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A change of pace

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:47:00 -0400

It's time for a change of pace for me here in Canada - a bit of a break from structured training and the strict routines that go with it and the pursuit of results in pure XC racing, hence the reference to ' a change of pace'.

With a few weeks left to simply enjoy I first spent a few days with the NZ U19 team as they raced the Ottawa Grand Prix (which I raced in 2008,) in preparation for Tour L'Abitibi which has just finished and in which they managed some great results.

The boys training in Gatineau Park and feeling the heat

Start line smiles at the Grand Prix

2nd place ahead of the field for Nick Sutton - the boys took half of the top 10 spots in the junior race.

I had a great time meeting these young guys and helping them out for a couple of days, and learning about the road programme that's been in place for a few years now, which is obviously working pretty well! I'll be watching these guys over the next few years, that's for sure.

While I was out at the Grand Prix I ran in to one of the Tall Tree riders who was waiting for his race to start. He asked if I was going to do the 8 hour the following weekend. I'd heard about it, and briefly considered it, but hadn't made any attempts to get a ride to it, but when he said he was going alone we touched base later and confirmed I'd better get my entry in because it'd be silly to go all that way and not be able to race.

That's right, I said 8 hour. And by that I mean solo. Again, refer the title of this post: 'change of pace'. I've ridden a bike for 8 hours twice before. Once in the 2004 Moonride where I managed 11 hours of a 12 hour solo, and again in 2006 when I managed only 8 of the 12 hours in much harsher conditions in the same event. Those efforts were done without any formal training, or knowledge of how to ride such volume and especially no idea how to fuel my body for them, but I survived - so I could survive this, right?

The race was on Saturday so on Wednesday I thought I'd better wake my legs up (I'm not training remember - the bikes and my legs have been in sleep mode since Edmonton) and spend a few hours pedaling. I cleaned up the Felt and headed over to Gatineau Park to explore the trails outside of the Camp Fortune trail area (ie, the more recreational trails).

Mama deer ran in to the bushes but these little guys were curious enough to wait for me to get my camera out.

4 hours of picture taking and wrong turns on a mix of sealed paths, easy and intermediate trails left me feeling pretty good, so I felt confident about surviving the 8 hour so long as I paced myself and prepared to be in a world of pain for the last couple of hours (hopefully no more than that!).

On Friday afternoon Mike and I packed up and drove to his friend Ben's place - very conveniently located all of half a kilometer from Hardwood Hills and smelling like freshly baked cookies (chocolate chip and VERY tasty!). Ben is one of the mechanics at Hardwood and is involved in coaching the junior development squad, plus runs guided tours and training camps in South Carolina in the spring. He's also a fairly handy elite XC racer. It's safe to say he knows his way around the sport!

Mike and I arrived in the solo pit area around 8:30 and were given some space under the ezi-up of Matt, another of Mike and Ben's friends. I went and registered, laid out my bottles and food, and basically got ready to go. Not long before 10 there was a group of riders at the start and I saw Tanya who was racing this event in a 2 person team, or 'tagging' as they call it here. She introduced me to the girl next to me, Robyn, and said she was one of my competition and they discussed who else might be here. They both seemed to agree that Sarah was likely to be the easy winner. I reiterated that my goal was survival, pure and simple. Racing and competing isn't on the agenda while I'm on my break.

When the gun went I set off nice and easy. I didn't know the course at all but did have a feel for the nature of the trails after the Canada Cup here (the DNF...) so I knew there would be some fun out there. The first lap included a 4km start loop of fire road which spread things out really nicely - very few bottle necks or hold ups in the first lap - imagine that at the moonride! But still enough people around to sit behind and prevent myself from going too hard early on in such a long race. I went with the strategy I used at the '09 Moonride 6 hour of sitting behind people for much longer than I normally would to make sure I was saving my energy.

The 9km course was so much fun. The first lap was my first look at it and for the first half or so it seemed like it was going to be very tame, but after that a few climbs kicked in and there were some tricky little bits with logs, rocks and roots made trickier by a bit of moisture that stayed all day, and there were some wicked awesome descents that made it fun to go out lap after lap, including what must be the parks best trail - Coffee Run. After 3 or 4 runs down there I had that thing so dialled the fun was over too soon! As a bit of a comparison to the Moonride course, in 2009 I was in big ring for most of my 6 hour. Here I never went in to it and even used granny from the first lap for the steepest of the climbs - they were short, but killer over and over and over.

My first objectives were to pace myself and to make it to the 4 hour mark without doing any real damage to myself. The first lap was HOT (29 degree average over the 8 hours) and I was sucking back a lot of fluid thinking if it stays this hot I'm going to run out of drink. I started out with my camelbak on for 2 reasons - first because I didn't have enough bottles to last 8 hours!, and second because it meant I could get a solid start without stopping to pick up a new bottle for at least 2 or 3 laps. So I rode the first 3 laps straight through, by which time it had cooled down enough for me to feel comfortably warm all day. It was humid, but almost 3 months of Ottawa living prepared me for that!

