Euro Trip - What Weather is this?

Cold? Wet? Really? Waking up today around 11am here today, but 5am for me still being jet lagged. It was cold. I didn't want to move out from under neither my down comforter. I was so warm! It was pouring outside. I got some breakfast, had a long warm shower and got dressed. I put on most of my warm stuff and set out.

I had no idea where to go. The streets are confusing and tight and the country side…I have no hope of understanding the signs. I thought I was going the wrong way when I passed a sign with a red slash through it, but apparently that just means that you have exited the town. People were staring and stopping to watch me go by, I thought I was doing something illegal. Is it illegal to ride in town on Fridays? I guess they didn’t think anyone would ever want to bike on such a cold rainy day.

Then I got home and realised we had left windows open. The apartment was freezing, so we turned on the oven. That was effective seeing the central heating system wasn’t even on. Our stuff is still not dry as we do not seem to have a dryer…or any laundry machine. We’ll see, working on my German now!

Town

Don't let the cows out?

Left or Right?

Flood issues?

Horse, and the sound of a rooster

Euro Trip - Stage 1

The flight... After arriving man hours before my flight, getting all my bags checked in and saying goodbye to my parents, I was off. The flight was 8 hours and we made good time. Right as I was about to fall asleep they served dinner... I proceeded with caution. It was a pasta meal, not too bad, not too salty. I gave my brownie to the Germany woman sitting beside me. She enjoyed that, but continually tried talking me into indulgence.
The airport MUC... WiFi sketch of the world! Nothing wants to actually connect. But it's a nice place. Good size. Plenty to do, from clothe stores, to lingerie stores, to shoe stores, convenient stores, and the Ke$ha outlet store (extreme hipster).
Waiting now for team Canada to come pick us up!
With a large cargo van filled of bikes and a bus filled up with all of our stuff we were on our way! Loading up on any food from the airport that was good because this was going to be a long bus ride. The bus ride was on fast highways, twisting streets and tight towns. I was very impressed with the driving skill, and also scared for my life at multiple points. Driving along the edge of a mountain looking down 500, 600, 700 feet with no guard rail and going 80km/h was fun...
After using the GoPro for some of the gnarly roads and mountains we arrived in middle of no where Saalfelden! At some gorgeous chalets/apartments! After building the bikes and connecting to WiFi it was off to acclimatizing...which I should be doing rather then blogging! Ha, bye!

On My Way!

Getting to the airport was easy! Not too much traffic. After checking in my bags and saying goodbye to my bike I made my way to security. No issues there so I made my way to my seat....where I'll wait for the next 2.5 hours. Good times though! The amount of sun on my back I should get a good tan! Ha!

Packing - Not Easy...

Positioning the frame, fork and wheels in the bag took hours to get it right. With about '10 pounds' of foam, bubble wrap and other protective materials, it was secure.
It was apparent that I was not going to be able to fit everything in the big bag. Realising I had another whole bag worth of stuff I could fill up I was suddenly in the over packing mood! It still closed, so all is good!
Today will be the day of excitement and anxiety. I will probably end up pacing waiting for tomorrow to come when I finally leave!
However, for now I'll just sit in meetings at school trying to sort out my time tables for the upcoming year. Gotta be studious!

Cruising to the Cottage

Big Chute Marine Railway

Another lovely day out, not too sunny, not too windy, and not looking like it's going rain; epic road ride day! My day started when my brother Quinton decided that we were going to ride up to my aunt and uncle's cottage. It was smooth sailing with little traffic on the roads these days - due to the price of gas.  The 67km road ride took us a mere two hours - we were haulin! We saw two smooshed rattlesnakes, and the tram at the Big Chute marine railway.

Classic cottage ride!

Ontario Summer Games 2K12

The 2012 Ontario Summer Games were a huge success for cycling! The OCA did a wonderful job running the event. The bus drivers got us to and from York U each day on time. And the food...it was summer game's style!

After much anticipation and excitement it was finally here. This was going to be my last time competing in the OSG's and I was stoked! But before we could even face the excitement of competition there were other 'exciting' matters to attend to; like the opening ceremonies, battling hypothermia throughout the night, and trying to find an available shower in the morning. Don't get me wrong though, it was a lot of fun!

The opening ceremonies were awesome! After eating on a soccer field and being given small, soft, fold-up Frisbees what else were we going to do? The rest of dinner you braced for impact for all the Frisbees flying around, in no particular direction. It was hilarious!
Then we were huddled up in sport and brought into the stadium. Marie-Pierre Nadon, Soren Meeuwisse, Will Elliott and myself got to carry the banner in and lead our sport. When we finally found our seats and our S.W.A.G. (stuff we all get) bags, the show began. With Circus Orange (a trampoline act), cheerleaders and soccer specialists taking to the stage for entertainment. After a lot of talking, two London 2012 Olympians set fire to the torch. The games had begun!

Making our way back to York University via the subway and buses was fun. When we arrived back at the dorms everything seemed a bit chilly; only to find that every AC in the entire building was left on high. We lost most of the athletes that night due to hypothermia...Just Kidding!!! But everyone was frozen.

