April 22, 2008 – Gina Grain (Webcor) made her first appearance on the track at the Canadian Championships in Victoria in 2004, where she won the points race title in her first showing - the same year fellow Olympic qualifier Zach Bell (Symmetrics) won his first national title. Four years later Grain has qualified a spot for Canada in the women’s points race and is headed to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Pedal spoke to the versatile cyclist, who is also the 2007 Canadian RR champ, about her upcoming plans, her path to qualifying, and about how she juggles the racing the track with her road commitments.
Do your plans for the summer change now that you’ve qualified for Beijing 2008 and how does this affect you road season?
Gina Grain: No, not at all really, we’d planned for it anyways, about a year and a half out. You have to plan for it, and assume you’ll make your goals. Will I be doing less road this year? I guess I will, especially in the lead up to the Olympics, but there will still be a heavy block of road competitions in May and June, but track will take over in July.
Will you continue to be based in Burnaby for July or back to T-town?
GG: We are not entirely sure yet, we’re looking at a few options, between T-town and Colorado Springs.
Was it a big bonus to have raced on the Olympic track at the Beijing World Cup in December 2007?
GG: Yes, it was a great opportunity to race that venue this winter, and to check it out at the World Cup. It’s just one less thing to be confronted with during the Games, when everything else is going to be exciting and new.
You’ve been busy racing at the Track Worlds 08 in Manchester, then at Redlands, and then back to Europe for the Road World Cup – how is the transition going from the track to a cobbled classic?
GG: It’s absolutely brutal! You have no idea until you actually ride them just how demanding they are. You have to have a 110% mindset going in, to battle for position, you can’t race the cobbles with anything less than that commitment they are just such a tough battle.
I got sick after Worlds - just like when you get sick after exams! - and I had to ride through it at Redlands and was able to recover a bit and just work for the team. Then it was an overnight flight back to Europe, where I took some downtime and skipped the first race we were in before plunging into the Road World Cups. It was hard because I was ready for a break and the fields split so badly - if you fell more than two minutes back you were pulled - it was hard racing. I had to decide before the Track Worlds about going and I don’t regret it, it was a great experience.
Since I’ve been back I’ve been taking a bit of a break, haven’t touched the bike which is important since this is the last real rest before I head back to Europe until the Olympics. It is important to recharge both mentally and physically.
Can you tell us a bit about the lead up to the Track Worlds and solidifying your qualification spot?
GG: It was a rough road leading up to the Worlds. I broke ribs at the Tour of Wellington in New Zealand in a crash, and was still not 100% by Worlds. I had to take a full week off the bike after Wellington, and then I went to my Webcor road team camp in the States where I got pink eye and had to go on anti-biotics!! After that I was able at least to get a short training camp in. Zach and I were both injured at the Track Worlds, but thankfully I was able to get some physio in Great Britain, and we had a chiropractor with us who had gone so far as to pay their own way to the Worlds.
Are you going to try and qualify for the Olympic road race in Beijing as well or just focus on the track?
GG: At the moment I’m focusing on the track side of things. I am in the Olympics road pool of seven riders, from which there additional criteria to qualify, such as the best results in European World Cups. I will be going back to Switzerland for the World Cup in Berne, but I will be coming off of my rest so I won’t have top form of fitness. Preparation wise I really want to focus on the points race, it could potentially work out alright since you need the road fitness to ride the points race well, but I want to concentrate on the track.
How did it feel when you found out that you were going to the Olympics after working so long and hard to get to this point?
GG: I feel like it is a chapter in a book closing, it’s something that I have worked a long time for. It has been a huge goal of mine for the last ten years and I feel that everything that I have done in my career has led up to this point. This is a very exciting time in my cycling career.
Going to the Olympics is a huge goal and a dream for a lot of athletes. It takes a lot of hard work and a lot of things have to come together in order to get to represent Canada at an Olympic Games. I’m very excited to be starting this new chapter.
Congratulations and all the best Gina.
GG: Thanks
|
Photo: Andrea Brewer
Canada's Gina Grain (Webcor) realizes her huge goal to compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Photo: Andrea Brewer
|
