Tis all a blur

Hi all... thought I'd better post something this week since it has been a while, so here's Friday evenings lot.....

It's almost two weeks since the TransRockies ended and I'm still basking in the adreneline fuelled glow of our race, and having only been on the bike once since the race am itching to get out for a spin sometime this weekend - whilst trying to avoid work and weather issues. It's the last long weekend of the summer and the forecast is for cold weather and pissing down rain! Nice!

No matter how stressful and busy going back to work has been this week, it matters not as I just cast my mind back to this...

That was the start of day 4 (a 109km stage) in Nipika, a remote little cluster of chalets in the midsts of the Rockies - the comedic dog was planted near the startline in a vain attempt to unsaddle the classy Italians who were winning everything.

When I have an early start at work this week, I'm missing the very early TR starts...

And after a hard in front of the computer sat at my desk all day, I simply recall that a hard day to big brother Willy is nothing more than a Tina Turner impression;

Whereas to me, the same hard day on the bike warranted a "what the chuff you lookin' at, do you want some?" crazed yet exhausted kind of stare;

The whole TransRockies experience continues to amaze me the more time I have to digest what we actually did and think of how hard we worked in order to get there - certainly one of those life experiences that'll burn brightly for a long time (well.. certainly until the next time!!!!! although Mrs. and Mrs. Williams will need a bit of convincing). We certainly have a bit of payback time owed to Brina and Lucy, as without thier efforts we'd never have been able to have the race we did.... Lucy was putting brother Willy to use with immediate effect..

We had a great road trip after the race, cruising down into Montana and Idaho, and back up through some amazing places in BC - it was quite refeshing to have a week completely off training and do nothing but wander through quaint mountain towns and stop at as many decent coffee shops as possible for serious caffeine loading each day - was a tough trip!
It was sad to see Mark and Lucy depart on Wednesday, but a great time was had by all. It was fun to have the Kiwis come and see where we worked, as Mark wandered into my 'office' I was struggling writing up timetables - and we noted that at his work some of his struggles revolve around which bikes to order for the shop - Now, they're both jobs we work hard at, but I know which I'd rather being doing (perusing the latest Giant catalogue if you hadn't figured).

We'll have more tales of road trips and TR as the piccies roll in. Other than that, we look like cancelling a camping trip this weekend as the weather is turning crappy - oh and we bought a brand new car - but I'll take a piccie and recant that news next time.

Yes, work is busy. But a final note - or perhaps word of caution... please don't try to pierce your nipple with an XTR breaklever, it just doesn't work and really buggers up the breaklever too!

That's all for now, it's time for a snooze.

Hope you're all planning for the next big adventure (I am)

Keep your nipples safe,

S&S.

p.s: keep your fingers crossed on Tuesday - it's when the kids are back and put my timetabling skills to the test (I've a sneaky feeling the wheels might be about to fall off!).

TransRockies Wow

WOW indeed.... the past week was one of the most phenomenal weeks I've ever experienced - the TransRockies was just simply awesome! Seven days of full on hammering it on incredible trails in the remote areas of the Rockies with big bro is still a bit too much to completely appreciate. We'd be battling it out with some pretty hardcore riders each day, testing our fitness and technical abilities to the max - then roll into the evening's camp where the very hardworking Brina and Lucy would have driven the campervan to and would be ready and waiting with ensures, smoothies, protein bars and a hot meal - which we'd scoff down before servicing the bikes, taking a nap, eating more and then sleeping early ready for the next day! The level of competition at the race this year was intense, with the top 10 teams being made up primarily of professional riders - the winners were wolrd champion riders from Italy, Rocky Mountain bikes had 3 teams of pros (including the winner from the previous 3 years), Scott had a team, as did Trek and SoBe Cannondale had a couple of guys knocking around too. We were well chuffed to beat the Trek and Cannondale boys on a couple of stages and get ahead of them in the overall classification (but they came back strong at the end of the week and usurped us in the standings). Overall, Mark and I finished 12th, which we were just delighted with - all the hard work and tireless preparation for the race really did pay off (it's just a bummer now thinking that it's over, but exciting planning for "what next?").

