Well, it was one darn tough weekend in Toronto. I’d have to add, disappointing as well. By now you’ve probably read my race report from Saturday. Not the best day on the bike for me. But at least I had Sunday to look forward to. A course that suited me. And a chance to race and ride my cyclo-cross bike like I have been all season. Unfortunately it was not to be.

Race start time and I was in the hotel. In bed. Unable to race. As some of you may now I have ulcerative colitis. This is a funny little disease that can lay dormant for a while and then when you least likely expect it, it pops up again. Reminding you that it has some degree of control over your life. This is what happened to me. I’d been fighting an ulcerative colitis flare all week – feeling the signs (fatigue, cramping, bloating, and some other icky stuff) but I thought I had it under control… Nope it came back with vigour.

Let me just say that this sucks. Especially when there is no way to pinpoint the exact causes of a flare. This crazy disease is completely individual. And since I’m pretty new to this disease, I still haven’t determined what works and doesn’t for me – particularly during race weekends (i.e. times with a bit more stress).

I’m sure in a couple of weeks, I’ll have found some important lessons from this past weekend. But right now, honestly I can’t find any. Yes, it sounds like I’m wallowing in self pity here. Really I’m not. Rather I’m just being honest.

I went into this weekend with a few big goals in mind. Race well to get a whack of UCI points. Hopefully even get a top five on one of the days. Race well in front of a “hometown” crowd. But this didn’t happen. I felt embarrassed by my ride on Saturday and then I couldn’t even race on Sunday. Sigh.

Now I’ve got two weeks at home before taking off for Belgium. The racing starts with a bang on November 8 with the World Cup in Nommay, France followed by the race in Niel on November 11. It is going to be a fast few days. So my goal right now is to get myself into remission again (and stay there) and to get in the planned training block that my coach has planned out.

I suppose I should be relieved this flare up has happened now and not two weeks from now… But this is digging pretty deep to find a silver lining in all of this….

Do have to say massive congrats to the racers in pink (i.e. the Dynamic Duo) for their races on the weekend. Always impressive to see how much these two have improved over the last few years. Makes me remember that anything is possible if you put your head down and get down to work.

Marc had an awesome race on Sunday. He finished 5th in what sounds like a super fast and hard battle. Wish I could have been there to see it. I got the second best thing – seeing the excitement in his face and eyes as he told me about the race.

Many thanks for the support, cheering, emails, and messages over the last few days. I really feel like I let a lot of people down this weekend. Sorry about this. When I’m racing in Belgium, I’ll have your cheers and messages in my brain reminding me to dig deep and to pedal hard.

It is an amazing day here in Ottawa. Looking forwrard to getting out for a little spin on the ‘cross bike and starting out fresh again. I suppose weekends like I’ve just had really help to keep things in perspective and remind me to appreciate what I’ve had and what I have to look forward to. Racing in Kingston this weekend. (Reminds me, I better get registered…) Have a good one.

So for the tardiness of this post. Had a rather late night on Saturday and just didn’t want to sit down and type away before going to bed…

The big city. Yeesh, it’s true what people say, it can be hard on the little person. And it definitely was hard on me yesterday. All this to say that Saturday’s race was not one of my best. In fact it was a lackluster and not very strong performance. But this is what happens. Sometimes you have a bad day at the office. And I had one. I can tell you that what it does is really make me appreciate all the other excellent races I’ve had this year. I’ve written a race report. There really isn’t much to report. But feel free to click on over for a read.

The rest of the day was great though. Had a good time in the morning warming up and catching up with a bunch of people. As is typical, I met some more people who had either been reading this blog or have read my writing in Cyclocross Magazine. Very cool.

After my race I did a bit of a cool-down and checked out the course for today. Looks good. Grassy. Fast. Looking forward to racing today. Then I hooked up with my brother and we cheered on Marc and the rest of the Ottawa boys. I had a great time hanging out with Gregory and bellowing at Marc. Gregory knew exactly how to move around the course to catch all the action, so I just followed his lead. Marc had a good ride and finished in 6th position. Congrats to Steve for his second place. Also huge shout out to Peter M for winning the race.

