Hehe, just a quick little post before I go completely comatose. Jeff Neilson (the bestest partner in the world) and I survived another stage race. It was a really challenging race not only due to the long tough days, we clocked 33 hours in 7 days...but it rained 6 out of the 7 days....5 of which were bone chilling (day 6 it rained so hard I couldn't see where I was going).
Nap time and banquet time, I'll try to put up a better post when I can see straight again.
Ciao
Saturday, 15 August 2009
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Nut Bar
After two nice days of riding in Ellicottville, NY (there's some pretty great road and mountain biking there), I jetted it back to the Toronto airport to catch a plane back to Calgary. Due to my lack of planning I decided just to take a taxi home from the airport...bad idea...it was over $10 before I even left the airport grounds....and it cost my freakin $60.....crazy....and I even had to hold the door open to the trunk while the driver unloaded my bags because it was busted...baaaah.
So today I unpacked, did laundry, repacked....haha, I see I cycle forming here. Managed to squeeze in a dry ride in there and made a nut square for the TR...yumi
1 cup toasted almonds
1 cup pecans
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
blend in food processor
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cup oats
2 tsp flax seed
add to food processor and blend
1 cup dates
1 cup dried apricot
1/2 cup raisins
add and blend
1 apple
add and blend
1 cup of melted honey
...add while processing
flatten onto backing sheet and put in the freezer over night....soooo good.
Saturday we're leaving for Panorama and Sunday the Transrockies starts.
So today I unpacked, did laundry, repacked....haha, I see I cycle forming here. Managed to squeeze in a dry ride in there and made a nut square for the TR...yumi
1 cup toasted almonds
1 cup pecans
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
blend in food processor
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cup oats
2 tsp flax seed
add to food processor and blend
1 cup dates
1 cup dried apricot
1/2 cup raisins
add and blend
1 apple
add and blend
1 cup of melted honey
...add while processing
flatten onto backing sheet and put in the freezer over night....soooo good.
Saturday we're leaving for Panorama and Sunday the Transrockies starts.
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
Bromont World Cup - tough day in the office
After a week of the forecasts guaranteeing a warm dry weekend, but each day being 'surprised' with rain, I finally break down on Sat during the pre-ride to change my rear tire from my favorite Bontrager Revolt to the more aggressive Bontrager Jones AX (not a full mud tire but a fast rolling aggressive tire that works good in the mud). Come sunday, I am really happy I made that decision.
The start of the race we are sent up a long steep climb that switchbacks up the ski hill, definitely not my forte, being by far the tallest/biggest rider out there...enough said..hehe. It's about a 8-10 min climb, not a steady pitch, but with a lot of loose punchy sections that really take a lot of effort to clean. I manage a really good start, a lot better then I was really expecting, and found myself in very good company for the first lap. I knew it was a pace slightly above where I should be, so I back it off part way up the first climb once the pack spreads out slightly, and settle into my pace. However, due to the pitch of the climb, even staying in my easiest gear I find I am burning a little more of my match book then I would ideally like to, but that's racing.
Once you hit the top of the climb, the course sends you down an old four cross course (which last year we actually climbed up) with some sketchy doubles and slick berms. Lap 3 I go barreling a little too fast into one of the top berms...I can see it coming a mile away, but for some reason don't seem to be able to react appropriately, and find myself splayed out on the course with my bike 10 feet away....and 3 girls pass me....ugggg. Nothing hurts too bad, not very much blood either, I was really expecting more from that one, but it takes me a second to pick myself back up.
There isn't a lot of decending in this course considering how much we climb, which is a little disheartening....after 8 mins of climbing I expect something spectacular. The 2nd half of the lap is tough technical singletrack that traverses the ski hill out and back, with some pretty gnarly rock faces, made even more sketchy with the slick layer of mud. This is generally where I find myself making up most of my time on the svelt little climbers....RRRAAAAAAAHHHH...that's me powering through these sections. Although super fun, this doesn't allow for a lot of rest or recovery from the long climb.... yeah, this is a really physically challenging course.
