Philly: the Second Time Around

Two years ago I came down to Philadelphia for the Liberty Classic with the National Development team. I was tired from Montreal when I arrived and didn't have the best race, but the event left an impression. That evening when we left, I vowed to make it back to race this race yet again - today I echo those sentiments - I want to do well here!
I made it in safe and sound to my host house on Friday night (yours for only a $50 cab ride...) and walked into one of the most amazing houses I've ever seen. The family, the Carpenters have also been unreal - all you could ask of a host house. The weather was sweltering, but with promise of cooler temperatures later in the weekend. The good news: the weather people delivered. I woke up this morning to 23 degrees and overcast - dream conditions for the race. I rode out from the wall to the start of the race with my team in time to sit around for an hour before the start. All day I found that I was comparing to my previous experience; at the start line I was less nervous than last time, but nervous all the same! For the first 7km we rolled down at a pleasant speed - although my heart was racing at 80%! We hit the wall and I wasn't really where I wanted to be position wise, but I was pleased with how I went up it.
To be honest, the next 3 laps were pretty much the same - get into a position for the hill and give 'er up to the top. I was pleased with how I was riding as I made it over in the front peloton (not the front "challenge for the QOM points front") - like top 20-30, but I think all the other sprinters knew better than me and gambled that it was going to come back together - which it did... So I had calculated that the final time up Lemon hill (about 3km from the end) was gonig to be a pivotal moment, so I gave 'er going up the climb and Nicky was with me. Going into the final 2km we were money in like 8th and 9th wheel...then it swarmed. I was recovering my position from the swarm when a crash happened in front and slightly to my left - a bunch of sprinters - crazies :P So at that point I was slowed significantly and looked up to watch 20 girls go by much faster than I and Nurenberger at the front killing it. I rode it in - but was truly disappointed as I was SO ready to give Nicky the best ever lead out! Oh well, next year right???

Worst Pro Stalker: Part Deux

I very well might be flattering myself in assuming that I might have a readership that follows what I do from year to year - but yesterday I had an experience that reminded me very much of a warm day on the Gold Coast when Chris and I spotted Robbie McEwan. Well yesterday while in the Denver airport (en route to Philly) I was casually walking to my gate when I saw who I thought was Floyd Landis. Going into panic mode (thank goodness I don't live somewhere where I see famous people all that often) and I made like 3 loops around trying to get a good look at him and decided that indeed it was the winner?!? of the tour de France. First thing I do? Text Chris: "Floyd Landis is in the airport - should I go talk to him?" All I needed was a little coaxing, but it turns out he's a super nice guy! I was so impressed at how he handled me approaching him - he even suggested that I try to find him at the race tomorrow when I went to take a picture, but my camera was dead (how cool am I?) - which is also why I don't have a pic with Floyd and I up here on my blog!

So I'm now hanging out at my host house in Philly - only blocks from the Manayunk Wall (what will make tomorrow's race interesting at a grade of 17% - luckily the Race the Ridge wall has helped me to put things in perspective and I think I can handle it). My road rash from last weekend (at provincials - ended up 5th...probably all you need to know - oh yeah and I crashed twice...maybe one day I'll think it was a good story, but for now it's a "learning experience" and I'll try not to make the 3 major mistakes that clouded my finish EVER again!) well it's healing and the legs are feeling good. I'm hoping for some slightly cooler temperatures (the SRM read 37C today on the ride), but everyone else is out there in the same temp, right?

I'm also really looking forward to seeing a few girls who I haven't seen in ages - including my teammate from last year Robin (who was my rock last year) and Genevieve Gagnon who I haven't seen in ages! Bike races are FUN! :P

P.S. Our host house is amazing and aparently when I'm done racing tomorrow, I get to come home to a killer partay...good times! Oh yeah that and they gave me the password to use their wireless - the key to my heart!

NRC PODIUM!

I'll write more in a bit - it's been a week since this happened, but I now have pics - so this is me on the podium in 3rd behind Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Verducci-Breakaway) the reigning US National Criterium Champion, and Kate Bates (T-Mobile) the reigning World Points Race Champion.

