Labyrinth at the Devon Dairy Queen Double Dipper

The Labyrinth Snail

The Labyrinth cyclocross maze

photo - Mike Dickinson

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

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

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

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

photo - Mike Dickinson

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

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

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

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

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

Fall-time running fun in Edmonton

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

.

Rain, Snow or Shine - the race goes on!

Marg wearing Kahtoolas!

Photos - Allan Santos

Remington Cross for Kids - Calgary

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

Deadgoat Craig racing while the snowboarders descend in the background

.

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

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

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

Darcy running thru the long sandpit section
photo - Finn Pedersen

I hate putting my arms up!
photo - Finn Pedersen

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

Blow Street Super Cross - Calgary

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

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

Mical riding thru the evaporating snow
photo - Darcy Reynard

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

photo - Darcy Reynard

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

photo - Darcy Reynard, bells - Mical's mom

Smiling muddy faces - Marg & Shantel

photo - Darcy Reynard

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

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

Dust off the Cross Bike

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

Ain't she sweet...

Farewell Okanagan

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

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

Dipping into the lake was a treat after any of these rides. The great Sunday road group ride and very social Tuesday night mtnbike rides were awesome ending with a good meal with the mtnbikers after. I got one last epic mountain bike ride in with an old Edmonton rider Andrea Bergen. We were in awe of the fall colours and the wicked singletrack.
.

A few cool sitings... sitting in the chalet, movement outdoors caught my eye. Three bears strolled into the yard!
The little black bear warned his mom I was watching so she had both of the cubs climb trees. The brown one climbed 30 feet and the black one climbed 50 feet - amazing to watch up close! Mom stayed guard below.
Later I caught them leaving on the beautiful rock face next to the chalet. It was cool to see them though I'm tired of cleaning up their poop!

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

Length of the Lake

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

teeny OC6's barely seen in the top corner view

1st speedy change-over at Fintry

off go a fresh crew...

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

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

Intuition or Whining?

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

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

Awesome recaps of the race:
Dallas Morris - "Wow"
Gabor's "Pedal for your life"
Cory Wallace - "Double Header Gongshow" (the Snow80!)
Old lady intuition wins out on this one!

Test Ride in Tahoe

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

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

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

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

Elevation gain 12,500 feet - long jarring descents

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

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

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

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

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

Weather was perfect with an overcast sky keeping the blazing sun toned down. Most of the course was shaded in the trees. I finally made it to the finish 9 hours 22 minutes. Lou finished 25 minutes ahead of me. Tinker Juarez won the race and Canadian Cory Wallace from Jasper came in 2nd. Cory has been getting into incredible adventures with great stories on his blog.
I stayed at the Clair Tappaan Lodge a couple miles away run by the Sierra Club. Inexpensive like a hostel and has awesome chef made meals. A group of online guitar members got together for a Groetsch guitar specialty weekend. Nice to hear the jamming of music as my weary body got some rest.
Going to this race was a highlight for me... the scenic drive down, the frantic prep getting the bike together, visiting friends on-route in Seattle and Ashland. Most of all, it was my first mountain bike race in 2 years since my health got quirky in 2007! I was thrilled the whole time riding being back in action!!

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

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

Mt Seymour Hillclimb + 4 hours

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

love the tall north shore trees
photo - Guy Trotter

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

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

photo - Guy Trotter

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

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

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

bear patrol volunteer duty with Killaine

Le Tour de Bowness

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

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

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

love seeing everyone work behind me on that short hill surge!  photo - Mike Dickinson

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

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

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

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

photo - Mike Dickinson

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

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

photo with Beau the RCMP

The Flying Squirrel

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

http://extension.unh.edu/NHOutside/2007/03/flying_squirrels.html

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

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

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

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

Tour de l'Alberta

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

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

Watermelon Smoothie!

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

hamming it up with the miniature hamsters

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

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

Seek the Peak - outcome

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

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

Strolling up the Grind natural stairclimb

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

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

Jacquie Sabourin, Helen Sabourin, Marg Fedyna

 

Seek the Peak

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