Kamloops from a hike up Mt. Paul


horses wandering free on mt Paul


And of course one of Kamloops' many mtn. sheep

Matt and Catherine hoping and sliding down the face of the mountain. Those ski poles weren't for help on the way up!

Keith and I in Whistler. Going there in the "off season" is the best. Lots of fun trails, hot tubbing, hiking and good eating.

Catherine put some surprises into Matt's tires for our weekend in Revy. Got to slow him down some how.

The Off-Season

So what does this look like? Well after about 4 weekends at home between March and October I relish the opportunity to stay put at home. My nesting instincts kick in and I become a cooking machine pickling the cucumbers and beets from our garden, making pear/apple sauce from our fruit trees, and salsa from the abundant cherry tomatoes that seem to keep growing even though I deprive them of water much of the time.

For me the off season is about living life like I hope to when I retire from racing professionally. This means keeping active and enjoying the great weather, but broadening my activities to hiking, running, swimming…frisbee, whatever. It means if it’s rainy and cold I can sit on the couch or bake muffins instead of riding. It’s also the time where I can do some learning, like take a french course, put in some volunteer hours with local community groups and catch up with friends and family.

I don’t like to let my fitness drop too much however. Aside from the fact I would go crazy if I didn’t keep fairly active and the fall is the best time for exploration mtb rides, getting back into shape after getting out of shape just hurts way too much. I found this out when I did the ClifBar Epiphany ride October 3 in Napa Valley (See Epiphany post). It seems that tapering for about a month and a half isn’t conducive to great endurance when it comes to 240km bike rides!

Epiphany

For those that haven’t heard of it. This is the day Clif and Luna folk get together to ride our bikes for 30-150miles to have fun and remind ourselves why it’s so important to have good quality tasty biking food! Terra, Katerina and I joined about 35 others at 6am to start the 150 mile ride (That’s 240km for us Northerners). It was dark and cold for the first 45 minutes with ¼ riders having lights, but the camaraderie and sense of adventure were great.

The weather was warming with the sunrise as we finished up the first 55miles and joined up with the 100 mile brisk ride group. About 23 miles later I was done. We had just finished up a fast revolving paceline in a cross wind and were heading into what I had remembered as a “nice” climb when my quads completely gave out and I had no power. Luckily at the top of the hill there was a feed station where along with some delicious Clif goodies a coke also helped to rejuvenate me. I convinced the group to just drop me and settled into a slower pace with some friends.

25 miles later, I had cracked again and was seriously asking myself why I had chosen this ride distance. Asking for mercy at the next food station did nothing to help me get home faster so we pedaled off again with Terra, Cathy and Alex keeping me distracted from my humbled suffering. Luckily the last 70ish km seemed to be primarily flat or downhill so we made it home in one piece 8hrs and 40 minutes of riding and over 4200m of climbing later. Phew.

Gary and Kit then threw us a wonderful feast and provided comfy beds which we were settled into before 9pm. This event is such a neat way to get to know the ClifBar company and staff and experience Napa Valley. Riding the 150 miles was a great accomplishment… and now I can say I’ve done it I might sign up for 100miles next year!

3 Continents: 1 Week (The Schedule)

In Cortina D'Ampezzo Italy we found an irresistable ride along an old railway track that took us through the mountains and tunnels


Now there's something you don't see every day. If you're going to Super Size something it may as well be Nutella. Eat in moderation of course ;)



Old rail tunnels through the Dolomite mtns. Yes Italy was a bit of a detour going from Switzerland to Austria, but worth it.




Champery. Host of World cup #7 and the 2011 World Championships.

