Giver-8-r

So the title of this post is meant to sound like 'terminator' since that was the name of this confounded eight hour race held at the weekend. 14 laps, 120km (ish) and lots of slick chaffing cream later, and we made it! A 7am mass Le Mans style run 500metres to your bikes start just to really bugger up your legs for the next third of the day, and we were off! Although, having busted my ball (s) - yeah plural! If only! - in the six hour race in BC a few weeks back and died on hour 5, I took the first few hours of this race really easy, and as a result had loads left in the tank at the end (so hopefully I'll be judging it right by August and the TR!)

Mrs. W. was on hand once again as the chief pit crew nutritionist and kept me well supplied with shakes, bananas, gels, cubes, pringles and advil! The latter two parts of this menu (pringles and advil) were top tips given to us at the last race by the winner of a multi day race in BC. The pringles (real athlete's food) keep up the salts to reduce cramps - and worked a treat, and the advil just simply numb the pain (well the chronic back ache I was having, so it's not quite like doping with EPO).

"Show us yer chin, yer big jawed freak!" is what I wanted to shout at the feller above, until I realized who it was. Apparently this is what I look like coming off a fast last lap and sprinting to the line (poor Brina has to wake up to that ugly mug every morning - no wonder she can be cranky early in the day).
And on the note of bears with sore heads, here's Brina's day at work...

A trip to the zoo with the injuns to see the big ol' Grizz behind bars. These suckers are all out and about now, and two people have already been given a damn good mauling.
The summer rain continues to fall in Cochrane - so long as the sun rears up by the time school has finished it will be O.K. Just a couple of weeks until all the little kidlings are on vacation, then staff have to hang around for a week to tidy up their classrooms, plan lessons and generally pretend to be busy when admin are around - and on the note of admin, bugger... that'll be me I suppose, so I'll be in school for a bit longer this summer, learning the ropes and panicking like a man falling overboard wearing very heavy boots.
All things are worrisome back in Blighty with Nana, so hopefully if she's reading this we send her all our love!
And now it's time to retire for the evening,
Chin Up,
S&S.