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reunion at interbike

At the Kona booth with Wendy Simms, Barry Wicks

aloha from mountain man

The bike and run took place where they film Lost.

The Special Sauce

Along with electrolyte capsules, this has been the key to my racing. (Turns out Flight Centre also uses Accelerade as well)

Stage 5 - Sechelt to Langdale

Today we were determined to get to our start area early to avoid doing any extra work. To our surprise we were no longer in the B group but the A group. We were stoked getting to line up with all the top teams and not having to battle for position from the start. Stage 5 was another rollout on town roads before hitting singletrack and double track uphills. There was a significant amount of climbing but also featured some amazing singletrack. After getting through some of the tough sections we hit what was probably a good 45 minutes of the best single track I've ever experienced with bermed corners and fun and challenging bridges(although some were just to risky for us to take). Again, we built an early lead after the opening climbs. Deadgoat and North of Here both caught and passed us as we remained challenged through the technical singletrack. Jo's legs were still fatigued and I tried to help return the favor of a few days back by pushing her when I could. The hardest part of the day had to be the singletrack climb leading to the Aid Station 2. Already spent from working another technical singletrack the aid station couldn't come soon enough. We made another quick transition despite the need to rest. I filled up my camelbak with some Accelerade powder and topped off my waterbottle. It was bit more climbing before we hit another sweet section of fast singletrack under lush canopy. Then Jo ate it hard off a log. My heart skipped a beat fearing the worse but thankfully she was just a shaken up with a few more bruises. It was all downhill from there to the finish at the ferry terminal in Langdale. It was another consistent and fun day for us and to our surprise, while we did lose some time to a couple groups in front of us, it was not much and we made a large chunk up time on the 5th place Kopek team. Again, 7th on the day. Still in 7th with 5th in reach.

Almost immediately after the race our bikes were put in a truck and we walked onto another ferry in Langdale to Horseshoe Bay where buses waited for us to take us to Squamish, known as the "adventure capital of the world."

Tomorrow is going to be another fun ride, but supposedly tough and long. Luckily we start and finish in Squamish at the Brennan Park Rec Centre where will be staying two nights. It's absolutely gorgeous here. Sounds like we might get rain tomorrow though...


Post Race stop for grub with Grant and Scott (Bike RX) at Horseshoe Bay

Race Village in Squamish

Stage 4 - Happy Canada Day

It was a super early start. We had a 4:30am wakeup call in order to load buses that would take us to the first of two ferries we would catch to make it to the start of Stage 4. It was actually nice to have breakfast at 7am and have a full 4 hours to digest before race time. We also got a great chance to take in the beautiful ocean and mountain backdrop that we otherwise wouldn't enjoy while riding. The race literally started right at the terminal in Earl's Cove. As soon as we stepped off the boat, it was not even 50 meters to the start area. Jo and I didn't get in the lineup queue until the B group was already half full. Luckily with a 10K rollout on roads we were able to move up with most of the top teams before the singletrack. Minutes after unloading the ferry we were racing.

From the get go, we knew we would have to take it easy. Jo's legs were fatigued from the efforts of the first three days. Mine were surprisingly good. They had been really tight the day before. Sherry, my massage therapist for the week, has been doing a great job. The day was a bit of a blur for both of us but some of the things we remembered:

• Jo taking a nasty spill on a beginning of a short descent, rattling her a bit for the rest of the ride
• Passing Spike Shooters (Mark and Katie Compton) as they once again fixed a flat. And then them blowing past us a little while later (once again)
  
• Riding most of the day with our closest competition proving that steady climbs were our strength while the technical singletrack is something we need to improve upon. Teams Deadgoat, North of Here, and Kopeks have superior technical skills.
• Catching up with Flight Centre's Nick and James and stopping to give them a tube for their flat tire (no one else offered to help them)
• Botching the stage's final 10K of singletrack, crashing at least 3 times.
• Loving the final 2K of nice smooth and tacky singletrack

Overall, it was another good team day for us. For the second straight day I've been an adequate partner riding stronger and keep my body from overheating. While we were unable to protect our early lead from a few of the mixed teams we have to be happy about being consistent. We finished 7th and remained in 7th overall.

aboard BC Ferries

Earl's Cove:Race start of Stage 3

Flight Centre preparing to unload and race

A little PR for Sportgenic...

Along with Jo's husband Tim, we also made it on the front of today's Sports Page...