Big Day Yesterday!
Well Brayden is off racing in Baie-Comeau, Quebec at the World Cup – yesterday he raced in the Time Trial (17.3km) and got a BRONZE medal!! He races again on Sunday in the road race and then he comes home on Monday.
Archive for Paralympics
I’m in Spain!
Hi guys,
Sorry it’s been so long. Breanne and I are working on a new way of keeping the site up to date. We’ll see how it goes! Let us know if there are things you want to hear more about.
So the biggest news is that they’ve changed the cycling classifications. I’m now a C1. I’m not really sure who else is in my category anymore. This is the definition of C1 from the UCI:
Cycling Class C1
Neurological
• Hemiplegia, spasticity grade 3 in lower and upper limb
• Diplegia, lower spasticity Grade 2-3 in both legs
• Athetosis or ataxia
• Locomotor dysfunction, can be mixed pattern (athetosis, spasticity or ataxia)
• Poor functional strength in trunk, and / or in all extremities
UCI CYCLING REGULATIONS
Amputation:
• Single amputation of leg, AK, and arm, AE or BE, on same side or diagonal, with or
without the use of a prosthesis
• Double TK amputation with the use of prostheses
• Double amputation BE + Single amputation AK, no prosthesis.
Comparable incomplete spinal cord injury or comparable multiple impaired with a tested point score
more than 210 points.
I’m not sure what it means exactly, but I think they’re trying to make things more fair. So hopefully it works.
I’ve been training lots this year already and have gone to Quebec for races once and did a camp in Cuba too. They videoed me in Cuba and you can see it here.
Anyway – now I’m in Sevilla, Spain at the Para-Cycling World Cup. It’s pretty good so far. We flew here on Monday and it’s taken me a bit to get used to the time zones. Our hotel is nice and we’ve done a few rides around – I will have two races while I’m here, the road race and the time trial. The Road Race is today and is a course that we do 4 laps of. It’s 13.2 km. I race again on the 13th in the Time Trial. It’s 21 km.
Since I’m by myself here (well with the team, but no Mom & Dad) and I’m not good at remembering stuff I brought a book to write everything down so I don’t forget. My French is getting better too since all the guys here speak it most of the time and if I don’t learn it I don’t know what’s going on. So I’m trying!
Anyway, I’m off to race. I’ll update you on the results. Here are some websites with info about the races though.
Canadian Cycling Association News
Italy is a confusing place
Well we made it here. And today was an adventure.
My buddy Jean and I went for a ride on the course. And then got lost! I emailed my Dad & Bre, but they couldn’t really help me. We stopped and I asked a police man. He was trying to help me. Luckily Eric was driving by with the hand bikes and saw us and stopped and gave us a ride back to the hotel. So now we are back at the hotel and everything is good and we are ready to party.
My road race is Saturday. It’s 48 km.
Time trial is Sunday and it’s 21 km.
Here is the website for the races – its a bit confusing though. http://www.piacenzaparacycling.com
I’m back!
Thank you so much for sending me your notes while I was away. For me it was awesome to have the support from all the way back home. It was a long 5 weeks or however long I was gone for. Perth was cool but the best thing each day was to check emails and keeping up with everyone back home.
Breanne and Kevin did one heck of a great job.
Oh ya and Beijing was the best – a good way to start my exciting and fun travels.
The Paralympics Are Now officially Over
In case anybody was interested in reading a quick article on the closing ceremonies, here’s a link that may interest you.
Pictures from the Pursuit
Well, I’ve received the first batch of photos from China. Just click on each photo to enlarge it.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Final Race in Beijing
Well today was the road race, there were 28 riders, combined CP3, LC3 and LC4s, so the race was exciting. The crowd was packed and people were cheering like crazy. The CP4, LC1 and LC2s went before Brayden. So that was Eric and Marc, Eric is braydens roommate here. Marc didn’t start, we aren’t sure why and Eric was a DNF.
