The Rocky Mountain Racers are hosting The Tour Duh Rockies stationary bike sprints for the third time and again we have some great prizes! Held at the Drake Pub in Canmore on October 31 and Wild Bill’s in Banff on November 3, the fundraiser promises the best in the newly popularized sport of indoor bicycle racing. Come and test your mettle against some of the best athletes in the Bow Valley for a chance to win the prestige of being crowned the Bow Valley’s fastest indoor riding champion.

Details here.

Check out the Facebook pages for the Tour Duh Canmore and Tour Duh Banff

Tour Duh Canmore – October 31 – The Drake

Tour Duh Banff – November 3 – Wild Bill’s

YOUNG CANADIAN BIATHLETES TARGET PODIUM AT YOUTH AND JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

YOUNG CANADIAN BIATHLETES TARGET PODIUM

YOUTH AND JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

OTTAWA—Canada will field a total of 16 athletes who will target the podium at the Biathlon Youth and Junior World Championships that will take place in Torsby, Sweden, January 27 to February 2, 2010.

 

On the heels of the Canadian trials, Biathlon Canada has selected eight men and eight women who will be among the world’s most promising junior biathletes while competing in five youth and junior competitions during the 2010 World Championships. The youth category involves athletes that are 17-18 years old, while athletes in the junior category must be 19-20 years old.

 

“Competing at international competitions is a critical component to the continued development of our sport and the World Championships are the first major test in these athletes’ pursuit of their Olympic dream,” said Joanne Thomson, executive director, Biathlon Canada.

 

Headlining the Canadian squad in this year’s event will be seven athletes who combined to win five medals at the 2009 World Championships on their home snow at the Canmore Nordic Centre.

 

Calgary’s Kurtis Wenzel, who won gold, silver and bronze last year, will return in search of a repeat performance in the Youth Men’s category. Wenzel will be joined by medal-winning teammate and fellow Calgarian in last year’s relay, Aaron Gillmor. Calgary’s Christian Gow andQuebec’s Édouard Côté will round out the youth men’s squad.

 

Calgary’s Scott Gow, who joined Wenzel and Gillmor on the silver-medal relay team last year, will move up a category into Junior Men. Gow will be joined by Joel Pacas, of Canmore, Alta., and Matthew Neumann, of Prince George, B.C., who will make their second trip to the international event. David Grégoire, of Chartierville, Que., rounds out the junior men’s team.

 

Two World Championship medallists will lead the Youth and Junior Women’s teams.

 

Audrey Vaillancourt, of Quebec, who won a bronze medal last year in the youth category will return to lead the Youth Women. Vallancourt will be joined by Rose-Marie Côté, of Lévis, Que., Julia Ransom, of Kelowna, B.C., and Emma Lunder, of Vernon, B.C.

 

Quebec’s Yolaine Oddou, who was another bronze medallist in 2009, will compete as a junior woman. Oddou will team up with Tatiana Chesham, of Canmore, Alta., Carly Shiell, of Camrose, and Isabelle Abran, of St-Jean Chrystostôme, Que.

 

“This talented group of athletes represents the future of our sport in Canada and has been making significant progress putting the maple leaf back on the international youth and junior podiums,” said Thomson. “We are looking forward to improving on one of our best-ever performance at the World Youth and Junior Championships where we captured five medals last year.”

 

For more information on the Youth and Junior World Championships, please visithttp://www.biathlonworld3.de/en/events.html/do/showevent?EventId=BT0910JWRLCH__

 

Biathlon Canada, the governing body for biathlon in the country, oversees the Canadian Championships, Eastern and Western Canadian Championships, and North American Cups held in Canada. The organization’s mandate is to provide national level programs for the continuous development of biathlon athletes from the grassroots to the elite level. For more information on Biathlon Canada, please visit their Web site at www.biathloncanada.ca on the Internet.

