Sarah is back!

She did it again! Long day in the saddle but nothing was gone stop her from finishing todays 87 km ride. She had a good day and ready for some dinner and a shower!
Good Job!

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Day 2 cts

The Juicy loaner worked great!
The stage today started with breakfast at six, load bags and then a short ride on the hgw to the start line. It was pretty cool but perfect again for riding. The start was a little quicker than yesterday and things felt really good today. The trail was lots of fun, lots of ups and downs on exposed rock and dirt and with the ability to stop in an instant I could enjoy all the decents to the fullest. I felt so great I totally forgot about the importance of eating! With less than 30 km to go (mostly double track and rail road) I hit the wall to the point of no recovery. I ate, drank and "rested" but there was no coming back. So I accepted the fact that for the remaining rail road ride it was gone be about survival.
I made it home and overall the fun today totally makes it a great day of riding and a valuable lesson learned to add to the experience.
Had a ice bath in the warm lake and waiting for Sarah. I hope she had an equally great day.
More to come!

Happy Riding!
kate
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Day 1 cts

Red spots on carpet under bike should not be ignored!
The little bit of rain in the morning stopped by the time of the start. The day brought pretty perfect riding weather. But right off the start something seemed more wrong with my rear break than before. It was totally dead! I tried to do a bit of pumping but nothing. Then I though of the red spot at the hotel, guess it wasn't there before and soon ill probably see the bill in the mail. The good thing is I still had a front break but my head was not getting over the dissapointment of the break after spending all the prior morning getting them fixed. Long story short I never got into it Day 1. Legs didn't have it, head was off and all the great added single track that I should normally enjoy was just a pain. At the very end I manage to turn my mindset around and started focusing on the amazing scenery with the rocky single track and beautiful lake.

Sarah on the other hand had a great day! When I finally found her she was still smiling and I'm happy as it was definitely a very demanding course. Con grats on pulling through stage one!

Stage 2 will be less technical but still good riding on lots of exposed rock so with a rear break on loan (thanks to the Norco folks!) I hope for a better day.

Happy riding!
kate
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Haliburton

We made it to Haliburton just before seven after a pretty scenic drive up. We did registration and looked at the course for tomorrow. Its new from last year and the story is less water and some new cut single track. It might even become the best of the three. We will see.
There was a lodge restaurant at the park so we decided to eat before heading to hotel. Food looked great but hidden behind the great look was some way overcooked pasta and bland sauce and a yacky feeling after. The window view was pretty though, so all is good.
Another 20+ km and we are now at the hotel. Bikes are tuned and bags repacked in the new crank bags, a little upgrade from last year. Sarah even tested her new race outfit, crank it up!
Race start at ten thirty, possible showers, 15-18 degrees, should be a good day for riding!

Happy riding!

kate
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Crank it up Sarah!

We are on our way! ETA hopefully before 8pm.
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She didn't flee the country...

Sarah did come get me and she is still riding though we almost didn't make it off the airport..but after a few variations of packing we got on our way.
Had a little spin around the hood here and bike seems good besides the rear break issue which will be tackled tomorrow...
Nite site and happy dreams!
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Crank the Shield 2 days to start

So I made it to the city of Toronto and waiting for Sarah to finish school so she can pick me and my luggag up. Been sitting at the airport chilling and pondering if my box will fit in Millie or Nellie, Sarahs little ripper car. Maybe I should just unpack and build bike while waiting.
The last few weeks haven't really been dedicated to biking and race prep. But I'm still exited to be back. Even with lack of fitness I hope to see a great event put on by Chico racing. Last year, despite a wet course everyone left happy and with some new friends in the cycling world. Unfortunately Chad had to back our due to work, but as replacement, Sarah has stepped u to the challenge and will race in his spot. Way to go!
3 days in the Haliburton area, added single track since last year and hopefully the same stellar catering! Very exiting. I will do my best to post each stage.
Today I hope to build bike and maybe I can get my rear break functional tomorrow at a shop. If not I guess ill just be going extra fast.
Hmmm where is Sarah? ....more to come..

Happy riding!
kate
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Intermontane day 5 - time to show some respect.....

... to the riders!