After 3 hours I started to feel a headache coming on so upped my fluid intake and it eased after a lap or 2. By 4 hours my hands and fingers were hurting from all the gear changes so I started shaking my hands and arms out every now and then. My next milestone was 6 hours and once I made that it didn't matter too much what happened because when you've done 6, another 2 is a drop in the ocean.

At the 8 hour mark approached I had to start doing some maths. The last lap had to be started before 6pm (8 hours) and completed before 6:30pm. When I came through after my 11th lap I had 50 minutes to complete another lap before the cut off time and my longest lap until then had been 42 minutes, so it was easily doable. But I'd just lapped Robyn in 3rd place so I knew I didn't need to do the extra lap to maintain my position. The question was whether I could gain a position - which it turned out would put me in first place. I checked the timing (special laptop set up for solos at transition giving place, time behind leader and next place time behind leader). When I went out on my 11th lap I'd been 4:25 down but after passing Robyn I'd pegged it back a whole bunch - I wasn't super keen on another lap but knew I could do one if Sarah made the mistake of finishing before I came back through. So by the time I finished my 11th the gap was out to 8 minutes - not a gap I could chase down in a lap, but she'd still had to go out on another lap to ensure the win, while I went and got nice and cleaned up and had a burger - YUM!

Points of note:

Endurance racing is good for asthmatics - trouble breathing? Just peg it back a notch and you don't lose 15 places!
Multi lap endurance races rock because you know the course so well you can impress people with your grace and skill after 7 hours of racing simply because you know every root, rock and divet.
I never had to go in to the XC hurt box or redline - made a nice change.
Watermelon ROCKS!!!! From laps 4 to 10 they were handing it out to solo's as we came through transition and it did the trick super well :)
Having a cute guy cheering you through transition every lap doesn't hurt either ;)
1km to go signs are awesome
1km to go signs at the bottom of one of the toughest climbs on the course are not so awesome...
Your host for the weekend cooking up a feast of ribs for after the race is the BEST EVER!!! Oh. My. God. That was one amazing meal!
I also caught up with Mandy (from Kamloops and Canmore in 2008,)! She was meant to race solo too, but the cast on her arm when I saw her after the race explained why I hadn't seen her out there.
8 hours and 100km of riding in nice weather on a wicked as course with great marshalling and friendly other riders makes for a great day out on a bike :)

So what's next on the agenda? It's kind of nice not knowing! This weekend I'm going down to Lake Placid (back to NY) for a few days (another long weekend in Canada). There is great riding and a ton of activities at the Olympic Centre - including bobsled rides so I'm going to see if I can't get the timing right to jump in one of those!

Canada Cup 4 - Edmonton

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:57:00 -0400

A river runs though it - that's why Edmonton has some pretty awesome riding. It also seems to attract Kiwi's in spades!

While eastern US/Canada was in the middle of a heatwave (think hot, then add 10 degrees for humidity - humidex 45 degrees the 2 days before I left) it was a good time to head west to give things some time to cool down. Edmonton was a bit of a 3-seasons in one day kind of place - it would cool down a lot over night, warm up considerably during the day, rain heavily for short periods, and of course being as far north as it is, the days are long!

I arrived last Wednesday and not expecting the course to be marked out went for a spin to find the event venue and check out the local bike paths and trails. My first challenge was to work out which bridge I was trying to get to, and how to get to it! Edmonton is basically split north and south of the North Saskatchewan River and the River Valley is home to a myriad of multi-use trails and paths. The river has created a ravine which provides the necessary elevation to host a Canada Cup (they don't need much to make tough courses over here) - and it's heavily wooded providing the necessary roots and mud to make things interesting.

I've often wondered how many cities in the world would be lucky enough to have great trails minutes away from the city centre and now I know there are at least 2 - Wellington (Mt Vic) and Edmonton. My hostel was on the other side of the river, 2 blocks from 'downtown', and it took 5 or 6 minutes to get to the park the event was based at.

At the end of the ride on Wednesday I found a small section of the course by following some faded yellow arrows, which were very difficult to spot when painted on green grass! What I found was enough to convince me the course had a lot of promise.

On Thursday I found the rest of the course, including a section that they must have used in the past but has become too difficult (seriously, 100% not rideable - you'd end up in the river!). I got a bit worried for a minute or 2 as I'd been directed there by a yellow arrow. I climbed down on to the trail below to see if I could spot a line from that direction (nope) and followed it for a short way to see where it went. Sure enough the correct line was down a bit of a chute. Over the next few days with pre-riding while it was wet some of this area was eroding pretty badly, but being dry on race day it was all good.