Now to that continent jumping schedule

10:45 am Sunday September 6th left Worlds in Australia, flew 15.5 hrs to Vancouver. I got to fly first class with an upgrade certificate. Yes it is as good as it looks.
10:45 am Sunday September 6th Yes that’s right. Departed Vancouver for Kamloops (the time change worked in my favour). Enjoyed coffee and a hike with Keith
Sunday to Thursday am enjoyed being home in Kamloops. Freak out when Keith drives wrong way down the road, only to be thankful I wasn’t driving when I realize I’m still thinking Aussie rules.
Thursday September 10th Leave house at 6:30am. Fly all day to Europe. Arrive in Europe Friday am, put bike together at airport and go for ride as I wait for teammates to arrive. There are bike paths right from the airport. Europe is great this way
Friday September 11th 9pm Arrive in Champery, Switzerland
Saturday training on course 9-11am. Course is awesome. Half of the course is my strengths; steep climb and steep rough descent. The other half of the course I enjoy but am mediocre at; it is undulating terrain, lots of transitions and short power moves.
Sunday September 11th Up at 6:30 am for race breakfast. Race 10:45
I really like the town of Champery. Large, rocky mountains loom all around you while lush valleys surrounded by mist promise great riding and hiking.
The course is fun and challenging and one I thought I could do quite well on. I am in a 5 way battle for the world cup overall win and really need a win or at the least a podium to secure a top 3. I felt awesome at home riding with Keith. Being on home trails with worlds form left me feeling excited for this trip and the chance to earn some top results.
I felt like my body handled the time change and travel fairly admirably and that with a different approach (getting back to basics and racing by instinct more than planning and being super focused) I could have a great ride. Saturday afternoon the skies opened up and the rain came down in sheets soaking what was already a fairly slick course. Sunday morning Georgia and I switched to Ignitors to give us a bit more grip on the loose chutes and slick roots.
The start was fast with a 4+minute paved climb where I kept getting pushed off the pavement as I tried to maintain my position near the front. As we crested the climb the race was still very much together and I entered the singletrack in about 13th. People were flailing down the descent and it was difficult to remain patient. Girls were walking down sections I was trying to ride and not going to move. By the time I got to the bottom of the descent I had already lost 45 seconds to the lead rider. I had crested the climb in the bunch, but that’s the difference between a clean run down the descent and riding in traffic.
The race was very competitive. I would try to eek out an advantage on the climb only to be caught behind a slower rider on the descent. On the half of the course where I was weaker I would constantly be out sprinted for the singletrack and then, not being great at following or recovering quickly from mistakes I would loose positions or time and have to reclaim it on the other half of the course. It was a real yo yo race for me, but I felt strong and focused and like I really pushed myself.
Unfortunately this hard effort meant 10th on the day. With Irina and Marga both dropping out of the race however this result was enough to move me up to 3rd overall in the series with one more race to go. Mathematically 1st and 2nd are out of reach but with a good ride in Austria I can maintain 3rd.
I think my family was worried this finish would really rattle me, but in a sense I think it helped to ground me. I thought I was handling performance pressure well; people’s and my own beliefs and assertions that I could win Worlds, Bromont, this race. Maybe those results were possible, but not unless I rode to perfection and perfection takes time and rarely happens more than a few times a season. This being my 3rd year on the World cup circuit, I am still relatively new and have a lot to learn. When I’m on I’m on, when I’m not I lose time in frustratingly large chunks.
I am going to World cup finals in Schladming with the podium in my sights. I feel good and know that if I put it all together on the day I am a podium rider. So off to Austria we head with some days in the mountain on the way.

At the moment I’m just trying to keep my eyes open. I’m coming home from a good trip to Australia. I say good, as it was a good trip; I had fun with both my Canadian and Luna team, helped secure Canada a silver medal in the relay, went to Pancakes on the rocks at midnight, the zoo, learned all sorts of interesting facts about Australian animals, enjoyed amazing cappuccinos at Sfoglia almost daily, had my coach Dan and brother Geoff with me at the races, saw cherry and apple trees blossoming and experienced the brilliance of spring sunshine. And yes, yes the whole point of the trip, had a solid result at the World championships and finished 6th. For the 3rd year in a row.

This is where the twinge of disappointment lies however. Placing 6th in 2007 blew my socks off, overtaking Gunn Rita for 6th last year proved that I wasn’t a flash in the pan, placing 6th this year is a little frustrating. I rode as best I could on the day and felt like I had the form to ride to the podium, but I didn’t have the course figured out. There’s some terrain that’s easy to go consistently fast on, but I struggled with this course. It consisted of windy, false flat ascents, an uber technical punctuated climb, a fun bermed descent and dual slalom into a flatish maze of tight corners followed by a couple table tops into the finish.

