Less riding and...

... more time for shopping!

So another week and still not much progress on the rib issue. Tried a short ride but it seem counter productive if I am gona have a shot at Watervalley this weekend. So with more time on my hand I cought up on some bike part shopping.
So if I don't ride good at least ill look good, the bike that is. Thanks Craig for showing me the fancies. Starting off with some blue/white theme of small items. Super lightweight too. And new drive train on the way; found a 24/38 kit and crossing fingers it'll work. This will have my Superfly ready in case new rig from Ridley's don't make it in time for Portugal.

Well; from no riding to Watervalley! Ride report to follow; looks like the boys are more excited about the beers at the lunch stop than the ride. Should be a  good turnout.

Happy Riding!

Thanks...

...to Pedrag and I have my coffee maker running again...better than new:)

Happy mocha drinking makes for happy rides...

A lot of eggs..

...some sweet potato fries, spinach and strawberries this this week and weekend. When I find something that I like, and if you've followed this you'll see this meal, with variation of the hot part....

So it shouldn't come as surprise to me but I did get less riding in this weekend, though the week wasn't too bad. I rode to work and put Toby through a couple of rides to get him tuned up for spring and summer! He is loving it of course. Wednesday I went out with Katy and Craig and did our regular type of path loop, around Glenmore reservoir and back up to the city. It wasn't bad, but for some reason the ribs felt very agitated through the ride. Maybe the little ride with Toby in Beaumont single track the night before was a bit hard on it. Either way that it for riding. I figured I'd take a few days off, and Saturday planned a hike with Alana as rib recovery day in hope of a good ride Sunday.

We had a bit of a hard time thinking of a good hike, but ended up doing Exshaw, to see how far off it was from being ridable. It was worse than I thought, we had a hard time making it up as it was pure ice under a bit of snow. I had poles, so my plan of rib recovery was out the window. We poled our self up and coming down we crawled cautiously down. Great little hike though, and hopefully with some good warm weather it'll be ready soon. Part of the lower trail just had the fresh snow, but pure dusty dirt underneath :)



From there we drove in to Canmore, grabbed a refill on our coffin load and headed up to attempt Grotto Canyon, as it was south facing and looked pretty clear. It was definitely better than Exshaw, but also much steeper, and not to grippy, as it was actually muddy and slick in sections. But with the pack back at the car it felt easier on the ribs, so that was a bonus. The views were awesome and Toby was in dogie heaven, getting two hikes in a short period of time. We hiked back down and met up with Suzanne at the Silvertip Golf course were the next few hours were spent, mostly figuring out the bill... oh not us, but the server. He did figure it out in the end. All in all a great day! no work got done, two great hikes, great friends and food...

Sunday I didn't feel so rested, sort of like through the week, if I could figure out a way to sleep standing up it would be great. Guessing I need to have a bit more down time and let the rib heal. So I made a difficult decision to not go ride today. Gabor posted a photo from the ride and obviously missed out on another great group ride :(
I did meet them at Cadence for a coffee though, since my Super Automatic Crazy Machine does NOT work! Alana wasn't too happy to see me in no riding gear, but I hope she forgives me and after the face is very happy she went. They did the "rib crash" loop from last weekend so I know she would have enjoyed it.
In the mean time I got a few things done around the house. So not a wasted day. Toby was out with a lot of girls and girl dogs for a ski so he was happy.

Now plan the next few weeks leading up to Portugal to make sure I can get as ready as possible both training and work. Hopefully back on the bike this week, and I think big things are in the plan for next weekend :)

Happy Riding!

4 days and....

... 3 pretty good rides, first wipe out of the year and the beginning of my barista future ...
Last day in Canmore was done early enough to get in touch with Craig and get in a city loop on the bike. We road the paths down to Fish Creek and back up along the river. Done this loop a few times and each time im equally impressed and happy to have this in the city i live. After about 80km of riding we decided to visit cafe Rosso...been a while...but as we walked in with huge smiles and with great coffee on our minds the guy tells us its closing :(...attempt 2...purple perks on 4th...pot roast and mashed potatoes sounds great...but nope...they do not have it...it's just a menu teaser ....thouh coke in a real bottle made up for that :)

Friday was running around day. Finally got my bike un wrapped from Spain and dropped off at Ridleys for an awesome tune up...felt a bit wrong not to ride as the weather was so great, but also good to get a few things done.