I also found the 'boggy climb'. Thick, stinky, deep, black mud on a climb - kinda ick, partly unrideable. It had rained very heavily the previous day so I was trying to calculate how much drying time it would need to be rideable on Sunday.

Before and after that section had been fast, dry, smooth singletrack, but the next section was very rooty - would have been a nightmare in the wet but luckily race day was mostly dry.

All up, the course was pretty cool - a short section with some tough climbs and tight corners to start with before heading along the river along the fast singletrack then back via the more technical rooty trails and someone's driveway - talk about urban racing!

During the time I was there the Edmonton Street Performers Festival was on only a few blocks away so I went to have a look and wouldn't you know I ended up watching a basketball juggling, super-tall unicycling Kiwi performer - a great show, very funny.

And he rides Maxxis!

When I went to registration on the Friday I met Greg, another Kiwi who's been in Ottawa for 2 years with his wife. He was going to be racing earlier in the day.

Race day arrived and things had stayed pretty dry for over a day and when I got to the park I could see racers were looking pretty clean (not like I had my first couple of rides!) which was promising. It was mild with a cool breeze, but heated up plenty for the 2pm elite race.

I caught up with Greg (it was his birthday) and his wife and friends, tracked down a feeder (thank you Nathan) and went about the business of warming up.

My legs were feeling super fresh and I felt pretty good in the warm up. Katie O'Neil and a couple of the guys have arrived in Canada and we were called up her in the front row, me in row 2. It was her first race over here and she was pretty impressed with the set up. The stand out feature for me was the music they blasted during the countdown to race start - as the boys were gearing up they managed to play bits of The Final Countdown, We Will Rock You and Eye Of The Tiger to get everyone pumped up. We were also lined up right next to the beer garden that had been set up for the event - a real party atmosphere. It's the second year these guys have hosted a race and I'd pick they'll host plenty more too - they're doing a great job.

My race... did not go as well as I'd hoped. I got off to my traditional slow start but in the first lap and a half had made up a few places and was going pretty well and feeling good at that stage. Halfway through the third lap I had a big stack on some tree roots - I'm not really accustomed to crashing so it was a stark reminder as to how much it HURTS!!! I took a while to pick myself up and check that everything still worked before getting back on. I found it pretty tough to get going again and rode terribly for the rest of the lap. On my 4th lap I started losing the places I'd gained and just near the end was lapped by eventual winner Amanda Sin, who was leading Emily Batty, which meant the end of my race. It wasn't all bad but it didn't finish well and I was certainly feeling the effects of the crash and was very quick to gather my things and head off to get cleaned up.

Kiwi vs Raccoon

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 21:48:00 -0400

Last weekend I had originally planned to do a US pro race in Wisconsin, but working through the logistics it was getting a tad pricey, so I found something a bit closer, the Raccoon Rally. The race was held in Allegany State Park in western NY, a few hours drive south west of Ottawa and was part of a bigger weekend festival that included a road race, downhill, trials, short track and 3 distance options for the main XC event, plus a bunch of kids races - a fantastic weekend of racing during which the weather held out brilliantly.

I had a little drama a few days out when I went to ride the main loop of the course. It was a 30 miler split in to a long loop and a shorter loop that cut out bits of the long loop. After only 1/2 an hour I managed to put a gash in my tyre that wouldn't seal, had to walk over an hour back, and spent the rest of the day finding a shop that hadn't closed down due to the recession! Lots of small towns... Fortunately the first open shop was a Maxxis dealer and the Ignitor he had in 26" (more 29" than 26" in some places over here!) was perfect for the mud on some parts of the course.

The next day I managed to get the full loop in and discovered the main climb was quite the slog and very muddy under the grass. It was also very hot in parts on what wasn't the warmest of days.

On Saturday I felt the need for an intensity hit-out after days off with the sciatica before the marathon, then a nasty gastric bug after it, so I entered the short track race after a morning driving through the local Amish area.

The course was very cool including some very tight singletrack in the middle and lots of features to make it interesting. I was the only woman entered in the 30 minute event but took 3rd overall and had a blast! There was still some trials happening after that - all set in natural rock features in a different area of the park. I love watching these guys do their thing - such an amazing combination of strength and skill. Even a chick giving it a go which you don't often see...

The main event on Sunday was a heap of fun too. I'd been a bit worried it would just be a slog because there was very little singletrack but it turned out as a race course it was a lot of fun. During the first lap there were a lot of people around including those from the other categories doing different lengths, and a lot of the tail ender beginner class riders were stopped resting and forming a bit of a cheer squad (lots of kids on half bikes with parents - guess the parents needed a rest...). Between that and the guys handing out water at the summit and having a bit of a party about it it was a fun loop. The second loop was a bit lonlier but still a good time even as the hurt set in in a big way heading up the 4 mile climb with plenty of sucking mud to sap the energy even further.

