Marg's Racing Ventures

The Start of AT Gear... BOOTS!

2011-12-17T20:08:00.006-07:00

Scarpa Diva was the boot model I used when I slogged up Sunshine with Jeff. I was wearing two thick pairs of socks and the boots felt ok though my heel was moving with every foot motion. I ended up with a wicked blister only 1/2 way into the climb. I had to grin and bare it the rest of the way. Took my mind off Jeff's fast pace!

Scarpa Diva size 23.5 (weight of 25.0 is 1525g)

For the Vert180 race, I was lucky to get a brand new boot rental at the Calgary Outdoor Centre, the Scarpa Gea. I was impressed how size 22.5, with only a thin liner sock on, felt superbly and molded nicely to my feet as the event went on. The colour was pretty cool, too.

Scarpa Gea size 22.5 (weight of 25.0 is 1360g)

Thanks to a tip-off from Jeff, he spotted a 36-hour blow-out sale from a store in Spain which actually had my size. The super bonus was it was a high-end boot! I took a chance and ordered a 23.0. Two weeks after placing my order, I received the boots Friday night by DHL. I chuckled when I was handed over a big packaged box that was shockingly weightless. I smiled when the cute little 23.0 boots fit perfectly!!

My Dynafit dy.n.a size 23.0 boots at a mere 782 grams!!

The Dy.n.a.'s are twice as light as the first boots I used going up Sunshine! I look forward to trying them out over the holidays. I'm glad I got to experience the two different boot models before acquiring my own. I have a total appreciation for the effort necessary with heavier gear.

Out of curiosity, I weighed my x-c ski boots: skate - 518 g, classic - 384 g

Now on to the rest of the gear....

RunningRaw - Tim Van Orden's Daily Raw Diet

2011-12-14T07:42:00.003-07:00

I've been following Tim Van Orden's blog for a few years now. He started out eating the Standard American Diet (SAD) and turned towards a raw food diet 6 years ago to promote his athletics.

Tim started out with all the superfoods kind of like I have and has transitioned to solely raw fruits and vegetables. It's pretty impressive and a direction I'm headed. I believe in the benefits of superfoods and want to keep in what works best for me.

Check out this video link with Tim's awesome explanation of his daily raw diet

Best description on "chewing smoothies"!
My favourite video of Tim's: Green Smoothie

Ski-Mo Vert-180 - chaotic but FUN!

2011-12-03T22:15:00.016-07:00

I've been procrastinating wanting to try out a ski-mountaineering event... an event donning AT (Alpine Touring) gear to skin up the mountain and ski down, over an over on a set course.

Olivier & Mary, as we skinned up to Olivier's grandfather's Swiss cabin - Dec 1991

Mary & I lounging in the sun at the cabin - Dec 1991

I don't have the gear, and have only done this once in Europe in 1991 going to an old cabin in the Swiss mountains.

Fortunately, my adventure race friend Jeff took me out on my first AT venture a week prior to the Vert180 event. I was lent Maggie's (his wife's) super duper bombproof (i.e heavy) gear while Jeff was on his skinny minny race AT gear. We started at Sunshine parking lot and skinned at Jeff's breath-taking pace up to the top of the Strawberry chairlift. I was wowed and exasperated at the effort!!

I am smiling, only because we stopped for a break and I had a chance to put on more clothes. Despite the balmy temperature, the wind and blowing snow was pretty nasty.

Jeff helped me remove skins and off we went on one long descent. The whole up/down took about 2 hours.

So, a week later, I was off to try the Vert180 event at COP (Canada Olympic Park) in Calgary starting at 6 pm going for 180 minutes. After fending off challenging road conditions to Calgary, I made it in time to rent gear from the Calgary Outdoor Centre. Bonus, was they had "exactly" my size in a new boot, Scarpa Gea 22.5. Had just enough time to unload at Al & Di's house, my accom for the night, with Al being innovative to create bootpack hoops on my favourite backpack. There is usually a "bootpack" section in these events where the skis need to be attached to the pack, hands-free.

With minimal time to spare, Al coached me on transition to skins on/ skins off/ binding.

Showing up to COP, it was very exciting and super scary as I was a Rookie! Very cool to see all the new athletic faces of this new sport for me. Just before race start at 6:15pm, the snow started flying down in down feather clumps after what had been a clear day.

The course started at the base of COP, we skinned up to the top near the Canada flag, to ski down with one sharp right corner to the short bootpack section to complete a lap.

I was surprised, and not, to see how quick the pace started. The pros have super lightweight runnable gear. Despite that, I had a pretty good position going up my first lap. At the top, it was literally a gong show to watch me attempt to transition. I was slow, goofy, folding the skins neatly to tuck into my jacket top, not figuring out how to get the ski boot to clamp into the binding. Meanwhile, at least 20 people pass me.

Line of AT skiers on the left skinning to the top - photo Goldenskimo

I ski down in a frazzle at a skimming speed until I felt comfortable with the ground. I could not see anything out of my glasses (forgot goggles). At the bootpack section, I lost my glasses in the snow, fumbled around trying to get the skis into the loops... finally trying to "run" back to the start/finish line.

I got all set and into my bindings ready to go... only to realize... I forgot to put the skins on!! HA! So repeat all the above gong-showness for 3-4 more laps adding in eyes mostly closed on the descents due to pelting snow. I finally nailed transitions on my 5th lap!! and the next few after. Gosh, it felt good to be competent... and I seemed to be gaining on a few people though couldn't tell as many relay teams were involved.

amazing depth of fluffy snow - photo Goldenskimo

Fingers were a concern for me, as I needed lightweight gloves for dexterity. The fingers started cold, warmed up nicely, then got cold again towards the end due to melted snow. Survived though will rethink how to keep them warmer.

It was awesome to pass the bottom end of lap zone as the loud music was playing and the crowd was supportive with cheers. It was a good social crowd of competitors.

Just starting my 2nd lap, Peter Knight passed me swiftly looking smooth like a race-walker on skis. I got to see him a couple more times as he lapped me. Getting caught in the same scary driving conditions from Edmonton, Peter arrived late to the race. He managed to win the Solo men event even with a 10 min late start. Thanks to Peter, I've been inspired by his perseverance into Ski-Mo the last few years following his blog.

Once I got into the swing of things, I was loving it! I managed to complete 12 laps in 3 hours just missing the cutoff by 1 minute to be able to do another lap. There was no bonus for longest time spent in transition! which I would have dominated!!

Very well organized event and I'd like to lure more endurance types out next time, as it was totally up our alley for effort, intensity and crazy fun!!

After the event there was at least 15 cm of fresh snow on my car after being in the parking lot for 3 hours!!

First Season X-C ski!

2011-11-13T22:09:00.001-07:00

I lured two buddies, Tim and Jean, out to ski Morraine Lake road Nov 12/13 weekend in Lake Louise. Pretty early in the season though the snow was awesome and weather was super balmy.

Stayed at the luxurious Fireweed Hostel in Field, we took opportunity to visit the much talked about restaurant Truffle Pigs. Pretty chill spot in a small town of population 300.

Funny, we never got a photo of us skiing.

Nose Hill Spring

2011-10-30T21:17:00.002-06:00

I was tipped off by the Gearhound that there was a spring in an old neighbourhood in Calgary. While I was down for the cyclocross Halloween weekend, I decided to check it out.

It was in a teeny park in NW Calgary just east of Nosehill. I was surprised to see it marked by a sign and also a monument. This spring had been the source of water way back for the Indians, traders and explorers.

Cool shot of my shadow checking out the teeny trickle of a spring sadly now draining direct into a city sewer.

"Africa Hot" at Beans 'n Barley Cross

2011-10-30T18:43:00.001-06:00

Off the start, my muscle memory had me take off 2nd to follow Shantel's speedy start. Within the 1st lap, my body temperature rose to what felt like 105F in my Halloween costume. I quickly dropped off the pace. It amazed me how much more effort everything was... pushing my bike up the hill and barely getting over the stairs.

photo - Andrew Barron

Within a couple loops, I got used to the heat and slowly started to claw back a few positions. When I was back a few spots, I saw that I was speedier on the lumpy bumpy areas so took those sections as hard as I could.

very Safari dry - photo R. Haskell

Ultra fun to hear race announcer Jeff Neilson say he thought he saw me go by then couldn't see me out there (due to my camoflage colours of course!).

Shantel powering up the steep climb - photo R. Haskell

Thursday night before the race, I ventured into Value Village to find bits to piece together a Mr. Potato Head costume. The L.L. Bean virgin wool safari shirt my size jumped out at me. Easily found safari pants in boys wear. Gathered a herd of African safari stuffed animals. Always wanted an excuse to wear a backpack fuzzy bear. I stared at the leopard cowboy hat for awhile wondering if it would be possible to fit it to my helmet. Lucked out with super awesome high boots in the women's wear - Safari costume complete!

Madagascar Lion, Camel from Egypt, Gorilla hanging by one arm off the seatrails, giraffe and cheetah on the rearstays... not to forget the evil teddybear backpak

photo - bikeridr

It was impressive to see all sorts of costumes in all the categories except Elite Men who were ruled out.

Thanks to Hotdog Janet for ensuring animals were secured on my bike - photo bikeridr

photo - R. Haskell

photo bikeridr

hotdog chasing the human-sized Cactus - photo Andrew Barron

A shocking and hilarious incident happened on the Elite men's startline. Top rider Aaron Schooler was kidnapped by a human-sized cactus and a few others, bike and all, with the race starting without him. Schooler escaped to start the race 1 1/2 min down working his way consistently to eventually take the lead and win by over 30 seconds!

"Betty" Cindy Shantel Sarah "Safari Master"

Jack the child-sized snake attacking the Safari Master

On the previous day, I took the opportunity to ride my mountain bike with Kate Aardal and her super dog Toby. We rode Bragg Creek trails Pneuma and Special K. Very wicked trails! Only toppled twice, one richochet of a bar-end off the narrow tree-d path and once after cleaning the steepest section of Special K to only scare myself that I did it so I slid the bike out!

Battle of the Blades - LIVE!

2011-10-23T22:12:00.005-06:00

I've watched this show, hockey players meet figure skaters, since it started in 2009. It's amazing to see athletes of one discipline train to learn another discipline, and improve. Always thought it would be fun to see the live taping some day... well...

Marg with Karen's daughter Claire and Karen - bud from 1987 cycle Europe trip

Due to a non-cyclocross race Sunday, I got tickets, booked a travelpoints flight (never works out to use them for races), planned to go with an old running/cycling/travel buddy from Edmonton now living in Toronto for the Oct 23 taping (bonus it was my birthday!). Must say, my BOTB buddy Rhonda got me fired up to book this trip and wish she could have made it, too.

The atmosphere was exciting right once we walked up to the venue. Small hockey arena made into a very cool T.V. set for figure skating. The crowd was very friendly and bubbly.

My bleacher tickets were at a goalie end. I saw a bunch of pink clad women walk in with "Team Bonhomme" on their sweatshirts. I followed them. Had Karen and the girls sit next to them, centre seats across from the judges. Definitely good exposure to be next to Team Bonhomme, the gang from Tessa's hometown Sudbury! (We did get booted out of seats once! before staking claim on better seats!)

The skating was wicked to watch in person and to be so close to the ice. It was super fun though effort to show the poster without hitting the guy next to me.

It was cool to hear Tessa say she saw the sign when they first skated on the ice (she actually pointed to it on TV!)

Thanks to David & Tanya for the wicked slogan for the poster. It was a hit at the venue. Canadian women's team member "Tessa Bonhomme" is the first women hockey player on the show. She is teamed up with "David Pelletier" Olympian from 2002 figure skating. Hence the slogan... I like the Canadian aspect and play on words.

Super excited the poster did get shown on TV when Judge Sandra was speaking. The "Bon" was hidden so the poster showed "Tessa has the Man"! It was a very good effort!!

wicked photo from 1987 - Marg & Karen on the plane ride home from Europe

Provincial Cyclocross 2011

2011-10-22T21:21:00.004-06:00

Most amazing weather for a race late October!

At the whistle, Pepper Harlton lead a fast pace with me latching on and Chantel Widney aggressive to take the inside corner in front of me. Shantel Koenig had a strong effort up the steepest section of the hillclimb breaking in her Van Dessel. I swooped down the descent just ahead of her. Pepper slowly bridged away, with Chantel stopping with a mechanical.

The approach to the sandpit was fast. My plan was to run tight hugging the inside. The speed off the bike was scary launching me halfway running at bike speed and just a few quick steps in the sand before remounting. Could easily bite it at this spot.

sandpit techniques - photo Municyclist Chris Hubick

Just as planned, I had a smooth run thru the sandpit , with Shantel riding on my right. Soon after Shantel’s bike had tire issues.

Just 50m around the corner a barrier came quick when my heartrate was still high from remounting from the sandpit.

Height! photo by speedyskateskier Jean Valiquette

Cool to find out Pepper had been riding over the barrier. Something I aspire to do.

I chilled in the Agitator circular snail path to catch my breath. Once past the switchback corner, I picked up the speed again riding out of the saddle. On the long pavement section, I hoofed as hard as could.

Strong ITU racer Chantel Widney - photo Mark Kay

Pepper was in the distance. Put my own effort to make distance from the women that would be working their way back to me. Then my shifter started teasing me (had sand issues last Sunday’s race) and it just stopped working. I gave in pretty quick that I would have to singlespeed the race again… then, the shifter started working again!

Shantel with the inaugural race for the Van Dessel

Chantel was back in with a happy bike and strongly catching up. Within another lap Chantel was mighty close. I just started into the Agitator and heard sounds of rider and bike skidding on the grass. Out of the Agitator, I hoofed taking advantage of the extra seconds for Chantel to get in action again.

good Cross Face - photo Jean Valiquette

Squeaked in 2^nd within a super strong Elite women’s field with a few awesome contenders from Calgary missing.

pre-race smiles! - photo Municyclist Chris Hubick

Open Creek Dam Spring

2011-10-16T23:39:00.000-06:00

What better than to take a drive off the beaten Highway 2 on some unknown gravel roads to gather spring water.

Left the Red Deer cross race Sunday afternoon and headed west and north ending 31km west of Rimbey on highway 53. I lucked out again with intuition to find a gravel shortcut.

fast flowing spring water abit cool on my feet!

Wish the roads were paved as they would be awesome to road ride.

scenic rolling hills before hitting the prairies again

Singlespeed at Riverbend Cross

2011-10-16T22:49:00.000-06:00

Sunday's double-header race venue was at the Riverbend golf course in Red Deer. Very good turn out for their 2nd year.

the girls heading up the steep climb - photo CABC

The start was on a slight inclined long gravel road which was perfect for me. Around a few grassy corners then thru the mostly rideable sandpit. I was just dismounting for the last pitch of the sandpit when "poof", my front wheel bit the sand. Bike and I went down.

Pepper in the Expert Men's race powering out of the evil sandpit - photo CABC

New jerseyed woman (Kim from Northern Ontario) and Shantel passed me. Kim shmucked the barrier with her bike's rear wheel which was funny as we both laughed when I passed by.

Shantel on the rutted downhill - photo CABC

Shantel rode smoothly on a course she didn't get to pre-ride. I caught her on the back straight-away then as I was shifting gears "no click" "no click"... ahhh my shifter was hooped! Possibly from the sandpit. Only a couple lower gears worked in my big chain ring - not my choice though now I was single-speeding! I whined for abit as rider's passed me. Pepper's mom passed me and told me to get on her wheel! It's a long loop, maybe 8 min when we normally have 5-6 min loops.

1st loop up the steep climb when I had gears! - photo CABC

At the mechanical pit, someone tried to help save my shifter though really valuable riding time was ticking away. When the Commissaire asked if I was out of the race, I hollered back "NO"!. I jumped back on my bike and gutted out the 50x15 gear (small chain ring would skip). I had to run thru areas I might have ridden.

Annie from Red Deer in the scenic backwoods - photo CABC

Actually, it was a good single speed course. I wasted abit more time when guys offering assistance said there was a bike I could switch to. Then the pedals were shimano and I use Crankbrothers. It wasn't worth the time to switch pedals.

Elite race, Matt leading the Hardcore boys up the hike-a-bike climb - photo CABC

Off I went again. Next loop I decided to just keep my bike as I was getting used to where I could go hard on the course, where I could coast, and run.

Tim usually riding the sandpit, went for a run - photo CABC

I wish I gave into the single-speeding lots earlier as after being way past last place after lap 1, I managed to catch 3 or 4 women. I didn't realize I was not that far in time from the front women.

Best thing is I got to finish!!

I saw Deadgoat Pat Doyle at the end of the race and told him I thought about him as he is an avid singlespeeder mountain biker.