Saturday was ride one for weekend. Craig, Erik, Shawn and Gary came out. We started a bit earlier which i like; thouh struggled with getting dressed; not used to cold weather. Frosty morning and probably only reached 5; bit i still managed to over dress. First jacket off before we even hit the trails. Road the single track out to the start of paved path to Chocrane. With the cold the trails were pretty perfect, no mud and only a few spots of ice; which Gary seemed to find them all :) The path was clear most of the way besides the overflowed section that will need aomething time to clear. This is were i decided to do my first real wipe out. Managed to find a good soft spot in the snow/ice and bike did an instant stop; not so much me, i kept on going and flew over the bars with all sorts of thoughts flying throuh my head....all ended well after i spent a few min getting my breath back. Pain didnt really show up until the first little hill and I got off the seat to climb, and from there on it gradually appeared little by little. And the amount of bumpy trail we did, going north to big spring didnt help to much. But I figured today will be less sore than tomorrow so might as well get it all in! As we hit the asphalt heading back east to Calgary I felt the pace; either i was tired or the boys were racing up the hills. Had to let them go on the longer one; Craig was nice enough to drop off with me; the wind that was called for from the East was apparent now. Got back in the group and the pace eventually became more manageable and I made it home in one. Great day and ended it with a great lunch at Cadence.

Sunday ride was in the air after a bit of a long night trying to figure out sleep without moving. But as i got up and on two legs moving around things felt better, took Toby for a quick spin to test it all out and figured id be good for a smooth path ride. Craig, Cesar, Devon and I did a repeat of Thursday. But to top it off; Coffee Rosso was open! Great ride again and as impressed with the path system as always.

Also did a second visit to Rosso to pick up my new bed time reading....still working out my barista skills and now there is no stopping me. Had ny first behind the counter class with the real thing and soon ill be making birds and other fine art in my mochas !

Perfect weekend!

Happy Riding!

Work sessions....

...in Canmore this week. Due to the great snow fall the dog sled ride team building event got canceled as road up was closed. Well that left a couple of hours open before dinner as no one seem to like bowling on this crew. Lucky to get bike out, limited options of ride so did the road i know; up passed nordic centre to the top.....the road that was closed earlier. Totally cleaned and perfect for a climb up, little sketchy down. Stopped at the bike shop and secured some ccc coffee supply.

Two great evenings witb great people, but im happy to throw in the towel tonight a bit earlier. I must be one of the youngest here so pondering on this; how come i cant keep up? They even beat me to breakfast. Well alarm set and no excuses tomorrow.

One more day and long weekend on the off work agenda!

Happy riding ....

First ride...

...since returning from Spain! This week went by very quick with a bit of a scare early on with a good snow storm (sort of)....but with one day of wind and heat it all left us and today was prime conditions for a group ride.
The biggest turn out yet this year! No drop ride was the plan and that does bring out more people which is great. I didnt count but 15 +- im sure. We had a little social before starting with stories from Spain. And one reflection from the trip was how laid back the people are and so respectful to everyone that is out. As a lost tourist in trafic circles or a rider on a narrow road; they just take their time and give you space, seems to not even face that someone made a mistake or are in their way.
Here in Calgary on the other it only took a little bit onto our ride and we are honked at for riding our bikes; not the friendly kind of honk. And later driving downtown folks are so busy and rushed and they all think they are the only once with an agenda so everyone else better get out of their way....so much angry unnecessary energy; why is that driven into our culture? We live once and spend so much of our time worry and upset about others action. I try to just smile and go on with a happy day!
And our ride; despite a few honks were just that; happy ride! We rode to chocrane as a group but today i had broken my rule of scheduling things in too soon after a ride and had to leave them there and ride home without a real lunch stop. Thouh i did get a nice Mocha in first:)
Cesar and I rode a bit of the Glenbow park then up and out and finished on the highway.