I'd traded places with a couple of girls early in the race and after about 20 minutes was in second place which is where I finished, utterly smashed but happy with how I went. In that sense, I felt the Kiwi came out on top versus the Raccoon ;o)

Monday was a long drive home via Niagara Falls and tonight I went out and did a local womens TT race - a 15k'er close to home. Met lots of cool chicks and went pretty well.

At the moment things are gearing up for Canada Day (1 July) which I'm really excited to experience in the Capital - everyone keeps saying it's a huge event - there is a 4 day festival starting tomorrow so I'm looking forward to getting out and experiencing what I can around my training - I've been out and got my flag and my t-shirt :)

Ganaraska and 'the raccident'

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:00:00 -0400

This weekend just been, while people back home were braving the mud and cold in Rotorua, I headed west with Tanya (click the link for some entertaining reading - she's much better at updating than I am too... and has pics) and Joanne for a 67km marathon, part of the Ontario marathon series. My preparation? Over a week laid up with sciatica! The 'twinge' I mentioned in my last post causing me to make friends with the local physio got a whole lot worse until I could hardly move, or stay still for that matter - I don't recommend it.

Fortunately however, there are several physio's within a couple of kilometers and I seemed to luck upon a good one who gave me a few hours of treatment through the week. Between sessions I was so busy with my exercises I barely would have had time to ride anyway.

The good news was after a few stretches on Sunday morning before the race I was able to touch my toes for the first time in about 2 weeks - and nothing hurt! The same can't be said today - well, I can touch my toes, but I've got plenty of good soreness in the legs after almost 5hrs out on the bike yesterday.

The first couple of hours of the race were awesome - I was so fresh from my 'taper', and it's always fun to be riding in a new place. The same can't really be said for the next 2 or so hours, for me at least. I just felt like the scenery never changed and the only thing giving the tracks personality was all the trees that had to be jumped/ridden/walked over - fun for a while, but it grows a bit old! There was also poison ivy everywhere - I hadn't been entirely sure how much I should worry about it, knowing I can react pretty badly to, well, anything - but the general consensus had been that it doesn't grow very high and should really only be a problem if you went off the track. So I went for the option of oiling up (baby oil) pre-race and left the long socks in the bag (even though I'd got 5 pairs because they were on special - $10 for 5...), and a soapy wash under the hose afterwards. I'm told I'll know in about a week if I got hit or not... meanwhile, despite the 'low growing and off the trail' theory, it had rained so much that it was growing about twice has high as normal (around knee height) and appeared to like open spaces (the cleared tracks) so chances are everyone touched it. Hopefully it's going to be a Canadian experience I can leave unticked.

I led the women for the first hour or so until Joanne came past me on a climb and I didn't see her again after that, finishing about 10 minutes down on her. For a while I sat in 3rd, between 2 and 20 meters of her back wheel for about 20 minutes, but she let me pass and after that it was a pretty lonely ride being a fairly low key event and just a single loop.

After finishing and getting cleaned up there was a decent bbq with a good pasta salad and fizzy drink for all which went down a treat. I'd ridden with my camelbak and 800ml bottle and had to fill the bottle at the last feedzone (52km) and drained everything by the line. I won a pump for my efforts, and even scored a spot prize ('historic' Astana/Trek bottle).

But the drive home was when things got really exciting!

You know that moment when something happens and the colour drains from your face in about an eighth of a second? Well, the colour doesn't drain from my face, but I can assure you the blood does! Driving along the 401 (3-lane east bound highway), doing about 120 (that's Canadian for 100) we heard a sort of 'ca-dunk' up on the roof, where the 3 bikes were. The thing that encouraged me immediately was that it wasn't followed up with a 'ping!', suggesting something had gone super bad, but not catastrophic (yet) and if we could stop in a hurry we might just avoid said catastrophe. We were in the centre lane with a truck to our right so Tanya had to speed up to get past it to cross all the lanes and pull over. Joanne could see the back wheel of my bike and thought that was where the problem was, meanwhile I looked back from the other side of the car and saw her back wheel hanging off the end of the roof and when we got out of the car we saw that in fact all three bikes had been shunted back as the front crossbar had come loose and gone to join the back crossbar. They basically looked like they were ready for launch, and NONE of us thought to take a photo in our haste to get the bikes the hell off the car which was still pretty close to the highway with massive trucks constantly barreling past.

And that, ladies and gentlement, is what is known in these parts as a 'raccicident'!