Awesome shot of Derek powering up out of the sandpit - photo CABC

Shantel had Derek from Red Bike look at my shifter. He said sand was the cause. Back in Edmonton, he worked magic with the lubricant spray (alot of it!) and had my shifter clicking away again!

Blowstreet Cross - Old Lady Young Lady!

2011-10-15T20:18:00.000-06:00

The crowd seems to be loving the battles lately seeing an "old lady" (me) hanging with the "young ladies"... this race Shantel Koenig and I were neck and neck, with Cindy Koo not so far back.

photo - Andrew Barron

The course was held in a teeny grass park area in Calgary. Every square inch was covered with flagging tape utilizing the whole space! It was an ultra amazing course thanks to designer Lonn Bate.

good sized field - photo Andrew Barron

Personally, I would have loved to follow Shantel's wheel the whole race. The course was flat with a blurb of a hill and many long stretches. Feeling the need to share the wind, I would take the lead in sections I thought I could help most... the long paved path.

photo - R. Haskell

Shantel would come by me smoothly on the corners switching leads. I was more like a jackrabbit in the corners until I caught on to the pedal-smooth-thru-the-corners technique.

photos - R. Haskell

The barrier location was right before a sharp right u-turn. The inside rider had the best spot. I was on the outside a few times.

The sandpit was rideable when I pre-rode. When we raced thru the first time, it was like a gopher haven of sand mounds all over. I didn't know if it was better to jump over, or run thru. It was sloppy going thru there.

The mounds grew each lap - photo Andrew Barron

cool falltime shot - photo R. Haskell

Down to the last lap, I chose to go hard for the barriers to be first around the u-turn corner. Still another two turns for Shantel to easily wind it up and sprint by strongly to the finish 100m away. I don't think I would have had much of a chance if I waited later.

Shawna Cindy Shantel Marg (Annie missing) - photo Andrew Barron

It was funny to hear the crowd's comments of them not knowing who would take it - so cool to be a factor in making the race exciting to watch!

Thanksgiving Day Cross Ride

2011-10-10T22:40:00.000-06:00

Greg, Aaron, Tiffany and Marg checking out the Birkie trails before the snow flies

Local Cyclocross in Edmonton

2011-10-10T21:30:00.002-06:00

Awesome video by Shaughn Butts, Edmonton Journal
Captures the Tuesday night race scene

Article online

Cat and Mouse Cross

2011-10-10T21:11:00.007-06:00

Double header cross races at the Edmonton Velodrome area which was mainly flat grass with a grassy bowl. Not too technical of a course though had a few tight turns to be careful to not wash out and one barrier on a steep hill was a little challenging for little people to get over :)

Tanya Hopping following Marg going uphill over a steep barrier - photo Ryan Hopping

First race on Saturday, I had no desire to sprint hard at the start. Shantel chased down Katy's hard start as I coasted along.

turbo Katy, Shantel chasing, Marg doddling - photo Kinley Gibson

Oh, it's a race! That set me up to follow them loop after loop 20 sec down at the same spot. Found out later Katy had an adventure with a crash hurting her bike (and her knee), riding in to the pits to switch to another bike and still holding off Shantel to the finish.

With surprising speed and full-on effort, not bad over the barriers on Sat
- photo Gordon Brenner (thanks!)

Second race on Sunday, the course was in reverse direction which flowed a little better. My x-c ski mate Marcus came over to cheer and had me warm-up with short sprints. That helped me get into the game with the speedy start.

Katy jetted by already, Shantel hot on Marg's heels - photo Darcy Reynard

I was first to start over the set of double barriers, with Katy blindly speeding by. I'm abit cautious with focusing on not clipping the barriers or hurting an ankle. After the next swoopy turns, I hopped on Katy's wheel. Shantel was on our heels and kept very close behind the next couple laps.

Darcy named this one "Got your back!"

I jumped out of the saddle to work hard on the long flat sections into the wind having Katy take over on most of the techy sections. We switched lead over and over. It was awesome to hear everyone cheer at the bowl section with their support.

Different techniques on the off-camber section - photo Darcy Reynard

It was super wicked to follow Katy on the uphill barrier. With her great speed, it was like I got sucked along at that speed as we both bounced back onto our bikes. Very cool feeling!

ha, climb not so suited for the big chain ring! eventual weakness - photo Darcy Reynard

I felt abit like a mouse with Katy playing the cat. It was a hard ride and ultra fun to ride with another racer again. Meanwhile, I didn't realize Katy was scoping my strengths and weaknesses to plan her final move. I presumed the outcome, though again was lacking in true racing spirit to think it could be different.

I'm thankful I still race at this level though realism has set in of a few obstacles of age. Fun is a big part for me to keep racing... and it was!

Awesome barrier jumping with Samuel Beaudoin & Dave Roberts - photo Ryan Hopping

Off the beaten path to Spring Water near Rimbey

2011-10-03T21:37:00.001-06:00

I decided to finally take the opportunity to find the spring water near Rimbey. After my cyclocross races in Calgary, I drove through Cochrane up Hwy 22 north. Hwy 22 doglegs through little towns. With the brilliant fall colours I missed a dogleg turn. The road was getting twistier and hillier as the scenery became more spectacular - my clues I was no longer bound for the prairie land.

Without a map, I managed to take two right hand turns and a dogleg to eventually connect with Hwy 22. I definitely want to check that area NW of Sundre by Bearberry another time on my road bike - spectacular!

Taking Hwy 53 east 14 km to the Open Creek Dam Campground turnoff (south), the sign for the spring was faint with an arrow pointing east. The spring was 100m away covered by a cistern and flowing out of a pipe. It was awesome to find it!

I filled up my many glass jugs and every container I had with me gathering over 6 gallons.

Drive to Edmonton was 175 km and about 1 1/2 hours. Spring turnoff was 31 km west of Rimbey.

Cross for Kids - the shadow race!

2011-10-02T22:30:00.018-06:00

Cool temperatures broke for the women's race with the sun poking out making it perfect! With an uphill start, I strolled at an endurance "fast" pace to try to catch up to Katy who went by like a blazing bullet. Shantel was close behind. I was able to keep my eye on Katy's skillful riding through the technical corners.

Off the start... Katy's lead after starting behind me! - photo R.Haskell

I rode part way then ran through the rest of the deep sandpit while watching Katy power through it. With a long paved road climb ahead I bridged the gap and stuck like glue to Katy. That hillclimb was my saving grace to keep up to her. It was ultra fun to follow her swoops around the corners.

sand power - photo Steve Walsh

Next sandpit, I relaxed and let the bike float thru halfway and managed to bounce my way thru the rest of it. That made up time and kept me within shadowing distance of Katy.

Katy's Shadow! - photo Masa Higuchi

The loops were short and fast so it wasn't a shock when we had 5 laps to go after already completing 3 laps. Courses tend to be around 5 laps for the 40 min timed event.

focus - photo Masa Higuchi

Lost sight of Shantel. She rode a lap with a pinch flat losing quite a few spots, then worked her way back up to 4th. After a wicked Dark Knight race duking the men, it would have been interesting to have Kate in the race.

Steep pitch - photo R.Haskell

Second last sandpit, I bumbled in a rut and had to run 2/3 of the way. I was gapped, bummer. I worked the hillclimb and bridged a little, not enough to make it more of an exciting finish.

cool shot by Ian Watts

marg katy sarah shantel - photo Noah Walt

It was awesome to get to race so closely. I learned alot watching Katy. Chatting at the finish line, it was awesome for Katy to share her tips with Alana and myself. Something about going for free hugs and marshmallows!

The Dark Knight Cyclocross

2011-10-01T21:50:00.030-06:00

Knowing my night vision is the pits, I figured I'd go for fun at the Dark Knight. Jeff's kids gave the brilliant idea to put birthday sparklers on my bike! Hitting the Dollar store, I found the sparklers, glow sticks, and silver tinseled banner with fringes to decorate my bike with. Friends Al & Di fixed me up with a black cape. I was set with a pseudo costume!

The B race was Expert men with a few Elite women, a large field of over 50 starters. I was the last person to the startline riding in with the silver fringes flapping in the wind and getting caught in the spokes making a cool tinkling sound. I heard someone say "that's asking for trouble".

Katy opted out of the race so she was the official sparkler starter. The sparklers were duct-taped onto the rear down-stays jutting outward. Once lit, my bike would look like it was fueled by the sparks (briefly) and would look wicked at night!

The race whistle went. The guys took off as I stood there waiting. Bummer - the sparklers were not lighting in the cold weather. Finally, I dashed off passing a few guys though got caught in major bottlenecks around twisty corners.

Bright light to DARK - photo R. Haskell

The lighting was not great for me as the pump track section went from pitch dark to brightly lit worklights to pitch dark a few times over. On twisty sections, I could barely tell to go left or right. Passing the start/finish each lap I was blinded by the commissaires light to view the riders going by and then could see once past them.

Cape all messed up, goofy sword on my helmet - photo R. Haskell

racing through xmas lights - photo R.Haskell

Ahh... it would have been more fun to race in daylight as the course was fun. I had at least three wicked crashes just getting up and going again as I couldn't tell in the dark if the bike was hurt. Despite my casualties, it was still a bummer to get pulled out of the race with 2 laps to go. In a weird way I was having fun!

Despite the faulty sparklers, I managed to get the best lit bike award with Ed stating "she was a hazard to herself and others"!

Cross Mountain Ride - Epic!

2011-09-30T20:48:00.025-06:00

Taking in the last hot forecasted day of the year, I "had" to go for a ride in the mountains. Luckily I had the company of blazing cross racer Katy Curtis and TransPortugal/Furious-3 winner Kate Aardal. The planned route was Big Elbow Little Elbow loop out in K-Country. Myself and Katy were on cross bikes while Kate on her 29-er had no problem keeping a quick pace.

Katy scouting the best line

It was a tricky ride on the cross bikes with lots of dirt-embedded rocks jutting out everywhere on the trail which I remembered as flat and fast many years ago when I last mountain biked it. I was the first to pinch flat, then Katy, then me again towards the end. Kate had the bike of the day with the 29-er.

Kate wondering where she dropped Marg & Katy - photo KC

Scenery - outstanding! Long ride as we had a slow start bogged down on horse trails following a river route before venturing on the open trail climb. I enjoyed the loop clockwise with rolling up & down the first half before the monstrous painful climb on the small cross gearing. The last 1/3 was pretty much all downhill back.

Katy & Kate far in the distance - awesome autumn scenery!

shadows came quickly that afternoon - mostly downhill to the trailhead

That night I visited adventure teammate Jeff Hughes and his family in West Bragg Creek. Caught the family off on a night bike ride and joined in.

It was an adventure morning with the girls (Sasha-10, Riley-8, Piper-6) all either riding the unicycles or practicing riding the narrow planks with their mountain bikes while Jeff was trials hopping a bench with his new trials bike.

Piper, Sasha, Riley, Sidney the Border Collie, and Jeff

I tried my hand at a 20-inch unicycle. It was frustrating to fall over and over again. Seeing the girls keep riding and trialing, I kept at it. First I went 2 feet, then 3 feet. Jeff gave me tips to lean further forward almost falling as a pedal stroke would naturally balance it out. Once I did that, I went 10 feet. Then when almost no-one was watching, I rode 20 feet. Fortunately Piper saw me and pointed it out to everyone - thanks Pipes!

Hot! Cross Season

2011-09-28T22:49:00.001-06:00

Probably our hottest days of the year this past weekend for our cyclocross race. Sat at School of Cross, the temp was only 19C at the start so not within the limits for a feedzone. Sunday, for the Hop & Hurl Cross, temp was already 22C and climbing to 26C so we were allowed a feedzone. Same course, just in reverse direction with a few minor changes.

School of Cross, Marg being chased by Calgary racers Caeli Barron and Sarah Tomassini - photo Andrew Barron

It was the first time I`ve been "allowed" a feedzone in a cyclocross race. Previous years races usually have been pretty cool temps (knee warmers/arm warmers) and the races are short 40-50 minutes so no real need to feed. The feed had to be in the designated zone area. It worked out quite simple to ride into the zone, grab a bottle, sip, toss and exit the zone within 25 feet, losing no time at all and the sip was refreshing. Thanks to Tim for passing me water!

In the first loop of Sat's race, my bike and I had three entanglements with the yellow tape, then faired well the rest of the race. Sun race, all went well except for one misjudged remount on the bike after the sandpit. I overshot my landing... ouch, nice bike tire track burned into my thigh as the shorts moved up landing on the moving rear tire! The crowd "oohhed"! Next loop at that spot, I had an awesome remount with extra cheers from that same crowd knowing what had happened the previous lap.

Running through the double sandpit, easiest for me to grab the bike under the small toptube and run freely. I'm height-challenged to just lift the frame up high off the ground. Small-person Technique!! Bummer with the saddle hitting my helmet! - photo Gordon Brenner

Lead Guys up a steep dusty weed-wacked section - photo Gordon Brenner

The course was designed by crazed talented-cross rider Aaron Schooler and set up by my club ERTC. Clubmates had to weedwack through thigh high grass and shrubs to make the epic course made up in Aaron's evil mind! The descents and ascents on the latter half of this course were rugged, challenging and fun in a crazed way.

Awesome video coverage by ERTC clubmate Jon Wood.

Aussie Will`s Video of Haute Route Pics

2011-09-25T22:15:00.001-06:00

Wish the time frames were slower though awesome photos of 7 days riding in France! A note that Will took alot of his photos WHILE racing on his bike! Will`s video

Photos from Haute Route

2011-09-21T22:56:00.008-06:00

Photos from friends from the 2011 Haute Route:

Waiting for the start of Day 1, mixed team racer Andrea looking back. Racers were encouraged to wear the Haute Route jersey. I prefer the uniqueness of the racer's kits - photo Helena Darvelid

Day 1 peloton leaving Geneva behind the pace vehicle - Photo Helena Darvelid

climbing Day 2 - photo Helena Darvelid

on-route to Bourg-St-Maurice via Cormet de Roselend - photo Helena Darvelid

First climb up Madeleine on Day 3 - Marg grinning because #171 had no idea he was dropping Stephanie #382 in the far right of the pic. Stephanie was glued to Cedric`s wheel the first two stages. I was surprised they were registered as solo racers
- wicked black & white photo from Aussie Will Levy

I purposely rode behind #171. It was funny when #171 Cedric Laurent mistakened me for Stephanie Gros and we both rode off together. Cedric was unaware Stephanie was getting dropped! "Solo" male #171, Cedric, is "solo" woman #382 Stephanie's husband. Why did they not register as a DUO team?! Stephanie won the solo women category following Cedric's wheel on the descents and flats the whole race - fair... or NOT? Thanks to Aussie Will Levy who caught this photo as he was taking happy snaps while racing.

Check out Will's awesome blog and photos.

Will did interviews with various cyclists each day. Here's mine after Day 4.

#270 and Marg about to crest the first Col of Day 3 - photo Will Levy

A lonely ride up Galibier in the headwinds, I caught up to another cyclist with about 4 km to go. He couldn't understand how I kept positive while the riding at the time was pretty hot and challenging in the headwinds... Other than my aching feet swollen in teeny carbon bike shoes, I told him I had to go back to the Prairies and I was here to enjoy the Alps! - Photo Marathon-Photos.com

Marg going up Col du Granon 12-km Time Trial Stage 4 - photo MarathonPhotos.com

I was pleased about my effort on Day 4 for the Time Trial stage finishing at least 3 minutes ahead of Stephanie. Funny that her husband Cedric who is the calibre of a Cat 1 racer had seconds off Stephanie's time. He started 30 sec ahead of her. Abit suspect... would they really ride "together" on the time trial?! Good thing it was a 12% grade as drafting on that wicked climb would not help!

