Some things I'd like to do

This endless rain has got me daydreaming of hot, long summer rides. I've done a couple century rides the past few summers, and there is nothing better than spending a beautiful day outdoors while on your bike and enjoying the scenery. Especially if you are lucky enough to ride around the Slocan Valley or down near Northport WA. I've been planned/scheming up some routes for my return to Rossland at the endof August- a good way to celebrate the end of summer and the end of school!

Here's my list:

1) The Silver Triangle-

being a Slocan lake girl, I find myself drawn to this ride. I've do

ne most parts of the route on the Slocan Valley side, and I never get tired of looking down at the lake and up to the Valhallas. This could be broken up into two ~100km legs, but I am tempted to hammer it out and get the whole loop done in one go!

2) Northport China Bend-

I rode this one two summers with Rita. Aside from my stomach rotting from excess gatorade near the last 20km, this was another good ride. Starting in Northport, head back towards home, and turn onto China Bend Road that leads to the winery. This puts you on the opposite side of the road that the main highway travels. The whole stretch from Northport to Kettle Falls was my favourite! A combination of rolling hills, views of the Columbia river, a magnificent drop down to the water level and a road relatively free of traffic make for a fun outing. There is a small gravel strip about 1-2km in length up near the winery, but nothing unrideable...

I would only do this ride on the weekend because of the big logging truck traffic that clogs the main highway during the week days. I hope to do this ride again soon! The full loop from Northport to Northport is about 110km. It would be challenging to loop it from Rossland to Rossland (yay hills!) or start in Rossland, ride the first half and cross the boarder back into Christina Lake, and ride home from there.

3) Bombi Pass Ride 130km-

The lure of the Bombi! This ride could be started just about anywhere, depending on what you want to tackle first. Basically starting in Nelson and riding to Playmor Junction. Turning into the Slocan Valley, and then into Crescent Valley. Follow Pass Cr. Road into Castlegar and then up the Bombi pass. This is a 16km climb- long. (There is even the "Assult on the Bombi" race up this pass). Descend the Bombi down into Salmo, and follow the road into Ymir and eventually back into Nelson.

Those are the three rides that I'd really like to tackle sometime this year. I don't see the point in traveling to far away places to ride when I have my "back yard", and what a huge back yard, to explore.

Any takers willing to ride these with me? Full or partial! Any other ride suggestions around the kooks that are a must do?

Here's to riding in the sun!

Wasa Race Report

I love the Kootenays. Any excuse to go home is gladly welcomed by me, so the 2011 Wasa Lake Triathlon put on by rmevents was the perfect excuse to head back for the weekend. Last year I raced wasa as my first ever triathlon, and it seemed only fitting to go back again and compare my times. Plus, the atmosphere is great! Beautiful setting, great organization, happy racers and even though the race keeps growing, it still maintains its "grassroots" kootenay feel. If you have never done this race before be sure to put it on your list for next year... it truly is a great event- but sells out!!

I flew home into cancelgar friday afternoon after hashing through a physics midterm. Luckily the flight was in the afternoon, because true to its name, the morning flight into C-gar was cancelled. Made it home in time to attend part of RSS Grad 2011. It was great to see my friends and the new grads! They are a class that really cared about graduation, and it showed in their decorations, march and all of their festivities. Congratulations RSS class of 2011!

Leaving to Cranbrook sat. am was a bit delayed due to the fact that our key broke off in the door... whoops. So I got to do my bike/brick at home in the sun (and on my nicely tuned bike). We finally got on the road and made it into Cranbrook in 2.5hrs. I checked out the cranbrook pool and then my mum and I headed to the pre-race meeting-- amazing draw prizes, and I really wanted to win a new wetsuit. Alas, no such luck. We stayed out at St. Eugene's Resort on the Reserve out near Kimberly. The hotel was an old residential school, and restored beautifully! Also- the lounge went above and beyond to try and accommodate me and my finicky stomach- no gluten for me!

Race Morning: It was cloudy/overcast but not raining, with temp. hovering just under 10 degrees. After setting up my transition area I had plenty of time to warm-up and watch the sprint and men's olympic starts. The olympic women's start was a 1/2hr after the men's (the women made up the majority of the racers this year) and the sun was just beginning to peak out as we started. The course was a big clockwise loop on the south end of the lake. My sighting was decent, and I was able to stay away from the thrashers at the beginning. On the last stretch I sighted the beach and noticed that no one was out of the water yet. This was a huge surprise to me! I am NOT a good swimmer, so my positioning of being in the top few women made my day! The run up of 95m from the beach was included in swim time.

T1: thanks to the wetsuit strippers it was pretty fast. Hopped on the bike with my shoes attached- major win for me!

Bike: New bike course this year. Instead of the flat and fast ride out to Skookumchuck, the course ran in the opposite direction to Forte Steele. A bit more challenging, the new course had 5 good long rollers on the way out- but nothing crazy. The fresh pavement and variety of the course definitely made this one a winner. The bike went well except my chain fell off twice on two hills when I downshifted. Getting off twice to fix the chain wasn't my cup of tea- but that's racing for you!!

T2: nice and quick. grabbed a gel on the way out- as I didn't take in any nutrition on the bike.

Run: The sun was out full blast by the time I hit the run course. Nice to finally see the sun for the first time in what seems like weeks! I tried to maintain a steady pace, but began to struggle a bit through the middle section. I picked it up in the last 2km and reeled it in to a 2:31:33 finish. Just about 5min faster than last year, and on a slightly more challenging course.

Overall I had a really great weekend seeing friends and family! It was a much needed break from life in Coquitlam and SFU.

The High Altitude Club finished third in the team challenge! Way to go guys!!

Thanks for reading!