Friday, May 14, 2010
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Too Busy! And for once it isn't because of work
We've been keeping a busy schedule trying to fit in as much summer as possible before the autumn sets in. Activity level has been high and postings of our adventures has been demoted below keeping the cats fed and the cat box clean.
My Trek during a happy day in the Kootenays.
had some birthday cake,
Since Scott moved to North Van at the end of July we've:
had 2 bikes stolen,
MIA Scott's Morgul Bismark Manx Surely the only one in Vancouver.
My Trek during a happy day in the Kootenays. replaced 2 stolen bikes,
had a birthday bike ride,
had some birthday cake,both been on week long business trips (Scott to Williams Lake, BC and I went for a week of field work for a coal project on Vancouver Island). Somewhere in this rain forest mess I collected a rock and water seepage sample.
visited very good and greatly missed friends in Colorado,
explored the South Chilcotins,
joined a gym,
rode big bikes in Whistler.
Time is flying by and the to-do list is not getting smaller.
We are enjoying the pleasure of doing the things that we love and sharing it all with each other.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
BWR- Team Honey Sweetie Part 2
Day 4 - Earl's Cove to Sechelt, 60 kms??
The first of 2 days riding on the Sunshine Coast. The Sunshine Coast can only be reached by ferry necessitating a 4:30 am start, 2 bus transfers and 2 ferries. I had been sleeping poorly since Day 1, especially Day 2 when a very strong ocean breeze collapsed our tent, so another night of 4-5 hours was par for the course.
There were lots of powerline climbs and logging roads in this course, and no single track sections really stand out. I think my road miles were paying dividens and the climbs were steep enough that Scott wasn't spun out. We were actually having a great day but I was enjoying the climbing a little too much. Scott's pace down a gravel road was beyond my comfort level, but we both stayed up right. He says it was out of his comfort zone too, but I had passed too many fast descenders on the climb and he wanted to avoid being that dolt who can't hang on the downhills. I have a lot to learn about racing! We rolled into the second aid station in 7th place, compliments on our climbing, and a flat tire. :( We took the time to eat and for me to fix the flat (no CO2 by my insistence) which cost us 3 places, but not smiles.
Day 5 - Sechelt to Landsdale, 60 kms?
The day we had been looking forward to!!! We know most of this route and most especially the last 12kms. The trails in the southern part of the Sunshine Coast are worth a trip to BC alone. They are more accessible to a wider range of riders, unlike the North Shore, but still technically interesting. Any mountain biker on these trails should be a happy mountain biker.
Again, we were having a good day, metally thrilled to be over half way done and knowing the trails that awaited the next 3 days. The course was shortened and avoided a boring 15-20 kms section of logging road which brought us to the first aid station within 15kms of starting. We pushed hard today so we could get a good postion for enjoying the sweet sweet decent. Scott took an endo right before the first aid station. When I came across him, he was laying off the trail checking his helmet for cracks (see his good race ettiqute? he cleared the trail of himself and bike). We spent the extra 15 mins to get him checked out by the medic at the aid station. We hit the trail hot again and it paid off. We had an uninterrupted 45 min downhill flow to the finish line. We finished 8th today.
Day 6 - Squamish, 55 kms??
What I learned about Scott this week. He doesn't complain, he knows how to suffer, he's got a turbo button when there's single track, and he gets stronger as the race goes on. Honestly? Who finds their legs 6 days into a 7 day race??? We know today's course and another singlespeed friendly start put Scott WAY up front. I don't have his race experience and am very scared of blowing. I fell behind early and it took a lot to get caught up. First up was the couple from Day 1 who does not like to ceede the trail. Got in front of them only to be slowed by the other co-ed team that had been nicknamed 'Push-Pull'. We were on a double track power line climb and she was struggling. There was probablt 8 or 10 of us stacked up behind her. She said one word (in French?) and he hopped off his bike, ran up and started pushing her up the hill at the same time as his bike!!! Fortunately, I did manage to get in front of them at the crest of the climb where Scott was waiting. And we were off. We bascially has a GREAT ride and easily rode into 6th position. The trails in Squamish are amazing. We rode some well established trails and a new one that was steep and long and yuumy good! Just writing about it makes me want to go back right now.
As if the single track wasn't reward enough.
Day 7 smiles are as good as Day 1 smiles.