Here is a link to a fellow rider that have pulled out http://tracksidenews.blogspot.com/. My response to her was;
"I 100% support you in your decision to leave the race and I was very surprised in the little response in the riders meeting during the discussion. I was very close to not racing on day 4 but ended up riding as I love to ride and so far in the event I had very little fun. I did enjoy the trails yesterday, but felt wrong by starting and going through the finish line. Today I will pull out as well, in support of all of us that have spent time and money to come out for this event. There are many events we could have chosen, but we chose this one. These sorts of events are a business and if you promise a product you need to deliver. In my field there is no way I could get away with attempting something I didn't know anything about. I think we all have the some rights here, but we can not keep showing up at the start line. Unfortunately or fortunately, there is only one day left. I'd love to ride the hills, but I can do that on my own time, lets not support this race until it shows some professionalism and come clean."

So with that, I'm out! I would like to thank all the volunteers and people around the event that has been pulled in to this mess with all best intentions. With out these people no event can go on and there would be no races on any level, so thank you!

Happy Riding!
kate

Day 4 Intermontane - to bad it took 3 trials...

...to make day 4 a great event. 10 km longer than announced but minor at this point. The course (97 km) was well marked, a few road climbs but when the decent is good then its all worth it. It felt like a good endurance mountain bike race. There were lots of smiling volunteers, not sure were they all came from, but they kept us on track and fed. Unfortunately a little late in the game as some pros decided not to start.
As for my day. I started with same game plan, go easy when road and save legs for fun single track. It worked well, it was about 40 km before any real fun, and after that it was 30 km of great fun. Still tough as it was up and down on roots and loose rocks, before ten km of fun fast down hill. I was smiling all the way down. Unfortunately another Canondale guy went down very hard and was sent to hospital. I hope he is ok. At the last feed I'd passed three girls and many guys so I was pleased. And I thought it would be a cruise to the finish. But they took us up behind TRU for some more climbs and more fun downhill. Had a great day but after almost hundred km I was happy to get back to the cooling tub and my support.

Tomorrow is a TT, so of course not gone be easy as ill just be getting into my one pace that I have and the race will be over! Will be fun day though if all goes well, new format for me with staggered start and only 20 km or so. My goal will be not to get passed by too many of the faster riders behind me.

Happy Riding!
kate
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Day 3 Intermontane - bit of a joke..

... is how I feel about the race and how things are turning out. I might not be fair in my blog today as it is first years event and some things are out of peoples control, but I have some standard set when taking a week out of my time to come out to play.

Today was suppose to start at 8 am, which I was very happy with as it's been very hot, even at 8am it's almost 30 degrees. When arriving at the start people had been informed that the start had been delayed to 930 as some guy (local rider) took all markers down and cut trees to block trails that were part of the course. And to the events defend, it's hard to fight those guys who want to ruin the day, so they were remarking a shorter course (50 km, took out the top section which was suppose to be the fun of the day coming down). So while waiting we went back to the hotel and relaxed. We came back to the start and got ready to line up, when again, it was announced that start now would be at 1030! With that the heat would be just as previous days. The start eventually went, and for 40km it was a road race like I've never done ! There was 3 feed stations and we hit them all before any trail (and in my head I had 50 km as the target finish)! After the last feed I was so exited to see some double track at last, 10 km to the finish, then some single track, then some really fast down hill double track and then.... ops! A T -intersection with no marker!! I had passed a few people on the downhill and as they came down I went one way and checked the course out, but as I ended up on top of a climb with no markers or tire marks I went back down and we all took the same turn. After we climbed that hill one guy decied to go back the other way, so four of us continued on, no idea if it was right or not. It was a bit of ups and downs, motorcycle style track, and then a fence line, and eventually we found the markers again, at this point all I see is about 2 sets of tire tracks in the sandy trail. So we're thinking we're the only once who actually got on the course, or we are on tomorrow course!? But who cares at this point, I didn't, I just wanted to ride downhill and get to the finish! I had 50 km on the gps at this point! After a bit of fast down hill we see feed 1 below us and lots of "further back riders", I just wanted to continue on the marked course (which I now know was tomorrows course) but the girls down below called us down and sent us on the highway for almost another 20 km!! Brutal... At the finish line we were told today will not count! Which is fine, but yet not fine.... This event is advertised as a top class event, with huge money to winner in open men and women category, people spend lots of time to prepare and to come down to this event. It's ok to have one, or two bloopers, and say sorry, but this is over the top. There is not enough people to run this event, and my biggest issue at this point is the safety of the riders. Bishop was sent to the hospital today, I hear he had a fall in the end but made it to the finish and then didn't feel to good. This could have been someone off the course, way out there, lost by them self, in 40 degrees! I was lost today, but in a group of four, we had a gps, but it only gives you a direction, there are endless trails you can pick. Not a good thing when the organizer have to drive the lead Moto as he is the only one who knows the trail! The meeting tonight had a lot of feedback from riders, some pretty upset about the profesionalism of the event, some backed it up, personally I agree with those who is a bit upset. As we spend lots of time preparing and training and picking events, some travling from other countries, the events we chose should respect this and put it on with more effort to give us an safe and fair event. Monday many people got lost which for some ruined the change of winning, and they did not make it neutral, while today they did?

