Thursday, July 27, 2006

Whistler canada cup

So kiara and I made it up to whistler no problem. the subaru was cash money and all was good. I brought a big slab of salmon and we BBQed it up at Routleys and it was so unreal, the best salmon I have had all year. "look you idiot first of all its salmon not sallmon" It was hot in whistler, the rugged montana van said it was 38c I jumped in alta lake like 2-3x per day just to keep cool. For the race, the course was sweet very technical and very rough and bumpy, perfect for my wicked good epic bike. standing on the start line I was already starting to melt. the gun went off and I was in the lead group of 3 with raff and Kabush then I thought I would have a go at it after lap one and for lap 2 I was going, I had the lead and felt good. then like half way through the lap I hit a wall of heat, my stomach was not giving me love and I was puking in my mouth and getting all dizzy. I almost rode of the side of this ladder bridge, and thats the moment when I decided to pack it in and call it a day. I drank a lot of water and went and cooled down at the lake, Neal and I jumped in with all of our riding clothes on.

Got a ride home with the Douglass motorhome. got in at like 2pm then I went up to the river to watch Mike smoke everyone at this Kayak race. then we bbqed up some maui pork chops and then Mike and I went to the lake and I tried to roll again and I almost got it, next time. I got home, had swimmers itch and my sinus was so stuffed up from being upside down in a boat for way to long. so monday it was full chill for Ricky. I got this weekend off of racing but I will bbq and swim and ride and watch CSI everyday. then next thursday I am off to utah and Colorado for the last 2 NORBAs. laterRicky

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Nationals and padden lake or lake padden July14&15weekend

Nationals were just this last saturday in Sun Peaks. Kiara drove her sweet 1990 subaru over to my place in the corn, then the next day ma and pa came by and took us up to Sunpeaks. My folks also brought a massive slab of a 33lb salmon. When we got to sunpeaks we tossed that baby on the grill and it was unreal. On Friday I pre rode the course and it was good just like it was in 2001and 2002, a ton of climbing and wicked single track trails down 20min per lap and we had 6 laps. I felt OK leading up to the race. I was not sleeping as good as I wanted, I would go to bed 10-11 and wake up like 5-6. I felt tired all day for a couple days, I was thinking this race might be a hard one. At the start of the race I was in the lead group of like 5or 6 guys all chasing down Plaxton who was like 30sec up after the first lap, then I caught him and I was leading and was trying to put the boots to him and seamus and then I was in the lead for the rest of the race until like 5-7min to go I got passed by Kabush and had to settle for second. after the race got in the car and drove home and stopped by Taco Del Mar and DQ(monster cookie blizzard is unreal) got home at like 1030 and by 1045 I was swimming in cultus lake. a wicked end to a great day.

Sunday Kiara and I drove the Subaru down to Bellingham Washington to do the Padden Mt Pedal race. Kiara was not going to go, but she felt guilty for eating the blizzard, so we were off. the car was good on the way down. We both raced and did feed zone for each other. the course was wicked fun and fast with tons of flow. Kiara and I both Won and I won the first lap $100 prime. Right after the race we jumped in padden lake and then got a proper sized Burrito and then did the drive home. When we got to the border crossing there was like a 15-20min line up and the subaru was getting very hot, Kiara had to turn the car off and I pushed it through the border. Then we drove it home and we made it. and there was some people driving from sun peaks to Van or whistler. So we had a little bbq when we got home. Trish, Max, Dre, Jerome, and Kiara. were all here for a mad BBQ feed bag. "its a mad house".