Well in summary; great March Saturday ride with great turnout and hopefully many more to come!

Happy riding!

Back home....

...to this!
The coffee maker arrived and it works good; me not so good yet but im learning and now that the good bean has arrived (real CCC beans) I have very high expectations to the next cup!

Good coffee required for Happy Riding!

Stage 5 ...

...and the last day! Shorter but not easy. Most of us are now juat getting through on lots of adrenaline.

Short neutral today and again pretty easy pace. But as soon as we hit the gravel the race was on. The leader team in our category looked strong so i pretended to look strong too; but was very empty. I could only hope that it was the case for them too. I kept watching the km; 47 was the number but it went by very slow. The first climbs (not major) are sort of a blur; im not even sure i remember if we rode with them that stretch or if we came together later. I think it was shortly after a feed we eventually managed to get a gap. Craig had got a head a little bit to stop and i went right through. And got a bit of a head start on some great single track down hill. I manage to sneak by a bit slower rider and Craig with the leads got stuck behind. Craig wasn't worried as he would catch me after. When we hit the bottom we quickly hit a good climb. The three of them had to work pretty hard to close the gap and Craig was able to catch me just in time to grab my bike and me to run (more like crawl) up. This gave us a gap and we held this gap for a while. Up one of the major climbs; a beautiful vally in the mountains, very steep and with the side slopes so steep i tried to avoid looking down. Neat.
Then some more (shorter sections) of fun down until the last major climb of the day (500m over the next 4, so i knew it would hurt). I looked back as we start but figured we had left them behind for good; though not too far in a womens team we normally don't see pass. And about half way up they are all of a sudden on our wheel. We ride their pace; Craig thought it was like a Sunday group ride, while im giving almost all i have or wait, all i didnt have. I thinking if we can push just a bit harder we can get a gap back and if we can hold it to the top we should be ok. So I dig a bit deeper so Craig can get to race again. She says something to her partner but since I my Spanish is as good as my legs at that moment i just translate it to what i wanna hear "i cant do it". So I don't look back and keep legs moving, we catch up with the swiss girls again. We finally crest the climb and im still alive! The down would have been heavenly but with the rain (oh yeah, it was cooler and bit of rain today), it was very slick so I settled in a safe pace behind two guys and one of the girls. We again got to ride through this amazing towns small street and happy to reach the finish with another stage win!

This week could have started better, but that is stage racing. It is on from the start to the end; things can happen that can change the standing very quickly. We got over our little mishap and raced a great race rest of the week. Craig has been an amazing partner and definitly helped me race to my limits every day.
The Andaluciabikerace in its second year only is definitly one to put on your calendar. Very well organized with some great riders which makes for a very competitive event. The course each day was well put together with a good mix or road and surprisingly good single track! And timing; February racing in the sun!

Thanks to everyone that have followed and sent their support through the week.

Thanks to Ridleys for getting the bike tuned and ready on a very short notice; it survived but be prepared for what is coming back!

Now rest day in Madrid next, then home and back to the real life.

Happy riding!

Stage 4 (day 5) ....

...must have been one of the hardest days on a bike. The double 26-39 is great but when legs are this dead im pushing the shifter in hope that a few gears magically appears....never happend.