Sunday wasn't a great day for me really, don't really have a good excuse. I found it hard mentally when I needed to slow down and let the girls that I usually find myself racing with pull away from me, I seemed to have my head stuck up my general area a little (that's what my mom would say). Getting pulled on the last lap wasn't a super good feeling either, but I had pushed really hard in the fourth lap to make up some time and a 5th lap would have been extremely slow and painful...though I do sadistically welcome that kind of pain. I like very much to believe that you learn the most from these kinds of races that don't go as well as planned.
And I consider us women very, very lucky that our race ended when it did. Although we had some rain during our race, it was nothing compared to the crazy downpour the poor men had to warm-up and race in.....I didn't even want to ride back to the hotel in it...yuck.
Spending a couple of days in Ellicottville, New York now with Trek Toronto's Barry Near doing some riding and relaxing and team bonding. Home late Wednesday evening to unpack and repack...leave on Saturday for the Transrockies...yippeeeeee. Busy buy loving it.
The start of the race we are sent up a long steep climb that switchbacks up the ski hill, definitely not my forte, being by far the tallest/biggest rider out there...enough said..hehe. It's about a 8-10 min climb, not a steady pitch, but with a lot of loose punchy sections that really take a lot of effort to clean. I manage a really good start, a lot better then I was really expecting, and found myself in very good company for the first lap. I knew it was a pace slightly above where I should be, so I back it off part way up the first climb once the pack spreads out slightly, and settle into my pace. However, due to the pitch of the climb, even staying in my easiest gear I find I am burning a little more of my match book then I would ideally like to, but that's racing.
Once you hit the top of the climb, the course sends you down an old four cross course (which last year we actually climbed up) with some sketchy doubles and slick berms. Lap 3 I go barreling a little too fast into one of the top berms...I can see it coming a mile away, but for some reason don't seem to be able to react appropriately, and find myself splayed out on the course with my bike 10 feet away....and 3 girls pass me....ugggg. Nothing hurts too bad, not very much blood either, I was really expecting more from that one, but it takes me a second to pick myself back up.
There isn't a lot of decending in this course considering how much we climb, which is a little disheartening....after 8 mins of climbing I expect something spectacular. The 2nd half of the lap is tough technical singletrack that traverses the ski hill out and back, with some pretty gnarly rock faces, made even more sketchy with the slick layer of mud. This is generally where I find myself making up most of my time on the svelt little climbers....RRRAAAAAAAHHHH...that's me powering through these sections. Although super fun, this doesn't allow for a lot of rest or recovery from the long climb.... yeah, this is a really physically challenging course.
Sunday wasn't a great day for me really, don't really have a good excuse. I found it hard mentally when I needed to slow down and let the girls that I usually find myself racing with pull away from me, I seemed to have my head stuck up my general area a little (that's what my mom would say). Getting pulled on the last lap wasn't a super good feeling either, but I had pushed really hard in the fourth lap to make up some time and a 5th lap would have been extremely slow and painful...though I do sadistically welcome that kind of pain. I like very much to believe that you learn the most from these kinds of races that don't go as well as planned.
And I consider us women very, very lucky that our race ended when it did. Although we had some rain during our race, it was nothing compared to the crazy downpour the poor men had to warm-up and race in.....I didn't even want to ride back to the hotel in it...yuck.
Spending a couple of days in Ellicottville, New York now with Trek Toronto's Barry Near doing some riding and relaxing and team bonding. Home late Wednesday evening to unpack and repack...leave on Saturday for the Transrockies...yippeeeeee. Busy buy loving it.
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Jour très triste!
I finally made it to the chocolate bowl place and was super ready for the ultimate hot chocolate experience....and it closed at 5:30 pm....what kind of cafe closes at 5:30??? geeezzzzz
Had a great ride today, was supposed to do just a road ride, but couldn't resist the call of the mud and snuck on the course a cruise through the technical second half of the course. I was actually really, really surprised with how well the course held up after last nights crazy storm. We must have gotten 10 cm of rain (I'm not joking) in less than an hour..it was absolutely ridiculous. But it was really good for the plants..hehe..and there's nothing like finishing a great ride with a wild raspberry feast...yummmmy.