Brayden was behind by the first lap. He rode with Jean, an Argentinian and a Portuguese rider. He finished in the same lap as the leaders without quitting or being disqualified. We were very proud of him for keeping on going on his own. This year has been a big learning experience for Brayden and he’s definitely got some competition. He was the last guy to come into the stadium and was cheered on by thousands of people, he is pumped for next year.
Beijing (Day 10)
Easily the most frustrating day of our trip. (At least for me).
Today was Time Trial day, a busy one for our team staff because all of our people race, I don’t know how they do it. They deserve medals themselves.
Braydens race was not a good one. In fact he was a DNF. Unfortunately, a couple of small set screws were missed when Brayden’s bike was converted from a track bike to a TT one. The set screws stop his rear wheel from twisting when he puts torque on it. His TT race lasted about 3 pedal strokes, as soon as he left the starting gate and accelerated the wheel torqued and locked up against the frame. Brayden took it well and did not blame anyone, and now, is even hungrier for a good performance in the Road Race.
The RR/TT venue is the same one that was used for the Olympic Triathlon and it is about an hour north of Beijing. We took a cab out there in the morning and planned to take one back after the race .. well, there were no cabs to return on. We found some other Canadian fans that had hired a driver for the day, so Lee and Breanne hitched a ride with them… but there was no room for me. I decided to test the transit system and take a bus. An adventure I won’t forget anytime soon. First of all, they all get on at the back doors, and apparently, all have passes. When you are the only non-local on the bus it is very easy for the driver to spot you and ask for your pass; But not so easy for you to know that is what he is yelling at you for. After much sign language, and more yelling by the driver, a small girl (maybe 3 years old), said in perfect english, “He just wants to know if you can pay.” I told her to tell him I could pay, but how much was it. She said something to him, he threw his hands in the air and went back to driving. I had decided to stay on the bus until it got to Beijing and then get off at whatever stop was closest to the Olympic Green and get a cab from there to the house. What I didn’t think of, or realize, was that this bus was not going to stop until it got to the Beijing bus station, which was deep in the downtown area. Like all bus stations, I would say the area was sketchy at best. There were probably 50 full buses that all arrived at the same time, and those passengers knew where to go to get a cab. By the time I figured it out, no cabs were left. As the crowds dissipated and no more cabs appeared, I realized I was somewhat of a target for the locals to approach and after turning away about 3 of them, I decided I had better start walking away from the station. Using the same logic as Calgary’s bus station, I walked toward the tall buildings as the sun set and it got dark. After walking an hour, having a small heart attack every time something moved in the shadows, and wondering if amputation was the penalty for public urination, I finally made it to a hotel where I got a cab back to our apartment. Total trip took 3 hours and probably cost me a year of my life.
Tomorrow we are hiring a driver.
Keep your fingers crossed for the road race.
Brayden Races Today
For those of you that want to watch Brayden race live, he’ll be racing today at 11:30am. Of course you’ll have to watch it on the paralympic tv website. It’s a two hour race, so if you’re at work, you’ll probably want to close the office door.
Simultaneous Updates!
Update One
Well we left at 8 am and drove out to the ming tombs, that’s where the road races are (where the triathlon was for the Olympics). We got here before 9 but didn’t make it to the seating until 930. We had to take a bus from where the cab dropped us off up to the spectator stands. And they are packed. Like insane. We are in the last row and there are enthusiastic Chinese all around us. They must move sporting events here because everythings been packed! Now we are watching the hand cyclists and waiting for Brayden to ride – not until 1120. So we have a while. Today Brayden will do 24 km which is 2 laps. Tomorrows race is 5 laps which is 60 something.
Second Update
Not sure if you watched but Brayden was a DNF (did not finish). His bike was broken. Were not sure what the problem was but his wheel was moving side to side and he had to stop. He rode around at the end so they mustve fixed it. Hopefully he’ll be able to race tomorrow. The results for today were Ochoa in 1 followed by Kenny in 2 and the Korean in 3 it was close in times between Darren and javier. And then close between the Korean and the other Spanish guy that was 4th. Jean came 5th. That’s all for today. Everyone here is grumpy. 