Coming back from the America road trip it was a treat to get 12 straight days at home in Victoria.  I backed off the hours on the bike, focused on some hard efforts, and chiselled away the winter insulation.  Supplementing your diet at Nourish cafe and training alot with Mr Plaxton gets a person flying into proper racing form in no time.  Chasing Plaxton around on his home trails is a task, if I manage to stay within sight I can track his lines and barely keep up, but if I falter then I fall into a game of kamikaze as I start guessing lines and ultimately making bad moves and crashing.    Its the fast track way of learning how to rail the tough trails out here.

The highlight of the week was seeing my friend, Dentist John Dutcha at Orchid Dental for a routine checkup to check on a flared up gum.  After last years tooth gongshow resulting in damaging race results for May and June I have been extra cautious with my teeth.  This involved seeing a “Dentist” in the Dominican Republic when I was down there in February.  She told me my teeth were amazing.  When Dr. Dutcha probed into my mouth he found a surprise case of periodontitis (the progressive loss of the alveolar bone around the teeth, if left untreated itcan lead to the loosening and subsequent loss of teeth.)  This was causing a solid infection in my jaw again (requiring antibiotics), and also the ear troubles I was having flying as the infection was sending garbage into my sinuses.   Dr. Dutcha saved me from another round of teeth gong shows as he fixed up that problem and spent another 2.5 hrs going over 7 different teeth fixing cavities, old fillings etc.   Apperently the Dentist in the Dominican is use to seeing Dominican teeth and compared to what she deals with down there my teeth were top notch.    What I am learning is just how lucky we are in Canada to have great Dentists like Dr. Dutcha, and also that being an endurance cyclists is lethal to your teeth no matter how much you brush.  This starts to make sense when you think of all the gels, cliff blocks and sugary drinks we put in our mouths for up to 24 hours at a time.

Heading to Salmon Arm with a clean slate of health this year to do battle at the 6 hr Salty Dog XC race was exciting.  Last year the race came to a brutal end as I was overtaken by a solid jaw infection and was in need of some redemption up there.  The weekend started off with a  bang as my friends Dave Mcnaughton and Jana (with her boyfriend Rich) joined my Dad and Eileen at there acreage just outside Salmon Arm.  Here we ate some solid meals, talked about things and stuff and prepped for a solid race day.

On Sunday the race was hard from the gun as nearly 500 riders took to a 10 km loop to see who could get the dizziest doing laps the fastest.  I was the 2nd best at getting dizzy behind a mysterious yellow jersey rider who had gone out like a bat out of hell.  I chased this guy around the course for 4 hrs but the time gaps kept slowly climbing upwards of 6 minutes.  I knew my lap times were solid compared to years past but I couldn’t figure out how this guy was ripping so hard and not cracking.  I was impressed and starting to think of ways to convince him to come over to Australia this fall for 24 hour Worlds.  Eventually I found out this rider was actually 2 riders switching off on a team consisting of Chris Mcneil and Martin Bojesen, two very fast riders (one a pro roadie, the other apparently the strava king of Kamloops.)   Nonetheless these guys were ripping and demolished the other teams.   It made my race harder as I focused on catching them rather then holding off 2nd place solo rider Michael Robinson.  In the end I managed to claw 2 minutes back on the duo on the last lap but they still held onto a 10 minute gap.  Catching these boys could be a good goal for next years Salty Dog.

Overall the race was great as I beat my 2010 Solo course record by over 9 minutes.    It has been a tough spring on the mind as I sacrificed a couple races early on in an effort of putting in a huge base too insure I build my fitness properly for the longer races too come.  This weekend was a success and a good sign training is working being able to do a 34:30 minute first lap, and finishing the race with a 36:00 minute lap, 6 hrs later.  Full results can be found at Zone4.ca

Big thanks to my pit crew, Dad, Eileen, and Dave!  You guys were awesome and made my race a one minded task of putting my head down and riding hard.

Post race we had a great get together with Leighton and Heath back at the house, eating apple pie and talking about gong shows of the past.  Monday morning was just as rad as Dad took Dave and I out on his horses for a recovery ride around the countryside.   Having a cowboy of a Dad is pretty cool!

