checking out the American Birkie

Back in November my x-c skier friend Marcus Boyle and I decided to enter the American Birkie with his friend Cameron Mahon from Toronto. Marcus and I knew we'd be working 24/7 on the airport expansion project the same day as the Canadian Birkie race Feb 11. The American Birkie date was better timing for us being two weeks later.

We entered days before the race sold its 9000 spots! Bonus was getting into the Elite classic wave based on my Cdn Birkie and Keski results. Otherwise, newbies have to start in the 9th wave. Marcus got into Wave 1 which started simultaneously with the Elites. Cam managed to get into the 4th wave for Skate which was the earliest wave to squeak into without a qualifying time.

So many new logistics to figure out, including a challenge to figure out grip & glide wax in the sparsely snowed area. 2012 will be known as the least amount of snow accumulation up until late Feb.

Decided to fly into Duluth, MN. Even though we had to switch planes in Minneapolis, the flight to Duluth was total $500 vs just stopping in Minneapolis at $800. Made no sense! I was willing to take the chance for a missing bag vs opportunity to stay in a quaint town and fly into a teeny uncongested airport.

Met up with Cam in Minneapolis before flying to Duluth. Picked up the rental, stopped at the community whole foods store for pre/post food, and off to drive 1 hour-ish south to Hayward, Wisconsin. The land was close to barren of snow. Reminded me of Calgary/Canmore after chinook winds.

Chatting it up with Cam as he was driving, we almost drove back to Minneapolis by the time I realized we missed the turn East! Well, only an extra 20 miles. We got to the race expo around 5:30 pm to quickly grab our race packages. The wax prediction didn't alter from the prior day's wax testing... HF blue and a powder for the glide... green base wax, VR40 layers with shorter VR45 layers covered.

Cam, Marg & Marcus chilling at Telemark Lodge before the race

Since there is minimal accommodation in the area for all the skiers, locals are encouraged to rent out portions of their homes. We stopped off at the private housing I found considered out-of-town in this town of 2200 people (barely 1 mile from downtown!).

We stayed with an older woman Serena in the house she basically grew up in. Our accom was in an empty room in her little house, perfect! We all brought sleeping bags and crashed on the floor. Originally, Marcus was adamant to sleep at the startline outdoors in his -40C bag. Cam was great to convince us all to eat dinner, prep our skis and by then Marcus was swayed to stay with us.

My race time was early at 8 a.m. with subsequent waves leaving periodically after. Next morning was super early getting up before 4:45 a.m. Not sure of the post-race congestion of 9000 people, the decision was to leave the car parked close to the finish and walk the rest of the way to the bus shuttle location to the race start. As we were walking on dry roads, the stores down Main St were all lit up like at Christmas. Cam pointed out we were about to walk on the actual ski track as the road turned all snowy white for 400 metres. Snow had been dumped for a main street finish off the lake - very cool to see the pristine white tracks prior to racing on them.

Got to the shuttle at 5:45 a.m. waiting for a 6 a.m. departure. I sat next to Gary Zimbric from Wausau, WI who had done 31 of these Birkies! Gary filled me in on details with me asking tons of questions. A half hour traffic-free bus ride later, we were at Telemark Resort. It was nice to be early and all of a sudden see busload after busload of skiers walk into the lodge. The morning temp was about 15F or -10C.

Marcus and I made our walk to the startline on the snowcovered airfield, only 600m away. A huge warming tent was set up to sit or wax skis in. There was an 800m loop to test skis on. Out of the blue... cool to bump into Roch Frey from Encinitas, CA (originally from AB), Don Sissons from MB (met at Transrockies 2005) and of course the Lifesporters from Calgary, Pep and Kat!.

The trucks to load gearbags were ordered by wave and lined up right at the startline. I dropped my skis in position at the line then fumbled stuffing all my overlayer clothes into my bag, and tossed it over the fence towards the truck. I like that close convenience.

sturgiefamily.com

I was third in line, not many skiers deep behind me. Then I looked to my right and the startline stretched for over 30 skiers, yikes! It did look like a large number of skiers, all similar calibre. I thought the start would be a gong show of flying skis and poles. Anything but... it was an awesome non-frazzling start with politeness of skiers soon squeezing into 6 then 3 tracks. Pretty much bumper to bumper for the first km though reasonably easy to get around. As we approached hills, we split up accordingly.