Still gate 5 for us but with a bit late arrival our gate riders had moved up to 4 already so we snuck in there . The neutral was not as hard as normal, maybe more legs are tired. We road for about 20km in a pretty good pace and when the first climb came i figured it would slow down but it was a sprint up the mountain. Well at least if felt like it for me as we probably moved in a crawling pace up. The first climb took us 40km into the race and up 1100m. I tried to hang on but eventually had to ask Craig to throw in the towle. It later showed it might have been a good move as for some the pace probably was to hard to sustain. My break was mentally killing me to with its squeaky sound all day. Craig wanted me to forget about it, but i left my airplugs at the hotel so it was hard. Though further into the race the dry chain took over with a louder noice and then it was all good in my head. Every climb was rewarded with some great fun downhill for a little bit and some long. But there was always amother climb on the bottom. Tough but easier on the head when they were nice single track climbs which we had some good once. At 68 km mark we entered the last big climb of 500m over 4 km....it was hard. But totally helped to see the green leaders up front. Put in a little extra effort mostly mental effort bike still went the same steady slow pace up. But it was good enough to pass them and leave them quickly. I didnt look back to much, I was just happy the day wasn't just feeling hard for me. At the top we had some more awesome down. At the bottom we hang on to a guy and we all took a wrong turn, not just wrong but it was like a wall steep climb! Not sure how long but probably a few minutes up a whole bunch of folks came riding down yelling wrong way! Leader women's team as well. So we turned. I wasn't sure if it was enough lost time for mix lead to have passed us but Craig thought no. We road in through the city which was cool; all the streets was closed one way for us, creating a bit of chaos but fun to see. Finally finish line and another stage win, with the leaders just behind! Hard earned!
Had a massage, some food and waiting for dinner. Tomorrow last stage is "only" 59.7 km but with 2151 m of climbing! I look forward to km 47, from there and in it should be all smiles!

Happy riding (even when its hard as h...)

Stage 3 - ...

...priego da cordoba loop.

Why do we do this again? We even pay big bucks to do it. Its an addiction  of sort and at the end of it we wanna do it all again; the pain is forgotten. So i keep reminding my self of that while a knife is poking my shoulder and legs are screaming for a break but Craig the machine just wanna go harder. Gives me a push that accelerate the bike and forces me to downshift and push a bit harder just when i think im maxed out. Well that summarizes todays stage.

The neutral ride throuh town was just like all other days. Out of gate 5 today so a bit less riders to get through. The lead team was in our sight through all of it. Then gravel and we lost sight and never saw them again. The pace was high and plenty of rolers my favorite. Then climbing; i seem to remember a lot of that today. Some beautiful road and gravel climbs, very steep. Down to feed to was my favorite of the day. Some awesome decent with a bit of everything. Boulders, coble stone, steps, loose gravel....
My least favorate was about 5 km from finish and we hit a climb that pretty much looked like a wall in front of you!.... It felt like a really long few km to the finish, but it felt good to be done and happy to know we took another stage. Another fancy Oki camera and plack.
Stayed clear of Olga today and glad i did as the muscles are very unhappy with any touch. Heather be warned; clear the calendar for next week! :)
After such good food in Cordoba it was a hard one to match here in Jaen, not bad but we are spoiled now.

Tomorrow is suppose to be the hardest day of the week; yay! 86.6 km and 2741 meter elevation! The area is quiet a bit more mountainous and i expect there will be aomething great views. Only two more days of this journey. Still in gate 5.

Happy riding!

Stage 2 ....

...Cordoba - Cordoba, 78 km and about 2000 elevation. Very similar to yesterday but yet very different! First different, we got to start in block 6 (up from 8). The course today was mostly dirt, double and single track and very little road. Equally hard with lots of climbing, but pretty much each climb was rewarded with more great trails and descents. Very well put together. The climbs, though super hard, had some more content to them, rocks, sand, steep, long. We saw some awesome views and canyons, cow fields and forrest, slick rock and rough rock, a little bit of everything. Craig once again did all he could to help me reach the top and it didn't take too long into the race before we caught up with the second women team. We never saw the lead mixed team and I just assumed they were ahead, riding strong. We road with them for a bit and eventually dropped them and soon got the wheel of the lead women team. Very strong on the climbs and Craig pushed me hard to make sure we stuck with them (literally). We dropped them on a decent, after one of them had a little issue with the bike. Legs were yelling and screaming all day, and apparently I do too sometimes, but both legs and me, keep going. It's hard not too when Craig is working so hard, but in my mind I would have loved to stopped at least at one of the many coffee shops I saw crossing roads. Well, no coffee stop today. We made it to the rail road, and finally the many trips to Cochran paid off. Though, I wasn't as lucky this time. Ripped the side of my front tire after getting in a the bumpy groove. Saw a few teams ride by unfortunately but this is racing. Got a tube in and road a bit more careful on the some sections now. Still having some issues with my chain jumping off and getting stuck in the crank arm. Tuned it up slightly again, to worried about someone messing with the crack if I dropped it off to a mechanic. Craig suggest I should remove a link, that will be plan B, plan A, don't mess with it if it's sort of working...hopefully it'll hold up one more day.

