A week of Hedonism

I am all about sacrifice and reward. Gearing up for a March stage race then getting back and doing the same for a June stage race required a lot of focus and commitment. One of the things that kept me on track was the idea that I would take a week off after BCBR and do NOTHING.

Well that is what I did. I taught core on Monday and practiced team time trial skills with Jay and Alana on Tuesday. That was it. I was working hard on the reno but stopped for tea and a nap some days.

We went to our friends Holly and Colin's wedding on Saturday and drank a little and stayed up long enough to have last call at the Drake in Canmore. I rode the single speed on the Highline trail on Sunday with Alana, Ryan, Fazian, and Matt. Things felt great, but I should think so after that much time off and all the calories I consumed, lots of ice cream.

There was the reward. I am glad I did it. I feel good and the energy is back. The heart rate responds the was it should and I want to ride my bike again. I will be trying to get my training in by going to the crits and riding the single speed. It is time ot have some fun with my fitness level and focus back in for Provincials at the end of August. But for now....Lets's ride for fun.

Riding the BC Bike Race

What could be better than going on a week long trip where all you have to do is ride your bike from pint A to point B, then chill, eat lots, and sleep? Answer: doing it twice in one year.



Doing the Cape with Greg was awesome and now I was going to ride single track with Mical. Oh the joys of life.



Mical and I have never really rode together. Once in Fernie 3 years ago and some road rides, then her killer hill sets at Edworthy, but no real MTB rides. She has a very busy schedule once racing starts and is hardly in town. We decided to go out and do Baldy and Chief Hector and get to see how we ride together in prep for the BCBR.



It was raining and we had just done the Canada Cup in Canmore the day before. We had run near exact times for the 3 lap race and knew that we were aerobically the same, but what of all the subtle little things in one's personality that could come out in a 7 day event. Well, we knew we would be okay after the first uphill and downhill. On the way up were riding the same and Mical had no problem stopping for me so I could have my M&Ms. She galdy poached all the good colours and was off up the hill again. We stopped at the top of Baldy, enjoyed the low lying clouds, the moist air, and the fact there was no one else around. Mical lead the way down and we soon discovered that I would be trying hard to hold her wheel for a week. We were both yahooing and weeeing all the way down the trail. We stopped to see if a couple of riders we came upon were okay and they were laughing at us because they could hear our exclamations of joy all the way down the mountain. Yep, for this single track odyssey we were going on Fun was number 1.



Our goals were to have fun, ride hard, podium and the dream goal was to win.

Day 1 start chute discussing strategy or ice cream, I can't remember.

Day 1-North Shore

Talk about being nervous. I am riding with a National athlete against other National athletes and Olympians. We knew we had to have a good start and hammer hard until the first choke point just so we would not be backed up.


Here is my heart rate profile, speed and altitude for the first 12 minutes of the race. My max heart rate is 171 bpm and I have not seen my HR in the mid 160s all year. Yep, it was an average of 167 bpm and the pace was 20 kph uphill!!. You can see the choke point where we had a 20 second break then a short down before heading up Old Buck.

North Shore riding is unbelievable. I thought Mical and I would be okay as we are both good descenders. There is a large difference between riding the north shore and racing it. I ended up running most of it because it was faster then trying to pick my way down. I had the leg out, stomach on seat, ass way back style and still couldn't pull it together.

We had a great day and ended up 2nd.

YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeOPu2he8Uo it is 8 minutes long but you get the idea. Whoever took the video is a great rider.



Day 2-Naniamo to Parksville.

Started riding the "Abyss" which was awesome. lots of rock step ups and descents to start but then it turned a little soft and loamy. It was hard to ride as you couldn't see the roots so every bump was reactionary and slowly tired out your arms and back. Didn't think I would really look forward to the road but when we came out we both sighed with relief. We picked up a good pace line with DeadGoats Devin and Eric and hammered out some good turns at the front. The boys in the pace line were starting to fade but didn't want to get "chicked" ( my new favorite saying as told to me my Leah Davidson) as Mical was doing her share at the front and we kept the pace high. Into Parkville for a night on the beach.

Now this may sound pleasant but it was one of the detriments for us the next day. The dinner was not exceptional and had little in the way of carbs. The wind was so strong that the tent tried to eat both of us. It blow the sides in and covered my head and Micals feet. The next morning's breakfast, Day 3, was eggs, sausage, ham and greasy has browns. Not the best racers food.