I was abit nervous of the crowd, getting the wax right, clothing (I overdressed a smidgeon), my lack of high-end fitness (plenty of endurance, too much work, not enough rest)... that within a couple km of skiing on the course, I was smiling knowing it was the right thing to be there skiing at that moment!!

On our first descent, I was ecstatic my skis glided as fast or faster than the men I was around! Yay, tough to do for 105-lber! Thanks to Marcus for zipping up my skis for glide.

The first 26-km, the classic skiers skied on a trail away from the skate course. This made the classic course 4-km longer though the hills were less steep than for the skate course. The course twisted thru the trees and was very quaint. The descents were long enough to get into a tuck for a few moments rest. LOVED the course!! It was totally entertaining.

Could put in a hard effort up the climb, then rest on the descent. 3 tracks set which were close together though awesome for choice on cornering and passing. There was usually 1 track set on the whole downhill, with the other two flattened for most corners. When I could, I'd attempt to stay in the track as it was quicker though sometimes got spit out on a sharp corner.

I carried my camelbak so usually got away from a handful of skiers each time at a feedzone. Whenever there was a huge hill, it rose in camelhumps so it was never daunting. This course rolled super nice.

A few times I could see skaters speeding along on the right when the courses came close together. At 26 km the classic course merged with the skate course, with two classic tracks together on the left hand side. The skaters had enough room for at least 3 skiers across. With the course merging, the trail was wider and less twisty, more open. It was like a different course from the first half.

I cheered whenever I saw women skaters fly by. I`d get a few smiles and cheers back my way. Women were given a distinct navy blue coloured bib so easy to spot.

Plugged along with the km marking signs ticking away. I attempted to ski with a few skiers though eventually got away and eventually hooked up with a couple others. With the interspersed climbs, it was a hard course to get the right calibre of person to ski with. I was alone for times, especially the latter half except for the constant flow of skaters on my right.

Here and there, were sections of people cheering. Earlier in the race I saw a group of people drumming, and later on a group of sledders dressed in what looked more like hunting camoflauge gear. Nice to have cheers!

Coming around a corner at the 38 km mark in the wooded section on the trails, I could hear amplified cheering and was wide-eyed wondering what was up ahead. The small crowd was loud and hearty with major dance music blaring. I lit up taking in their energy and started bopping to the beat as I climbed uphill. The crowd went crazy seeing I was soaking up their excitement. It was awesome!

Another 2 km later I approached the infamous "bitch" hill. It was a sight to see in front of me as the hill was super steep, could say "daunting", with skiers laden all over crawling up it slowly. Lots of people cheering with a man with a mic, dressed up as a reverend announcing humorous religious statements such as... "Sinners, you are forgiven for your blasphemes shouted out loud as you climb Bitch Hill!". His comments were funny and made the hard effort of skiing the steep climb light-hearted. This was the only spot I had to herringbone climb up the last pitch.

I heard one skateskier comment "only 3 more hills left". I did see the odd skier here and there just leaning over their skate poles resting. Harder to skate up those steep ones.

The temp was warming to below freezing and the sun was peeking out. It was challenging to stay in the tracks for the peak of the climb. I had a wicked technique where once my ski slipped on the track a smidgeon or I could see the grade rise, I immediately jumped out on the open track and literally ran up the climb (this is where Ski-Mo training comes in!). I was going as fast or faster than the skateskiers on these steep climbs! FUN! They would zoom off after the rise.

The last 10 km was flatter. With less than 4 km left, the track went across the lake for 2 km and fortunately the wind was pretty negligible. I was leading then noticed men in tracks on both sides behind me. One guy finally passed on the left. I said to him "it'd be great if you jumped in front of me"... and he did! It was so nice to work to stay on his heels. At the end of the lake, scrambling thru unsettled corn snow, I made my way to the last 400m trackset finish on Main Street and just took in the cheering of the huge crowd.

