mytrilife

BC Road Trip training weekend+

Ok.. here's the story of our epic long weekend road trip to BC.

May long weekend is typical annual pilgrimage for a lot of Alberta athletes. The weather usually sucks in AB (it snowed last week) in the spring.

Leaving Edmonton at supper time, Heather and I planned a quick stop in Calgary, then onto her sister's place in Vernon... arriving around 2am or so... that was the plan anyways. After being stopped at Golden due to a landslide closure, we slept in the car til morning to be told that the road MAY open by 1pm that day! So.... our only route to the Okanagan was through south BC and the Kootenays.

It turned out to be not so bad, although plenty of coffee was needed to continue the drive. Southern BC is outstanding! My first time through that route (that I can remember), with some insane mountain passes I'd like to bike some day.

We spent the next night in a little town called Rossland, which sits halfway up a mountain at ~1100m just outside Trail. Took advantage of the trail system for a little trail running... although a bunch of trails were closed due to bear activity. Rossland seems like a neat place to live... a real outdoor lover's paradise. I plan to go back that same region to explore a bit more.

Just outside Rock Creek I dropped off Heather to bike the easier summit of Anarchist pass and then on to Oliver, where I drove to get our campsite at Tuc-El-Nuit lake. (my last post) It's the only lake warm enough to get an open-water swim this time of year... which I took advantage of with a great swim on Saturday morning before our loop of the IMC bike course. There were HUNDREDS of cyclists out in various training camps... we had plenty of company on our ride that day.

Sunday, we packed up our camp and drove to Penticton to watch the 1/2 marathon and 10k race before doing our own 2 hour run down the old Kettle Valley Rail track on the west side of Skaha lake. Deciding that we were too tired to do another ride, we headed to Vernon and an easy swim at the aquatic centre.

On Monday, we rode the back roads from Vernon to Salmon Arm and back. I love riding in the valley north of Vernon, although there's not much for hills, which is good as both of use were hurting from our previous two days.

And finally, to complete our BC tour, we decided to take the north route via Kamloops (hwy 5) to Jasper and then back to Edmonton. Saw loads of wildlife alongside the highway.. bear, moose, elk... even a wolf! Mt. Robson is always impressive, but the sky was a bit overcast, so we didn't bother to stop for a photo opportunity.

Too much driving in 6 days... but a fun trip. Thankfully, my Toyota gets great mileage... as we drove over 3000km in total!

posted by Greg @ 5/27/2007 0 Comments

Tuc-El-Nuit Lake, Oliver, BC

Just returned from a trip to British Columbia. I'm convinced the slogan on the BC pre-Olympic license plates "The Best Place on Earth" is correct. I gave my new car quite the workout, covering over 3000km in 6 days. I found some time to swim/bike/run in there as well. Here is the morning view from our campsite at Tuc-El-Nuit lake in Oliver:

posted by Greg @ 5/23/2007 4 Comments

QOTD

"The only reliable measure of fitness is performance"

Obvious, so simple, and so true.

Your HR monitor, power meter, GPS, and all your other toys can tell you a lot of things... but race day... that's where you get the most accurate fitness measurement.

posted by Greg @ 5/16/2007 0 Comments

So busy, so busy

It's been a hectic return to North America.

First, I spent 6 days in Newport Beach (100km south of L.A.) with my friend John. Soaked up some California sun... although after Australia it seemed a bit weak! Did a bit of shopping... California must have the cheapest, best shopping on the planet. I found a deal on my new bike seat and pair of running shoes for Heather. Barely trained, as I was jet-lagged, and just not all that motivated.

Flew back to Calgary on Saturday the 28th. Just for fun, I grabbed a last minute spot for the Police 1/2 marathon. I has a million excuses not to do well, but I managed to go 1:22:43 for 12th place overall. Being a bit de-tuned and lacking the run volume, the race smoked me a bit. My legs were pretty shattered.

I spent the rest of that week running around Calgary trying to get a list of things sorted. My friend Joel's roommate was out of town, so he was able to offer me a room to stay for the week. Thanks Joel! On Friday, I picked up my new car.. a 2004 Toyota Matrix. Sporty looking, great gas mileage, and a brilliant hatch perfect for bikes and gear.

Saturday the 5th was the Banff-Calgary relay. With a few substitutions, our team this year was very strong. The top three teams battled all day within 5-6 minutes of each other, and our final runner secured our win with the fastest time on the last leg. Our overall time was one of the fastest in many years. My leg went well, despite my legs still feeling the effects of the 1/2 marathon 6 days earlier. I finally managed to break 1 hour for 16.1km, which was what I was hoping for.

After the awards party, I jumped in my car and drove straight to Edmonton, which is where I am writing this now. Heather and I are staying at her mom's place while she applies for jobs. We're in Edmonton until next Thursday, and then we're off to the Okanagan for a week or so.. depending on any interviews that might come up.

On top of all this... my workload has been the highest in a long, long time... so I'm feeling a bit stressed and tired. I promise to try and get some more Aussie photos up soon when I find the time.

posted by Greg @ 5/09/2007 1 Comments