The very last 5 km of the race was the same as day 1 and 2. Was very happy to see the end!

The mixed team was not there yet, so we ended up winning the day. They had a flat tire early on during the neutral section and came rolling across the finish line second today, still with the overall lead. Only some big mistake on their end will take that away from them. They seem very strong still.

We fumbled a bit more after the finish today, fixing my wheel, front shifting etc. So missed lunch before massage. Had a quick cheese doodle snack and went for a massage. Today I got "Olga"! she is very strong! it was very painful! I hope I can walk tomorrow :) Craig got the same one as yesterday and is very pleased. Ice bath done, soon dinner, pack room for a 630AM departure tomorrow to a new area tomorrow.

Happy Riding!

Post Stage 1

Wow, that was hard.

We started back in town again just like yesterday and with only a few km of neutral we had to push our way to the front pretty quick. A little bit of sidewalk riding helped and not in too bad of a position as we went out on the trails. We could see the lead team from yesterday, but not the second team. We got to climb up the trail I climbed back up looking for Craig yesterday, so guess someting good came out of the mishap, a little pre-ride of the climb. And so it went for the rest of the day, more climbing, and then some more, the down were so quick I can't remember much of it, but I do recall some climbing. Fairly short punchy once, punch which of course I don't have. But with the lead team from yesterday with us we did what we could to hang on. Craig would push me to give the extra punch up the hills, but in the end (somewhere in the middle)we had to see them go. They are definitly more race fit than I am. Both the girl and the guy. Deservingly taking the stage win again today about 5 min on us. We never saw the second place team (we thought we were looking for Danish riders)and learnd later we were 20 or so minutes ahead. Big recovery from yesterday and now 3rd overall, much improved from dead last! Though we did leave all of it out there hoping to prove we could ride with the leaders all the way in. Not today.

At the finish line Craig is treated as a Pro with his Scott bike, they take very good care of him... hint hint Trek! We had a good massage, some good food, a cold leg dip and now ready for some more food soon. Then hope for the heavy legs to lighten up for tomorrow, which roumers has it that it is harder than today with more climbing. The race will be broadcasted on Spanish TV each night, so will put legs up and hopefully get the Spanish summary of today!

Happy riding!

Stage 1 ...

...Cordoba to Cordoba...

Last night we hopefully dealt with yeaterdays blow and have left it behind for good (or at least until we get home and a few jokes im sure will be made). New day today, 78 km and 1965 elevation. Lots of up and down and hopefully we are able to steal a few positions during the 3k neutral ride to enjoy some fun trails in the area.

I've had a great visit with family while in Spain and yesterday i had great support from dad and Eli. Today they head out. Thanks for a great week!

Better get ready, happy riding!

Day 0 ...

...of the race is a short warmup for the rest of the week.

Not sure i should update blog with a report just yet as im still recovering from a tiny bit of a disappointing end of the day. But we live and learn and move on...
We stared down in the older part of Cordoba with a neutral 8km or so through the town. I didnt really get to see too much of the town as all my attention was on the more than 400 riders already racing for a good spot in the end. It was pretty crazy with walking old people on the sidewalks not too happy with all the riders taking over the sidewalk, us as well, trying to advance a bit more up the pelaton. We started off dead last but think we got up to around 100 maybe at the end. Hard to say.
Then the race started. Some dirt double and single track; lots of jams and hiking and not too many places to go but the pace was pretty good for me. Think Craig had more in him so he took both bikes and i ran up in front hoping to pass a few people (he mumbled something about this is how Erik moves up). After a while of climbing we had some fast double track desending and some gradual climbing that lead in to some great single track down and then some awesome doble track fast and technical down. So far great day; legs a bit heavy but ok. Then my chain jumped off and got jamed and while putting it on i wasn't sure if Craig went by, I thought he did. With that in mind I moved like crazy on the last bit of down and pretty much to the finish line but didnt see him. We have to be within two minutes so rather than going throuh i went back to a good view and waited. Afte ra few minutes I figured he had a minor break down and would show up soon. No Craig and no English speaking help to get. After a while i started riding back up, little by little. Hmm now worried a bad crash had happened. Pretty much every rider in the race went by. And im still riding up. Got a few spanish coments and pointing fingers. Eventually i turn and see our Madrid friend coming up to get me. He says Craig ia at the finish line. Also he not so great witb English. But I do get that he is ok. We ride back to the finish and I'm pointed to cross the line, and there is Craig.
I guess Craig thouht I was ahead and didnt see i was stopped to fix bike. He crossed the finish and then learn i was not there. But now he couldn't go back. He goes throuh the same search exercise that i did but on the other some of finishline. So here we are. Day 0 and dead last and still waiting for officials to say yes we are still in the race. They think we are but with my time as official time with a time penalty as well for the gap..hmm be a hard one to pick up. But hopefully we can still race for stages, at least we are both ok; no physical injuries...and something learned.

