Sunday, December 6, 2009

World cups, rodeos and airports...

So far things have been going great here in Canada. The past 5 days training have been very busy. We started off the week by supporting our team mate, Craig 'Bud' Branch, in the Lake Louise World Cup Super G, where he did very well finishing in 27th spot. We then did some free skiing in Lake Louise. We skied mostly all off piste, and even managed to find a bit of untouched powder. Over the past few days we have done GS gate training, some super G free skiing and even downhill training at Nakiska with the Canadian provincial teams.

It has been extremely cold here over the past week. 2 days ago in Lake Louise, it was -29 C in the morning. A little chilly! Very cold in nothing but a lycra race suit.




(Jen and I at Lake Louise World Cup)



(Team Australia. Supporting our team mate Craig Branch)
 

On our last night in Calgary, we did as the Romans do (or in this case, the very ‘Western’ Calgarians), and went to see a live rodeo; the Professional Bull Riding Championships. It was definitely a new experience; something I can tick of the checklist of things to do.



(Jen, myself, Steve and Scotty and the rodeo in Calgary)


After 4 hours sleep and a 4am alarm, today we are leaving for Europe. Packing and unpacking every few days will again become apart of our routine as we will be moving very often. We will start our training in Lienz, Austria, where a number of the SX national teams will also be based. We then continue on to San Candido, Italy, where we have the first 2 world cups of the season. I’m a little nervous (it’s difficult not to be, especially when these are qualifying races for the Olympic Games), however I’m confident in my skiing and in my training; so I guess that’s all I can do!