Don’t get me wrong. It was a super fun course and I felt awesome at times flying over gap jumps or around berms and over rocks. It’s just the self driver, the analyzer in me sees the weaknesses to be improved upon and the preparation that went into what I had hoped would be a podium ride. What I did learn – again - is that the top girls are so close in ability that everything matters. You have to have good legs, a good clear head, sharp skills on the climbs, descents and corners. If you’re missing just one of those components you won’t win the race or claim the podium. Aside from Irina no one really stood out on the day as being heads and tails above. A Worlds podium is possible, it’s just a matter of time.

The race was close. I rode within 25 seconds of the podium for 3 of 5 laps but just couldn’t find what I needed to bridge the gap. It was an exciting race, even going into last lap there were 6 girls in medal contention but it would be Irina, followed by Lene and a fantastic ride by Willow that would claim this year’s podium.

The Canadian women rode very well, all riding top 26 with Mical unfortunately having a flukey crash last lap that sent her to the hospital with a broken wrist. After the race we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up and packed but made it back to the venue to catch some impressive last lap riding by the leaders of the men’s racing including Geoff Kabush’s 5th place finish. Max Plaxton also had a stellar ride finishing 22nd while Derek and Seamus finished top 42.

To watch the races with commentary visit freecaster.tv

The Luna chix and our stellar support crew are off Switzerland Thursday. Georgia and I have a world cup this Sunday and the following Saturday in Austria. These two races will wrap up the World cup series. From there is straight to Las Vegas where I’m going to see a cirque show (Yeah!) with luna mates terra, Dave and Phoebe and help Georgia, Katerian and Alsion kick off their cyclocross season.

Canada Silver at World Championships

L to R Evan Guthrie, Geoff Kabush, Raphael Gagne, Me
Photos by Rob Jones. Check out Canadiancyclist.com for complete race coverage


Another race down to the wire

World Championship racing kicked off Tuesday, Sept 2nd in Canberra Australia with the Team Relay event. For the relay each country selects a Senior man, U23 man, Jr man and a female rider. The countries decide for themselves in what order to send out their racers and each rider does one lap at maximal tagging off to the successive rider.

Canada chose to send our Under 23 rider Raphael Gagne first. Raph put in a strong start, but the riders were funnelled into a narrow tunnel less than 100m from the start and he got pushed out of the way entering in 12th position. On the technically challenging singletrack climb and descent passing is nearly impossible. Raph was able to hold onto 12th position and tagged off to our senior rider Geoff Kabush.

Geoff put out the fastest lap of the day while coming though traffic and moved Canada into the bronze medal position. Next off Evan Guthrie put out the 3rd fastest jr men’s time and brought in another position moving Canada into silver and less than 10seconds back of France.

Last to go, my job was to reel in France and hold off Italy for what we hoped would be a gold medal team effort. France’s Cecile Rode Ravenel was not going to give up the lead easily however. I hunted her down through the meandering rock littered climb, but a couple dabs cost our team precious seconds and I had to chase extremely hard on all the power sections to bring her in. On the last climb the Italian rider, an under 23 man, caught and passed me, but I was able to ignore the burn in my legs and lungs to grab his wheel and close the gap on France. Through the single track we were both of France’s wheel. While they fought for the front I tried to conserve and find the right spot to make my move.

Italy got by at a split in the trail but I was not able to get ahead. Through the feedzone Italy extended its lead while I attacked the French rider to take over the silver medal position and put out the fastest woman’s time. Into the finish it was a tight race with me only able to eek out 2 seconds on the French rider. Italy won by 6 seconds….granted they did take the time to pick up and wave their flag before claiming goldJ

This secured Canada its first medal of the championships and we got to enjoy standing on the podium at a world Championships. Canada and Luna (Georgia, Chloe and myself) hope to secure more podiums before the week is out so wish us luck!

Home Sweet Home

My greeting party

Now that's a Garden!

All I have wanted to do this past week is dive into home life. With new windows being installed, crazy cats demanding my attention, a garden bursting with veggies and Keith always ready to share a cup of coffee this wasn’t too hard.

