Are You Living It?

I posted a bunch of Photos from B.C. Super Week taken by Photographer Greg Descantes. www.descantes.com. Check them out on the flickr page or on my photos page.

We hung around for a little while before the second session started up which included a Keirin and points race. Phil Miller, the chief ref, did a great job of informing the athletes their duties (making it a show) and playing fairly. Dave Mann, the promoter, also thanked everyone for coming out - he did an amazing job!

You may have heard about this already - but on Saturday during a elite men’s Keirin, a HUGE crash happened taking out the entire field. Fortunately everyone walked away - although some equipment was ruined. As youwatch the slow motion - check out the wheel that goes flying through the air - the fork is still attached.

UNREAL!!

Our man Matt Shriver (JIttery Joe’s Cycling) just took the overall title at Tour de White Rock for the most points across the weekend’s events. This is a major victory for Matt, demonstrating how well he stacks up against some of the best cyclists in the world.  Expect big things from Matt in the months and years to come.  Congrats, Matt.  Nobody deserves a big win more than you!

Podium shot from the Miss and Out. Erica Allar in first, me in second, and Kele Murdin in third. Photo taken by Brujo’s. Check them all out at http://flickr.com/photos/brujo/

We have been racing every night since Wednesday. Tour de Gastown went pretty good for us, but still no victory. The Symmetrics team is riding super strong. We have been so close. Evan finished 5th at Gastown. The following night was Giro de Burnaby. We had a decent evening but the leadout got pinched on the inside and that was the end of it for our sprinters.

Just completed the first session of a weekend long biking extravaganza called the Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge. First up - a 3k pursuit. Christie graciously let me borrow her dank aero bars for my effort and they made a HUGE difference. I posted a PR at Alpy putting in a time of 4:14, nine seconds better than last year. One BIG lesson I learned though - and this pertains to the Alpenrose track particularly - make sure you tighten down your helmet prior to doing your effort. Otherwise the bumpy track will knock your helmet down, causing some vision issues but at the same time giving you something else to focus on other than the burn in your legs. At one point I had to take my hands off the bars and flip my helmet up - that is soooo pro! And Heather (aka Coach) was letting me know my split times and since my Rudy Project helmet has ear covers - all I could hear was “Blah blah blah!” and see her briefly jump up and down on the track in her pink outfit as my helmet slipped further and further down my face. Good times!

Although when looking at the overall results would reveal a big fat DNF from last nights fast and furious Tour of Gastown, I honestly think I took a huge stride toward getting better. I truly believe you can learn faster through failure and making mistakes because they are so much easier to recognize and hopefully correct. (Especially when they’re obvious!)

Last week I discovered it takes USA Cycling up to one week to grant an International License. Applying online isn’t sufficient enough - you also have to send it a copy of your passport and sign a license agreement document and then snail mail it into their office in Colorado Springs. I found this out Thursday. Luckily I made it to the Post Office in time to send it via Priority so their offices would receive it before the end of the workweek. ($16 bucks plus $90 for the license)