On Monday my main goal was to get a real BBQ and upgrade from the camping size on I have. So I hit up Canadian tire and Plaxton told me which one to get, well its been done, last night we grilled up some cow, moo moo. after I got the BBQ, I went for a massage, then I came home and Mike took me to the lake to see if I could roll the boat. I thought I could do it no problem but it was a huge problem the first time I rolled it by accident and thought I was going to die. then mike gave me some pointers and I still didn't get it. I even smacked my face on the front of mikes boat then I almost froze to death. I am going later this week to try and roll the boat again. I will let you know. Tonight we are going have chicken burgers and watch the Tour Day france. I am going up to Whistler on thursday, we are driving in Kiaras Subaru so there could be some stories. I will post some photos on here next week.
later
Ricky

Thursday, July 13, 2006

deer valley NORBA July 7-9

So now I am fully caught up on this whole blog thing. So this deer valley trip was a good one. I was fully solo and I flew in to salt lake city and took a cab to Midvale, to the days inn I where I was staying. I was going to meet up with Troy and Christine Misseghers. Troy was racing the marathon and they were still up at the course when I arrived at the hotel. I need to get some food I was dieing of starvation. right across from the hotel there was this very sketchy mexican place called albertos, it was like an old MacDonald's that had been converted into "Albertos". I didn't really want to go in because there is this thing called food poisoning that makes you race really slow. but I was very hungry and went in and got one of the best burritos I have ever had. tons of meat, it was unreal and it was 3 bucks. unreal. The race was at like 7000ft, and the course was almost all single track and we had 4 laps. I started out way to hard and then I paid for my efforts in laps 2&3, then on the last lap for some reason I had tons of gas and pinned it and ended up in 7th, and maintained my 5th overall. Then I hung out all day at 8000ft. I laid on the floor struggling to breathe then we drove down to Salt lake and got a burrito and hit the hay. In the short track I had a good start and was sitting in the top 10ish and then J. Biship ran me into the tape and we both went down and then I went way to hard trying to make up spots and blew up hard and ended up 18th, not wicked. Monday I traveled home and am now in chill mode after having a 12hr zonk. I am going up to sun peaks on Thursday, for nationals. later

deer valley NORBA July 7-9

So now I am fully caught up on this whole blog thing. So this deer valley trip was a good one. I was fully solo and I flew in to salt lake city and took a cab to Midvale, to the days inn I where I was staying. I was going to meet up with Troy and Christine Misseghers. Troy was racing the marathon and they were still up at the course when I arrived at the hotel. I need to get some food I was dieing of starvation. right across from the hotel there was this very sketchy mexican place called albertos, it was like an old MacDonald's that had been converted into "Albertos". I didn't really want to go in because there is this thing called food poisoning that makes you race really slow. but I was very hungry and went in and got one of the best burritos I have ever had. tons of meat, it was unreal and it was 3 bucks. unreal. The race was at like 7000ft, and the course was almost all single track and we had 4 laps. I started out way to hard and then I paid for my efforts in laps 2&3, then on the last lap for some reason I had tons of gas and pinned it and ended up in 7th, and maintained my 5th overall. Then I hung out all day at 8000ft. I laid on the floor struggling to breathe then we drove down to Salt lake and got a burrito and hit the hay. In the short track I had a good start and was sitting in the top 10ish and then J. Biship ran me into the tape and we both went down and then I went way to hard trying to make up spots and blew up hard and ended up 18th, not wicked. Monday I traveled home and am now in chill mode after having a 12hr zonk. I am going up to sun peaks on Thursday, for nationals. later

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

week end off June 26-july 5


So I made it home all good, I dont remember leaving the house such a mess but It was. So I ran in MSA for like 10-15min and my legs are worked, its a good thing I dont plan on doing any running any time soon. I also got some room mates Mike and Lina Holroyd these white water Kayakers, Lina is from germany, Ya das is gut, to bad about the football world cup. We hung a german flag out the front of the house but it didn't work. I went and paddled a boat on cultus lake. It was crazy, my arms kind of got sore but I will do it again for sure. on the Sunday I went dirt biking/quading with my cousins up at chilliwack lake, the photo is my cousins and aunt and uncle and thats the Quad I drove, the thing is like a cadillac. I did a motor pace with marsh cooper driving the scooter, It is so much harder going behind a skinny Marsh wearing a Sugoi undershirt then it is going behind my dad wearing a snowmobile suit. I did a whole lot of chilling. it was good times, but I need to get a BBQ very soon there must be cooked meat. Next weekend is the Park city NORBA.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

