I can't quite put on my finger on it, but these games were different. Maybe it was the fact that I was working with 3 programs (track, road,mtb), or maybe there was just less pressure surrounding results, or maybe it was just the atmosphere in Australia, or the integration of the para sports, or a combination of these things plus many other factors. Having been my 5th multi sport games, you get comfortable with what to expect, but as per usual--it never is.The accommodation was great (despite the fact I moved 3 times within the village), the food was impressive, and I definitely appreciated both the smoothie and coffee bar. Having to juggle and work with 3 different cycling teams was challenging at times, but in the end it all worked out! No crashes or injuries within our group of athletes (this is a huge win in my books). It was a really cool experience get to work at the Velodrome--although I could have done without the late nights (home after midnight some nights) I walked away having learned a thing or two--and got to meet a fabulous group of new people. The trackies brought home 2 bronze medals in both the women's and men's team pursuit. The mountain bike venue was tucked in a residential zone wrapped amongst an old outdoor velodrome. Super cool! We only had 3 athletes, and ~15 total on the start line, which is a major contrast compared to World Cup racing. Haley Smith had an incredible ride and finished with a Bronze as well. Emily and Dre also both had great performances--landing just off the podium. After track and mtb finished up--it was onto the road race. Our track riders also did the road race, none of which had been prepping for this event has their track season has just ended. They all stayed on their bikes, and did what they could! No podiums--but everyone in one piece getting onto the plane is pretty golden. Home now and prepping for my Euro trip!
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Updated: Feb 9, 2018
Thanks for checking out the new site! I needed a spot where all my work was in one spot! I moved my blog to just keep everything organized! I know a missed an entire calendar year -- not really sure what happened there--maybe a case of the post olympics blues or something! Well I'm up and running and motivated to keep my posts up to date (as often as internet allows)
First up--New team activities for 2018! I will continue with our Canadian National MTB Cross Country team travelling to Commonwealth Games, and World Cups, but I've also added a second team--The Rocky Mountain-Race Face Enduro Team. It's a non-olympic non-UCI (for now) discipline of mountain biking. We have a dream team of athletes and staff and I had to say YES to the opportunity to also get to take on the manager role with this crew! You can see my race schedule for 2018 season in the "MTB Teams" section of the website!
Check out the Team Press Release here
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/introducing-the-rocky-mountain-race-face-enduro-team.html
Familiar Faces--Mechanics Jeff Hunter and Adam Trotter. Photo Credit: Paris Gore
Team Shot: Adam, ALN, Remi, Jeff, Jesse Photo Credit: Paris Gore
Just a cool riding pic Photo Credit: Paris Gore
Hoping to get back posting regularly this year...
See previous blog posts here http://bakertara.blogspot.ca
I may work on transferring over the old posts here so I have everything in one spot. So many good memories saved there! But I need to clean up electronically and have less pages, and stuff everywhere!
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