Right now, there are two months until the Olympic Games in Tokyo. But the plan to get there has just been changed yet again.
My friends know that I am a person who likes to plan. I like to know what I am doing and when. But If I had to try to learn something from 2020 and the start of the whole COVID-19 pandemic, it was to be flexible.
Last year I only had eight race days, as my race schedule was hit by one cancelation after another. At the beginning, it was hard. Later I learned to appreciate the things which not racing gave me. For example, it gave me more time at home than I’ve ever had in years. Don’t get me wrong, I love that cycling takes me all over the world, but I also enjoyed being able to see my family in Denmark.
This year I’ve been slightly luckier. So far, I have 19 race days in the book. However, it hasn’t all been races that I planned on doing back in January when we received the first drafts of our race programs. As a rider, we’re used to our calendar changing all the time for all kinds of reasons – race cancellations, injuries, sickness, etc. And I’ve lost count of how many times my program has changed already. It started with the cancelation of Valencia, our first race, back in February, and here with two months to the Olympics, it’s changed one more time.
The European Track Championships was supposed to be held in three weeks, but it’s just been postponed to October. To be honest, it doesn’t really come as a surprise for me. If you’re reading this blog, you’re properly into cycling and have been reading the different articles about the politics regarding the Championships in Minsk, Belarus. It’s hard to keep track of, and I won’t get into all the details, as I don’t know them.
I had the European Championships on my schedule as the last track race before the Olympics. Last time I raced an international Madison or Omnium was in February of 2020. With the European Championships postponed, it means the Olympic Games will be my first international track race in 18 months… that’s a long time, and probably not the ideal situation.
But hey, 2020 has taught me to be flexible. Flexible might even be my new middle name 😉 And I’ve already put together a new plan. I’m really looking forward to the next two months. I have some different training camps lined up and a few road races. It might not have been the first plan that we came up with, but I like the new one too. I won’t be home much, but with a new plan lined up, I’m excited for the journey, and most of all, I’m excited for the Olympic Games – only two months to go!
Amalie.
