Welcome to the jungle...

So been playing around with Stava for the first time and it's pretty cool... It might catch on. Just have to figure out all the details since my first ride with it up I ended up on 4 lists without even knowing. Now I'm the king of a climb (not saying which one so you don't go beat me) but now I find myself checking out where I want to go and what I can challenge. Fun with Strava.

Wisconsin picture party

Some of the shots from the wisconsin Trek World Trip. Enjoy as much as I did....

Yes a whole SECTION for bars and grips...

Fabian Cancellara's "Spartacus" Bike....

The Emily Batty Shrine....

Superfly.... has won my heart already....

"Paleo" Pete's obvious anxiety over the Gluten-ness of Mocha Desserts...

"Welcome to Trek World. This is Fabian Cancellera's Bike from the Tour.... and yes that's still his sweat on it"

Just hanging on the Roof with Trek Canada Riders and it's Executives

You want fast wheels?  Bontrager's got 'em!!!

Endangered Species....

One of the most interesting / shocking pieces of news to come from Trek World last week was that there would NO longer be a Top Fuel... my steed of choice for the last several years.... there is acutally no top end 26" wheel bike and Trek is focusing on the 29er revolution that they have created and leading....

 so it is with a sad farewell that i say goodbye to the Love of my Life... enjoying the view for the last few times....

.... before Falling in Love with the best 29er around.... the Trek Superfly!!  Fast, smooth, agile, responsive and fun to ride.... i can hardly wait!!!

A great place to be....

Just got back from the week at Trek World and the Wisconsin US Cup race... And spending lots of time with the Subaru-Trek race team. Shares the hotel with this great group of riders and team members and was in awe of their Awesomeness. Supportive, enthusiastic, great at their jobs, and genuinely great people. Understandable why so many racers want to be part of Subaru-Trek and glad that Emily is in such a happy place... smiles all around the Trailer from Riders, Mechanics, Therapists and Support...

Made a new Best Friend in "Uncle" Sam Shultz the US National Champ...something in common?

Emily's shoulder is getting much better, the bruises are almost gone and she is still focused on Worlds...  She's One Tough Chick....

She may not have won a real Medal, but Emily is pure Gold on our hearts.

Team Car.... I think i'm due for a Mid Life Crisis Car...

Jumping the fence

Took off from Toronto a couple days ago at 5am to head south and then north to hit Trek World and the Wisconsin US Cup. 11hr drive and some good conversation as we head across the border and through 4 different states and 1 province on our drive. Hit Madison Wisconsin and cleaned up before the Meet and Greet party for Trek World and some snacks / beverages. Highlight of the last many years was checking out the we 2013Trek line of bikes....pics to follow later.

Muck-wallow O'Cup

after 2 months of not racing (i'm not counting Road Provs...) we started it up again at the annual Rocky Beat You Up Course of Buckwallow.... although this year there was enough rain to halt pre-riding on the Saturday, which was fine for me but stressed out Luke a bit....

the usual fast start on the LOOOOONG double track section was a sure way to get some sand in your teeth and realize the benefits of Drafting....

was feeling pretty good (HR was still hanging a bit low after a week of little top end intensity) but rode well and felt confident on most of the course.... the long and tough West Denial section proved to be the toughest technical and physical challenge

broke away with Martindill and was thinking of Attack Locations when I messed up a short, wet, rooty climb half way around the last lap and gave him a gap.... all he needed to hold me off ... will need to work on a few things before Provs to ensure no mistakes and good legs...

Another week another trauma

Spent another week at the cottage riding, fishing, swimming and relaxing. As usual, Jake suffered another set of injuries...this time deciding to belly flop from his bike to the pavement.

Got a chance to pre-ride Buckwallow with PG...and it promises to be a tough technical and physical challenge. Dually will help smooth out Some of the rocks bit will be a real challenge of the forecasted rain decides to appear.

Race of the Year...

Don't miss the Race of the Year... Olympic Women's Mountain bike... featuring Emily Batty!!!

She has had a lot of Great results this year with several top 5's and top 10's so after some Secret Training at Altitude and some good time on the course, it promises to be a Spectacular Show!!!

Emily racing on Great Form... Catherine Pendrell on a World Cup Tear this year.... oooooh yeahhhhh

Wake up early because the race happens at 7:30 EST.

How we Roll...

Been working on the Family Singletrack Skillz on Dirham forest lately ... Sue rides her Trek 6000, Luke rolls his Race Rocket and I get a little "assistance" from Jake on the Trail a Bike.... Although he talks more than he pedals!! Quite happy with Luke and Sue's progress lately ... But I think she's still a ways from wanting to race... Fun Family Time none the less.

Gettin' Old or Gettin' Slow?

Played around a couple weeks ago in the Don Trail System in downtown T-dot.... tons of fun and a whole other system of technical...

Got the end of an Almost 3hr Tour by Murray and Robert (great guys who thankfully knew how to get back to the cars) and looked at the Garmin....

did we Really only ride 34km in 3hrs?  Average Speed of 11km/h?

Yikes....

Just one more reason....

... to NOT race road anymore!!!  But i figured that i could use some intensity and thought i would give it a try....

 hot humid day with lots of T-showers rolling through.. we were delayed by 20min before starting....

 got going with lightening in the distance... and did 1.5 of the scheduled 9 before the commissaires rolled up and told us to take a delay and find shelter... 

 got going... again... rained, lightening and thunder... Commissaires told us that we would be doing 6 more laps rather than 7 more... so down 1 lap...did 3.5 laps before they rolled up to us at the feed zone (half way through) and told us that this was the bell lap and that we were to sprint for the line... some confusion, re-asking and clarification was passed through the peleton before we realized that we had 6km of racing left...
all this discussion / info passing / clarification happened after a VinylBilt guy took a flyer .... not sure if he was at the back and was told the news first and went expecting it to take time to pass the word and he could get away... but he had a good lead on us when we started going hard again.... got to the top of the hill (about 3km left) at 3rd wheel and no one really wanted to go... so we rounded the corner with 2km to go and with the Flyer Guy still out front with 300m on us, i decided that he shouldn't win that way and chased him down... caught him and no-one would pull through, sat up a bit... no-one, went again and then got rushed by the group of about 20 with 400m to go....

Does it look like i had fun???