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.

Big day out at Argyll Park in Edmonton today. Lots of people. Lots of bikes. Lots of thermal underwear and warming cream. A little bit of Michael Jackson on the loud speakers. Some tasty banana chocolate chip muffins and powerful drinks in the clubhouse. Throw in a bit of cyclo-cross racing, and it all makes for a fun way to spend a Saturday in October. Yes, it was cold. But it was cold for everyone. At least it wasn’t raining…

Day started off with Marc’s race at 10 a.m. Many thanks to my dad for ferrying all the gear over to the race site for us today. Marc set off pretty early to warm-up and pre-ride. I got there at around 9:30 and the place was whirling with racers and supporters. Very nice to see. Caught a bit of the Masters Women’s race (good ride – Rachael – you’ll get it back on Sunday). Chatted with a few people and then before I knew it, it was race time! Marc had a great ride today. For a while he was in the lead and then a solid group of four formed off the front. As is typical of racing in such conditions, the crashing and slipperyness were a factor. Marc rode in a group of three with the winner off the front. In the end, Marc finished off fourth. A good ride for him today. Looking forward to cheering him on again on Sunday.

During Marc’s race I hung out with my mom and we zoomed all over the course to catch the race action. The bowl was definitely the best place to watch the race. My mom snapped a bunch of pics and we cheered on Marc. My dad was all over the place as well, taking pictures and cheering. A good Saturday morning.

I zipped off pretty quickly after Marc’s race to get back to the hotel to warm-up and get some food. I chilled out. Typical pre-race activities: reading the newspaper, watching the Food Network, and catching up on the WWW. Marc and I rolled over to the course to pre-ride for my race. It was a massive help to me to have Marc pre-ride with me. He showed me some lines and gave me lots of positive feedback on how I was riding. Chilled out in the Juventus club house and chatted with lots of people. Silly me, I thought the race was at 2… It was at 2:30…. No biggie – just gave me some extra time to relax.

My race went pretty good. I didn’t get the exact result I wanted. But, all in all, I did have a good ride. Made a few mistakes that cost me. But this is bike racing. No race is going to be perfect. I finished 7th. This is good. Really good. I wouldn’t have got this result on this course last year. I felt good. Leg were snappy. My brain was pretty good. But I made some technical mistakes that cost me a few spots. Then a combination of panic and caution set in. Lots of great race lessons learned (ones that I’m planning on applying tomorrow). Check out the race report.

Jetted back to the hotel pretty quickly after the race with my folks. I was a bit too cold to stay and watch the elite race. Heard it was a pretty good race. Congrats to Shaun for his 8th place. Congrats to DSJ for his podium. As well congrats to NSE for her podium today.

Really just flaked out here and then went out for a nice dinner. I must admit, I’m wiped out. Pretty darn tired. Guess it is the cold combine with the racing that sucks the energy. Think I’ll hit the hay pretty quickly. Have another big day of racing on Sunday – Marc is off at 10 and I’m off at 1.

Many thanks for the cheering and encouragement today. It really does help. Big thanks to my parents for driving up from Saskatchewan to come out to the races, drive us around, take photos and basically be super-fans. Couldn’t have made it through today without Marc’s support – thanks so much Marc. Also big shout out to Alex of Soigneur Race Services for his amazing help and pit work today.

Have a great Saturday. Looking forward to a pretty fast and smooth Thanksgiving Sunday. (Maybe even some pumpkin pie…)

Cool and blowy day definitely reminded me why Canadian cyclo-cross nationals are held so early in the season…

Rolled over to the course in the late afternoon to get in a few laps and get a sense of the course. I have pretty firm rules/boundaries for my pre-ride days: four laps – nothing more as tempting as it is to keep riding, check out the course first in the small ring – just roll around and get a sense for it, practice the “key” or “challenging” sections a few times, one lap in the big ring – to get a sense of how things feel with a bit of speed. That’s it. That’s all I do. So today, that is what I did.

My feeling is that the course was getting rather icy as more and more people rode it so tomorrow it will be even more slick and things will have changed by 2 p.m. I stuck to my rules to the point where I didn’t even ride the metal fly-over. I watched a few people hit it. Tomorrow during my race pre-ride, I’ll be sure to get in the fly-over a few times to get comfortable with my gearing for it and the feeling of speed descending it.

The race course itself has a mix of everything (except single track). Pretty similar to last year. Most of the key sections are in the “bowl” with some fun corners, tight drops into steep climbs, and some faster descents. Pretty cool really. There is a nice long road section. A quick run through a sandbox. More longish grassy/snowy sections, turns, twists. Don’t know if there will be any barriers (weren’t any out today…).

So all in all, a pretty good course. Looking forward to watching the Masters race it tomorrow and hearing from Marc what he thinks of it at race pace. I find that during pre-ride you can hit things with some speed but really it is nothing like the speed you’ll be taking during the race nor do you have the “race brain” happening during pre-ride…

Got the numbers all pinned up. Lucky number 41. I wistfully looked at my short sleeve skinsuit, but it is not to be. Looks like it will be long sleeve skinsuit, leg warmers, cap, and I’m undecided – sleeveless base layer or one with sleeves? (This will be a race day decision.)

As for tires? Well, I tested out the whie pippis today. They are nice but not so helpful with the ice. So looks like they’ll be a no go for tomorrow. Again, we’ll have to wait and see what happens to the course as more people ride it and depending on if the sun comes out.

Marc is racing at 10 so I’ll head over to Argyll Park for his race. Then back to the hotel for a bit. Then back at noon to do some pre-race pre-ride/warm-up laps. Then into the clubhouse to get warm and changed. Then I’ll get back out to roll around, keep the legs loose and figure out what I’m going to wear during the race as well as make a decision on tires and pressure.

Looking forward to it. Racing is the fun part. Makes all the training and travel worth it. Thanks for the emails and messages of support. I’m feeling good. Rested. Confident. Looking forward to a solid ride. I’ll post up a race report and day report tomorrow night.