Day 3-Cumberland

After the lumberjacks breakfast we took the buses to Cumberland for some wicked riding. Starting in town we headed for the dump road and the Forbidden Plateau. We were riding strong but got stuck behind a Masters riders that slowed us down in the single track. We popped out on the road with the Luna Chicks, Rocky MT ladies, the leading Master team, and us. We drove a mean pace line and I was able to head up front and tow the line for a while. Probably one of the coolest things ever!!!!!!! We took the road to the big climb of the day which was 45 minutes long. The down hill was excellent but we still had to make it back to the trail network behind Cumberlnad and the infamous Space Nugget run. I knew we were close and kept encouraging Mical that it would be worth it. We bared down and got the climbs done.

Beware of the Muntain Reggan- Micals friend ended up way out on the course, was hidden by some bushes and as we passed yelled "GO Mical!" No big deal except I never saw him and by the time he yelled Mical was passed and I was right beside him. I nearly filled my chamois I was so startled.



Day 4-Cumberland to Seschelt

The dreaded 4:30am wake up call. This starts our 6.5 hour logistical trek to the start line. It is not bad but it does knock you down a notch on the day and it showed. We tried to sleep on the ferry and buses but it was too brief and not solid. There was a lot of power lines today and it felt very much like a Trans Rockies day. Our team had a moment and we needed to re-group and re-evaluate. We had been going hard for 4 days and were fading ever so slightly. We were in third and could not chase back on. Goal number one: have fun, so we reeled it in for a few minutes, ate, drank, talked and made it to Aid 2. We could just see 2nd place and knew that we were not doing that bad despite the challenges. The day did not get better but it did not get worse. Well, except at the end we were finally having some fun, zooming down hill jumping logs even the ones that were there to stop us and turn us. We went off track, lost 2-3 minutes and had the 3rd place team pass us while we were lost to get 4th on the day. That hurt a little and we quietly went about our recovery rituals.



Day 5 Seschelt to Langdale

We knew this was going to be a fun day and we had a 31 minute lead on 3rd place. We decided to get a good start then settle in to a good pace and loose strategic time to avoid a blow up. It was a long technical day both up and down and the pace was great.

I did start to get a little poopy this day as it became quite apparent that Mical was the better descender. I could keep up but had to keep pedaling back on, using my engine to gain the speed. Watching Mical descent has made me better as well. She is very smooth, chooses good lines, and rarely makes mistakes. By the time we made it to the end of the day it was almost all down hill, fast flowy, and fun. Deadgoats Pat and Geoff were on our tail and by the time we hit the road they lit it up and beat us to the finish by seconds. It is a lot of fun racing people you know.

We lost 2 minutes to the Cannondale-Monavie team of Sue Butler and Brian Alders but we were good with that and still held a 31 minute lead on them.

Third on the Day but still Second overall!!!!

Day 6 Squamish

The riding was incredible!!! We used the same strategies as Day 5 and went for the start and settled into our on pace. It is amazing how tired you get riding nothing but single track.

High lights:
- robs corners-over 50 left, right berms
-Psuedo Tsuga-great drops and corners
-Power House Plunge-after 5 days of technical riding it was over before we knew it
-watching Ryan Leach do his thing

We gave up 2 more minutes to Cannondale-Monavie but that was part of the plan. It was hotter and we expected to catch them on the down hills but they were riding well and we only saw them in the beginning of the day.

Day 7-Whistler

I was so nervous sitting in the start chute. I had to battle the voice in my head that was worried about wiping out, mechanicals, getting lost, anything to do with losing our 29 minutes lead over third. We were over an hour out of first so that didn't look good but Mical always the positive one kept saying " you never know", maybe a stage win? Nope but we should have got an award for effort.
The start was straight up the ski hill and then the cat track. It was not the best course off the start as they had us climb the cat track to descend the cat track. We finally got in the single track and were right behind 3rd. We marked them and stayed as close as possible on the uphills and gain time back on the downs.
We were riding together with them until just after the Aid station.

To quote Mical's blog " On one of the steep gravel climbs Sue spun out and I heard the voices in my head.. "She's walking it, you can walk it too, we've got enough of a lead"....but I liked the voice that said "F&*% it, I'm riding this thing". Jeff was determined not to get "chicked" and as soon as we crested the hill we both grabbed a couple of gears and started givin er."