I was pleased with my effort knowing I can nudge it up a few notches with the right training and rest.

Met Marcus at the finish. The finish corral funnelled the skiers to ski racks where the gearbags from the start line were bunched according to their wave. It was easy to pick up my own bag. Wish the Cdn Birkie set up the bags this way.

We hung out watching the thousands of skiers coming in. And easily met up with Cam who came in one of the top skiers from the 4th wave meaning he had to pass thousands of skiers starting ahead in prior waves.

For accom after the race, I arranged to stay at couchsurfer Jim Levang's place in Duluth. He mentioned his wife Julie was driving down to cheer on their son Sam. Texting my location at the finish, we met up with Julie and Sam. It was great to hear everyone's race story. Sam did the skate race his first time two years ago starting in the 9th wave and earned his spot for wave 2 this year (a tough feat!).

Took in the finishers atmosphere, back to the Serena's house for showers and stories, then off we drove to Duluth. It was the guy's first time couchsurfing and everyone got along well with Jim & Julie and their guest Maureen, not to mention the dogs Chip and Monty. Dinner was full of stories.

It was a race that I`d like to come back to and will have difficulty choosing between skate and classic. As much as I love classic, the skate race looked luring with the momentum-ous hills. Wish the Brkie could set the format up like the Gatineau Loppet (Keski) where classic is on Sat and skate on Sun. No problem to do both!

Now, we`re even considering the original Norwegian Birkie for 2014!!

New found Pipestone Trails

Weekend prior to the Birkie gave the last weekend to sneak off from work for the weekend. Marcus and I skied every possible x-c trail at Lake Louise...

view of the Hotel from the far end of the x-c trails on the glacier side

...out/back Morraine Lake road, around Fairview, loop in the trees towards the glacier back on the lake, down upper Telemark to Peyto, out the Great Divide and back on the latter part of lower Telemark, walking across the road to hook back onto Tramline. Total 49-km in under 4 hours.


Lake Louise glacier behind us

Stayed at Field hostel in the downstairs suite. What to do the next day?
Reading the reports on skierbob.ca (formerly skihere.ca), many skiers reported in about the great condition Pipestone classic trails at the base of the Lake Louise ski hill on the other side of the highway.

My next favourite trails at Pipestone!

Off we went to explore new territory... Wow, the Pipestone trail loop going counterclockwise was wicked! An intermediate trail gently climbing un-noticeably high on swoopy singletrack trails in the trees. I had faith in the groomer who took out the tracks on any corner that was sharp to prepare for a stepturn.

shadow view of the lake

The latter half had crazy rollercoaster descents swooping around in the trees. Fortunately, we were out of these sections each time we came across skiers climbing up that direction. We ended up doing two loops of the 13-km section.

Still wanting a little more mileage, we skateskied out/back Morraine Lake road before heading home. Another weekend warrior weekend!

Best snow at Lake Louise to Banff Loppet!

The first year out of the handful I've raced this event where a skier could probably get by with race skis unscathed. The snow was superb all the way!

Check out Tony Smith's review of participation of Team MitoCanada:
http://www.mitocanada.org/team/mitocanadas-ski-team-sweeps-the-podium-at-the-lake-louise-to-banff-loppet/

I was excited for the event though feeling the effects of long work hours, weekend warrior training only, and not sufficient rest.

The race started brisk. The first part is probably the hardest for me to keep pace as it has a long double-pole descent and my light weight is a factor. I worked it. Glad a few others went in front of me, especially down the wicked u-turn with everyone staying upright.

We took turns setting the pace... Tony Smith, Liza Pye, Brendan McCracken and myself. We were all happy to cross the train tracks before the morning train came.

I got my pre-mixed Vega concoction at the 3rd feed station handed out by competitor Theresa Gawron. She jokingly said "this is the only time she'd be supporting me" as she's usually racing with us.

The brisk pace caught up to me mid-way of the race at around 3 hours. That was realistically the time I had been putting in for training at pace.