....2 weeks later

So that was pretty cool - good thing I made it to the podium presentation. There was no posted time for the race - they were just starting when the previous one finished - so I had a flight out of Newark at 6:30 and we originally had thought that we were racing at 11:00. Alas, the first race was off at 11:00 and we were the 4th race - yikes! Luckily it was a non-issue as we started around 1:30 and we were only 30 minutes from the airport, but there was a little stress involved. So anyway, after the race I booked it over to the van and packed my bike in the parking lot only to hear my name on the loudspeaker being called over for podium. I took off running (check out the flip flops - not the quickest method of transportation) and I barely made it! Could you imagine if I'd missed it? Dude I would have been heartbroken. I don't think that smile left my face all the way home (and I even travelled on Air Canada!)
The race itself was fun. I had to talk myself down at the beginning "Don't get dropped! No Jen, there is nothing over the last few days to indicate that you are in danger of getting dropped...but still don't get dropped!" So in order to compensate for this, I went out guns blazing. Perhaps I was a little too aggressive to begin with, but I was having fun following wheels - I figured that I had nothing to lose! I went for a couple of primes...only won the points one - ooops - should listen to the announcer better next time...
With three to go, I knew that it was time to find Nicky and start to settle down - essentially gamble that things would come down to a sprint. It was a little hectic through the last lap, but it was all together coming up the final straight. With about 600m to go my guardian Kelly Benjamin (she looks out for me - she's awesome) told me "for God sakes Jenny find a wheel" to which I followed her up. Once a little closer to the front I moved out to the right behind a Colavita rider and with about 300m to go I hear "Go Jenny!" from behind. Assuming that it was Nicky wanting a lead out I gave it everything I had and sat down on the gear. I looked to my left and saw that I was out front - only Kate Bates was slightly ahead - but not making any ground. With 100m I started waiting for everyone else to come around, but only Theresa flew by and with 10m to go, I knew that I had it....I crossed the line in essential disbelief - but stoked! The only crappy part being that I didn't really know anyone there, so there wasn't really anyone to celebrate with - I missed my Giant girls! The race has jazzed me up though - I'm ready to rock Philly - this time Nicky and I will get the lead out right! :P

Getting there is half the battle...

Well hello there from _____ (insert town I don't know), Pensylvannia. Today I'm enjoying my day off between the Kelly Cup (yesterday) and the Tour de Somerville (tomorrow). We've been hanging out with some friends of Nicky's who have been unreal and put us up AND fed us - really what more could we ask for???
So leaving Raleigh at 8:30pm was interesting to say the least - the good news: we made it to our hotel in Baltimore that night - the bad news: it was 3:00am! Our first stop on the road was for dinner at Outback - I was baffled to learn that they have "curbside" service now. While convinient - it really does bring LAZY to a whole new level - the server even comes to your window to take your order - combine that with large portions and greasy food no wonder the obesity rates are high! Anyways, we got back on the road heading up north and saw a million cops. Seriously, I have never seen so many police cars on one stretch of road in my whole life. Mind you, the real highlight was when we came to a traffic jam come parking lot (at 1:30am) and got to witness a high speed chase in the opposite direction - very intense! :P
Right, back to bike racing - so we made it the rest of the way, got a good night's sleep in a hotel with a great deal of "character" and headed off to a park in the middle of Baltimore for the Kelly Cup. The course was a big sweeping over with one chicane leading into an uphill finish (think crit uphill finish). Ninety girls took the line and so when the commissaire told us to take a lap, I backed my bike up to the line (having taken notes at NVGP last year!) and got a good start position. Saturday's race was less all out hard than Fridays', but the larger pack was a bit to get used to. I was feeling quite comfortable about halfway through when I prime was called (I think the first of the day), coming round the final bend into the hill I noticed that no one had initiated a sprint yet, so I decided to give it a go. Catherine Powers (Aarons) tried to react, but I had caught her offguard and took the prime (Aveda hair products). As we rolled the top of the course I noticed that four of us (Powers, myself, Sarah Uhl (Cheerwine), and one other) had a gap. One of the girls tried to get us to work, but I was fried and we were brought back fairly quickly. The whole race played out in a similar fashion with small breaks going for it, but never getting too far. I was comfortable to stay near the front (nice change from last year!) and with 1 to go, I was 5th wheel coming through the start/finish with the pack strung out. Going down the backside there was a great deal of confusion among the lead outs and we bunched up pretty good going into the chicane. I lost Nicky about this point and went through the chicane hoping that I was on the right side of the pack. A small altrication through the corner had one of the more aggressive girls decide to retaliate and put me into the gravel with about 400m to go - good thing I've done all that cyclocross, eh? hee hee. I stuck to the inside of the bend - betting on the gap opening up like it had been doing previously (most notably on the lap immediately prior). I went for it and finished 8th! I knew that I could do better than 12th - and way more girls were present today too. I think that I'm still really excited to be actively racing NRC level races and I'm probably wasting a little energy, but I'm having a blast.
Racing at this level is addictive - good thing I'm back down here for Philly in a couple of weeks! I'm also looking forward to Somerville with a few corners and hopefully a little less heat. My SRM said it was 36 degrees yesterday - and my heart rate felt it, as I don't think I was below 190 for the last 20 minutes....crazy stuff...
Here's to having a blast in Somerville...

