January 20, 2006
Alcock Race World Cup #6 - St. Moritz, Switzerland

My body was a little battered and bruised following the sliding and racing in Konigssee, Germany but I was ready to experience my favorite stop on the tour, high up in the Swiss Alps. When our team arrived in Sils which is 20 minutes outside of St. Moritz, I quickly threw on my toque, mits, and jacket and ventured out to the huge expanse of cross country ski trails. It was about 10pm and all of the skiers had ventured back to their hotels to warm their feet and drink steaming cups of hot chocolate. I was the lone occupant of this vast terrain. I was craving some quiet away from the hotel. The moon was full that night and it illuminated the surrounding mountains, making them feel more powerful and grand and alive than I had remembered.

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January 13, 2006
Alcock Race World Cup #5 - Konigssee, Germany

We are just over a month away from the Olympic Skeleton race in Torino, Italy and to start off the second half of the season, we raced in the heart of Bavaria, Germany for the fifth World Cup. This is a track where I have some fond memories of competing at the World Championships in 2004 and winning the silver medal. I also won my first ever career World Cup medal here in 2001 to kick start my Olympic qualifications. Funny enough, this track would also prove to be the site of my worst-ever career finish.

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December 14, 2005
Alcock Race World Cup #4 - Sigulda, Latvia

I have had several days to absorb the experience of the previous race in Igls and have come to the conclusion that although it was a disappointing finish for me on paper, I realized that I still performed at a very high level. My initial reaction was of being ashamed and downright miserable about it but the thing is, that was the same reaction I felt after the near crash I had at the Calgary World Championships in February 2005. That experience was rightfully deserving of those emotions mentioned above, but the Igls race did not fall under that category. Not even close. I drove extremely well there and yes, adjustments would have to be made for future races. I knew that I could not let the disappointment of one race jade my outlook. I was not about to throw away everything I had worked for in my bid to compete at the Torino Olympics.

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November 18, 2005
Alcock Race World Cup #2 - Lake Placid

An Eastern storm is starting to descend on the Lake Placid, NY region, just as our team starts to make our way back to Montreal to catch a flight to Europe. It is always difficult to predict the weather in this region. During the first few days of training here, it was so balmy out, it was positively tropical! The ice really started melting on the sliding track and you could tell that the track workers were cursing the gods. Our stainless steel runners were getting quite scratched up because of the increased dust and debris in the track.

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November 9, 2005
Alcock Race World Cup #1 - Calgary

It was my intent to set various goals for the first race of the Olympic 2005/06 season. When Park City, UT lost their right to host the first race, Calgary was awarded the race in what proved to be a blessing for me. Having only just switched to the one-handed push in the summer, I needed as much time as possible in Calgary to maximize my training program with my coach and have access to the Ice House. The schedule change also took two weeks off of what was supposed to be an eight week stint away from home before Christmas.

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