December 3, 2003 (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) – On December 1st, a group of eleven Canadian track athletes traveled south to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for a two week training camp led by National Track Coach, Eric Van den Eynde. Most of Canada's top endurance track athletes were present: Mark Ernsting of British Columbia, Erin Carter of Manitoba, and nine Quebec athletes, Charles Dionne, Jean-Francois Laroche, Alex Cloutier, Martin Gilbert, Alex Maurais, Sebastien Pilotte, Dominique Rollin, Kevin Lacombe, Pascal Choquette and Bruno Langlois.

On Monday, the first day of training, the ambiance was intense as everyone compared their winter fitness with the others and everyone pushed the pace. Half-way through the training Dominique Rollin, who hadn't ridden on a track in three years and wasn't used to riding a fixed gear bike, tried to stop pedaling and ended up going down hard. Immediately, he knew he'd fractured his collar-bone because he'd already fractured it three times before. He quickly began making plans to return home.

It is unfortunate to have lost Rollin to injury the very first day of training, especially due to an ill-fated crash. However, the camp resumed and everyone is settling into the rhythm of training. The group trains twice a day, a morning session on the track and an evening session on the road. The purpose of this camp is to improve physical fitness in a more conducive climate and to improve technical skills on the track. The first week has a technical focus and the second week will have a fitness focus.

This camp is to help identify potential Canadian track athletes who want to compete on the International circuit. There will be another National track training camp at the end of January to select the athletes who will represent Canada at the World Cup events starting mid-February. Stay tuned for more news about “Fun in Florida”.