We got off pretty lightly really - all the bikes are perfect, we didn't cause an accident, and Joanne's parents were close enough at their cottage to come and get her and her gear and bike so we had room for our bikes, gear and the racks in Tanya's car. We were still 2 hours away from Ottawa - a pretty big ask for a mercy call!

Not the way I'd choose to get my thrills, but kind of thrilling none-the-less, in that waking up from a really really bad dream like you were naked in public and just realised kind of thrill (ok, not really a thrill - but there's definitely an adrenalin rush involved!).

I've now got another weekend off racing but now I'm fit and healthy again I'll be able to get out on the bike and get some solid training in the bank before the next block of racing. Craig will be over for those races - I haven't confirmed them all yet with some different options having cropped up, but either way there should be 2 marathons followed by the next Canada Cup out in Edmonton, and a chance for him to see some of the country.

I've got some footage of the Ganaraska race but haven't done anything with it yet but I should be able to put a few of the more interesting minutes together and get something up in the next few days.

Till next time - those of you reading this in NZ - keep warm and dry if you can! No, I won't send you any sun and warm, but I will think of you as I bask in it (and just to make you feel better, it's been raining a bit lately).

Podium shot shamelessly stolen from www.theveganvagabond.blogspot.com

Catching up...

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:49:00 -0400

The 3rd Canada Cup round didn't work out for me unfortunately. The course was superb - dry, smooth, crazy fast rolling, with the 'Boneshaker' thrown in for that little bit of extra challenge we all need when race-fatigued. But after heading down early to get in more laps of the course, being the best prepared I've been at a race here yet, and having the best start I've had yet, I ended up losing my chain in to my spokes only 5 or so km in to the first lap. I spent a long time trying to get it out on the side of the course trying to ignore everyone go past but the pins on the back of the Shimano cassette wouldn't let it out (so, I have to ask, why did they let it in in the first place???).

So I had about 3km to hike my way back to the start/finish as the wheel wouldn't even turn. Very frustrating and very disappointing - a long way from how I expected things to go.

On the bright side it was pretty awesome the number of riders who asked if I was ok (yeah, it's not me it's the bike), and I was able to fill in the time of my 'walk of shame' chatting to friendly and concerned spectators whilst heading for the feedzone to let my feeders know I wasn't dead, just a bit distraught at that particular point in time.

I also ran in to a couple I met back in 2009 in Nelson and got to spend a bit of time with them before heading back to the course to get some footage of the afternoon race so I've included that with some of my pre-race footage. It includes the boneshaker, although the afternoon race only came down the second half of it - but you get the idea. Also gives a pretty good idea of how many riders are on course at the same time - each of these events has around 700 riders over 4 races on the day.

The following week I tried to get a ride to another race not far from Hardwood Hills (an Ontario Cup race) but no one had room so I spent my first weekend in Ottawa since arriving. Probably a bit of a blessing in disguise as I've developed a bit of a twinge and have had to go and make friends with the local physio (as luck would have it 1200m down the road). I blame the car that didn't have cruise control... But, still tapping out the miles - sometimes a few more than expected on any given day as I underestimate how far away something is or how long it will take to get there. Not to mention what I have come to refer to as the 'fine Canadian detour' - the type that send you somewhere with a few official looking arrows and then... ' ' (nothing - no more arrows!). Always good for some extra volume.

No moose yet, but quite a few racoons - I was admiring one when someone (correctly) recognised my accent and approached me - and interesting story followed...

Other news on the wildlife front, I haven't seen any but it would appear turtles might be something else to watch out for now that I've ventured down a road with signs like this:

I kept an eye out today but didn't see any sign of them.

Next weekend I'm heading to Ganaraska which is in the same vague direction as Hardwood Hills, but I think a but south. It's a 67km single lap race that the locals have told me is a 'must' - to be honest I'm a bit worried with all the talk of poison ivy - apparently some lather up with baby oil, others wear long socks...

Vid of Hardwood in the Vids section shortly.

Canada Cup 2 - Mont Tremblant

Tue, 25 May 2010 17:26:00 -0400

After the hurried trip to Baie St Paul and back I had a few days at home in Ottawa before heading east again for the second round of the Canada Cup in Mont Tremblant, just a couple of hours drive this time. In the few days I had I tried to suss out some training loops (with varied levels of success) and met up with some girls for a ride on the mtb's at Camp Fortune. Fortune is a bunch of fun - I spent a couple of hours up there in 2008 but it's better with guides!

I had a Saturday race this week and headed up with a bunch of downhillers who were racing on the Sunday. We went up on Friday morning which meant a second race with very limited time on the course. A lot of people had said this course was less technical, and in a way it was, but with only 1 lap under my belt before the race I was still struggling to find the best lines in the first couple of the laps in the race. One of the main differences was that it was only less technical on the one good line in most places, so once the boys started lapping us they wanted that line, which means losing a lot of time to them when there are so many of them coming through - with about 90 of them again, plus the juniors, at least 40 or 50 guys must have come past me. The most frustrating thing was when I'd make up a place only to have her tag on to the back of a guy train through the rough and sneak back in front of me!

