Beans 'n' Barley Cross - Calgary

First race was the Sport/Citizen race with alot of first time riders including -Dilbert-. The course had nice swoopy sections, with little technical spots, one set of barriers, a couple dismounts and some open fast spots.

stolen photo from United Cycle blogsite - thanks!

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Dilbert raced in flat pedals with work shoes. Dogbert barked commands the whole time. It wasn't easy with Dilbert's big head all mushed into the cute flower helmet and his pants falling down. Dilbert looked pretty unravelled by the end. His pocket protector and 4 coloured pens stayed intact! The inserted Sportiva spikes in the shoes helped for the hike-a-bike uphills... with even more hills to climb than normal with loss of power of not being clipped in. It was awesome he didn't get lapped! and wasn't last. It helped to have a few downhill bikers in the race.
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Proof that Dilbert raced!

Officially Dilbert has no last name. Entered him with his cartoon creator's last name Adams.

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Unknowingly, Darcy got into the role of cyclocross racer support as I had 20 minutes to switch pedals on my bike, unzip-tie Dogbert from my cables --carefully--, and get into my race gear. Darcy had previous experience being my support for a Sea2summit adventure race so was used to my short chirpy commands. Thanks bud!

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With the adrenaline rush of adventure racing transitions, I was super pumped for my race. Off the start I was glued to Mical's wheel. It was quite fun to hang and tuck behind from the wind.

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Mical's Shadow

photo - Darcy Reynard

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Shantel descending into singletrack with the blinding sun

photo - Darcy Reynard

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Witch Alana powering with the hat in the wind

photo - Darcy Reynard

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Skeleton Mical

photo - Darcy Reynard

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Marg just hanging on

photo - Darcy Reynard

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Into my 3rd lap, I was overly aggressive on the fast mountainbike-like descent cornering hard on grass and leaves and almost had a nice washout. Saved it... then almost washed out on the other side... saved it... caught up to Mical and laughed. Moments later, I had a huge energy depletion... that was too close of a call... and got gapped. Chilled, rested up then put another effort into catching back up to Mical. All in all, lots of fun!

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Annie, Marg, Mical, Shantel

photo - United Cycle blogsite

Roving Race Announcer

Dilbert blending in with the fans enjoying the chili and hanging out at the firepit

Halloween Fun

the boys

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awesome costumes

Dilbert being cool with Elvis

Pedalhead Super "Sunny" Prestige Race

Sunday, the sun was out and it was a nice warm afternoon to watch the Expert and Elite Men's races after my race. The course was held at Goldbar park on the cross-country ski trails. It was a "fitness" course with sheer fast distance to cover. There were no demanding corners though lots of climbing and fast descents. Only one set of barriers I swear came up over my knees which was a good section to watch and get a few laughs at my style.

Caught a photo of Robin Baillie thru the very cool sandpit section that was rideable with speed and bodywork.

Labyrinth at the Devon Dairy Queen Double Dipper

The Labyrinth Snail

The Labyrinth cyclocross maze

photo - Mike Dickinson

United Cycle designed a unique course which included going into a Labyrinth for a few complete circles, turning and then exiting with another couple circles. It was dizzying the first time going thru. Each time it was more and more fun to see how much speed I could keep before the complete 180 turn. Check out video footage from Darcy Reynard.

Weather was cool at 5C, windy and spots of drizzling rain - not so bad when we were racing. The course was frozen in the morning and the muddy sections softened up by the time the women's race was on.

With my poor starts at last weekends race due to actually believing the starting commands.... "15 seconds... go" and meanwhile only 5 physical seconds go by... I was adamant to be ready this time.

Now, I was all ears and bursting to go after that first command... "15 seconds"... "10 seconds"... I'm really ready... "5 seconds"... Now, I'm chomping at the bit... "you can go when you're ready"... what the heck does that last statement mean, I was ready 10 seconds ago - whatever, I took off! Within two pedal strokes I could tell no-one else had taken off when I did. We expected a "go" or a "horn". It didn't feel good to have escaped early though I did what the command said... I was darn ready to go!

photo - Mike Dickinson

After the first chicane, I was leading only due to accidently blocking Pepper from passing me on the right. I then veered to the left as we both laughed at the collision. Ha, I laugh whenever I see these barrier shots as I can barely hoist my bike over!

Darcy impressively climbing the slick muddy hill in the Sport Men's race. The hill got even slicker for my race and I chose to run up every time. Good thing as no mud glued onto my tire for the immediate slimey descent.

Darcy descending the screaming slimey descent which was much like creamy peanut butter

with p o w e r the sandpit was rideable...
photo - Mike Dickinson

the gals - Bridget, Loni, Pepper, Marg, Katy

Fall-time running fun in Edmonton

Just ran the last fall x-c race tonight. This run series is one of the highlights of living in Edmonton. Seven x-c races in different locations each Wednesday night in the fall-time. It draws over 200 people, young and old, fast and slow. I think the first one I ever ran was when I was 16 years old and racing with the Edmonton Columbian Track Club. It's great to see old-time runners come out of the woodwork, and friends from all sorts of places.

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Rain, Snow or Shine - the race goes on!

Marg wearing Kahtoolas!

Photos - Allan Santos

Remington Cross for Kids - Calgary

The weather seemed cooler for Sunday. After pre-riding the course, I felt warmer with the higher humidity. The course was confined to a small corner at Canada Olympic Park due to COP already laying snow down. It was strategically designed with an awesome road climb then twisting all over with a few blind corners. It was nice to have a stair climb and a sandpit instead of barriers to hike over. Each loop, I tried to maintain more speed in the swooping corners. Definitely fun climbing sections for a climber! My hands got cold probably due to higher humidity. Glad it was only a 40-minute race!

Deadgoat Craig racing while the snowboarders descend in the background

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Contemplative faces at the women's start by the bobsled track

The course started with a pavement climb descending into twisty corners on the grass. I had a slow start on the climb (?!) and was working my way to catch up to Mical and Caeli.

focused - I only went thru the yellow tape once. The tape was abit mesmorizing!

Darcy running thru the long sandpit section
photo - Finn Pedersen

I hate putting my arms up!
photo - Finn Pedersen

Awesome riding my Ridley X-Fire!! Fit was perfect. I could reach the brake levers with added spacers
photo - Finn Pedersen

Blow Street Super Cross - Calgary

The Deadgoats set this fun race up in a small residential park. The course took great advantage of the whole area and had us ripping back and forth on the flats with some nice twisty spots around the trees. I played Superwoman before the race changing my race attire umpteen times. The snow melted during the Sport and Expert races before me and the temperature was increasing. Good group of women starters. Being my first cyclocross race since 2005, all I knew was to look for Mical's wheel (super-pro mtnbiker).

Squeezing into 2nd spot behind Mical just before the first corner
photo - Darcy Reynard (fisheye specialist)

Mical riding thru the evaporating snow
photo - Darcy Reynard

Marg swooping thru the corner before the hurdle-height barriers!

photo - Darcy Reynard

Julie cheering with bells... I believe she cheered "go away marg" when I passed by!

photo - Darcy Reynard, bells - Mical's mom

Smiling muddy faces - Marg & Shantel

photo - Darcy Reynard

1st x-c ski of the season Oct.15th!!

We had only a few inches of snowflakes fall the last couple days. I quickly took the storage wax off my skate-skis and went to Victoria golf course in the morning. There was just enough snow to glide over the manicured golf course grass. It helped that coach Corey already set his own tracks the night before. Super sweet to be on skis again! A couple hours later, the snow was all melted.

Dust off the Cross Bike

Last weekend, it was fun watching the Canadian National Cyclo-cross championships in my hometown. The sub-freezing snowy conditions made it treacherous for the racers. I was super motivated watching all the women persevere. Enough so, that I traded my "massive" Lemond frame in for a spiffy 41cm Ridley X-Fire. Thanks to Guri at Pedalhead Road Works. Off to race a double header in Calgary this weekend. Last raced cross in 2005. Hope I remember how to dismount/mount correctly!

Ain't she sweet...

Farewell Okanagan

My last few weeks have been filled with awesome rides with strong riders in the Okanagan valley. Long distance rides with Leah Goldstein who is off to storm the ultra race Furnace Creek 508 this weekend. Wicked fast rides with lots of elevation while glued onto the wheel of pro-Ironman athlete Scott Neyedli.

Marg & Scotty at the IM-Canada famed spot in Keremeos

Dipping into the lake was a treat after any of these rides. The great Sunday road group ride and very social Tuesday night mtnbike rides were awesome ending with a good meal with the mtnbikers after. I got one last epic mountain bike ride in with an old Edmonton rider Andrea Bergen. We were in awe of the fall colours and the wicked singletrack.
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A few cool sitings... sitting in the chalet, movement outdoors caught my eye. Three bears strolled into the yard!
The little black bear warned his mom I was watching so she had both of the cubs climb trees. The brown one climbed 30 feet and the black one climbed 50 feet - amazing to watch up close! Mom stayed guard below.
Later I caught them leaving on the beautiful rock face next to the chalet. It was cool to see them though I'm tired of cleaning up their poop!

My least favourite uninvited visitors are the raccoons who now come in little packs of adolescent teenagers at dark. They party it up, create havoc until I chase them out with the broom. Other sitings were California Quail and deer. No mice seen this year, yay. The coyotes howl in the early morning on a regular basis - pretty wild to hear.

Length of the Lake

It was awesome to take a day off as a spectator as I went to watch the Length of the Lake race. It started at Kin Beach in Vernon, had pitstops in Fintry, Bear Creek, Peachland, and Summerland before hitting the end of the lake in Penticton around 100-km later. Years past, I had wanted to do this race as a solo surfskier though never had the chance.

teeny OC6's barely seen in the top corner view

1st speedy change-over at Fintry

off go a fresh crew...