Everyone waiting at the top of Col du Granon at the end of the Time Trial. The view was outstanding riding the majorly 12% grade up!! Photo Helena Darvelid

Taking the opportunity to chill at the restaurant at the top of Col du Granon while the neutralized caravan of cyclists head down
- Photo Phil Domville-Musters, cyclist from Britain

Brothers Mike & Lenny Engelhardt.
I met the boys at TransAlps 2006 and again at TransAustria 2008

Day 6 - After a 19-km neutral start, the peloton is set loose to go up the climb to Cime de la Bonette, from 1220m up to 2802m... 1600m elevation at one go! I caught into the 2nd formed chase peloton. - Photo Helena Darvelid

The climb to Cime de la Bonette goes on... - Photo Helena Darvelid

... and on... with gnarly headwinds... must keep with the pack... - Photo Helena Darvelid

This was the shot where I was worked over. I was in the chase peloton of about 15 riders. The climbing pace was tough though the headwinds were brutal. Every so often the peloton would drift apart. I cried with lactic acid pain to accelerate back into the group. I did my best to get sheltered from some of those taller riders! Ouch - this photo has memories for me with the intense effort put in - Photo Marathon-Photos.com

... and on... still gusty winds... - Photo Helena Darvelid

The chase peloton being lead by Italian woman Dorina. I was with this pack just out of the pic. We were all crying and working together! - Photo Helena Darvelid

Not my usual smile for Helena at the crest of Cime de la Bonette!
It was a hellish 1600m elevation climb in the headwind! - Photo Helena Darvelid

An amazing background landscape the National Park - Photo Helena Darvelid

What is around the corner...? - Photo Helena Darvelid

Cresting Cime de la Bonette! - Photo Manu Molle from Haute Route

awesome candid shot of Gabi at the feed station - Photo Helena Darveid

Mario from Germany who I had met at TransAustria 2008, making his way up. Tough to have one of the strongest women teammates Andrea to chase up the climb! I like how this photo shows his effort - Photo Helena Darvelid

Hanging out at the ski resort Auron post Stage 6 - Photo Helena Darvelid

Helena with her World Class group of Sailors

Day 7, alot of shade sections in a canyon - Photo from Phil

Just finished! - Photo Helena Darvelid

Haute Route Day 7 - Finale into Nice

2011-09-12T18:03:00.022-06:00

Best sleep my 6th night! It was now a routine getting ready for the morning starts.

Saint Etienne de Tinee - photo Helena Darvelid

I rode with Gabi 9-km down the hill to Saint Etienne de Tinee for the neutral start. It was a cool shaded 6C for the first 31-km neutral section. Everyone was shivering as we rode in the shaded valley, unbelievably cold. The sunlight was welcomed as it peaked out above the mountain briefly, until we descended deeper into the shaded valley. Sharp right turn and the timed race began up Col Saint Martin. The pace went hard. I clung onto a similar group as the previous day with the Italian woman Dorina leading us out. The grade was a calm 7%. Towards the top I dropped back of the group about 100m, just a little weary at the tough pace.

It was a fast furious descent with twisty corners and then major straight-aways. I finally latched onto a good group of 5 guys. I got cheers of “Go Canada” from a French master racer when I pulled through on the descent. We passed thru a section of canyon similar to the one near Radium Hot Springs though this one went on for many kms.

riding towards Vance - the boys in white shorts!

With 15 km to go, a few new guys came blazing by to the front of our peloton. Yikes, it was #171 leading, no doubt pulling Team SOLO woman up to us. I was impressed with how strong #171 rode. He showed the strength of a Cat 1 racer. Either that or he was so well rested from riding at our woman’s pace the whole week. We stormed around a few round-abouts. Before I knew it, in the middle of nowhere we had crossed the indiscreet finish line, hearing the blips of our time-chips over the timing mat. After the 31-km neutral section this morning, the actual timed section was 72-km. We still had another 37-km of neutral to get to Nice (total 140-km day).

arriving to Vance

After a few hugs and cheers amongst the riders, we rode easy to the next village Vance 14-km away.

Marg telling Dorina from Italy how awesome it was to see her ride! - photo Helena Darvelid

happy! - photo Helena Darvelid

bikes awaiting, with another amazing strong woman Andrea from Germany - photo Helena Darvelid

Marg with amazing photographer and World Class Sailor Helena!!

happy with real food at the Vance Market

There, we received our finisher medals and shirts, and hung out for a couple hours to wait for all the riders to arrive. We finally left as a marshalled group to ride the final 23-km to Nice. The pace was ultra painful at 16 kph downhill! My hands and wrists were aching from braking. Chatting with riders took my mind off the slow descent.

Riding our slow pace to Nice

Gabi by the beach!

Arriving to Nice, the many tanned bodies on the beach stood and cheered as we coasted in. It was a hot day.

My 2nd time with my bike at the Mediterranean - 2011

My first time with my bike at the Mediterranean - 1987!

1987

The finish was chaotic on the beach promenade. It was a rushed atmosphere finding baggage, packing the bike, and taking a moment to jump into the beautiful aquamarine salty Mediterranean (it was wonderful!), before heading to the uneventful awards announcement at the trailer on the promenade.

taking in the water & beach at Nice - photo Helena Darvelid

3rd place woman reacted like she won the lottery! I went up for my 2nd place solo, more out of obligation of being a racer. Enough said about how 1st place was won following a domestique male rider the whole race! Would that not be called a "mixed team" effort?! As an alternative to saying “cheese” for the cameras, I was saying “domes-teeeek” as we were smiling for women’s solo podium.

Gabi was disappointed she came in 4th by 8 seconds over the 7 stages. She was getting stronger the last few stages. One of my prizes was a large package of a French brand of energy food products. I’m happy with Vega products from Canada. I asked Gabi if she’d accept the prize for coming in “3rd place and 8 seconds”! It was awesome to see her smile and we both laughed!

walking towards the Ascenseur du Chateau (the tower in the distance)

Going up up up the many stairs, 90 metres elevation

I eventually walked up towards the edge of town. The final aperitif party was to be at the top of Ascenseur du Chateau. There was an elevator though I was adamant to take the stairs on the side of the cliff. When I saw the sign that said the top was 90m up, I cried a little as I was tired and heat stricken. I trudged up sweating profusely.

view from the top

The party was a welcome sight with a beautifully catered local meal of “real French food”!! Everything was dainty and super appetizing. It was a feast! I had some nice last chats with awesome riders I met during the week.

In the main plaza at night

Gang from Zurich trying to make me feel taller!

Night soon came. Gabi and I walked with two riders from Zurich (Gabi is from the Black Forest in Germany though lives in Zurich). We strolled through the piazza area until we needed to jump on the bus back to Geneva at 10:30 pm. The squeezing of bikes into one storage trailer took time. We got to squeeze our gear into the buses empty space underneath. After a long sporadic unrestful bus ride with many stops, we arrived to Geneva by 8 a.m.

Mary picking me up in a very snazzy sporty Audi

Mary and her orange beetle when she lived in Edmonton - 1988

My friend Mary from my track running days, now living in Geneva, arrived to pick me up. I finally had a nice “holiday” day with Mary. Gosh I must rave... Mary went to the 1987 World Track & Field Champs in Rome and was on the 1988 Olympic team (Seoul) for the 800m. It was awesome to have been one of her training partners!!

We went to the local farmer’s market, drove to France 20 km away to her partner’s renovated barn house for lunch. Dominique apologized for “France” for the race not feeding us well! He certainly whipped up a marvelous meal. It was fun to pick plums, apples, grapes and berries in the yard - a great relaxing day for me!

tart grapes growing beside the dinner table

teeny tree though we picked tons of yummy plums from it

Nigel (now just as tall as me) making a stop for the best Pain au Chocolat

Keep posted for more amazing photos and a synopsis of the event! Lots of riders at home are interested in 2012 Haute Route!

Local Cross-country Running Fun Times!

2011-09-07T19:54:00.000-06:00

Yeah, I'll finish the Haute Route race blog... soon...

Tonight, was the 1st cross-country running race of the fall season - a record 300 runners showed up! I've been running these races since I was 16 years old when it was free with a numbered popsicle stick given at the finish. Now it is time-chipped and $5 a race.

The Frank McNamara Series brings out the new young runners and the old ones from the woodwork. It's a great reunion of running friends and faces. Pretty cool to see my Swiss friend Bettina's niece Theres run wickedly fast while pushing her baby in the baby jogger!

I haven't run since a mountain bike duathlon I went into spontaneously one Saturday late July. I took it out easy, and loved it when we hit the hills.

Every week, it's a new venue. Check it out...

Stage 6 – Racing on Europe’s Highest Paved Road 2802m

2011-08-28T03:32:00.003-06:00

I rode 3 km down to village Barcellonette to wait with 1/3 of the field for the neutral field coming down from PraLoup. We merged in and had 5 km more of a neutral start before racing up the Cime de la Bonette, a 24-km road through the Mercantour National Park. The scenery was outstanding as I did my best to hang in with the lead group. Once we blew apart, we slowly formed the chase peloton.

I was impressed to see the woman, Dorina, from the Italian mixed team surge by and pull our peloton up into the headwind climb. There must have been 15 guys and myself behind her! I was told she has been an Olympian fencer (gold medalist Barcelona!), so it must be something with perseverance and drive.

The climb was a nice grade 7-8% but the wind was so strong. I did my best to shelter myself and sit and ride like a mountain biker (tucked down on the nose of the saddle). Ouch, it hurt a lot to stay within the peloton. Every-so-often the peloton would string out and I had to accelerate a few times to get back in. I cried in lactic acid pain each time though I knew I had to as I would be shot out behind and would be struggling alone in the wind if I was dropped. I have not worked this hard in a long time – IT WAS GREAT!! We crawled together up this 1600m ascent. With 2-km to go, the grade eased to a nice 3% to only whip us again into a headwind with a 12% grade with the last 500m to the top.

Most riders stopped for a feed as I continued down an epic twisty road. To add to the scariness of the fast descent was the narrow roads with cliff dropoffs, and unknowns of when a vehicle was approaching from around a blind corner.

After yesterday’s crash, I chilled a smidgeon on the descent not 100% confident in the bike. Around one corner there was already one lead guy in the ditch. On and on…. finally to more open of a road though it was the roughest road I’ve ever experienced in Europe. One guy blazed by though I would have been stupid to consider to follow his wheel. Two more caught me on the easier descent and it was nice to ride with them for a couple km.

Last climb only 400m elevation to the next ski village Auron to end up at 1600m elevation again. I worked it and finished happily first solo woman (4^th after wickedly strong mixed team women).

Hotel was right by the finish line, yay. It was impressive to see my bike worked over in the hands of the Mavic guys!

Had more time to meet the riders and support. Helena is support for quite a few riders, Brits, NZ, Aussie, all sailors. Apparently, this is a training event for them. Helena sounds like quite the sailor herself and is attempting the world record for 500m sprint with her partner (wind driven only). They have been close!

Waiting for the market to reopen in the afternoon, we met an American from Iowa that is hiking the Alps for months self-supported. He was as impressed with our riding as I was with his adventure. He has no camera and doesn’t blog or write stories, yet has experienced so much interesting stuff! He hopes to cheer us on tomorrow.

I was happy to buy all the goods for an epic salade at the market. Quality food is lacking with the event and hard to come across in the sparse summer ski resorts. Check out this epic meal – green lettuce, zucchini, tomato, carrot, Italian parsley, red pepper! I had coconut oil and borrowed balsamic vinegar from Helena for a sweet dressing.

Off to the pasta dinner or best said “white noodles, white bun and white dessert” dinner! More to socialize than partake.

One more day…

Haute Route Stage 5 Eventful

2011-08-28T03:27:00.001-06:00

Finished in one piece – a good thing! It was a super scenic day and eventful...

After the first 7 km of neutral start, I had a uterine cramp within 5 km of the fast paced hill climb which had me huddled in the bush for 5 min until it subsided (that monthly thing). Starting back into the field, I was riding in the middle pack with riders I hadn’t seen before, though it was fun to come by familiar faces like Iain (Brit living in Geneva).

race photo

The climb up the Col d’Izoard was beautiful, definitely a camera day. The first huge descent was fun after the switchbacks with bombing fast straight sections. I was with a pack of guys. Up ahead I saw a wet area on the right of the round-about we were to blaze thru. Not until I was on it, the slickness of the sand & water could be felt, a nice wet concrete mix which took my front tire out ever so slightly. I had a nice slide-out on the bike and was amazingly unscathed. The guys were awesome to stop to make sure all was ok. I found out later that others had slipped on this same spot earlier with the marshall not thinking to forewarn any future riders. One guy after me did not fair as well and was taken out of the race.

It took abit for me to get back in the groove of riding again. The next climb up Col de Vars spread everyone out especially with more headwind at the top. I eventually got back into the groove. I had good “solo” training with a 30 km descent on my own. Most riders stop to feed at the top whereas I have all my food and blaze thru. After a long 2-3% descending grade with a headwind, I was tuckered going up the last climb. I finally made it to the top to the little ski resort PraLoup. Housing was spread all over the valley. I had to ride back down 12 km only to take a shuttle back up 3km to another ski resort. There were only 10 of us housed here so I tucked in for the night. Had dinner at the only restaurant open in the summer and upon request for a vegetarian meal they made up a plate of salade, veggies and linguini.

view from Hotel Montana

Looks to be a peaceful night. Bonus is getting to join the neutral race only 3-km from my hotel as the racers need to come down the 12 km hill.

Col du Granon Time Trial

2011-08-24T14:21:00.001-06:00

I warmed up and down the tiny steep village streets to get my heart ready for a max effort. Reminded me of racing at home. Typical TT start with every rider going 30 seconds apart. The first 500m was pancake flat then climbed steeply through the first village at 10-12%. I started out big chain ring and had a good start almost coming very close to my 30 sec guy in front before the steep grade.

Once past the 12% section, I climbed well at 9% up the switchbacks slowly gaining on two guys in front. Hearing breathing behind me had me go a little quicker until a very strong French masters rider came by fast. He urged me on.

race photo - more photos to come from new friends....

I kept a pace where my heartrate was consistent though working hard. I kept on the lookout for any diminishing grade though there was alot of 12% and a few 15% pitches. The road was very much in the open on the side of the mountain. The views were outstanding and we were as high as the mountain peaks on the other side of the valley. Whenever my gps showed 7% I thought it was taunting me as the grade felt steep.

Finally seeing the 1 km to go sign, I did my best to go harder. The grade never let up and the twists and turns gave no sign of the finish. I was hurting with 500m to go and was happy to finish sub 1 hour!

I'm not much into raving about results. Even though I didn't crack the top 3 mixed women's times (close by about a minute), I was happy to get the top Solo women's time.

Tomorrow, is another hard day like day 3, tough to even consider! Three climbs and only 2800m...

Galibier!!! Stage 3 Haute Route

2011-08-24T13:45:00.002-06:00

First words - ouch and oh my!! Doing 3 cols in one day is crazy and hard. Every rider was totally dehydrated by the top of the 2nd Col Telegraphe with no water in sight. 4000m was maybe 1200m too much for me.

proof I carried my camera up Galibier

On the scenic side... Galibier was the most amazing climb I've done for open epic-ness! It was definitely neglected to tell us about the WIND!!

riders & bikes packed in the gondola

We had a 6 a.m. convoy down the hill in the dark then a climb, total 4 km distance to the gondola entrance. Each gondola was packed in with about 12 riders and bikes. Easiest and safest way to get the peloton down to town. Once all the riders were down we started at 7:15 a.m. with a 31 km neutral start- long.

I recognized the highway we were on as it was the main road that took me to the World Cup MTB marathon in Val Thorens back in 2006.

photo I took of Stephanie climbing on her own!

The race began once we were on the route to Col Madeleine. I saw Team SOLO working together. I decided to ride with them. The pace was slower than I would have liked though the rest may help for the later climbs. Team SOLO didn't seem too thrilled that I decided to ride in between their drafting line. With me behind #171, he wasn't aware he was dropping my solo woman competitor Stephanie. It was energy conserving to cling on his wheel.

relaxed and waiting for Team SOLO - photo Helena

At the top of Madeleine, I waited moments until Team SOLO got their feed and joined them on the descent. It was awesome and lots easier to ride fast behind #171 although Stephanie braked a little. There was a long flat section at the bottom where it was welcome to have #171 to follow. We slowly picked up more riders. Then #171 dropped off with a flat!

hurry Team SOLO - photo by Helena

No problem, another French guy friend filled in for him and towed Stephanie and I up Col Telegraphe. On route, I was baking. My feet felt twice the size inside my shoes. I had blisters on my hands that hurt on every bump. My decision was to hang with them until the top of Telegraph. Racing time was over and I wanted to find a way to enjoy the last climb. It was noticeable we were all parched. I was impressed that Stephanie was holding up well and climbing consistently.

riding behind Team SOLO - photo by Helena

At the peak of Telegraph with no water in sight, we all began the descent. I hung on as the breeze from the descent was cooling. Riding through the next village, I looked left and right for a fountain. At the end of town I saw a cyclist just leaving one. I stopped for amazing cold flowing water. I soaked my head. I wanted to soak my bare feet in it though knew it would be difficult to continue after that.

After a nice break, I rode another couple km when finally there was a feedzone. I grabbed some skinny packages thinking they were gummies like Clif. Biting into one later, it squirted all over me as it was a liquid gel, nice.