All in all the course was a whole lot of fun, and very challenging. It started with a gravel climb and then alternated between undulating sections of singletrack and open riding, before the final climb which was a killer to lead in to the last section of singletrack which was a long (mostly) descent. Following that we popped out on to a bike path which took us to the village and we wound and zig-zagged our way through, past all the cafes and bars, condos and shops, past the stage with the band, through the finish and out on to the next lap. The last section made for an amazing atmosphere and the smooth ground was a nice relief after the rough descent.

In the evening the Red Bull Monte Descend was held - a teams event combining DH and XC. As the XC rider did a short loop the DH rider went up the chairlift and was told to go when the XC rider came back through transition. The XC'er went again when their DH'er came through transition (yes, XC does the bulk of the riding!). There were some very quick teams but there was some dispute in the results and while they were sorting it out the heavens opened and everyone gave up waiting (us included) so we never found out who actually won! But it was great to watch and again, the atmosphere was just huge.

This is a pic where the DH came down (on the right hand side where the dirt is built up) - after that they hit a wall ride before making their way to transition. The rock was all lit up and the markings on it (hard to see this small) are a map of the ski trails on the mountain.

There are vids of the descent on the XC course and a short one of some of the riders coming in to transition in the Monte Descend on the vids page.

On Sunday Julie (met in 2008 in BC) and I spent most of the day watching the DH (until she took a hit from one of the riders who crashed!). Looking at what those crazy guys and girls ride reminds me why I love XC... sure, they have the bikes to deal with it, but they damage them all the time! Everyone in the condo had multiple bails over the course of the weekend - and they have to cart way too much extra gear around!

We finished up with a bbq and a couple of drinks (more than a couple for some!) on Sunday night and headed back to Ottawa yesterday. I headed out for an easy spin at about 5pm thinking it shouldn't be too hot - it was 30 degrees! This morning I thought I'd beat the heat but even at 10am it was 31 degrees - I need more bottle cages!

Tomorrow night is the first race of the Sunset Series at Camp Fortune so I'm going to head along to that and see if I can improve on these skills some more - things were getting better during the Tremblant race, but there is a long way to go to get really smooth and fast like the locals!

This weekend is another Canada Cup race, this time in english speaking Ontario, 6 hours west in Hardwood Hills - a long standing race on the Canada Cup calendar. I've got another day at home then it's off again - this time giving myself an extra day on the course before the race.

Canada Cup 1 - Baie St Paul

Tue, 18 May 2010 16:26:00 -0400

That's some tough racing! Unfortunately I don't know my final result because they got a bit mixed up and have me showing behind at least 2 girls that I passed, so hoping I can get that resolved.

Anyway, it was a truly whirlwind trip because I hadn't been able to hook up with anyone else who was going and had room for me. So in my little rented car I headed of around 5:30am bound east for Baie St Paul. The drive was easy going and most of it familiar territory from 2008 until I passed the turn off to Mont St Anne. It was about 45 minutes east of that, and with about 1/2 an hour to go I started seeing snow on the ground at the side of the road!

When I arrived at the venue I got a bit worried I'd messed up my days because there were people everywhere, team sites all set up, and a commentator announcing a race that was going on at the time. Fortunately it was just the time trial event on the Saturday. I picked up my plate and had about 2 1/2 hours before the course opened for training again so I grabbed some lunch, checked in to my accommodation and had a much needed nap.

I stayed at Belle Plage, an inn opposite the Baie St Paul marina about 3km from the event venue. Unfortunately the restaurant wasn't open for dinner - unfortunate because it's supposed to be really good, but I made do with a trip to the supermarket (an easier experience than ordering Subway for lunch earlier in the day - my French, she is no better than the last time I was here)...

Despite the snow on the way up and the cold on Saturday, Sunday was pretty warm (up in the 20s). My race was at 12 (staging at 11:35) and I managed to find some english speakers to feed me before I had to go and warm up.

I'd slept pretty well the night before and my warm up felt ok but I wasn't prepared for just how much the technical terrain would cost me in terms of speed and momentum. I was called up about 4th to last (ranking based on Canada Cup from this and last year before UCI points from last then this year - I have none of the first 3...) so was in the back row of 26 riders.

The field spread out quickly off the start and it was dusty (not like Kamloops in 08, but noticeable) and I struggled to make up just 3or 4 spots in the first lap which was an all out, on the rivet experience. In the 2nd lap I didn't make up more than a couple of spots either - it was a bit more settled but while the terrain was taking the sting out of my legs the guys were starting to lap us. While they were great at passing it was still not good for the rhythm.