Anyway, there is two more days so we will see if they learned something from today, and hopefully it'll pick up for the better. Long stage tomorrow and up heigh! hopefully not all on road in the sun. I hope for the best, I just want to ride some fun trails. Todays best was post race massage! Thanks to Catherine for recommending a great therapist and I got visit from my favorite support crew at first feed station! so with that....

Happy riding!

kate

Day 2 Intermontane - more heat and more...

....gravel roads! There is a lot of hills around here and they all seem to have a nice steep gravel road and no trees! Day 2 was not much different than day 1, a little shorter in distance but similar riding, a little bit more single track in the end, but nothing technical of sort.

After a night of feeling hot I don't think I'd totally recovered from the heat yesterday. So today I was set at taking it easy, making sure to enjoy some of the riding rather than empty out and risk heat stroke. I think that was a good plan. Even through town in the group ride I felt the heat, probably around 30 at that point, so I stuck to my plan. My legs felt good and I kept my heart rate at a lower rate (average today was 148 vs 165 yesterday), but was able to push it up in the above 170 when putting in some effort, but as soon as some effort was put in the heat would knock me back so I stuck the game plan through the race. In the end I could finish with a smile and able to stand on my feet, it was great!
The course didn't have too much to offer again today, a little bit more single track way in the end, but after the first few major climbs they took us down on some really fast double track/roady sections, pretty disappointed to loose all that gain so quickly on a road!!
Yesterday I got a bee stuck in my jersey and it stung me a few times before it found its way out, and funny enough, I got one in again today! I'm staring to believe my green and yellow outfit looks like a flower, and maybe I smell like a flower too :) Only one sting today though.

The course was marked much better today, only one spot, on a high speed decent did I end up missing a turn, but quickly turned around. And there seem to be an award of some sort and a riders meeting in the evenings, it just wasn't announced anywhere, so tonight I'll wander up to the TRU and check it out.
Sue Butler is riding strong and yesterday was way ahead and took the win again today, as for my self I'm not sure how much time I lost, but quiet a bit. Had a bit of a break while fixing a chain break for a rider, and my pace was nice and slow! But in the end I had a nice and safe day in heat I'm not handling to well, which is more important. I hope to have some fun tomorrow, as I've heard it might be a ride with some technical descents! 85 km long and 2300 meters of gain, we'll head up to almost 2000 meters, so maybe we'll be in some trees even! They might start us at 7 am which will help a bit with the heat. So I'm looking forward to tomorrows ride! Try to be better prepared so Meredith doesn't have to rush back to hotel to get race food 10 minutes before start! I just blame the heat :)

Meredith and the dogs are doing great as support, I love coming down the last bit of trail and seeing them there. While I'm out riding, they enjoy some of what Kamloops have to offer of lakes and hikes. Today they went to Pauls lake for a dip, much needed to cool off! In the afternoons the dogs are just done, I think the head wipes them out as well. Or maybe they are just bored out of their mind wondering when we're going back to McMurray so they can come riding too.

Off to shine up the green machine and a bit of rest and load up on drink and food!

Happy Riding!

kate and the crew of Meredith, Toby and Sequoia!

Day 1 Intermontane

So one day down and 4 to go. Very hard day for me and for many others as the heat was just unbeatable. Of the over 80 km (suppose to be 74 but a wrong turn made for a little longer race, some had more than one wrong turn) we did plenty of gravel roads and climbing totally exposed to the sun. The little bit of single track was over so quick I can't really remember much of it. During the first decent just after feed one I also lost my water bottle so now all I had was one for the next 25 plus the wrong turn! I found a creek to get a little drink but tomorrow I'm making sure its mounted on big time. In the end I ended third is what I hear but haven't seen the results, and there doesn't seem to be an award each day. To sum up the day it was a day of survival and a day for the fittest to show what they had, but with a few misroutes it added to it all. Third place will be very hard to maintain tomorrow as it looks like a very similar stage. And I admit I'm not the fittest, and I sure didn't cope with the heat as well as I'd hoped, but the heat I'm sure hits most of us.
Tomorrow is just over 60 km and about same gain as today.