Tuesday evening it was down to Kelowna to see my friend Luke Way at Balance Point Racing for some bike fitting.  This is always a highlight as it magically makes me a faster/ more comfortable rider and it doesn’t involve any intervals!  Wednesday a couple of Lukes athletes, Peter Watson and Jeff Sherbositoff took me out for a little 3 hr mtb ride in the hills above town.  We were having a great ride until we started down a steep gravelly switchback descent.  At the top was a sign saying “Don’t Skid! If you skid you are going to fast! Slow Down!”.   The first two swicthbacks I skidded around as there was no other option as the trail was 100% loose off camber gravel and very steep.  I began thinking back to the sign and getting angry as there was no way to not skid down the trail unless you walked.  The fact it was a mountain bike trail made for mountain bikes made the sign retarded.  More worried about the sign than riding my bike I cut the 3rd switchback too tight, got caught in a bush and headed straight over the handlebars falling 10 ft down the hill onto a pile of small rocks.  It was my best spill in a couple years.  Landing on everything but my face, I had a lot of wounds but thankfully nothing serious.   Note to self.   Take down that ridiculous sign next time I’m in Kelowna.  A quick stop at Wild Mountain to do some shopping for some new TNF shoes,TNF  riding pack and dress clothes and it was off to Victoria. Big thanks to Jessie and Dave at Wild Mountain for the new gear!

Time for a morning ride out to Nourish to kickstart another training block out here in Victoria.

The final stop on our America road trip was in the cowboy town of Prescott Arizona.  This town of 40 000 country folk was the capital of Arizona from 1864 to 1889, but more importantly is now host of the annual Whisky 50 mountain bike race.   The race attracts most of the top pros in North America, as well as nearly 1800 amateurs for a weekend of high altitude (5500ft-7500) racing.  There are saloons all over the old western town with nightly shootouts and cowboys strutin their stuff.  There’s also an obsession with elk hunting as elk statues, elk head mounts and elk fajitas are found everywhere.  The only elk that couldn’t be found around the area was a smiling live one.

The racing commenced Friday night with the pro men and women fat tire criterium on the hilly streets of town.  It was hanious from the start as 88 men started going round and round and round a very hilly 2:15 minute loop with riders imploding all over the place.  The combination of high altitude, steep streets and having all 4 North American Olympians taking turns setting the pace at the front made for a suffery bike ride. My lungs expanded tenfold during the  hill repeats. It was just the dose of high-end torture my body needed after putting in a huge base the past couple months. 20 minutes into the race, 3 laps from the end I was going backwards and would soon be yanked from the puke parade, being one of the last 25 riders standing.

My teammates survived till the utter end of the massacre, with Spencer Paxson coming in 4th and Wicks in 8th!  Both these guys have been on fire this early season. Kris rolled in around 20th and was the talk of the race as he road the last couple laps with his jersey undone causing all the ladies to get excited like little school girls.  

Sunday the real race went off at 8:30 am with a gentle paved climb for the first 15 minutes.  The pace was going carnival speed so I opted to get a jump-start on the field before we hit the first really steep climb.  I rode tempo off the front and gained a 15 second gap heading into the climb without burning any matches.  A couple riders thought I was attacking, but I was merely just trying to gain any advantage I could, as I new my body was tired and my winter blubber wasn’t going to pay me any favors on the climbs.  Heading over the climb I got swarmed and soon found myself mid pack as we hit the trails.    From here we road gently uphill on some fast dusty single-track before hitting a long 10 mile descent down into Skull valley.  The desert scenery was in full form as we crusied painfully fast back uphill for 10 miles and finally descending a nice piece of trail to the finish line in town.  The finish line was lined with a rowdy whisky drinking crowd which made for a stellar end to a solid weekend of racing.   Nice work Spencer on finishing 6^th behind 4 Olympians!  Wicks (who flatted out of the top 10) finished 17^th, Sneddon 20^th and myself a couple minutes back in 30^th.

We hadn’t been drinking since Sea Otter as Captain Wicks had us on a chisel diet to get ready for our Euro invasion at the end of May.  Sneddon and I were the cause of this as we both have our thick Canadian winter skin on still.  It’s good for hockey and cutting trees up in the boonies but not when your trying to chase pencil necks around on bikes.  In the end we drank like lightweights then celebrated the end of the trip with a cowboy feast of Bison meatloaf and elk Fajitas downtown.

