California Stomping Grounds

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

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

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

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

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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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!

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

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

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

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.

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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.

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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

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

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"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!

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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

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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!

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.

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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