Some press from Raleigh...

Nicky after a kickin race - 3rd behind Kelly Benjamin and Laura Vanguilder (check out her quads!!!)

So I’ve made my return to the NRC – another year older and another year wiser. Raleigh Twilight Criterium – check – now off to Baltimore for the Kelly Cup Bike Jam. No rest for the wicked though as the transfer is 5.5 hours (I’m in the middle of it right now – aren’t laptops awesome!) and we finished racing at 7:30 were off up north to Maryland within the hour in order to race tomorrow afternoon…I’m excited.
The race itself was a nice warm up for me – I was able to be aggressive AND my teammate for the weekend got third! Yay for Nicky! I rolled across the line in 12th – my best NRC finish to date (but we’ll see about improving that over the next few days).
I took the line representing in orange with 30+ temperatures – which was a nice change to the frigid north – but takes a little getting used to. Today was honestly the second ride I’ve had this year without at least knee warmers…man it is cold in Canada! So the race started out as races do – I watched Kele Murdin move to the front and thought to myself “I think I’ve seen that move before!” I was finding it easy to move around up front so I thought that I would give it a go – I got off the front (mainly as the other girls were content to let me go) and was away for a lap and a half. After I rejoined the group I thought that perhaps my effort had been a little overzealous – but then Nicky got away with an Aaron’s rider and I was able to relax a little at the front trying to cover the bridge. In the end nothing was sticking and it became evident that we were going to be doing the bunch sprint. With 2 to go they announced a “gamblers’ prime” and I thought what the heck? Unfortunately one of the Aaron’s riders thought the same and came around me before the line to take the $200 – would have been nice! I was cooked but was pleasantly surprised when the pack slowed down around the backside, I did my best to move up, but due to my earlier effort had to content myself with 12th – which I’m okay with…but as previously mentioned – will improve upon. Baltimore here we come – plan: to get Nicky to the top of the podium!

I wrote this little blurb last night and today I was checking out the props Nicky and I got on Cyclingnews - check it out. There are a couple of pics (with cool captions) and a shout out to Nicky and I being a force in the race along with Aarons and Cheerwine...wikked - there were only 2 of us!!! http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2007/may07/raleigh07

Halfway to Raleigh, NC

As I sit at YVR awaiting my flight to Minneapolis, I have been overcome by guilt from an email I received from Kika and Sandra yesterday. ;) They were wondering if I was still alive as I haven’t really logged any blog time in the last well…two and a half months… The good news – the majority of that time wasn’t terribly exciting – somehow a blog about how I spent 40 hours doing some guy’s taxes who’s worth multiple millions of dollars just isn’t terribly exciting in print (you see!). In fact that most notable expression of just how that period in my life went was when I checked out my Visa bill for the months of March and April – there were three vendors – and ONLY three vendors that ever received my patronage: Safeway (you have to eat), Starbucks (for once I needed caffeine to function), and Easypark (I need to get from work to the track back to work somehow)… Mind you, during those charming work weeks (at the beginning I received an email from my manager indicating that we were expected to work 60 hour weeks – to which I said “but I like sleeping.”) I didn’t see much of the outside world. Many a night the turn around between when I got in the door to when I was out like a light was at most 15 minutes – party of joy…ask Chris!
However, during that time, I did manage to pull a few notable cycling performances out of the bag and here they are: 5 top 5 finishes in the Spring Series “B category” (cat 3 men); BC Cup #1 – WIN!, BC Cup #2 – 4th so I am the current BC Cup leader; a 5th place on a hill top finish in Walla Walla, WA; two 3rd places at US stage races; and a bum weekend where I (in a great choice of weekends!) decided to feel off and ride like crap at the Pan Am trials…really happy about that…
Outside of riding and working there truly hasn’t been much. I’m starting to recover from the GO GO GO lifestyle of working 50+ hours/week, training and racing – but in all honesty, I would love to have someone pay for me to ride and be a full time athlete…any takers??? Just imagine the luxury :P
Oh well, until then I’ll have to live with heading down to Raleigh, North Carolina for a series of NRC crits along the east coast ending on Memorial Day Monday (which is a regular Monday for you and me in Canada) in Somerville, New Jersey. I’m stoked to meet and race with Nicky Wangsguard and Vitesse Cycling and in crits – not the stage race circuit that I insisted on racing last year!
Also for those of you who need time wasting (although I highly recommend Facebook if you’re looking for something to suck your life away) the Giant Women (and yes, the joke has been made…more than once) have a blog at www.bcgiantcycling.blogspot.com that gives colourful commentary on racing in BC and the Northwest. My flight has been called – catcha later!