My 3rd lap was probably my best and I made up a good 4 or 5 places. By the end of it my legs were starting to feel like I'd raced 4 laps at Mt Vic - on a course with less than 130m climbing! The nature of the terrain and the course meant a lot of stop/start, repowering up, very short but very sharp climbs, and combined with the guys needing to get passed interrupting the flow even more it was hard work on the legs which were either fully on, or mostly on, but never really given a chance to recover. Even the fire road was rough!

I was called in after my 4th of 5 laps - not under an 80% rule as that wasn't being applied, but because there was another race due to start and they had to clear the course. From what I can tell I was the first rider pulled at that point and the recorded me as 5 laps which is what has caused the confusion.

I hung around and chatted to a few other riders, swapped some details (with a Kiwi based in the US), thanked my feeders Cody and Mark, and had the pleasure of having a chat with Emily Batty's mum - super nice lady, very friendly, and Emily is doing awesome in her final year of U23 over in Europe this season.

After that it was time for the long drive home and my first race was done, just like that!

Oh yeah, I picked up my helmet cam the day before I drove up and got some pretty cool footage which I will post up soon.

A long way from Kansas

Fri, 14 May 2010 20:06:00 -0400

I'm currently in my third full day in Ottawa - I barely remember the first two!

My travels began at 3am Tuesday morning NZ time, and ended 32 hours later after 23 hours in the air, $200 excess baggage, an hour of lugging said baggage around Vancouver airport on wild goose chases, 6 movies and a stand up comedy act, two breakfasts, one dinner, one lunch and a bag full of snacks from home, one screaming child for 3 1/2 hours, 2 of 4 flights in the emergency row (not bad) and 0 hours sleep!

I was greeted at the aiport by Tifenn and I only hope that someday I can repay the favour - the thought of organising myself and a rental car at that point was unfathomable.

She dropped me at my home for four months and stuck around while I was shown around and introduced - and was shocked when out of one of the rooms walked someone she knows! Tiny little world...

After 10 hours sleep that night I'd hoped I'd be pretty much good to go without suffering too much jet lag. That day I got unpacked, got the bikes built up, went for a short ride (nice area) and not a heck of a lot else. That night I was up for nearly four hours - which makes no sense as it wasn't time to wake up anywhere I've been lately unless I clocked in to Sydney time whilst queuing at the transfers desk (it's possible, I was there for quite some time).

After rising at lunchtime (!!!) I had to race around to go and look at a couple of cars. Unfortunately both turned out to be duds so the hunt continues. I incorporated my ride in to one of the viewings as it was 38km away - I was lucky enough for them to offer me a ride 20km back after realising they hadn't communicated very well about the condition of it.

After another poor night's sleep I've been running around all day again today getting a rental car sorted for the weekend up in Baie St Paul (first Canada Cup race), picking up my helmetcam from the Fedex depot by the airport, making my first trip to Costco for this trip to Canada (awesome) and getting a couple of things checked on the bike (one bead popped off in transit and the pistons needed a nudge). The cheery chaps at Tall Tree Cycles were only too happy to help so I'm sure I'll be seeing them again in my time here!

So far I've seen 3 Hummers (more than last time I was in California!), been asked if I'm Australian twice (perhaps I spent longer at that transfers desk than I thought!), have been asked if I like Flight of the Conchords, have noticed petrol is 40c cheaper than last time I was here (woo hoo!) and have seen one beaver and 362 squirrels. No moose or bears yet...

So, the weekend will be a whirlwind trip but I've heard good things about the trails up that way and it'll be good to get the racing kicked off and remind the body and mind why we're here!

Getting Crazy

Sat, 01 May 2010 17:19:00 -0400

Things are getting pretty hectic and crazy as my departure date draws closer - closing things out at work, trying to catch up with everyone amongst a myriad of busy schedules, getting the bikes prepared for a lot of racing in the next few months, and of course keeping the pressure on the pedals in training. Afternoon naps are out the window this weekend!

Amongst all of that I managed to fit in a race before I head off - my 2nd year in a row doing the mtb leg of the Crazyman duathlon, yesterday. Robyn had no excuses this year so had to get up bright and early to get to the beach for her favourite part of the run - the start - a couple of hundred metres along the beach. Words just can't express how much she loves that part! I offered her a lot of ~~smack talk~~ support and encouragement while she taped her ankles so her feet couldn't detatch from her legs on the drive to the start. Craig was with us too as our dedicated support crew for the day.

We cheered the runners off the start and drove a few minutes down the road to ~~heckle~~ cheer some more and then headed over the hill so I could get ready for the bike. We had reasonable conditions for the day but it did rain a bit including while warming up - fortunately I had the wind trainer so avoided getting a wet bum before even getting started as I warmed up in the 'hard core corner' with a couple of the guys who were also on wind trainers.