The course began on a monster 2000m climb straight up Panorama ski hill - which we summited in about 7th place (it pays to be a couple of light weight skinny gits with nothing but legs). We got snowed on on the top and got caught by a couple of guys on the crazy steep rocky single track descent (which went on for hours).

The days were between 85 and 109km long of all out racing, and overall we climbed over 17,500 metres (the body is keen to rest this week). We were in 9th after the first day - and by day 3 we still held that spot! We saw a bear on the trail, had a few tumbles (mainly my crashes - no surprise there then, although I'm still suffering with a bruised hip), a mechanical lost us some time on day 6 when Mark's back break broke near the start of a 102km stage (you kind of need a back break when you're about to crest RaceHorse Pass and rip a 20km 70kph+ over shale and rock) - we fixed it at an aid station with a hammer one of the first aid crew had (nothing like twating the shit out of a shiney new XTR break lever to make you feel good).

We finished in Fernie and felt like we were riding down the Champs Elysees to rapturous applause, t.v. cameras and the entire high street was closed off for us to whizz of Fernie's epic single track right into the limelight of the cheering crowds - we came in 12th on the last day, so the crowds were still enthusiastic (they dwindled a bit by the time the 300th team rolled in 5 hours later).

No doubt I'll prattle on about the race in more detail in future posts, but I just thought I'd give you all a taster for now. Gotta dash as we're off camping....

Hoping you're all striving for the podium,

S,S,M&L.

Ready to Roll

Hi all... so the much anticipated TransRockies is just a couple of days away, so all of that harping on about the 'Big Race' I've been doing for the past year is upon us - yikes! Much excitment and a hint of sheer terror curses my veins 24/7 at present - just can't wait to get on the start line and pretend I'm as good as the Pro riders (until the gun goes).

Mark and Lucy arrived all on time on Friday - bike bag all present and correct this time around too (thank goodness!), and Brina landed in from the Soo literally 3 minutes after Mark and Lucy touched down from NZ. A couple of days out on the mountain bikes over the weekend got us all psyched up - a few laps of Suffer Springs in Bragg Ck in the sun, followed by an evening ride from Canmore down around Spray Lakes that caught us in a nasty storm where temperatures plummeted to about 3 degrees (not good for lycra clad skinny lads) and brought the onset of hypothermia by the end of the ride (Mark was so glad to have done his heat acclimatization training in front of the fire at home, in preparation for our summer. Sticking your head in the deep freeze for a couple of hours is the best way to get ready for Canadian summers!). Needless to say, the thawing out post ride process of mincing around Canmore in compression socks, blue crocks, down vest and a beanie made for interesting stares from the holiday makers in town.

We've figured that we'll be consuming more food than ever before in this race, so here's a sample of our daily race diet...

I think we have about 100,000 calroies on the table - should keep us up and pedaling for a day or two!!!! (and this is just what we'll be riding with - never mind the cupboard full of pasta and steak etc..).

We headed off to Panorama for the last couple of days - that's the place where the TransRockies begins. We wanted to check out some trails and get a feel for the place (and the place is bloody lovely by the way - a must stop see place on a ski trip for this winter). However, being the TransRockies, nobody knows the route until the day before the race - that is unless you are a jammy little bugger and happen across the man who actually designs and sets the course for the race whilst you're rummaging through his workplace searching for a map of the local. Alas, we managed to glean a good idea of where the first 5 days will be running (not that it's that useful since we couldn't ride it all) but we at least have an idea of where the first stage takes us - and it is quite simply like this "find the biggest, steepest, longest, most painful looking hill climb you can and start up there, after which the desecent will be a blur as your oxygen starved brain will have ceased to function half way up the climb" - a 4000ft climb off the bat - nice!

Mark brought over a shed load of new kit, so here's the new fandangled international R&R race jersey....