Yes, I am alive...

I'm not exciting at the moment, but I'm alive.

It's been almost a year since we returned from Australia - and almost 3 months since I've written anything in here. I'm not convinced that anyone checks to see if I write anymore, but I thought I would start giving it a go - I mean come on - it's race season! I got home from work this evening and was inspired by reading everyone else's blogs - something that I used to do every single day...then I had to start making a living (oh boo hoo, I know!)

So what have I been up to? Well a whole lot of working, sleeping and training. All the stuff I like to do (oh yeah and the occasional time wasting on Facebook!) I suppose if I'm going to get nit picky, the race season actually started just after Christmas at the 6 day (where I won the women's ominium - little plug for me!), but the first official roadrace was out in Langley yesterday. The folks at Cycling BC put a little excerpt up at http://www.youtube.com/CyclingBC so check it out. You can see me struggling to stay with the boys in the break just before 2:00 (I think) and then my feeble attempt at a sprint shortly thereafter - which in the grand scheme of things worked out a-okay for me as I ended up 3rd in the B field (I was 4th, but one guy got relegated for a yellow line violation) - yay for me! I spent probably half of the race off the front in at least 3 different break aways and low and behold one finally stuck (thanks in great part to the efforts of Cody Campbell and Jonathan Page - who also were awesome at keeping me going in the break). It was a whole lot of fun and I think the first time that I've ever finished in the break - hoping that this is a sign of things to come!

Also we got our team kits this weekend and they are HOT! To go along with our HOT bicycles that ride like a dream. I'm a big GIANT fan at the moment - in fact to overdo a not funny joke I'm a giant GIANT fan :P. That's Alena, Kath and Leah modelling the kits at our Learn to Race on the weekend...as I said HOT!

Here's to hoping I put a post up here or there before the end of tax season - keep your fingers crossed!!!

When in Rome

So I might have complained a little bit when there was snow everywhere - but it gave us (the new Giant women's team) a good excuse to head up to Seymour and bond on snowshoes. It was a gorgeous day and awesomely fun. I was stoked on Sunday to get back outside on my bike, but I suppose we're Canadian, so a rumble in the snow from time to time won't hurt anyone. Check out that view!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland...

Yeah everyone in Calgary is going to laugh at me - but it's COLD here! :P Actually it's absolutely gorgeous and I get to sit back and laugh at how Vancouverites deal with the inclement weather. So far all the post-secondary institutions and a great number of the public school have been closed. We are on "arctic blast" alert - it's currently -3 out. I went showshoeing yesterday up on Mt. Seymour - total blast - but kinda scary when we started hearing the trees start to crack under the weight of the heavy snow. I'm lucky enought to have the day off, so I can sit inside and wonder at how lovely it is...on my trainer. I love the snow, but it's supposed to be in Calgary when I go home for Christmas so that I can ride my bicycle.

MAN I MISS AUSTRALIA! That thought runs through my head at least once a day - more when it snows!

Also, I thought that I would let everyone know the bad news. Despite the fact that we live less than 200km away from the epicentre of the explosion of the "Starbucks" world - we still don't have enough stores to keep the population happy - despite the kiddie korner stores on Robson street. Last week I was walking around Pacific Centre at lunch with my egg nog latte and she essentially accosted me to figure out where I had found the Starbucks. She was might disappointed that she would have to walk at least 500m outside to find it. I found it amusing...and my latte delicious!

Alrighty, now on with the day!

Water, Water, Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink

So, bottom line, I've been a little lazy in my updates...which has lead me to the epic struggle over the last, oooh 5 minutes, trying to decide which newsflash will provide more entertainment for my readership (thanks Mom ;)) The battle was between "no drinkable running water" and "9th at Cyclocross Nationals." By the size of the pictures - you can probably guess which won out in the end.