Happy riding!
kate

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Day 0 - registration and running around....

...in Kamloops in search of dog food.

I'm not sure how ill get on my bike for five days in mid to upper thirty degrees! Today I failed on my pre ride, when I walked out of my nice cool room with my bike and just made it to the lobby to cool off again. Well all in the same hot boat!

Registration went by quick, we never found good dogfood but Mer almost came out with another puppy! Bike is ready and fridge filled with goodies! Think I'm as ready as I will be. Mer had a glass of wine and as ready as she will be stringing away on her guitar. Dogs had a swim and some nice junk food so as ready as they will be, both currently wiped out from the heat.

Stage one is 74 km and 2300 m of gain and that's about all I know besides it will be hot!

Happy riding!
kate
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Fw: Jasper wild life

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-----Original Message-----
From: "Kate" <k4kicker@hotmail.com>

Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 02:58:45
To: <go@blogspot.com>
Subject: Jasper wild life

So after a long drive and a few wild life sightings we made it to Kamloops and the hotel, well, Toby and I did while Mer and SQ drove so fast while taking photos that they missed the exit! And almost run into me! Lesson learned she says. Now we're waiting for our complaint verdict. Our room smell like smoke though non smoking and there are no other pet rooms. When I booked way back (I know, quiet unusual for me to be prepared like this) I was guaranteed no smelly rooms.
Dogs and people are hungry so if we don't have to fine a new hotel there will be dinner soon.

Happy riding.
kate
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En Route to Intermontane

So here we are, on the road once again. Toby, SQ, Mer (following in her Jetty, I just hope it makes it) and I are on our way to Kamloops for the Intermontane starting Monday. It was a hot drive (30+) down to Edmonton so dog were happy to have a break at the dog park by the river, and added bonus was a visit from Sarah. We almost had her convinced to join us in the adventure to Kamloops. But the good gf she is, she must take her journey to fort mcmurray to see Chad.

We enjoyed a good Italian dinner with gelato at the end. And spend a little time finding a hotel with OLN, but lucked out. Now all four of us is ready for the sleep and on the road after hopefully a good stage of the tour in the morning.

To backtrack just a second to last blog. The test was a joke in the sense I had no idea how it went, which is it then ethical to accept a pass? Well maybe I will have to write again, if so then no need to ponder on that. Very possible.

Happy riding!
kate

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12 hrs to test...

A few more hours to get through Practical Law and a few booklets. Toby is being great help, making sure I stay focused. Whatever I don't get to, ill have to go through when it comes time to retake the exam :(

Done some shorter rides to keep legs moving a little and they feel ok. Tuesday will be last day of any real effort and then its time to pack up for Kamloops. They have posted start list and I'm gone have a tough shot on top three even five. They have put out some big price money and that seem to have worked to attract some good folks even first year. Good stuff, looking forward to it.

Well better get on with the Law!

Happy riding
kate
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The blog that never updates...

... that's my blog, have to admit I'm terrible and keeping this going. Though, here comes the excuses, during the BC bike race it just wasn't easy to get on a computer, and my BB still have a few bugs that need to get some figuring out. I would have like to take some notes, as today, each and every stage is pretty much a blur! In summary I had a fun, hard, painful, joyful and plenty of single track riding week!! A must have in any event, and the BC bike race folks did not disappoint! At one point I remember thinking "will this single track ever end?" And I do not think those thoughts very often!









