One Thing You Might Have Missed in Cycling Canada’s Rio Selection

June 29, Cycling Canada revealed the 19 athletes (across all cycling disciplines) set to attend the Rio Olympic Games, but they didn’t mention the athletes names as team alternates – one of whom is me!

Canada earned 3 women’s road spots and 2 women’s time trial spots for Rio (announced June 2) which allows a maximum team of 4: 3 racers + 1 alternate.  Mid June, I got an email from CC titled Rio 2016 and was both extremely thrilled to be nominated to the team and also disappointed to be so close yet staying at home.  The alternate is a non-travelling alternate that will step in if one of the named team members cannot accept the spot (injury, sickness or maybe someone just doesn’t want to go?).  I truly wish all the very best to Karol-Ann Canuel, Leah Kirchman, and Tara Whitten, who I am confident will prepare themselves in the very best way to represent Canada at their Rio events.

It is truly such an honour to have been a part of the #roadtoRio as one of Canada’s top riders in contention for an Olympic spot.  It’s been just a-year-and-a-half since I committed to cycling as a career.  I have learned so much in the environment of Team Twenty16 Ridebiker.  The team has given me opportunity when they saw ability and instruction when I didn’t know any better.  We organized an important trip to race in the new Women’s World Tour events in Europe so that I could fast-track some needed experience in order to prepare for a shot at the Olympic Games.  We put a lot of pressure on me to prepare well and perform well – a similar pressure likely to be felt at events like the Olympics and World Championships.  This year I learned how to handle crashing and recovering, leading a team to overall victory and keeping our winner calm and strong.

I have many thanks to give to those of you who have been very interested and encouraging to me on my athletic journey.  Thanks for checking in after hearing of Canada’s Olympic selection.  There are still many more races in this year that need to be won.  I am really looking forward to preparing for the October World Championships in Qatar with my Twenty16 RideBiker team for the TTT and again aiming for a spot on Canada’s Road World Championship team.

Recovery on the Road

The life of a racing cyclist is a traveling one which has me living out of a suitcase for most of the year.  My husband and I do a lot of camping and choose to live simply.  This simplicity shows up in how I pack for months on the road with my professional cycling team TWENTY16 RIDEBIKER.  I pack my liquids and extra clothing around my bike as my only checked baggage. Then I take a backpack with one spare set of clothes and a shoulder bag of my essential cycling kit, pedals, shoes and helmet.  I don't pack much, but what I do pack is important!!

A big part of being a full-time athlete is resting well to recovery the body as fast as possible for the next big effort in training or racing.  Here are a few of the essentials that I take with me wherever I drive or fly to for racing.

I always wear compression socks or leggings when I fly or drive.  Sitting for long periods of time restrict the blood flood to your legs and feet.  Compression on the lower extremities protects against swelling.  I wear a long pair of compression socks from Sock Guy or a pair of full leg tights from ec3d.  After training, when there is no soigneur or chance to get a massage, wearing a pair of compression leggings improves recovery by minimizing inflammation. 

SockGuy creates all the fantastic fun socks that I wear on the daily, to ride and to live in.  This tall thin pair I wear comfortably under my pants when traveling by plane or car.

It takes a few minutes to pull these babies up because they are really tight but that's what I choose to do after a hard ride.

Then I kill-two-birds-with-one-stone by packing my 40oz MOBOT waterbottle that doubles as a foam roller!  The tagline here is Suck And Roll!  (You drink from a straw out of this waterbottle - which works superbly when driving!!)

Next up, I do a lot of yoga to compliment the many hours of riding a bike.  I have tried to travel with a regular roll-up yoga mat stuffed into a backpack that cannot close.  Now, I take with me a YOGO mat, a flat-pack yoga mat.  This mat folds up and fits in the bottom of my backpack.  During layovers or at my team hotel I lay out this mat and move through my asanas.  This mat has a couple other benefits 1) It is the most grippy mat I have ever done socked (or no socked) yoga on! 2) you can hang the mat up by its clips to wash and hang dry it in the shower!

I have my Global Relay backpack packed with my YOGO mat and my MOBOT.

Working together with the yoga mat, I bring with me a warm and cool set of yoga training clothes by Inner Fire.  These items are my most bright and colorful clothing options.  I wear them to yoga or to catch some extra attention at the campsite!  In my warm wardrobe I bring my Inner Fire Aurora leggings, to remind me of the sky I grew up under: Alberta - the land of the living sky.  In my cool wardrobe I bring my Inner Fire Bloom Shorts.  I love their wide waist band which makes being a #bendybikeracer a more comfortable person to be!  I found the brand Inner Fire because I have a passion for Canadian made products and brands.  Inner Fire not only is a Vancouver company, but also is working with sustainable materials made from 100% recycled bottles!  Isn't that fantastic!  So when you are meditating on how to make the world a better place you can smile when you think of your clothing for a change!  Inner Fire sells their products on both amazon.com and amazon.ca AND if you enter the code AlisonJa you can get yourself 15% off!!

Handstands have always been a favourite posture of mine.  Often I get this overwhelming feeling to be upside down!  This feeling is strongest whenever I am sitting in an airport during a layover!!

I do a lot of poses that open the shoulders to combat the rounded posture of a cyclist.

My husband and I lived on the road for 3 months traveling around California from training camp to races.  To break up the long drive we stop for me to yoga and/or for Alex to take pictures of the places we are in!

Made responsibly to make a difference!!

Remember, rest and recovery for your own body adds peace and patience and focus into other areas of life.  So, wear your compression, drink lots of water, roll out those tight muscles and breathe deeply through a few yoga poses!!

Desert Yoga

This year the plan was to get a good chunk of miles in outside.  We live in snowy Alberta now, so that meant travelling south for winter.  The main goal of my day is to get the prescribed miles in on the bike but after that we get to explore all these beautiful places!  Part of my personal approach to training and resting and increasing my happy endorphins include wrapping myself up and stretching myself out in yoga poses.  I would like to share some amazing Californian desert yoga shots that my husband, Alex Jackson, took of me featuring my partnered brand myinnerfire.  Myinnerfire is a local Vancouver-made brand that creates fantastically fun leggings, shorts, shirts and sweatshirts - and get this, the fabric they use is made out of recycled water bottles!!  Check their store out online at myinnerfire.com and use the code ‘ AlisonJ ‘ to get 15% off your order!

TWENTY16 - It's Our Year

New year = New look for the jersey

It is January 2016, new main sponsor is RIDEBIKER which is an online community for cyclists of all terrains.  When your club joins RIDEBIKER you get an online store where all of your members can access to order clothing any time of the year at the group discount price.  You can also connect with other riders and clubs across the nation.  No club is too big or too small.  In the end the proceeds of any sales goes back into developing the cycling community or sponsoring RIDEBIKER professional athletes.  Check out the community here (ridebiker.com).




My husband and I have been chasing warmer weather for longer outdoor bike rides since the beginning of December.  We have been dreaming of driving the California coastline with the wind in our hair and the sun on our faces.  In truth, we have experienced more stormy wind and torrential rain than anything else – but at least it’s warmer than below freezing! You can follow our travels on our travel blog Double 'Eh' Adventures.

In the California desert - Photo by AJCmedia

I met up with my new team in Encinitas, California for a week of heavy mileage just after the New Year.  Our 753km in one week was no short of fun…or pain.  I am excited for what this team will accomplish in 2016, an Olympic year.  It is after all our year!

Photo by Adam Pulford - Rainbow Loop

#twenty16 #RIDEBIKER