It's wasn't an ideal way to wrap up the week, but with four medals under his belt, Yukon cyclist Zach Bell can still consider the national track championships a big success.

Bell, who now lives and trains in Kingston, Ont., competed in five events at the championships, which were held in Dieppe, N.B. Racing for Team Alberta, he won gold in the men's points race, gold as part of the team pursuit, silver in the individual pursuit and silver in the men's scratch race.

Unfortunately, things didn't go quite as planned in his final race on Sunday, the madison.

Bell and partner Martin Gilbert of Quebec, who had been riding the event together all year internationally, were in a good position throughout most of the race, until about nine laps to go.

'Right from the get go, we were feeling heavy legs from the rest of the weekend,' said Bell. 'We were in a good position, but we were definitely not racing our best.

'I suddenly felt my front wheel pick up and I knew I was going down right away. I hit pretty hard. It was probably the second worst crash I've had, in terms of impact.'

Martin suffered just bumps and bruises while Bell was taken to hospital, mainly for precautionary measures. He has what he described as 'a substantial bruise' on his hip as well as a concussion.

'It was a bit rough, but I'm OK. It could have been a lot more serious, definitely.'

Bell is now resting at home and expects to be back training on the bike in a few days.

Reflecting back on the entire week, he was pleased with his overall performance, although he admitted being disappointed with a silver medal in the individual pursuit.

'There were definitely some high points and not so high points.'

Bell headed into the championships a favourite in the individual pursuit. Not only was he the defending national champion in the event, he also grabbed a bronze medal at the Pan American Championships in June.

In Dieppe, he was beaten by B.C.'s Svein Tuft.

'To just get nipped in that final, it was anticlimactic,' said Bell. 'But the guy who beat me was no slouch either.

'Winning the points race kind of made up for it though. I've been trying to win that for four years, so it was pretty sweet to win.'

The scratch race on Saturday, said Bell, was the most fun he's ever had at nationals. Bell was part of a group of endurance athletes which were 'kind of the favourites', including madison partner Gilbert.

But this year, one of the big time sprint racers Alberta's Travis Smith who two medals at the Commonwealth Games decided to enter the event as well.

'That added an interesting dynamic to it,' explained Bell. 'If we ended up sprinting to the end as a group, no word of a lie, he'd cream us.

'We knew we either had to tire him out or get away from him. Coming down the line, we kept the pace really high.'

In the end, it was Gilbert who beat Bell by about four inches for the title while Smith finished third.

'I really enjoyed it,' stated Bell.

In the team pursuit, Bell was riding with teammates he wasn't really too familiar with, road riders who have now taken an interest in track cycling. Technically, said Bell, they rode pretty good, but there were definitely some things that could be improved.

He said it was just great to see new riders interested in track, because it means the talent pool is growing.

This year's nationals were actually more of a selection race in terms of identifying new riders, Bell explained.

Normally, the championships are held in June, but they pushed them to September this year, in order to make them closer to the first World Cup race, which will take place in eight weeks in Sydney, Australia.

That way, said Bell, the Canadian Cycling Association can identify more athletes that might do well for Canada in Sydney.

'With the expanded talent pool now, hopefully we'll start putting together a stronger team pursuit program, which is really the best way to qualify more guys for the Olympics.'

Since Bell had already established a spot on the national team for the first World Cup race this fall, the national championships won't really change anything for him.

His focus will still be the same, with a strong emphasis on the individual pursuit.

'It will probably give the coaches a little more confidence in me, in terms of the points race. Racing at the international level in a points race is a lot different though than racing in a points race nationally.

'But it may open up a few more opportunities for me. I might get an event or two more, based on my performance at nationals.'

It's a performance which Bell ranks as his most successful yet at the national level, despite the crash.

'I've never really been able to ride this well in September,' he explained. 'So, in terms of performance, this was definitely the best.'