Starting into Col Galibier, I felt more energized to tackle it though then I felt a wind hoping it was temporary. That strong wind was with us the whole next 1200m up on a super exposed very cool scenic mountain pass. To ride this Col was truly amazing. I was picturing crowds from the Tour all over watching the agony of racers climb.

Made it though, crap, my feet hurt!

I passed the odd rider as we crawled along. The finish at the peak was visible though was still so far away. It was a happy sight to see the 1 km to go sign and make it to the Finish at the top . Water and coke was offered to us, yet we still had to ride another 31 km to town, all down though I was wiped out.

Marg & Gabi in front of the climb up Galibier

Gabi had a great day and finished close to me. We started the descent together and we both had the same thought to stop at the first sandwich place we saw. We joined other riders that were there. My championnes soup was so delicious.

Lunch in front of Galibier with German Team Claudia & Martin & Gabi

The last 20 km to town was long and tiring. My hands were tired from braking.

That night when we were out for dinner, the waitress thought she misunderstood me when I ordered two separate main courses. The guys followed my double order.

A good night sleep in a cozy hotel for the 11.5 km time trial tomorrow! And more rest time.

Stage 2 Hot Shaded Haute Route

2011-08-22T21:17:00.002-06:00

Stage 2 – 100 km, 3000m elevation gain

Neutral start was only 10 km though the roads were pretty bumpy. With a downhill warmup we went up the first climb Col des Saisies at race pace on a sweet average grade 7%. I was back to my old self climbing big chain ring (50 cog) and hung with the 2nd peloton of guys. The lead woman on the mixed team was super strong to keep with the front pack.

race photo

Long descent with the 2nd & 3rd mixed teams catching me at the bottom. Their pace was tough to hang onto for the next climb so I went at my own pace still going well. The best climb of the day was the Col du Cormet de Roseland… the top was super scenic with the turquoise blue reservoir amongst the peaks.

race photo

The descent was equally fun… fast… swoopy until the many sharp switchbacks. A couple cyclists skidded out on their own though no-one super hurt. The yellow Mavic vehicles were on support duty with wheels and bikes - something for them to do after le Tour.

We passed through the town Bourg-St-Maurice which was different in its square building structures and not typical Euro scenic.

It was hot today, 32C, though fortunately the first two climbs were shaded most of the way. The last climb to Les Arcs 1800 ski resort would have been favourable for me with a nice 6-7% grade. Now we were climbing in the hot sun and energy levels were lower. I decided to ease my pace, chatting with a few riders that passed by.

Cool bike markers every km - race photo

With 6-km to go, Team SOLO passes me! At that point I packed it in, dropped into my small chain ring and spun up the hill half the speed I had been going. Seeing the teams work together today, it helps to have a strong person to follow the whole race. It would be more interesting to see the Solo woman of Team SOLO race on her own.

I chilled at my slo-mo pace and contemplated I’m at the point of packing in racing high-end. I truly miss racing “fast”. It used to be so easy. Finally made it to the top, yay! hot!

view on my walk with woman racer Gabi to the Race Briefing

Hotel rooms were ultra Euro and cute at the ski resort in some weird diagonal staircase anthill maze. Hanging with the Brit crowd now living in Geneva, was fun having some real dinner at a restaurant. I had my first ever Buckwheat Gallette, vegetarian. The pasta dinner: plain egg noodles with a mystery meat red sauce, white bun, and sugar chocolate cake. Note, no vegetarian option or health option!

5 am breakfast, 5:30 check out bags, 6 am depart by motorcycle headlamps down the hill for the 7:15 am start for a killer day!!

3 epic cols in one day… Madeleine, Telegraphe and Galibier!

Tomorrow’s stage scares me mostly being on the exposed climbs in the heat. 4000m elevation gain. Game plan is to bring my camera, chill out and have fun!

French Alps Haute-Route Day 1

2011-08-22T07:19:00.001-06:00

Stage 1 - 109 km, 2200m elevation gain

The race start was on the edge of Lac Geneve at 7:20 am. Earlier arrivers took in the free breakfast of a chocolate muffin and a peach!

The first 25 km was neutralized. I chose to stay in the top 20 of the field to minimize the stop & go pace. There were 6% women in this race and I saw at least 5 women at the front. Any woman going into this event would be a good rider – cool!

race photo

When the pace Peugeot car left, the front guys went hard. I hung in the draft. At the 50km mark we were at the base of the first climb Col de la Columbiere and each to their own pace. Wicked steep to start with a few 15% grades, then mostly 8-9%. The chalet at the top was a welcome sight.

Two mixed teams went by then I was in the mix of two more mixed teams and one supposedly solo woman. Supposed as there was a same-jerseyed rider waiting for her and her crying out when he pulled away from her. I’ve seen worse at TransAlps with the German women’s team and their flock of domestique men. I rode with Team “Solo” the rest of the way!

race photo

The descent was not just the usual crazy fast, it included dodging vehicles and oncoming traffic. We were descending quicker than the cars until they let us go by. A lot of brake pad was used up slowing down for cars.

The 2nd climb Col des Aravis was easier mostly 6% and big chain ring! I worked to feign off oncoming leg cramps concentrating to utilize my glut muscles. Managed until the easier section of the last 10km where I lost my peloton at 3 km to go due to coasting to relax my legs from cramping.

It would have been a sprint to the finish between myself and the supposed solo woman. Glad that didn’t happen as there were a lot of twists thru villages and congestion with traffic before crossing the line. And I wanted to wear my cool jersey from Greg’s Acupuncture clinic with the little Canadian maple leafs the next day instead of the leader’s jersey.

Finish feed had the most awesome red oranges. Free massage queue was long so I headed off to the hotel. The folks at Hotel Chalet D’Antoine were usually hosts for mtnbikers and treated us well. My bag arrived a couple hours after I did. I had to borrow 10 Euros and went in search of veggies and fruit.

view from Chalet D'Antoine

It was cool to see the planters all over town with Kale and Red Chard growing amongst the flowers. I grabbed a few leaves to munch on my walk. The town was an orienteer challenge even with a map.

my favourite photo - check out the red chard!

Awards was abit chaotic and hard to endure. I wasn’t called up for 2nd place. Later, I clued in that the top 3 individuals “overall” are recognized and in this case it was all the mixed team women. The yellow jersey only went to the top solo. It’ll be challenging to duke Team Solo woman for the jersey!

dinner with Andrew from Ireland - meat vs veggie!

Day 2 looks to be interesting with prospective 3000m elevation gain over 100 km. Only 3 ups and 2 downs!

Pre-Haute-Route

2011-08-20T13:56:00.000-06:00

Adventurous day commuting by bike. My ride from near the airport to Stade du Bont-du-Monde to race registration was 8-km through winding streets. I carried my bunched up bike bag over my shoulder attempting not to hit any posts or pedestrians. Nice quiet morning and awesome bike lanes on the road.

the Fountain early Sat morning

Race registration was well organized. Nice group of cyclists, easy to meet and make new friends. It was great to see one familar face Lenny from Israel who has raced both Tour-Trans-Austria and Tour-TransAlps same times as I did.

Mug shot with the race jersey

Made my way back to downtown Geneva thru tourists and to the race hotel. I chose "Premium" accom in hotels versus "Comfort" accom in the communal housing. Too much stress lately so I'm hoping more rest can be had with less unknowns. Checked in, left my bike to rest in the room. Hotel gave a free all day transit pass.

What I love about Europe is the closeness of the "big" cities and the ease to get around with the local transit. I walked 800m and was soon on the trolley back to Vincent's house. Grabbed fresh veggies from the garden for lunch and rolled my bag back on the trolley to the hotel. Organized for the next race day, short snooze before a ride 4 km to the pasta party.

white-snow capped mtns and the fountain in front of La Saleve

Sat with Andrew from Ireland and Iain from Britain (living in Geneva) for a bilingual race talk of logistics every racer best already know if they even considered racing this event... like how long the course is, the Cols, the elevations... It was nice they spoke first in French, then immediately in English. Hopefully the organizers will get feedback that to keep the racers happy it's best to feed them first (!) then have race logistics and awards.

The food was "typical" endurance race food... pasta and a bun, oh, and a sweet dessert! Not conducive to vegetarians or health as I know it. I came prepared, armed with Vega products and loaded up with fruits and veggies.

Here's a glimpse of Stage 1... long neutral start with two major climbs. The issue will be the weather... it is HOT!!!

Taking the Haute Route from Geneva to Nice!

2011-08-19T19:32:00.000-06:00

The organizers for the European road stage races design the craziest most difficult courses with the majority of the racers being "hobby riders" or recreational athletes. Thanks to ERTC clubmate Aaron Falkenburg for bringing the event Haute Route 7-day to my attention, I was hooked and wanted to go into this Gran Fondo like stage race in its inaugural year. It's just what I needed... something new, different, and exceptionally challenging!

Tour de France followers will know these climbs way better than me, a non-Tour follower. So, I don't really know what I'm getting into... other than I've ridden my bike in the Austrian/Italian/Swiss Alps and Dolomites.

730 km in 7 days going up over 17,000 metres elevation gain through 15 Cols -- Epic!!

Within less than a week, I booked my flight, contacted the organizers for an entry in exchange for media exposure (thanks to Jim & Elsa), and worked my butt off to keep my work on schedule while I was to be away. Pretty stressful with minimal time... plane time was welcome!

After many couchsurfing requests, I managed to find an awesome spot with Vincent in his house near the airport... with a wicked garden! After a couple late departing flights, my bike bag didn't make my last flight to Geneva. Lucky enough it arrived the next day after I had time to chill and get organized.

Keep posted for the racing days and scenic Cols to come...

the commuter I used while I awaited my bike's arrival - thankfully!

Sinister 7 Try-outs!

2011-07-08T23:26:00.001-06:00

Sinister 7 Ultra & Relay in the Crowsnest Pass

After Furious 3 ended Sunday night, I drove 50 minutes east to the Crowsnest Pass to visit my super duper bud Lory Mangion who used to live in Edmonton. Lory is venturing to bring amazing artists together via an online website. Her awesome pottery will be showcased as well. I'm proud to showcase her current epic pieces as well as a few originals (the learning pieces!).

Lory, Susan, local Kathy & puppy Kimo

Lory is excited to be racing Leg 6 of the Sinister 7 trail running race this weekend. Actually, excited is synonymous with "a little scared" as Lory found out her leg will start around 2 a.m.!

No worries there... I set her up with my blazing Lupine Betty headlamp... only 1750 lumens to light her path... and everyone else's! (A basic Petzl is about 40 lumens!)

On Monday, Lory arranged for me to join herself and two runners to check out their Leg 6. I set up the light for Lory to test out. What are the chances that one of the runners Susan had been University roomies with my friend Rhonda... with Rhonda and her partner Rick visiting her just that weekend... totally small world!

Unlike Furious 3, Sinister 7 had awesome race profiles for each leg. On paper, Leg 6 looked pretty easy. When we ran it, I was amazed how rough the trails were, much more like adventure racing. Lots of mud, creeks and run off to go through. I'm glad Lory was taking the powerful Lupine on her night run as the path was pretty treacherous on the steep descents when we ran it in daylight.

awesome mountain views on Sinister-7 Leg 6

Kathy had raced Leg 6 numerous times before and gave awesome pointers along our pre-run. It was pretty cool to get to run with these gals today!

LORY! Susan Marg

Scouting the leg before the race boosted Lory and Susan's confidence for race night tomorrow. I look forward to hearing their race reports!

Fabulous Friends & Furious 3 in Fernie

2011-07-04T21:59:00.009-06:00

This was one of those people-fest weekends filled with meeting friends, old and new, from all over!

I entered the newby event Furious 3 back in December thinking I could easily fit in a 3-day event in Fernie, BC not knowing where I'd be working and living by July.

Training bud Tim got into the sold-out race only days ahead of race time. We both had the pleasure to stay at the parent's house of my running friend Rhonda's colleague Tanya... love those connections. Claire and Al Berry were most welcoming and super intrigued having weird-ecentric-crazy athletes stay at their place in Sparwood for the weekend! I was equally intrigued with their stories and knowledge.

Quick synopsis... I prefer long multi-stage endurance events. This event was more a cross-country multi-stage event... super intense and short. And that's ok... The bonus was super fun hard days with plenty of time to chill and enjoy the town.

The Good
- the most outstanding trails around
- strong women's field with amazing local racers (AB & BC & MO)
- awesome supportive guys to ride around (except 1!)

The Bummer
- unknown race profile, distance and elevation
- being excluded from the Open Category
- fast lost riders

Day 1 - 200 racers lined up. It was scary for me not to know the course profile. Seriously, I was already anxious about what technical was in store for me. This was the first event I've been in of this calibre that did not provide a race elevation/distance profile. Kate Ardal who lived in the area at one time and knew alot of the trails was kind to fill me in with more detail.

The pace went out hard like any typical stage race I have been in. Immediately, my legs whined from the previous weekend's Rundle's Revenge ride & run finishing only 5 days ago. Yah, only I would do something like that and think I'd recover in time! And for the most part, I did ok fitness-wise.

Once we turned into the first single track, I did what I could to hang on though slipped out alot on the mud and roots. My saddle hit me in my sore ribs again, ouch! It was not fun at all to let the storming riders pass as it was difficult to start up each time. It felt like at least 30 riders passed by. I threw in the towel, slowed down and had to figure out how to enjoy riding on that stuff. I was ready to quit the sport (!).

Once we got into the long technical climb, I held my position. I was super thrilled to hit gravel roads and get to hammer for awhile making up many spots again. On the appropriately named Hyperventilation trail, I rode up with a steady paced group finally taking the lead of our group.

At the top, I was surprised with an immediate descent on one of those drop of doom descents (SUPER WICKED!) that went on and on... brakes clamped on while still picking up speed surfing down on the loose dirt trail. My quads and triceps were crying! What was awesome was I held my own on that section. No guys caught me until I let the Hardcore team guys by midway which helped me to follow them. Lots of rough double track to the finish. Only 2 hr 39 min, 41km and 4300' elevation - short, intense & fun (well, definitely the latter half!).

Tim JERRY! Marg

Marg met Jerry at Master World X-C Ski Champs

Lovely satellite map of Day 2 race course "clearly" depicting the 5200' of elevation gain!

Day 2 - My heart dropped when I looked at the Open results that morning and my name wasn't there... either I was missed or... turn the page... listed in the 40+ category. That was the organizer's choice. I requested to be switched. I prefer to race by ability not age. I wonder which category he'd put Tinker Juarez in...

Again, it was frazzling not knowing much about the course. We were told it'd be oh, maybe 10-km longer than the day before!

<-- posted on the race website... our clues to Day 2 race course!

Another fast start with a bottle neck of racers in a short dirt trail climb. A river trail lead us around to the underpass to cross busy Highway 3. Up double track before tree-d challenging single track for most of the way.

I don't think I've sat on the tip of my saddle as much on any given weekend! Most definitely goat climbs. Major technical ascents and descents, one steep hike-a-bike, a couple runs across wooden bridges with slippery muddy cleats, one challenging creaky boarded walk across dizzying fast moving water.

Many lead fast riders missed flagging and were riding in circles and were abit grumbly by race end. Fortunately, my technical descending was at a pace (slow!) so I could see the hidden red flagging. For an adventure race, the flagging was ok... for a mountain bike race, pretty sparse and lacking signs. I definitely missed having long stretches of gravel on course today. Trails were mostly up or down for long periods. Highlight was riding smack next to a beautiful snowy mountain. That section was very TransAlps, better yet it was in Canada!!

As I had no solid info on the race distance, I was going to fill my waterbottle at the feedzone. I was told excitedly to "go!" and continue to the finish just down in town. I zipped down the last bit of single track, under Hwy 3 along the gravel path to a couple stopped trains and alot of waiting riders. Awesome, I was due for a break! Our wait times were to be deducted at the end.

Once the trains were gone, it was a pack of riders racing to the finish. I worked to hang on to Danelle Kabush's speedy pace though lost contact. I worked to latch onto a speedy RMCC rider, just made it into his draft as we flew by Danelle, with her just catching onto us. What a fun way to finish!

My GPS clocked 49 km and 5200' elevation... so, yeah "about 10 km longer" than Day 1 and the elevation was only 900' higher!

Day 3 - Hard pace, up the rutted double track to the Hyperventilation climb again. I just wanted to chill, climb easy and have fun. I had to force a couple guys to go ahead of me, then I had a nice comfortable gap. A bunch of riders caught me on the next descent. I was alone for quite abit thru the next sections and rode comfortably. The riding was fun though quirky with sharp lefts or rights. Definitely not enough gravel road!

