10.21.09 - Canadians on track and gearing up

Oct. 21, 2009 - The Canadian Track Cycling Team had a successful first day of training at the LA Home Depot Centre. There are a large number of fully funded and self-funded athletes participating in the training camp. Never before has a camp shown this much interest and is a testament to the strength and energy of the Canadian Track program.

All the riders are out to impress the coaches, their teammates, and themselves as this camp will serve as a selection event for the World Cups in Cali, Colombia in December and Beijing, China in January. It is also an important part of their development as the camp provides quality training time on a quality track with elite riders who are pushing each other to ride faster. These camps are scheduled throughout the year to support the athlete’s goals of improving and working towards being successful on the international race circuit and is an opportunity that has been lacking in the past.

Athletes tested themselves over distances of 500 meters and up to 20 minutes of effort followed by video analysis and new recovery techniques, including the introduction of hydrotherapy pools. Jacob Schwingboth (BC) enjoyed, “going all out and super fast, it’s what track cycling is about. It's cool to train with some Olympians as well” as Zach Bell (YK) and Gina Grain (BC) are back on track after taking some time off the bike before getting ready for the upcoming World Cup scene.

Young guns David Boily (Que) and Jacob Schwingboth, both under 20 years of age, are also using this camp to prepare for the first two World Cups. These young riders are showing to have a bright future and are being faced with a tough challenge. Boily has represented Canada at the 2009 U23 Road World Championships and at the international track race Caracol de Pista in Colombia at the beginning of October. He will be going directly from LA to Manchester, England for the first World Cup. Schwingboth represented Canada at the 2009 Junior Track World Championships in Moscow, Russia last August and will be heading to Australia for the second World Cup in November. It will be a big stepping stone for both endurance riders and the experience they gain from the level of racing at the World Cups will be invaluable.

Follow the progress of the team on twitter at cantrackcycling and check for video updates at http://www.youtube.com/CanadianTrackCycling