Ending Winter...Watching Sisters...Taking time

the view from our room

Winter seems to be coming to an abrupt end around here, assuming that the sunny, 10 degree Celcius days actually count as winter. With the closing ceremonies of the Olympics, people seem to be waking up from their winter hibernation. Summer bikes are coming into the shop, summer clothing orders are going in, and I am in the back and forth of whether I can take fenders off yet or not....(because, damn Murphy, as soon as they come off we will get torrential rain!)

off the beaten path of the Wild Pacific Coast Trail

Also coming to an end is my 2 short months off from racing. Next weekend marks the first race of the year at Victoria's Island Cup. I still have another month of sticking close to home as the first trip Drew and I will take off the island will be to the Sea Otter Classic (which will be one of the biggest races I will do this year).

One of the light houses in the "ships graveyard" of Vancouver Islands Coastline

To enjoy one of our final race-free weekends of the year (wow...am I really saying that all ready?) Drew and I headed up to Ucluelet for tide-pooling, hiking, and an overnight get-away with amazing food and a gorgeous ocean front room! It was beautiful! Saturday we headed out to the Wild Pacific Trail, a crushed gravel trail that winds around parts of Ucluelet's beautiful, rocky coastline. We cut off-trail to the beach (where there were tsunami warnings from the earthquake in Chile) to check out the tide pool creatures. I introduced Drew to his first hermit crab and starfish, and checked out the bright red sea anemone's that I had never seen before, pretty nice way to spend a Saturday!

Chesterman's Beach, Tofino

After our hike we had dinner, watched some Olympics, got some sleeep, to wake up and head out to Tofino for more beach time and then a quick dash to one of Tofino's pubs to watch the last 2 minutes of the Olympic hockey game and then the ensuing overtime. Drew was edgy and high-stress as the game went along and we were both relieved by Canada's goal...to end the game in sudden death.

Mount Arrowsmith on our drive home

Speaking of nail biting games....while I'm not racing, it has been the perfect season to keep track of my little sister Sage's basketball career. For those of you not in the know, she signed her letter of intent to play for Washington State University in Pullman in 2010/2011 season and is just finishing up her last year of high school basketball. She got the tall genes in the family, stands over 6' and is a phenomenal player. Her team is currently in the NCS (North Coast Sections) playoffs and won their semifinal game last night by a nail-biting 2 points. From the sounds of the local paper's write-up, Sage was a focus for the defense, but her team stepped up to the opportunity to create plays and points throughout the game.

So now, I have successfully updated my blog...and should head to work (where the shop blog is also in desperate need of updating!) Before next weekend I'll be reviewing/discussing my new race bike for the year- Everti's 29R and my new road bike/winter bike, another Everti.