National champs

As athletes, there are so many reasons that can prevent us from racing, such as illness or injury. When we've done the preparation, the bike is in working order, the body is ready, it's really devastating to hear the words from the officials mouth that tell you you won't be on the start line that day.

As tempted as I was to go and mope, I knew that I should put it aside for the moment and support Simon as he raced in the men's race. Being on the side line allowed me to watch some amazing Canadian riders in action.

For the national championships, the women's start list seemed small to me. With a start line of 16 riders, only the best had shown up.

The women's race started at such a fast pace that a part of me wondered if I could have kept up. Catharine Pendrel took the lead effortlessly as the strong rider she is. Check out Catherine's blog for her story of the race.

The men's race might have been another story, with so many strong men in the field to challenge our world cup racer, Geoff Kabush. The leaders stayed close together until about lap 3 (if I remember right) when Geoff demonstrated what power is. He came through the start/finish area and I watched as he changed his position slightly and just turned the power on, and pulled away from everyone a pedal stroke at a time. It was amazing to watch.