A wet and soggy TNR

photo by Dave McLellan

TNR #3 for me, and eye-balls out was just one of the terms that I've heard/read regarding how this ride ended up!!! A large group especially for how snotty it was out.....well, just wet, ended up being an awesome night! Lots of tight technical single track, some nasty climbing up Scafe to the amazing view of fog (eerie), some fast descending....all ending with the road hammer back to the switch bridge.

Yup, that was painful. Managed to hang with the group for a little, but one of the short steep road climbs I just couldn't hold the pace today and was dropped like a sack of hammers. Haha, when you have the likes of Max hammering out the front you know it's going to be a hard pace. After running Regan off the path way in my delirious swerving to keep in contact, I managed to slot in behind a group of 4 guys....lead by none other then my matching track suit partner in crime. Sorry guys for letting the gap open up :-(

I was just barely hanging off the back of this group the whole way in, siting just out of contact the last couple km... great training!! Thanks guys for letting me tag along again....and for the convenient mechanical/bathroom break for me around big trees (not as easy for me :-)

Thank you Steve!

I just want to send out a huge THANK YOU to friend and cyclist Steve Simons for taking the time to sit down with me, point me in the right direction and give me a lot of great advice on how to approach sponsorship and my hunt for sponsorship. Steve is founder and owner of Beyond Action Strategy Consulting.....which is exactly the kind of help that I needed. His company helps people and companies not only plan their strategy for business, but he gives you the tools and ideas to help you to attack and follow through with action on your strategy.

After last season I was a little bit of a cross roads with my season, being a full time unpaid professional cyclist racing against fully professional cyclists is a lot of really hard work, and there is only so long that you can bang your head against those walls. I wasn't really sure what my plan of attack for this year would be. I had a great cross season, but that really didn't seem to open up the sponsorship doors like it would have if I was racing with an American license. Steve sat me down after my first rotation of work and was able to give me a whole new and fresh look on what I was doing, got me excited about racing and trying to be a professional racer.....and he made me realize that I'm doing exactly what I really want to do. Steve is chock full of innovative and actually easy ideas on how to conduct your buisness and plan your "action".

So I have to again send out a huge THANK YOU Steve!!! If you or your company is in need of some Beyond Action Strategy Consulting you can contact Steve at steven.simons@shaw.ca ....and he's just fun to be around too!

Campbell River Riding

I can't believe I'm home!!! I can't believe I'm really done work!!! Going for over 5 weeks almost straight, minus 2 short days at home, really wasn't cool. Not really stoked on being away from home for that long at all, and man, waaaay too much trainer time. Back to being a full time cyclist again, and what an awesome first couple days at home!! I mean, 15 degrees yesterday...yippee, perfect weekend for some mountain biking!!

Whirl wind unpack..or more like work clothes puked all over the condo, and repack of cycling gear for the weekend and road trip up to Campbell River for Island Cup #3. I've never been to Campbell River much less ridden there....wow, really beautiful place and amazing riding! Great way to get back on the bike. After being only on the trainer for over a month, I really wasn't sure how everything would feel, but it's just like riding a bike...I know, bad joke. I knew I would have the flat trainer grade dialed for sure, I would kill a trainer race right now. But throw a hill in there, and I'm a hurtin unit for sure. Fast flowy buff singletrack for about 95% of the course is definitely what make Island Cup racing....and good thing for me, there was less then 170m of climbing a lap.

I lined up behind Jamie Cameron, massive powerhouse of Pro City Racing team, planning to use him to draft me up the start lap..haha, but I must have jumped the gun, because we ended up tangling handlebars and he was literally dragging me along...not really what I had in mind. Sorry Jamie. Once I got myself sorted out I was somewhere in the back of the pack watching Dawn Anderson ride away from me. Luck for me, I for some reason still have my really good starts and was able to power back up....unlucky for me, I don't have the recovery and fitness to survive these hard starts and I was getting that metallic taste in the back of my throat. Goal for this race, go out as hard as I could and shock the c$&p out of my high end system which has been on holidays since Louisville USGP. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

After killing myself in the first 15 mins, I had to settle in, find my groove and see what my legs and body could handle. Riding this course I was thinking, oh this is easy, nothing to it, but racing it was another story. Full on power course, with no rest, and all the smooth buffness of the trail seems to disappear when you're a little bit tired. And tough on the back!!

