back to the coal face

Well the day has finally arrived. I regret to inform my mind that it has to return to the reality of thinking about something rather than nothing. It has been a awesome 7 weeks. I feel well rested and ready to get it back on both at work and on the bike.
I have struggled with some delayed jet lag which has smashed me a bit and readjusting to this heat wave has been difficult....I get sweaty just thinking about it. Looking at the trip photos it seems like it was all a dream or a life time ago.

We headed down the coast on the weekend to catch up with the outlaws and my nephew who has really come to life and is funny to watch (doesn't seem to cry as much.... thank god, maybe he was having a good day!). I took the bike and headed out to thirteenth beach which has a road along it and you can see the surf breaking..... nice. I hooked up with the Hendry cycles crew for the pedal back to Torquay which was good because there wasn't much in the tank. Good size bunch and a descent pace. They leave the shop in Ocean Grove at 8am Sundays.
I hit Lysterfield on Saturday just after daylight to beat the crowds and the heat. Had grand plans to do a couple of laps but being the first ride back the body had other plans. Great to be out in the bush and seeing all the roos. I had missed seeing the wildlife that I see here when in the outdoors cause in Canada and the US I didn't see much I guess cause of the snow and being in the depths of winter.
Other news at hand is that I had to get a new computer as the old one was playing up. So it is with much joy that I am typing this out on a new iMac. Man is this fun having a machine that is fast and fun to do stuff on......many happy smiles!

girl friday is back!!

jet lag

Well after a 18 plus hour flight home from Vancouver I am feeling the effects of a late Aussie summer. I have come back to days of stinking heat. It has been 38 -40 degrees C that last 2 days which I am finding hard to comprehend after the last few weeks in minus temps. I have not as yet escaped on a bike but will hopefully get out on the weekend. I have some photos from the weekend race which I will post.
Caught up with some of the local crew including the infamous Chris Winn who is heading off at the end of the month to a career on the road in the US.... best of luck to him and the spoils of his sucess (check out his blog!!...worth a read).
Anyway short one as I am rooted!!!


the mad dash at the start which ended with some crashes in the field




The end of lap one and feeling a little worse for wear chasing down a local


The sight in the finish chute was of a crushed man and my heart rate at 195bpm....glad it was over!!!

skiing, racing, snow, snow, snow

Well it has been a busy week with getting organised for the race we had today at Sovereign Lake. We did a 15km race as part of a loppet series for the valley. We managed good results. I slid in after 62 mins of pain getting myself a 16th position in the mens. Tam slid in in 6th in the womens a few mins back on me. It is only a small race with a total of around 250 odd racers in various age groups and distances.
I did manage to win a race the other night, called the Wednesday night whoppet. It cost a twonee ($2). It was a 3 x 1km loop which you had to guess what your overall time would be. I was on the money and had a ball. We dont get to ski at night back home so it was awesome to get out and do it even though it was minus 7. The snow looked like a see of diamonds and one part of the race circut disappeared into the darkness so I was hoping there wasnt any man eating creature waiting for me.
Getting glide has been an issue this week for us as the snow is so dry and cold and the humidity high, but we finally sorted it out. Will post photos when I have some.
See you all next week as we are homeward bound.

Heaven

OK as skiers we all love dry powder snow. I am at Silverstar in BC. I have been here 2 other times (OK I live a charmed life) and it still amazes me every time. We arrived here Sunday for some skiing in the arvo on fresh set trails. It was perfect...sunshine and no wind and minus 2. Then since Sunday nite it hasnt really stopped snowing. 25cms approx has fallen in the last 24hrs which makes the place look like a skiers fairytale. As a nordic skier it is a dream to be here as ski tracks that the best national teams in the world come here and and train on.
We are looking at doing a race here on Wednesday nite..... new experience skiing in the dark under lights and then a Loppet on Saturday. Should be a blast and a bit of pain included.
The place we have rented to stay in is pimping to say the least and the team truck is awesome aswell. Its a brand new ford explorer with all the bells and whistles.....very nice.

Vancouver

Right, I have been in Vancouver for a few days chilling out after a week of hard skiing. Finally got the body back together. Been checking out the sights and doing some retail therapy with the wife. We managed to get tickets to a Cannucks game which was awesome and boy do the fans know how to have a good time. We even saw a guy win a car and 1 million smacko-ronies in a shoot out on the ice. Unbelievable to witness..(not bad pay for 30 seconds of work).
Spent some time in the Yaletown Brewery drinking some of their ales and I recommend the Red Truck Ale. Good food too!
Tomorrow we head east to another location called Silverstar for some more ski time and hopefully a race at the end of the week....(looking forward to it).
Big hello to Mister Sister for the care of the house and fur children and to NZ Gav on the speedy recovery from knee surgery.
Happy riding