As great as it was to be home (and thanks to Tanya our house sitter who has been fantastic!) it was hot, really hot. My “recovery ride” on Thursday was done in 39 degrees. Keith and I cut it short questioning the ability to recover while riding in an oven. I like temperatures below my core temp thanks. So after some good play time with the cats we headed off to visit Keith’s parents in the mountains. I haven’t seen Keith’s parents in forever and haven’t been to Revelstoke to ride yet this year. Riding in Revelstoke always helps me feel good on my bike. After feeling completely off in Kamloops dry and loose trail conditions the loamy & rooty forest trails of Revelstoke were a welcome relief. Riding in Revelstoke is like riding an unending pump track. Well ok you do a lot of pedalling too, but the reward for pumping your bike through the trails is high. The cycling club has put in some awesome new trails over the last 2 years so we got in some spectacular long rides. Brendan and Bart joined me for my Sunday intervals too, Thanks guys! It made my workout feel just like a fast fun group ride.

The Columbia River, Revelstoke

Keith on the trails in Revelstoke where he grew up

But I didn’t neglect our overburdened garden either. I brought a big tub of cucumbers with me and Sues and I set to work making Dill pickles and a sweet relish. All and all the weekend helped me recenter and refocus my energy so I would be ready to hit the road again on Wednesday for Australia and the World Championships.

Now tell me those don't look like delicious pickles

I’ll be racing the relay on Sept 2 and the xc on September 5th, (that’ll be sept 1st and 4th back home). From Australia where my brother will be joining the national team as the Volunteer National DH manager I head directly back to Canada for a couple days before hoping on a plane for Switzerland and another World cup just 7 days after worlds! Yikes. The Luna team will travel from Switzerland to Austria for World Cup finals and then head directly to interbike in Las Vegas. It’s going to prove to be a crazy month, with a lot of high intensity racing and travelling, but also high reward.

It’s a wrap!

Domestic racing has drawn to a close with the US cup finals this weekend in Windham, NY. I have to admit I am more than a little excited to be getting home after being away since June 26th! Yes, I had Keith with me for most of the time, but there is nothing quite like being home.

Chloe, Zeph and I passed a pretty quiet week in West Dover Vermont, getting together with the Fisher team a couple times to keep life interesting. The road riding in Vermont and upstate New York is beautiful and I fully enjoyed getting to do a few long rides. Bringing road bikes this trip was great. As much as I love Mtn. biking, it’s nice to get away from the mud and really feel like you’re covering some distance.

Racing went fairly well. I felt pretty good on Saturday for the xc, Willow was just climbing really strongly and descending equally well. Georgia too was never more than a few seconds back and got ahead of me in the final 200 meters as we chicaned through a paved loop to the finish. The Windham course was fun. It’s a bout 15minutes of climbing to 5 of descending…which definitely tallies up after 5 laps. There’s singletrack nicely mixed into the climb and the descent was a combination of rocky woods and open undulating, air catching slopes. The weather was sticky hot so I was thankful for our 11am start.

3rd on the day was good enough to secure me the series overall. My first Elite overall title after finishing 2nd overall on the World cup in 2008, Canada Cup (3 times 04-06) and BC cup (03)! It’s nice to finally be consistent.

Saturday night the Luna team was invited to a delicious pasta dinner at the home of our number 1 fan in Windham, Courtney. Thanks guys and look forward to seeing you next year!

Sunday was the short track and even hotter weather. It was the hardest short track I’ve done all year. Katerina was ranked 2nd overall, 30pts behind Heather so in order to help her win the overall she needed to win and we need Heather to finish outside the top 5. Our plan was to keep the pace as high as possible. Katerina had great legs on the day, but unfortunately I didn’t. I managed to make it to the front for 2 hard efforts which hopefully helped string it out, but I didn’t have enough to stay up there for the team. Georgia launched a decisive attack that Katerina was able to go with as Heather, Lea D and I tailed off. Unfortunately for us though Lea bridged back up and after sitting in for a couple laps outsprinted Katerina for the Line. It was a great ride by Lea, Katerina and Georgia. I came in for 4th and Heather 5th. Katerina narrowly missed the overall, but happily claimed 2nd, Georgia 3rd and me 4th overall. Chloe also finding her form claimed 11th in both the XC and ST and 10th overall.

I think everyone is happy to have wrapped up the series and are now focused on preparing for the Worlds in Australia Sept 5th. I’m on my way home!!!!!