What a day the paddlers had with major winds churning up through the day making a long paddle seem even longer! weary and smiling!

I loved sitting out on the dock watching the change-overs, either outrigger or surfski changes. Some solos went by. Watching the paddlers go off into the huge windy waves put a smile on my face... I guess remembering the good paddling a few years back and mostly loving paddling into the waves.

Intuition or Whining?

After a great race in Tahoe, I thought it'd be cool to get in the epic Bow80 for some more great riding. The Bow 80 is the utmost greatest race course I've been on in all my races around the world, right in my own backyard... well, it's Alberta. The conditions had been super dry and fast. I made the 7-hour drive on Sat and hung out in West Bragg Creek with the Hughes family, getting a kite airborne and enjoying the wilderness surroundings.

Super early race morning it was raining. I was optimistic that the forecast for 1 mm was going to pass. Hanging out at the race start pre-daylight, I was wide-eyed wondering if the rain was going to let up. It was probably 5C at 5000'. I tossed around the pros and cons of going out to race in the rain wondering if I was "whining" for not wanting to go out! I've done enough "survival" events and really wanted to ride the excellent trails... health was a concern and lack of body fat! As the rain came down harder... conclusion... get the car running! My drive back was brilliant with autumn colours as well as fresh snow on the mountain peaks. I wondered how the race was going as I drove off...

Awesome recaps of the race:
Dallas Morris - "Wow"
Gabor's "Pedal for your life"
Cory Wallace - "Double Header Gongshow" (the Snow80!)

Old lady intuition wins out on this one!

Test Ride in Tahoe

Within a week span, I had a dust-laden 2008 Scott Scale 10 shipped from a small bike shop in Oakville, new brake set put on by Evan down at Gregg’s Greenlake Cycle in Seattle so I could run Stan’s notubes ZTR Race 7000 wheelset… and zipped off south to Soda Springs, California at 7000’ elevation. Nothing like testing the bike out in a 100-mile ultra-endurance race in Tahoe country!

My old trusty Trek had been stolen when my car was stolen back in June. Since then I have only put around 4 hours of mountain bike time on my first race bike from 1995, an 8-speed Stumpjumper. Thanks to all who helped with parts (Ed, Di & Al) and offers to lend bikes (Trevor, Cindy). The thought of my lack of mountain bike saddle time scared me just a little for this race!

The course started with 8 miles of mostly descent. I was surprised to maintain a quick pace amongst the men and didn’t even think of the crazy speed we were taking on this bumpy forest road together. I stuck with a strong looking woman ahead of me and realized it was Louise Kobin, my TransAlp race partner from 2005. Wow, Lou has since gotten amazingly more powerful and dominated the pace for the climbs. She was dropping the boys like flies!

Looking at the course on paper, there were a lot of fire roads and only 2 sections of single track. In reality, the first 10-km single track was plenty long and brutally rocky. I was pretty beat after descending this long technical section. As I rode by a prickly high alpine brush, I was left with little welt marks and winced each time. The scenery high up was outstanding which I mostly took in peripherally as to keep my focus on the blazing trails.

Elevation gain 12,500 feet - long jarring descents

The feedzones were a welcome sight and I partook at almost all of them. The volunteers were awesome grabbing my camelbak to fill it and lubing my dry chain with oil. The course was ultra dusty. I was caked head to toe in dust.

The 2nd singletrack section was part of the Western States 100-mile running race. It was amazing following a cliffy ridge line. I chilled, took my time and enjoyed it. This was only 55 miles into the race. And it seemed like a longgggg way to go yet.

Lots of climbing left. I cried when there was yet another descent. My neck/shoulders biceps/triceps hands/fingers were just -aching-. Yeah, I loved using my new Formula R1 disc brakes a lot, maybe a little too much on the descents! New to the disc brake world, I was wowed by the control they gave over the speed of the bike. I had a few twitchy moments where I thought I lost it… though the bike worked with me and I was upright the whole time.

The Selle Italia SLR saddle on my bike was sweet, comfy, though was cut slim. It had no outward part to rest the thighs during descents. My inner thighs were whipped on the long bumpy descents as I tried to brace on the nothingness of this saddle. I may have to switch it out for endurance races.

The last 10 miles to the finish was a slog for me. Eating bits of HoneyStinger berries and dates helped keep me going. Dates are my new favourite energy food - taste like carmel candy with the bonus of quick glycogen energy.

Weather was perfect with an overcast sky keeping the blazing sun toned down. Most of the course was shaded in the trees. I finally made it to the finish 9 hours 22 minutes. Lou finished 25 minutes ahead of me. Tinker Juarez won the race and Canadian Cory Wallace from Jasper came in 2nd. Cory has been getting into incredible adventures with great stories on his blog.

I stayed at the Clair Tappaan Lodge a couple miles away run by the Sierra Club. Inexpensive like a hostel and has awesome chef made meals. A group of online guitar members got together for a Groetsch guitar specialty weekend. Nice to hear the jamming of music as my weary body got some rest.

Going to this race was a highlight for me... the scenic drive down, the frantic prep getting the bike together, visiting friends on-route in Seattle and Ashland. Most of all, it was my first mountain bike race in 2 years since my health got quirky in 2007! I was thrilled the whole time riding being back in action!!

Post-race sand & sweat covered - my new bike!! ...all 18.5 lbs!!!

Thanks to Mike at Notubes for sending me the wicked Race 7000 wheelset. I've run Stan's notubes system since 2003 and I won't go back to using tubes again. My new ZTR Race 7000 wheelset is only 1225 grams! I set them up with Kenda Karma tube tires with a couple scoops of Stan's sealant inside. Had my first experience with blowing a tire off the rim using a footpump... the ringing in my ears had me flop on the bed for a few minutes. I will never overinflate again! With Stan's setup, I run my tire pressure at 17 PSI in the front and 20 PSI in the rear. The lower air pressure gives me alot more grippy tire to ride and lets me rip faster descending (as long as I remember to let go of the brakes!). I have no fears of punctures as the sealant does it's job sealing the puncture if it happens. I haven't flatted - I haven't noticed!

Mt Seymour Hillclimb + 4 hours

Made a quick trip to Vancouver staying at friends' Guy and Killaine's North Vancouver home wayyy up Mtn Hwy. The lure was the Mt Seymour Challenge road race... a 12.2 km road climb up an average 9% grade. There was a light mist the whole race keeping us refreshed.

love the tall north shore trees
photo - Guy Trotter

Mass start of 20 women, the pace went out quite comfortable. Leah Goldstein soon shook up the pack. Leah gapped myself and the red/white jersey woman.

The pack... Marg standclimbing with Leah (in blue) just before making a break

photo - Guy Trotter

Another group of 4 riders were gapped behind us. I used my mental energy to stay with this powerful woman. We kept Leah in sight until the fog hid her. 2 km to go, my body cried that the pace was hard and it had been a good race up to that point. I hung in there until 1 km to go when I let red/white woman go. I needed that 30 second breather at my pace then I stormed on to the finish.

podium - marg leah powerful-red/white-jersey-woman

Afterwards, I joined Leah for more mileage. Leah is training for the Furnace Creek 508 in October (508 mile continuous road race!). We rode all the cool climbs on the North Shore... Lillouet road up to the Watershed (super scenic), Mtn Hwy to drop off my backpack, Lonsdale down Capilano back up to the mountain climb Cypress and to homebase. That was a good 5+ hour day for me, possibly 3000m elevation gain! Totally unexpected day to go on a long ride and have good company.

bear patrol volunteer duty with Killaine

Le Tour de Bowness

Stage 1 - COP hillclimb, 1.3 km 10% grade. New record set at 4 min 0.4 seconds (with a little 60 kph wind assist!).

Thanks to an old work buddy Mike Dickinson whose son now races... for all the awesome race photos.

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Stage 2 - 40 min criterium, 7-corner 950 metre loop in Bowness. It was a little sketchy in this pack of young women. I put my bit of work in on the short hill climb each loop. One loop I even tried a double which meant attacking the climb then hauling hard the rest of the loop back up another hill. Phew!

love seeing everyone work behind me!

photo - Mike Dickinson

Most of the women took their turn with an attack throughout the race. After the last corner, five women sprinted away the long stretch for the finish. I persevered, put my head down and did what I could on the flat stretch. Doh, I let up a metre before the line and another women zipped in placing me in 7th. Did I mention the pavement was super rough like a cyclocross course!

Counter-attacking picking up powerful Pepper Harlton on the way
photo - Mike Dickinson

Stage 3 - 48km Circuit Race, 5.3 km loop on a twisty rolly course with a big climb to the finish. Into the first loop, I took a jab at the hill to see how best to hit it. It was around 600 metres long starting gradual with a steep 7% pitch towards the end. The long stretch at 2% grade would be the challenge before it levelled off to the finish line.

It was fun to have teammates Heather and Chantal as well as Danika and even Pepper to work with. We did what we could against the super strong National team rider Alison Testroete. We all took turns with pulls or attacks. Still a substantial group into the last loop.

photo - Mike Dickinson

The front riders took the final tight turn fast. This left me off the back as the pack was already sprinting up the hill. Confident I would catch on before the steep grade, I caught up to the pack at my own pace. I was blocked as the pack was spread from the yellow line over to the ditch side. I hung back and watched to see when Alison would make her move to sprint. When she did, I squeaked past a rider near the yellow line and jumped on Alison's wheel. Ahh, nice ride into the finish for 2nd!

