Our Blustery Afternoon

So, I have recently discovered that I suck at blogging regularly when busy, lazy, or tired, and that I actually managed to get all the way through March without a blog entry. So here is a quick one, another promise to post photos of my bikes for this year, and the latest and greatest of my adventures.

But, today being Good Friday, I've had the day off of work and have been playing catch-up for all the stuff I've been meaning to do....updating this (though without photos) is one of them. (The blustery weather that has us inside watching "Where the Wild Things Are" doesn't hurt either!)

The first two island cups have happened. I put off writing blog posts for both of them waiting to find photos of the race...the time for race reports have passed and I still don't have photos from them (but Regan Pringle has a great gallery HERE and HERE)...so now, I guess the best way to put it is this: The island cup series is one of the best gems of the island. The courses are hard, the people are awesome, and the competition this year has been amazing! Mical Dyck, Catherine Pendrel, Sandra Walters, Mel McQuaid, and Catherine Vipond have all made it out to at least one of the two races so far, so there have been girls to show me how it is all really done.

In other news, Drew and I bought a house. As of April 30 we'll be actual homeowners with a real bike area, a living room that doesn't have 9 bikes in it, and a spare bedroom. Our house won't have much for furniture to start off with...but at least that will make the move easier!

Other than that, I'm still getting used to my 29R from Everti, but every ride makes me smile and with the Fox F80 on it it is fast climbing and descending. Now it will need a bit more touch of XTR to lighten it up (from its current 21.5 lbs) for the climbs in Monterey at Sea Otter and it will be ready to go!

In nerdy bike world, glimpses and hints of Shimano's new XTR group keep coming to light on blogs and forums. I am hearing lots of 10 speed references, some electronic references, and I can't wait to get a glimpse of some of the race bikes in Sea Otter that will surely have some of the new bling.

Other than all of the above, training has been going swimmingly (although Monday's ride left me almost swimming after torrential rain, hail, thunder and lightning, and then sideways rain over the course of 4 hours of Malahat and Shawnigan Lake). I am getting really excited for battling it out with the hardest race course of the year (Cumberland Island Cup) and then heading down to California for (hopefully!) some sunny weather, a quick family visit, and racing!