in case you missed it, part I is here, II and III were eaten by the universe. i’ll fill you in – there were 13 cobs of corn one week and a watermelon (that was possibly the most ridic) another week. plus all the usuals, of course. peaches, plums, apricots, maybe a few zucchinis here and there, etc. jon had to reinforce one of my panniers the other day because the connection mechanism that holds it onto my bike was getting loose. oopsies! i’m back in business now.

this is how i do it. big panniers and a spare bungee cord just in case.

the loot:

-cable + padlock

-2 bags of cheese curds from thornloe

-some temiskaming cheese (also thornloe. best cheese place ever!)

-a purple bag filled with my work clothes and other sundries (deoderant, comb, etc)

-2X 1.5L of seedless concord grapes, for a raisin making project

-3L basket of delicious peaches

-a big bag of italian plums for some plumjum (i’m currently making the bellaeats plum cake that we loved last year with my last week’s bunch)

this week i actually managed to restrain myself a little bit. i didn’t get any veggies, so we will probably hit up the saturday market. it was the last day that thornloe was going to be at my market, so they had some killer sales and i stocked up. dill flavoured cheese curds are amazing. is this just a canadian thing? at the HLS, when i talked about eating cheese curds, i remember someone looking at me like i was crazy. also when i described poutine…. it’s delicious stuff! really!

for supper tonight, jon made burgers with some beef we got from his uncle’s farm. these burgers were definitely in contention with the epic burger from chicago.

vs

ok. they were both really really good – grass fed beef is where it’s at! i couldn’t tweet about the one on the left and have it displayed up on a screen like at epic.

i have to say that was a pretty cool thing for them to have. the top three posts on the left and right columns were my dining companions: stina, mary and dawn. i couldn’t tweet because i didn’t have roaming data on my phone but i did when i got back to the hotel!

i have some chicago posts to catch up on. they’ll come. soon. eventually. i hope. this week has been kind of crazy.

i ran a 15K race last weekend. i have a 10K this week! i’m hoping to splash my 56:08 time out of the water! one more week of work and then i have a whole 5 glorious days off to relax at the cottage and farm. i have some fun projects planned for while we’re out there, so hopefully also some good blogging will come of that too! in the meantime, i better get back to my cake.

i feel so far behind on blogging! i’m going to start with this weekend and work my way backwards over the next couple weeks to get back into the swing of things. that way when i go to the HLS #2, i will feel like a real blogger.

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so yesterday, we drove about 2 hours west to the quaint little town of Port Colborne for a bike race jon had signed up for. Port Colborne is right on Lake Erie and the Welland Canal (and the welland river, i think), and this weekend was “Canal Days”, which is a festival of tall ships. This meant that all the lift bridges were raised (i no longer can love lift bridges anymore! now i just find them annoying), and getting around town was a bit (ok, a lot) of a challenge. nevertheless, it was a pretty fun day.

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while jon prerode the racecourse, i walked around town. i came across a lot of antique type cars.

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i’m a bit of a bridge nerd (another post on that to follow, soon!) so i had to capture these.

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port colborne is a pretty cute place.

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on my walk, i saw a non-tall-ship-ship

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i didn’t take a whole lot of pictures at the actual race. on the left is right before the starting line. jon is in the university of waterloo jersey. he came in 1st in the single speed men’s category on the right (in the middled, with the ridiculously large medal)

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then we went to check the festival out and see more of the town.

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the festival itself was a little disappointing. all of the tall ships (there were only 3!) were docked and none of them had their actual sails up. the rest of it was mostly just your average small town fair fare. there were also a whole lot of people. we did see one interesting thing while at dairy queen after the fair (it was WICKED HOT and i needed ice cream, stat)

check out this teeny tiny house! it has it’s own little sort-of driveway, and a deck (which is probably the size of the rest of the house). also note the air conditioning. it has it’s own electrical hookup and a house number completely separate from the white house on the right, which led us to believe that it actually is completely it’s own house, but we were unsure.

