Its hard to believe the snow is about to fly soon!  This is going to be my most epic season to date with the Paralympics coming up in March.  I had a very busy summer with school, training and work.  It was nice to be back in Arnprior to see my friends and family for awhile.  The summer flew by and soon found myself looking forward to moving back to Whistler.

For the month of September my best friend Mitch and I bought an RV and drove across our beautiful and amazing country (Halifax to Vancouver).  I wanted to gain an appreciation for the country I was going to represent and it is something I have always wanted to do.  To anyone thinking about doing it I would strongly recommend packing your bags and going. You will not regret it!  Check out some of the pictures!

I am now back in Whistler training full time.  It feels great to be so close to the gym and have the support team I have around me again.  I am able to see my coach and trainers on a daily basis.  I try to get to the gym four times a week, trampoline two to three times and get to yoga when I can.  I have gotten myself into a good routine and my trainer has me on a sport specific training schedule.  I cant wait to hit the snow and see the benefits of conditioning before the season.

I will be in Whistler until November 1^st.  I then go back to Ottawa for a week to visit family then to Banff to start the season!  In less then a month and I will be on snow!  The team will be training out of Lake Louise for the month of November to get on the snow early.  We then move to Big White for the month of December to hopefully get some training on a track.  I will be spending my Christmas break in Whistler getting in as many days on snow as possible!  My competition season starts in January in the United States, we then venture to Canada before heading over to Europe for a few World Cups and World Championships.  We then come back to Big White for a pre games camp.  We then fly over to Russia for most of March.  If everything goes as planned and I don’t get injured I should hopefully be representing Canada at the 2014 Paralympics!  The amount of pride and excitement I have is overwhelming.  I am so pumped.

It is going to be a crazy year and I look forward to sharing it with everyone!  I want to thank all my sponsors, family, and friends that have supported me and continue to support me. Let the snow fly!

John Leslie was featured as one of the Paralympic Sochi Hopeful Athletes at this years Canada Day ceremony located at Parliment Hill in Downtown Ottawa.  Pictures and articles below.

Newswire

Location: Slovenia

Race Type: Para World Cup

Representing: Canada

After some great racing and sight seeing in Russia the Canadian Team had one day to travel to Slovenia for the Para World Cup, it was quite the adventure. After a full day of catching flights and enjoying lay overs we then got to hop in a van and drive for 10 hours. We arrived in Slovenia at 9am the morning of training, I was pretty tired and the stress levels were high. Trying to make the most of spring riding conditions was hard but as a team we pulled through.

The Streets of Slovenia

Something I am learning as a athlete is that sometimes you have to race in less then ideal conditions. I was personally battling a health issue at the time so fatigue and snow conditions were not helping the situation. I had to remind myself of all the people supporting me from back in Canada and how thankful I am to be doing what I am doing.

Dropping In The Course

It was a rough day of racing and I wasnt happy with my performance. Although I placed 8^th I was not running the course to my full potential. This was a very good lesson for me. I was able to learn from my mistakes and get a taste of what competing on the road can feel like sometimes. As an athlete this experience made me stronger so that in the future obstacles like this will become less and less of a problem. After the race I was very excited to get back to Canada!

In the words of:  John Leslie