Brief update on the last 10 months (more photos than writing)

Soooo, it’s been a very long time since I wrote a blog post. It’s not because I’ve not been doing anything, just haven’t gotten my act together to write one about the things I’ve been doing. A quick summary of last year.

• I rode the mediofondo in the GranFondo AxelMerckx Okanagan. I started way at the back, due mostly to my lack of confidence when I registered. (I figured it would take me about an hour longer than it did.) That meant I mostly started with a wack of people that didn’t know how to ride in a paceline or group, so got little benefit from my newly acquired riding skills (thanks to Kits Energy). But I finished with a chip time of 3:26.06, 23^rd out of 101 women in my age category (40-49) (although that’s the number registered not the number who finished). I was really happy with that, especially as I was pretty much a first year road rider. (I’d never gone further than 40 km before, which was all the distance I needed to be able to do for my triathlons.) I really enjoyed the whole weekend, and highly recommend this fondo. We'd do it again this year if we weren't busy that weekend with some work related things. (Note: They have a partner business to provide child care, so parents can ride without worrying about what to do with their kids.)

• I ran in another 5 Peaks trail race. It was a horrible day, but still enjoyed it. I’d like to do a few more this year, but not sure my schedule really allows it.

View from the car before the trail race. See what I mean about an ugly day?

• I did a wack of cyclocross racing in the fall. It started with a grass crit in August actually (which I was miserable at, so so not a fast rider). Then I rode in most of the local Vancouver Cyclocross Coalition races, and several of the Cross on the Rock races on the island. I even finished the island series in the top 5 (I think) for points in the beginner women’s category. They don’t do points podiums for the beginners, probably because attendance in that category is kind of hit and miss, which is how a person from the mainland like me can rank pretty well despite not being there for every race. Anyway, we’re planning on doing as many races as we can in both series again this fall. (I raced more than my husband because he kept getting injured in races. Turns out there are some perks to being slow, falling rarely causes much damage.) I have been riding in the beginners races, but am going to move up to Masters next season. I'm still pretty bad, but I am ready to race in the longer races, so I'll suck it up. I managed to not get lapped once last year (which results in getting pulled), but I don't think I can keep that up in a longer race. Oh well. It's really fun, and that's why we do it. It's also been great for my bike handling skills and general confidence.The community of racers is really welcoming and encouraging. I highly recommend checking out a race or two if you're curious. You don't even need a cross bike, a mountain bike will do just fine. Here’s a few photos. (OK, more than a few.)