Back in Action

After a week off in my hometown of Aurora, I am back on the road getting myself geared up for our Canadian National Championships next weekend. I am currently based in Calgary, Alberta (aka. 'The Wild West'), training in town and up on the beautiful Kananaskis river.

The week off was filled with action. A quick golf game on Tuesday, a trip to Ottawa on Wednesday, a visit to the Toronto Airport on Thursday and finally my fundraiser on Saturday kept me on my toes the entire week. I would like to thank all of you who came to the fundraiser, it was a great time.

I will be heading to our Canadian Nationals on Sunday. I can't wait to race on the raging waters of the Tamihi river. In addition, I can't wait to see my new initiative, the Podium Prospect Award, play out. Should be very exciting.

World Cup #3 - Augsburg...aka the bain of my existence

Well ladies and gentlemen, it is all over. This past weekend was rough, rougher than most. Unfortunately, it was all over for me in gate #1. A massive touch there threw me offline forcing me to loop gate #2 and finishing off any chance for me to be competitive in this field of kayaking gurus. I must acknowledge the empowering cheers of my enormous fan base here in Augsburg...you guys are awesome....and don't worry, the cheque is in the mail.

Anyways, it is now time to go home and get some well-earned rest. After 2.5 months of continuous racing/training here in Europe, I feel I have learned plenty and raced well (aside from this past race). Now it is time to go back to the good ol'stomping grounds and rest and relax.

Next on the agenda is week at home in Aurora; then in two weeks, it is time for our Canadian National Championships out in Chilliwack, BC.

On a separate note, those of you in Aurora there is the supportjohn.ca charity Poker Tournament on Saturday, July 21st. Space is available so contact me if interested.

Take care and we'll see you next time!

World Cup #2 – Tacen, Slovenia

Well, all I can say is that I had the fastest split in the semi-final from the start to gate 6. I was on fire, and then disaster stuck. As I approached gate 7, there was a nasty surge and my bow went directly into this crevasse in one of the many gumdrop rocks along the course. This sudden and unplanned catastrophe forced my boat under water, exposing the edges of my boat and causing me to roll over. When I rolled back up I was well passed gate 7 and needed to attain back up the river in order to complete. Needless to say, this unlucky circumstance was extremely costly in this world class field as I finished 35^th. You can click on the link below to see exactly what I mean if my description wasn’t good enough.

http://video.google.de/videoplay?docid=-4742976150759505413

After yesterday, I have now added the course in Tacen in my personal Axis of Evil; you know, personal enemies to John. The other course completing this Axis is the one in Bratislava, which I raced at earlier this year. For some reason I never perform well at these places. This year, I did poorly in both the Tacen and Bratislava races…and the trend is quite the same in the past. So, why do I continue to race at these places….well, it is the hope that one day I will break this Axis with a stellar performance…oh yah, in addition these places are really fun to kayak on.

We are now here in Augsburg, Germany again for the last World Cup of the season. It is slightly bitter-sweet; this will be my last week here in Europe, which is nice as I want to go home….but, it is saddening that this will be the last World Cup of this season!

Stay tuned race fans....John is going out with a bang!

New Video: Prague Semi-Final

Well race fans, the first World Cup has come and gone. Although I finished 11th, my best World Cup finish to date, it was bitter-sweet. I was only 0.11 seconds away from placing in the top 10 and being able to race the final. Unfortunately, I touched gate 10 and incurred a 2-second penalty. Without this, I would have been sitting 5th, but, this is racing.

Anyways, I have recently uploaded the video of this race. You can check it out by clicking the following link:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3799942936405230821

Be sure to turn your speakers up loud....real loud....and then just wait for it.

Anyways, we are in Tacen, Slovenia now. World Cup #2 is this coming weekend. The Slovenian Canoe association always puts on a good show too. Tomorrow night, right in the heart of downtown Ljubljana will be a flat-water parallel slalom race. This event, which I have raced only once before, is incredible. Similar to the Hit Series slalom race two weeks ago, this race will be illuminated with massive floodlights and will likely be televised. Unfortunately I won't be racing this time around, but, being able to watch my friends compete for the cash prize is always fun to see.