Had a great ride today, was supposed to do just a road ride, but couldn't resist the call of the mud and snuck on the course a cruise through the technical second half of the course. I was actually really, really surprised with how well the course held up after last nights crazy storm. We must have gotten 10 cm of rain (I'm not joking) in less than an hour..it was absolutely ridiculous. But it was really good for the plants..hehe..and there's nothing like finishing a great ride with a wild raspberry feast...yummmmy.
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Est-ce que c'est le soleil ?
Wow, what is this big burning ball of fire that produces heat and light???? The mythical sun...hehe...haven't seen the sun in a while but yesterday was awesome. Hot and sunny all day, oh yeah, don't forget very very humid. I went for an early morning spin at 10 and came back an hour later drenched. Today is supposed to be something similar, not as much sun, but about 40 with humidity....good day to go sit in an air conditioned coffee shop and drink the worlds best hot chocolate. That was my mission yesterday but I failed....second attempt today. You have to know, this isn't just any ordinary hot chocolate, it's amazing and will totally wreck hot chocolate for you forever....but you have to be in the mood for this extremely rich drink...if not, it'll totally put you over the top.
Happy Trails
Happy Trails
Monday, 27 July 2009
Mud St Anne
Never fails to be a challenging muddy race. All week I was watching the forcast for Sainte Anne de Beaupre, the small town at the base of Mont St Anne, and all week the forecast called for rain everyday, with 30-40 mm on saturday and sunday..yikes. But everyday I checked, the rain was pushed back another day...but I kept the mud tires close on hand. Just light rain during the night, but the course was drying up great and come sunday morning everything looked in awesome shape and the Bontrager Revolts (great all around dry to tacky tire) stayed on. Just as we were called to the staging area and the skys opened up. Oh my goodness rain.
The start was the very typical World Cup start, 55 starters sprinting into the first corner. They got rid of the start loop this year and there was no big climb off the start to string us out, so by the time we hit the first singletrack we were all off the bike and climbing over eachother trying to gain a spot...it was pure World Cup madness..very euro style. As we all strained ourselves through the single lane the race quickly became very spread out.
The rain hadn't soaked into the ground yet, so most everything was rideable, but as the race wore on, the raining stopped and the mud started turning into chucky peanut butter...vera slickery. The sketchy rock garden descent stayed in surprisingly good shape through out the race, though there were some really good stories of really good crashes. After the race I found out there was a "chicken line" cut the night before around the rocks..oh well. I managed to clean the section everytime, but on lap three the berm at the bottom after the downhill claimed my front and rear tire at the same time and I slide through the berm (about 15 feet) on my rear. It actually was kinda fun..hehe.
I had a solid day all in all, faded a little at the end....oh yeah, but my highlight of the race was chasing the current World Champion jersey of Margarita Fulliana down to the finish line......hehe. I was definitely motivated to put that notch into my belt, but didn't catch her and finished 23rd on the day.
Today I got up early, ran into fellow team Canada rider Ryan grabbing hish bike from the mechanics and we road up the ski hill access road in the pouring rain for about an hour. Too bad the fog was so thick we couldn't see anything because it probably woulda been a great view. From there we started down the DH world cup course..hehe, that was a little short lived, and found a more xc friendly trail. It ended up being a wicked 30 min downhill through some pretty nasty mud...oh my poor clean bike... Thank for the wicked ride.
After a crazy long travel day (not sure how a 3 horu drive turns into 7 hours of travel.......) we made it to Bromont...land of the best hot chocolate....which I'm looking for tomorrow.
Super big thanks to the entire CCA staff that helped out at the race...you guys rock.
Oh yeah, huge congrats to Kika for winning her second World Cup!!!!!!
The start was the very typical World Cup start, 55 starters sprinting into the first corner. They got rid of the start loop this year and there was no big climb off the start to string us out, so by the time we hit the first singletrack we were all off the bike and climbing over eachother trying to gain a spot...it was pure World Cup madness..very euro style. As we all strained ourselves through the single lane the race quickly became very spread out.