Short and hard starting with a nasty 300 m climb. It was just hard and fast today. Scott was in front and still strong. Again, who finds their legs on day 7? He worked me all day. After the first climb, called See Colors and Puke, I think, is a buffed, 15 km swithcback descent. The rest of the stage is hazy as Scott has me close to the redline. The final climb is a road climb culminating in a short staircase and then singletrack to the finish line. We hit the road climb just in front of another couple that we had been yo-yoing with all week. Scott saw them sit up on the road so we just kept spinning. On about the 3rd switchback, Scott looked back and saw that he was pushing her and the gap was shrinking. My ego took the hit as my singlespeeing husband, came along my left side and proceeded to push me up the hill! On day 7 and my geared ass is getting pushed up the last hill by my ss man! We kept the gap open and threw ourselves down the last singletrack to the finish line. The end.
No more of these for a while! 
After a few days of this race you end up knowing the folks you are riding around. I am very chatty when riding, probably obnoxiously so, and very much enamored with Scott. Since we don't see each other very often we were very affectionate even on the trail. Around Day 4 or 5, as we came up on another rider he asked if that was honey-sweetie behind him. :)
The first of 2 days riding on the Sunshine Coast. The Sunshine Coast can only be reached by ferry necessitating a 4:30 am start, 2 bus transfers and 2 ferries. I had been sleeping poorly since Day 1, especially Day 2 when a very strong ocean breeze collapsed our tent, so another night of 4-5 hours was par for the course.
There were lots of powerline climbs and logging roads in this course, and no single track sections really stand out. I think my road miles were paying dividens and the climbs were steep enough that Scott wasn't spun out. We were actually having a great day but I was enjoying the climbing a little too much. Scott's pace down a gravel road was beyond my comfort level, but we both stayed up right. He says it was out of his comfort zone too, but I had passed too many fast descenders on the climb and he wanted to avoid being that dolt who can't hang on the downhills. I have a lot to learn about racing! We rolled into the second aid station in 7th place, compliments on our climbing, and a flat tire. :( We took the time to eat and for me to fix the flat (no CO2 by my insistence) which cost us 3 places, but not smiles.
Day 5 - Sechelt to Landsdale, 60 kms?
The day we had been looking forward to!!! We know most of this route and most especially the last 12kms. The trails in the southern part of the Sunshine Coast are worth a trip to BC alone. They are more accessible to a wider range of riders, unlike the North Shore, but still technically interesting. Any mountain biker on these trails should be a happy mountain biker.
Again, we were having a good day, metally thrilled to be over half way done and knowing the trails that awaited the next 3 days. The course was shortened and avoided a boring 15-20 kms section of logging road which brought us to the first aid station within 15kms of starting. We pushed hard today so we could get a good postion for enjoying the sweet sweet decent. Scott took an endo right before the first aid station. When I came across him, he was laying off the trail checking his helmet for cracks (see his good race ettiqute? he cleared the trail of himself and bike). We spent the extra 15 mins to get him checked out by the medic at the aid station. We hit the trail hot again and it paid off. We had an uninterrupted 45 min downhill flow to the finish line. We finished 8th today.
Day 6 - Squamish, 55 kms??
What I learned about Scott this week. He doesn't complain, he knows how to suffer, he's got a turbo button when there's single track, and he gets stronger as the race goes on. Honestly? Who finds their legs 6 days into a 7 day race??? We know today's course and another singlespeed friendly start put Scott WAY up front. I don't have his race experience and am very scared of blowing. I fell behind early and it took a lot to get caught up. First up was the couple from Day 1 who does not like to ceede the trail. Got in front of them only to be slowed by the other co-ed team that had been nicknamed 'Push-Pull'. We were on a double track power line climb and she was struggling. There was probablt 8 or 10 of us stacked up behind her. She said one word (in French?) and he hopped off his bike, ran up and started pushing her up the hill at the same time as his bike!!! Fortunately, I did manage to get in front of them at the crest of the climb where Scott was waiting. And we were off. We bascially has a GREAT ride and easily rode into 6th position. The trails in Squamish are amazing. We rode some well established trails and a new one that was steep and long and yuumy good! Just writing about it makes me want to go back right now.
As if the single track wasn't reward enough.
Day 7 - Whistler, 29 kms
Day 7 smiles are as good as Day 1 smiles.
