Tim Heemskerk

As of January 1st I will start my new job as National Coach MTB of The Netherlands. As a result of that I will cease my activities related to TTP. I would like to thank everyone that was part of the TTP venture in the past. It was really nice to see almost everyone reach their set goals for the respective seasons, and perform at their best potential (for the presented circumstances) while being part of our trip. I will carry all these memories with me in my new job! Take Care!!

Nieuwegein, 17 december 2009 – De Koninklijke Nederlandsche Wielren Unie (KNWU) stelt Tim Heemskerk (33) aan als nieuwe bondscoach mountainbike. Heemskerk scout, coacht en begeleidt vanaf 1 januari 2010 de nationale selectieleden in het Olympisch traject richting Londen 2012. “De KNWU heeft gestreefd naar een talentvolle jonge groep bondscoaches rond de Olympische disciplines. Met de aanstelling van Tim Heemskerk is deze compleet en kunnen we vooruitkijken,”vertelt technisch directeur Thorwald Veneberg.

Heemskerk is afgestudeerd bewegingswetenschapper en is de afgelopen vijf jaar in Edmonton, Canada actief geweest met zijn eigen coach-bedrijf TTP. Renners die hij heeft begeleid zijn onder andere Yvo Custers (NL), Ryan Hopping (CAN), Cody Canning (CAN). Daarnaast is hij in Canada actief geweest als organisator van verschillende wedstrijden voor jeugd. “Tijdens mijn verblijf in Canada ben ik het Nederlandse mountainbiken blijven volgen. Ik heb diverse talenten aan het werk gezien en zie erna uit om met ze naar mooie prestaties toe te werken,” aldus Tim Heemskerk. In zijn actieve carrière als renner was Heemskerk onder andere lid van de Nederlandse selectie voor EK en WK in 2002 en in Canada won hij diverse prijzen waaronder de Alberta Mountainbike Cup en ongeveer 60 wedstrijden in 4 seizoenen.

bron: www.knwu.nl

A difficult thing to coach is Self Motivation: the initiative to continue a task or activity without another’s prodding or supervision.

Today Maarten and me and our team helper Lars traveled all the way to the south to participate in a MTB race over 1 hr in Meijel. It was a very FAST course without any technical riding but still fun to fly low on this course with many corners. Due to no previous participation we had to start behind the riders with a classification and a resulting call up. It took me about 1.5 laps to get to the lead group of about 8 riders and 2 laps after that the group split in 2 and we got away with 4 riders with about 20 min to go. The next lap I accelerated through the trees and we were left with 3 people. During the last 2 laps the pace went down and the winner was going to be decided between the 3 of us. I was not riding so smooth anymore after not being in competition for a while now, see previous post. During the last lap Gody Jacobs accelerated and I made one small mistake which cost me and Leon Crienen the win. Gody rode fast over the last long stretch of the course and it was impossible to close this gap in the last 1 km of the course so we settled for 2nd and 3rd. Leon finished 2nd and I rolled in right behind in 3rd. A fun race and good competition especially by Leon Crienen who is a real specialist in these winter series winning quite some race lately in this winter series. As for myself I am happy I was able to be in the mix this time of the year. I have not been competing much lately and am following a "new and sophisticated" periodization plan according to the latest training models and cycling research. In summary: it is the usual and common base training during base period for the spring and summer time, alternated with boosts of aerobic, anaerobic and explosive (lactic and a-lactic) efforts. It is really important, however, to apply those in the right ratio's. This formula has already proven to be really successful for pro- athletes. Maarten, our team manager, raced really well too. With only a few hrs of training a week he was able to finish 6th after not competing for months. It also show the new plan works greatly! Maybe a career shift for him?