After lots more single track alone, lots more riders caught me. Deadgoat Steve came by and I challenged myself to work behind him. More ascent so I was sent to the front. On the final descent I worked it to keep the descenders from catching me. And I did, as I hauled in on the roadie section! It was a pretty fun day and good ending.

After not being allowed in the Open category I didn't care to look at results at all this whole time. I also just wanted to ride as my technical riding sucks and needed work even though my fitness is ok. When I left the sport after TransAlp 2007, I was lots better technically from racing mtnbike consistently. The time to re-gain health in 2008, recover from car/bike/gear theft in 2009 and last year's faceplant has held me back a little. I love riding on the road though I really need to ride trails. I'm keen to work at it and get that technical riding back!! All considering, not so bad for winging it technically.

It was awesome to ride with, or best said, around alot of riders. The women were exceptional to see them pass by midway on climbs or techy sections. Alot of guys were supportive when time came to pass me. Ultra cool to see Gabor Csonka race on his singlespeed!

Another awesome post from local woman racer Krista Turcasso I saw ever so briefly as she flew downhill faster than any racer I've seen!

Food-wise, I needed to pack immediate sugar sources to fuel energy for the intensity. I was prepped more for a nice long endurance day in spectacular BC trails!

Brendan representing Team MitoCanada

Iron Donkey at the Rundle's Revenge

2011-06-26T22:59:00.010-06:00

1st time event Rundle's Revenge had an Iron Donkey category which had double the mountain bike distance of the trail run which was enticing to enter.

My last 2 weeks were spent healing my ribs from the OrganGrinder. So training and racing were on hold.

By Thursday, my ribcage was finally moving freely with awesome bodycare from Derek and Brad at River Valley Health..

Friday morning, I had decided best to rest after the ribs were sore from a Thurs night ERTC bike workout... though I was gloomy about the decision. Mid-day, getting text messages from Tim of "you racing?", "maybe"... that I went in full pack up mode and left for Canmore by 7 pm.

SATURDAY 100-km Kick-Ass Mountain Bike

Early Sat morning I arrived to race registration to see a very impressive start/finish area setup. I wanted to mtnbike 100-km for training though the 50-km trail run was daunting with minimal trail running, and I wasn't sure how my ribs were going to fair after biking. If it came to the point to grin and bare pain I knew I would so I wanted to prevent that scenario.

Nicki Rehn was the only woman entered in the Iron Donkey category of 100k mtnbike and 50k run. Nicki is an amazing ultra-runner with a whole bunch of adventures behind her... many wins of the City Chase events, the 336-km Tor des Geants 24,000m elevation gain "running" race in Italy, and a wicked self-supported run across Australia. Although our strengths were different, Nicki would be tough competition and I was sure her running strength would prevail.

1/2 hour before the start, I entered the Iron Donkey! Just as stubborn as one!.

On paper, the course looked non-technical for a mountain biker and good training mileage.

12.5 km and 400m elevation gain per lap... after getting bumped and bucked on the upper trails, lap after lap, I really wished I had a full suspension bike.

The course was fast and flowy, everything rideable, no death defying technical sections (like in the OrganGrinder).

Even though Margie Smith was in the 50-km bike event only, it was fun and challenging to keep pace with her each loop. I was a smidgeon stronger on the climbs and had to work to keep up on the descent. After blazing DOWN Georgetown trail, I hauled like a roadie on the climb all the way back. Thanks to Margie's daughter Sage and Sage's cousin Carter for helping me with support each loop, they were quick to lube my chain while I grabbed my food.

Into my 3rd lap, I was surprised to pass Nicki. Doing the math, I could use the much needed leadtime for my trail run. End of lap 4, my legs were starting to cramp and I wasn't storming the ascent as strongly. My lap 5 time showed my energy drop where I had to walk to let the leg cramps ease off. Next few laps, I stopped to eat at the 1/2 way feedzone and finish area... oranges, watermelon and gobbled down fresh cutup mango and pineapple. I had prepped little jars of Vega and my special concoctions (MSM, whole food Vit C, elk antler dust, 14-mix mushroom) though I was craving the sweet stuff! Energy was coming back - I felt stronger on my last laps, and the cramping went away. All comes back to food!

Lap 1-49 min, 51, 51, 51, Lap 5-62 min, 64, 57, Lap 8 - 59 min.

Nicki decided to end the bike at 50-km as she realized it'd be a hard effort to make the cut-off time, and her focus was on the 50-km trail run. I now had 8-hours to complete the 50-km trail run on Sunday. My goal was to run at a pace to conserve energy on my cycling legs. I had a 3-day mountain bike stage race starting the following Friday meaning 4-days of recovery.

Gabor Csonka won the men's 100-k event on his pink singlespeed with pretty much even split times, pretty amazing! And Pepper's mom, Judy, did awesome as well!!

SUNDAY - 50-km Mountain Mule Trail Run

Rain overnight had the trails nicely softened for the run. My ribcage was surprisingly fine. I purposely overdressed as my goal was to start super-easy, not faster than 1:30 and not slower than 2 hours. It was hard to tell. It was fun to get to start at the back and stay there.

My first lap was 1:39 for the first 12.5 km so I was pleased to be right in the range. The plan was to hold that "easy" pace for lap 2, then "really run" the last two laps!

Well, after completing 2 laps I wish it was 3 and I had only 1 more to go. The 4th loop was going to be tough. Despite running as relaxed as possible, my legs were not used to full body weight for running and it was inevitable for the muscles to fatigue. I was truly in adventure race survival-shuffle... just keep moving... I'll make it! And I did! in the same time as biking 100-km!!

Crazy Larry with Trailtrash runners

Met cool people running in the trails, though it was mostly a lonely day in the beautiful wooded trails with the most scenic mountain views.

I did have a unique thing happen both days while in the upper loop trails... a little bird swooped down in front of me at least 5 loops on the bike and 2 loops on the run. Same spot each time. It almost seemed like a game. Had to dodge one squirrel and only saw one hallucinatory deer. No bears, fortunately.

Thanks to Transrockies organizer Aaron for putting on another well organized event. It is always heartwarming to see Drew & Jo-anne... with Drew's familar voice announcing at the races and his calling out of my "Large Marge" team name from the adventure race days. I look forward to going on a helicopter ride courtesy of Kananaskis Mountain Helicopters Ltd.

just as lonely as in the trail running race

2011 Race Across America

2011-06-22T22:40:00.008-06:00

Keep posted on Leah Goldstein's progress at 2011 RAAM going on right now! She's 8 1/2 days in and only 1000 km away from the finish!! Leah is holding an 11.45 mph average right now. The women's record average speed is 13.23 back in 1995 by Seana Hogan. Velonews Jun 19th

2011 RAAM route with 2,990 miles from coast to coast (4810 km)

Team Physical Culture at the 1999 Hewlett Packard Women's Challenge 12-day Stage Race in Boise, Idaho.... Leah Goldstein, Gina Grain, Karen Timewell, Stacey Peters, Marg Fedyna

Organ Grinder Completed!

2011-06-12T22:41:00.009-06:00

My goal was to finish the Organ Grinder after last year's minor spill.
And I did!! Though not without a small casualty.

I need to be clear in my vision than just "keeping the rubber side down"... as I did... though heard the ever so soft c-r-a-c-k on one of the steep descents as the bike rebounded abruptly with the saddle jabbing my ribcage! Ouch!

Still had 1 1/2 laps to go and I was adamant to finish. Fortunately for strong abs, I braced my core on any rough sections. Inspiration thinking of Nicki Rehn who x-c skied the last 20-km of the Birkie this year after hurting her ribs in a spill.

The weather started out nice with the sunshine drying out the previous day's carnage of muddy trails. Two laps in had drizzling rain for 30 minutes. Then the sun came out again while we navigated our way thru the refreshed muddy trails. Made for a super epic challenging day... it would have been too easy if it was dry!

photo Jason Redfern

Loop was 11-km with 1060' elevation gain. I managed to complete 6 loops in 5+ hours. Fastest loop was 45 min, slowest was 55 min (with a cracked rib!).

My strength was the climbing sections. My age showed through on the technical descents as I balked more than ever. I have barely been on the mtnbike for a year now. I know with more practice I'll get back in the saddle on these sections. Without enough practice it is un-nerving to have high-energy guys behind me on a technical descent. I kept letting them go ahead and then lost my momentum to roll smoothly.

All in all, an awesome race course and one of my favourite races. I have lots to learn to ride on this course. I got to watch the smooth technical riding of Kate Aardal (1st), Margie Smith (2nd), and Shantel Koenig (1st mixed) as they went by. It was also a good group of guys I saw each lap as they descended faster and I ascended past them!

training buddy Tim - awesome mud & good hair
no one questioned my hand placement at the end of the race

shortest person on the lowest podium - marg kate margie

Riding Bamboo

2011-06-09T22:47:00.006-06:00

The new Bamboo bike in the household!

Such a sweet looking frame, and more-so in person. The bamboo is held together at the lugs with carbon fibre taping. What makes it so cool looking is where the bamboo nodules jut out a little then taper back in very smoothly. Apparently, bamboo is as strong as steel!

ERTC group riders oogling the Bamboo bike

I acquired a cool new Bamboo bike in my household through my recent couchsurfer turned roomie for a few weeks for her summer internship.

I showed up on the Saturday morning ERTC group ride on the cool Bamboo bike and the comments were hilarious. Fortunately, Caylie was with me and we swapped bikes before we left for the ride. The bamboo bike is a sweet singlespeed setup with coaster brakes.

Caylie's boyfriend Justin (<-- link to great article) is one of the originators of forming Bamboo Bike Studio. Check out this cool racing bike photo.

North Ogden Spring Water - The Stump

2011-05-30T22:37:00.009-06:00

Super welcome stop at a unique spring on my way home from Park City, Utah. Easy to find. It was cool to bump into a woman my age who has been filling up with spring water here since her grandmother brought her as a child. In 1931, pioneers had four horses lug the cottonwood tree stump, and created the stump into a drinking fountain for the spring. The land has since been donated on the condition that it not be commercialized and that the spring be tested twice a month. The city of North Odgen got behind it and funded an artist to create a fibreglass version of the original stump for the water to flow out of.

The spring water flows freely from the pipes and the fountains. Real refreshing taste. This stop will be a regular one for me, just off I15. Coming from the north, Exit 349 (UT-134) east 4-km to N Washington Blvd, turn north 150m... Stump fountain in park next to Lee's Marketplace (NW corner).

California Stomping Grounds

2011-05-28T22:15:00.002-06:00

Nothing like an action packed week in San Diego to fit in all the epic rides in the area around two Swami's group Saturday rides (races as some people call them).

stayed at Cyclo-Vet rider Captain Rich's place

just a small group showed up for the Swami's ride when the LiquiGas boys were in town post-Tour-California!

I don't know who they are but thought best to snap a pic for the cycling crowd at home
a snake print on my mountain bike ride
favourite trail in the Elfin Forest

wild fennel!

hot windy day in the Borrego desert

Spring Water - Ojai, California

2011-05-19T19:19:00.014-06:00

Checking over the website FindaSpring.com, I printed out info for any springs on my driving path on-route for spring bike training in southern California.

enjoying the views at the peak of Hwy 33 north of Ojai, CA

A spring west of Helena, Montana was missed as I needed to make it to my couchsurfing home before dark. I stayed in the cute mountain town of 250 residents in Basin, Montana with couchsurfer Joanie, her husband and Tori (2nd French bulldog I've met). Meanwhile, I had a couchsurfer stay at my place while I was travelling... works out real nice!

Next day, with a 16-hour drive ahead of me, I still took a detour to East Ogden mountains to search for spring water. Loaded up my backpack with all my glass bottles... hiked in on a hot day and due to sketchy directions (Kristin Spring or City Spring) and spring run-off, I did not find the spring. Still, a nice break out of the car. Made my destination to my friend Leslie's place in Newbury Park (west of L.A.) that night almost before dark. typical scenery up Hwy 33 with fresh yellow fragrant blooms

Les joined me on an epic out/back ride on old Highway 33 out of Ojai, it was fun to have a friend join me on a spring water venture to find Belly Ache Spring just outside of Ojai. There was a steep hike up to the top of a waterfall to get the spring from its source.

Les saw the waterfall on our ride in at Mile marker 22.35. We parked the van, packed up all our bottles and hiked up a vertical climb next to a waterfall... I'd almost call it 10.5 scrambling in places. There was a sketchy trail mostly in brush on either side of the waterfall, though easier to just walk up thru the water. It was pretty adventurous, and reminded me of the adventure race days.

At the top of the waterfall, the spring was flowing up out of the ground with the main stream out of a pipe for ease of filling bottles. We both loaded up. Somehow we both ended up carrying 5 gallons each (Les is twice as tall as me!) so that's, oh, roughly 40 lbs each! The descent was now a little trickier.

I freaked when I saw a water snake in my path! though Mr.Snake kindly moved to land for me. Les pointed out the poison oak so I wouldn't grab any of those bushes.

All in all... it was well worth the effort to get this water, and supremely brilliant tasting!!

Highlight as well that day was stopping at the largest online raw food warehouse in Ojai, The Raw Food World. I was excited to get to walk around and shop.
Bonus for my little white car getting the supreme wash treatment from Leslie's kids, Lei & neighbour buddy Ben, with Naomi and Alf inspecting!

Following Turbo-Tim on the Genesee Loop

2011-05-08T22:14:00.008-06:00

Pretty fun for me to draft behind a fast guy's bike and go on a long ride. Well, "fun" as in "fast and challenging". There were many moments today my legs were screaming at me trying to keep the pace and to be sheltered from the winds.

Tim Kulak and I ventured on our 2nd trip this season out southwest towards Devon looping north over the Genesee bridge and back thru west Edmonton. Round trip 181-km. This loop has some pretty nice back roads with minimal traffic and interesting scenery. There is no stop for water past Calmar only 1 1/2 hours in. We like to take the backroads (Devon TT course) with the valley hillclimb so we bypass Calmar. On our last ride, I noticed a cute B&B on Hwy 622. I phoned ahead to see if we could stop in for water. Very kind of Carole and Roland from The Heartland Inn to leave a few bottles of water for us in their mailbox.

90-km in on our ride, one dark cloud hovered over us and decided to spit a few ice pellets and raindrops for no more than 5 minutes. Otherwise, pretty sunny for the rest of the headwind ride home.

I was glued onto Tim's wheel for most of the ride though cracked a couple times. Too much flatlander riding. Tim was ultra amazing to pull the whole time strongly! We rode back in record times!!

Just another weekend ski... 24-hour X-C ski

2011-04-01T19:54:00.005-06:00

What to do when it's March 26th and winter snow prevails?... X-C ski 24 hours!! I decided last minute Friday to enter the Canmore SkiFest and drove down Sat morning for the 11 a.m. race start. With a stressful week of new work and late nights, I was in for participation to get in a distance ski, rests and fun. I heard "30 seconds to go" called out a few times as I was running from dropping off food at the feedzone scrambling to get my ski gear on! Off we went... a nice group of 20 skiers.

At ll a.m. temp was -4C and snow conditions were perfect with skis gliding effortlessly. The lap was about 3-km with 48m elevation gain. The mountain views were outstanding!

Gentle climbs to start with gentle descents. Half-way was a 180-corner descent, challenging to stay tucked in the tracks with a wicked "S" curve. Excellent section to keep me alert each lap swooping down fast. A few corners then up a short steep climb. That lead into a long deceiving climb which was the hardest section for its deception of ever ending. Final stretch of one-skate looping by the biathlon area past the start/finish area twice.

I thought a 3-km lap would be boring to ski for any length of time. It was an excellent distance... the laps went by quickly knowing what was ahead, a short lap gave sufficient opportunity to switch clothing (much needed in a cold-temp event), easy access to food, and a warm chalet to go into for rest.

Skiing the lap... always looking where to conserve energy and where to go fast. The fun fast descent was a treat to tuck and rest (the speed and S-turn put a huge smile on my face each time!! and possibly a "woo-hoo!"). Went as easy as possible on the hillclimb to minimize effort. Many sections to ski one-skate technique which was relaxing yet efficient.

I thought of the course as "laps" not mileage. I'd decide to ski 10-laps before taking a break... well, 10-laps was 30-km! Funny how the mind works. My laps were consistent with a few fast ones staying on the heels of the MitoCanada guys or eventual solo male race leader Leighton.

I carried a Camelbak with Vega Sport drink for intermittent energy and no excuses for not hydrating. Lack of pockets had me with a lack of carrying food. Eventually, I did the chipmunk method of stuffing my face and chewing as I skied, only to have a fellow skier chat with me soon after. After 20-laps, I took a longer food break.