Overall points for the 3 stages put me in 2nd for the Omnium. Pretty awesome for my first cycling race of the season and for a "seasoned" rider. There were alot of youngsters in this race!!

photo with Beau the RCMP

The Flying Squirrel

Racing the hillclimb, I felt like a flying squirrel... just as I was on the start line, the threatening dark skies had approached and the winds started swirling. I am one of the few riders who attempts this climb in the big chainring 53. COP (Canada Olympic Park) 10% average grade hillclimb for 1.3 km. I was wondering when best to shift down to the small ring for the tough grade to the finish.

Right off the start, it was easier to climb than normal. The pace was fast. I was surprised as my two pre-rides up the climb were hard and I choked for air at the top due to the dryness. I sensed one gal on my wheel as it was a 3-up time trial. I passed one wind devil of sand into the wind. On each westerly turn I flew with the wind up the next stretch. 2nd last corner, Crazy Larry was cheering like a Tour de France hillclimb fan running and waving. After the last corner into the wind, I was literally blown up the hardest 12% grade to the westerly finish, even having to shift into a higher gear! I was shocked how easy the climb was.

The bigger shock was breaking the record by 7 seconds and winning in 4 min 0.4! I attributed it to the wind, yet I realize all the women had the same strong wind too. 2nd place was Nik who was on my wheel the whole way until I sprinted away at the finish. The big chain ring was key this time.

I checked the weather around my start time 7:36 p.m. Here's the graph with the peak wind at 60 kph just around 8 p.m. Wow! Fellow ERTC teammate Cody Canning also broke the men's record.

Unfortunately, this wind caused some havoc in the city with power outages including a death of a child hit by debris blown from a construction site. Crazy strong wind.

Tour de l'Alberta

After a nice long ride with my cycling group on a crazy hot 32C Saturday, I decided to go into the Tour de l'Alberta the following day. This Tour is 180 km travelling north of Edmonton thru the small French community towns. It's not a race though eventually groups form and ride together. I was hoping to get into a fast group for a decent workout. A group of 6 guys in yellow motorola jerseys jumped to the front. I followed and it was pretty fun working with them. We stopped a few times to get food/water from the feedzones in the towns.

Matt Decore, a strong mountain bike racer, hooked up with our group. At one of the only two hill sections the entire loop, Matt went hard and I jumped as well like a dog chasing down a frisbee! Soon, it was just Matt and myself headed together to the finish. The winds were against us going west. It helped to take turns pulling. We talked about racing future team races together as we had good teamwork pulling to the end.

Watermelon Smoothie!

Anywhere I have travelled these last few months, my hosts have been my guinea pigs for my Green Smoothie concoctions that I've been making with my VitaMix. It's cool to see everyone open to trying the green drinks. My best testers were Jacquie's kids who were just as excited to put the high-speed blender on to mix the smoothie as well as to clean it!

hamming it up with the miniature hamsters

Tonight, after a wicked Tuesday night cycling interval session with my bike club ERTC, I made a recovery drink out of my seeded organic watermelon. She was all of 19 lbs and made for a great work-out carrying it from the store.

Nick, my Greek roomie, was my tester and we loved the blended drink which included the white pulp and the seeds all meshed in together. It would be even more super tasty frozen. Ummm!

Seek the Peak - outcome

This race was... AWESOME!! Super scenic, strategic, and my kind of challenge. Total mental focus on pacing up to the Grind (10km), hammering the Grind (3km - 2800' elevation gain), peaking Grouse and remaining relaxed for the descent to the finish.

I held a conservative pace on the first 10 km. Once I hit the Grind, I put my head down and passed alot of people. 2/3 of the way, my calves were on the verge of cramping to the point I thought I might have to drop out if they did (overbalance of super quad and no trained calves/ham). My breath rate was relaxed and my legs had no lactic acid so I was bummed to ease my pace.

Strolling up the Grind natural stairclimb

At the top of the Grind, the last uphill was on gravel with a steep grade to my liking. At the top, I was pensive on the descent to not cramp. Yay, I finished with no cramps and 2nd woman - awesome! I was 4 minutes off last year's record time though Tania Percy smashed her record again this year. Funny to see the leg splits... my Grind section was 12th fastest overall! and faster than Tania's.

My grade school friend Jacquie's mom also went in the race. Helen is inspiring at 67 years old and came 2nd in the age category. Ever since I've known Jacquie, her mom has run races.

Seek the Peak

On Sunday, I will lace up my running shoes and take part in the "Seek the Peak" charity run from the shores of Ambleside in North Vancouver all the way up to the peak of Grouse Mountain. The event is 16 km with 4100' elevation gain. It includes the Grouse Grind trail. It will be an awesome training event for a cyclist with all the uphill. I look so forward to it. The past week has been eventful with the disappearance of my home stored in my car. More on that later.

Raw Union Festival

The first Raw Union of two raw foodist activists Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes was to take place on the Solstice. They turned their union into a festival with an open invite. The event was to take place at Angel's Organic Farm north of Ashland, Oregon which was on my way home.

This festival was smaller and more intimate than the Raw Spirit festival. Again, I had an exceptional time meeting new people from all over. I even partook in a raw speed dating event. It was another weekend of camping. I had the chance to take a yoga class with the beautiful Rainbeau Mars and a fitness class with Vegan Bodybuilder Robert Cheeke.


The Union itself was actually quite nice. I'm not a wedding person though there was something special about this whole gathering of like minded people. David Wolfe, one of the leading raw food gurus, is an Essene minister who was able to marry Matt and Angela.

The feast was amazing with a fine array of raw food items as well as the limitless chocolate bar and raw wedding cake. No-one left hungry and there were plenty leftovers. At least 300 people were fed this raw meal and it was cool to be part of the first mass raw food feast.


The evening ended with eclectic music and dance, very free spirited stuff. I am really liking hanging out at these events.

California Visits

I had 2 weeks before the next raw food event so I stopped to visit and train with friends in California. Leslie in Thousand Oaks who I met bike-touring in 1987, explored more of the Santa Monica roads with me. I finally got to ride Latigo road, twisty windy climbing up a canyon from the ocean. I was impressed when Leslie later jumped on my municycle and easily rode it. Apparently he learned when he was 12 and didn't tell me.

Met up with Jonathan Toker (Saltstick inventor) for a few rides

I took part in the Pride Run in L.A 5-km and 10-km running event. Those who did both events were ranked in the Ultra-pride event by their accumulated times. I was up for the challenge to get my cycling legs back running. I used my Garmin to stay within an 8-min mile pace for the 5-km event. It was hard to hold back and not go faster especially on the final stretch. I came in at 24:11 well on target. I had less than 6 min before the 10-km event started and almost missed the start as I was in the bathroom lineup. I ran the same pace for the first 5-km following the guy with the baby-jogger then picked it up in the last 5-km with whatever I had left. Course went out and back many times on Santa Monica Boulevard. Not overly exciting course though fans were cheering and it was easy to keep on pace. My 10-km time was 47:22. I was the only ultra runner to negative split! Awesome crowd and fun event.

Love the guy with the rainbow flag

In North Hollywood, I went cycling with my road racing bud Sandra and got to go on a wicked fast motorcycle ride with her husband Dino.

Met up with Transalp teammate Lou Kobin for a wicked ride in the Demonstration forest near Santa Cruz. After a steady climb we were rewarded with a 30-minute descent that switchbacked down. Lou and Eric live in a yurt which is surrounded by huge redwoods.

Met up with former Edmontonian ERTC-er Lance in Berkeley. I wish I caught a happy snap of Lance with his beard. Lance and his girlfriend Cherise joined me in checking out the famed raw food restaurant Cafe Gratitude. Yum-my!

Met up with Jason from Crankbrothers for a wicked mountain bike ride back of the Berkeley hills. Also met up for the Chicken Road Ride in Mill Valley with an added loop thru Mt Tam down to the ocean back up highway 1. The views were outstanding with riding on the high up cliffsides. After this ride, I jumped into my car for a very hot drive to Oregon.

Raw Spirit Food Festival

I was excited to include the Raw Spirit Festival in my plans. The festival was held at the Live Oak Campground in the Santa Ynez Valley 15 miles NW of Santa Barbara June 5-7. Wow, what a weekend of meeting new friends, hearing interesting speakers, eating yummy food, yoga, great music, and camping!!


There is so much information out there on raw foods. I respected each speaker that strongly held their viewpoint despite the conflicting views with other raw food speakers. It comes down to everyone has their own path to figure out what works best for them. I came away with bits of info from everyone I heard.
Many synchronistic happenings went on during the weekend. Early one morning with all campers still sleeping, I am putting on my running shoes for a run. A woman walking by my tent joined in with me and we ran the hills together. We bumped into a group of runners which included health speaker Kevin Gianni and his partner Annmarie as well as a few runners from the RawRunners.org group.


Camping was roughing it with the lumpy dusty ground hoping no poison oak was hovering near any of the oak trees. Loved seeing this guy meditate in the hub bub of the campground and expo. One late night, I helped a woman put up her tent in the dark. It was a confusing set of poles and I struggled with this one. Surprise surprise when it all came together to be a lovely pink princess castle! Apparently, it was the only tent available at the 2nd hand store.

The people at this festival were very open and welcoming. I loved all the new friendships made and how we all bumped into each other.

There are two more festivals on the schedule this year and I highly recommend them for anyone interested in a great experience and a wealth of information for healthy living.

Borrego Springs Desert

I spent a few weeks recently cycle training in the awesome San Diego area riding the old favourite rides like the long route Swami's Sat ride and a few new ones including Arnie Baker's Wed ride.

Took a ride into Borrego desert with the famous Montezuma climb, the heat, and the blustery winds with my friends Magdalena and Tamara, originally from Venezuela.

New sightings of the huge statues in the middle of nowhere of Borrego prehistoric animals looked pretty real!


The villa the hobo stayed at for a few weeks

Raw Food talk - Friday!