Short and hard starting with a nasty 300 m climb. It was just hard and fast today. Scott was in front and still strong. Again, who finds their legs on day 7? He worked me all day. After the first climb, called See Colors and Puke, I think, is a buffed, 15 km swithcback descent. The rest of the stage is hazy as Scott has me close to the redline. The final climb is a road climb culminating in a short staircase and then singletrack to the finish line. We hit the road climb just in front of another couple that we had been yo-yoing with all week. Scott saw them sit up on the road so we just kept spinning. On about the 3rd switchback, Scott looked back and saw that he was pushing her and the gap was shrinking. My ego took the hit as my singlespeeing husband, came along my left side and proceeded to push me up the hill! On day 7 and my geared ass is getting pushed up the last hill by my ss man! We kept the gap open and threw ourselves down the last singletrack to the finish line. The end.No more of these for a while! After a few days of this race you end up knowing the folks you are riding around. I am very chatty when riding, probably obnoxiously so, and very much enamored with Scott. Since we don't see each other very often we were very affectionate even on the trail. Around Day 4 or 5, as we came up on another rider he asked if that was honey-sweetie behind him. :) It was a great week and a very different experience compared to last year. Last year I wasn't sure that I would finish. This year it was actually racing at times. Having shorter courses helped, having another year of riding and training helped, having an actually cross country bike helped. I don't have the desire to do this again. I know that Scott will help me come up with the next challenge.... yay.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
BWR-Team Honey Sweetie Part 1
BCBR 2009 is finished! Scott and I had a great race and even put up a couple of good finishes towards the end of the race. Yeehaw. 
The BCBR is a 7 day mountain bike stage race that strives to have the most and best singletrack of all the multi-day races. This is the 3rd year for the event and the race courses were better than the previous year's. I rode my new Siren which was a tremendous improvement over the Specialized Enduro I rode last year. Scott was on his trusty, utilitarian WaltWorks single speed (only 1 gear!).
DAY 1- The North Shore, 29 kms
The BCBR is a 7 day mountain bike stage race that strives to have the most and best singletrack of all the multi-day races. This is the 3rd year for the event and the race courses were better than the previous year's. I rode my new Siren which was a tremendous improvement over the Specialized Enduro I rode last year. Scott was on his trusty, utilitarian WaltWorks single speed (only 1 gear!).DAY 1- The North Shore, 29 kms
The first day was short at 29 kms. Endless Biking designed the course. The race started fast, uphill, and hit a bottleneck within 5 kms. The first of only 2 climbs was the non-technical grunt up Old Buck. We had a bit of trouble getting past another co-ed team on the climb. He was pushing her up the trail and not sharing the trail. This is a very experienced team (La Ruta x 2, Trans Rockies, Trans Alps and Cape Epic!), and friendly when off the bikes, but not willing to let others by. Local North Shore ripper Wade Simmons was marshalling at the top of the climb and encouraging riders to drop the saddle before dropping into Severed Dick.
We both had good descents and rode off to the middle chain ring climb up Mt. Fromme. Scott was in the front and pulled in maybe 10 or 12 riders! We took the time drop the saddles for the Pipeline descent. We've both ridden this trail before, although in a different disguise...
It was imposible to pass other riders, so I hit the 3 rocked in rollers to avoid the walk-around and managed to ride into an open gap. We kept riding well and finished 7th for the stage after getting passed in the last 500 m on the road. Me on the rollers on a non-race day.
DAY 2 - Nanimo to Parksville, Vancouver Island, 73 kms
The morning started with an early ferry ride to Vancouver Island. The trails were great today and we were enjoying the slickrock-esque steep pitches on super sticky outcrops and the views across Georgia Straight. We were riding strong and made up the time lost spent getting my chain unsucked (I may have commented on the upside of singlespeeding here). Then the singletrack stopped. The final 15kms of today's stage was a gradual descending logging road best ridden in the big chain ring. Scott and I worked together, but even with a bit of help from me, he was seriously spun out for all 15kms. Four fully geared co-ed teams passed us in the last 6 kms and we finished 10th. Here's the only picture we took during the race.
DAY 3 - Comox Valley, Vancouver Island, 56 kms
From a previous ride on Severed....
We both had good descents and rode off to the middle chain ring climb up Mt. Fromme. Scott was in the front and pulled in maybe 10 or 12 riders! We took the time drop the saddles for the Pipeline descent. We've both ridden this trail before, although in a different disguise...It was imposible to pass other riders, so I hit the 3 rocked in rollers to avoid the walk-around and managed to ride into an open gap. We kept riding well and finished 7th for the stage after getting passed in the last 500 m on the road. Me on the rollers on a non-race day. DAY 2 - Nanimo to Parksville, Vancouver Island, 73 kms
The morning started with an early ferry ride to Vancouver Island. The trails were great today and we were enjoying the slickrock-esque steep pitches on super sticky outcrops and the views across Georgia Straight. We were riding strong and made up the time lost spent getting my chain unsucked (I may have commented on the upside of singlespeeding here). Then the singletrack stopped. The final 15kms of today's stage was a gradual descending logging road best ridden in the big chain ring. Scott and I worked together, but even with a bit of help from me, he was seriously spun out for all 15kms. Four fully geared co-ed teams passed us in the last 6 kms and we finished 10th. Here's the only picture we took during the race.
