Being in Holland is always a pleasure. The Dutch are kind, helpful, and respectful to us Canucks. I feel proud to come to a country and race with the Maple Leaf on my back knowing that Canada was instrumental to liberating the Dutch during WWII. Our hotel is situated across from a commemorative monument of  The Man With Two Hats.

As some of you out there may know, the Canadian Track Team was stationed here last year before racing the World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was great to come back to a familiar place, one in which I enjoy quite dearly.

This year’s worlds was unique in many ways. Our Canadian Track Team has grown many times its original size from a few years ago; women’s team pursuit almost doubling. We had development riders joining us just for the experience (Jasmin) and a brand new men’s team sprint. A reigning 2-time World Champion. We had 13 staff and I would like to thank each and every one of them. They took care of everything for us so all we had to do was focus on  preparing for and racing at the World Championships.

The Canadian Track Cycling group is truly something special and packed full of good people. I have never seen cycling in Canada rise to this sort of level before.

Clara Hughes has now joined our Women’s Team Pursuit program and so we held trials a few days out from racing to determine who would be on the start line. The team that was picked to race was: Tara Whitten, myself, and Clara Hughes. Having to choose an alternate is never easy, but now with four women on the WTP, we need to determine who would ride each race from now on. The accomplishments at the World Cups and last years Worlds and the experience I have gained racing on WTP and training with Steph Roorda over the past couple of years has been invaluable and it was hard to see her sit this one out.

There were 16 teams competing in the women’s team pursuit, with Great Britain winning with a time of 3:23.419. We placed 6th with a time of 3:27.255. I was hoping we would qualify for medal rounds and improve upon last years time and placing – but 6th in the World the year before the Olympics is a motivating place to be. We have a lot of work to do, but I feel that we are on the cusp on getting it right and breaking Canadian records once again.

I want to thank everyone for all their support during the 2010-2011 track cycling season!!

And, as always, some pictures for your enjoyment:

I also a couple pictures from 2010 in Apeldoorn that I would like to share since I was not Blogging back then:

Check out this video Adam Duvendeck (Sprint Coach) and Steve Sleep (Videographer Extraordinaire) whipped together:

Next stop: Amsterdam to see the sights. Then soon after (back) to Colombia, but this time to Medellin for the annual Pan American Cycling Championships.

Later!

So, what do you think?

I would like to ask a favour. If you could take a few minutes to read about a great organization I believe in. As you know I am proud to be training to represent Canada in the sport of track cycling. It is my dream to be able to compete against the best in the World and be on the podium while doing it.

Myself and 650 of Canada’s elite athletes recently applied to the Canadian Athletes Now Fund. CAN Fund is a non profit that raises direct financial support for athletes across Canada. Each Athlete is eligible to receive $12,000 annually. The majority of athletes in Canada rely on CAN Fund so they can have better equipment, coaches, cover travel expenses and afford proper nutrition.

A great feature about CAN Fund is with each donation you find out the name of the athlete you supported and receive a tax receipt!

I first applied for the CAN fund so I can afford good equipment and travel to training camps and international races.

The CAN Fund has raised $13 million for Canadian athletes and supported 80% of the Canadian Team that competed in Vancouver 2010.

This past July celebrating 2 years leading up to the London 2012 Games the CAN Fund gave over 1 million dollars to athletes. Right now the Athlete Holiday Drive is on in 2011 and each donation is getting matched dollar for dollar. I respect this organization and hope you can visit their website to learn more about them:

www.MyCANFund.ca

Thanking you in advance for considering this invitation to support all Canadian athletes.

Athlete Drive Link:
http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?EventID=29252&LangPref=en-CA&RegistrationID=1039771

Facts about the Canadian athletes and the CAN Fund:
1. With every donation you receive the name of the athlete supported and receive a tax receipt.
2. 35 medalists from Vancouver re-applied to CAN Fund for financial support
3. Top level athletes receive $1500 a month from the government to live (rent, food, gas, etc)
4. On July 27th, 2010 CAN Fund handed out 1.1 million dollars to our Canadian athletes
5. CAN Fund supported 80% of the athletes who competed for Canada at the Vancouver Games
6. A record 545 applications from athletes across Canada seeking direct financial support were received for the last CAN Fund athlete application
7. Of the 386 summer athletes who applied, over 1/3 are not only the best in the Canada but they are the best in the world (ranked in the top 10)
8. 58% of these summer athletes who have a world ranking of 1-10 have negative net incomes.

Help Canada Own the Podium in 2012 in London and 2014 in Sochi!

Cheers,

Laura

Check it out:

I’m in the gate. And don’t worry, this isn’t our race pace ;o)

T-5 days to departure for Apeldoorn.

More to come…