Trek Travel guide Jordan Landolt is an athlete through and through. As if ‘professional hockey player’ wasn’t accomplishment enough, he can now add Canadian Provincial Champion to the list. In his own humble and humorous words, below he shares the story of how his newest title came to be.
“‘Dude, you’re not supposed to do that!’
I had just finished (and won) my first ever race. Okay, maybe not as glorious as it sounds, as it was only 50km in the “C” group consisting of Cat4 and beginner riders only. But I was definitely basking in my own little glory when the breathless voice from behind me continued: ‘You’re not supposed to ride at the front the whole race, lead out the sprint then WIN the sprint altogether!’
So the experiment began. The goal: to transform this ex-hockey pro turned bike tour guide into a competitive cyclist. I set out on this journey to challenge my physical and mental boundaries, test my limitations as an athlete and win a few bike races along the way.
Just three months after my first ever race with the Cat4’s, I now stood at the start line of the Pro 1/2 BC Provincial Time Trial Championships. The hardest part of racing for me so far has undoubtedly been putting on my new skin suit. Starting with trying to squeeze my knees through the legs, defying the laws of physics and resulting in the red on my kit to seem light pink due to the amount it has to stretch. Getting the upper body all zipped up is no walk in the park either, and hearing the pins of my race number pop off like a button on your pants after a big meal, as I zip all the way up, is hardly comforting. So, with the hardest part of the race clearly over, I stood there at the start line with nothing to lose. I had the reigning Canadian National Time Trial Champion starting two minutes behind, and top contender on the Cyclocross Elite World circuit due to push off one minute after me. As they stood behind me in anticipation of the start, I could totally hear them thinking: ‘How the hell did he get into that skin suit!?’.
I don’t remember too much about the actual race other than trying to stay calm and repeatedly asking myself ‘does this hurt enough?’ By the time I hit the 10km to go mark, I had so much sweat and drool on my Garmin I had no idea how fast I was going or how much power I was pushing. I figured that was a good sign. And I suppose it was, as I upset the current National Time Trail champ by 25 seconds to take the Provincial Championship. With that accomplishment under my belt, I have begun a tough week and a half block of intense training, all ramping up towards the Canadian Nationals in Quebec, where I will look forward to competing against some of Canada’s finest elite cyclists.
I am very thankful towards everyone at Trek Travel who has helped keep my ‘tires pumped’ along the way! Many of the people I have met (both guides and guests) have helped give me the confidence to follow my dreams and demonstrated the work ethic it takes to succeed in whatever you wish to do in life!”
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