And with Mark having got us sorted out as Team Icebreaker NZ, it has meant a great deal of sowing Icebreaker patches onto our many jersey's and paraphanalia such a camel backs etc... I feel like I've been working in a Phillipino sweat shop for the past few days doing so much nimble fingered sowing...
We've loads to organize today, so I should really go and get on with that.... we get the camper tomorrow and head off to the race Saturday - the race begins Sunday and no doubt can be followed on http://www.transrockies.com/ .
Other news that doesn't involve biking doesn't really exist right now (thoughts of work still linger in my mind, but they are seriously burried deep until after the race). Big Red bought himself a new shiney road bike last week - so it's good to see all the Williams' getting out on the velo!
I trust that you are all as prepared as can be,
lets hope the hard work was worth it,
Have a blast!
Team Icebreaker.

Knees, more bears and 24hrs

I had to begin this post with this piccie I stumbled upon from Nic and Browny's last visit. Make of it what you will (or feel free for a caption competition), but I reckon it's pretty apt (and I'm sure that's a coke Browny's holding, not a Bud). Unfortunately, I haven't become a regular at Kensington Road Church there, so perhaps nothing has changed.
Anyhow... after last week's Grizzly bear sighting (over which I have still not calmed down) it seems that I can't get enough of bears when on the road bike. A good 100km wizz out yesterday from Johnston Canyon up to Moraine Lake and Lake Louise and back had me zipping past another Grizzly!!!! I was on the Bow Valley Parkway and lo and behold a little Grizzly cub was rolling around in the buffalo berry bushes by the side of the road - I didn't linger around since there wasn't much between me and bear and I didn't have a clue where the mum was, but a brief glimpse of the exciting wildlife (I don't think the cub even knew I was there as it was so engrossed in wrestling with the buffalo berries).
I'm slowly coming out of my glum mood which stemmed from me thinking that I'd buggered up my knee which was curtailing my training and TR aspirations. After two days off on the weekend (the first weekend since early October that I haven't ridden on either day) and having taking medication and applied ointments, the knee seems to be holding up o.k. - phew.... lets keep our fingers crossed it stays like that until after the TransRockies!
To cheer my somber demeanour over the weekend I headed out to Canmore to watch the 24 hour world solo mountain bike champs (basically very fit guys ride an incredibly technical course for 24 hours non stop, contending with the night, thunderstoms, hail and I imagine arse ache). It was a super atmoshpere, loads of bike maniacs spinning around in awe of the solo competitors (some people get together and do it as a team relay event, but these seem to be more in party mood than anything else).
Mark and Luce arrive on Friday and Brina lands 2minutes after they do (couldn't have planned it any better to avoid lingering around at the airport to pick them all up!). We'll have a couple of good rides at the weekend, then it's serious tapering time before the big race begins next weekend!!!!! (mega excited about the race - although I'm sure this excitement will transform into squeeky bum time come next Friday night).
Not much else going on in my bachelor lifestyle at present (should really be heading into work, but can't get my head around anything but peddaling at the moment).
And just to make sure that my knee was iced properly, I had to ice it with the best organic antioxidant filled blueberries I could find (sod the ice pack)..

Hope all your ailments are soothed,
S.

A Grizzly Tale

Hi all.. so a few things have passed this week. A ride in Bragg Creek with Mr. Weible early in the week resulted in an hour and a half coffee shop stop and a retreat home to the windtrainer due to this....

A good few inches of hail fell (enough to cover my ankles) and the thunder and lightening made for more than dubious riding conditions - so after a caffeine hit, it was home to spin indoors (urgh). I'm thriving the bachelor lifestyle at the moment, although am readily realising that I need to get things ship shape in the house before the misses gets back (the dragon).

Headed out to Nordegg on the weekend to race a 60km race on remote single track descents and killer climbs. It was the otherway round for me though, the climbs were great, it was the single track that killed me - crashing (no surprise there then) and banging up my knee so that it ballooned like a golf ball, forcing me to abandon the race after another lap of agony. First DNF of the year was awfully disappointing as I was riding well and in contention with the overall winner - but hopefully I'm getting all the mistakes out of the way before the TR! (Was thinking about my racing stats this year, and the races where I haven't crashed, I've won!!! Not saying that I'd have won the races I stacked it in, but it's an entertaining statistic that highlights my riding ineptitude!). Decided to cheer myself up so drove home from Nordegg via the Icefields parkway, to get to which you drive along the very deserted David Thompson Highway - which has endless views of....

