January 14/04 11:42 am - Track Nats Update, MTB Marathon, CCA News, Gears 24 Hour Spin Concert

Posted by Editoress on 01/14/04
 

Track Nationals Controversy Follow Up

We received the following e-mail from Louis Barbeau, CCA Events Committee Chair after our Daily News item yesterday regarding the date conflict Victoria has with CCA over hosting the Track Nationals. It has been edited for clarity and punctuation. Our comments follow.

I just read your article about the Track controversy. I was very much surprised to say the least to read that the Events committee instituted a policy, starting in 2004 . . . This is absolutely not the case. This has been an existing policy for many years, which has not always been enforced for various reasons, in some case, because there was no track near the road venue. In 2003, it was because the B World Championships were taking place the week after the road nationals. Most times it was not enforced because of conflicts with national team projects (High Performance Committee). But looking back in previous years, you will find that this policy has been applied many times.

I know your personal feeling / opinion on the subject. I respect it. However, I have told you at the AGM that this was an existing policy, nothing new, and I find that this article is very much biased and not accurate as it suggests that this is new.

Looking back at previous years, you will find that the road and track nationals being held one after the other happened quite often

1993 - Winnipeg (track) and Brandon (road)
1994 - Calgary (track) and Edmonton (road)
1996 - Victoria (track) and Chicoutimi (though not in the same region, therefore no travel savings)
1998 - Abbotsford (road) and Victoria (track)
1999 - Sherbrooke (road) and Calgary (though not in the same region, therefore no travel savings)
2000 - Bromont (track) and Peterborough (road)

As far as conflicts with other events (mainly mountain bike), it is unfortunate but at the same time impossible to avoid conflicts in such a crowded calendar. There is so much you can take into account.


Our response:

Louis,

I apologize if I misunderstood the date of the policy, but I was led to believe by a number of people that this was a new implementation. I guess it was more of an enforcement of an existing policy. I will print a correction, with some of the information from your e-mail.

The concern that I have is not so much with the back-to-back nature of the schedule, but rather with the conflicts between major Canadian events. I realize that this cannot be avoided sometimes, but we are having an excessive number of conflicts these days, between the few major national championships and international cycling events that are held in Canada. Have the events back-to-back, but don't have them all at the same time!

Really, why do we need to have national road championships at the same date as Europe? The number of Canadian men for whom this is important is infintesimal, plus it isn't even an open event this year, from what I understand. Why not have it later (and the track nationals following), like we have in the past (which is the case in many of the examples you cited)? As it stands, two Canadian championships and the only two mountain bike World Cups in North America are happening at the same time! Our season starts later than the European one, partially due to our climate, so there is a detriment to the majority of athletes, because they are not as far into their season. The Americans don't use the European date, neither do the Australians - why are we? Your comments would be appreciated on this subject.

Rob Jones
Editor

Editor's Note: A large number of readers obviously agree, since only 6% of respondents to our poll on the situation consider adhering to the policy (of having Road and Track Nationals back-to-back) to take precedence over such things as scheduling conflicts. You can still register your opinion by clicking on the Vote! button at the top of the page.


Mountain Bike Marathon World Series at Mont Ste Anne
Courtesy Gestev

We are pleased to inform you that Mont-Sainte-Anne Resort has been selected by the UCI for a second consecutive presentation of the Mountain Bike Marathon World Series, which will take place at Mont-Sainte-Anne on June 20th, 2004, together with the Mountain Bike World Cup and Velirium International Bike Festival, from June 19th to 27th.

The full Mountain Bike Marathon World Series calendar:

June 19 Oisans, France - www.oisans-mountainbike2003.com/
June 20 Monte Ste Anne, Quebec, Canada - www.gestev.com
August 14 Zell Am See-Kaprun, Austria
August 22 Graz, Austria - www.bike03.at
October 2 St Wendel, Germany - www.sankt-wendel.de


Jacky Hardy Joins CCA
Courtesy CCA

January 13, 2004 - The Canadian Cycling Association is happy to announce that Jacky Hardy will join its group of coaches. Hardy, ex-competitor of the Tour de France and certified coach with the French Cycling Federation, will take over the Espoir athlete project from Jacques Landry, who started the initiative in 2003.

As was the case in 2003, a group of Espoir athletes will be invited to the Canadian camp based in France, which will be located in Normandy for 2004.

Jacky will head this program, which will reunite six Espoir cyclists and add four others whom have already signed on with French Clubs. This will up the total to 10 athletes who will gain exposure to European Cycling through competition of National and International Espoir events. Looking into the future, this will allow several of the participating athletes to improve and rapidly progress, eventually leading to spots on professional teams.

Jacky Hardy had already begun assessing our Espoir team in August and September of 2003, and has significant practical experience and theoretical knowledge. Hardy is also the author of the book entitled "Cyclisme", a collaboration between himself, Roger Legeay and Denis Roux. Also, Jacky will occasionally assume the responsibilities of the Directeur Sportif working on Elite Road projects.

Editor's Note: we have heard that Mr Hardy will be the team manager for the Tour de Langkawi project in February. In other CCA hirings, Mathieu Litalien has been hired on a 4 month contract in the communications and marketing department, and Ray Duggan has an 8 month contract to coordinate development and commissaires programs.


Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra Perform at Mississauga's Hershey Centre

Mississauga, Ontario, January 5th, 2004 - For one night only on February 21st, 2004, legendary flamenco guitarist Ottmar Liebert and his band Luna Negra will perform at Mississauga's Hershey Centre. Performing as part of the Gears 24 Hour Spin for the Ring event, Liebert and Luna Negra will be one of many live bands entertaining nearly 2,500 event participants and concert-goers at this annual charity event.

Acclaimed guitarist and composer, Liebert's first album, Nouveau Flamenco, reached gold in 1993. Two subsequent releases - Poets & Angels (1990) and the Grammy-nominated Borrasca (1991) - followed Nouveau Flamenco to #1 on the Billboard New Age charts.

Other bands performing at the event include; Doug Sole and Soul Drums, Dr. Draw, Animal House, Thunderstruck (AC-DC Tribute), DJ Logic, Wheat Kings (Tragically Hip Tribute), Rawhide (Blues Brothers Tribute), Superfreak, The White (Led Zeppelin Tribute), Loco Zydeco, Teenage Head and The Travoltas.

Tickets for Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra cost $40 for general admission seating and $100 for VIP floor seating (limited number of tickets available). Doors open at 5 p.m. and ticket holders will have the option of watching Teenage Head at 5 p.m. and The Travoltas at 6 p.m.

General admission event tickets are available for a cost of $10 for adults and $5 for children. General admission event tickets provide access to the Hershey Centre from 10 p.m. Friday to 4:30 p.m. Saturday. These tickets do not include entry to the Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra concert.

Gears 24-Hour Spin for the Ring
The Hershey Centre, Mississauga
Friday, February 20th - Saturday, February 21st, 2004
10 p.m. - 10 p.m.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.thering.ca or contact Ira Kargel at (905) 271-2400.