Halfway through the first lap I could just see Regan up in the distance, probably had 30-40 seconds on me, and I continued to chase him down finally catching halfway through the 2nd lap. For the next lap and a half we hammered each other into the ground....felt just like our normal Sunday rides :-) On the long steady false flat I finally managed to pull away from Regan, thinking I'd finally shaken him. A little encouragement on the way past...or maybe some ribbing, I laid the hammer down trying to put some time into him.

When what to my wondering eyes did appear.....he managed to pull me back in and pass me on the final technical singletrack section. DOH!!! Keeping as close to him as possible, we popped out onto the double track within seconds of each other. With about a km of rolling double track to go, I hammered to catch up, finally grabbing his wheel on the last corner and slingshot around him to sprint. I could see Regan grabbing my wheel....but the battle was on....love or not this is war!! The final finish sprint seemed to go on forever!!! Haha, and I just nipped him out by 1 second at the line :-)

I was pleasantly surprised how good I actually felt during the race and pushing myself hard again, great way to jump start the system and training....now I'm back to being a full time cyclist. Thank you Campbell River for the awesome race, the post race hot dogs and Regan for the sprint finish!!!!

School Bike League

School Bike League from HIDEF Productions on Vimeo.

Ever wonder why Vancouver Island is such a hot bed of top level cyclists?? The School Bike League here is amazing, what a great way to get kids involved with an amazing sport and lifestyle. Thanks for letting me a part of this!!

And man, do I ever have to work on my interview style.....stylist anyone???? Please!!

Binab Property Group

Thank you Jason Binab of Binab Property Group for the support and sponsorship for the 2012 season!! Binab Property Group is a fantastic team of real estate consultants who are great and easy to work with, offering a "one stop shop" helping to remove a lot of the stress of buying a home. Working with part of this great team really made buying our first home really easy and enjoyable!!!

Binab Property group is a really active part of the community and supports a lot of programs and events in Victoria. And check out their online mini series, Design District !!!

This is a wonderful group of people and I'm really excited to work with Binab Property Group this season and in the future! And now that Jason has made the switch to the dark side, I have another training partner too.....when I finish working!

Eatmore Sprouts

YES!!!!! The best sprouts and greens ever!!!! I am really, really excited to welcome and send a huge thank you out to locally and family owned and operated Eatmore Sprouts and Greens to my great team of sponsors for the 2012 season. The Wakeling family of Comox Valley have been amazing supporters of island cycling and if you've ever had opportunity to race or watch one of the local island races you've likely met one or more members of this great family.

Eatmore Sprouts is a certified organic farm that produces a wide variety of the best tasting sprouts you've tasted. Pea shoots, alfalfa sprouts, garlic sprouts....you name it, they grow it....and tastier then anyone else!!!! Try some sprouts on your grilled cheese next time...YUMMMMMMM!!!

Broadmead Physio Clinic

I want to welcome Paul and his awesome crew at Broadmead Physio to my list of amazing sponsors for the 2012/2013 season. Paul has been my go to guy whenever I've had any little injury, or question since I've moved to Victoria. Referred to me by Melanie McQuaid, you have to know that he is going to be one of the best in the industry. Paul has put me through the paces with the extensive rehab on my shoulder and after my hernia surgery, and I can only imagine where I would be at in my recovery if I didn't have Paul on my side....I mean, this man really knows his stuff.

Have you ever had just a general physical assessment done?? Neither had I, but I was convinced to go get one done, and although I didn't have any glaring imbalances, he was able to point out a couple areas that I could stretch out better and strengthen better.....a very valuable tool for any athlete, professional or not! You may be the strongest, most flexible individual in the world, but there is always somewhere you can improve.

Paul McIntyre has worked with World Champions and athletes of all levels....and he's a cyclist so he know exactly what a cyclist needs!! Go get your physical assessment today, it could mean a huge gain just by strengthening one small muscle group!!

Thank you Broadmead Physio for your support in the past and continued support in the future!!