and of this..There were just endless spectacular views with nobody else around for hours... and that's before hitting the icefields parkway!
Got the knee all iced up last night, swelling went down a fair bit this morning (I'm still singing the praises of my compression socks for such assistance), and the aforementioned Mr. Weible drove us out to K Country for a superb ride over Highwood Pass. Those of you familiar with Canada's highest paved road will appreciate the grandeur of the scenery (especially on a clear blue sky, hot and sunny day), and being a Monday made for us being passed by all of 10 cars (if that) over 2 and a half hours. BUT... the piece de la resistance that will keep this ride in my memory until Alzheimer's kicks in is that as we summited the Pass the second time coming back to Peter Lougheed, we viewed out to the mountain and saw two Grizzly Bears digging around in the undergrowth, turning over rocks and generally having a damn good rummage for whatever yummy Grizzly goodies where hiding there. They were two awesome beasts, I couldn't believe it at first, "They're not sheep are they?" I commented, not wanting to be disappointed (having seen zillions of rocky mt sheep on the road), "No, they're bears" responded Brad in his usual laid back tone (whilst no doubt thinking "Sheep?!?! Dumbass!!"). We watched them for 10 minutes, and they were huge! It was one of those Canadian moments I've been waiting for since we arrived - awesome! I could just rant on about the Grizzlies all day, so I'll contain myself and leave it at that, as I head off to ice my knee and watch a re-run of today's stage of the Tour!
You never know what's around the corner,
Striving for yellow,
S.

Yee Haw!

Howdy pardner,

so after three years of living in Cowtown, we finally made it to "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth" - or the Calgary Stampede as it is otherwise known. We got ourselves tickets to the rodeo and made our way downtown to see the bulls flip cowboys in the air, and the broncos leap around like they had electrodes attached to their danglies. Taking the C-train into the city (driving and parking at the stampede is just a non starter) was quite an eye opener. The closer you get to the stampede ground, the more prolific the stetson hats, wrangler jeans, and other such cowboy regalia becomes. By the time we were at the stampede station, the train carriage looked like a coach of extras for some over exaggerated western musical. I'd like to continue in a rather facetious fashion, mocking cowboys (and girls), belittling country music and the like, but I have to admit - I loved it! The whole city embraces the cowboy culture (albeit for 10 stampede days) with such vigour that you can't help but be impressed, it's certainly a unique event. And as for going to the rodeo - bloody hell! The size of the bulls those guys sit on are Stegosaurus like, and they get flung around like rag dolls in the washer. I'm not sure who first decided to try and ride a bull (or why) and for what reason the dangerously mental task continued - but it makes for a great spectacle.

Here's a rodeo clown taking cover in a plastic barrel. Once the rider has been flung off, it's up to these clown fellers to usher the bull backstage - the bulls are not always that cooperative, so the clowns have to run after them to point the beasts in the right direction (with flimsy plastic tubs to hide in should the bull become more aggravated).

We've also been out on a few hiking trips, here's a piccie of mum and Brina up at Stanley Mitchell glacier. It was a good hike, but a sad day for my old faithful day pack...
The arse ripped out of my pack at the top of the hike, so I struggled to avoid spilling the contents of it all the way down the trail.
We've been out and about in K Country and around Banff too, with a nice little hike up Sulphur Mt yesterday. Stopped in Canmore on the way home to pick up some gels and biking juice, to be greeted in the car park of Homehardware by Fish and Wildlife officers who were darting a big Moose that had trapped itself in the timber yard of Homehardware, and to add to the animals in town excitement, they had a tranquilized black bear already asleep in the back of their pick up, ready to be taken to the city limits to be released (so that it can wander back into the town again the next day).

And finally, here's Mrs. Wife doing her Gone With The Wind impression (thankfully without the singing!) - I can get away with such comments at the moment as Brina is back home in the Soo for a couple of weeks, so I'm safe from getting a clip round the ears (for now).

Ride 'em cowboy,

S&S.