The rain hadn't soaked into the ground yet, so most everything was rideable, but as the race wore on, the raining stopped and the mud started turning into chucky peanut butter...vera slickery. The sketchy rock garden descent stayed in surprisingly good shape through out the race, though there were some really good stories of really good crashes. After the race I found out there was a "chicken line" cut the night before around the rocks..oh well. I managed to clean the section everytime, but on lap three the berm at the bottom after the downhill claimed my front and rear tire at the same time and I slide through the berm (about 15 feet) on my rear. It actually was kinda fun..hehe.
I had a solid day all in all, faded a little at the end....oh yeah, but my highlight of the race was chasing the current World Champion jersey of Margarita Fulliana down to the finish line......hehe. I was definitely motivated to put that notch into my belt, but didn't catch her and finished 23rd on the day.
Today I got up early, ran into fellow team Canada rider Ryan grabbing hish bike from the mechanics and we road up the ski hill access road in the pouring rain for about an hour. Too bad the fog was so thick we couldn't see anything because it probably woulda been a great view. From there we started down the DH world cup course..hehe, that was a little short lived, and found a more xc friendly trail. It ended up being a wicked 30 min downhill through some pretty nasty mud...oh my poor clean bike... Thank for the wicked ride.
After a crazy long travel day (not sure how a 3 horu drive turns into 7 hours of travel.......) we made it to Bromont...land of the best hot chocolate....which I'm looking for tomorrow.
Super big thanks to the entire CCA staff that helped out at the race...you guys rock.
Oh yeah, huge congrats to Kika for winning her second World Cup!!!!!!
Friday, 24 July 2009
Mont St Anne
Plan of action for today...relaxation.
I arrived in Mont St Anne on wednesday evening to stories of a crazy downpour all wednesday....and the course was a disaster, super duper muddy. Quebec never fails to be wet and muddy, I think in the maybe 20ish times I've raced in Quebec, it's been dry once or twice... in other words, always expect mud. The rain had stopped and wednesday evening was warm and all thursday was really nice, so by the time I got out on course things were starting to dry up nicely. Most of the course drains relatively well, but there are a couple singletrack sections (which seem to be all tricky technical sections) that just hold water..even when it's been nice for days, they are slick and mucky.
They have re-routed the course from previous years and I actually find it feels a lot harder then usual. They have used most of the same trails/sections as always, with the exception of the usual freightening sketchey descent....in which we are now sent down a steep mess of rocks that could be a mess if covered in mud. As well, all of the major climbing is at the end of the lap instead of the beginning....but then all the descending is at the end as well..yippee.
Today, my only mission for the day was to roll down to the cool little internet cafe at the bottom of the hill and drink Americanos, eat pastries and geek out for a little. It's really nice not having internet in the condo, I'm needing the detox...the couple of days I spent in Montreal by myself I found I spent a little too much time on the computer to pass the day.....and I don't even like computers..hehe.
Big mistake today tough - no chamois for my ride to the cafe....my seat is a lot harder then I realized..gonna be standing most of the way home.
Ciao
I arrived in Mont St Anne on wednesday evening to stories of a crazy downpour all wednesday....and the course was a disaster, super duper muddy. Quebec never fails to be wet and muddy, I think in the maybe 20ish times I've raced in Quebec, it's been dry once or twice... in other words, always expect mud. The rain had stopped and wednesday evening was warm and all thursday was really nice, so by the time I got out on course things were starting to dry up nicely. Most of the course drains relatively well, but there are a couple singletrack sections (which seem to be all tricky technical sections) that just hold water..even when it's been nice for days, they are slick and mucky.
They have re-routed the course from previous years and I actually find it feels a lot harder then usual. They have used most of the same trails/sections as always, with the exception of the usual freightening sketchey descent....in which we are now sent down a steep mess of rocks that could be a mess if covered in mud. As well, all of the major climbing is at the end of the lap instead of the beginning....but then all the descending is at the end as well..yippee.
Today, my only mission for the day was to roll down to the cool little internet cafe at the bottom of the hill and drink Americanos, eat pastries and geek out for a little. It's really nice not having internet in the condo, I'm needing the detox...the couple of days I spent in Montreal by myself I found I spent a little too much time on the computer to pass the day.....and I don't even like computers..hehe.
Big mistake today tough - no chamois for my ride to the cafe....my seat is a lot harder then I realized..gonna be standing most of the way home.
Ciao
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