DAY 3 - Comox Valley, Vancouver Island, 56 kmsThis is some GOOD riding even if overall the day was hard for us. I got chain suck again about 1 hour into the race and we lost 4-5 positions. We managed to regain our position on a 40 minute forest road climb and rolled through the first aid station in good spirits. Then I broke my chain, interupting a sweet, steep, rocky descent. :( Scott came to my rescue and we were rolling again, chasing down teams again. We faultered a bit during a long forest road section and Scott's legs took a beating. Combined with the 15kms at the end of Day 2 and this long, high cadence section, we took a break to refocus. Turns out all Scott needs is single track! He rocked the last 10 kms of single track which were nothing but bridges, short rolling climbs/descents and a few thousand roots.
Re-fuelling in Cumberland.
Friday, May 29, 2009
A good future
From my bedroom with the shades half drawn you can watch the North Shore mountains brighten in the mornings until the frst direct rays hit the exposed ski runs on Grouse Mountain. Honoring the pre-dawn light, and rising as the sun comes up the city is subdued I understand why there are morning people in the world.
Morning people who move to northern latitudes need to be re-programed. I woke just long enough to note that Scott was out of bed and that it was getting bright outside. I woke a little bit more when coffee grinder whired and the kettle was set on the stove. Looked outside to a light blue sky but dark mountain tops. Looked at the clock. Big hand on the 12 and little hand spot on the 5. I stole into the kitchen, gave Scott a hug and a kiss and whispered that it was FREAKING EARLY. We easily made the 7:30 ferry to the Sunshine Coast for another day of riding and exploring.
We walked onto the ferry and settled in with a cup of coffee and our map. The plan was to take public transit to Roberts Creek and start climbing from there eventually finishing on the sweet descending Highway 103 and 102 trails back for the 4:20 pm ferry. Waiting to dismebark from the ferry we started chatting with a local who kindly drove us to Roberts Creek.
The fun beings.
We hooked up with anothe rider while looking for Mexican Jumping Bean. He had a different, but equally shitty map, that had not only different trails, it called the same trails different names and had no contour lines. Neither map had UTM coordinates! Trails that didn't connect or ended into nothing. grrrr to shitty mapping. Maybe 90 mins later and still looking for Mexican Jumping Bean -- maybe it was snowed in?
Sunshine Coast swoopiness. Lots of wood work. Lots of bridges. Or not. 
Morning people who move to northern latitudes need to be re-programed. I woke just long enough to note that Scott was out of bed and that it was getting bright outside. I woke a little bit more when coffee grinder whired and the kettle was set on the stove. Looked outside to a light blue sky but dark mountain tops. Looked at the clock. Big hand on the 12 and little hand spot on the 5. I stole into the kitchen, gave Scott a hug and a kiss and whispered that it was FREAKING EARLY. We easily made the 7:30 ferry to the Sunshine Coast for another day of riding and exploring.
We walked onto the ferry and settled in with a cup of coffee and our map. The plan was to take public transit to Roberts Creek and start climbing from there eventually finishing on the sweet descending Highway 103 and 102 trails back for the 4:20 pm ferry. Waiting to dismebark from the ferry we started chatting with a local who kindly drove us to Roberts Creek.
The fun beings.Dave's Detour was a bit overgrown.
Caroline's Connector was buff and bermed.
Caroline's Connector was buff and bermed. We hooked up with anothe rider while looking for Mexican Jumping Bean. He had a different, but equally shitty map, that had not only different trails, it called the same trails different names and had no contour lines. Neither map had UTM coordinates! Trails that didn't connect or ended into nothing. grrrr to shitty mapping. Maybe 90 mins later and still looking for Mexican Jumping Bean -- maybe it was snowed in?
Sunshine Coast swoopiness. Lots of wood work. Lots of bridges. Or not. 
A bar for enjoying CO whiskey. 
Smiles all around.
According to Environment Canada on summer solstice the sun will rise at 5:07 am and set at 9:22 pm. That is 16 hours and 15 mins of seeing the sun. 16 hours and 15 mins of play time, not including pre-dawn and dusk. There is more to look forward too!
Smiles all around.
According to Environment Canada on summer solstice the sun will rise at 5:07 am and set at 9:22 pm. That is 16 hours and 15 mins of seeing the sun. 16 hours and 15 mins of play time, not including pre-dawn and dusk. There is more to look forward too!
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