this has become a bit of a running joke in my office, and i feel like i should make it into a regular blog feature. every thursday (from june to october) at the park up the street from work, there is a little farmer’s market.  i love it and have talked about it here. as i mentioned,  i have a bit of a problem and usually tend to buy more than i need AND more than what i can manage to get home since i either walk/bus or ride my bike. this problem becomes exacerbated in the fall, during winter squash season. squash are big and heavy!

squash aren’t the only things challenging to get home though – summer fruits, while not as cumbersomely large and heavy are pretty fragile and prone to being squished.

this photo is actually from market a week and a half ago (asparagus season is sadly finished now)

my two panniers contained the following:

• bike lock (cable + combination lock; i leave a U lock at work)
• pair of shoes (the black flip flops)
• bike fixing stuff (tube, co2 cartridges, tire levers, etc)
• 2 pairs of capris (one from my morning bike ride and one from wearing at work)
• 1 zip up jacket
• the shirt I was wearing at work during the day
• various toiletries (comb, deoderant, etc)
• 1 big head of lettuce
• 2 bundles of asparagus
• 1 litre (maybe more?) of small cucumbers
• 1 quart of strawberries
• 1 quart of cherries
• 1 rosemary plant
• 1 lavender plant
• 1 large peashoot plant
• 1 tupperware of cheese
• my wallet
• bike gloves (it was too hot to wear them on the ride home)

in other news, i went for a 3K run in my vibrams yesterday and HOLY COW my calves are feelin’ it today. 3K was probably longer than i should have gone for, given that my last “barefoot” run was only 2K long and that was more than 2 months ago. i plan to try and use them more for actual running lots this summer (i mostly just wear them as walking/around town shoes). my next real race isn’t until mid-late august, so i think i’m going to ease off of serious training for a little while.

last weekend, for the third year in a row, i went to a 24 hour bike race with jon. i was the team’s support crew, although this race doesn’t require too much in the way of “support” because cabins, showers, bathrooms and meals (even sports drink if you’re interested) are provided! i was mostly just there for moral support.

jon had a team of 4 men. there were about 7 mens teams, 1 all women team, a bunch of solo male riders (including 1 adorable 12 year old!), 2 solo females, and 5-6 tag teams. it was really laid back and ended up being an awesome weekend. they had an 11km course set up on the trails and over the 24 hours, the team members took turns doing laps. we started off with a round of single laps, switching to doubles and then doing triples overnight (giving the other team members more sleeping time!). different teams had different strategies- the team in the cabin next to ours stuck to singles. our friends that were a tag team of 2 did 5 laps on, 5 laps off. any way you look at it, racing for 24 hours is kind of insane. the solo riders are by far the most hardcore – the top 3 riders probably rode for about 20 of the 24 hours (stopping only for eating and bathroom breaks). yikes. nutrition is definitely a challenge, as you don’t have much time to really eat OR digest (and you are taking in an excess of carbs for race fuel), so it kind of does a number on the tummy.

we set up a tent next to our cabin for working on bikes in in case it rained. we ended up not needing it at all! (i did use it to get away from the bugs for a bit though)

they always do something a little bit different for the start of the race. the first year we did it, it was a le mans style, with helmets on the bikes. last year was just a regular start. this year they did le mans but helmets were on the racer’s heads. jon is good at these things, and got a spot near the front of the pack, giving his team a bit of an edge.

jon is in the yellow and black jersey.

i wore my vibram five fingers on the first day and ended up making tons of friends! everyone wanted to chat about my shoes. it was pretty awesome. they are definitely a great conversation piece.

some reps from IMBA (international mountain biking association) were there. i love their vehicle!

