Fernie to Fernie TT - some of the best trails around Fernie....it's amazing how much the trails can deteriorate in one night of rain....from a fast dust bowl to a slow mud slog....hehe.
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Monday, 16 August 2010
I made the paper!!!!
Hehe, thanks Jeff Neilson for the hard fun week of riding. Thanks mom and dad for coming out and being the best support. Thanks Barry and the Trek Toronto Store for the awesome Trek Top Fuel for the race (yes I did change my tires to something a little more knobbier - Bontrager XR). And thanks Regan for supporting me being a bike bum and being the best training partner :)
Sunday, 15 August 2010
Monday, 9 August 2010
Day 1 and 2
Quicky little update on some sketchy internet. Haha, yes, I've already failed with my daily updates.....me and computers don't get along so well.
Day one - Fernie to Fernie TT
Woke to the sound of rain bouncing off the tin roof, I roll over and look out the window...yikes. Everything is soaked and the clouds are low.....yet the Fernie forecast still says it's 12 degrees and sunny out...hahaha...right. The powder dry trails from the night before and slick and muddy, and it's by far my muddiest ride of the year. Today is a team TT, with competitors Wendy and Norm starting 30 secs in front of us and former pro XC racer Gretchen Reeves and her partner Cannon starting 30 secs behind us....great motivation on both ends.
It's a pretty fun course despite the mass amounts of mud and rain. We catch Wendy and Norm about 10 mins in on a really steep slick climb, and Gretchen and Cannon catch us about 20 mins later on a steep slick single track climb. It's a good fight as we can keep Gretchen and Cannon within sights for most of the race and push to limit the time gap. We finish 2nd on the day, 1:43 behind first and about 4 mins ahead of Wendy and Norm.
Day 2 - Fernie to Sparwood
Wonderful sunny day, no rain, but lots of deep mud puddles to make things very interesting. It's unfortunately a very road dominated day...72 km day with only 10 km of not too technical singletrack...not one of my favorite days.....but any day on the bike is a good day. Jeff and I make the selection with the lead group and are able to hang in with some seriously fast men for the first 30 mins of the race....which definitely burnt a few matches....but took us pretty far down the course. Off the start we have a 30 km steady climb for what seems like 1500m (well actually feels like 1500000000m) hahaha.
We put on a solid pace all day and finished 2nd again, only 1:34ish behind Gretchen and Cannon.
Treated myself to a massage...yippeee..doesn't happen very often at all. And early to bed tonight...I'm gasses!
Day one - Fernie to Fernie TT
Woke to the sound of rain bouncing off the tin roof, I roll over and look out the window...yikes. Everything is soaked and the clouds are low.....yet the Fernie forecast still says it's 12 degrees and sunny out...hahaha...right. The powder dry trails from the night before and slick and muddy, and it's by far my muddiest ride of the year. Today is a team TT, with competitors Wendy and Norm starting 30 secs in front of us and former pro XC racer Gretchen Reeves and her partner Cannon starting 30 secs behind us....great motivation on both ends.
It's a pretty fun course despite the mass amounts of mud and rain. We catch Wendy and Norm about 10 mins in on a really steep slick climb, and Gretchen and Cannon catch us about 20 mins later on a steep slick single track climb. It's a good fight as we can keep Gretchen and Cannon within sights for most of the race and push to limit the time gap. We finish 2nd on the day, 1:43 behind first and about 4 mins ahead of Wendy and Norm.
Day 2 - Fernie to Sparwood
Wonderful sunny day, no rain, but lots of deep mud puddles to make things very interesting. It's unfortunately a very road dominated day...72 km day with only 10 km of not too technical singletrack...not one of my favorite days.....but any day on the bike is a good day. Jeff and I make the selection with the lead group and are able to hang in with some seriously fast men for the first 30 mins of the race....which definitely burnt a few matches....but took us pretty far down the course. Off the start we have a 30 km steady climb for what seems like 1500m (well actually feels like 1500000000m) hahaha.
We put on a solid pace all day and finished 2nd again, only 1:34ish behind Gretchen and Cannon.
Treated myself to a massage...yippeee..doesn't happen very often at all. And early to bed tonight...I'm gasses!
Friday, 6 August 2010
Top Fuel....
Is all rebuilt, packed and ready for another week long racing adventure.