We quickly packed up the car and raced back here to the hotel. Showered and hit the road again. Time to go downtown and visit with my brother and his wife. Got the grand tour of their house. It is looking amazing. The house is quite old so Gregory has been doing a lot of work on it. Then it was off for some fine Indian cuisine. We ate, we talked, told stories, and laughed. Could have been there all night but we knew Sunday morning would come pretty fast. So a great way to end the day. Nothing better than family to remind you about what is truly important.

I have to say it was awesome to have Gregory out there cheering for me today. He was very encouraging, even when things weren’t going so great. Also many thanks to you for cheering me on. It seemed like I had someone cheering for me all over the course. This was great. It does help – especially on the not-so-good days.

Looking forward to a better ride today. Looks like the sun is shining. So it is a perfect day for a cyclo-cross race. See you out there!

We have finally arrived! We had a late start but made it here in good time. I’d say in no small part to my “lead” foot. Four hours with a break for supper – not bad for Ottawa to Toronto. Anyway, all settled into the hotel. Nice digs. Big room. Stellar buffet breakfast in the morning. Not bad for a racing weekend. Oh and the Sbucks is down around the corner….

Just hanging out right now. The racing starts late tomorrow for us. So no rush to get over to the course. I’m up at 3 p.m. and Marc is racing the late night race at 5 p.m. Should be a good one. From talking to a couple people it sounds like a similar course to last year. Lots of big hill action.

I’m looking forward to this weekend of racing. It will be my last weekend of racing here at home before taking off for Belgium. Everything is booked and taken care of for Belgium. Have the plane ticket. Have the car leased (a sweet Renault Kangoo). Have the housing sorted. Have the race calendar sorted. I’ve got the legs. I’ve got the brains. I’ve got the heart. It is going to be a good one. A solid 98 days will be had.

I have a feeling the next two weeks are going to be a bit nutty. I’ve got a few more days of work left. I’ve got two big weeks of training to get in. Lots of people to catch up. Some dinners already scheduled. Lunch plans in the works. Not to mention the last few things to do before I take off. (Figure out how to cram all my gear into my bike boxes). Sort out wheels. You know – the standard stuff. Really it is like going away for a weekend – only longer.

I’m working on some new writing ideas… Meandering down a few different avenues. Risk is a big thing. But I think it is time to start taking some risk. I know I can do it. But sometimes the big step is hard to take. So basically, to put myself out there – I’m here. A writer. An athlete. A zest for life. Now I just need to determine how to put the three things together in a viable situation.

Okay, time for bed. It is late. Big day tomorrow. Extra bonus is having my little bro out to cheer us on and then heading out for some tasty Indian food afterwards. (Check back tomorrow – lateish – for a report on all things Toronto Cyclo-Cross Day 1.)

Finally catching my breath. Life has been moving pretty darn quickly lately. This is a good thing. This means I’m getting the most I can out of my days and that the future is looking bright. Much better than the alternative.

Got home from the Italy – Edmonton trip on Monday. Luckily it was an uneventful travel day. Some crazy shenanigans with the bikes and the miniature x-ray machines at oversize baggage. The security lady wanted me to take everything out of my bike box. This did not happen. Rather I schlepped my bike to the bigger x-ray machine – at the other end of the airport. Sigh.

Funny, on the plane when we heard the weather forecast for Ottawa, Marc and I thought we might go for a ride when we got home. Ha ha ha. After spending more time than normal getting our bikes put together and getting the laundry bonanza started – riding was the farthest things from our minds. Instead, it was a tasty meal of Vietnamese and Top Chef watching on the television.

I’m all booked for the winter. Flying out on November 2. Yes, that is soon. Very soon. Lots happening between then and now. But luckily I’ll have two weekends at home before leaving. Off to Toronto this weekend to race in the NACT races. Then Kingston the following weekend for a Sunday race. Nice. I love traveling for races. But I also need a bit of downtime before moving to Belgium for the winter.

