Snow to Surf Report

Sometimes the lead-up to a race or event is more exciting than the actual event (everyone has a New Year's Eve story that goes something like that....). After my post last week I was worried that I would jinx the weekend, build it up to be so much more....

I didn't. I had actually forgotten how much fun it is to look forward to the next day's event with a team of 8 other girls. Drew and I drove up in the afternoon on Saturday, pre rode the trail section of the race course, then headed to the Conard's house for dinner with the teams. First off, the mountain bike section of the course is 6.5km of road followed by 2km of double track next to a pipeline--a brutally painful false flat, followed by 7.5km of pure heavenly singletrack. Fast, swoopy, rolling, with roots and logs....with a little momentum you feel like you are floating up, over, and across the terrain. In the pre-ride I plastered a huge grin on my face and gave'r.

The Conard's house is this wonderful quirky cottage in the woods. It is open and breezy and homey. I've been there twice now, but it is a welcoming home as soon as you walk in the door. Barb and Willy Conard are amazing people and are not hesitant to make all 18 of us as comfortable as possible. For dinner, Toscano's supplied an amazing pasta dinner. The night before was filled with catching up (some of the team Drew and I only see once a year) and planning. Getting everyone to and from their respective legs with their necessary equipment is a bit of a challenge and team leaders Josh Henderson and Danielle Conard usually get the task of figuring out the logistics.

The next morning came bright and early with a huge continental team breakfast and last-minute preparations. The race started at 9:40 with the downhill skiier and continued on through the xc skiier, and two downhill runners before it got to the mountainbike leg. Drew got called up 3rd (meaning his team was in 3rd place overall) and I got called up several minutes later. Natasha had killed it during her run and I was the first girl to get called up--including mixed teams. I headed out with a couple guys just barely in sight with the goal to catch them by the end. Stayed nice and steady on the road...suffered through the pipeline...and then was homefree with the same grin as the night before as I headed into the singletrack. I caught both of the guys halfway through the singletrack and moved our team up 2 overall spots and maintained our 1st place in the open women's. Our kayaker, Andrea, shoved off and had a strong paddle across the lake despite the choppy water and winds to hand off to Tanya Berg. Tanya had an awesome ride and handed off to our canoers. By this time the wind was even stronger and the ocean was rough and choppy. Danielle and Mel are beautiful to watch in a boat, but their racing canoe was not happy about the waves coming over the top. The girls toughed out several swims and shore-dumps, turning down the coast guard boats offer of rescue to finish the race, securing a 2nd place.

From there, of course, we all headed to the beer gardens (see above and below footage) to wait for the rest of the teams and awards. Post-awards Barb and Willy invited us back to their place to watch the hockey game where we also re-lived the days adventure over beer and chips.

Drew and I got to watch the sky brighten up this morning through (speaking for myself) hazy eyes on our way home to Victoria. What a great month--last weekend's long weekend, Snow to surf, and next week's trip to California for more great riding and family!

Its pretty rough up here.....