Victoria and Valya Boutenko of the Raw Food Family are in Calgary this weekend. They are speaking on the value of green food in our lives. More information at AwesomeRawsome.com. They speak from experience creating healthy lives with the power of raw foods. I've read a few of their books and am empowered to put immensely more of the marvelous greens in my life.

Recommended reads: Green for Life, 12 Steps to Raw Food

Thrive Diet

Back in 2006, I started supplementing my diet with Brendan Brazier's protocol of hemp, flax, chlorella and maca. I was racing at a high level with the multi-day endurance races, with the continued stresses of life in general and the extra ones of race logistics, housing and funding without a good strategy for chilling out time. These all added up and impacted my health with weakened adrenals for recovery. Using Brendan's protocol was the only boost my body got at that time; and I believe got me thru the extra stress.

Currently, Brendan has a series of *free* videos which highlight super health and nutrition. Sign up for the series at: thrive in 30

Valuable life information that I wish I had known years ago... and definitely a way of life for me now.

Spring in Kelowna

I took an extended Easter break for cycle training staying out at my friend Mike's chalet in Kelowna on the lake. Typical up and down spring weather. For the most part, the cycling was superb! I joined the Sunday group (wickedly fast) ride and met two riders, Jen and Steve, for my ride on Monday. Tuesday night group mountain bike ride at Knox mountain was followed by a very yummy bbq and lasagna served up by Kelowna Cycle. Gotta like training here!
I did some yard work at Mike's place. The darn pine needles are a foot long, let alone how huge the pinecones are! When I went on the roof to clean off the pine needles, much to my surprise a raccoon scampered away. I assume he was the noise on the roof I heard the last couple nights. He had ripped away shingles and made a little hole under the rooftop. Mr. Coon just glared at me for discovering his new home. I covered the damage and nailed in a huge piece of plywood. These little guys are smart and go chalet to chalet until they are discovered. Thankfully, I got him before he dug his way into the chalet. The next night's sleep was peaceful...

I have one last ride around the lake today in brilliant sunshine, 141km and 1900m elevation gain. Sweet!

Biking NW of L.A.

With only 2 hours of sleep after flying into L.A. we were up super early to make the 2.5 hour drive to Solvang. I was joining my cycling bud Sandra and her hubby Dino on their weekend to Solvang for my first official Century Ride. By 7 a.m., Sandra and I started the 100-miler with 5000 other riders. Dino was riding the 50-mile route. Bonus for me was actually stopping at the feedzones - so unlike my typical races.I was unsure how my body would like jumping from x-c ski season direct to a 100-mile bike ride. This was the inaugural ride on my spiffy new Madone that I had purchased off Ebay. My transalp bud Matt from Seattle had bike-fit me superbly on it as my ride felt awesome from the getgo. The teeny saddle he put on was comfy, especially with the cut-out section. It was long overdue for me to get this "women's specific design" (WSD) model for my monkey type body (long legs, short torso).Stayed at the hostel in Santa Barbara for Sat night. Another minimal sleep night and I was off checking out the mountain climbs behind SB. Talk about climbing which went on and on. It was a surprise when all of a sudden my left crank arm was dangling from my shoe still clipped into my pedal. The bike store at home switched over my compact crankset to a DuraAce 53/39 before I left for this trip. Hmmm... I had an allen key to tighten the bolts of the crank arm though somehow the threaded crank arm fixing bolt was missing (or had not been threaded in??) hmmm... Fortunately, a small truck was coming my way on this no-traffic road. Victor kindly drove me back down to the bike store in town and I got it fixed. Strange indeed!A day later, I visited Leslie in Newbury Park - a guy I met in Europe when I was bike-touring in 1987. Les was kind to take a couple days off work to show me the best road riding in the Santa Monica mountains.Les and I also checked out Highway 33 north of Ojai with its amazing pristine mountain views. This was part of a 90-mile point-to-point course that is mostly uphill. We had a wicked time riding back on the descent, though abit of work with the headwind.Checked out my first Raw Food restaurant in Santa Monica with Sue who I know from my track & field days when I was 16. Sue is now Dr. Susan, a dermotologist in L.A.I was very impressed with how good everything tasted. Looks pretty good in the pic!

Sandra got me interested in Native Indian art and we went shopping for a Zuni fetish at Universal City. I brought back my very own Badger fetish made by Zuni Tyler Quann.

For my final ride, I joined the San Fernando Valley Bicycle Club. I was welcomed by this friendly group on an 85-mile ride throughout the Santa Monica mtns and Simi Valley area.

Great dinner with Sandra & Dino, and visiting cyclists Gaby & Rene & Pappy before I packed up all my gear. Overall, I almost rode 500-miles/800-km in 8 days including 1 rest day - awesome! It was a great week to visit and ride.

Julie helping shovel the snow

Overnight, it snowed a record 25 cm in Calgary for my arrival home! The view out of the airplane window was wowing with the city unrecognizable covered in a blanket of white. Darcy, Ying, Julie and a soon to be little ox picked me up at the airport.

Apparently, the prior day was warm when Darcy took Julie out in the bike trailer. He was wearing shorts and a sleeveless jersey. Mountain city life!

More than EPIC - Lake Louise to Banff Loppet

The loppet was a traditional epic Rocky Mountain race 71 km point-to-point from Lake Louise to Banff.

Marg skittering thru the rough trails

While the snow was in reasonable condition and the weather was pleasant, the previous night's wind storm with major snow devils blew debris over most of the trails making it the most challenging course ever!

A trail with only a little debris!

It was a feat to remain upright and not dead stop upon a pinecone or twig spread all over the trails in the trees. The open parts of the course treated us to sections of good snowy ski trails and outstanding mountain views.

Skiers crossing train tracks; Volunteers shovelled snow over the tracks after each train came by

After a long tiring race, a favourable 50 kph wind helped get me to the finish line quickly on the final 5 km stretch on the Bow River.

The marsh section, no tracks only flagging tape

My skis survived the debris with only marginally "natural" stone grinding. The party at the Sally Borden was superb with time to share stories with racers. A must race for anyone into epics!

Results at http:///www.loppet.ca

Team Bikes & Beyond - Paul, Jeff, Philip and Marg

Marg with former and current Winnipeggers on a post-race ski at Canmore

"Epic" Lake Louise to Banff Loppet

The Lake Louise to Banff loppet is a 71-km point-to-point classic race which starts on the frozen Lake Louise in front of the Chateau. It is a 6-leg relay race which allows solo racers as well. Leg 1 descends over 200 metres elevation in a few km and then follows old highway 1A meandering on trails tucked in the trees. The last leg is on the frozen Bow River 10 km into Banff.

The race was postponed last Sunday due to the -31C weather and windchill. With the darn Chinook's warm winds this week, the latter half of the course is abit icy. The temperatures will be nice around -5C to -10C, though it is to snow 5 cm as we are skiing making for slower conditions.

From my experience in the past, after the first two immaculately groomed legs, it turns into an adventure ski of an assortment of conditions including bare patches, jumping logs and icy descents. My rock skis are buffed and ready to roll across anything in its path... well almost anything.

I laughed at this entry the race organization recently wrote "Trail crews were out yesterday renovating the snow and resetting track where possible. Leg 2: Three delinquent moose are walking on the trail around Baker Creek. If you see them, give them the right of way. They're bigger than you are."

My old Ecochallenge teammate Philip from Winnipeg is flying in tonight to join me, and we'll be sharing accom with another hardcore skier Darryl Mekechuk from Calgary.

It'll be a fun race... with the unexpected along the way! I'm hoping to get the expected locally-made brownies at the feedzones which fueled me to the finish in 2004 and 2006!

Skiing my way through the holidays

Kayak Christmas Lights!! (surfski on the left)

Black & White Christmas!

...with my nieces and sister-in-law... Darn I'm the shortest!

November x-c skiing

Snow is slow to come this year. The first place with predictable snow is on Morraine Lake road in Lake Louise. I've been out 5 times in November. Each week getting better and better. Minimal snow levels with excellent conditions.
The bonus is training at a mild temperature around freezing with the brilliant sun shining.

Kamren showing fine classic form of single kick-double pole!

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Kamren joined me on Saturday for 18 km classic on Morraine Lake Road and 20 km skate on the Great Divide. Super nice to have a buddy to ski with.

The view 9 km up on Morraine Lake Road

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Lake Louise frozen over

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I've got a snow dance going to get more snow in Kananaskis in the coming weeks.

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Best websites for up-to-date trail information:

KANANASKIS TRAIL INFO

BANFF NATIONAL PARK (Lake Louise) TRAIL INFO

Fall Paddle

Tuesday paddle upstream in the North Saskatchewan River. Notice the bits of frozen ice on the shoreline. It was nice to get on the water again!

Fall Riding 26C!

I met with Kamren and his buddy Zach for a fun ride on our 'cross bikes in the warm 26C afternoon. We followed Kamren from Millcreek up & down every grassy hill or trail that he could find... all the way to Goldbar including a loop of Goldstick trails. He even made us climb Gallagher ski hill on the grass!

Photo - downtown Edmonton from Goldbar bridge

The fall colours were amazing and unbelievable to have such a nice weather day for riding. I couldn't believe the rooty singletrack trails Kam took us on. I did my darndest to keep up and not crash.

Photo - Kamren riding up Kinnard Ravine

One Last Swiss Hike

The morning after a cold night sleeping in the unheated hotel, I had a nice last visit with the wedding guests at breakfast. Most people were going hiking from the hotel that morning. I took the first van shuttle down to the Talstation.