Computer death

Hi all,
the ol' computer took a turn for the worse and is currently undergoing critical surgery to remedy the ailment of not turning on without beeping, flashing and then refusing to move from ann unfrozen screen. Have currently got a substitute computer (hence this post), but am struggling to get photos up. Need to go an figure out the new technology of this laptop (the old one was over 5 years old, steam powered and pre-dated the abacus). In the next half hour hopefully I'll have piccies of our first stampede - YeeHaaw! Bucking Broncos, bull riding, cowboys (and girls!!!) and other such western foolery. Also hiking and biking piccies from Mum and Ken's trip, with not much else to report (you know the drill, work, ride, eat, sleep and repeat.....), although the Tour de France is taking up the only other spare time in my day. Not got the holidays of a teacher anymore which really sucks!!!!
More to come imminently when my camera decides to cooperate with this new Dell beauty.
Ta ra for now,
Keep multi tasking with one eye on the yellow jersey,
S&S.

Stylin' it up

"What the bloody hell is the big noggin stick man wearing now?" I hear you ask (or cry in mirth). Well, these are the new addition to my training paraphanalia - compression socks - these socks are meant to be worn after riding, but my idea is to wear the knee length socks when racing (I couldn't bring myself to post a piccie of me sporting such legwear whilst in my lycra (NICE!)) - if they don't improve blood flow, reduce lactate and all the other medical symptoms they're meant to improve, they may well just psyche out the opposition and reduce the other riders to fits of giggles, unable to ride on. They get their first race outing in the Expert category of the Canada Cup next Saturday (I may as well go down in flames at the biggest race of the year so far rather than reserve such an experiment for a small, unassuming race). As for the piccie above, I now realise why Ken.P. commented to me a while ago something along the lines of; "who the chuff is that skinny bloke wearing your head?".
All goes summery in Cochrane right now, the thermometer has boiled up into the 30s and the tan lines that my cycling shorts and the above mentioned socks are making just create an even freakier sight than you dare imagine. School has finished, and this is the first time in my life that I haven't had a real summer holiday - I really didn't think this new job through thoroughly enough... I have to be in for at least another couple of weeks (although if the amount of time I needed to spend in school over summer was realted to the lack of knowledge I have for the job, then I wouldn't have a day off until September 2010). Brina's holidays have started and she's doing a couple of days work in the outdoor shop in Cochrane before she heads back to the Soo for a couple of weeks in July. Mum and Ken are heading off to BC for a few days this week (where temps are something like 37 degrees tomorrow!!!). We cruised out to Horse Creek Road last night to watch the beavers (a past time I used to do in Sheffiled on Mappin Street, ah, they were the days), and the little blighters were dashing around building their lodge - whilst we were devoured by zillions of evil moquitoes.
Busy week this week, work, rides, and planning for the race on Saturday.
I hope you all find some amusing, piss taking banter from my fine hosiery,
Sock it to 'em,
S&S.

A not so clean pair of heels

This post's picture should be in some caption competition ("Show us yer arse", "does my bum look big in this?" etc.....), a not so clean pair of heels is about as lame as I could come up with late on a Sunday evening before I crawl into bed. I thought it'd be better to keep my ugly mug off all blog pictures after the chinny chin chin shot of freakyness in last week's post (although I clearly haven't thought this through as there is little better about a picture of a dirty, lycra clad ass than a picture of my face (all comments at the bottom of this post will be gleefully cherished - and no doubt delted immediately). So, as with most recent posts, the bike is the central theme (shock horror!). We headed out to the ABA cup race in Bragg Creek (Sulphur Springs - Suffer Springs), a really good course, three quarters of the lap was hard climbing, then the last quarter, a warp factor ten decent back to the start finish area. Two laps of that (and no big crashes - a first for the race season this year), and I sailed home in first place! Woo Hoo! (Portland Ken's blog gave me a bit of grief for harping on about racing but continually neglecting to mention the results - so there you have it!).
I'd ridden around the course with Mr. Wieble yesterday just to get a reminder of how steep some of the bloody climbs were, and Brad and Julie turned up to view the race too with Lucy (the greyhound, not the sister in law!). Mum and Brina were in fine vocals too as I lapped around (they'd set up camp on the home straight and were just missing the cowbells!). Then we razzed off to the airport to pick up Ken (2 hours late - oops!!!!!).
So things looked alright today with an eye on the TransRockies (although the Pro Elite rider who finished 13th in the TR was tanking it around the course like some EPO fuelled, blood transfusion Astana rider!).
School is out for the kids now, one week left for staff and then the administrators (that be me) stay in for god knows how long to set things up for next year (I'm still hoping to have worked out what my job entails by the time September rolls around).
I've got a feeling that I've missed all the important or humorous news out of this post but my brain is shutting down now, so the mattress is calling and by the time of the next post I'll have remembered what I intended to write here!
Camelbacks rule!!!
S&S.