I could hear women talking behind me with a woman on a relay team leading and Liza storming on her heels. Cool! If only I wasn't fading, it would have been fun to join in.

with sherpa side pockets, Marg still forging forward

It was time to majorly refuel if I wanted to finish in one piece. I let them by when a short herringbone climb approached as my inner leg muscle was ready to seize.

The rest of the way was lonely though scenic. Heading thru the marsh on leg 5, I could see someone in red gaining on me. I held him off until the end of the leg. It was Bill Young on a relay team with Mary Young. Mary was surprised I faded and Bill was happy he caught me!

First year I actually got to swap to skateski gear for Leg 6! Yay! Even still, I was pretty dog-tired skating it in. Ironically, on the Bow River I passed the same team woman that hauled by earlier. I welcomed the tailwind blowing me into the finish line! Good on Liza, she looked incredibly strong throughout.

Check out this video of the marsh section on Leg 5. Truly the adventure race of x-c skiing!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o-BS8S4VPU

hike for Hinton spring water

Post skiing a few sections with Corey's group at Hinton Nordic centre, I ventured off for spring water.

a balmy day skiing with Susan in shorts up ahead!

It used to be an easy stop for spring water just 100 metres off Hwy 40 north. Since the 400m hose from the source has frozen and been disconnected, it's a 5-min hike in to the spring source.

After parking the car, I load up a backpack with glass bottles and carry a couple bags. The first 200 metres is flat on a lumpy road. The next 200 metres climbs up 170 feet. 

trekking in, up 200 metres

I bring along my traction devices for stability descending with loaded glass bottles of water.

spring source sheltered with a cistern

The hike back takes twice as long, slowly! Though well worth it.

PLPP 96-km Challenge - 2nd time

I managed to lure two more friends, Darryl Mekechuk and Marcus Boyle, to join me in the ski venture that was awesome last year.

The skiers gathering in the hut to prep seemed to have doubled since last year with the who's who in endurance events. It was awesome to see another woman, Maz Bate. Maz would ski half and trade off with her hubby Lonn the 2nd loop to look after the kids.

photo  Blaine Penny

The starting temperature at Pocaterra hut at 6:30 a.m. was -10C and on the warmer side. Last year it was -18C the whole time with nice solid fast tracks.

Headlamp start at 7 a.m. - photo Blaine Penny

A huge snowfall came a few days prior with only people-set tracks plowing through the snowy. The uneven striding slowly took its toll on me as well as dressing light for a harder ski. Each time we stopped to regroup, I cooled down before we went again. Gotta remember to layer up for these group skis.

climb up Whiskey Jack - photo Blaine Penny

The group mostly stuck together on the first Cookie course loop plus Blueberry Hill. The groomer had time to set new tracks on the latter half of the course which is mostly downhill from Elk Pass and included Blueberry. The descent on Blueberry was wickedly fast and welcome to have the fresh snow to shred the corners in.

Marcus taking in the Blueberry hill views

Making our way back to Pocaterra hut, Brendan's wife Bridget had a warm chili feast waiting for us. Applied more wax on my skis, put on dry clothes though was shivering for awhile trying to overcome all my earlier chills each time.

brilliant sunshine on loop 2 - photo Blaine Penny

My extra wax was not necessary as I hammered the climbs though had difficulty keeping up with the guys on the flats and descents. I was weary from pushing the extra effort. Marcus skied in with me the final stretch down Pocaterra. Darkness was just falling and the moon was so brilliantly bright that I could see shadows from the trees.

First loop took under 4 hours. 2nd loop just over 4 hours. Total 96 km.
Will look forward to next year's event!

Mark Toth created this trailer from the day's ski. Truly awesome!

The Start of AT Gear... BOOTS!

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 Salomon carbon 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

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!

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!!

The Video courtesy Skintrack.... ha, that's me in the still-photo below (white jacket, green boots)

First Season X-C ski!

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

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

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 on this unusually warm fall day dressed for cold pre-winter temps with my costume... 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!

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