However, to start off, I would like to point out that our toilet usually does run clear. Chris and I clean the washroom regularly and we also have a good practice of flushing the toilet - therefore the discolouration in the water...not our doing. It's the water running in the taps. We woke up to some worse looking stuff on Thursday morning - I didn't have to wait for the water advisory to decide that it probably wasn't good to drink. The Vancouver area experienced a fairly epic storm last Wednesday. We recieved close to 150mm of rain (if that were snow it would be 1.5 meters!) and winds gusting to 100km/h. Wednesdays are track days, so I hopped into the car about 4:00pm and started what promised to be a delightfully long car trek out to Burnaby. Luckily Becca brought me the new JT album from Calgary a few weeks ago, so I got to rock out in my own private discotheque all the way there. One head-on collision, a blown over building under construction and 2 hours later, I came within sight of Burnaby mountain - no wait I didn't! There was nothing to see as all the power for a number of different areas had been knocked out. Apparently today, 6 days later, some residents of Lions' Bay still don't have power. And I still don't have water. Isn't one of the tenants of today's civilized society power and clean, running water? Good times, good times. The net result is that I have been constantly thirsty over the last bit - I guess it might be more productive to head out and buy some more bottled water this eve.

As for the teeny, tiny pic of me all muddy - that's from Nanaimo about a week ago where I was very pleased with a 9th place finish at Cyclocross Nats. It was a fight to the bitter end, as Sarah Stewart and I road the majority of the race together, only for her to crash with about a km to go and in the end I only beat Leah (my new teammate) by 2 seconds! Those are the best cross races though - the ones where everyone's going for it and battling it out - it was an awesome, fun course and I'm kinda sad to see the cross season come to a close. Having said that, I've been enjoying the "regular routine" of training and work - and a good amount of sleep.

Well I best be off - lots to do in the next month before I head home to Calgary for Christmas...I can't believe it's so close!

Lame-O Winter

So I'm not sure if I'm the lame-o or if it's winter that's lame-o....but titles are an art right? ;)
We're in the middle of having our first real winter storm here in Vancouver and pretty much everyday I dream about being back on the Gold Coast. At no point was this a more vivid desire than last Thursday when I had my inaugral colder than hell ride over on the North Shore. Now anyone who's lived here longer than say a month (for which I should qualify - but apparently don't!) they will point out that heading to Horseshoe Bay when it's nasty out is a decidedly bad idea - I thought that it would be fun. Now, I'm thinking if you define fun as almost having frostbite on your fingers and tosies, then yes, I hit the nail on the head...luckily I think the ride knocked a bit of the stupid out of me and now all my winter riding stuff is being put to good use.

On the upside of being in the northern hemisphere in the fall - I've been loving the cyclocross season. I'm heading up to Nanaimo for nationals on the weekend which should be a good time. What's not to love? You're riding a road bike around the woods and every so often you hop off to avoid an obstacle...makes me feel like I'm 8 years old - I totally love it!

My sister and her friend Tory were here on the weekend - tons of fun - lots of money spent. But with Becca's influence, I'm not really all that surprised. I'm in the middle of trying to convince myself that I need it all - but hey, I'm working now....uhhhh

Well that's the random (somewhat mindless) update on how my life is going. Working definately makes the days fly by. I'm kinda freaked that it's already November....yikes!

Pumpkin Pie

I must say, I've never really thought about it before, but Thanksgiving ranks right up there with the best holidays...mostly because of the Pumpkin Pie. During the last few days I've been stocking up on the PP in multiple forms (one of which I can throughly thank Chris' parents for as they brought Thanksgiving and all its culinary glory to us)- the best of which was offered by Dairy Queen. I'm not entirely sure who had the brilliance to come up with the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard - but it's wonderful! So that was the highlight of my holiday Monday (and yes, as of last week I'm employed at KPMG, so it's actually a holiday!), along with a lovely ride out to Horseshoe Bay with Chris.

Speaking of wonderful things - Vancouver is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Each time I cross the Burrard Street bridge (when the sun is shining) it takes my breath away to see the skyline with the mountains and the ocean...I'm just hoping the good weather stays all year (fat chance!) hee hee

I've also gotten back on the bike in the last few weeks. After three months off I decided to hit the races again, but this time on the cross bike. My new pretty Giant bike is great and after spending the first week getting my bum kicked down in Seattle, Saturday I was able to take second in the Bayside Cyclocross Classic...and now I have about a zillion bruises to show for it....apparently I still bruise REALLY easily. Guess I won't be wearing skirts at work for awhile!

Also on the exciting vein of events (for me, you will most likely find it mind-numbingly boring), we now have a wireless router, so I can play on the internet from the comfort of the couch...man, technology is great!

Fall is upon us

Well the wedding season is over - and so for 2006, that means that my summer has also drawn to a close. Congratulations to Lisa and Alistair, Sarah and Todd, and last but not least Bekki and Anthony for declaring their love for one another and putting on great celebrations! :P

I on the other hand, am enjoying my last week of holidays in the gorgeous Vancouver sunshine (I need to enjoy it while I can!) before heading back to work! Yes, that does deserve an exclamation mark as I'm pretty stoked to be working back with KPMG - but this time in Vancouver. The last 18 months or so have been awesome, but I feel it's time for me to get this here idle brain of mine going again and I'm looking forward to it.