Although the temperature was mild, a cold wind blew on the return direction and made it difficult for my body to stay an even temperature. The snow seemed to be getting sluggish by early afternoon. Around 27-laps, my energy levels crumbled. I still pushed it in to complete 30-laps. I was done! I decided to take the much needed recovery from my busy week. I ate, attended to foot blisters, then crawled into my sleeping bag. I didn't set a time limit, just rested until I felt ready to get up.

2-hours later, I surprisingly was back on skis and very refreshed. I admit to eating a couple pieces of pizza on the feed table though I attribute alot to my race food concoctions. Along with my Vega drinks where the colour grabs someones attention, some treats I brought which I really enjoyed were fruit of any kind especially pineapple and fresh young coconut water and coconut meat. Dates and figs were yummy. Throughout the race I premixed up whole food vitamin C powder, MSM crystals, medicinal mushroom mix with a little elk antler powder for replenishing my diminishing immunity stores and drank a little throughout the event. The solid food I brought wasn't too appealing and I was surprised I devoured a couple pieces of pizza which I haven't eaten in years. Endurance racing and eating doesn't ever surprise me!

Cyd Fraser, with 24-hour mtnbike experience, was up around 6 laps on me. I skied relaxed and was happy the snow had frozen up and was fast again. Within 4-laps, I gained a lap on Cyd and slowly we played the Turtle & Hare game.

At 10:35 p.m. I had completed 50-laps. Even though I was feeling great I decided to take a full-on rest. Again, I refueled with Vega recovery drinks and food, and crawled into my sleeping bag. Race director Richard was kind to wax my skis, as I was going to do that myself. Meanwhile, co-race director Kamila was surprised to find me in my sleeping bag. Her timing was great as I was ready to get up.

Off I went around 1 a.m. and never felt sleepy the rest of the race. The snow was super fast, the wind was calm, it was easy to see on the lit trails, it was really meditative to be out on skis at that hour. More Turtle & Hare game to catch up on Cyd's relentless consistent skiing and 5-lap gain. It was awesome to hear cheers from the announcers throughout the night over the loudspeaker.

It was impressive to have groomers come by a couple times throughout the event, even at night. The tracks were in great shape the whole race.

Packing for this event, I neglected to bring "cold-weather" gear as predicted temps were to be balmy. I forgot that the body depletes in endurance events and clothing helps to keep in the warmth. Thanks to Christina, a 12-hour relay skier, who overheard my plea for mitts and offering hers. It was a game of jacket on/jacket off to keep the body temp regulated.

I caught up to Cyd and kept my pace going. My goals shifted as the event went. At one time I was determined to ski 100-laps. My 2nd break cut into that goal. I noticed Cyd taking longer breaks. As I jumped into this event unprepared, I decided to ski whatever was necessary to stay in the lead. I ended up skiing 87 laps or 261-km.

Many thanks goes to the race organization which was World Class. Richard & Kamila, Peter, the Zideks and volunteers were amazing. The town of Canmore gave great support to this 1st time event and hopefully many more. The participants and their support were encouraging. Anyone on a relay team seemed to have more fun and it was inspiring to see all the recreational skiers.

24-hours of x-c sking is wayyy less painful than 24-hours of mtnbiking. Other than my foot blisters, and post-event foot swelling (long time on the feet!), recovery was pretty easy. Thanks to Tim for driving back to Edmonton!

Next time, I would like to challenge the World 24-hour X-C- ski record (prepared!) held by Kamila Borutova of 333-km, WITH Kamila skiing it too!

Definitely a nice way to end the ski season...

Masters World X-C Ski champs Whirlwind

2011-03-11T22:18:00.012-07:00

Pretty incredible ski day at Sovereign Lake, Vernon to finish this weeks events at the Masters World X-C Ski champs. The temp was around -5C with good snowy tracks for the women's 30-km classic race.

I was getting better with waxing for these conditions with Coach Corey helping with the final touches. Lots less squeamish than I was for my first race on Sunday. .

Marg taking the lead at the 4-km hillclimb - photo Kim Maser

Fast women's start with 3 of us merging for the lead. I hovered back, noticed one skier already slipping a little. I coasted behind Mae Hooper, a local Vernon skier, to get thru the flat section. At 4-km I jumped into the next track and went my pace up the climbs making a clean break. The cheering section was motivating with their cowbells and cheers.

I maintained a good pace passing all the older skiers that started ahead in 5-min age category intervals. I gave cheers as I passed by and had many returned. One comment being "you go you youngster!" The volunteers were also awesome with many cheers. Cool to hear Euros cheering in their home languages hoping they're saying good things!

sporting the MitoCanada suit at the final daytime awards

After the calm first 10-km loop, I had a fun time on the very twisty and hilly last 5-km loop. It was getting warm as the sunshine was hitting this section of trails. Hearing cheers from clubmate Joan, I threw my toque towards her (as she was trying to take photos!). Losing the toque helped keep me cool.

As I was just completing the first 15-km course loop, I was passed by a speeding Russian bullet on the flat section. She was from a 5-year younger age category and had already bridged my 5-min head start. I clung on for, oh, 200 metres! I might have held her pace for awhile longer on a climb. She made me look like I was standing still!

The tracks were getting a little softer though still good enough for a great time skiing. On the last 5-km loop on the steep climbs, I ran herringbone up in the middle of the tracks. It was the easiest way with the sunny conditions.

I totally enjoyed myself out there :) and held off anymore youngsters passing me.

a happy threesome of Canadians for the 30-km classic race

I just hollered "J-E-R-R-Y !!" and the Moose was coming for me

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Short recap on my 10-km race Monday... HARD!

I had no expectations except that it would be a fast race with fast women... and it was!

Grip and glide were awesome. Off the start at the merge, my skis were trampled on, with me not being aggressive with getting into the tracks. Sheila Kealey from Ottawa and Leslie Hall from USA took off already 20 metres ahead of a pack of four of us. My pack's quick pace gapped me by 5 metres. I worked to tag on just as the pace eased slightly. So, I took the lead on a climb and never looked back.

I worked hard double-poling on any descent. Hard enough to take bronze & 3rd place! At the finish I just hung over leaning on my poles gasping for air & recovering from the effort. Wow! I hadn't gone that effort in awhile. It felt good!

Check out the wicked VIDEO below!!!

video from Blaine Penny & BIG cheers from Team MitoCanada

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RELAY TEAM

It was cool to be selected to the relay team (for Wed) based on my 15-km results Sunday and 10-km results Monday. The glitch with the selector not knowing if I'd be back from my whirlwind daytrip Tuesday to Vancouver... assigned my position to an alternate. This put me in an awkward position race morning... though Jessica, the alternate, was understanding and I was able to race.

The team comprised of Ottawa's Sheila Kealy Leg 1 classic, me Leg 2 classic, my old Vancouver roomie Carolyn Daubeny Leg 3 skate and fellow Edmontonian Nancy Burden Leg 4 skate.

Nancy Burden starting Leg 4 skating

Very tough conditions for my leg as flurries came down with a strong headwind. The tracks were not visible in places. The 5-km classic loop was super flat! I did the best I could and our team held 3rd after a very strong USA team and not far off the Russian team.

Laurie Murray just finished her classic leg.
Albertans Clark Shipka and Mary Young cheering

Relay Team Canada - Carolyn, Sheila, Nancy, Marg

Mito Suit Has Good Energy!

2011-03-06T21:59:00.009-07:00

It's a special feeling representing a good cause and getting to sport their colours in an athletic event. I was excited to wear the MitoCanada ski suit at the Master World X-C Ski Championships today at Sovereign Lakes in Vernon, BC! Blaine Penny, one of the PLPP skiers I met, is the instigator behind creating awareness and raising funds for mitochondrial disease. More about this cause can be read here.

Blaine caught me just before the race testing skis

So much exciting about the champs... the organization is superb, our own lane assignments for starting within 20 lanes, racing in my age category the first time 45-49 year olds, the enthusiasm meeting masters from all over the world...

The women's category races started 5 minutes apart with the younger age groups first. I was just in place in the 19th lane on the first row when I realized I left my GPS sitting on the bag check-in table 50 metres back. With 1 min to race start, I sprinted back to get my GPS, put it on and dash back to my starting position with 20 seconds to go, phew! Best sprint warmup as once our starting flag was down, I had a great double pole start. I actually eased up abit when our lanes merged as I wanted to go the pace of the lead skiers, and be cautious of any breathing difficulties at the high altitude.
After 2 km, I realized I was at a pretty comfortable pace and my skis were faster on the descents than the lead skier. I knew I had to commit to taking the lead and possibly skiing solo. I jumped into the passing lane and went hard. Either someone would go with me, or I'd get a nice break. I broke away... and stayed away slowly passing skiers from the earlier starts. Had to focus on keeping my heartrate high and breathing low.

I was all smiles and laughter when I passed a huge cheering section of people, some with cowbells. Really motivating! The conditions were superb... a little snowy... warm air temp around -4C... and the scary warm blazing morning sunshine had hidden behind a snow squall. The course was quite fun rolling gently up and down for the first 10 km. The last 5 km had the Montezuma hill that was seemingly endless interspersed with fun twisty descents. The crowds cheering definitely helped keep me moving on that last bit of climbing.

Best part was I had both excellent grip AND glide the whole race. It is such a great feeling to race on skis that worked 100%, a tricky balance to get. MAJOR thanks goes to Coach Corey who helped refine my ski wax before the race until the skis were gripping well. These humid conditions are challenging to wax for.

Corey's Ski Group with Silver Star's Jerry the Moose

For accommodations, I really wanted to stay at the lower elevation in Vernon at 1140'. The ski area is up at 5500'. I was fortunate to get to stay at a local jade sculptor's place just west of town.

monument of Kalamalka Reflections in front of the library

getting to see jade sculptor Deborah Wilson in action at her home studio

Shorts & T-shirt Birkie

2011-02-13T19:49:00.010-07:00

Mid-way in the 2011 Canadian Birkie 55-km x-c ski race, I thought I could have raced in shorts and a t-shirt. The temperature got to +5C and the high pace effort made for a super warm race. I managed to shuffle my headband down around my neck keeping my Adidas eyewear in place. The breeze on my head helped keep me cool and I made sure I kept hydrated.

Eco-challenge teammate Philip from Winnipeg in the 5.5 kg pack category carrying Alf

The start went smoothly with at least 8 tracks set for the first kilometre with plenty of time before merging into 2 tracks by the second kilometre. All the skiers naturally seeded and it was easy to pass when needed.

With a warm spell of weather the last few days, the tracks set the prior days were solid in a good way and not too icy. With a blue klister base binder topped with a Universal klister, a few layers of VR60 worked quite well. It was awesome to see each posted km sign fly by quickly.

Excited for Alf's 1st Birkie!

After the first feedzone 8-km in, I was skiing in a pod of 4... fellow Lake-Louise-to-Banff Loppet racer Sean Huggins-Chan, fellow club skier John Benskin and Gerhard Lotz from Camrose. We pretty much clung together each taking turns at the lead until I crashed on one of the porcupine trail corners. I chased the 3 skiers just 50 metres ahead of me until I caught them at the Islet Lake feedzone 3-km later.

I had my Camelbak of Vega sport drink and shorts pocket full of dates & gummies within easy access on this warm day. It was great to feed when I wanted to. I made a little ground at each feedzone when the others stopped and then they had to chase back to catch me.

By km-34, the latter half of Islet Lake loop seemed to be when most everyone's grip wax decimated. After I had another slip out on the left-hand right-hand turn over the bridge, a few guys fell like bowling pins one after another. Fortunately, we all came out unscathed and scrambled up the next herringbone climb. We now had a pod of 6 with Jason Proche catching on and a blue-suit guy taking the lead with good grip.

I played cautious on the next twisty descents on Sisika, snowplowing down. Ah, my klister base wax was no match for the abrasive surface. Little did I know that I had ripped off a good 9 inches of grip from each ski around the critical foot area. No wonder I could no longer stay in the tracks up the climbs.
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The pod then crumbled. Gerhard and blue-suit guy skied away from us. John had no grip and was wondering if he should stop to rewax. With no uphill grip, I herringbone-walked up any steep climb to conserve energy (doh, the climbs are usually where I can make time) and gunned it on the double-pole sections. Sean and John dropped off. Jason clung onto my pace and called me his guardian angel for helping him keep pace.

A few feedzones later, Jason dropped back and I had blue-suit guy in sight. It was fun when the 55-km course merged back onto the 32-km course and to ski fast in the passing lane. Into the last fenceline section, I was passed by Dennis Colburn who was using griptape of all things. If he had shortened his gripzone, he thought he would have had better glide and still awesome grip.

Into the last 5-km, I caught up to blue-suit guy. I wanted to pass him at 4-km to go... when one hamstring almost cramped. I double-poled straight-legged and managed to ease the cramp away. With 2-km to go, I decided to pass cautiously and had a great double-pole to the finish. My fastest birkie time yet 3:23!

grinning after a great day

Every Birkie I've raced has been different. This was was ultra-balmy with surprising solid tracks. The challenge was skiing without grip the last 20-km... and learning to really work the camber of the ski to plunk down for pushoff.

Kelly, superfast Canmore skier, Marg

Super happy to see friends Tanya, Rhonda & Rick as the official race starters

the Birkebeiner Viking

post-Birkie visit to the Art Gallery with Philip, Alf was resting

prehistoric creature made out of white plastic lawnchairs

sunrise before the Birkie start

Tawatinaw "real-XC-ski-course" Loppet

2011-01-30T17:15:00.005-07:00

I was deceived by the weather forecast which said Tawatinaw, 80 km north of Edmonton, received 10 cm of fresh snow in the last 24-hours... so I agreed to go. Arriving to find frigid repacked old snow trails scared me just a smidgeon as this course has some wicked twisty technical descents.

cycling clubmate, Greg Nicholson, before his 1st x-c ski race!

A brave lot of us, 17 to be exact, started in -29C temperatures. It was a 15-km course so it was a choice of 15k or 30k. I stormed up the first hillclimb and gapped whoever was behind. Up in front of me was one super speedy guy who I couldn't see the whole race. So I went a good high heartrate pace the whole way.

I was surprised I had excellent grip up all the steep climbs in the tracks, except for few sunny sections. It was possible to descend safely in the tracks except for the odd sharp corner where step-turning was very sketchy on the lumpy and abrasive inner track. I only skidded out a couple times, though safely.

What was great was skiing the last 5-km southern section that had been removed from last year's course due to lack of snow. It was the most fun with continual big ups and downs, in the sunshine, with remarkable views.

Into my 2nd lap, I passed a green-jacketed skier who must have taken a shortcut on the first loop. He wondered why he was in the position he was in. Passing him encouraged me to ski faster as I figured he'd take the same shortcut again!

I'm glad the organizers still held this race despite the cold temps as I kept warm enough and the tracks were blazing fast and super fun to ski on. Bonus - almost everyone got a medal, and everyone won almost two draw prizes each!

Greg, post-race, a little frosty with a valiant effort after losing the grip wax on his skis

The comment of the day... was post-race when I was in the chalet in fresh dry clothes. Green-Jacketed man comes in and chats with me about how some "little boy" passed him very quickly in the 2nd loop, so GJ-man realized he must have taken a wrong turn. I said "that was me"! And Kamren, my carpool buddy, got a real good laugh as he was within earshot of that comment. ha ha ha!

It was agreed that this course is well-rounded with the hills, flats and technical... "a real x-c course".

Beckie Scott (Herringbone!) Loppet

2011-01-29T21:43:00.013-07:00

I was super hesitant to go to the race in Vermilion as Alberta had close to record breaking warm weather the previous days, and I didn't want to race on glazed tracks. The race organization did a superb job grooming - best formed tracks I've skied on all season.

It's been many years since I raced here and I totally forgot how different and wicked the trails are. 30k race with 3 loops of 10-km. The descents were fast and mostly able to stay in the tracks. I biffed only on one surprise sharp left corner and was a little sketchy on a step turn corner later in the loop.

What is great about this course is the no-fail grip waxing... as the climbs start out gentle, then turn into super steep herringbone climbs, out of the track, so wax is not an issue... and a few herringbone climbs in a row!

Small turnout of hearty racers with an appearance by Olympian Becky Scott which was cool to see such a familar face at the venue of her hometown. The race temp was -15C, which was nice except for the bit of windchill.

Spent most of the race skiing with clubmates Jeff Innes and Helge Halvorsen which made it fun. Near the finish, Helge took off with 500m to go and gapped me. Fortunately for a hillclimb finish, I stormed and ran up to Helge as he was still climbing in the tracks. Helge just jumped out the tracks in front of me and I had no inclination on which way to pass. Jeff was right on our heels.