some pictures from the weekend:

jon on the left // xavier on the right

second solo female and her 12 year old son who rode with her // the two solo females

three solo male winners // female team

mixed team // third place men’s

second place men’s team (team doppler effect!!!) // first place men’s

youngest (and cutest) rider // 3rd place tag team

second place tag team // first place tag team

what i loved most about this race was the sportsmanship. so many people had mechanical issues with their bikes. on our team, jon’s fork was not working 2 days before the race, part of jeff’s fork was damaged the night before the race, jon’s seat post was not staying up during the race, then right before one of his laps, the collar holding the seat post in broke, one of jeff’s pedals came off, some guy on another team cracked his frame, etc, etc, etc. it was awesome to see everyone step in to help each other out. competitors offering up spare parts so other teams could go on – quite inspiring. also, it makes me happy that in my sport, there isn’t much chance of a mechanical failure ending my race.

it was a fun but exhausting weekend. i was happy to have monday off from work to recover and sleep! three years ago, the guys entered a 5 man team and missed 3rd place by a hair. last year, they had a 4 man, 1 woman mixed team and placed 1st in the mixed category (which had 3 teams last year) – they would have been 3rd in the men’s category with the number of laps they did. this year, the 4 man team they put together came in 2nd. improvement is good!

the road trip to florida was pretty fun. i got to drive through several states that i had never been in before (pennsylvania, ohio, west virginia, north carolina, south carolina, georgia). sadly we didn’t spend too much time looking around because we wanted to make it to our final destination before christmas eve. we ended up driving through some of the most beautiful areas (like the west virginia/virginia mountains) in the dark. i didn’t get my Trader Joe’s pitstop because the only day it would fit into our plans was New Year’s Day, and they were probably closed. i didn’t really take pictures of any of the places we stopped at/drove through before and after florida. i also didn’t get to meet up with anyone because as it was during the holidays, none of the people i knew/would want to see were where they were supposed to be!

i got to celebrate my birthday (27!!) at universal studios with jon. roller coasters are my favourite! the last time i went to a theme park was back in the summer of 2003. i was at canada’s wonderland on the day of the big east coast blackout, so our day was cut short. in 2009, i made up for that with 2 solid days of riding all the best rides at universal, many twice, three times, and one even a whopping four! i love the thrill of being upside down and accelerating down huge drops around corkscrew turns. universal has some really excellent rides, and i thoroughly enjoyed my two days there.

hollywood rockit, the mummy, the simpsons, ET, shrek 4D, duelling dragons, and the spiderman ride were the tops. i don’t enjoy waiting in line, and we were there at one of the busiest times of year. our first day had wait times of upwards of 90 minutes per ride! on the second day, we splurged for the express plus passes to terminate the lines: it was TOTALLY worth it. we waited for 15 minutes at the most for any ride and it meant that we could jam pack the day with adrenaline rushes instead of boring lines. i didn’t take many pictures because we quickly realized that having my camera was going to be a pain in the ass. so it went into the car.

other florida adventures: hiking in the ocala national forest. little did we know that in the US, hiking and hunting go hand in hand in national parks. we had to be careful, as we were NOT wearing neon orange vests. i didn’t see any gators, sadly. we learned about sinkholes and heard shots from across the lake.

walking around in my parents’ neighbourhood. everyone there has a golf cart and this is how they get around (not just the greens, but also to restaurants, the grocery store, and other shopping). although the area isn’t super pedestrian friendly (things are just too far apart to be able to feasibly get around on foot), because of the golf cart lanes, biking is a much better option. we had taken our bikes down with us, and we got in a few nice morning rides, which i likely won’t get to experience here again until april.

the orange grove. i wanted grapefruits, so we drove around until we saw some signs advertising fresh citrus. the farm we stopped at was a small organic farm + grove, also selling rabbits (we were unsure if they were alive, for being pets, or skinned, for eating. decided that you could likely have it either way). i told the guy i wanted some grapefruits. 70 cents each. he asked how many and i decided that 10 would be good. he grabbed a knife, some plastic bags and went off into the trees. citrus does not get any fresher than that!

st augustine and walking on the beach. i love the ocean, and someday, i will live near one. walking on the sand and picking up pretty shells was how i spent the last day of 2009, and it was a lovely end to a pretty good year. we had lunch at a little caribbean cafe in st augustine beach (that had some AMAZING salt scrub in the bathrooms) and it really felt like a tropical vacation.