mont saint anne world cup june 19-25



So Ray dropped Kiara and I off at Mont Saint anne. Then he went and drove back to collingwood right away. While Me and K watched game 7 of the stanly cup finals. the oliers lost and It kind of sucked because a canadian team really needs to win the cup, it sucks but I will live. Roddi on the other hand was so pissed I rode with him a couple days later and he was pissed, more pissed then when he had to pay $80USD for his bike on an airplane this one time, now thats pissed. I do remember 94 when the canucks made it to game 7 and lost it was not good. When's the last time the leafs made it to the finals? the race was good, wicked course and 7 laps and tons of fast euros. I started in 45th place. after the start loop I was like in 30th ish. then I moved up and up and up. and half way through the race I was up to 9th and 10th. Feeling good and killing it. half a lap to go I broke my chain and just started running. I finished 23rd and was very pissed, but what can you do? well you can get selected for random doping and have to pee in a cup. This was very interesting because I ate tons of beats the night before and my pee looked like red gatorade. I thought I could fill the 75ml cup no problem but I got it to like 74ml and was out and was squeezing so hard I thought I was going to blow up, not to mention the gas that was coming out the other end, but I did it 75ml. oh baby. Time to go home for the first time in 6weeks. While I was on the road my dad and grandpa went fishing look at the photo, looks like I am going to eat some salmon.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

NORBA's june 6-18 North Carolina/Vermont






So after Hardwood Me, Ray and Kiara got a van and drove down to North Carolina for NORBA #2 at Sugar Mt. It took us about 12hrs to do the drive and we went through like 6 states, a new world record. once we got to Sugar things were kind of tight the accommodation papers said that there was bunk beds at the place. These were not really bunk beds it was like some one took a closet and made 2 levels in it and then put foam pads down. it was the smallest bed I have ever slept in. but we had a really nice view out the back window. we watched the Negotiator with Samuel Jackson very good movie. "in the army they teach us how to wash our hands, in the navy they teach us how not to piss on our hands". The race course was wicked fun, a massive climb like 5mile long then down this really technical single track and open ski hill to the finish. my race started out real well I had a front row start for the first time in my life and just hung in there up the climb and went in the first down hill in like 7th ish. I picked a bunch of guys off and came through the finish in 4th my first NORBA podium, wicked cool. I did have a real good battle with Nick Waite we came out of the last single track together and as soon as we hit the bumpy ski hill to the finish I pined it on my wicked specialized Epic and Nick was on a hard tail and I dusted him, oh sweet epic how I love you. the next race was the short track and I ended up 7th thats a personal best for me so that was good. next up Vermont norba. and a 15hr drive.

So this drive was a long one ray did all the driving because me and Kiara were kind of wrecked from the racing. we got like half hour from the venue and there was a truck that lost its load and the road was closed down for 5-6hrs and we had to take like a 2hr detour. not wicked. once we got to our place life was pretty good. it was like this little cabin thing that had satellite TV. oh Mr 3000. There was some serious chilling to be done in vermont so I took this spare mattress and placed it in front of the TV, every day I would lay there then at night Ray would fall asleep on it watching some movie, I would wake up in the morning and the TV would still be going with Ray fully passed out. The race course in vermont is so good a real mt bikers course no pissing around the Epic was the bike for this course, big climb with some downs involved then a huge down hill with tons of roots. I had a front row start again and was somewhere in the top 10 on the first of 4 laps. like 2 min into the race I was getting passed by ryan treebon and his crazy high seat that ended up hitting me in the head. Most of the race I was battling with Kabush and Todd Wells. I pulled this wicked pass on the down hill and passed them both at the same time and it was a clean pass to. then like 5 seconds after the pass I body checked a tree with my shoulder scott stevens style. Oh I felt like a jit, they both passed me back. on the last lap Kabush took off and put like 30 seconds into me he finished 6th and I was 7th todd was 8th another 30 behind me. For the Short track I was just done like dinner and only like 9 guys finished on the same lap as the leader I think I finished 10th. so there is now a little brake in the norba for now, I am 5th overall in the XC and 9th in the ST. next up is mont saint anne and a 7hr drive to get there. oh Ray got a speeding ticket on the way, he was doing 80mph in a 55.Ricky

