Maggie Coles-Lyster

With post race depression already setting in, I thought it would be best to take a break from my homework and use the plane time to write up a blog about this past weekend! I have been so stocked ever since last years Junior track Nationals in October, where I found out that they were going to host another track Nationals/Worlds qualifiers 6 months later! So back to Milton, Ontario I went last week (March 28th) to ride the glorious 250m velodrome. Leading up to track Nationals, our focus was on recovery. After having finished my Cyclocross season with the World Championships in Belgium at the end of January, I took a bit of time off, but then it was right back on the bike to start my prep for Nationals. I found that I would get a lactic acid flow happening in my legs almost everytime I got on my bike, so we set out to find ways of getting rid of that. Massage, eating and drinking properly, hot and cold showers as well as compression and recovery creams were part of my daily rout...

A little late, but here we go! Racing in Belgium was highly addictive, and I can’t wait until I get another chance to go back and give it another shot! After the Hoogerheide World Cup cross race, team Canada spent the week training, getting massages (!) and resting up for the big race- the Zolder Cyclocross World Championships! The race took place in, around and over a car race track, which made for some fun fast road sections, and great spectating!  I was shocked when I first saw the course- the Zolder races that I had watched online were a great deception, as I thought it was more or less a flat course. But nope. Over half of the course took place on the side of a hill, so there were lots of ups and downs. I found it incredibly fun when I first got to ride it, on one of our pre-ride days, as there were three flyovers, some steep decents and a super steep run up, that made you feel like a monkey as you ran up it, because at points you would be using your hands to help you sta...