Another sign that fall has come is that I got possession of my new cross bike yesterday! Also rather stoked about this - it's such a pretty Giant! :) Get to test it out in true form this weekend with a pair of races - the first in Seattle at Star Crossed (super cool - the course actually goes through a beer garden) and then closer to home (and a personal favourite) on the Surrey course. Not sure how the "intensity" thing is going to treat me, but it'll be nice to get out there all the same.

I think that covers the "what's new" category. Oh yeah - come out and visit us - my lastest Bday present (from Daddy and Di) was a blow up bed for visitors - so now we can be good hosts! ;)

Beer, Pizza, Wedding Chapel

Yesterday Chris, Sandra and I went to ride Mount Baker. I don't think we really knew what we were in for - but the epic ride called our names. We headed out to Abbotsford for 9am (it only takes an hour to get out there that early in the morning!) and crossed the border and commenced the 150km ride. From what I had read, I believed that we would be doing 40km to Glacier (the base of Mt. Baker), 40km up, 40km down and 40km home - the is some math missing somewhere in there...but that was all we needed to start our adventure ride.

Now what would an epic ride be without a good detour. Apparently I should have looked at the map (or the roadside signs) more closely, as we ended up taking about a 15km detour. But much to our luck with came upon a building advertising Beer, Pizza and a Wedding Chapel. Definately picture worthy - unfortunately for both you and me - I forgot my camera (not that I would have had room for all the extra clothing I had jammed in my pockets!) We got turned around soon enough and headed towards Baker. The ride itself was quite pleasant - it wasn't until we hit the 4 hour make that we had any inclement weather. Unfortunately, at 4 hours, we were still going up...making for a LONG day! The rain wasn't hard, and we knew we were near the top - so we pushed on. Good thing that we did too cause we were within a few kms and we would have been kicking ourselves if we had turned around.

Once at the top, we were greeted by hail. Yes, the mountain weather prevailed and we were in the middle of quite a bit of precipitation - not really what you're looking to have around when you have to descent for 40km! We had to stop twice on the trip down to try to regain feeling in our fingers as to be able to change gears and, more importantly break...man I MISS AUSTRALIA! We even ended up riding uphill a little - I resorted to singing out loud to take my mind off the pain...it is only September! Winter is going to be a LONG battle. Anyways, we made it out of the rain and continued down to the town of Glacier. I had lost the ability to shift into my big chain ring because of my frozen left hand and we were all expressing knee discomfort after riding for 2 hours at 50RPM before turning around and subjecting our joints to freezing temperatures!

At the end of the day it was a 6.5 hour ride - and the whole thing was amazing! The road is beautiful, the pavement smooth and the scenery picturesque. Definately a ride I would recommend to anyone just watch out for the mountain weather :P!

YIKES! I'm a quarter of a century...

So I'm kinda conflicted about this Bday! Last year I was soaking up rays on a beach in Fiji - today I'm in Vancouver wearing a nice big, electric blue Lulu sweatshirt (courtesy of Christopher) and still not entirely warm. I'm in the middle of a bit of a quarter of a century crisis...I mean by 25 aren't you supposed to know where you want to go with your life? I know I want to be a cyclist...outside of that I just don't know - accounting, finance, or something completely unrelated??? I thought that I would have at least been in an industry for a few years before I start questioning my direction. I've spent the week at job interviews and applying for every position I come across that I qualify for - it's definately hard to convince full-time positions that they want to employ me - only give me 30ish hours a week and unlimited (unpaid) holidays. I am too demanding aren't I?

Okay, enough of the deep thoughts - I started my day with a run and a cinnamon bun and a pumpkin latte - what could be better???? I'm hoping to go for a ride later today and then a nice dinner (and cake of course!) Bithdays are GREAT! I'm still educating Chris that one's birthday is the MOST important day of the year - it's the only day that you get all to yourself (although I knowingly share it with Jenny Sweeney, Tricia Milner and Adam from elementary school) - but I'm loving it. I can't find any appropriate Bday pics, so I'm going to settle for Chris and I on our Heart Mountain hike - it killed me, but running has been easy ever since!

I Have a Home!