Not much really - just tiding over

Another week and a bit has passed by without me sitting square eyed in front of the computer -hence the lack of posting since the previous one! The blog is being dominated by bike talk - but seeing as though that's about all I'm doing at present, I aint got much else to say! Although this week has seen a bit of an ease up on the bike front (took a couple of days off, and practised the fine art of sleeping, lots!). Last weekend in Canmore was a fun race in the rain and snow, and being rather knackered after having a few weekends of constant racing and hard training in the week I was not too disappointed to get a 5th place (I say that now, but I was pretty miffed on the day - despite once more having a rather spectacular crash, involving a sumersaulting bike crashing down on top of me and the disc rotor slicing the back of my arm open and burning me at the same time as it was to hot - a nicely seared wound) but at least I'm 1st overall in the Alberta standings (for now). Got another race next weekend in Bragg Creek so hopefully that will help me move up to Expert class - although I should be there already had I been given credit for the win at the first race of the season.
A quiet weekend this one, mother arrives today so we've been frantically dashing around making room for her to stay (we set up a bedroom in the basement but it turned out to be too dungeonesque so we moved the bedroom back upstairs and then had to shift the office around) although I managed to get a good 130km in yesterday in just 4 hours which was good for a steady ride in the hills.
The sun is out at last, and I'm thinking of mowing the lawn (although I relish the angst my long grass provides the fastidious neighbour). We haven't got much else going on right now. Mrs.W is in fine form, scurrying around the house with a can of pledge and a duster panicking about the arrival of her mother in law (I keep getting shouted at for leaving dirty plates and old magazines lying around the place- luckily I wrote that correctly and didn't say old plates and dirty magazines).
Alas, that is all for this meagre post - there should be good banter and piccies a plenty next weekend after the Bragg Creek race - and hopefully none will contain images of my blood.
Hope you've all got a lot more going on right now,
Happy dusting,
S&S.

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.

3 Years, Bad Gears, Big Cheers

Well hello all!!! Here's to the start of another joyous post cancerous bollock year! It's three years ago to the day that the old left dangly was consigned to its fateful tumerous extraction. I can't believe how big and massively important the 27th May has become for me now, it kind of sneeks up all unannounced and then arrives and hits me with such forceful emotions (which I thought I had burried good and deep in the darkest recesses of my psyche) that I get all nostalgic, humbled, thankful, overly excited about life and just generally damn happy to be waking up to the sunshine with a pulse. Mrs. Brina played it all coy this year and surprised me with a prezzie and card this morning (much to my delight as I thought she'd forgotten - she got me good and proper). Two more years to the all clear mark, big smiles all round!
As for other pressing matters at hand. I sluggishly headed up to Edmonton for a Sunday race in the pissing down rain. Leaving at 5.00am in a downpour didn't dampen my spirits too much, but racing fast, dry racing tires in Edmonton's slickest mud wasn't condusive to staying on the bike too well during the race... So there was lots of this;

Fortunately the TransRockies has plenty of Hike a Bike sections, so the course at the weekend made for good training for that (since riding up many of the mudslides was not an option). The bike was feeling rather lazy on the first lap and kept on wanting to lie down in the trees by the side of the course, invariably taking me with it. 4 wipe outs on the first lap and 1 on the second had me cussing about the weather, my bike handling skills and my tardiness at arriving at the race with 10 minutes to spare and not being able to pre-ride the route again! Never the less, I had consigned myself to a very non podium finish, but pulled things together a bit better on lap 3, and by lap 4 was with the 2nd placed rider. With 2km to go, we kicked around a steep turn, I had the makings of the guy, ready to put the power on a little, shifted gears up as the hill went vertical, but shifted my chain right up into my spokes where it jammed tight! Bugger, having lept off to untangle the damage (which had happen already before on lap 3) mr.2nd place sauntered off up the hill. I managed to get back to within 4 seconds of him by the finish - but alas, the couse was a couple of hundred metres too short! A 3rd place wasn't bad all things considered.
The piccie below is the new 'hide a chain in your rear mech' game I like to play (no wonder the shifting was piss poor).