st augustine the town was pretty cool too. there was this crazy angel guy wandering the streets ranting and raving. there was also a really cool lift bridge to get into town. in retrospect, this would have been a good place to spend new years but we drove on to savannah.

we planned to spend a whole day exploring savannah, but when we got there, the weather was grey and crappy looking, and i felt like i was coming down with a cold – popping tylenols and blowing my nose. luckily my body fought off the illness quickly. we decided to just plug on home. the I-77/I-90 were rife with snowstorms, and the drive back was interesting. our bikes were so caked in salt when we got home, that the only way to get rid of all of it was to totally disassemble, soak, wipe, re-lube, reassemble. my bike hasn’t run this smoothly since i got it! sadly now it is just hooked up to the trainer because taking it out in the salty snowy slushy mess here would be stupid.

  yay salt! well that’s it for today. tomorrow is a busy day! (i’ve got the morning off from work to take care of something and i’m working from home in the afternoon). more to come.

the top 1000 awesome things , via the happiness project

a hilarious video about hipsters discussing cyclocross. hipsters are funny.i need to make an xtranormal video – all i need is an idea for a script! any suggestions?

in other news, i finished shift 2 this evening. it was fun and challenging! good thing i still have shift 3 and 4 to play through*. now i am going to work on an art project.

i need to make this butternut squash risotto with some of the mountains of cut up butternut squash i have in my fridge.

*disclaimer: i only played once the dishwasher was empty and my laundry was folded. i am starting to become more diligent and responsible!

riding my bike to work is one of my favourite parts of the day, so i thought it would be good to share with you since it makes me really happy. although i don’t bike in the super wintery months (dec-feb), i do bike in some pretty cold weather – so far the lowest has been -7°C (20°F) – and finding exactly the right things to wear has taken some trial and error. i’d say this wear is appropriate between -10 and +5. anything above that requires less layers. i’m not sure i’m hardcore enough to ride below that.

The Software

On Top

i don’t have a vest, which is really good for keeping your core warm while biking, so instead i wear a tight tanktop (this one happens to be biking specific – you can maybe see the little zip pocket on the back but i usually just use running tops) and a long sleeved shirt on top.

  
this is a cycling wind breaker, but i wear it around as my general fall/spring jacket. it’s got lots of reflective striping, goes down a little lower to cover your bum while biking (but not so low that it looks silly for just wearing around town), pit zips for extra ventilation, and good velcro closures around the wrists (sorry i didn’t picture those)

On the Bottom

  biking shorts and running tights underneath to keep my legs warm. i do not have special cycling leg warmers or knee warmers. so far my running tights are doing just fine. they are lightweight enough to not make me hot but solid enough to keep my knees and leg muscles warm. the biking shorts are a must if you are riding for more than 20 minutes. i could never go back to riding without padding! i’m on the lookout for a pair of biking tights so i don’t have to wear these layers (getting dressed and undressed is annoying) but i haven’t seen anything for less than $80 yet. i might have to just cave.

Accessories

  
these are a very recent purchase – lobster claw gloves! they are amazing. i have extremely poor circulation in my hands and feet and no matter how many pairs of gloves i wear, my fingers still get cold. lobster claws are mitts for a cyclist. they are super warm, plus since you group some fingers together, you can share internal warmth while still being able to brake and shift. they are fun. my only complaint is that i am unable to give stupid drivers the finger with these gloves

  
clockwise from top left:nike skull cap. it’s meant for running but it does really well in blocking wind under my helmet. it’s also got a nice ponytail hole.nike headband. for the extra cold days where my ears need more warmth than just what the hat provides.fleece liner gloves. for when it’s below -5 to wear under my lobsta clawsneck warmer. it’s like a scarf made out of tecnical fabric that won’t get caught in anything! best valentine’s day gift ever.  

woolen socks are a definite must for me and my perma-cold toes. when it gets really chilly, i will layer with thin running socks underneath the woolies for ultrawarmth.
and that is what i wear to ride my bike to work. it’s about 12.5km (almost 8 miles) and takes me between 35 and 45 minutes, depending which way i’m riding. (going into work is more downhill, coming home is more uphill) part II, hardware (gear) will be next!

