'm so lucky to go to such an amazing school. The support from my teachers and principal has been absolutely incredible. As a busy student-athlete, I know that I wouldn't be able to balance training and school if it wasn't for the flexibility of my teachers.  So, thank you Patrick Fogarty CSS, you're awesome!

After exams, I was off to junior road nationals in Gatineau. After pre-riding the course a couple of times with the rest of Team Ontario, I was feeling good about the race!

However...

During the first half of the race, I was caught in a crash and hit my head, cracking my helmet....In the cycling world, cracking a helmet is a big deal because that means my head made a significant impact with the ground. At this point, despite a headache, I got back on my bike and finished the race placing 9th.

After I finished, I didn't feel well, so my parents took me home as I was showing signs of a concussion. I was crushed to have to leave nationals without racing in the time trial or crit, but I was trying to stay positive and think about the bigger picture...junior track worlds in 3 weeks.

I visited a couple of doctors and I indeed had a concussion. This meant a week of rest or rest until my symptoms disappear.

The first thing I thought when I heard "a week of rest" was: OH MAN.  I'M GOING TO GO CRAZY.

But, thankfully I had completed multiple baseline concussion tests, which made it easier for my doctors to understand my head injury. By having a baseline, we were able to better track my symptoms and progression which ended up helping us determine when I was allowed to ride again.

*****NOTE TO ALL CYCLISTS: FIND A PLACE NEAR YOU THAT DOES BASELINE CONCUSSION TESTING AND GO DO IT!!!!!******

I kept telling myself that everything was going to be alright, and my body needed to get better for the pre-worlds camp and worlds. Positive energy = Healing.

Despite the minor concussion scare, On July 4th I was cleared by my  doctor and I am currently in Milton at the pre-worlds track camp. I think taking a week off and having a concussion helped me in a way because it made me realize how EXTREMELY grateful I am to be healthy and able to ride my bike.

Training is tough, but I couldn't be more thrilled and excited to take on the challenge of my first world championships and to be a part of an amazing team.

I don't know how to begin to thank everyone who has made this experience possible. From all of the financial donations to the helpers and supporters of my fundraising garage sale, my teachers, parents and friends, Louis Garneau and Clif...and many many more!

Thank you for giving me this opportunity of a lifetime, I will cherish every minute of it!

GO CANADA!!!!

Stay tuned for more updates

Ali

Canadian Junior Women's Team Pursuit Squad 2016!

Big News!!!

Around this time of year, I would normally write a blog post about how track season is wrapping up, and my mind and body are switching gears (get it? Gears?.....bike joke...) to road season...

However.....

Track isn't over just yet!

This year, I have been selected to represent Team Canada at the 2016 UCI Track World Championships in Switzerland this summer!!!

I couldn't be more proud to represent Canada for the very first time!

It's times like this that remind me of how hard work pays off, as this is something I have been working towards for a very long time. 

All the 5am training sessions before school....long trips to the London and Milton Velodrome.....all for this moment!

This wouldn't be possible without the support of Louis Garneau, Clif Bar, my parents, my Kallisto-FCV p/b Toyo Tires teammates, coaches and many, many others!!!!

I'm so excited about this opportunity, and can't put into words how grateful I am.

Thank you!

Here is the link to my gofundme page:

https://www.gofundme.com/2kdnf584

California and Track Provincials

As much as the average person would not in a million years wish for a farmers tan, a glove tan, and bike shorts tan (mid thigh)....I don't think I have ever been more proud to rock them!

Two weeks in Cali, for me, was like a vacation. Okay, well maybe not a typical vacation...but to me, being on my bike for 5-6 hours every day in the hot sun was about as good as it gets :)
Team Ontario cycling did an incredible job of organizing such a great training camp. Me and about 16 other dedicated  athletes my age, and 3 coaches stayed at  a resort in Ramona, California. The resort had an awesome pool, barbecue, and really great condos! 
My trip to California was also an opportunity for me to practice my independence....this was my first time flying without my parents, and it was up to us athletes to grocery shop and  make our own meals. I took full advantage of this opportunity, as in a couple of years, I will be in university, and this is great practice for what it's going to be like. Over the course of the 2 weeks, I rode over 1000km. As a cyclist, it is very important to put in as many kilometers as possible at the beginning of the season to build fitness. In Cali we not only rode every day, but also did stretching sessions, core, and plyometrics (jumping).