Well that was the turning point, we were racing from out front and had clear lines on the down hills. We gave it everything on the ups. Soon they were out of sight but we still kept driving it. Mical and I had a talk on Day 4 about what is worth it and what isn't and how that statement can motivate you to great results. That is all we kept saying as we rode in the red zone for the rest of the day. "It is World Cup racing, it is worth it" and by golly we were flying. the course took us way below the start line and 5 km more then the profile said. I even messed with my own partner when I said this should be the last climb. When it was apparent that it wasn't Mical firmly stated"Don't ever tell me that again". We laugh about it now, thank goodness.

The finally climb was 2 km on steep road. We sounded terrible, huffing and puffing and blowing the top off. As we crested the top of the pavement I told Mical to bring us home only to have her jam on the brakes as we had to climb a stair case to get to the single track. Mical summed it up great with " WTF"..

Once on the single track we knew we had second on the day and second over all. What a rush. Down to the finish line where John and Gloria (Dee's parents), and Jay awaited us. Alana, my wife was there also and surprised us the night before by flying in for the finish.
Happy to be done!!!


The first order of business was a shower then to the bar for a cool cider.

The awards were surprisingly quick and it was really surreal to be up on the podium with 5 pro athletes.



I have the hardware and memories of a fantastic race. I just found out that it is almost $1000 cheaper if we sign up now for next year. It must have been a good race as I am giving it serious thought.

The thought process of not quitting

Lets talk about the Iron Lung. I have never had a good race at this event. Last year it was cold and rainy. I had to beg the Georgetown climb every lap. I ended up tired, sore and almost last(assuming you couunt me in forn to fthe guys who DNF). But I had no doubt that I would finish the race.

Now this year was a bit different. I had the good stress of watching the Spinsisters racing that morning which was very exciting. But it does take some energy to do that but it was well worth it. This was only my second ABA cup race and I had just gotten over being sick. So I knew it would not be the best race but it is all training anyway.

Elite Men had 5 laps to do, 5 Devonian drops, 5 Georgetown climbs, 5 hard and technical single track climbs. I knew that I would be tired and near the back but I was okay with that. I was riding into my 4th lap and just after the fast rolling section off the start I flew into the single track full of roots. I have done this lots of times and didn't think anything on it until I just touched a root, got on top of the bars and had teh handle bars turn completely sideways. Here was the result:

I have another picture just after the race that shows all the blood and gorey details.

So there I am lying on the ground wrapped up in my bike pondering life. I know mmy face hurts and that i am bleeding from someplace on my left cheek. I use the back of my glove to find out where the blood is from and how bad it is. I push against the bone and deduce that it is not broken. I run my toungue around the inside on my mouth and make sure I still have all my chiclets. Then I just lie there for a few seconds. I get up and look down the trial. Then a voice in my head say" it is just not your day". I turn my bike up the trail and start to walk back to the start/finish line. This would have been the first race I had ever quit. I turn the bike around and decide to finish. No, I turn the bike around again and start walking out. I stop again and turn the bike around stare down the trail and ponder. Maybe just one more lap. I am not bleeding that bad and the course is kind of fun. Down the trail I go. I ride totally within myself and start having a much better time. I nail the DD, I cruise the Orchid, I sit in on the GTC and before you know it I am back at the start. Well heck, I have done 4 I might as well do 5. Not caring about my time I ran almost a faster lap on number 5 then 2 and 3.

At the finish Jay meets me away from the crowd. He knew I was injured. He just came up asked me if I was okay and did I need anything. I said no and he rubbed my back in that "good job, I am here for you" way and sent me off on my cool down. It really looked worse than it was. My eye did swell shut but soon healed up.

So, was it the right thing to do, should I have stopped? I was the only person who could decided that. The battle in my head went on for a while but after a good self check and deducing the extent of my injuries, finishing was the right call. Just because it does not go your way does not mean you give up. There are many lessons to learn about perservering and changing a game plan once in motion. I pride myself in having finished the race, no one would have faulted my for it but I would have always second guessed the decision. My bike was working and the injury although painful did not limit my ability to ride. From racing to training ride in one quick splat of the face.

Enduros !!

I was a little nervous to do my first enduros back in Canada. I had such a good ride in South Africa but due to the weather and the schedule it was going to be a while until i could test the legs.