Wish we had a picture of that finish, it was pretty exciting! Clubmate Marion Mayerhofer topped off 3rd 30k woman finisher.

photos - Vermilion Nordic Ski Club website

the La Ruta of x-c skiing

2011-01-23T21:26:00.009-07:00

As I was finishing gingerly making my way on the uphill/downhill Hillsdale split on Leg 4, on the microscopic bits of snow left to ski on the pavement, dodging the odd stone... I defined the Lake Louise to Banff Loppet the "La Ruta" of x-c skiing! The snow was too deep this year for the snowmobile to pack a trail on the enbankment, so we had the choice to ski on the road or run. Glad I had my rock skis!

The lead guys descending on the Hwy 1A road - photos Tom Towne

"La Ruta" is a mountain bike stage race held in Costa Rica that has many environmental obstacles to endure. Need to go into that race with an adventurous mindset as it torments a bike racer that expects ride-able trails!

Same goes for the Lake Louise to Banff loppet with it's ever-changing course conditions each year. It is way more of an adventure than a buffed x-c ski race with pristine tracks. And the adventure is what makes it enticing to ski every year, along with the outstanding scenery of the Rockies.

the race starts with nice tracks

Lots of snow and ultra warm race conditions (start: -4C, finish: +1C) made for a few course changes. We started just past Lake Louise due to slush and had only 50m flat before merging to descend Tramline trail. I had a clean start descending behind a few of the speedy guys. Fortunately for bits of fresh snow made the crazy hairpin corner do-able for me.

I skied with Sean Huggins-Chan, Tom Maier & Tony Smith for most of Leg 1. At least 8 of us squeaked by just in front of a long CPR freight train. Earlier this year on Jan 2, I had the opportunity to meet some of these skiers as I had joined in with a good 12 of them, including race winners Blaine Penny and Kirk Howell, for the 100 km PLPP challenge.

After the climbs on Leg 2, I got ahead with enough time to drink a Vega optimizer drink at Leg 3 transition kindly given to me by members of Team Lifesport. I jumped back on with Tony as he passed thru. It helped to ski with Tony to keep the ski pace up.
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Leg 3 was set real nice with snowy tracks until after Moose Meadows hitting a 500m stretch of logging zone where it was suggested to run. I chose to zip thru on my rock skis hoping there was enough snow to glide on. When I hit the fresh snowy tracks again, one ski felt a little sluggish with debris so maybe next time better to run.

Leg 4 had the crazy Hillsdale pavement section which was a long slog. This was my pick for hardest section this year as it took alot of energy to double pole on the pavement on snow that was barely there. Needed to be light on the skis on the descent to watch for anything that could deadstop my skis fast.
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Leg 5 had sections of deep trough where the bank was too high to pole next to the skis. I altered my double poling to a 45 degree angle so I didn't lose the poles into the deep fresh snow. The backswamp section that takes us out to the Sunshine overpass was like backcountry skiing in fresh powder.

I slowed down my pace to save energy as I was excited with the thought of switching to skate skis for the final leg from the trailhead. I was offered the opportunity to have my skate skis dropped off for me so I took it.

With my focus on switching skis at the trailhead... which is after the start of Leg 6 and after the cattleguard, 800m down the road... I quickly ran by the crowd at Leg 6 transition... and unknowingly, by my nicely laid out skate ski gear (!)

lead guys running over Sunshine overpass

happy to see the wooden board over the killer cattleguard!

I got to the trailhead and was slightly dismayed not to see my skis or support person. I dashed back and forth abit then tossed on my classic skis and did my best to skate-ski on them.

Early on, Tom easily passed by me on skate-ski gear.

With a few spills when the wax stuck to fallen debris, I had a major face-plant going fast on a descent. Phew, amazingly not hurt... had to backtrack to pick up some fallen goods... onward. When I hit the river section I went over as many icy sections as possible to strip the remaining wax off my skis. I was surprised how quickly Leg 6 went by.

Marg skiing into the finish on the Bow River

dressed like an adventure racer with food in the side shorts pockets, Camelbak, Kahtoolas dangling from the waist strap

photo from Daniel Austin's article in Jan 25, 2011 Banff Crag & Canyon
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Largest turnout of solo skiers finishing - 46 (31 men, 15 women)

Next year, maybe the women will ski in a pack the whole race with the likes of Liza Pye and Theresa Gawron! Liza had the fastest Leg 6 split using skate skis. I figure using skate gear (and not crashing multiple times) might have been a 10-min time savings... and higher smile factor of fun!

Oh yeah, we got awesome "Lake Louise to Banff" bula toques for entering!

When I arrived to the Rockies pre-race day after my 4+ hour drive from Edmonton, I realized I left my packed plastic container of my sport drink, race food and Camelbak at home. In a long distance race, race food is as critical as ski gear. Easy to purchase my Vega food at Nutter's in Canmore for a high$, and fortunate to borrow a friend's Camelbak. Glad I remembered my skis, boots & poles though!
I would still choose to switch my gear at the trailhead than at the Leg 6 transition... it is a quiet location, not in traffic, immediate access to the trail, tons of adrenaline from Leg 5 to endure the 800m run across the overpass, way easier to run in flexible classic boots than stiff soled skate boots.
I planned to use my Kahtoolas as traction devices for the 800m run after Leg 6 transition. They also came in handy for traction to run up Hillsdale for the first two camel hump hills
Awesome organization & volunteers - awesome race!!

PLPP 100km Challenge - EPIC!

2011-01-04T21:46:00.016-07:00

When I read on skihere.ca that 5 guys skied "all" the trails in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park (PLPP) in Kananaskis Jan 2, 2010... I so much wished I was there. I caught wind of the 2nd annual outing for Jan 2, 2011, and I was adamant to join them.

skiers from the 1st PLPP challenge - photo skihere.ca

12 skiers started out at 7 a.m. from Pocaterra trailhead in the dark, donning headlamps. It was -18C which was surprising as it was -4C when I drove in from Calgary that morning. I had to put a couple layers of colder wax on top of my predicted warmer wax. My super bright Lupine light with a new battery decided it was too cold and quickly faltered. It was pretty exciting to ski behind skiers with headlamps and tread lightly in the dark. The tracks were fast and we clipped along. Within an hour, daylight came.

We basically planned to ski the 42-km Cookie race course twice with additional mileage at the end. With Packers trail not in good shape, we threw in Blueberry Hill instead and backtracked from the base of Packers. The last 13-km of tracks that had been fast were now sloppy. I found the rolly hills with uneven tracks super tiring.

Loop 1 was 51-km 3:57 hr.

Taking a food break at Pocaterra hut was welcome. Getting chilled was not. I immediately threw on a whole new set of dry shirts and jacket, and switched gloves. I didn't expect to have to switch up clothing and was lucky to have brought a selection for different temperatures. Even while eating and rewaxing my skis, my body warmth was just ok while wearing my down jacket. After just over an hour break, we were off for Loop 2.

Wow, my body was noticeably tired. Within a few km, the muscles got back into active mode. Despite the -14C temperature, it felt warm in the sun. Realistically, we were barely in the sun as we were sheltered in the trees. The tracks were not fast like in the morning. Many daytime skiers had already trampled by. We re-grouped a couple times. It was easy to get chilled waiting, so the onus was to continue on at each own's pace. From the top of WhiskeyJack, I skied solo the rest of the way only seeing the guys on the out & back trail of Blueberry Hill.

2nd time up Blueberry, was now at a slower pace. The descent was still super fast and fun. My decision was to go up Whiskeyjack a 3rd time instead of backtracking the sloppy trails. Just into the climb, a couple fingers were very frozen in a scary way. Dark was approaching. I was just barely dressed appropriately without any spare clothing. I still had 13-km to the finish.

I had to stop. Tossed my damp cold gloves into the crotch of my tights. Threw both hands against body warmth inside as well. I huddled and just counted, and deep-breathed. Not the best feeling to be out in the cold alone at that moment. Within a couple minutes, I was happy my fingers unthawed. My gloves even had warmth to them. Suited up, off I went. Surprising, the rest of the 4-km climb went by in no time. It was ultra welcome to have the descent down Pocaterra trail to the finish though I really had to focus on the last double-pole section.

101-km, ~8:10hr, 6700' elevation gain --> pretty awesome!!

I ran to the car and threw on whatever dry clothes I had left. I was hooped for abit with my body shuddering from the close call of hypothermia. Meanwhile, the rest of the group was returning. I eventually found out the hut was still open. It was good to sit by the fire and chat about our epic ski before heading home.

Thanks to Tony Smith for being main instigator. It was an awesome group of skiers to meet & ski with. Good representation from Canmore, Calgary, Edmonton & Golden! I look forward to the 3rd Annual!

Check out Blaine Penny's awesome video from the 1st PLPP 100km challenge

Longview Spring water

2010-12-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

The directions on FindaSpring could be abit more detailed... the drive up the road was more than "up the hill a little bit". It was a good kilometre! Found it as described coming out of pipe into a trough.

Only if I can't get to the Rockies would I stop off at this spring. Easy access on-route to Fernie and Crowsnest Pass via Hwy 22.

Rocky Mountain view from the spring parking spot

My "Thrive" bottle full of fresh spring water

Lynnwood, WA - Surburban Spring Water

2010-12-16T11:43:00.001-07:00

Lynnwood Artesian Well: Off to visit friends in Seattle, I stopped off highway I-5 South. I wasn't sure what spring source I'd find as I was in the middle of suburbia.

Exit 183 (164th St SW), west 600 metres, little parking area on the north side, at the bottom of the dip in the hill.

I bumped into a couple women who were cool to have their picture taken with me.
Once I was done filling up my glass bottles, there was a line-up of people. Super busy popular spot!

Canmore Spring

2010-12-13T12:17:00.002-07:00

A frequent stop for me whenever I'm out west in the mountains. Easy trek into the bush near Harvie Heights just off Highway 1. Will usually see a trodden path in the snow from the parking spot into the trees. Follow upstream to the pipe.

view from the spring source

Spring Water! Nowhere Spring near Hinton

2010-12-06T18:49:00.011-07:00

Spring water defeats gravity and actually levitates up from earth to the ground. It's a great feeling to bottle up my own water, and it tastes remarkable. I'm getting into testing and learning more about it.

Anyone I've carpooled with for x-c skiing lately, has had to stop at a spring with me. After tasting it, they've all admitted to wanting to bring glass containers with them next time!

Filling up with spring water 5-km up Hwy 40 outside of Hinton

Directions appear sketchy, though easy to find just as written.

People are slowly starting to populate the website created by Daniel Vitalis http://findaspring.com/ with locations found all over the world.

The Raw Snowman

2010-12-06T17:40:00.006-07:00

I made apple-butternut squash soup for the Raw Food Potluck on Sat. I couldn't resist to bring along the Raw Snowman dessert. Super quick and easy to make. Tough to cut him up, though everyone enjoyed eating him!!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup cashews
juice of 1 lemon (I ran out so used some lime)
7 dates (pitted)
unsweetened coconut flakes

Decorations:
Eyes - pumpkin seeds
Nose - goji berry
Mouth - chia seeds
Buttons - raisins
Arms - grape stems

Recipe:
Blend dry cashews until like flour. Set aside in a bowl. Blend dates, juice and a few sprinkles of coconut flakes (prevents sticking). Mix wet with dry with a spoon to make a dough. Make 3 balls, roll in coconut flakes, build snowman! Source: http://rawfoodswitch.com

Anyone is welcome to join in on the Edmonton raw food potlucks. Contact rawveganedmonton@gmail.com to get on the mailing list. Different venue the 1st Sat of each month. The food is outstanding!

2010 X-C Ski Season Begins...

2010-12-05T17:05:00.002-07:00

Ski season had a couple week late start later November this year. Of course, I headed to the mountains whereever there was enough snow to glide on.

The view driving towards Hinton, view of the Rockies near Jasper.

Skiing with Taras at the Hinton Nordic Centre Nov 21, -20C

Awesome conditions, super fun, though cool temps

Early season tracks at Hinton Nordic Centre, Nov 25

Mountain views at the end of Morraine Lake Road in Lake Louise, Dec 1

View from the top of Blueberry Hill in Kananaskis, Dec 2

Pic on Blueberry climb that Alf Skrastins took of me! that I found on skihere.ca

Hinton friends Sue & Skye heading out on a balmy -8C day, Dec 5

2010 AB cyclocross season end

2010-11-09T15:45:00.011-07:00

Nov 6 - Riverbend Cross Madness, Red Deer
The last Alberta cyclocross race was on a fast-paced open course, with a few twisty sections in the scenic river valley.

photos - Central Alberta Bicycle Club

With cyclocross Nationals on the same day in Toronto, the three women that showed up in Red Deer raced with the Expert men. Fun start in the mass, dodging racers that had overshot a few corners off the twisty start, getting through the rideable sandpit in a drunken path. I was positioned well. Once we hit the open sections, the strong guys quickly passed by.

Held my own with not getting lapped and duked it out with a couple guys. I was adamant to climb the insanely steep climb. Was getting more fatigued each time though made it without walking! The cheering section there helped!

Finally, mastered the barriers taking the bike speed into the run. Check out the height, especially on a slight uphill!

Jumping the barriers to me, feels like this!

photo - Aaron Falkenberg

Totally proud of the Albertan women that made the trip to Cross Nationals - Elite and Master women. Was hoping to see both Pepper and Katy on podium. Glad superwoman 4-time National cyclocross champ Wendy Simms had strong Alberta racers to challenge her! Pepper and Katy mostly raced in the Expert men category back home. Paid off with 2nd place for Katy and 4th for Pepper!

Canadian Cross Nationals - Katy hopping the barriers with Wendy

photo - Canadiancyclist.com

Oct 30 - Brian Kullman Memorial Cross, Calgary

Race course set in the schoolyard beneath the Children's hospital on a super balmy summer-like day. More twists and turns than the prior year made it challenging fun. Many new faces with the thanks to the organizers for reduced entry for women. World ranked road racer Julie Beveridge showed up. I knew she would be speedy, wasn't sure about technical.

photos - R. Haskell

Off the start, the many ability level field broke up quick. Bridget took the lead, with Sonya, Shantel, Julie and Marg close behind. Bridget lead strongly though washed out on the tricky descent corner to a swooping steep ascent. We avoided her and quickly passed by.

Shantel grabbing the cash prime at the first run-up the stairs

In the open sections it was awesome to hang onto Julie's wheel drafting making good ground.

Marg hovering behind Julie
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Passed Julie on the stairs run-up and stormed on any technical section to get away. Not overly thrilled to race solo on an open course to wind.

Approaching the barriers... .

I'm always excited to clear the barriers without tripping!
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tricky sharp left turn after the barriers
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small person technique up the steep climb

Meanwhile, Bridget was strongly chasing her way back. I held the lead for a few laps, though energy was flailing. Ended up washing out on the same spot as Bridget earlier, now having to run up a normally rideable climb. Lost alot of the precious lead.

Bridget with her eye on Marg
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Marg working it, though tuckered

Within the lap, Bridget came by Marg strongly

Super exciting women's field racing this season!

Oct 31 - Beans 'n Barley Cross, Calgary

Next day, back to Shaganappi Park for the Halloween race. I dressed up with a costume minimally with black ears and black tail. The racers that dressed up were outstanding.

photos - Bill Quinney .

Had a super start with the course catered to my compact chainrings 50/34 in the straightaway sections. Felt strong today.

2010 Cyclocross

2010-11-08T13:45:00.038-07:00

Sep 25 - School of Cross, Edmonton

AB cross season started slow for me with rolling my ankle on a super steep off-camber dismount within the first half of the first loop of the first race of the season! Doh, it hurt as I limped up the climb. After resting for a few minutes, I decided to coast back to the finish to pull out of the race... catching sight of the last rider ahead, and feeling ok, I (stupidly) started chasing! It was a fun course, clawed my way back to mid-pack by the end. Paid for it with a Fred Flintstone size ankle the next morning despite doing everything I could to keep the swelling down. It was a bummer to not race the next day... and next few races.

the wickedly fast start to the 1st cross race

photo - Aaron Falkenberg

Oct 9 - GP Jim Horner Cross, Edmonton

Rested my ankle for a couple weekends, then had two good races on the Velodrome course grounds.

Following Bridget and Shantel for a couple loops on the techie curves

photo - Bill Quinney

Shantel chasing Bridget over the barriers

photo - Saul Ansbacher

Up & down the grassy bowl near the Velodrome

photo Teresa Chung

Much needed help to open the bubbly!

Oct. 10 - Redbike Red Cross, Edmonton

Similar course to the prior day, in reverse direction. Seemed abit flowier. Still fun!

