Hi! I’m Vicki – the person behind Ottawa.cx.

I started this blog way back in 2007 (or so) to document my athletic and personal life as I focused on meeting my goal of racing in the World Cyclo-Cross Championships.

I’m proud to say that in 2010, I accomplished this goal. I raced in the World Cyclo-Cross Championships on Jan. 31, 2010 in Tabor, Czech Republic. It was an amazing experience. A race like none other and truly my top racing moment ever.

The 2009 – 2010 cyclo-cross season was a dream season for me. Everything really clicked on and off the bike. I had an amazing support crew and super generous sponsors who really helped make my cyclo-cross dreams possible.

Unfortunately the 2010-2011 cyclo-cross season did not work out as planned. I have ulcerative colitis and my season was hampered from the start and then cut short due to a nasty bout of this auto-immune disease. The 2011-2012 cyclo-cross season started off very promising but an unfortunate training accident resulted in my fracturing my L3 vertebrae – ending my season in early November. I recovered and reset – ready for a great 2012-2013 when after only a few months of training I became quite ill with an ulcerative colitis flare. I was forced to put my training and racing plans on hold and get healthy.

I started the 2013 season with high hopes. But once again ulcerative colitis reared its ugly head and I had to put all of my training and racing ambitions on hold. The summer, fall and winter were really spent on trying to get well. There were patches when I managed to find myself in a remission – when this happened I was out biking and running. But no racing for me at all.

Flash forward to August 8, 2016 when I had my colon removed. I have an ileostomy now. In 2018 I had my rectum removed. This does not cure me of ulcerative colitis but it does remove all of the diseased organs from my body.

An ileostomy is not the end. For me it is only the beginning. I’m thankful for my stoma. It has allowed me to hit the reset button. Not many people get a second chance but on August 8, 2016 – I got one.

Flash forward to 2024… I’m no longer racing at an elite level or even training like an elite athlete. What I am doing is still writing about my life and my experiences.

I’m just like you. A person with hopes, dreams, goals, failures, and successes. My goal here is write openly and honestly about life – the bumps and the lows. Because this is what life is. It’s not all rainbows and unicorns.

What makes me different (maybe) is that I do believe in myself. I know what I have to do to get what I want. Hard work. Consistency. Commitment. It may appear on the surface that things come easy to me – but this is not the case.

And my hope is that in writing here about all this (and more) you can find some inspiration and know that I know – I get it. Somedays it’s tough. And other days it is all rainbows and unicorns. I want you to realize that you can do anything.

Feel free to drop me an email at vickith@yahoo.com.

When I’m not biking, swimming, reading, and gardening I’m writing content and leading content strategy for B2B and B2C clients.
Visit Good Words Work to learn about my professional expertise or look me up on LinkedIn.