Getting on the plane home I was nervous as all hell as I still had found memories of the nightmare flight home from Louisiana.  Before the flight I was in the washroom flushing my ears out with a syringe as my ear plugged up during the race and was still being a bugger.     This worked until I got a bad case of vertigo and stumbled around the airport like a drunk.  After 20 minutes of shuteye I was good to walk again.  Next up was popping Tylenol Decongestants, inhaling a nose spray and popping ear plane earplugs in my ears.  I was worried about my Eustachian tubes being clogged again and not being able to equalize as the plane climbed and descended. All the preventive measures might have been overkill but I made it all the way home last night which was an unreal feeling.

Waking up in Victoria yesterday morning was amazing.  Fresh moist ocean air, sunny skies, and a lot of unpacking to do as I unload 3 bike boxes full of supplies for the year.

Off to my newest sponsor, Nourish for some recovery food!  If your ever in Victoria make sure you check out Nourish Garden Bistro at 505 Quayle Road.  Set in the Glendale gardens, the restaurant has a great relaxed atmosphere and the food is 100% certified pure and healthy.  Everything is made from scratch and is based around fuelling your body right with natural ingredients and unparralled taste considering how healthy it all is!  And best of all they welcome muddy and sweaty athletes with there arms wide open.  Perfect for a mid ride snack & caffeine boost.

Thanks Dave for keeping our bikes in line and keeping us laughing all week! Big thanks to Kona Bicycles and my Kona teammates for a trip to remember.

Things are just starting to fire up for an epic 2013!

The plan was to ride from my home in Victoria BC to California for a solid 40+hr training camp to finish off the base miles for the year and test out some new TNF gear.  I was stoked to be heading out on an early spring bike tour  although the weather had my nerves a little jittery.     My brother Dustin, had just driven up from California and was warning me about poor weather down the coast and showed me a couple forecasts calling for snow/rain showers.  I was on the fence about the whole trip.  I figure though if  your already up on the fence you might as well get over it. There is a reason you got up there  in the first place and pulling the pin last second is way to easy to do when the nerves and emotions are high.  It is the #1 killer of wicked adventures. For this reason I no longer listen to last minute doubts as they are not legit.    As my bro dropped me off at the ferry the sun was shining and my spirits high, although I did have to make a blind spot in my vision so I didn’t see the dark cloud looming over the Juan de Fuca strait.

Landing in Port Angeles I cruised through customs, hooked the old Bob trailer up to my Kona Red Zone and started down the Olympic discovery trail to Sequim.  The trailer was  overloaded with camping gear and proper training food as I knew I had to keep the nutrition high if I was to gain proper racing form from this sort of adventure. From there it was onto the 101S down the west arm of the puget sound to Potlatch State Park.  It was a cruisy 145 km, with one solid rain shower but overall a great day to start the ride south.  During the night, rain came in hard and thoroughly  tested out my new North Face Kings Canyon tent.  

Day 2 was not a stellar day for being outdoors, let alone for a long bike ride. I road into a rainy headwind for 6 hrs and headed southwest across Washington state to the hamlet of Bay Center, the clam and oyster capital of the states.  Mid-way through the day, drenched and chilled I had a moment of silence to question my sanity.  Pushing on for another 2 hrs I arrived at the Mcdonalds in Raymond, and sat down and had a longer moment of silence.  I needed to average close to 170km a day over 6 days to get to Cali in time for a pickup from Dave and the Kona wagon and I was only at 120km after 6hrs on this day.  Pushing on I had 2 hrs of daylight left to get to Bay Centre which was just over 35 km away, shorter if I took a shortcut. I took the shortcut, which turned into a hilly gravel logging road.   It really tested my carbon racing machine but I didn’t have time to slow down and feel sorry for it.  Reaching the KOA at Bay centre just before dark was sweet.  Even better was the  washer and dryer machine  on site which meant I’d have fresh riding clothes for at least two more days…

Day 3 started out rad as a huge tailwind pushed me almost to Astoria Oregon, a flat tire slowed the day down but pretty soon I found myself heading across an epic bridge into the oldest settlement in America west of the rockies.    In Astoria it was stock up time at Fred Meyers and then off down the Oregon coast.  The highway was sweet to ride on, big shoulders, respectful traffic, and some amazing scenery along the coast.  There were a couple big climbs that slowed the pace down a bit as 60 lb Bob trailer acts like a giant anvil when you try to pull it uphills.  Rolling into Tillamook for the night put an end to a solid 175 km day.  This called for a bonfire celebration before hitting the sleeping bag hard.