New day tomorrow and more Happy riding!

Andaluciabikerace ...

...tomorrow it will begin. Follow live at www.andaluciabikerace.com

kate and Craig

Spain 2012 - starting the vacation

wow, Spain bootcamp so far; but the fun kind.
Since i left Calgary Thursday it's been pretty much non stop. We arrived Spain and Madrid yesterday around lunch and the bike survived the long haul without a box just fine. We managed to get a large enough vehicle to fit both bikes, three people and our luggage after a few inspections. And from there we figures we would tour in to Madrid for some technology upgrades and lunch! We opted out of a GPS rental and without the pad or phone maps we stuck to the old kind on paper if your remember those. It sort of worked since we didnt really care where we ended up. And i think we did end up in Madrid. Found a cell phone provider after a bit of trial and error and we quickly have learned that we really should put the effort in and learn the language before venturing here. The lunch was food, but not sure what it a was besides chicken.
Now that the iPad has a sim card the navigation is great! Well we still get to go throuh the same trafic circle about four times before we get it right and see many cool new blocks that wasn't really highlighted blue, but after all that we always end up somewhere.
Craig suggested we stay close to Ignachi (sorry bud, probably not spelled right), but since he had moved that work out, thouh we did get to see a part of the suburbs we would not probably have gone to. So this morning we had a little drive in to the city to pick up our ride guide and friend from Transportugal in downtown Madrid. Interesting as directions were to meet was communicated between two languages both not too clear. We eventually end up running down the street yelling his name while also talking to him on a cell phone after jay-running across the street. Now all finally packed in our great bike van and off to our first group ride in Spain, fashionable late!
We met up witb two of his friends and had an amazing ride. More fun trails than i expected, about 65 km of dirt road, rock, sand both fast flowy and some nice technical stuff. We road part of the 600km route of the pilgims (Dont really know the story so will not pretend, but it probably should have something about bikes in it, as it was trails made for riding! :) So much fun. Probably need to shop for some leg warmers and warm gloves as its a bit cooler here than i planned. Thouh today i was ok, even as the only one showing skin, I've been told there was snow last years andalucia race!
After ride we drove back to Madrid, had another interesting lunch, downloaded a translation tool, helped a little to say "awesome lunch!" thouh the guy didnt buy in as i left much of something that looked
like a sausage ...
Found a great bike shop; but unfortunately closed but Craig got to do some more technical riding, car riding that is. Ventured to our town for the night, Las Rozas, but of course not without seeing all of Madrid and every option of roads including more trafic circles (yes, more than once). After a quick drop at the hotel it was time for some snack so Craig and I went in to town to look for a local snack, see potential but no parking, but thouh we are not learning the language quick we are picking up on the culture; nice empty spot at the bus stop! The local pub seems great, while struggling with the ordering a local guy kindly offers us something on a toothpick ...cant say no, now its just like an episode of fear factor, but with me in it! Not good, thouh at least my piece was shaved properly.
Get a few more things at a local corner store, also of course need a few trials, but we eventually get back to hotel and now its 1030 and im laying down for the first time! Planning ride tomorrow on my sms in Spanish! (cheating of course). Big group apparently, should be fun.