Last weekend I raced in Appelscha for the Championships of North- East Holland. It was a really nice course in a forest with some technical sections that really suits a MTB racer. Right from the beginning we got up front with a group of 3. We attacked each other a few times but every time the group got back together so we were up for a sprint of 3. Unfortunately for me I dropped my chain right near the end, just before the final sprint and finished 3rd. I was the first ELITE racer so won my category since the 2 other guys were still U23's. A good weekend right in the middle of our move. No riding the 2 days before the race and right back to our home after I finished the race, not ideal but the legs were OK.

Last Sunday I raced the National cross called Walsbergcross in Reuver- Limburg. I am not sure how long it was ago since I last raced in my home province of Limburg, yes originate from this province and actually had quite the racing years for the organizing club called Midden- Limburg. They did an excellent job and it was very nice to see some familiar faces of people who were already supporting cycling back in the days when I was like 14 years old. They put on a cross race on one of the nicest cross courses I have ever done, period. I made the 3 hrs trip back and forth with a pleasure. The race went pretty well for me but I am still lacking some fitness after a 2- week period of being sick. It is coming back and the 4th cylinder is starting to move and maybe it will fire soon! 2 guys got away during the first lap and I was right behind a group of 4 for 3rd for a while and near the end their gap got a little bigger and I finished a solid 7th place. With a few more workouts I should be able to hang in there with the guys of this group in front of me. Deb did a good job driving part of our trip, running the wheel pit, cheering and taking care of our dog at the same time. We have been a good team the past few races, team Heemer! One guy near the wheel pit tried to be funny @ me and commented on my wheel set, he was pointing out at my Dugast Rhino's and he meant to say I had guts to have those for spare wheels...I quickly returned him with a comment that this was all I had for spare wheels, nothing else to choose from, that I do not grow a money tree in my backyard like him. Easy for him to say with 2 spare bikes in his hands for the JUNIOR rider he was supporting at the time. Yes, cross is a big thing over here and dare to bring the wrong kind of wheels/ tires into the wheel pit! It does reflect how serious and professional cyclocross already is over here at a junior level, and no wonder these kids are so fast, it is serious business over here!

After a few people asked me to update my blog I realized people actually do read it so here we go! Things are slowly settling down here in Groningen. We have had a busy period over here from getting our needed stuff together (like purchasing a car, a house, kitchen stuff, vacuum cleaner, dressoir and other furniture) to doing our jobs and a bit of family life in the south of the country. We're both looking forward moving into our new house in Zuidhorn next weekend! That is when we really have our own home instead of camping in our current rental house. In a real home one can really relax from stressors in life and you can do whatever you want to do since it is your property, these things lacked which made our life a little harder. We are both from Holland but the North of the country was new for us too and we do not have any family living here. The only times we have seen family is when we traveled south, twice now in 2 months.

Being back in Holland is nice for a few reasons, one of them is that I'm not considered being a foreigner anymore. Yes, even after 5 years in Alberta I have noticed that quite often in different situations when I was working, in sports and in social life. It only did increase my respect for people who decided to start a new life in a new country, because they do face a lot of challenges, one of them for example is trying to get rid of their "funny accent" when speaking English. I have always had interest in people who go out of their comfort zone, people who do want to go out and explore and more importantly grow! We have taken a lot of great experiences back to Holland with us and have grown as a person again.

I am also racing my bike for a team here in the North of Holland, although it has been hard to focus on racing and training with so many distractions going on right now, all sucking time and energy out of you. I have had a few DNF's because of it but also already won a MTB race in Rozendaal, and now I am crossing things up a bit. I am not sure if I will continue racing cross in the next few months since I do not have my cross equipment set up properly to do this well enough for the races to come. Next weekend Deb and me are moving into our new home and things will look different again so that's what we are focusing on right now, again out of our current comfort zone for us when we are moving to a different town meeting all new people. Owww...by- the- way our street we're going to live in is called: Heemskerkstraat (straat= street in Dutch), and the house just came on the market when we were looking for a house in that particular town: Coincidence or Destiny? You decide!

Later, -Tim.