Breakfast...ummm...this is what they said to us, "You can only go in once, so take all you can and get out!" Bad decision to tell cyclists that. Two plates, pockets full of fruit and almost spilling my juice with every step; but I was well fuelled for the day! After breakfast it was on to the bus and off to Albion Hills.

Day 1 of competition was the ITT (individual time trial). 4.7km course of Albion's finest flowy, awesome single track and we were set! 10:56 was my time for the ITT averaging around 26km/h. It was fast!
Thanks to M&D (Mom & Dad) racing for bringing us blankets for night #2! They were necessary.

Night 2: Shenanigans.....

Day 2 of competition was the XC race in the morning and the Team Relay in the afternoon! The men were doing 5 laps of a longer course, which included the Green Monster. The Green Monster is a hill, it lives up to its name being 10%+ grade and about 350m long.
It was a solid race. I broke away on lap 1 at the Green Monster.  For the next several laps there were solid battles for 2nd - 6th. Will Elliott turned on the jets on the last two laps and took 2nd with fellow team mate Adam Jamieson slaying the last spot on the podium. That's Cathedral Pines 1, 2 and 3.

The team relay...WOW! It was gnarly! Team Central Timmins/North Meets South consisted of Marie-Pierre Nadon, Jake Sternberg, Adam Jamieson and myself. Our rival team of BTG/BCC #1 consisted of Will Elliott, Martin Rupes, Eric Johnston, and Siobhan Kelly. It was going to be close. Marie-Pierre strained her back in the XC race just hours before and we were not sure if she was going to be able to ride. However she was determined! With a lot of taping and icing she was ready. Adam opened a nice lead for the first lap, then MP didn't let too much time go against Martin. Siobhan left with a 2.5 minute lead over Jake; Jake killed it! Leaving only a 20 foot gap for myself to make up against Will. I quickly closed the gap and sat on his wheel, waiting to attack. On the last punchy climb I went, getting into the single track first was good but I knew this was far from over. The entire lap I couldn't shake Will. This was going to come down to a sprint (if there was room to sprint). After sprinting one of the final straights we were just hauling coming into the finishing area. Hitting the last tight 'S' bend I almost died...there was a root that kicked out my back tire and tossed me into a whip. I managed to recover from it but lost significant speed. Will was right on me but wasn't able to cross the line first. That was one tight, exciting relay!

At the award ceremonies team North Meets South took the overall team victory! It was an excellent experience and I am sad that this was the last time I was of age to compete.
For full results go to http://www.ontariocycling.org/race-schedule/race-results/
Next goal: Canada Summer Games!

Buckwallow O-Cup

No pre-ride Saturday after three inches of rain. Water and puddles everywhere. This was the scene for the Buckwallow O-Cup

For race day it was overcast and cool. The sun shone a few times. The trails dried up and became actually quite tacky. A wonderful way to race

After destroying myself at road provincials the day before I knew this was going to be a challenge. With the abundance of double track it was full gas and then rip the single track as fast as you could. If it weren't for the single track I don't think I would've been able to drop fellow roadie Brendan Etzl (who won road provincials the day before). It was a good course. A bit of rain in the last lap added to the fun. Only dinged my rim a couple times, scaring the heck out of me!

Good times though. Took the win with a 5 minute lead. (I do ride at Buckwallow quite a lot)
Overall great event!
Thank you everyone at the Buckwallow event for the huge support! Chico racing! Thanks to Angry Johnny's Cycling Club for baking some goodies for the bake sale!

Road Provincials

After about four days of continual nagging from fellow cyclists Adam Jamison and Eric Johnston I decided I'd participate in Road O-Cup #8 (Provincials). A decision I have yet to dictate a good or bad one....

111.8km was the race with 1100m ascent. Decent - if you race road regularly.

After a long first lap and taking to the front to pick up the pace I realised this was going to be very hard...
By the second lap (of five) I was feeling it in the legs. Mountain bike races are normally 1h30m at max. By the time we hit 2hours I was pretty much cooked.
With the lack of long climbs every up we hit was a sprint. I was consistently getting dropped on each climb from the third lap on. But somehow managed each time to rejoin the group. I don't know how I managed that. With multiple attacks and gearing issues with my bike (not being able to drop into the hardest gear) the last lap was miserable. I got wrecked on the second last climb of the race and dropped from the group. Tucking I was able to catch the group by the bottom. I blew past them with speed - this was my chance, if I could find my legs. With the help of some of 'The Boys' slowing the group down I managed to get a 100m gap. On the last climb I dug deep and crested with about 80m gap. On a slight down (and my gear issue) the group slowly closed the gap. I was spinning at 150rpm doing all I could. At the 1km to go sign the gap was 50m. About 150m from the finish I got caught, completely popped and finished about 10 second behind the group. Oh well....

Buckwallow O-cup tomorrow
Got to recover!

Getting the ball rolling...

So, against all person battles I have in fact decided to release a blog. This blog over the next month will focus on my 'Countdown to Worlds' theme. Super stoked to be heading to Austria!
- all for now. Expect more! -