The TransStoney was going to be the firstof the year but there was a ABA Cup race teh day before at the same venue. Oh well it is all training right??



The Bacon Buffet went well I was able to hold a good start pace and stay with Dead Goats Devin and Craig. We went in circles for about 2 hours and got a third out of the day. I was feeling pretty good but was curious how the next day would go.



The TransStoney worked out much better than expected. I darted off the front and Craig Stapler and I rode away after getting back on course due to my wrong turn. We rode together for about 3 hours. It was awesome! I really like riding/racing Craig. he is a great competitor and strong rider. We kept the pace high and roade with each other and were very gentlemanly about the whole thing. He asked if I was stopping for a pit, I said Yes so he stopped too. He slowed to ask one of his teammates if they were okay after a mechnical and I waited for him. I fed him M&Ms in the pits. We wanted to settle it on the course. At about 3 and a half hours Craig dropped back a bit and I "attacked", as much as you "attack" in an enduro. I increased the pace just a bit but kept on it for 2 laps. I could not see him at some of the vantage points so it was my race to win. I stayed with the plan and kept fueling each lap and using time markers to keep the pace. After being rained on and 6 hours I won the first Trans Stoney event. A good start to the season.



The next weekend was the Salty Dog. One of my most favorite races and courses around. The climbs are challenging but do-able. Most of your vertical is on a dirt road and the single track down is so much fun. They have a Salty Pup race for the kids that runs at the same time.
This is a grass roots race that invites all levels of riders to join th fun. It was really cool that our Boys week of riding ended with the race. Rob, Habs, and Ryan threw their hats in the ring with Rob and Habs doing a duo team jamming out 7 laps and Ryan getting 7 laps as well. This was Robbs first race and he may have got the bug.

I had a pretty good cold going but somehow that did not effect the performance? The motivation was low but I just kept doing a lap at a time and thought I could pull out at any time. I didn't though. I just held a steady pace and kept going and going. 3rd oveall with 9 laps in a faster time then last year. I paid for it the next week. I didn't really get out of bed on Monday and Tuesday and thook it easy for the follwoing week.

All that was on the calander for the next bit was the Iron Lung and the Canmore Canada cup before the big BC Bike Race with Mical.

So I am back writing. You can see why I got a C in journal keeping. All these events happen so fast and then I am focused on the next one.



Let's finish the Cape story so I can get on to the new stage race deets.



Day 5

Long hard and fun at the finish. Up and down, repeat. The climbs were good and teh decents fast. The day was good and a couple cool things happened today. No mechaniclals!!!!!! We also made a bold move and jumped onto the wheel of 2 Scott riders. The one taller guy was a work horse and drove the pace hard. So hard he pulled us for 30-40 minutes along a railway bed and moved us up huge n the GC. We were lovingthe free ride and had time to enjoy the view.

The day ended with some actual good single track. Single track that would pass even here in Canada. Greg put the 29ers to work and flowed it nice.


Day 6

Out and back to Oak Valley. Watch out for the scary descent.....owwwwwww...scary descent. Yes it was loose but scary only because of the number of people on it and the spastic moves.
We passed a team along a railroad grade road with a helicopter flying beside us. Full coverage if only we had the sattelite channels to get this at home.
It ended again with some good single track again.

Day 7 and the Finish.

We thought we roade a great day. We passed tons of people. We hammered hard. We dropped some more spots????????????? I guess everyone else had the same idea. It was nice to know we were on our wat to the finish. I warned Greg about the "neutral race zone". The most idiotic thing in racing. We have to pass over a private section of land the has no passing in it. Everyone stacks up and gets so frustrated that it has a terrible feel to the end of the race. They should just stop the race there and let us cruise to the finish and talk to our buddies on the trail. oh well it didn't matter as the finish line rock.

You get ot go up on stage to get your medals, you get your transponder deposit back, AND a kick ass gift basket. We recieved a picnic basket with:cheese/crackers, meats, a blanket, and a bottle of white wine!!!!! It was incredible to hang around and eat drink and chat with everyone. A perfect way to complete the Epic.

Alana and I hung out for another 2 weeks and enjoyed the wonders of South Africa. I won't bore you with the home movies and slide show but Rhinos and Savanna Dry ciders were everywhere.