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

week 3 Hardwood canada cup may 29-june4


This week was the hardwood hills canada cup just outside of Barrie ontario. The plan for the week was to stay in Collingwood at the National Ski Academy. I meet Ray our Mechanic for the next 3 weeks and Kiara in Collingwood. Kiara and I stayed at the NSA and Ray lives in Collingwood. The Academy was wicked good, its like a boarding school for potential national ski team athletes who are high school aged. They live in this massive house that sleeps 20-30, has a full sized gym and a weight room, and there is a cook there full time cooking meals. I played basketball in the gym with Kiara and we played 21, I won 21 - 12. its a good thing Kiara can ride a bike really fast cause I don't think she has game. It was summer and there was only like 15 kids there, and so we were able to stay there. The guy that runs the NSA was a buffalo sabers fan and his team lost to Carolina, oh thats a shame, I was happy because we are going to be in Carolina next week and a Oilers Canes final would be good. Ray showed us some good roads to ride on and I found some wicked trails on Blue Mt. I was kind of still pissed about my front derailleur last week and wanted revenge so at this canada cup I had 2 chances a short track on Saturday and a XC on sunday. the short track was good very cool course with a little single track and then down the BMX course. I was out solo after about 5min with Neal kindree chasing me down and it was Neal so there was no way I was going to let him beat me. So I won and Kindree was 2nd, Mark Battys Brother Eric was 3rd. For the XC on sunday the weather was wicked and the course dry. I knew my fitness was good so the plan was to bide my time and just be patient and wait till the last lap and "drop the hammer" this is the plan me and ray had discussed. right at the start there was a group of like 6or7 and I was in it. It was Raf, Marty, Watson, Tim this guy from Dutch, Sneddon, and some others as well. I just went to the front and went through some single track and was in the lead and I had a gap. So I just kept going, every lap I was gaining a little bit and I felt good. when I went through the feed zone on the 2nd lap Ray was giving me splits and I said "so much for patients eh". At the end of the race I won Marty was 2nd and Derek Zandstra was 3rd. There was even champagne on the pod and I made sure that I sprayed everyone real good. oh it was a good weekend and next up was a couple NORBAs but we first had a 12hr drive to Carolina. More to come tomorrow
Ricky

Monday, July 03, 2006

Road Trip Quebec May18-28



Hey I just got back from being on the road for 6 weeks and I am going to do a report on this blog thing I will try to do 1-2 weeks a day until I am up to date. the trip started as I flew into Montreal with Air canada. I landed in Montreal on May 18th, Rick Batty picked me up and drove me to the Teamrace.com accommodation in Bromont Quebec. I meet Andrew Watson, Emily and Mark batty there. We stayed at this house and it was so dark none of the lights worked. All Emily and mark did was text messages the whole time Mark does so many texts that his cell phone bill comes in a box with 1000 sheets of paper, you can blame him for all those trees they cut down. I have never raced at bromont before and it was very nice good course with good climbing and good single track. The day before the race it just pissed rain and race day it was pissing rain to. The course had this wicked creek crossing that almost took me down. From the start it was max plaxton in the lead and me in second and thats how it finished. it was a crazy race, everyone ran out of brake pads, at the finish I was so cold and muddy. the day after the race we drove the 3hrs from bromont to Tremblant to get ready for canada cup #2.

Tremblant. When we first got there we did a food shop at the IGA, and we spent $330 bones on food for the week that was a big shop, who thought nutella could cost so much. then we found our accommodation and we stayed at this place with a wicked view of the lake. For the race it was crapy and raining all week but race day it was nice and the course was in good condition. I was having a good race and then half way through the second of 5 laps my front derailleur broke and I tried to get it going but no dice and I was a DNF. I felt good and was very pissed, there will be revenge, oh full revenge. Max won and Watson was second. after my dnf I made this wicked burito and hung out with skinner and these guys from edmonton, after hearing how good the oilers are I went home and there were some ontario Jr guys there who had to much to drink and they provided me with some good entertainment. The next day i got a ride to Collingwood with the Arrow racing guys. Next stop is Hardwood hills.