Heat acclimation in Canada for Cairo

In September, Carson Mattern went to Cairo for the first time, to compete in the junior track world championships. The 17-year-old rider from Ancaster, Ont., didn’t know what to expect from the city he’d only seen in the movies. He found heat, a lot of it. Even though he was struck by the temperatures in Cairo, he was actually ready for them.

“We had a massive heat wave in Ontario leading up to the event,” he said. “So, we had 30 to 35 C days anyway. Going to Cairo kind of felt like the same old, same old. I feel the heat worked to my advantage.”

On the second day of the event, Mattern competed in the scratch race, which was 10 km throughout 40 laps. At around 15 laps to go, he attacked and got away from the bunch. “That was a really full-out two and a half minutes. Looking at the power file afterwards, the heart rate was absolutely insane. I think the average heart rate for that attack was 215 b.p.m.,” he said. He was able to stay away and lap the field. That move secured the win and the rainbow jersey for Mattern.— MP