I took 2 full weeks off training and was worried about the fitness and training I had missed. As you see by the date of this post I have had some time to reflect and 2 weeks off was a good thing.

More to come!!

Racers Amnesia

It has been a month since I posted anything, especially anything about the Cape Epic. So sad really. I just haven't been inspired to write about it yet. I don't know why. It was a great race, I had a great partner, we did well and then I went on vacation. Hmmmmmm. Is that it? Sort of but let's try to expand on some to the deets.

The prologue was really cool. Each team got the realu UCI count down with the beeper and the Marshall doing the count down wiht the fingers then pointing you out. Felt like a pro!! Greg and i agreed to take it on the easy side to see where we would land without blowing our brains out. We did well with a 67 in our Cat. The climbing was inter-spaced with some serious loose down hills. Marbles on concrete loose. We survived with no crashes and a good feeling about the race.

Me railing it in the Prologue.

Day 1 took us from the town of Gordon's Bay up over the mountains and into some pretty good moving pace lines. Of course this was after the mandatory dismount area that we had to wait 5 minutes at and some of our friends had to wait up to 30 minutes at. We did well again this day and we believe it was because it was the longest day and Greg and I kept a solid pace each day. Maybe not fast off the start but solid, most solid-o.

Nice berm and bum. That is Greg leading us down some of the precious single track. Notice the SpinSister proudly worn!! Representing!!

Day 2 was something special to say the least. We had a good start and could tell we were with the big dogs. Not THE big dogs, but still some big dogs. We were cruising pretty good when Greg slammed a soccer ball sized rock. Soooooooo...he ripped the side wall of his tire big time. Like 1.5 inch gash. We were at a bit of a loss as to what to do. Greg had a almost big enuf patch for the tear but it would not hold for the rest of the day, 67 km to the finish. I pulled deep on teh strings of memory and remembered that in a Sea2 Summit race we had the same problem and taped it shut. We started with the electrical tape that I had on my pump and that got us to the first aid station. We needed wider tape to keep the tube inside the tire and the onely thing we could find was medical tape from the Paramedics. It is know the tape of choice. It is 2 inches wide, is made of fibers, and has just a bit of stretch. It worked so well it barely looked used when we crossed the finish line 67km later. We lost a lot of spots as we were standing still for 20 minutes but atleast we did not DNF.

Too tired to cut off the zip ties. Lazy Jeff, lazy!

Day 2 was a big hike-a-bike followed by a screaming fast downhill. Double wide road with 2 distinct tracks that would come and go into a single. Being full of bravado and passing on the outside at 50kph I hit a rock and split a sidewall. Just like Greg the day before. Only 5 minutes to fix. Hit up the same medic for the magic tape and we were off. Race experience paid off in one day, go figure. The day went well but we had trouble finding our groove again. We crossed the finish line and pigged out, 3 spaghetti bolognese and a fruit smoothie. I am not sure if it was the quantity or quality of the food but for the next 36 hours it felt like I had a knot in my stomach. I could eat, bu tit was a battle at times just to get in what I knew I should.

Day 3 I had to eat sparingly due to the belly issue and Greg and I found that we were waiting too long to start our eating regime. Each day we were holding our own but in the last hour we would pass 20-30 teams. How can that be? Well Greg set a most impressive consistent pace on the uphills and I could get into flow on hte roads. Together we were nailing the team dynamics and by the end of the day we had stuff in the tanks to keep going while the other teams slowed down. We came up with this saying that described it perfect" C chute start, B chute finish".

Day 4 the belly issue resolved itself by 11am. It was over in a blink of an eye. I could start eating and drinking at will to get the calories in. The day also lent itself to my strength on the team, pace lining. Greg made a bold move and covered a surge by the Scott Bicycle team. I missed the initial move and had to fight hard to get to Greg's wheel. We just sat in while their strong man cranked the tempo and pulled us along. It was a cool feeling to be sitting in and going that fast. We lost them on a hill but as I had sat-in and rested I was good to go. Greg jumped behind me and with his constant words of encouragment we were flying. Teams that we had not seen yet in the race were reeled in and spit out. Greg would come around and give me a break so I could eat and drink then it was back to the front to set the pace. Greg words, the speed, the rabbits, and the day made for a true race feeling. As we approached the finish Greg jumped around me and just hammered. I returned the favor to Greg and just keep yelling positive things to him. We must have been doing 35-37kph down ath dirt road. Greg had 2km of pure animalistic racing. Unfortuneatley the finish line was 2.8 km. We rounded a corner thinking it was the end but no. Lucky we had been going so fast and I was rested we were able to keep the impressive speed to the end.