Despite the difficulty of climbing numerous mountains every single day, it's amazing how you can push the pain in your legs aside and just enjoy the moment....for me, 5-hour rides flew by because I was so astonished with the beauty of the sun, mountain views and chatting with people around me. At long, tiring training camps like this, I also learn a lot about my body. I learned that after a ride, I need to take time to stretch in order to feel more recovered the next day. I also need to constantly be eating and drinking throughout the whole ride. During a 100km ride, for example, a cyclist can easily burn 2000 calories, so I made it a habit to constantly eat. Clif Bars were my saving grace...they sit in my stomach really well, and provide instant- yet long lasting energy. I can honestly say...there was not one ride I bonked! 
 During the course of this trip, I created so many new friendships. Going into the camp, I didn't really know anyone too well, but by the end of the two weeks, I  had made new friends, teammates and summer riding partners :)

Ride to the ocean!

Climbed a mountain on recovery day!

How I got through the week....

At the top of Mt.Palomar

Making friends through Clif bars ;)

We might have stopped at muscle beach...........


I arrived back in Toronto on Feb 29th. I couldn't even describe the feeling I felt when I came off the plane and gave my mom and dad a big hug!

I rested for a couple of days, did some yoga with my mom, stretching, and spent a lot of my spare time catching up on  homework. I knew during this week resting was SUPER important, as I had just pushed my body through some pretty crazy stress! Also, in only a couple of days, I will be competing at the 2016 Track Provincial Championships!!!

At this point in time, I really did not know what to expect from myself this weekend at provincials. I had heard stories from older riders that when they return home after long, slow base miles on the road, their legs go through a bit of a "shock" when they come back to the speed on the track. Knowing this, I put no expectations on myself, and just believed that my fitness from California will pull me through the weekend!

Friday morning, my mom, dad, boyfriend Andrew and I left for the velodrome at around 10am. Today, I raced the individual pursuit: one of my favourite events! Mental preparation is key for this event. Since it is only 2km and lasts a bit over 2 minutes, having your head in the game is critical. Believe it or not, My mental prep started the day before!

 Individual pursuits are probably one of the most painful races, and will always be the most painful 2 minutes and 30 seconds of my life. When the time came, my coach put my bike in the start gate and the timer started counting down from 45. The adrenaline and positive energy flowed through my blood with an indescribable volume. 3....2....1....BEEP! Off I went, taking off with one of the best starts I have ever done on the track. Looking at the splits and seeing my coach communicating with me, my first 4 laps (1 kilometer) was slower than all my competitors. However, I gradually picked up my pace, and ended up getting a personal best by a couple seconds! I also ended up with provincial gold! 

This was a very exciting moment for me, not only because of a new personal best, but I am officially a provincial champion for the first time! This feeling lasted all weekend and replaced feelings of exhaustion and fatigue from training in California with confidence and strength. Even my coach periodically teased me about the smile that I couldn't "wipe off my face" :)

Saturday night I raced the scratch race (race where the 1st person to cross the finish line wins, no fancy rules) and my teammate Naomi and I had one of our best races. Communication between teammates is crucial in track races and Naomi and I certainly deserved an A+ in that department! 

Not only did "chatting" throughout our race earn us 1st (Naomi) and 2nd (me), but it seems as though every race we do together strengthens the trust between us, as teammates and friends!

On Sunday, we arrived at the velodrome around 8am, and prepared for the points race that was in the afternoon (60 lap race with "sprints" every 10 laps, points awarded for the winner of each sprint). This was the last race of the weekend, and I was ready to give it my all. I had accumulated a few points during the beginning of the race, and towards the end of the race, I attacked and almost lapped the field! This had been a goal of mine for a long time, and it felt really good to finally accomplish it at a fairly big race.

All in all, provincials was a hit! I guess I race better when I'm completely exhausted? ;)

This past month has been an amazing training block and learning experience for me. There are so many people who worked really hard to make this past month successful- not just for me -but for everyone. 

My mom and dad- for allowing me to go to California and supporting me through provincials.

The OCA for organizing an AWESOME camp in California... and organizing track provincials...round of applause for you guys!!!

Clif- well, you make DELICIOUS ride food and I would not have been able to make it through any of my rides in California without your amazing bars and gels!

All of our awesome Kallisto-FCV p/b Toyo Tires sponsors!

My coaches and mentors at track provincials- Rob and Dave... you never fail to give me solid advice before and after races and guide me to become a better cyclist every single opportunity you see. Thanks so much!

Now prep for Track Nationals starts....Stay Tuned!

Ali