So after being somewhat transient for the last 16 months, I'm happy to say that last weekend Chris and I settled into our place in Vancouver. We're living on the border of Kits and West Pointe Grey - apparently that's a froofy location for those of you who are curious...it's super close to the Eatery which is a funky Japanese restaurant - oddly enough it was one of the first places I knew in Vancouver and now I live about a block away - and we've eaten there twice since our arrival.
This week has been pretty chill - Chris started school and I've been trying to sort out the last bits of our house like getting internet (which we don't have yet, I'm currently at a wireless cafe), and waiting for our couch to be delivered...not to mention job hunting - but it's been really nice. The weather is absolutely gorgeous and we've been enjoying morning runs down to Jericho park - definately no complaints! Anyhoo, nothing too interesting - cross races are going to start up soon, but for now, I just wanted to include a few pics of my new abode. (You'll note that I strategically left out a pic of the living room as it's a great open void at the moment - but I just got a call to inform me that we're having the couch delivered on Monday!!!)

Kicking Around Vancouver

Man, when I'm not racing, I'm really bad at the updates now aren't I? Well to tell the truth, that is in part because I have been pretty unexciting as of late. When I got back from Mexico I thought that I was all prepped to start training again as to kick some bum at track nats....alas, that appeared not to be the case after a week back at it, I was super tired again. I was pretty bummed out (luckily I had the ENTIRE second season of Grey's Anatomy to keep me entertained - which is an exceptional show by the way...only problem being that it actually makes me wish I went to med school....wierd!) So instead of stewing on what I couldn't do, I headed out to Vancouver for Lisa and Alistair's wedding.
It was gorgeous - I'm not really sure what else to say about it - maybe after the next two weddings I will be attending, I will be able to be more of a critic, but Lisa looked beautiful as did her bridesmaids and the whole thing was super great. I especially enjoyed that each place setting had a bag of JellyBellys...probably over-consumed on those.
My trip to Van ended up being a bit of a multitasking event. I figured that we could find a place in a couple of days and then head back home to AB before jumping back to Edmonton to race track provs - then assess my form before deciding on Nationals. Unfortunately, the charming people at the rental agency (once we finally found a place that we were interested in - we found an old grow op for just under $900/month in a super sketch part of town...lovely by all accounts - but it did motivate me to pay a little more for a place!) were dragging their feet and we weren't able to sign the lease until Friday. So no track provs...so no track nats....on to CROSS time!
So now the hunt is on for a cross bike...oh yeah, and a job! Thanks to the luxurious rent costs in Vancouver, I need to find me a job and a good one at that! But before I think too much about it, Chris and I are going to head out to the mountains for a mtb bike ride. We were going to go yesterday, but once we got there I realized that I forgot my shoes on the table...I was NOT impressed...but thems the breaks. We went out riding in the river valley instead and believe me, my skills leave quite a bit to be desired...Why is it that mountain biking always makes me feel ridiculously out of shape???
Anyways, so it's here in Calgary for another couple of weeks full of Sarah's wedding and my Grandma's 90th b-day before driving back out to Vancouver - to live! Exciting and yet a little scary all at the same time. Get to start up the training again and have some fun ripping around on a road bike with nobby tires - I can't wait!!!

The 3 Rs: Rest, Relaxation and Ralfing

Classy, I know. Luckily the stomach discomfort didn't hit me until I was on the plane last night coming home from Mexico...at least I think it's lucky. Truth be told, if you think that you need to blow cookies, there is no where more encouraging than an airplane bathroom...but enough about the gross, yucky stuff.

So last week my sister, mom and I headed down to Cancun - the Palladium Colonial on the Riviera Maya to be precise - to help me recoup from a long season to date. The hope is that it's allowed me to recharge enough to start a campaign towards Track Nationals in September - I'm still holding my breath to see how things work out! As it was kind of a last minute thought (the most constructive of my "I'm quitting cycling forever" line of thinking during the roadrace at Nationals) we simply chose a last minute deal and crossed our fingers. As it was - we were incredibly lucky. The resort was gorgeous. The food was good for a buffet (if I discount whatever made me unbelievably unhappy last night) and the buildings were phenomenal. It was a dream.

Can't really say that I did all that much while we were down there. Lots of beach time (although a Mexican dude made fun of Becca and I yesterday for being so white after a full week in Mexico - but dude, I am SO tanned for me at the moment...I can't help my northern-European background!) and a good amount of reading and general relaxing. We had a few tropical storms, but nothing we couldn't handle! During the down time, we dug through the first season of Grey's Anatomy - to which I am now hooked and am currently trying to download the second season to watch as I recover from my vacation today. The first season of Degrassi Junior High was watched - including the episode when Spike gets pregnant - Canadian television history I tell ya!