Two buses and a few train connections later, I arrived to Einsiedeln, the site of the fast mountain bike race called Iron Bike, 101-km with 3,600 m elevation gain (12,000'). I was meeting up with Sandra Tschümperlin who was the 3rd place women finisher at Tour-Trans-Austria. Sandra raced the 77-km version of this race and came in 2nd. Not bad for her first year of racing. Ironbike is a race I'd like to go in sometime.

The next morning, Sandra took me up the local mountain Grosser Mythen 1,902 m/6,240'. It was a well trodden path that lead up the steep switchbacks on a rocky trail. Every path is marked with a yellow sign indicating the walking time to the next village. The red sign marked the route of the Ironbike race which went by the base down a technical rocky descent.It felt good to do something different when Sandra gave the option to hike or ride. The sunshine made the hike pleasant. We passed many people on-route similar to the masses that climb up the Grouse Grind in North Vancouver.

At the top, we took a break at the "restaurant" for some delicious pumpkin soup served in - a pumpkin!
The 360 views showed endless rolling farmland and mountains with villages all over. On the descent, Sandra had a bound in her step with me hurrying to keep up with much less bound. My legs were abit sore the day after from the steep descent.

Spent my last night in Zurich with Alex and Ruth. It was nice to chat about the wedding and their upcoming trip to Nepal. I was filled in the translation of Alex's wedding vows and they were similarly touching as Ruth's.

The view from my airplane window upon landing near Edmonton. Downtown visible in the far upper left side. I was trying to describe to my European friends how flat it is at home with riding square grids for training. The pilot announced that the temperature was 27C. I thought he was mistaken though surprisingly correct for Oct. 1! Nice!! and the leaves are still on the trees!

Swiss Wedding

Saturday morning, I was off to my friends Alex and Ruth's wedding in a remote area of Switzerland. I took the train and 2 buses to get to the Golzern Talstation Seilbahn (gondola). Picture below shows the incredible road built out of the mountain that I saw from the train.

The 2nd bus ride was from the village Bristen up an insanely steep road built on the side of the mountain. I was sitting on the side of the bus that gave the high view of the steepness. It was scary! At the last stop, there were pre-arranged shuttles for the wedding guests to transport us up the mountain goat road to the church and hotel Maderanertal.

The hotel was the Swiss version of the Banff Springs hotel on a super small scale and in a very remote location.

View from my top floor room with the mountain Bristen. The hotel was age-old, wooden and creaky kind of like the Old-Timer's Cabin in Edmonton. It made the whole wedding event cozy being far away at this place.

The teeny church up the hill.

Alex and Ruth - post ceremony. The service was both in English and Swiss-German. Some of the songs were sung at the same time in both languages making it unique to listen to. I didn't understand Alex's vows as he spoke in Swiss-German. Ruth's vows were in English and were the most touching interdependant vows I've heard. Very cool!

Alex's triathlon group Tri Uri rode their mountain bikes up and gave them their wishes!

Rare pic of Marg in a dress (and those darn nylons!) with Alex and Ruth. It had been nice weather earlier. A fog blew in and it was super cold at photo taking time. Alex and Ruth posed with each guest for a photo.

Alex, an accomplished Swiss mountain guide, was encouraged to show his skill with his mountaineer climbing gear over his suit. His Swiss guide friend set up ropes for him to use ice-picks and crampons to climb high up the tree for the wedding guests.

The dinner at the hotel was great. Each guest had a teeny rock "cairn" with their name on it marking where we were to sit at the table. There was an English translation and a Swiss-German translation for all the British, Canadian and Swiss-German guests.

After dinner, there were many entertaining games played which had Switzerland (Alex) versus England (Ruth) in competition. It was good fun and with many laughs. The dance started with Alex and Ruth, then they split off and gathered more partners until almost everyone was dancing. I had a great time meeting Ruth's relatives and friends from England, and more of Alex's family and friends.

It was an adventure to make my way to Alex's and Ruth's wedding, and I'm super glad I went.

Epic 3 Passes by Bike

Next morning, sunshine greeted me. I could see the snow at the tops of the peaks. Breakfast was a bun, butter and jam. Good thing I stocked up with fruit, yogurt and chocolate from the grocery store.

My bike route for the day, the epic 3-pass climb… Furkapass, Nufenenpass and Gothardpass. Should be about 3000m of climbing.

I stopped to borrow a bike pump at the local sports store. Adrian who helped me just happened to race with Rocky Mtn few years back and used to go to San Diego area to train. It was great to chat with him. He thought the route I planned was a good one.

Leaving my B&B with more clothes than I wore on the rainy cold Day 1 at Tour-Trans-Austria, I was prepared for a leisure comfortable ride. Within 10-km, I reached the start of Furkapass. Ultra-scenic as I snapped a lot of photos. The 900m climb seemed to fly by with the open exposure and views. At the top, I put on extra clothes and slowly descended the steep switchbacks. The views were outstanding and jaw-dropping to see where the heck they built the road into the steep mtnside. Reaching the bottom, the next pass climbed immediately from the village. Fortunately, I bypassed this one and kept descending into the lowlands. The scenery began to look Canada-like with many evergreen trees. After abit of flats in the warm sun, the next pass began Nufenenpass. This one seemed to linger as the scenery was not as spectacular and the road just climbed relentlessly. Approaching the top, I passed two guys from Germany on a training ride. They stopped for lunch at the top. I put on warm clothing and flew down a super long descent at a gradual grade. It went on and on until I hit the village where Gotthard pass began. From afar I could see the pass roads way up and was surprised that I’d be up there soon enough.

Gotthard pass, built in the early 1800’s was mostly a road of carefully laid cobblestones. As I began climbing, I was tired and wondered if I wanted to bump bump bump the whole way up on the cobblestones for 900m. With a few breaks of fresh pavement, I decided I must take this old road. The other option was the paved highway. The sun was out and I removed a lot of my extra clothes. It felt great to climb with less restrictive clothing. This pass flew by as it was ultra scenic with the twisty cobblestone road. A strong headwind made one direction super difficult and I looked forward to turning a corner to get the tailwind for abit. On and on, bump bump bump, I reached the top. Threw some warm clothes back on for the final 13 km descent to Andermatt. Fast gentle descent. I stopped by the sports store to let Adrian know how the ride went. He said my 5 ½ hours for the 100-km, 3000m elevation climb was pretty good. That was probably the longest 100k ride I’ve ever been on, though also most scenic and fun.

Riding on La Salève

On Wed, Mary, Nigel and I took a road trip to the community farm they participate with. Putting in a few hours a couple times a year gets them a weekly assortment of fresh veggies. Our duty was chopping the last of the basil leaves from the plant. Nice smelling job anyways.We then went into France to where Mary’s partner lives in a renovated farmhouse. The outside looked like an old stone barnhouse.The inside was very modern. On their land, there were a lot of apple and fruit trees. We picked some yummy apples and coaxed a few walnuts off their tree. I’d never picked walnuts before. Leaving there, I was off by bike. Mary sent me on some small roads which would get me onto the road up to the mountain standing behind Geneva called La Salève.

After a short descent, it was 900m of elevation before I hit the descent that would take me back to Switzerland. The climb was amazing and a pleasant 5% grade. I had views of France on my right and Switzerland hidden in the mist on my left. Riding the road in the forest was refreshing. At the top, a mist was hanging at that level and it was very cold. Once I hit the village of La Croisette (a couple houses and a restaurant!), the descent was quick - twisty windy and steep 12-18% grades. It would have been a tough climb. My hands were freezing and I was more cold than I had been in the Tour-Trans-Austria. I stopped once to warm up then continued down the steep descent. Getting closer to the bottom, the road still twisted thru residential areas. I crossed a main highway and could see the border crossing up ahead. (Photo - view of La Salève from Swiss border) I zipped thru to Switzerland and was still descending. A sign said Geneve 6 km away. I followed the signs and found my way to Mary’s apt without looking at the map. I made it just before darkness.


On to Andermatte...

Next morning, Mary dropped me off at the train station. I was off to Andermatt via Brig. Out of the blue, I saw Sandra who was off to Bern to visit some people she met on the train the other night. I had met Sandra for Pain Au Chocolat and tea near the fountain the prior day.The train ride was super scenic from Brig with sunshine and huge mtns on both sides of the valley. I was optimistic I’d have a good ride from Andermatt,. Arriving to Andermatt, I just left the train when a “hello Marg” greets me from an approaching car. Surprise… it was Ruth and her sister, her sister’s two kids, mom and Alex’s parents. Ruth and Alex are my friends whose wedding I'm headed to this weekend. They all just happen to be on a drive. We chatted briefly. I tugged my luggage to my B&B 200 m away. My B&B is very basic though good enough. It is right next to where the Oberalp train goes up a huge climb. I can see the train outside my window. It looks like a ride from Disneyland with the train called “Glacier Express”. The trains are quiet and don’t toot their horns like in Canada.

A fog and misty rain blew in.

I ended up reading my intriguing book “Three Cups of Tea” and taking lots of naps. The book is about mountaineer Greg Mortenson and his pursuit to build schools for girls in the small mtn areas of Pakistan delving into Taliban country. I’m enjoying how the story unfolds and his connections with people developing. He lived a hobo lifestyle and managed to pursue the Pakistan project with what little he had and a great vision. The book documents his pursuit before and immediately post-9/11 while he was still in Pakistan. Very interesting commentary.

"Championne"

"Une amie à ma mère vient visiter la Suisse. Elle dort chez nous. Elle rentre d'Autriche où elle a fait une course de vélo sur sept étapes. Elle a finit 2ème et le tour s'appellait Tour-Trans-Austria." - written by Nigel Burzminski 22.09.08 for French writing class in Gèneve

DAY 7 – Everyone’s a Teammate!

On the start line Leah said she wanted me to cross the finish line with her holding hands in the air. Cool thought though I said if it works out, great!

The race started with a decent pace. Whoever was at the front broke the headwind for all.