As for a the race it self, Steve and I partnered up well. We had our scuffs but nothing that couldn't be worked out and in the end it just thought us a few things about working together. I think we had it all figured out by the last day :) He finally pushed me up every single hill, so I could work on my tan and start recovering for a week of building deck. Thanks to Steve I now have a great deck to study in the sunshine for my Monday exam. Joke a side, I lucked out with partner and support crew, couldn't have asked for anything better or more. And already signed up for next years single track adventure of the BC bike race! Steve? you in yet?
We also lucked out in so many other things, weather! perfect every day until I left Monday morning in rain, and it rained hard and didn't stop until I hit Fort McMurray a Tuesday night.
We had no issues with our green machines! With one week of riding some terrain that can be very hard on the machines I'd say that is luck and some smooth riding helps of course. I'm staring to really enjoy the Titus X more and more, and I'm sure very soon it'll be my new favorite bike! It definitely got more attention along with our outfits than Steve and I as riders did through out the week :)
We had no cougar or bear issues, we had no major crashes, just some minor that hurt the pride more than anything. So in a week long race what else can you ask for!?
I even made it up the last little hill in to Edmonton and Hardcore store on empty with a trailer!

Back in Fort McMurray I've been busy building a lower deck in my yard. It took a bit of trial and error to get done, but now I have a dirt free yard, almost and can focus on my APEGGA exam for Monday. That gives me 3 full days of study!! Hopefully that'll do it! Not too much riding lately, but to study efficiently breaks are required, so what better break than a nice trail ride!

Have to get the legs back in the motion. Only 1 week until departure for the next stage race, Intermontane in Kamloops. 5 days of riding trails I've never been on. Have no real idea of what to expect, so just going with an open mind and hope for not too hot weather and some fun riding.

until next time...

happy riding,

kate

1 stage down

Stage one started in North Van at 10 today. The shortest of seven days, not to be confused with easy.
Steve and I had a spot in about the mid of the 400 riders so off the star we had a bit of work to do.
A shorter section on the road to the trail head was all we had until trail narrowed up and there wasn't much you could do but to be patient all the way up first climb of day.
This didn't really change going down. First decent was typical North Shore xcountry trail I guess. For most it meant slow ride or walk. After this the second climb was on us and here we didn't see many riders at all. Last decent to finish was super fun mostly ridable stuff.
We crossed as fifth mixed team in Lynn Valley.
Overall not sure how I felt. Legs didn't say much but I didn't feel I pushed as hard as I wanted. I didn't have what I wanted I guess. Though six more rides to figure it out.

Now we are on the ferry to Nanaimo. Could be tricky to get over in morning so making sure the whole crew is here.
Our support Meredith, Karen, Kim, Jen, Toby and SQ had a great day. Thanks!

First blog on the BB so no photo upload and no idea if it will turn out ok.

Will try to keep posting Hardcore news! Unless Steve makes me suffer too much.
Mark people just love your colors! Even socks!
Congrats to all the other Albertans who always seem to show up to this great events.

Happy riding!
kate and the Hardcore bunch!

A taste of North Shore....

Yesterday I made it a couple of more km down the highway to Surrey. I'll stay here until start of Stage 1 Sunday. Yesterday was not a great day so lots of time to relax, it rained, rained and rained! Ended up going to bed early but couldn't get good sleep with my green machine in the trailer below. So at midnight I got up again, got the bike out of the trailer and into safety of the hotel reception. Nice sleep after that!

Today started as yesterday, so I took my car a few blocks away and dropped it off for an oil change (again...putting on the km's this summer), and walked back in beautiful west coast rain! Got a message from Steve who was ready to go hit the North Shore! So got my stuff together, and got the bike out of storage and rode to pick up truck at dealer and headed over to North Vancouver. Toby was exited as he got to come on his first bike ride since his little episode. It was dark but not raining, and we started somewhere down low. The climb up was great to start, we took it nice and easy, in a very short bit, we were both off our bikes hiking!! Toby was wondering what took us so long....4 legs vs two wheels..4 legs seem to work better. I'm still not sure we rode the right trail up, as speaking to a guy after at the bike shop, there shouldn't have been anything we couldn't ride to get up, hmm we will see... Down was great, but of course I forget what it is called, I'm sure Steve got it though! He is the trail master, remember them all! A few drops I didn't do and with rain it sure adds a bit of twist to the roots. Going to be a great ride Sunday!

Check out our racer profile on BC racer page.

Many great teams and solo riders ready to go, and looks like the sun will show up as well!

Happy Riding,

kate & toby

Almost in Vancouver!

So we almost made it to Vancouver.