Many many thanks for the emails, comments, and messages about the Nationals weekend in Edmonton. I really do appreciate it.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for today. Still feeling a bit wiped out from the plane sitting and bike riding. See you in Toronto.

Well, my plans for the sun to break through the cloud cover and for the snow to disappear did not come to fruition. But it was a bit warmer today. Or at least that’s what we were all telling ourselves… Sunday morning seemed to come pretty quickly today. Luckily we had packed our race bags and got ourselves pretty well organized for another early start.

Marc raced at 10 this morning and I was off at 1. My dad played chauffeur again and drove Marc and all his gear to the race this morning and then came back to take me and my mom over for Marc’s race. I decided to simply stay at the race today, since the course pre-ride was at noon and I raced right afterwards, I didn’t feel like coming back to the hotel and then going back to the course. Worked out fairly well. I hung out in the Juventus clubhouse, munching my couscous and flipping through old cycling magazines.

I hopped out on the course at noon for some warm-up and race course evaluation. Marc crashed pretty hard (a few times) today so as a result his shoulder was rather sore. But luckily Peter Mogg offered to pre-ride with me and show me some fast lines. (Peter won on both days here in Edmonton. Congrats Peter!) So Peter and I did a couple laps together – it was super helpful to see some different lines and to hear Peter’s thoughts on the race course. Then it was race time. I must admit I sometimes find it hard to get excited for second days. Today was no exception. But by the time I lined up I was all fired up. I had a good race today. The result is the same as yesterday. But the difference is I rode better today. Made smarter decisions, took more risk (or should that be better risk?), and raced more aggressively. I’ve written a full race report here. But essentially I was in sixth until the sand on the last lap. It was fun racing so closely and aggressively with Sarah and Jean Ann – I think it made it exciting for the three of us.

After my race, I zipped back to the hotel with my parents and then we hit up the Southgate Shopping Centre for a little browsing and shopping. It had been a long time since I’d been in a mall. And now I know why. That place made me feel so tired. Don’t know if it is the air in malls or what – but I just feel my zest for life disappearing when I’m in such a place. Ah well, it was nice to walk around in warm conditions for a change. And I did get a tasty chai latte at the coffee shop and I got to look at books. So really it wasn’t all bad. Marc and I did the bike packing game for a while this afternoon and have managed to cram everything into our four bike boxes. Now we’re trying to figure out how to get to the airport. We can’t all fit in my dad’s vehicle… My suggestion of Marc sleeping at the airport with the bike boxes didn’t go over very well…

Today was a really great day. I got to start it off by watching Marc race. He had a good ride today but a few unfortunate crashes set him back a bit. My mom was super impressed with how Norm Thibault rebounded from his mishap at the start to finish in second place.

I’ve said it before but it needs to be said again: one of the best aspects of cyclo-cross racing for me is the people. The cyclo-cross community in Canada is not that big so after a while you get to know one another. And even if we only see each other a couple times a year at various races, it is so refreshing to just be able to chat and talk and relax around one another. It is a great feeling when we can line up and race against each other and then chill out and talk and be friendly – not a lot of sports afford this type of community. Many thanks to all the people who came out to cheer during today’s races. Congrats to Rachel for taking the win today! Congrats to Natasha for her race. Shout out to Keirnan for another fine ride and podium. Props to Derrick for putting up with a bunch of childishness and coming out on top it all. Shout out to Robbie O for a fine ride this morning. All in all, I think the Ottawa crowd showed some fine riding and gamesmanship this weekend.

Many thanks to my parents for coming out for the weekend. They basically drove us around. Catered to our every need. Put up with the inherent race stress. And were the super-fans of the weekend. Meant a lot to have them here this weekend. Thanks!

Alright, it is getting late so I’m going to sign off. Another weekend of cyclo-cross racing has come to a close. Looking forward to getting home tomorrow. We are off to Toronto next weekend for the NACT race. Should be a good weekend. Extra bonus is my little bro and my sister-in-law are coming out to watch.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for cheering. Thanks for the emails, messages and speedy vibes. It all makes a massive difference.