i am sad the weekend is over. the party i went to last night wound up being pretty fun. we stayed in a hotel nearby instead of camping out in the backyard like we planned (that may have been too hobo like…

it was weird staying in a hotel so close to home (no one was in any shape to drive, public transit stopped running all the way to my house, and a cab would have been ridiculously expensive). the spare bedroom in the house was taken and sleeping on the couches would have been waiting up until the party died down and i was far too tired for that. luckily our friends had booked and paid for this room in a not entirely dodgy hotel that they were not going to be able to use, so we got to use it. there was even free breakfast with make your own waffles in the lobby! (i want my own waffle iron so badly. have i mentioned?)
we came home and i made two big batches of soup because jon is getting a root canal this week and i assume he won’t be able to eat solids. i’ll share recipes soon – a big soup post is coming!

back to work tomorrow! i’m going to a conference for 2 days this week, so that should be interesting. mix things up a bit.off to watch last week’s top chef. nighty night.

i may have gotten into a small bike crash this afternoon. the damage wasn’t terrible. i was thrown off my bike and i think i landed on my arms. i’m not exactly sure since it happened so fast and i don’t really remember. my arms are sore now, so i’m assuming they broke the fall. anyway, once i decided i was ok, i got up to check my bike. nothing seemed broken: there was only a dropped chain. i managed to get it back on the rings and pedal on.

when i got home, i had a closer look at myself:

nothing too terrible, just some scrapes and bruising. and a lot of chain grease.

then i looked in the mirror and had a good laugh:

it feels appropriate.

as my racing season for 2009 winds down and i transition from my “rest phase” into “base”, i have to look back at what i did this year and what i hope to be able to accomplish next year.

this year was pretty different from last year. in 2008, i ran 1 half marathon in may and spent the rest of my summer building, building, building up mileage for the september marathon. in retrospect, i should have included more mini-peak races and events throughout the summer to keep me rolling and motivated. i got a little tired by the end, and as a result, my marathon performance suffered. i plan to tackle this challenge again in the near future (some day!), hopefully a little smarter and more focused. 2009 included a few new things for me, which i really loved. doing something you’ve never done before is fantastic because it forces you to extend your limits, while still giving you the chance to achieve a personal best no matter what. i hope to do more of this next year.

Recap

a unique point to point cyclocross-style bike race, which mimics the style of the famous paris-roubaix. the actual race starts in paris, ontario and ends in ancaster. 60km through all kinds of terrain: road, rail trail, farm land, mud pit, gravel, single/double track, etc. since this was my first ever bike race, i opted for the shorter 35km race starting in st george. i got to wear the UW cycling jersey that i got for christmas (sorry no pictures!), which made me feel pretty cool. the race was a huge challenge- it was my first time riding in a big group (the starting stretch was paved road, and i tried my best to draft) and riding in my clipless pedals around a lot of other people! there was a ton of climbing and some of the terrain required more technical handling skill (or at least confidence!) than i had. i left my bike computer at home so i had no idea how far i was along the race, which was tough. i ended up finishing in 2:35 (which just a little bit longer than what it took jon to ride from paris to ancaster, almost twice the distance!). there was a very strong headwind. i did have to get off my bike and walk a few spots (and all three mudpits, mostly for logistical reasons though). if i do this race next year (i plan to!), i will try and do a lot more hill conditioning and aim to only get off for the mud.

Ottawa Half Marathon (May 27) Ottawa, ON

First running race of the season. I didn’t have any major goals, but i did hope to tackle the incline a little better this year because it was a total surprise to me (obviously, since they market it at a flat race, but the first half is downhill and the second half is up). while i don’t think i successfully conquered it (my splits were far from negative or even equal), i did better than last year. my time was not better than last year though. the temperature was screaming hot and the race course offers very little shade. additionally, i spent the day before helping out a friend with a bunch of manual labour, which in retrospect was a very poor idea. time: 2:20. this was the second year in a row that i ran this race, and i’m not sure i will do it again. it is poorly organized (there are far more people than the race area can handle) and it is annoying travelling the 5 hours east. i also don’t really love sleeping somewhere that is not a real bed the night before a race. in the future, i will spring for a hotel room.