Happy riding and welcome to 2012...will try to keep it going!

Second and third ...

... day of awesome Calgary weather for a perfect long weekend! And as of today it looks like a chance of a dry awesome Bow80ish weekend...crossing my fingers.

Had a pretty slow Sunday with the intent to ride but started a five minute bike fix (chain swap) and that quickly turned into a full day thing....i road around town thinking it was Saturday and wondering why all bike shops were closed! So the city bike ride was all i got in and now the Superfly is on pause until i can track down a small chainring! Not easy! Butter hey no big deal, i do have my red machine!

So Monday i met up with Mani and Graham with my red bike and had an awesome ride of the Bow race course (minus part of canyon creek and down raceofspades)...another beautiful day out and bike did a good job. Happy day!
Until yesterday ... A quick ride with Toby up Pnuma was the plan ...i got almost up to the first lookout and i was climbing a small steep section and a root I thought id hit and role over instantly stopped me..well the bike...i kept flying (if that is the right word when barely moving) over the handlebars ... When i opened the eyes i just  hoped all my fingers lined up...they hurt but phew ..all good! Now pretty embaraced but alone i picked up bike to continue on ...front looked ok so got on but rear felt funny....oh no...wheel taco !... Still not sure how the rear could have hit that hard when coming down...i was climbing very slow!...either way..my last bike is now also on pause!...turned around and carefully road back down the way i came up...

Mission today is to get wheel rebuilt or buy a complete crankset as a chain ring is not anywhere to be found before next weekend...or even better if i also had a bike for Saturday Calgary corporate challenge at COP ...going for gold!

Happy riding!

Ride 1...

...September long weekend.

After a very long and slow week with no attempts of riding i was looking forward to a long weekend of riding. I started out with a quick warm up ride with Toby last night. We almost made it to the car before hail and thunder but not quiet, ouch and ouch and by the time we got down we were both wet and cold...

Today i started out with a regular "traditional" at Cadence and with Alana, Michelle, Andrew and Mani show ul as well it was to be a great day.
Cool morning so dressing up has to be re-learned. You'd think we would know by now.....i left knee warmers but glad o brought west and arms...
We road to MooseMtn rd, climbed up pnuma to the top, down pnuma were i had my slow motion wipe out on the rocks trying to balance my bike to avoid big dog and then realizing support was required and leaning on to the nearest tree rather than stepping out of pedals seemed like a good option until i learned that tree did not wanna support me....down i went...
Now down at start of Moosepackers, thouh we turned right, climbed back up and eventually on to Shaft, still fun but a bit wet from the last rain and hail and snow... On to elbow something, up sulphur and back to truck!... Oh i love fall riding! Blue, sunny sky, great trails, and refreshing air!

Now at vet with my bud Toby. Second time with infected jaw, poor guy...think tooth will have to go and no more bones!...but as always he's a trooper!

Happy fall riding!

The true...

...champ this weekend was definitely the only one i could convince to ride along to Hinton. I obviously would not have had the races i had or actually raced at all this weekend if it wasn't for him. He is such a trooper, never complains and escorted both Gabor and i safely through the pre-ride. He carefully watched the truck during both the short and long course for bears or other creatures that snuck around. So i had no choice but to dedicate one of the jerseys and the medal to my very best buddy on and off the trail, Toby!

Great but a hard weekend of racing. Hardcore had a great crew out and Cory did a fine job putting on a challenging course both days.
Back in Calgary with a perfect feeling of beat!

Happy Riding!

Sent from Samsung Mobile 

Hinton weekend...

...with Toby and the bike.
Alberta provincial seem to maybe be a bit late as it seems like most people who would normally show to events are staying home. Though thought id get out if town and try something different.
Toby, Gabor and i pre-road last night the short course for today and it got approved by TToby ....nice single track that was soft on the paws !
Today we race short and tomorrow is marathon ....should be fun...beautiful blue sky and dry as can be!

Fueled up with some mcdonalds so should be all set ..

Happy Riding!