Days 4 I killed it for 5 hrs, hit a grocery store in Waldport to deal with a minor bonk and then continued on another 1hr to a sweet Orgeon state campsite along the ocean.  The state campsites were awesome as they  offered $5 biker rates  with hot showers and good infrastructure.   They are set up all over the place and make it easy to plan your trip around so you always end up at one.

Day 5 was a good day for storm watching, I wanted the full experience so road right into the eye of it.  I awoke on my bike to a 30 km/hr headwind with heavy rain drops blowing into my face.  This was also the day the highway was super exposed as it snaked along some cliff bands near the town of Yachats.  This made for some 14km/hr riding and at one point the fog was so thick I couldn’t see further then 30 ft ahead.  Sketchy!  I passed one big english bike rider on the side of the road wiping tears from his eyes.  I wanted to cry too but my Mom and Dad had taken my Bro and I on some epic horseback trips in the Rockies when we were young. This paled in comparison to some of the snowy days out there in the middle of the mountains freezing our buts off on horseback.  So I kept on going at 14 km/hr until I finally cracked, bought a bag of M&M’s and then continued on.  Eventually the rain went away and the riding went from very poor to alright and I ended up 170 km down the highway at the Bandon beach campsite.  Here I met up with Mark, a young dude from Portland who was on a lengthy tour of the states.  He was hard as nails as he had just done the same ride as me but without a proper rain jacket and on a sketchy bike.  Hardcore.

Day 6 made up for the day before as the sun came out and the wind was at our backs as Mark and I cruised south along a very picturesque highway to the Seaside town of Brookings, just 9 km short of California.  It was tempting to push on but I had a sore knee and the campsite at Brookings was at an unreal setting along the ocean which provided a great base for some evening relaxation.

Waking up at the crack of dawn on day 7 I was off to Crescent City California.  Dave road out and met me for the final 50 km into town where he and Matt had a hotel room waiting for a quick shower and the Kona Rig all decked out and ready to head to Santa Rosa for some racing on the weekend.    It was rad meeting up with the guys, grabbing some Denny’s and then  cruising through the Redwoods down to meet up with the rest of the Kona crew at Roger Bartlets house.

After a huge team dinner it was bike maintenance time to get the road bikes ready for a 80 mile grasshopper road race.  The race was on a great course as we road up ridges along the ocean, down dirt roads and up some steep climbs.  Unfortunately the courses are unmarked due to legal reasons and I missed a turn, lost the lead group and never got back on.  I did chase for 1.5 hrs, and was 1-2 minutes behind the lead group for the duration of the chase.  It was a great work out.  In the end I would get lost again at an intersection, wait for another rider to show up and then cruised in for 10th on the day.

The day after, was a surprise race as Barry and Kris had plans of doing the Napa valley dirt classic and I was invited along.. Hopping on the new Kona King Kahuna hard tail just 30 minutes before the start of the race was better then x-mas.  These new race bikes are under 20 lbs and ultra awesome.  The race was ultra hard, I dangled off the lead 4 for the first 20 minutes then suffered in for 6th out of 25 or so elites.  Nothing to write home about but it was a satisfying end to a stellar 9 day, 1200 km training block.

Sea otter was next up.  The racing there was Monkey business although the weekend was a blast with all the great people and new products out on show.  The “racing” consisted of a 25 minute short track and 1hr 16 min xc.  The field was super strong with Olympic and World champions all over the place.  I road like a bike tourer in the short track and was just getting my heart rate above 140 when my race ended.  The XC went well for a lumberjack coming off a 42hr training week.

On sunday after “racing” at sea otter I hopped on the red zone and headed south with Max Plaxton, Kris Sneddon and Alex Grant for some coffees in Carmel.  Following this I headed further south down the coast on a 220km ride to Morro bay.  It was one of those unforgettable blue bird days with the Pacific ocean crashing below.  Barry, Spencer and Kris picked me up just before San Luis Obispo and then it was off to Santa Barbara for a week of photo shoots and training.  This weekend is the final race of the road trip with the Whisky 50 in Prescott Arizona.  After that it will be time for some R&R back in Canada to recover from what has been another great team trip to start the year!