Toby and I left Calgary Monday after his vet appointment that went really well! he is progressing in a very good direction. We met up with Steve and Karen in Canmore and to pick up the trailer. Since a later departure we decided to drive to Salmon Arm and take the night there. This morning we got up early to get a short ride in, one lap of the Salty Dog race course! And of course it didn't disappoint! Toby even got a few minutes of excitement as he tricked Karen to think he'd be good when she had to untangle his leach, and then took off on her. It didn't take long for him to sniff his way to Steve and I (wonder if it was my stinky Canada Cup race clothing!! yeah, roughing it up on the road!).

Tonight we're Travelodging it in Langley, just outside Vancouver. Steve and Karen is searching for a camp spot in North Vancouver possible for tomorrow night. So maybe we'll get a little taste of stage 1 if it doesn't rain too hard or at all. Calling for a bit of rain but you never know.

Looking forward to Sunday start!
Happy riding,
kate and toby

A couple of races, couple of trips to vet and on the road..

The last week has not been boring, it became a bit more than I'd planned for.

I made it down to Edmonton on Friday a little in time to do a lap on the race course and get the bike ready. The race Saturday had a start of 2pm which is very late for me, and I wasn't sure how to get ready for 2pm. I slept as long as I could, had a breakfast at Tims and then went down to see the Expert men start and to get and idea of how long the laps would be. It was 10am and already really hot! The hardcore boys just swept the podium!! Good job guys!! I had lunch at Subway and then I headed back for my race. I warmed up with doing a prelap, it was almost 30 degrees so didn't feel I needed much more as I was hot enough! So when the start went the girls as always just took right off, it started with as steep climb and I got left in the dust pretty much. I little disappointed that I had no change on hanging on, but oh what could I do. We had to do 4 laps, one less than posted due to lap times during the previous races. I didn't really start enjoying the race until end of 3rd and 4th felt even better! I ended 5th which gave me UCI points, not sure what I'll do with those, but nice to have :)

Racing Canada Cup is a bit different than ABA races, you better follow the rules. So when I planned on getting home quick, and had changed and started the car, Steve calls me and says I have to be on the podium for fifth, I saw trouble! So I turn car off again, get my dirty cloths back on, and back to the awards. I was the only one with running shoes on though, but no trouble for that. So when I finally got on the road it was 5pm, so I didn't get home until after 9.
But this was not the end of a long day!

When I got home my roommate told me I needed to call Meredith as Toby had an incident with his leg and she was trying to get him to a vet. So still dirty from race I get back in my truck and drive over to the Vet, she wasn't there but a vet tech was and she hadn't heard of Toby yet. So I call and Meredith was still looking for a vet on call. She rushed over to this one and they took Toby in. He was in a lot of pain and couldn't walk or stand up properly, and his back was sort of pointing up. They had to take xrays and they showed some swelling around the spine. So now the only option was to get him to Calgary for a cat scan as it could be a disk rupture. We didn't have much time as if surgery is required the sooner the better. So in the truck, back home to quickly repack and on the road to Calgary. Toby cried on the way down and I felt so bad for him. We got in about 730 in the morning and they took him in and gave him some more pain killers and couldn't get the scan done until later on. After a few hours they called and the cat scan showed no disk rupture, so they verified it by doing a mylogram and that was good news. They believe it is a spinal stroke, which they are not sure why occur. It is also a change of a trauma, but both diagnoses has the same treatment so they treated him with anti inflammatory. And the next day I got to take Toby home! After a few nights with now sleep and lots of worries he would never come on a real mountain bike ride again, we headed back to McMurray. I had my one week of work on site for the summer scheduled this week, and I already missed Sunday and Monday so behind the program already. I couldn't leave Toby on his own so he got to spend the next to days with me at work, he was pretty exited.

Friday we packed up again, this time for 2-4 weeks on the road. First stop would be Edmonton to pick up the Hardcore Trailer (thanks a lot Mark! that makes it that much easier for us) then to Canmore. Didn't make it down very fast and spent a bit more time in Edmonton than planned so I missed the pre lap ride on Friday, I also missed the package pick up!! UCI rules!! This could mean trouble. Saturday morning I got up there as soon as they opened and tried to pick it up. A guy didn't really know what he was suppose to do so he gave Mike and I a handwritten plate and as I'm walking out I pick up some zippy ties it reminds me I also need pins for a rear number plate, which I didn't get! so I go back and ask for a rear number and we then realize its more to it so they had to call in the "secretary" for the race. She tells us we really should have done this yesterday, send someone like our race manager! hmm Toby?? well he has a bad leg so I couldn't really put it on him. Well to make the story short, you really have to make sure you understand all the UCI rules, some are not written so you just have to talk to lots of people and hope for the best. She was nice enough to not give us a 50 dollar late fee, but she had to write us up, so we get a fee from UCI of 35 franks, and we would not get called up, meaning start in the back of the pack, which since I'm usually last out anyway, wasn't a big deal. But for reference if you can not make it to pick up the day before an event, have a photocopy of your licence and have sign a paper and give this to someone to say you are ok with them picking it up for you! Unwritten UCI rule.