The first climb was a gradual average grade of 5%. I was near the front of the pack with Leah. Then a 14% grade snuck in there and some of us drifted back. Our own little pack formed and we continued to climb at a hard comfortable pace.

Soon our small group caught the front group. Again, the pace went hard up a steeper section. I was breathing so hard I was amazed a lung didn’t burst. I was the last one in our group up the crest though was still in contact with the pack for the descent. Great - except I was cross-eyed from lack of oxygen and it was difficult to relax at the fast pace they swept around the sharp corners. The pace-line was too long and decelerated too much by the time I got to the corner. I had to accelerate to catch-up each time. IT HURT. The wind was strong and I soon lost the draft.

I descended on my own much more easily thru the corners. On the flat, it wasn’t long before 2 more teams caught me. We flew ahead and within a few km caught the lead group again. I didn’t have long to rest before the group took off again. The small group we formed had Leah and myself in it and six other guys. It was a great pace and perfect size group.

I got caught up in the paceline and pulled to the front. Leah helped get the 6 guys to do the paceline and we kept back of them with me behind her. I needed all the rest I could get. We all stayed together thru narrow roads of the small villages. Some areas looked more like mountain bike trails with all the tree cover over us.

The final climb of the day had me working harder than ever in spots before the pace would settle. We had to descend 1 km on hard-packed gravel and then ascend. Training on the 5-km gravel section near Predator Ridge in Kelowna was perfect for this. The final climb had Leah take off with another guy, and a handful of us scattered.

My new chain and cassette made the bike feel brand new. I still managed to drop my chain past the small chain ring with a quick bad shift. Twice I had to stop to manually put my chain back on, doh.

Meanwhile, I crested the last climb with some riders that just caught up. Bummer that they were poor descenders. I speedily caught up to one guy that braked at the last minute around a sharp corner which had me abruptly brake to avoid hitting him. My whole bike skidded out and there was ample opportunity to crash… though I let go of the brakes and all was ok. Must be my mtnbike skill as I wasn’t even freaked out though it must have been scary for anyone behind me.

Again it was difficult to keep on anyone’s wheel with the strong wind. With 4 km to go, the 1st place mixed team came whooshing by. This was their hometown so they knew every corner on the high speed descent. I jumped into their group and we stormed to Velden city center.

After a fast pace thru town amongst chaotic moving traffic, we finished at the edge of the lake. Many racers hung out a long time on the wooden docks eating post-race food. A lot of racers jumped in the lake or got thrown in.
I hung out with Leah and her mom for post-race by the water. Later, Team Tanner and I sat and soaked up the warm sun on the dock. We were happy to just sit.

Earlier I took the opportunity at the Scott Bike weigh-in for the lightest bike/racer combo. I removed everything I could from my bike. My clothes were skimmed down to jersey, shorts, helmet and shoes with insoles removed. I just came back from the WC so was ready for the weigh-in at 55.7 kg. Without the bike 48.2 kg (dehydrated!). The bike alone was 7.5 kg (16.5 lbs). Another woman won at 53.9 kg with bike, wow! The heaviest guy with bike was 113 kg!!

When we finally made a move to search out where Team Tanner needed to drop off their bikes to get shipped back to the race-start in Kirchberg and where I’d find my bike bag sent from the start to here. The race organization was just having my bike bag delivered to my hotel. I was able to stop the van and hop in with my bike. I was driven to where my gear bag had already been delivered to the hotel, picked up my gear bag, said sorry but thanks to the owner, and got dropped off at the place where all the other Cdn gals were staying.

Meanwhile, Erin and Sandra dropped off their bikes for the journey back then made the long walk to the hotel in their socks. They each carried a plastic bag with their extra clothes and bike shoes in it. They were pretty tuckered when they got to the hotel. They had to walk thru the main area of town like that. I’m amazed no-one gave them some coins!

Tonight’s last pasta party was awesome – no pasta! We had grilled sausages and pork with lots of choices of salads and baked potatoes.

Everyone got their awards and finishers jerseys. Leah's Mom and I sat back while the Cdn girls got their leaders jerseys.
We took our last chance to meet with a lot of racers. One rider sat by me during dinner and we chatted for quite awhile. When we exchanged email addresses I asked his team number and it was 51! I had wanted to thank and meet #51 since he helped me in the race yet didn’t know what he looked like. I was thrilled Lutz was him! This Tour was a very social bunch. A smaller group of racers meant a greater opportunity to meet the racers. The mix of teams with individual racers went well with all working together. With more individual racers, the incentive was there to be more open to meet others. More friendships formed all around.

Quite a few beers were dranken at our table!

Marg & 2nd place Mixed Team - Annika & Joachim

Uta & Günter who met on a TA Team in 2005 and are now married with kids

DAY 6 – Best All’Round Day

A cool 4C start with a neutralized descent to 26-km. We are getting very used to riding in these cool temps though I’d never wear as little as I have on at home in these temps. We had to go down quite abit of elevation and cross three sets of train tracks. Fortunately the Race Director’s car lead the neutral start at a wickedly fast pace. It was a feat to breathe deep and stay warm. Once we crossed the 3rd set of tracks, the group went a good pace up the gradual climb. It was perfect for me to hang with the lead group. (TA photo - Marg, standing of course on the RHS at the back with the neon orange jersey under a white jacket)Once we hit the first steeper grades, I dropped off the pace as did some of the bigger boys including my favourite three Italian guys from Team Paola Pezzo. I knew if I could hang onto their steady pace I’d have good company on the descent. (TA Photo - Marg just behind Team Paola Pezzo in blue)

Soon we hit the last 3-km of the climb where the grades turned super ugly at 11-18%. I sadly dropped off the pace of my Italian group. The leftover snow from earlier in the week made the mountain view outstanding. Up ahead I could see the final few curves with 100 metres elevation to climb yet. This gave me a surge of energy. I put my head down and just worked the final stretch and just caught up to the Italians before the crest. The solo Italian guy asked me if I just climbed all that in my 53. I was out-of-breath and it took me a moment to understand what he was asking. I then mistakenly said “no, my 50” meaning what large chain ring I had on my bike. I was mostly climbing in the big ring though they didn’t see me when I was in my small chain ring the last steep grade of the climb. So the Italians were impressed!

All four of us descended wickedly fast with hard braking for the tight switchback corners. Towards the bottom of the descent, I heard some foreign noise. I looked down and thought I dtopped my chain off the chainrings then realized I had NO chain! I stopped and dismounted and saw the chain dangling on the rear derailleur.

I saw a man walking and asked for assistance. I just needed someone there as I was breathing hard and shakey. He kindly helped hold my bike as I got out a spare chain link. We both clumbsily worked at fixing my chain when half of the link dropped into the dirt. We spent the next few minutes looking for it. Whoosh… a lot of riders go by.

Finally we found the link. I assembled it. Asked the man if he was with the race. He said “no, just on a walk”. I gave him a hug and went on my way. Next group was my original crowd I had been hanging with… the 2nd place mixed team and Team 89. We flew down the rest of the descent, me a little pensive with the chain.

With only 4-km to go, my chain released again. I stopped and almost thought I was doomed to fix it and might have to “run it in”! Calmly, I coaxed the link back together. Jumped on my bike to another mixed team I hadn’t ridden with yet. A woman that did Tour-Transalp in 2005 with an unknown guy for a partner. They fell in love and have since had two kids! Quite a TA story.

Soon a small group of fast guys swooped us up and took us to the finish in Murau. The sun is out and it is beautifully warm. Made it nice to socialize at the race finish.

I am super pleased with my day. I made the climb up strongly and fixed my own mechanical twice! All in all, if I had finished with the Italians I would have been 3-minutes behind Leah today. The Swiss woman Sandra in 3rd place almost caught up to me with finishing 2-min back. (I found out she lives in Switzerland near where the famous Einsidein -Iron Bike- mountain bike race starts. That race is Sep 28… hmmm…. possibilities.)

I only lost 8-minutes with fixing my chain which was a good lesson for me for another time. I again did not bring a chain tool with me. I fortunately had the spare link and that was all I needed this time. I have been carrying a tiny Crankbrothers pump with me in case of a 2nd flat. I have one CO2 cartridge with me. I thought that was a step up in gear for me!

Murau has a historical town in its city centre. I could see the old rock wall around part of it when I biked to my hotel. Tough to pre-book accom in Murau and I ended up with a crazy nice 4-star hotel. I’m writing this as I’m sitting in my clean bathrobe on the balcony in the sun with the mountain view! It’s rare I get this opp.

Leah is still storming up the front. Team Tanner were excited to finish well and have a good day together. Erin is an awesome climber and Sandra a speedy descender. They split up at times and catch up later.

Off to check out the old town!

DAY 5 – Must Stay in the Draft!

Last night’s dinner party was definitely one of the best I’ve seen of all TAs. All-you-can-eat pan-fried chicken with side dishes and mega desserts. Only dish lacking was a green veggie. All the Cdn gals devoured quite a few chicken pieces except for Leah with her own Tupperware conconction. Tanner and Greg took a few days off support duty to go hiking in Italy so we won't see them until Sat.

It seems like the smaller the village, the bigger the food spread and excitement at the event. Same goes for at home as I doubt many Albertan residents know Transrockies exists though Canmore, Fernie and Invermere residents are probably well atuned.

Finally I had my first great night’s sleep. Must have been the fried chicken!

The joke was that Day 5 would only take us 2-hours. Well, I was finished in 2 ½ hours though it wasn’t a super easy effort. It was a day where staying in the draft was critical or it would be pretty lonely in the headwinds.