Robyn produced a sterling run timeof &:*# (sorry, not sure what happened to my keyboard there) which enabled me to get going on the bike as the sun came out and I had plenty of people ahead of me at fairly regular intervals through the course to target and chase. There were some significant changes to the course for the first time, including making use of the superb singletrack in the newly developed Wainui MTB Park, and an alternative track to the old descent in to Moores Valley and Everest climb back out. Still plenty of climbing, and seemed a bit rougher in more places.

I totally enjoyed the singletrack and people were gracious in pulling over to let me pass when I called up to let them know I was there. One of the interesting things in a race like this is that you get all levels of ability out on the course at the same time - someone with a fast runner might be a slower rider and vice versa, so there are all types out there. I was as friendly as I could be but I really had my game face on after a couple of great weeks of training which I wanted to back up with a good result on the day.

When I got to the culvert at Silverstream where we turn and head back south to the finish Craig and Robyn were waiting with a fresh bottle and encouragement 'hammer it home!' - instructions from the coach - 'Robyn says' - better do it then! The whole way back is mostly flat, mostly straight, but unlike last year we had a headwind. Not a super strong one, but it made a difference after the tailwind of last year. Fortunately I'm stronger now so I was able to just find the most aerodynamic position I could on the bike and stick my head down and let my legs do the work..

It rained most of this section of the race but all in all wasn't too bad. I caught up to Charlotte at Pomare bridge (Tim was her runner and had given her about 10mins on me at transition). She saw the opportunity to jump on my wheel and took it, and no matter what I did over the next 20 minutes or so I could NOT drop her. I tried going over the highest part of judder bars, powering away at (very) small inclines and even rode through a series of pot holes! But on her 29'er she could see everything that was coming and even with me getting as low as possible she was still benefiting from the draft. For a long time I wondered if she would sit there and take me on the line, and the same thought was going through her head. I did my best to crowd the finishing chute but it got too wide and she came around me and took sprint ace honours for the day. It'll be a while before I let her forget that, but I'm also incredibly proud that she put everything else out of her mind and rode aggressively as it's something we've talked about in the past. As for me not being able to shake her off my wheel - I can only blame myself for creating such a monster!

I was all smiles at the finish where Robyn, Craig and Tim were waiting for us and we headed off to get cleaned up and fed and watered. I hung around for prize giving this year with a good feeling that I had the fastest mtb time so was happy to not only get my trophy back but also collect the prize for 1st place in the womens' duathlon (I guess all that ~~smack~~ support and encouragement paid off!).

I spent the evening in the fine company of many of my closest friends and favourite people sharing a few wines and a LOT of laughs and tales as a final catch up before I take off - I just wish I could take them all with me!

Today was all about the bikes again with a few hours on the road before getting everything cleaned up so Ricky could do his magic and get the Felt perfect for the coming race season and give the roadie a few tweaks to keep my valuable training tool in good shape. You have to love a mechanic who goes in to work on his day off like that. You also have to show that love in the form of bourbon. Ricky's been looking after the Felt since day one, so it was only fitting that he be the one to get it ready for it's biggest workout yet.

The Moonride is next weekend - I'm not racing this year (I'll be a bit busy packing!) but Jude will be racing the 24 solo with a stand in support crew (who I will drive nuts with texts for updates all day and night!), and Charlotte is also competing. It's her first 24 solo and is her prep event for the World Champs in Canberra later in the year. She's been working long and hard for this and I'm excited to see how things go - her support crew can also expect a lot of contact from me!

Been ages!

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 04:55:00 -0400

Yep, long time since I posted an update. Since my last I spent some time in Dunedin for Oceania's and a BikeNZ performance camp, and after that things have just been really busy between training and work.

Oceania's didn't work out for me - my lungs crashed the party and I had to pull out. Disappointing as I love the course down there and had been looking forward to racing it, but the trip was still very worthwhile as the performance camp over 3 days the following week was really well run, well attended and provided a lot of info from a lot of very knowledgable experts in their fields. And the practical stuff was heaps of fun too! I managed to take a couple of things away from the camp that are helping already.

My training has been focused on continuing to build the solid foundation I'll need once I start the long race season coming up. With just over two weeks before I go I'm feeling in a pretty good place with some great gains made in the last month while working with my GP and osteopath to make sure I'm right on top of the impacts of last years injuries - there's been an ongoing impact which is managable but I have to stay on top of it.

This weekend I'll be competing in the Crazyman again - they've added some singletrack to the course which I'm looking forward to, some of it I haven't seen before so that's exciting.

Apart from that I'll be starting to get everything in order so I'm ready to pack and not forget anythimg important!