The race was so so for me. Great course but I never felt I took it out, I got very comfy riding behind a girl, she was really fast on the technical down hills, and had a nice comfy pace up! Too comfy for a race pace, so I am a bit disappointed, in a short race I'm usually never comfortable, it is a 2 hour or so painful affair! Still a nice run for next week start of BC bike race! I'm happy to see so many good riders out on a Canada Cup, both men and female though, hopefully this is a trend that will keep growing! These are great events and there are so many good riders up here, it's unfortunate that very often the attraction to the USA cups are greater.

Toby got to come with me on the trip, while SQ will fly down with Meredith next week. We miss her but Toby still requires a bit more attention than normal so it would be a bit much for me. He did great during the race, and I'm sure he enjoyed watching from prime spot across from the feed zone. Thanks Karen for feeding and Toby watching!!

Later Toby got to go for a good swim and we are now in Calgary to relax until Monday's vet appointment. He has had such great recovery so far I'm sure the his Doctor will be very impressed. My only concern is that he is learned how to manage with the 3 legs when he does certain things, rather than retraining the fourth leg. So hope to get some ideas on how to encourage him to use all legs as he should. After the appointment we'll be back on the road and meet up with Karen and Steve for the drive out to Vancouver! One more week and we'll be on our bikes for 7 days!

Happy Riding!

kate and toby

Time at home..

The last two weeks I've spent in McMurray! It is great to spend some time at home recovering, well that was the plan. Though, at home there is always little projects that are waiting to be done. One I've wanted to do for a very long time is my back yard. I have spent very little time back there as it is just not a spot to relax and hang out, Toby even has trouble going back there sometime. So it was time to get something done, and what perfect timing as Cody and his buddy just started up a contracting company doing concrete. So a few minutes of sketching out a layout and the plan was in place! Cody and his team didn't take long to put in the pad and I'm very happy with it. Though the goal was no grass at all!
No more dirty dogs! So my job was now to landscape around the pad with rock and some brush. It took me almost as long as it took them to lay the pad to figure out the rock. Ended up using washed stone, nothing special but natural sort of look, good think I'm not in the exterior design industry. This was my week of rest of course, but who had thought doing some landscaping would be much more than rest! Well, two tonnes of rock and two days later my legs and back needed a good massage. Now I need to prepare for the lower deck to cover the rest of the grass and to place the dogie pool back in, probably after BC bike race looking at my current schedule. But all the work is so worth it, this morning after the dogie bike ride to Tims and Dog park, we had breakfast on the Pad and it is so nice to be able to sit in the back yard. The other night we also had a hotdog night....and the dogs are really looking forward to the dogie pool!

So back to biking a bit, last week was my recovery week, a week early as my legs felt pretty dead, and only 3 weeks to the start of BC bike race. The week consisted in easy spins to Tims and dogpark (love those), a group ride with the boys (fun times on other side of town), and hauling rocks to my back yard, which I thought half a tonne would have covered, but after 4 loads (2 tonnes) I can still need a few buckets here and there. Then I ended the week with a longer easy road ride. So into this week I felt pretty good, a little stiff from lifting but a massage on Tuesday fixed that all up!

This week is my last week of any load, so putting in a regular base week, longer rides with not too much intensity. Besides a cofferide to Tims and dogpark in the mornings I did intervals yesterday and group ride (3 of us, hopefully group will grow soon) and today I did a longer road ride and got sand blasted in a mini storm. Tomorrow I'll head out on road again and plan on heading down to Edmonton Friday to ride the course for the weekend race. Then race Saturday and Sunday it's back to work ah..5 days of full day work load! Can't complain though, I'm enjoying this a few hours of work here and there kind of summer! Think I need to look into becoming a teacher!

oh, and fyi - I really like my new bike!

happy riding!