 

Junior Women:

Yolaine Oddou – Quebec, QC

Tatiana Chesham – Canmore, AB

Carly Shiell – Camrose, AB

Isabelle Abran – St-Jean-Chrystostome, QC

 

Youth Women:

Audrey Vaillancourt – Quebec, QC

Rose-Marie Côté – Lévis, QC

Julia Ransom – Kelowna, BC

Emma Lunder – Vernon, BC

 

Junior Men:

Scott Gow – Calgary, AB

Joel Pacas – Canmore, AB

Matthew Neumann – Prince George, BC

David Grégoire – Chartierville, QC

 

Youth Men:

Kurtis Wenzel – Calgary, AB

Aaron Gillmor – Calgary, AB

Christian Gow – Calgary, AB

Édouard Côté – Quebec, QC

 

Coaching Staff:

Matthias Ahrens – Head Coach Junior Team / Team Leader

Jacqueline Akerman – Assistant Coach Junior Team

John Jaques – Head Coach Youth Team

Michelle Armitage – Assistant Coach Youth Team

Claude Latulippe – Head Wax Technician

 

By Hamish Maclean, The Canmore Leader 

XC ski and biathlon club nets a winner with their trial fundraising event

 A Halloween-themed fundraiser for the cross-country skiers and biathletes of the Rocky Mountain Racers at the Drake Inn Wednesday night saw the Cat in the Hat cheer and a French maid ride like the wind, but never get anywhere, in what was likely Canmore’s first indoor sprint championships.

Four stationary bikes set up in front of a video screen served to raise money for the large club’s athletes.

During the first ever Tour Duh Canmore, organizer, National Ski Team member and RMR associate athlete, Dasha Gaiazova said the “optimistic” goal was to raise $1,000, yet the club pulled in $1,400 on the night.

“It’s a bit of a new and crazy thing we’re trying here,” Gaiazova said. The idea behind the fundraiser is to help the club pay for training, racing, and other related expenses for the upcoming cross-country skiing and biathlon season — with funds going directly to the racers.

Currently the club is pretty much athlete funded and the Tour Duh Canmore will help with those costs.

“We have very little money coming in from other resources,” she said. “We have an amazing coach and we want to make sure he is getting paid fairly for his work.”

Jesse Winter another RMR member and event organizer (and sometime Canmore Leader columnist) said after the event that their coach John Jaques, said if they were to repeat the trial Tour Duh Canmore success a few more times, the club would have made enough to pay for half of a ski-specific VO2 (aerobic capacity) testing machine. Winter wrote in an email that the club?s board of directors has allocated $3,000 towards what would be an ?amazing piece of equipment? for RMR members ? with the club needing $5,000 more.

On their own, skiers can spend up to $1,000 a year on wax — travel and accommodation though may be a bigger expense. (Winter estimated spending in the neighbourhood of $6,500 last year on domestic airfare and travel alone.)

“It costs about $30,000 a year, all told, to be an elite athlete on the Nor-Am circuit and to do what we’re trying to do, which is make World Cups and the Olympics and stuff like that,” he said.

And while there is government support, and equipment sponsors, a lot of those costs still fall at athletes’ feet.

Local businesses threw their support behind the event, donating prizes for the competitors and some raffle prizes. The space and bikes were donated, too.

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“There’s been a surprising turnout,” Winter said Wednesday night. “There’s definitely been a lot of people turn out that are not full-time athletes.

“And they’re definitely holding their own — it’s impressive. With a format like this it’s over in 15 seconds and it’s pretty much just all about who can spin their legs the fastest.”

The winners at the first RMR Tour Duh Canmore were Rosanna Crawford in the women’s final and Aaron Sand in the men’s. RMR is thinking of possibly holding another Tour Duh Canmore event during this racing season.

For event photos, visit http://danpat.net/photos/tdc1/

The first of a winter-long series, The Tour Duh Canmore stationary bike sprints will be hosted by the Rocky Mountain Racers and held at the Drake Pub in Canmore. The fundraiser promises the best in the newly popularized sport of indoor bicycle racing. Come and test your mettle against some of the best athletes in the Bow Valley for a chance to win the prestige of being crowned Canmore’s fastest indoor riding champion.

Check out Tour Duh Canmore’s facebook page for more info. 

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=159021161212#wall_posts    

RMR members, family and friends got together September 27th at Bow Valley Campground for their yearly fall barbeque.  The event acted as an opportunity to connect with most of the people who make the club a success as well as a chance to wish the athletes good-luck heading into the racing that is soon to come.