Rep-re-ZENT!!!

Just wanted to throw out a Huge Congrats to our Olympic Mountain Bike team that will be representing Canada in London.... great crew chosen and all capable of hitting top 10... top 5.... or Podium!!!

Got to Shake hands / chat with the Boys (Geoff and Max) after Nats.... and Pendrel is always willing to chat with fellow riders...

Extra Special Shout Out to Emily Batty for making it onto the team.... Fast, Positive, Inspiring, Self-less, Beautiful, Patriotic and a Home Town Girl.... Gonna be a Hell of a Race!!!

The Full Nats Story...

So here's the more detailed story.... My only concern for the race was the Start Loop... long gravel uphill that didn't suit how i start...

needed to do whatever was needed to stay in the front group with LaFlame (Exprezzo in Black / Green) and Martindale who has beat me before in Ont... had a great start and found their wheels... hill wasn't so bad and felt like it was not a Match Burned... rolled the 1st lap in a great spot... until i crashed...

Not this hill but a longer / steeper one with just as many rocks... over the bars, tumble, find bike, replace chain, get back on and chase now from 5 spots further back... damn...

Wicked fast dowhill after the Switchbacks... got stuck in the brake bumps rather than the smooth grass, barely touching the ground so brakes didn't do much, no chance to make the corner, launched over the bars into a stake that held up Course Tape... new bruise and another 3 spots back... damn... caught up again... 1/2 a lap to go and slipped out on some roots, went to put a foot down on ground that did not exist and wound up under my bike in the bushes.... get out / get on / get going to re-close gap... again...

was able to make up the gap and attack at the last possible spot... small opening before switchback climbs / decents before the run in to the Finish.... everything i had to Crack LaFlame and make it back to win the Emily Batty Congrats Kiss....

Took my time pulling on the Jersey.... been 6 months of training with this in my mind so it was nice to achieve the dream.... did it the hard way (my own fault) but like Taylor said at the start line to me ... "Anything other than 1st is a disappointment, right?"

Nationals Results....

The short version of a long story....had a tough day in the saddle but was able to pull it off....

 happy to be sporting the Red and White jersey.....

although i paid the price for the Victory.... the long version to come later....

More Nats Pics...

Thanks to Team Manager Taylor Near for the great pics of the course...

 Rollin' the steep downhill rittled with rocks... and some dust...

The course has a couple short steep pitches... adds to the fun...

What course doesn't have shoulder high boulders in it???

check out more pics and updates on the Trek Canada Mountain Bike Team website

Prepping for Nats

Survived the 10hr drive (11.45hr according to Google... what do they know??) yesterday to St. Felicien for Nationals... hanging out with the rest of Trek Canada and enjoying the Pro Life (ride, rest, eat, sleep, repeat...) spent some time on the course today and already loving it....

 that's a Perma-Smile from riding the Best Course that i've ridden....

Fast, technical, fun and rough... Real Mountain Biking...

Great Flow and got much faster during my 4laps...

Notice the guy poaching my Lines... Geoff K-Bomb Kabush.... i had to wait for him to show him how to ride it faster.... sniff, yeah....

Any day is a good day for Pink....

Got the invite for the 1st Annual TDSB Fun Run last weekend... a good chance to get kids out to Downsview park and run the trails.... 2.5km and 5km options for Elementary and Secondary.... and as usual i stuck my Ugly Pink Face in front of every camera i could find....

 I joined the Warm Up Girls for a Pep Rally.... and i made Dr. Chris Spence (Director of Education for TDSB ... aka Top Dog) laugh and shake his head.... next time i'm going in for a hug...

Had a great turn out of over 3,000 runners.... kids, parents, friends and families....

I still think that Pink is my colour.... although the Argo Girl (just over my right arm) is obviously laughing at my expense....

Tremblant Pics

Found a few pics from the Tremblant CCup.... great weekend of riding and hospital visits....

Ended up using the Parent Adrenaline to move from 8th to 2nd on the train heading up the long climb before the downhill and felt great... rocked the downhill rocks and chased down a fast started.... pulled through and attacked... growing a gap every lap...

one of those races where i didn't feel any pain (back, legs, lungs...) and was focused the whole time.... love it when that happens...

i was just being nice offering to bring wheels up to the Feed Zone for Taylor.... didn't actually think he'd take me up on it!!!

Crazy things we do...

Better late than never.... nice working making Canadian History Ryder!!!!  Got to share a camping chair with the holder of the Pink Jersey many years ago when he was racing MTB's out in Canmore.... yes i'm bragging about another brush with Cycling Fame...

As per tradition, we headed up the Gondola after the race at Tremblant to enjoy the view and the opportunity for more Childhood Cranial Trauma....

And also as per tradition.... we found some snow and had another Snowball fight.... although it tends to be a bit one-sided.... Luke showing the Guns and he tries test the Shock-Resistance of the new camera....

The Bad with the Good...

So our trip to Tremblant was a little Bitter Sweet... i had a great race... inspite of Jake deciding to try out the sport of Cliff Diving... Calling the kids for dinner from playing around the grass hills / landscape walls / parking lot area... Jake decides to walk down the hill backwards - towards a 12ft rock wall drop onto the parking lot.... I saw him doing it and called for him to stop but he was focused on Luke... right over the edge onto the parking lot... I got there in about 1sec and found him motionless on the pavement like a sleeping cat... Knocked Out Cold groaning....

Falling on your head hurts....

 

 

 

 

Elbow was 2nd point of contact....

Hip was final point of contact....

Yes he fell from there....

Police showed up, neighbour in a condo was a surgeon and helped out tons, Ambulance showed up and we went for a trip to the local Hospital, X-rays, CAT scan, Sue spent the night with him for observations, arrived back at the condo at 8:30am and slept most the day while Daddy raced.... but turned out OK in the end... thankfully...

I'm surprised i could get my Heart Rate up at all ... considering my Heart stopped several times during this incident....

Thanks to the Trek Canada Team for their support and Well-Wishes.... things like this scare the Hell out of the toughest parents amongst us....