Marg laughing at Shantel's huge course taped hands.

Shantel jockeyed Bridget for 2nd.

Oct 17 - Kelowna Cyclocrawwws

While I was in Kelowna for a super fun birthday party weekend, I took the opportunity to go into Kelowna's first cross race. Choice of categories A and B, so I went A with the speedy guys and World Mountain bike champ Catherine Pendrel.

Course was rougher than the plush Alberta grass courses. Lots of fun technical sketchy corners and trails, with the steepest hike-a-bike section for a cross race ever!

First time I've flatted and had the good fortune Monica Nelson who was spectating overheard me and offered her wheel. Had fun catching back up to a few guys after my wheel change.
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Finished 2nd to Catherine though she lapped me, and was challenging the top 3 guys! Good atmosphere, and well organized for a first time event.

On podium with Catherine Pendrel

Oct 23 - Lion's Den Provincials, Devon

Course designer Cory Dickinson put in the "agitator" snail loop again. Made me dizzy going into it...Off the start, Katy was quickly binocular distance ahead. A good spectator race was happening between Bridget, Shantel and Marg, with sightings of Master woman Sonya not far behind. We were wheel to wheel.

Devon photos - Bill Quinney

I did a horrible job leading into the snail loop. With Bridget getting by me, it was so much easier to follow good riding lines, or should I say circles!

Into the final sandpit, a stake tripped me tossing me and my bike into the pit. Bridget scooped her bike that bit it as well, with me dusting sand off not far behind. The wind was out of my sails to chase. Very exciting action for the crowd!

3rd at Provincials

photo - Alexis Hillyard

Oct 24 - Pedalhead Roadworks Super Prestige, Edmonton

Next day, woke up to rain which made the thick grassy course at Goldbar nicely rideable.

Pedalhead photos - Darcy Reynard

Many exchanges of the lead with Shantel, Trish, Sonya and Marg. Lengthy sandpit section which was challenging to grab the line closest to the pond (only one guy fell in!). In the end, Shantel had a stronger finish.

Marg chasing Shantel

Shantel chasing Marg

Coolest weather day though nice to watch from the indoor pavillion

Riding on the Highlevel Bridge

2010-09-19T21:30:00.004-06:00

I hooked up with friends of friends and joined in on a wine & cheese party with a different view... from a historic streetcar atop of the high level bridge in Edmonton!

Not the typical brilliant sunset views with the rainy evening, though still alot of fun. The streetcar came with conductors dressed the historic part and shared their knowledge of the streetcar history. .

historic pic of the high level bridge, 49m above water level

Anyone can charter a streetcar. Check this site.

Mt Baker Hillclimb in the Rain

2010-09-12T13:31:00.003-06:00

Back in 2003, I did the inaugural Mt Baker hillclimb in wonderful temperatures getting to set the first women's time up in 1 hr 39 min. Attempted it again in 2004 in the pouring rain. Since then, Leah Goldstein has smashed it with 1 hr 26 min.

views from Mt Baker on my pre-ride days earlier

For 2010, the rains were back. This time the organizers cut the course 3 miles short... the best and steepest part of the course! Visibility didn't really matter on the latter miles as it's a closed road. Course was now 21.5 miles and 3300' elevation gain (normally 24.5 mi, 4300').

Finally decided on what to wear. Lots... as the bike spray from the bikes ahead would keep me cool and the exertion of the climb would keep me warm on the ascent section. (Note to self... do not need a raincoat or headcover)

Smaller hardy group of racers on the startline. Off the horn, the guys went fast. I hung on best as possible to the first little climb... maybe a little Gran Fondo muscle fatigue happening from the previous day. Grasped onto the 1st chase group of guys to the 2nd little climb. Finally settled into the 2nd forming group of guys which was "comfortable". Ooh, not a good word in a hillclimb race!

Finished... chowed down an awesome spread of food, grabbed my bag waiting for me at the top. Made the wicked cold descent down though was warm with wearing everything I owned. When I finally saw the results, one young woman was ahead by only 2 minutes. When I say only 2 minutes... she was strong enough to get away with the men on the flatter 12.5 mile section which is over half the race and a good headstart. If the women all started together, it would have really showed the hillclimbers! Next time...

the ravens at the top of Mt Baker - as big as my bike!

Got wicked questions from the customs officer going into the USA at the Abbotsford/Sumas border:

Where are you going? to ride my bike up Mt Baker

What's your profession? actuary analyst
What is the life expectancy of a 60 year-old male Pygmy from New Guinea? ha! he caught me by surprise... and I even attempted to answer it. Nice that they are getting their humour back!

Gran Fondo Canada!

2010-09-11T19:22:00.002-06:00

After 30 years of using the road up Mt Norquay for Provincial hill climb champs, Banff Parks declared the road an animal corridor. Hence, the race was cancelled. I had planned to switch to Masters category for my first time and was hoping to set a record.
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Bummer though this opened up the schedule to now go in the inaugural 120-km Gran Fondo from downtown Vancouver to Whistler.Exciting that morning, riding to the race start across the Lion's Gate bridge. It was wheel to wheel traffic of bikes at 6:15 a.m. in the dark. Fun to bump into familar faces in the starting corral. Dropped my bag off where it was to be trucked to the finish line. Hmmm... only one truck already full with a 5 foot high stack of bags waiting to be loaded.
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Men and women in the racing category got to seed up front in what was called the Giro category. 4000+ Gran Fondo racers were seeded behind us. Men racers started at 6:50 a.m. and women one minute back. The rest of the riders started at 7:00 a.m.

Two women racers sprinted off the start. There was a car and a motorcycle in our path which slowed up the women's peloton. Once we dodged it, the two women were far ahead. No-one wanted to chase. I gave in and picked up the pace for a "warmup". It took until the rise before Lion's Gate bridge to catch them. I dropped back for a break once we did. We pretty much floated along in a peloton with the water views of Burrard Inlet.

Within 30 km, the first pack of 100 men from the 4000+ field behind us, caught the women's peloton and we were swarmed. We rode in chaos like that for a good 20 km. There were 2-foot high pylons lining the whole 120 km to Whistler. They weren't visible when riding in the mass of riders. I crushed one with my drivetrain and did a nice mountain bike manoveur to stay upright to the shriek of a man riding behind me.
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Finally, the BC race commissaire vehicle came and neutralized the women's field. The commissaire hollered that he would disqualify any women who rode ahead of their vehicle until that group of men passed us clearly. Women were upset when he said he'd neutralize each time a pack of men came by. Yah, crazy but that's the joy of women's racing! Pretty unfair as the men behind were not in the racing category.
.W
We were neutralized again thru the feedzone for Gran Fondo riders in Squamish, the halfway point. Out of Squamish, the peloton took the long and gradual climb steady. Midway, I decided to hoof up the pace. At the top, I looked back and was happy to see two riders with me. Inevitable that the peloton would catch us on the flat section. I told the two gals I would do the same thing at 86 km when the next big climb hit.
.At 86 km, everyone was settled in a steady pace up the climb. I picked it up again. At the top, the same two women were with me... Leah Guloien and Nik Vogler. We all worked together with Leah pulling strong on the flats with Nik and I taking turns up any incline. Too bad Leah had two mini-mights with her! Heard later, more women would have went with us though they thought the peloton would catch up quickly anyway so didn't. With smaller groups of men to pass, we avoided riding with them as best as possible. Not easy when the men would jump on our wheels to draft!
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By 108 km, a group of seven finally caught us. Heard that only three strong riders towed the other four up to us. It would have been ultra-cool to have kept the break. I was beat and it felt good to chill in the chase group. The women slowed to turtle's pace for the last 10-km with one woman in pink from Whistler attempting to pick it up on the climbs. It was the commissaire who agitated the peloton when he said he would neutralize us again with another's men's pack 500 metres behind us. Ann Yew went to the front to pick up the pace.
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With the turn off the highway into Whistler, veteran racer Sara Neil looked like she was going to attack any moment with 1 km to go. Then Leah blew by so fast with 500 metres to go and another corner to the downhill sloping finish. The peloton was so blown apart for this sprint that seconds were given between each rider which is unusual for a peloton finish.
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I put my head down and went hard though could not even catch anyone's wheel. Crawled in 8th place out of the 10-racer peloton. I was happy for Leah as she worked hard the whole race. I was pleased to have instigated the hill climb chases. Not sure how all this will help my race in the Mt. Baker hillclimb the next day! Video of speedy men's finish
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Ultra awesome the weather was perfect. All week, it was forecasted for rain. At the finish line, it was like a reunion of many athletic sorts... saw so many buds from road cycling, mountain biking, adventure racing, triathlon... met new people.
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Race was organized well for a first time event. Only glitch which could be seen as a glitch on the spot... lack of bag transportation! My bag finally arrived to the finish line by 2 pm when I finished around 11 am. I am so glad I had driven my car up the day before and parked it with extra clothes and food.

Westside Spring near Kelowna

2010-09-01T12:24:00.002-06:00

One of my favourite springs only 11 km from where I stay at my friend Mike's chalet in Kelowna. This spring is not documented yet on FindaSpring.com. I bumped into a grizzly older man one day filling up water. He said he has been using that water for 25 years. I asked if he ever had it tested. His reply was "I'm still alive"!

Spring is found off Westside road opposite lakeside. 4.5 km in from Hwy 97, parking spot after blue sign "Raymer Bay". Listen for the water.

Vancouverite Dorothy filling up with water to take home

view of the awesome Okanagan Lake

checking the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) rating

Darkhorse at Ironman Canada

2010-08-28T08:32:00.009-06:00

For the past two summers, I've been on awesome training rides with Scott Neyedli from Scotland while we were both in Kelowna. I'm rooting for him in the Penticton Ironman tomorrow August 29!

Lean & super nice Scott in black riding with Evano (L) and James (R) on an epic ride on the backroads of Penticton - I took the photo while riding!

Talk about darkhorse... Scott came a close 2nd in the 2009 West Australia and 2010 Australia Ironmans and didn't even get mentioned in the 2010 Penticton Ironman preview.

I have Edmonton cheers going to Paul Tichelaar if he is over his injury and decides to race. All the best to Edmonton friends Mark Woodhouse and Gary Eggan in their pursuit for sub-10 hours!

Myself, I chose to opt out of Alberta Provincial mountain bike champs this weekend with the smart decision of healing fully! I'm healing up my body with amazing work by manual physiotherapist out in Kamloops Claudia Scrivener. With the cranial sacral work on my face, my fractures from June are settling where they need to be. After each treatment, I am wowed how the skull can be manipulated and shifted. Way better then getting surgery!

I saw Claudia reduce the Smurf-size swelling in my finger ligament in front of my eyes, just by pressure and manipulation. I'd recommend her and will definitely see her if needed in the future. Wish I knew about her months earlier...

Whole Food, Plant-Based TALK - Sep 4 Edmonton

2010-08-25T11:48:00.001-06:00

Brendan Brazier, professional triathlete, plant-based nutrition expert, and bestselling author, shares how to thrive on a whole food, plant-based diet.
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Date: Saturday September 4th
Time: 5 - 6 p.m.
Place: Planet Organic, southside, Edmonton
Cost: free
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Other Alberta event info here.

How to Thrive on a whole food, plant-based diet - Brendan Brazier shares his tips for losing weight, reducing stress, and staying healthy, the whole food way found in his bestselling book The Thrive Diet.

It's a great way to "be"!

Not so fun part of a Stage Race!

2010-08-02T17:01:00.003-06:00

photos courtesy R. Haskell

Stage 3 Tour de Bowness - Criterium

Fun course as the roads are super rough on the backside corners. Hung in there. Took the hill hard a few times. Good attacks by everyone which made it another fun race.

After the last corner, tossed the little gremlin away that said "I'm too small to sprint". Sat hard in my saddle in the drops and stayed on Tanya's wheel for the final 200 metres. At the line, I was behind by a nose though pretty pleased I made the effort to sprint!

Gathered overall omnium points for 3rd with Pepper commanding an awesome win with her efforts at the crit.

Bow Cycle put on a wicked event with Niklas Group as a main sponsor. In the Women's field, almost everyone left with a prize or cash. Thanks Bow!

Fun Part of a Stage Race!

2010-08-01T20:30:00.001-06:00

Marg, Heather & Pepper - photo Al Black

Stage 2 Tour de Bowness - COP hillclimb

It feels different to climb this hill in a race situation with strong racers. It's a 3-up time trial format. Pepper, Heather and I were seeded together as the top riders from the previous days's road race. From the start, I let the race unfold and followed Heather with Pepper glued onto her wheel. I actually lost my normal drive to scamper up. Just different focus for me in a group than challenging myself alone.

The climb goes up the road in Canada Olympic Park 1.3 km and 345 feet elevation gain. The pace dropped slightly halfway up. I took the lead maintaining the same pace stand-climbing.

On the final corner which is the steepest of the course, I heard what sounded like an engine revving up! Off goes Pepper gutting it out to the top. Cool, I thought and had no desire to challenge. At that point it's all a mental game to go through the lactic acid build-up. Been there, done that!

Racing at 7:30 pm gave shadows ahead of me from the riders behind me. Made sure I kept Heather's shadow behind and rolled to the finish. It was awesome to see the focus Pepper raced with.

Team Peloton

2010-07-31T22:05:00.008-06:00

Stage 1 Tour de Bowness - 11 loops, 5.3 km circuit

One of the most fun road races I've been in lately... highlights were having two awesome teammates Chantal and Danika, lots of action with pulls/attacks from a great field of women, and a course with hills giving total elevation gain 2700' for less than 60 km distance.

Into the 4th loop, four of us broke away. It was cool to work with my teammate Chantal, Pepper from Juventus and Heather from United Cycle. Within one loop, our foursome grew by a few more riders and my guess is BC Bike Race Podium champ Katy worked it with my teammate Danika to bridge up to us.

Halfway into the race, the Cat 3 men began to pass our peloton on the long descent. Bummer for the women when this happens as we have to "neutralize" which is a term in cycling to stop our race while the faster men's peloton is cleanly past before we can race again.

I was on Heather's wheel with the women's peloton following, when this occurred. It was tempting to follow her as she continued forth. It was a large men's peloton so I immediately "neutralized" with the women's peloton and slowed down to allow the men to pass. The race pictures clearly show the women's peloton being passed by the Cat 3 men in the series of 5 pics with all the women together.

Heather, a very accomplished racer placing 3rd at the recent Canadian National Crit champs and has been racing the US Pro Women circuit this summer, did not seem aware the women's peloton neutralized to allow the men to pass. She continued to race forth. It was not reassuring to see the Commissaire vehicle which was driving on the left hand side of the road next to the Cat 3 men's peloton which hid Heather racing on the right hand side of the road out of their view!
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It was flustering seeing a rider go as our peloton neutralized. Women expressed concern as we eased the pace together waiting for the last guy to go by. The women's peloton wondered what to do... chase, chill, race... Pepper gave good advice that the race was not over. It seemed unfair to have to chase down "given time".

The race dynamics were now altered, though in a cool way despite the predicament. The peloton worked together like a team. We eventually caught up to Heather as she soft-pedalled into the last laps. The peloton wisely stayed behind Heather. With 1/2 lap to finish, Danika attacked, Heather jumped, we all followed. Various strong efforts on the last climb with Chantal challenging Heather to the finish. I sat on their wheels in 3rd.

Ended up the Commissaire in the vehicle watching our race "missed" seeing Heather not neutralize with the women's peloton, losing track of her for a lap(?). Officially, racers need to present a protest to the Head Commissaire post-race for any issues. Even though women expressed dismay at the time, no-one came forth officially. Possibly lack of knowledge of the procedure as this situation rarely comes up. The protest was delegated to "heresay". It just wasn't pleasant to be waiting neutralized seeing a racer ride away. I'm not sure why Heather didn't wait for the women's peloton to catch up from our neutralized position.

The race was ultra fun up to that point... learned to keep persevering when stuff out of our control happens...

It ended up awesome working with the rest of the peloton to the end.

Ogopogo Sightings

2010-07-20T21:48:00.015-06:00

Good cycling kilometres have been spent riding in the Okanagan valley with rides along Lake Okanagan. Lake Okanagan spans 135 km. The coolest paddling race in the falltime called The Length of the Lake is on my list of things to do.

Marg with Ogopogo - summer 2008

CBC radio just had a documentary on the famous Ogopogo lake monster first spotted in 1872. It had me laughing as the Ogopogo topic comes up when I'm at the Lake. It's worth a good laugh...

Give it a listen... CBCradio: Ogopogo Mystery Put to Rest

My cousin and siblings with Ogopogo back in 1968... - photo Dad