Monday, March 21, 2011

Back to the Trainer?!?

The good news: I made it down to team training camp in San Diego last Sunday evening. Got a few awesome rides in with Joanie, Rob and Keirnan Orange and got settled in nicely at our team house on the coast.

The bad news:
Day 1 -
Apparently hitting the pavement at 50km/h has some side effects...

Day 2 -
Damn I really hope this doesn't scar - I'm WAY too vain!

Day 4 -
Heading out for a ride - I scared the dude at the coffee shop I think...


My solution to not get sun on my scar... My teammates are a little embarassed by it...

Day 6 -
Healing up nicely...on a relative scale.

Unfortunately my shoulder isn't cooperating quite as much. The roadrash is healing quite nicely - but I also separated my shoulder so that's taking its time.
Through all this there is a little more good news though:

Crashing on a US military base has its advantages as I was well taken care of, and Specialized makes a damn good product:



Jokes aside - I'm doing really well and I'm just frustrated that the start of my season has been delayed by another week or two. No worries though - it just means that I'm going to be that much more eager to rip it up when it's time to strut my stuff!!!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

And so it begins!

First off, I'm going to apologize about the lack of picture - but the truth is - I'm sitting in Pearson Airport and the sightlines don't really provide for any real excitement. But tell you what I will do. I'll give you the mental image of Wicket via Chris' story from last night. Apparently he was sitting watching TV when he heard a splash, a yelp and then a soggy, wet kitten emerged at high speed from the washroom...or more accurately from the toilet...desperately looking for reassurance cuddles.

Chris informed me of two things: 1) post-toilet cuddles are wet; and 2) post-toilet Wicket is significantly smaller! :P

So back to my original thought: what begins you ask? Well my 2 month journey involving planes, buses and automobiles. I personally would have liked to substitute the bus in the equation for a train, however VIA rail does not let bicycles on the train route between Ottawa and Toronto (feel free to boycott their services on my behalf!) So Friday morning, Chris and I piled into the car and went on down to the bus station (after a lovely stop at the Morning Owl for a flat white...yummm!) and he dropped me off into another world. I was unaware that in order to board the Greyhound, you first needed to contract some kind of infectious disease. Knock on wood, but I don't seem to have caught any of the 48 different cold strains that were flying around the recycled bus air for 5 hours... I would also like to point out at this time that a bus is not either a babysitting service, nor a place to do your group project (although I wish the folks doing their case study on Ginny with AIDS the best of luck and if they need a stand in - I think I have memorized their little skit).

But I did make it to Toronto where I was saved at a random intersection by my coach DK (the bus blew its break line so we were abandonned about 2km from the bus stop - perfect end to a lovely journey! AWESOME!). We then went to the hotel where I was meeting up with my Dad and Dianne for Dean's end of year final show. It was awesome - super entertaining and great to see (at least part) of the fam.

From Toronto, I continued on the family visit and went to Guelph for the evening to see my newest parental addition before being driven back to Pearson Airport...and I haven't even left Canada yet!!! That brings us to the present where I am waiting in Terminal 3 (which is the lacklustre terminal - there isn't even a STARBUCKS!?!) getting ready to board a plane to San Diego - whoo hooo! Team camp awaits me on the other end and I really can't wait to give my new, lovely Amira its maiden voyage outside! YIPPPEEE! Plus I was getting super stir crazy on the trainer at home. I'm pretty much over winter for this year!

From San Diego the team (Juvederm-Specialized to be precise) heads to San Dimas then Redlands for the first showdowns on North American soil for the year. I love San Dimas - it's fantastic and fun - and then Redlands, which I have decided is the devil I know - so it'll be a blast too. More than anything else I'm really looking forward to working with these girls!

From there - the morning after Redlands (bright and early I might add), Joanie and I are jumping on a place that will ultimately take us to Brussels for a month of European racing. These are races that I have been dreaming about doing for the last 3-4 years - so I'm also super stoked about it! After we strut our stuff in the Canadian National team colours, Joanie and I will return to Arkansas to rejoin our team at the Joe Martin Stage Race...then I get to go home and see my husband and kitten. (At this point I will give a shout out to my unbelievably AWESOME husband who I already miss on day 3 on the road...)

So that's the plan for the next chunk. I can't wait for the awesome stories that will come out of it and the unreal racing that I will get to do. I promise to keep you posted and pictures will feature...but for now...really just imagine our poofy kitten all soppy wet. If you need some help, Youtube "Giving my cat a bath"...it's painful, but priceless!