I hope this e-mail finds you all lightly bronzed after some well deserved time in the sun! I have been out on my bike more and more and find I have a sock tan! (Something to say for someone as pale as me!)
Since my last update I have spent time in Calgary with our team’s physios, trainers, and doctors; I have been home; and I have travelled with David helping out where I can on his World Cup tour. It’s amazing how similar David’s tour is like ski racing – I guess if we’re considered the winter circus they’re the summer circus equivalent.
Calgary
My time in Calgary was great. It was one week of physio and fitness. I also caught up with most of our men’s team as they trained. Seeing
the men’s team and how they’re working together made me realize their team hasn’t changed much heading into this next quadrennial. A stark comparison to the women’s side as we have seen many changes in the last year. I’m looking forward to working with our new staff and with a group of athletes who are extremely motivated! Still, I will miss some of our coaches who have moved on and especially the athletes who are now travelling new paths.Knee
As for my knee, they said it is doing well and about where they expected it to be. It will be a longer recovery than I had hoped, however, I’m still heading towards a healthy knee for ski racing. At the end of my week in Calgary I had an injection
in my knee to help get is moving a bit smoother. It seems to be helping and keeping my knee moving forward in its recovery. My bending is still improving slowly. They aren’t too worried about it now since I have a very useful range of motion and more than enough range to be a ski racer. My yoga poses may suffer a little…but hey…a small price to pay for rocking it out on the ski hills!Europe
My time in Europe with David was great. I bought a cheap bike there (costing about $70 CDN….so you can imagine that it wasn’t exactly high quality). Yet it was its quirky cheapness that made me love that bike (knowing I
wouldn’t be using it long helped as well!) It was great to have though and I enjoyed riding in Europe. That was my first time seeing Europe from a bike seat and I fell in love with riding there. I also took some pictures while there as I continue to enjoy my pursuits to grow as a photographer. It’s a wonderful art and one I’m continuing to fall more in love with. As is always the case with sport David had some good days and challenging days. Ah, the joys of highs and lows in sport! He is fit and fast though – so it’s just a matter of finding the race gear and tweaking a few equipment issues.Article
There is also a great article on the FIS Alpine website if you care to check it out:
http://www.fisalpine.com/news/the-unsinkable-kelly-vanderbeek,792.html
It also links from the front page of the FIS Alpine at:
www.fisalpine.com
Otherwise, I’m doing well and enjoying some sunshine!
Cheers,
Kelly