Spent and dusty. The guys behind were the Colgate team that we caught just before teh finish line. On the back of theirs jerseys it read" I am smiling because I am in front of you!" Nice!

Day 4-7 coming soon.

3 days of quick updates

Limited internet so I will do a quick update then add pictures and such after\

Prologue-
Hot but short. Paced it really well. Roade thru lots of burned areas. Almost cancelled prologue due to fires. Still smoldering as we rode by. Looooooooooose decends played it safe. Very happy with results.

Day 1- tough day. 36 degrees (africa hot) shorts felt hot against skin. Agian rode within the limits and gained on groups thru out the day. Beautiful views at top of mountain overlooking Gordons Bay and the ocean. Long day and was way more defficult then any stage at previous Epics. People who have done all the Capes call it teh toughest day ever!! It was ll about hydration and nutrition. I felt strong and was able to help out on the road sections. Ate lots and in bed by 8:30.
Managed to arrange a 1 hour massage everyday...YAHOOOO


Day 2-
You may have noticed the drop in placing....Greg blow out a sidewall at km 37. Good patching and wrapping the tire to the wheel with electrical tape did the trick. However Greg had to ride cautiously for the rest of the race. He also kepp rolling his front tire off his wheel. He now owns 2 brand new tires. Good day when we hit the road. Grabbed some fun pace lines and got cooking. Neither of us felt bad as we had to keep stopping to fill the tires and do repairs. Looking forward to tomorrow. I am send all htis from the internet cafe in the racers village. Pretty sweet hey?

Looking forward to tomorrow.
Cheers,
Jeff

Travel, rest Travel, prepare, ride

I will have to give you a short version of what has been going on. I have been saving all my blog posts on my computer and it now has dementia and cannot remember how to connect ot the internet.
The travels were good not surprises and we got to stay at our friends Bruce and jen's house in Dubai. Coconut, fig, banana, avocado trees. Nice!
Did a pre-ride of the prologue and it was good to stretch out the legs ofter so much down time. Loose gravel on hard pack for the downhills. Sketchy!!!!!
Greg and I decided to run a smooth and well paced Prologue and that is just what we did. Smooth accelerations constant pace from start to finish. Greg is flying on the downhills with his 29er I have to be off the breaks all the time to keep up.
We are VERY happy with our placing 67th overall. The list of goals-have fun, ride hard, top 100 and the dream of top 60. So close but we still plan on riding a smrt race.
Legs feel good and as soon as we get to the tent village all the logistics settle down. We all are herding cats to get things done each day. It is just the reality of trying to keep 13 people on track. Each person steps up and keeps everyone in line. It is nice sometimes just to be told what to do. 7am start with a 5am wakeup. It won't matter as we all are in a different time zone anyway.
Scenery is spectacular, people are great and life is good.
I will try ot post some pics and reports but I am unsure of the internet situation. You may have to wait to hear the real story behind the times.
Cheers,
Jeff

Dry Run in Phoenix

What could be better than leaving -22C and going riding in Phoenix at +24C?? Not that I am rubbing it in as we still had to come back and spend the last frigid days losing our tans and acclimatization. It was still good to get out and feel the joy of riding again.
We took the West Jet flight down where my friend Paul and I got to sit in the front row thus completing one of Paul's life goals. Steve, not wanting any part of us sat several rows back and proceeded to sleep the whole flight.


We were able to get a ride in that night at the McDowell race loops. This is the location of the old Cactus Cup races that were so popular n the late 80s and early 90s. There are 3 separate loops-the Long, sport, and technical loop. The whole reason for this trip was to work out the bugs. I forgot my shoes and broke my seat clamp. How do you like them bugs. Steve lent me his shoes and my wife Alana, being the superstar she is lent me her seat clamp and drove to the bike store for replacement.



Steve, Paul, and myself started on the Technical loop. None of which are over the top hard but you should meter out your excitement for riding on your first day. Steve crashed 30 seconds into the ride on the first drop because he was so excited to be riding again. He graciously picked himself up and we continued on with no further events. We rode for about 1 hour and were treated to a beautiful sunset all the while singing laughing and wondering why we live somewhere that you can't ride year round.



