Everything in place for the MIVA CX clinic and race series. First event is Tuesday October 11th. Location will be beside the Nanaimo BMX track. 4.30pm to dusk.

Starting next week (October 1st.) the Mid Island Velo Association club rides will start at 9am from Java Expressions. This week, there were 5 riders out so finally the numbers are growing.

Elite  Sportschules (sports schools)  are a vital component of the German system of identification and development of talented athletes in many disciplines. A democratised legacy of the East German athlete development programmes, the sportschules have produced a multitude of Olympic and world champion athletes over the years; in fact, the collection of Olympic medals in 2008  garnered by the Potsdam elite sportschule would have placed it in seventeenth place in the list of medal-winning nations. Here is an article describing how these elite schools produce numbers of internationally successful athletes out of all proportion to the size of the population. Why do you think that this method of nurturing talented youth would or would not work in Canada.

Champion cyclist Erik Zabel's son Rick is a product of this system and has just earned a contract from

Rabobank Continental as a result of his performances to date. He cites his four years at a sportschule as being a major component of his success.

Terry Orlick, widely known for his work on excellence in sport, has identified seven key components to being the very best you can be at your chosen sport. Here is an article describing each of the seven elements and giving some great examples. All of you who want to improve your cycling performance, at whatever level, can benefit from the application of the Zone of Excellence material.

Tip number 1: Always plan to arrive at the venue two hours before your start time. Walk the course, taking note of hard and soft surfaces, depth of puddles, alternative ways of negotiating bends, drops and obstacles. Check distance between sets of barriers and  practise dismounts and remounts. Note width and length of start and finish sections. This pre-race course check can save you two to four minutes! For other tips go here (courtesy of International Cycling Centres, Boston, MA).