By Karol-Ann Canuel, former professional road athlete, 3-time TTT World Champion & 2-time Olympian

Cycling has been part of my life since I was a kid and I think it will always be a part of who I am. I love training; I love being on my bike and I don’t think that is going to change.

The sport has allowed me to travel and to see countless corners of the world from the saddle. It has also allowed me to meet wonderful people, make life-long friendships and learn from so many different people throughout my career. But above all, cycling has taught me about myself. I learned a lot about who I am, as an athlete and person, and it has allowed me to grow and to learn to handle the different things life throws at me.

In September, I rode in the final race of my career at the Road World Championships in Flanders. I picked this specific race to be my final one, knowing that it would be one to remember with the rich history and culture Belgium has when it comes to cycling. When the day came, I felt in good shape and all I wanted was to feel good on the bike and not to crash.

Over the course of my career, I had countless small crashes that left me with a few scratches and a bit of pain every time I tried to shower or sleep for the following weeks. Those smaller crashes are the “good crashes” …but then there are the bad ones. In 2014, I broke my neck and had a concussion in the middle of the year. At the end of that season, I broke my pelvis. In 2019, I broke my collarbone. After turning 30, I feel like I stopped taking risks in races because crashing just wasn’t worth it anymore. It was that realization that made me embrace that retirement was coming because I don’t think you can keep racing at the highest level without taking risks. But before retiring, I had one big goal left, and it was to return to the Olympic Games in 2020.

After Rio 2016, I really wanted to go back with more experience and see what I was able to accomplish. However, COVID-19 hitting us in 2020 meant I had to race for an extra year in order to be able to represent Canada at those Games. I raced less in my last year; I was more focused on my training and targeting big events like the Olympics and the World Championships.

Even a few weeks after my last race, I don’t think retirement has sunk in yet. In this current moment, it just feels like an awesome off-season. I have been doing rides that I never had the chance of doing because my training was so specific. I have been exploring new roads in Spain; I did some gravel adventures; I started running; the list goes on. While I’m enjoying all of it, I am also trying to figure out my next step.

A lot of people have been asking me, “What are you going to do now that you are retired from professional cycling?” and the truth is that right now I don’t know, and I think that’s ok.

I want to take my time to figure it out and makes sure that my next goal in life will be something that makes me happy. I want to take my time and try different things and I’m grateful to have this chance to really explore.

While I’m experiencing all these amazing adventures, I’m also reflecting on my career. I had my ups and downs. It was never easy. I remember almost quitting the sport right after finishing 5th at the World Championships as a Junior and it took me a few years to shift things around and come back at a high level. It simply showed me that it’s okay to not always be at the top of your game and the importance of the people who you choose to be in your “village”. Choose wisely.

I also think it’s important to make leaps every year in this sport. You can have a long career, so no need to skip steps but make sure you improve every year. I think a balance between cycling and having a normal life is also paramount. Cycling is a hard sport, and it is especially hard for us Canadians because we have to come to Europe to race at the highest level. I was always jealous of my European teammates who just get to go home to their families after a race. Coming from another continent is even more challenging, but all those challenges were worth being able to represent my country at so many international events. My best memories were my gold medals in the Team Time Trial in 2014, 2015 and 2016…the only event where you get to go on the podium with the whole team!

After all these years racing as a professional, I hope my career can inspire the next generation of athletes, show them that it is possible to make it in Europe and to perform at the highest level of the sport.

By: Keely Shaw, 2020 Paralympic bronze medallist and Ph.D. student in Kinesiology & Exercise Science

Most people would likely consider competing at the Olympic/Paralympic level of sport the epitome of physical performance. Those same people would also likely consider pursing a doctorate degree the highest level of intellectual performance.  Somewhere along the line, I decided I wanted to do both of those things…at the same time.

Study full time to get a Ph.D. and hopefully be employable one day while also training full time to try to earn my spot on the podium at the greatest sporting event in the world. Most PhD students struggle to work in the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity recommended for health. I have to find 10-20 hours a week to train. It’s not uncommon for some grad students to spend 12 hours in the lab every day and consider 7 hours of sleep a great night. I need 8.5-9 hours every single night. The balancing act of all of these variables, responsibilities, and commitments may be an impossible task to some with two seemingly opposite aspects of academics and athletics.

However, I wouldn’t be telling the whole truth if I didn’t disclose that my Ph. D. is in exercise physiology and sport nutrition- the link between my studies and my athletics is pretty clear. My academic background helps me excel in cycling. My intimate understanding of human physiology and the nutritional needs of an athlete allow me to ask intelligent questions when working with a sports team. My lived experience as a cyclist allows me to bring a unique perspective to the research team.  But the link between my schooling and cycling careers goes beyond the “black and white” aspect that might seem intuitive. My schooling allows me to be a better cyclist, and my cycling allows me to be a better student and researcher. Being forced to make time for exercise, for sleep, and for proper nutrition make me a better researcher. Having school and research to focus on allows me to separate myself from cycling a little bit when necessary.

Thinking about the linkage between the two makes it seems like it should be “easy”, or natural to balance these two endeavours. But believe me, it’s not. It requires constant juggling of tasks; it requires constant communication with both my cycling and my academic teams; it requires me trying to manage each of my workloads so that when cycling demands are high, school demands are low and vice versa; it requires me to be ok with failure. I have to make sure that I schedule my life to the minute on days where it seems that time is at a premium. And it’s understanding my body and brain well enough to know when enough is enough. To not try to push through the suboptimal power outputs or the writer’s block, but to take it as a sign that it is time to rest, recover, repair, and try again tomorrow. To cut a training short on occasion.

What I’ve learned is that it’s inevitable that I’m going to drop the ball sometimes. Sometimes I feel like I’m dropping the ball more often than not. But, what I’ve realized is that some balls are rubber and are going to bounce back, unharmed when dropped. Other balls, though, are glass. If these balls are dropped, it irreparable. My life is a constant appraisal of the different balls I have in the air at any given moment and evaluating which are glass and which are rubber. This is not a one-time evaluation, but a fluid one.  A ball that is rubber one day could be glass the next.

My husband once told me that my job is to be exceptional. My job isn’t just to ride bikes, or even to try really hard when riding bikes. My job is to compete at the highest level and to bring home medals for Canada. My job isn’t just to read research papers, but to think at the highest level to ask and answer the questions that are going to help improve the health and performance of the next generation. But I don’t do what I do to be labelled as “exceptional”.

Rather, I don’t want a label at all. The reason I study, train, and compete at the highest level is because of the curiosity that I have and that values instilled in me that comes with everything that I do. The ability to push my body and see how fast it can go, while simultaneously learning about the overall ability of a human being to go beyond what is deemed the “norm” using the food we consume every day is what makes not only my life, sports and academic career amazing, but also motivates me to continue to do what I do. While, being a student and athlete is seemingly an impossible juggling act at times, the opportunity to learn about the body, push my own body, and represent my country is something that I wouldn’t trade for the world and has instilled values, experience and memories that will carry me through the rest of my life. Whether I’m inside the velodrome, in the classroom or on the bike, the opportunity cycling has given me has taught me not only about human potential as a whole, but has given me a better understanding of myself and what I’m capable of, not only as an athlete but as a human being.