Ah, you can't beat using grass and mud to protect your chainrings from wear and tear!

It's the big old 8hour race this Sunday (my arse is already getting nervous - new chamois needed).
All things non bike related are just that - non bike related. Work, yeah, it's still work - just heard a great quote from Gordon Ramsey on t.v. "you don't have to love it, it's just a fuckin' job" - so I think I'm going to live with the philosophy according to Kitchen Nightmares from now on!
Brina's still working like a beast at Morely and is chasing around after the skinny, cycling obsessed git she lives with to make sure he's well fed and not resembling some malnourished famine victim. We're looking forward to seeing a bit more of summer soon. The rain eased off this week (although the Rivers are full to bursting point and floods may be imminent for those edjits living on the floodplains - think about it people, it's called a FLOODplain for a reason so don't build a house there!). The sun is giving us a bit of a taster of what may be in store for our month of summer in August, and we can't wait (fingers crossed we might even get two months of summer, but don't hold your breath).
Anyhow, it's time for bed, so seeing as though today's the day it is, remember;
It could always be worse,

Livestrong
S&S.

Hickory Dickory Dock

Hi! All. Not much has transpired since the last post, apart from inclement weather - of the rain variety (hopefully the white stuff is behind us now for the next couple of months). It has been pissing it down like Billio, and is forecast to do so for the foreseeable future - ah, happy days, it's just like Manchester! (on the Mancunian note - Premier League and Champions League - get in!!!!!!!!!!!!). It's an easy week on the bike this week since I've been pedalling so hard recently the old legs need a few days break to de-wobblify them a little - although I was out for a spin to Ghost Lake last night and was swooped by a Golden Eagle, which I mistook for a light aircraft - massive it was!
VPness continues to bamboozle me, and I'm spending less and less time in the classroom (hurray!) but more and more time in meetings where it's a real struggle to maintain focus, keep the gist of what people are talking about and remain conscious (boo!). Brina's happy as Larry teaching the ankle biters about tipis and the like, and having taken on a full time job in Morely next year, it means there'll be no day home. Here's how Brina had the basement set up in preparation for her dayhome enterprise which is no longer to be....

Although it pays dividends as I get a road map carpet to play on (unfortunately, Brina often sends me to the naughty chair - the red one in the corner, when things aren't going too well).

The basement is slowly turning back from this preschool landscape, to the bike storage, bike maintenance and bike training room facility that it duly should be!

Although on that note, I'm really going to miss Terry the Big comfy Turtle (perhaps I'll persuade the misses that we can keep him).
I hope that you're all basking in the delightful May sunshine (somebody needs to be, cos we aint).
We're off to Edmonton on Sunday for another race - should be a fun tester if this deluge keeps up, so will keep you informed early in the week - by which time, the dandelions in the backgarden will have greater dominance than the grass (much to the chargrin of our pompus neighbours).
Here's to the Campaign to Keep Terry,
Glory Glory Man Utd,
S&S.

This is May

Hi! All, so here are a few snaps of what May looked like last week in Cochrane! The whole place just got dumped on, and there were reports of 3 feet of snow falling in Water Valley and hour north of here, and the ski fields were (by all accounts) in amazing condition.

It's hard to believe that today, one week later, the sky is blue, everyone is in their shorts and sandles, and the temps are a balmy 25 degrees! Last Friday was not even close!

I had my camera in the car and just couldn't resist snapping piccies of some of the unfortunate buggers who had forgotten that snow and ice make the roads slippery!!! (Either that or this guy skidded off the road because he was trying to take photographs at the same time as he was driving - what dickhead would try that eh?!!!) - those of you failing to register the sarcastic tone there, just note that I'm still crusining along in the inside lane as the piccie is shot.

