Bloody 'ell.

Well hello all, nothing like a little bit of a graze on the knee to get me going all melodramatic at the first sight of blood (only because it's my blood though, if it was anyone else's I don't think I'd give as much of a toss). So this is how the six hour endurance race ended, with me, five minutes from the finish, tearing down the final twisty, single track descent like a man posessed and like a man who is way too exited with his new bouncy bike that he is a little out of control. I'd struggled like buggery the night before to squeeze a new tubeless tire onto the front end of my bike (a tire which many folk had assured me was mega reliable when it came to not getting punctures by the way) and lo and behold, as I go careening around a steep corner, said tire blows up sending my bike off stage left into the trees and jettisoning me on a right hand trajectory nose first into the ground. BUGGER!
I hobbled over the finish line, running the last part of the course, and finished a respectable 6th. I had stopped for a good 15/20 minutes mid race after my rear wheel had quick released itself and fell right out of my frame, bending the disc brake rotor in the process, forcing me to ride a lap (a good 40mins) with my brake on, before submitting my bike to the mechanic at the start/finish line to fix the rotor - be just banged the living daylights out of it with a small hammer and pair of pliers for 15mins - only to eventually tell me he couldn't fix it proper and I would need to buy a new one! Couple this fiasco with severe cramping sessions in hours 4 and 5, another couple of small mechanicals, and all in all, I wasn't too displeased with the first showing of the season!

Brina was chief food a drink organizer, having bars, bottles and bananas ready at every lap -which was a treat, and luckily the sun was shining in BC where the race was held and teh atmosphere was awesome - loads of folk milling around, music blaring, usual stalls etc... The piccies I put on here I can't remove now as I'm still using this new photo importing system which continues to perplex my meagre computer skills. I think the piccie above suggests I'm trying to stare out the opposition on the other side of the field, and below my race anxiety is confounded by the sight of the rider in the silly red bell like hat.

Everything else goes along as usual. Brina keeps up the Pow Wows in Morely, I'm nearly at the end of those dratted University courses that I swore I would never take, there is little time for anything but eating, sleeping and riding. We're off to another race in Edmonton this Sunday - so long as I get the final pieces of my coursework together.
Anyhow, I couldn't resist more self pitying with the last piccie - mainly because the scab on my elbow has become infected and is constantly seeping yellow puss which I keep getting all over my desk at work (much to the disgust of the kids in the classroom as much of the puss has made its way onto their books as I've been marking them!).
Hope you're all not black and blue,
Keep inflated,
S&S