One major change on my bike....I'm a die hard Bontrager Revolt Tire fan....but I'm getting wild a crazy...hehe. I've heard a lot of rave about the new Bontrager XR0 tire, I've been riding it around here for the last couple of rides and so far so good. Definitely hoping for little to no rain because I'm a little skeptical on how this tire would do in the mud :)
Rumor has it that the TR organizers are supposed to have an internet hub set up at each location....and if it's true, then I'm making it my goal to post a little update each night. Yup...haha, I'm making that goal public knowledge so you can all hold me accountable if it doesn't happen :)
Off to finish my packing, and flying out to Calgary in 2 hours! I'm curious about Jeff Neilson's new "race haircut".....
One major change on my bike....I'm a die hard Bontrager Revolt Tire fan....but I'm getting wild a crazy...hehe. I've heard a lot of rave about the new Bontrager XR0 tire, I've been riding it around here for the last couple of rides and so far so good. Definitely hoping for little to no rain because I'm a little skeptical on how this tire would do in the mud :)
Rumor has it that the TR organizers are supposed to have an internet hub set up at each location....and if it's true, then I'm making it my goal to post a little update each night. Yup...haha, I'm making that goal public knowledge so you can all hold me accountable if it doesn't happen :)Off to finish my packing, and flying out to Calgary in 2 hours! I'm curious about Jeff Neilson's new "race haircut".....
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
Transrockeis yet again
Sitting here, enjoying my second cup of coffee and admiring the new faucet that Regan battled with installing...... haha.... it's amazing how when things are all rusted and rotten they kinda just fall apart :) .... working up the energy to do my last longish ride before TR.
Yup, doing Transrockies again....fingers crossed every which way that it's better weather then last year. Forecast is looking promising so far, but it's the mountains, anything can happen.
Okay, 3rd cup of coffee now....hehe...gonna be wired.
Okay, I have a new recipe for you too, to go along with the Blackberry theme that I'm loving soooo much out here......and it turned out ohhhh so good.
Blackberry Mint Sorbet
1 Cup H20
1 Cup Sugar (all recipes say white sugar but I only have brown sugar, so that's what I used)
a bunch of mint leaves (fresh from the garden:)
Heat over medium heat until sugar dissolves, stirring constantly for about 5 mins. This makes the mint syrup. Strain out mint leaves and remove from heat.
4-5 cups of fresh blackberries (or frozen will speed up the process)
Blend blackberries in blender or food processor.
Mix blackberry puree and syrup in freezer proof container. Stainless steel works the best.
1/2 cup Port (the recipes all call for 1 Cup red/burgundy wine put all I had was port)
Mix Port into blackberry concoction, cover and put in freezer. This is where an ice cream maker would really come in handy, but it worked really good just in the freezer. Take out and stir every couple of hours until frozen. It actually took about 12 hours to freeze solid enough to be called a frozen treat.....but it tastes really good half thawed.....yummmmmmmm!!!!!
Yup, doing Transrockies again....fingers crossed every which way that it's better weather then last year. Forecast is looking promising so far, but it's the mountains, anything can happen.
Okay, 3rd cup of coffee now....hehe...gonna be wired.
Okay, I have a new recipe for you too, to go along with the Blackberry theme that I'm loving soooo much out here......and it turned out ohhhh so good.
Blackberry Mint Sorbet
1 Cup H20
1 Cup Sugar (all recipes say white sugar but I only have brown sugar, so that's what I used)
a bunch of mint leaves (fresh from the garden:)
Heat over medium heat until sugar dissolves, stirring constantly for about 5 mins. This makes the mint syrup. Strain out mint leaves and remove from heat.
4-5 cups of fresh blackberries (or frozen will speed up the process)
Blend blackberries in blender or food processor.
Mix blackberry puree and syrup in freezer proof container. Stainless steel works the best.
1/2 cup Port (the recipes all call for 1 Cup red/burgundy wine put all I had was port)
Mix Port into blackberry concoction, cover and put in freezer. This is where an ice cream maker would really come in handy, but it worked really good just in the freezer. Take out and stir every couple of hours until frozen. It actually took about 12 hours to freeze solid enough to be called a frozen treat.....but it tastes really good half thawed.....yummmmmmmm!!!!!
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