The next day the 8 of the 10 "CAPE CREW"(Jeff, Alana, Steve, Fazian, Paul,Matt, George, Kim), rode the National Trail. The "Teacher of Terror", as the guide calls it, was a true test of every ones skill, and courage. 10 minutes into the ride I fell over backwards and dislocated my left pinkie. I would have a photo but I was a little too freaked out about my finger pointing sideways to snap the shot. My Mom says she can now sleep well at night knowing I am married to a Nurse Practitioner. Alana came down the trail pulled my finger, hehehe, and it just popped back into place. Steve taped it to my other finger and we continued on.

Fazian and Matt trying their hand at the technical climbing.

This trail has it all. Technical ups and downs, ledges, buff single track, double swooping trails, elevation, good breaks, the works!! We all hit the dirt at some time. Kim may take the prize here but for a guy who has only been a mtb bike a few times he was doing great.

Kim and I comparing wounds at the end of the day.

The Teacher of Terror, just one of the very none forgiving downhills. Steve leading his Cape partner Alana thru the mayhem.

George bringing everyone home on the Desert Classic.

The Desert Classic wraps up the whole loop on some swooping double track. It is almost Zen like to push a good tempo pace and rail the corners especially after having to walk down most of Telegraph Pass.

We always try to squeeze in a hike up in the Superstition Mountains before the plane ride home. We made it up to the water falls and enjoyed the view before heading back to the land of snow and ice.

It is just days away before we travel 43 hours to South Africa. A cleaning and tweaking of the bikes and we should be good to go. The dry run was all that it was suppose to be.



















































A quick eat ath the boys house and Alana, Paul, Steve and I were looking for our second ride. The boys had put in an earlier ride waiting for us to get organized. The first words out of my mother-in-laws mouth Saturday morning were "all you can eat pancakes". I was out of bed and picking up Paul and Steve in no time. We ended up being the talk of breakfast. 4 hungry athletes chowing down on flapjacks. They could not bring them fast enough. Word travels fast around the Park and most of the folks we sat with knew the whole story of South Africa. After making pigs of ourselves we were a little late to the trail head. oops.



















We finished off a splendid Saturday in style.

Preparation for the Cape Epic 2009

Well in less than 2 weeks I will be finished Day 4 of the 2009 Cape Epic. I am trying to figure out the best tires for DRY, WARM conditions. This is quite the contrast to the wet snow and low of minus 9 today in Calgary. Tires, Dry lube, 3 liter Camelbak, lots to think of before we go.

Even though the race is only weeks away there has been so much preparation. The training has been the biggest and most constant item. So what does it take to complete this race? My season started October 28th with the first of my spin classes. Since then it has been 3 days a week of indoor cycling. Tuesday night for 90 minutes, Thursday for 2 hours and Saturday morning for 2 hours. We have started with 20 minutes of E3/Tempo riding and pedaling drills and have progressed to 120 minutes of E3/Tempo riding last Saturday. Sundays are for long xc skiing or hiking. Add to this Core class every Monday, weights and a 1 hour run on Wednesdays. I did a phase of 1 hour extra workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays to build some leg strength. It leaves me with Fridays completely off and time to wrap up some life things. When I get back I will do 2 workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Weekends will be racing and long 4-5 hours rides.

My plan for this race is not to peak for it but use it as the final push in my Base building phase. My partner Greg is a very strong rider with a great competitive streak. We have been talking and agree to the following goals: 1/ Have Fun, 2/ Ride Hard, 3/ top 100 out of 600 teams, 4/ and if we are feeling really good go for top 60.
I feel that this year I have improved once again and now that I have year over year data, all the numbers support this improvement also.

With all the training and working it has been a real balancing act. I have to watch the diet and sleep so that I don’t get sick or run low on energy. I have dropped some weight but will not be down to race weight probably until June.

It is off to Phoenix this weekend to ride outside. Yippee!!! We planned this trip as a dry run for what we will need to bring and to get some bike handling skills. There are 14 Canadians going to the Cape Epic this year and 10 are our group from Calgary. There are 8 of us going to Phoenix this weekend so it will be good to meet, ride and socialize before we go to the big show.

Only 5 classes and 12 days left. I had better go do something productive like find my helmet!!

Jeff