The morning started with a dense fog in the village at 0C! One of our coldest starts. Bummer the race didn’t start 2 hours later as it would be a short race day and temps would be warmer later (race plans for the later start next year). The first 15-kms ventured the scenic route thru a few villages until we hit the open highway. The race opened up once we hit the first climb which was a reasonable grade average 8%.

I just dropped off the pace of Leah’s group and barely hung onto the group with Team Paola Pezzo. I slipped off but had one guy for company which helped as we rode and groaned next to each other.

I was super happy to have a strong guy to follow on the descent. We picked up two more riders on the fast descent and one guy caught us. We worked together with me mostly hiding at the back of the pack on the descents. I put in an effort but my 49-kg was no match against gravity and the headwind vs the bigger boys.

Going fast thru one village, a driver got confused with one of the race flagman and DEAD-stopped in front of us. The rider I was following just barely escaped by swerving left around the car, and I miraculously escaped with millimeters from the rider colliding into me. Phew!

On the 3-D demonstration last night, the course didn’t look exciting. Yet as we rode, the scenery was outstanding especially as we approached the mountains high above us. The first view of the glaciers clinging onto the side of the mtn near Fitzmoos was breathtaking. Half-way the roads seemed to continuously gently climb at 3-4%.

Our little group split again on one of the climbs. We could see a small group with Team Paola Pezzo in it just a couple hundred metres ahead. So close yet so far.

The ride on the mountain roads was beautiful and quaint. My group of three worked together to the last fast descent into Ramsau am Dachstein. Most racers sat outside and nibbled on a cold pasta meal, and chatted. It was the most social time we’ve had post-race with the short finish time. It was abit cool sitting outside though the sunshine kept us warm.

My B&B is only 400m away. Super quiet and peaceful here. I was eyeing some of the goats in the yard wondering about access to raw goat milk! One of my recovery drinks calls for it though it is hard to come by. (photo- my b&b on right, farmhouse with goats, free range chickens and teeny horses on left) Hope my morning egg came from one of those happy chickens!
Pic of the huge mountain Dachstein that looks very typical of a Canadian Rocky mountain. This area looks like a fun place to explore with hikes and bike rides.
Sidenote on gear… Each racer was provided a huge bag for their gear, clothing and personal stuff. The race organization then transports all the bags to where the racers are staying each night. In advance, we needed to provide them our booked list of accom. It is so nice to ride up to my home for the night with my bag waiting for me. The only downside is my bag has to be outside by 7 a.m. each morning for the race organization to pick up. That leaves no last minute decisions on clothing choice as the weather changes from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. race start time. After I put my bag outside at 7 a.m., I then walk to breakfast at the B&B in my socks!

DAY 4 – Survived wickedly tough 3-peak climb!

Most of the 3700 metre elevation gain came 2/3 of the way into the race with climbing to 3 peaks Glockenhütte, Eisenthalhöhe, and Schönfeld. Each had a super wicked Cdn-temp cold descent with major twists, turns and speed. The first climb was manageable. The second climb was bare-able and the third one plain hurt as I was depleted.

The descents in between were work as one awesome descender (#51) waited for me to descend with him. To save time, I quickly put on my windjacket inside out and was pleased I managed to do the zipper up on the inside. My descender friend tucked in the teeniest position and kept looking back for me to be with him.

It was super nice to get quite a few compliments on my descending skills. My bike worked well with me (thx to the awesome work Jere did with my bike’s headset).

It was a beautiful semi-cool day with the sun out. The scenery going thru the mountains was awesome with the tops dusted lightly with snow. After the first BRUTAL average 18% climb (which is like Cameron Ave that we do on ERTC city circuit) for at least 4-km, racers dispersed and we had similar groupings to the previous day.

I’ve been riding around the top mixed teams though the first place team got away today. Spent a lot time around 2nd place “Team Agapedia Munsterland” with Annika and Joachim. Annika is a strong climber and Joachim at 80 kg has to catch up with her. Joachim and I have climbed together and then I got to follow his descent to catch Annika. Lots of fun!

I did get away on Annika today. When she caught me I put in a good effort to sit in the saddle and spin like a mountain biker to stay with her. It worked for awhile then I went and stand-climbed again.

Excellent comradry with the groups of racers I’ve ridden with. It feels like one big team until we cross the line.

I was so happy to get past the 3rd peak today and work with 3 guys the last 25-km to the finish.

My home for the night is 1-km away in a cute Gasthaus.

The weather looks good for the next few days!

DAY 3 – A fun rollercoaster day…

Race temp at the start 8C and slightly overcast – typical Alberta weather before I left for Austria. Most everyone overdressed today still pensive about the last two days. At the last minute on the line, I ran over to Greg and gave him my plastic rain jacket and headband.

I dressed almost perfectly for today’s weather donning shortsleeve base layer, jersey, Jeantex windjacket, arm warmers, shorts with pockets, knee warmers. Overkill were the long wool socks. I usually put Vaseline on my exposed shins. Didn’t have any so I used the Coconut Oil I brought as an added food supplement (to fatten me up). Nice layer for warmth and bonus with that extra coconut smell!

I broke out the pristine white SIDI carbon shoes though they were hidden away underneath the Pearl Izumi booties. The shoes were awesome… totally comfortable on the climbs and whole race. I went a smidgeon too large in size when I ordered them. Found I had a good fit if I cinched them up with my foot further forward, otherwise a little movement only when walking.

4-km neutral start through the town then, boom, we hit the wall of 16% ugliness. Off Leah went and the women on two mixed teams and a whole bunch of men. Finally, racers stopped passing me and I was settled amongst a core group of my pace of climbers. I relaxed and kept my heartrate low. We had two of this wall climbs within the first 20-km.

Team 89 was awesome to follow. After the climbs we had a shockingly fast descent with sections of bombing straight roads. I was too scared to look down to see my max speed (was 80 kph) as my bike was close to speed wobbles if I didn’t hold her steady. A flat section had our group grow to about 10 riders.

Next climb was a good Canadian highway grade of 7% average. My group was a little slow. I jumped to catch up to a solo rider 100 metres ahead. He had my same pace. Once we hit the descent, I had to work hard and stay within a foot of his draft due to the wind and my 50x12 gearing. I got gapped by another foot and sadly watched him drift away.

The next pack soon caught me that had 3 strong Italian guys from “Team Paola Pezzo”. They got the guys rolling fast together. The road was gently descending, swooping around corners with ups and downs. It was like my favourite kind of mountain bike course with a lot of action. I was confident in the Italians fast cornering and laughed when we hit a sharp curve and they all hollered “whoaaaa” in unison. It was at a fartlek pace whenever we had a steep roller climb ahead of us. I was working hard in spots to just latch onto them before the next descent (though loved it!)

On one twisty corner we came smack into a man herding his cows down the road. Inevitable for this to happen somewhere on these small roads, so we squeezed through the cows and continued on.

I caught bits of the scenic villages we swooped through. It was the most fun road I’ve ridden in a long time. I was pleased with my confident cornering thinking how much easier it was on dry pavement versus the wet Day 1.

After the last wicked twisty descent, we had 25-km of mostly flat headwind road to Tropolach. The pack worked mostly together with a few lulls. We had around 20 riders cross the finish together.

Excitement at the pasta party with the Cdn women’s team working their way into the Leader’s Jersey.

photo - Canadian leaders jersey wearers on right

I stayed at the race hotel called Cube-Nassfeld. It is a huge concrete building with the rooms all little cubes designed for athletics. My room was long and narrow with 4 bunk beds and a long skinny shelve the whole length of the room. The front entrance way was a huge gear room for skis/bikes whatever. The gear room was warm for drying. It was great to shuffle all my gear the whole length of the shelve. When I heard there were washers I was the first one to use them. After wearing different combinations of all the scant few warm clothes I brought, I was very happy to have clean clothes!

photos - The Cube - gear room, bunks, shelves

Pasta party dinner – best so far with “roasted chickens”!! It was fun sharing stories of the day with the Cdn gals. Leah wanted me to add into the blog how I carry a plastic container with me to the pasta dinner to take leftovers for lunch the next day. This is a trick I learned from Erik’s La Ruta tips.

Once the race ends in the early afternoon, I have my recovery drink and nibble on the previous night’s leftovers. Venture off for a massage with the amazing Michael who I’ve seen at this race the last few years. Then shuffle gear in prep for the next day. I attempt to get online though the internet access has been limited in the ski towns. The race organization is working mostly by air-card. I must look into one of those things.

The awards ceremony is not as extravagant as it has been in the past with the music and flowers. Real quick, get the teams up there and individuals then on with Uli’s pre-race 3-D satellite course description and photos of the day. Oh yeah, each night the talks are TOTALLY in German, nadda English. As per request, Uli has a small private briefing with the small group of English speaking racers… after 1 hour of pure German talk. Oh well, we get to ask him direct specific questions about the course.

For the most part, I am having a relaxing time with super training in the middle. With 1/3 of the racers solo athletes, there is more openness to communication amongst racers.

Day 4 is a super tough day with 3700 metres :0 of ascent in 144-km. Most of the wicked climbs are at the end of the day. Expected to be at least a 6-hour day. Weather will be a little warmer, fall temps. Looks like fun on the 3D satellite map!

Day 2 – Lounging in Lienz

I arrived late to load my bike to get transport to Lienz. The lineup was already full of all the racers and their bikes. The buses were double-decker with trailers to haul the bikes. To speed things up, I found a spot underneath in the bus storage that would fit bikes upright. I lured all the people with small frames and we started loading our own bikes. (photo - check the snow under the cloud-line)Joerg managed to get us seats at the front of the top of the double-decker. The views were great. It was scary whenever the bus turned a sharp corner as we came inches away from trees and buildings. The scenery was nice though it was a little disappointing not to see a lot of snow on the drive to Lienz. The weather was warmer once we went over the pass and down the other side of the mountain. The mountain road we were to ride today was open to vehicles. Just a bummer the race was called off.