So I'm back at home in Calgary - hopefully ready to get back on my bike - I'll have to learn to amuse myself as the Tour is over (we saw a praying mantus and I wished that I had had my camera so that I could have taken a congratulations picture for Floyd). So it's home time for a week, then Gran and Grandad arrive from England on Sunday before I likely head off to Vancouver on Monday - I really don't like to stay in one place now do I???

The Inevitable Crack

So it happened. I knew it would, but it hasn't really been a ton of fun. After a week of lying in bed trying to get rid of a rather persistant virus, I headed up to Quebec city to get my bum kicked. Apparently getting sick, while it does prevent you from doing anything, it does not help you recover...all things that I know, but I'm learning all over again first hand. It was a rough weekend - the courses were great (the organization less so) and under normal circumstances I think I would have raced really well. As it was, my body decided that it no longer wanted to race and I was left going as hard as a possibly could - and getting NOWHERE!

So it's time for a little time off. I think I'm going to have to x-nay Altoona which is too bad, but there's always next year right? Time to take a little time away from the bike (I wanted to throw it in the St. Lawrence after quitting cycling about 6 times during Friday's roadrace, but it did make the trip back home with me) and I'm hoping to get away somewhere hot to lounge on the beach before ramping it back up for track nats.

But on to more interesting things like dreamy Boonen is in YELLOW! What a great Tour! First Georgie, now Boonen - as long as I forget that my Jan didn't get to start and neither did Basso and Valverde just crashed out today....Check out http://www.tomboonen.com/nl/fotos/ for HOT pictures of Boonen...might just put one up on the blog along with the picture of the shoes that I REALLY want...but I can't imagine paying $500 for. Aren't they cool though?

Okay, well enjoy the shoes and dreamy Boonen - now only Zabruskie needs to get yellow and it'll be the greatest tour ever (except for '97 when Little Jan won).

Lah Lah Lounge

Now, this couldn't get any better if I had made it up - and I swear I didn't. This evening I went for dinner with the remaining half of Chris' family as Chris and his Dad took off on a road trip down to Ohio...he's doing a bike race there - best of luck! :) That left his Mom, brother Andrew and myself here in Guelph. Well, that's not entirely accurate as the female contingent of the aforementioned trio was supposed to be enroute to Road Nats in Quebec City - however my charming illness has us delayed by a few days. Apparently when we left Minnesota I decided to bring a charming cough with me - and things have progressed since then...and I'm about ready to be healthy again - my window of tolerance in which I must be healthy is down to only 2 days now...but I'm sure that the immune system will cooperate! (you hear that immune system???)

So yeah, I'm a little irritated of the timing of the sickness, but you can't choose these things now can you - but regardless, tonight's entertainment help spur on my spirits. So to start at the beginning, I had spent all afternoon sleeping and soon enough it was dinner time and no one had really given any thought to dinner. Chris' mom suggested we go to this great pizza place and so we were off (in the brand new red convertable beatle...I must get a picture of that!) As we walked into the restaurant we were informed that it would be $3.00 cover to watch the "show". Said show was a podcast (still trying to understand what exactly is a podcast - best description came from Andrew as a audio blog) and so we were in for some great live entertainment....and some that is good to talk about on my blog. As a sidebar - dinner at Manhattan's was INCREDIBLE - it was the first time that I've had vegetarian pasta in a long time that didn't leave me wanting meat - mmm...a delectable combination of sundried tomatoes, feta cheese, artichoke hearts and olive oil - it was AWESOME! Also on the awesome list was the second act up for the evening. This girl constructed a song entirely with her voice - not sure if it wasn't pre-recorded, but regardless, she had slowly built up with her accompniment and then sang - and it was gorgeous - I thouroughly enjoyed her act. The larger woman belly dancing (no wait, it was a flamenco/belly dance cross) was less enjoyable - partially because I'm not sure she wasn't wearing langerie...classy my friend classy.

The rest of the evening was enjoyable and helped me to understand that my musical talent is pretty much non-existant. The fact that people can sit down and write songs, with music and lyrics just blows my mind. I am also disappointed that we missed seeing Dee Something-Or-Other who was a top 20 Canadian Idol...unfortunately my sleep is also important to me.

So after that entertaining interlude in my life, I'm off to Quebec City to speak French and ride my bike with the top racers in Canada. I'm looking forward to seeing girls I haven't caught up with for awhile and getting back to Quebec City - haven't been there for awhile and it will always remind me of Marie-Claude and my grade 6 exchange. I DID the town back in 1993...I think it was then anyways...just hoping that the evil sore throat demons leave me in the near future.