I gave up counting at 9, but there were endless cars burried in the meridian between here and Calgary! Happy Spring days!!

But fortunately, the summer has kicked in for this long weekend! I'm not racing this weekend, but the sun should be coaxing me out for some riding! I was up early doors (5am) on Sunday to head to Edmonton for a race, I got there late, just made the start line, but having not ridden the course decided to sit back for the first lap to get lead through (4 laps to do in total). I found myself sat in second and was happy to be following some swift fellow. Thinking that all was good, to my horror he took us down a decent, pulled off to the side then stopped to ask me do I know the way because he hadn't ridden the course "bloody hell, that makes two of us mate" - at which, we looked back up slope and saw the chasing group come through but disappear up the hill, not down in the direction we had come. Alas, we chased them down, I got carried away and hit the front, pulled away with the Provincial Champ on my tail, the champ lead the third lap, I hit it on the 4th and pulled into first place!!!! Woo hoo! I thought, although the guy with the clipboard taking down times missed me out (expecting the Provincial Champ to be in first place) so I was bumped down into second on the results - but a moral victory none the less!
More of the same next weekend, then the big 8 hour race in Calgary (makes my stomach wobble just thinking about it - in a good way though!).
Work continues to build up the pressure of VPness - lots more meetings and a steep upwards curve of responsibility and aggro!
Finally finished my Uni courses (thank chuff for that) and somehow managed to get As for both!!!
Brina has been the chief cook, bottle washer and nutritionist for the past while, without whom the wheels would have fallen off a long time ago!
Off to Brad and Julies for supper to meet their new addition to the family - a rescued greyhound (Billireagan Bob), so I'm taking my fuzzy little hare to see if can outsprint me around the back garden!
Hope the sun is now shining in all of your summers (or snow falling for you southern hemi folk),
Ta ra for now,
S&S.

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

Zoooooom

The title of this post has nothing to do with my speed at this weekend's 6hr endurance mtb race in Salmon Arm BC, more to do with the speed at which the past two weeks have zoomed by. I couldn't let the blog go two weeks without a post, and so quickly logged on to rid of speculation that I had indeed fallen off the edge of the earth - although the rife rumours that I had indeed fallen off my mtb with great aplomb can only be confirmed! The past weeks have been nothing but University (if that's what Phoenix really is) work, riding and sleeping. So a welcome relief came with the first race of the season in sunny, Spring like BC. Great ride, got knackered, broke bits off my bike, lost a fair bit of skin to the dirt, punctured and now it's time for bed, so photos and all the gory details will come midweek (I've just stepped off the bike, have some work to do, shirt to iron, shake to drink, bed to fall into at some stage).
Hope you're all hanging onto the bars better than me,
S&S.

Max Headroom falls asleep on stage

Hi! All, here's a little ditty in continuation from the previous post - where I harped on about being at the summit at Lake Louise and having to give a bit of patter on stage to the audience and scary t.v. cameras. Well.... Mike at work happened to send me this shot he took of my already enormous noggin, looking even more overwhelmingly block like than usual, as it is beamed across the globe, cast upon the big t.v. screens just incase the people at the back of the audotorium couldn't see my balding hairline! You'll notice that the piccie also captures me me glancing downwards (at my notes - wasn't brave enough to do this completely on the fly!), and with my sunken, skull like eye cavities, it would appear that I am asleep - I assure you I was not dozing off up there! (Apparently Brina couldn't look at the screen when I was talking - she claims it was because she was nervous for me - although I suspect she's seen enough close ups of my ugly mug to last her a lifetime already!).

Anyhow, the crux of this brief post is that I reminded Mike very much of a superstar of the 80's- with my monotonic drone and repetitive head twitch I am by all accounts the spitting image of the one and only Max Headroom!!! (if you don't remember him, you're not missing much!).

Well, clearly the resemblence is striking, although you probably had to be there!
Next post I hope to have some outdoor fun (although it looks like the first mtb race of the season might be cancelled for a second time this coming weekend too - winter really isn't letting go, it's minus 7 right now, and that certainly isn't lycra weather!).
Hope you're all finding the animated character in yourselves,
Now where did I put my Atari?
S&S.