At Lienz, we arrived around noon. We were served goulash soup and sandwiches for lunch, which was unexpected and nice. I found my accommodation at a private house 1 km away. I had thoughts to go for a bike ride though riding in the bigger city wasn’t as appealing as lounging and taking a nap. I really needed the rest. Browsing Day 3’s race course, I decided to take the next day’s race at a training pace on the first two monster wall climbs within the first 20-km. (photo in Lienz)At the evening pasta parties, I’ve been hanging out with Leah and her mom, and two other Canadian women racing on "Team Tanner", Erin McGann and Sandra Foweraker. Erin’s family, daughter Tanner (7-yr) and partner Greg, are here as well taking interesting side tours while we’re racing. (photo - Marg, Leah, Tanner, Erin, Sandra)We concluded the big city Lienz was our least favourite place for the pasta party and accommodation. Our favourite place so far was teeny Neukirchen, each of us having very personable hosts at different B&Bs.

Leah’s mom has been searching for roasted chickens for us but hasn’t had success yet!

Rainy Day 1

Clothing - highlight for the day!

Weather for race day was forecasted for rain rain and more rain. The predictions were correct in the temps starting at 4C. I went over my gear choices several times deciding on the best options for staying warm (but not too warm) on a rainy 120-km road ride day. Finally, even moments before racing I ended up with:

• longsleeve winter base layer with thick fleece for the front side (Louis Garneau product too small for Diana - thx!), colourful neon orange Jeantex jersey (huge, they ran out of small), arm warmers, a Jeantex windjacket and a clear plastic rainjacket (quickly patched with clear tape on a critical area I ripped that morning)


• I didn't bring anything but shorts and knee warmers... so I used my SKINS compression tights as my base layer with shorts and knee warmers on top. I wanted to save my compression tights for post muscle recovery but wow, they were awesome to wear during an event. Bummer they had to be subjected to the harsh road elements as their lifespan isn't great. I wore them underneath as they are super tight and my shorts have pockets on the sides excellent for easy access to food stored. Set-up was comfy with no chafing.


• long wool socks, old shoes (had to go with what I was used to in harsh conditions), Pearl Izumi tight plastic wind covers, and at the last minute bulky MEC rain booties


• lightweight Helly Hansen toque underneath my helmet, Adidas Supernova eyewear with clear/cloud lense for full visibility


• very cool Louis Garneau warm gloves with nanu-type covers for the fingers to shield from wind.


• Camelbak with sports drink; easy access to water.

This was the most gear I EVER wore in a bike race. I was comfortable the whole time and didn't remove anything. After the very first descent, my fingers were cold in my now rain soaked gloves. At intervals I sat on one hand as I rode to warm up my fingers. Once my fingers warmed up, they stayed warm. I also took a small bag of extra clothes stored in ziploc bags with me. I didn't have to access it, but took comfort in knowing I had warm dry items if needed.

THE RACE

With such a small group of racers (around 300) it was a very relaxed group with no anxiety in the starting corrals. As we hung out waiting for the start, we all chatted and gave each other support in how we would brave this day and get thru the elements. Leah Goldstein, an awesome Olympic calibre racer from Canada (with Israeli dual citizenship) and I hung out at the start.

We had a 15-km neutral start to get us to the first climb of the day. Fastest neutral start I've ever had at TA which helped keep me warm except for the water spray from bikes ahead. I was just starting to get cold the last few km before we were let loose. I welcomed the climb until, boom, I hit the 16% grade... my least fav grade. Riders started passing me and I saw Leah make her way forth. The climb went on at that grade and I found my rear tire slipping while I was stand-climbing. I did not get any distant views for scenery though did pass by many cute houses and villages.

Fortunately, it was a consistent light rain the whole time and no downpours. The first descent was challenging with the visibility only 20 metres ahead on twisty corners (like Costa Rica descent from the Volcano). I purposely stayed behind a rider to follow his lead as corners came unknowingly quick. I might have gone too fast if I went on my own. I could sense my brake pads diminishing already. At the bottom I grouped up with a couple guys on the flat sections, each pulling through to the front leading. We then dispersed up the next climb to the eventual crest.

I followed a good descender only to lose him to wait for his partner. The next long while I rode on my own until they caught back up to me. It was an effort to get food from my shorts pockets to eat with my nanu-type finger gloves on. I made the effort and ate all my food and had most of my drink. The only thing I missed out on was replenishing salt as it was not possible to grab those tablets while riding (and I needed them later!).

Finally, the last long climb of the day, I took my pace like I was on a relaxed solo road ride. Cresting the top I had a fun fast descent taking as much speed as I could see the road ahead - sometimes I felt like I was on my cross-bike. Many corners had a man with flag warning us of the curve. With my speedy descent, I had to brake harder just before the corner to take the corner safely. Not once did I feel my wheels skid out (put on new Vittoria Evo Pros). The descending was nowhere as difficult as I had experienced at TA 2006 on the rainy descents in Italy.

At the end of the last huge descent, one team I had been with sporadically finally caught up and gave a huge draft to follow in the last flat 8-km. An unexpected crossing up and over a steep bike bridge caught my legs by surprise and I got that inevitable cramp in my left adductor. I was caught between quickly relaxing my leg to release the cramp and not wanting to lose my draft. Doh, I had to drop my pace and relax my leg. I didn't want to straggle in alone in the wind not knowing when the next team would come from behind. I was stubborn and stood on my pedals and kept my leg straight as I hammered forward. The cramp released. They were just ahead. I counted 20 pedal strokes, and again and again, and grinned and beared it and finally caught them. Yay as we coasted into the finish. Ended up with only 25% of my brand new brake pads left!

I stayed at a cute private zimmer near the centre, close to the race massage. The woman at the zimmer had us hang our wet clothes in the warm furnace room for drying. The pasta dinner was at a hall up the gondola at 2250 metres. Once the gondola reached the top, the rain from below turned to snow (photo Joerg & Marg).

When I left the pasta dinner a couple hours later, the ground and trees were laden snow. Photo from gondola entrance as it was too dark for a good pic.

Tomorrow's race was cancelled as the passes Großglockner and Iselsberg would not be passable. The race organization was providing busses to transport us and our bikes to Lienz. I would have welcomed the challenge to ride up the pass but definitely not down.

In the end, I'm content with the extra recovery day. My sleep has been super light since the first good night sleep I had after arriving by plane. Keeping aware of any past symptoms reoccuring preventing my recovery as my throat is abit sore. Leah was still keen to get a road ride in later today and have me join her.

Off to catch Day 2 race bus!

Tour-Trans-Austria Preview

Tour-Trans-Austria is a 7-day road stage race through the Austrian Alps. It is run by the same people as Tour-Transalp so no doubt the organization will be superb. An interesting change is the inclusion of individual athletes along with teams of 2.

So far, all has been good with jumping into this event at the last minute. Accommodations were a breeze to book... plane ticket was cheaper... no crowds travelling. Racing solo is the best option for me as I can go my pace and have no commitment teammate-wise (as I'm pretty good at racing until I drop!). If I really need to I can chill out and take the extra recovery necessary, especially this being my intro race back from a super long rebuild/recover time. And I will!

The weather looks to be on the colder side (4-10C) with possible rain. Brrr... though should be ok for a Cdn. I might even pack an extra few bits of clothing in a pack.

Andrea and her family are going to drive me over to the race start Sat, after some early season glacier downhill skiing in the morning. Only in Austria!

Start: Kirchberg

• Stage 1: 14.09.08 2434m 122km Neukirchen


• Stage 2: 15.09.08 2539m 132km Lienz


• Stage 3: 16.09.08 2445m 115km Hermagor


• Stage 4: 17.09.08 3664m 142km St. Michael im Lungau


• Stage 5: 18.09.08 1432m 81km Ramsau am Dachstein


• Stage 6: 19.09.08 1362m 77km Murau


• Stage 7: 20.09.08 1598m 96km Velden am Wörthersee

total: 15,474 hm 764 km

Sponsored Gear for TA-2008

Thanks to:

• Jeantex Sportswear - one of the main sponsors of Tour-Trans-Austria for the race entry in trade to wear their jersey racing. Pretty nice deal!
  
• Rob at Vellendtech for my favourite SIDI shoes - spiffy white road Genius 6.6 carbon model in 2008 - comfy like slippers!

• Crankbrothers for lightweight pedals - Quattro 4Ti, 226g per pair!


• Adidas Eyewear for cool sunglasses - I'll be sporting either the SuperNova frame or the very Euro looking Evil Eye Pro.

• OGC for the GIRO helmet for 2007 TAs

Austrian Reunion

It was surreal to take a plane from Edmonton Tuesday evening... with two flights and a train ride later... to arrive in Maurach am Achensee, Austria by Wednesday evening. The travel seemed so quick. I was visiting with a friend I made from Tour-Transalp 2006, Andrea Sendlhofer, and her family, husband Toni and son Lukas. All the other TAs I've done since, Andrea and her family were somewhere on course cheering for my team. It was a pleasant surprise to get unexpected cheers!

Back in the early 80's, Andrea (Haase) was a World Cup skier for Austria. It was cool that she recognized Loni Kletl's name from her days as World Cup skier.

I took the bike around Lake Achensee the next afternoon on a nice easy ride in the warm sun. The bike paths are marked and this one in particular is one that goes from Germany (DE) to Austria (AT), hence, the photo of the country symbols of the Eagle (AT) and the Lion (DE) riding a tandem bike.

La Ruta training

Photo from Moose Mountain road Sep 18, 2006 after the first snow storm of the season. I had a good mountain bike climb up and chilly ride down. Brrr...