Slainte End of Summer Downhill 10k (August 29) Hamilton, ON

all of jon’s office mates decided to sign up to do this 10k race together. unfortunately jon had a bike race the following day, so instead, i ran the race so we could still hang out with everyone before and after. it was a pretty fun race. i generally do not enjoy the 10k distance, and therefore have only even ran in one other official 10k race. the course was great- not exactly downhill as promised, since at the last minute, they lost permission to use the route originally planned, but still fairly flat and quite scenic. who knew hamilton was pretty! we ran on trails around the harbour. time: 56:37. i had no goals for this race. the last 10k i did was in 2004. it was my first ever running race and i was extremely ill prepared for it. i think my time was like 1:20 or something, so this blew that right out of the water. it was kind of exhilarating running that fast for an hour. my half marathons don’t give me that same feeling. the rest of the race was fun. we got souvenir beer glasses (that i now drink green monsters out of!) and free beer and food at the pub after, where a U2 tribute band played. i’d do it again. it’s these kinds of mini-events that i need to stay motivated through the summer, i think, since serious races are split into early spring and early fall, and nothing too long in between.

Scotiabank Waterfront Half Marathon (September 27) Toronto, ON

I have done this race many years in a row. Last year I did the full marathon version. It is flat and fast, and because it is such a big race, it attracts some super fast elites and has a really great entertainment/cheering scene along the way. My goal for this race was to not feel like crap at the end. I was supposed to stick to my nutrition and hydration strategy (lots of sips of Heed and a sharkie or two every mile). The weather was kind of drizzly and grey, which wasn’t super motivating for me, but actually was quite pleasant to run in. A huge improvement on the heat I experienced in Ottawa. Time: 2:16. I will probably do this race again next year. It is scheduled at a pretty good time of the year. It is pretty convenient to get to and I like the course (which goes right along the shore of Lake Ontario)

and finally,

The Goodlife Toronto Half Marathon (October 18) Toronto, ON

I decided to do this race pretty late in the season. I was originally planning to end later in November with a very small half marathon at a local golf club. I decided that this race would be a little more exciting. unlike most of my other races, this was a point to point race. we started in uptown toronto and ended downtown, at queen’s park, where the ontario provincial legislature sits. this posed some logistical challenges (where to park the car? how to get back?), but in the end, it worked out great. the start was only 20 minutes away from my house, and we found free parking! i took the subway back to our car and jon rode his bike back up. the course was alright- not super exciting, but not too boring either. some parts of toronto are a little smelly, which is never good when you are pushing yourself this hard. i had studied the maps pretty thoroughly the day before, so i was quite prepared. this was my first race using my new garmin 305, which i absolutely adore. Time: 2:13. I was a little disappointed that I was unable to push myself for the 2:10 but still happy with my performance. I was most pleased, however, with how good i felt at the end. I stuck to my drinking water and eating sharkies every 15 minutes (auto alert is soo useful!). we walked a few blocks to a poutine restaurant where i rewarded myself with smoked bacon poutine. yum! i would consider doing this race again.

Looking ahead

Next year I plan to try and incorporate more new things while working to improve my targets from this year. I’ve already got the March 30km race lined up. I will likely do St George to Ancaster again. I’ll probably fit a couple half marathons in. I also hope to maybe finally get to do a sprint or olympic triathlon and maybe a beginner cyclocross race. I hope to finally break the 2:10 barrier for my half marathon. My other goals are to finish strong and have fun. My base training throughout the winter will likely include lots of time on my bike (attached to my trainer). I plan to get out and do at least one or two runs outside each week, weather conditions permitting. There will be lots of yoga and strength training work for flexibility and solid muscles. I haven’t put together a formal plan yet, but I’ll be working on that with jon’s help over the next few weeks. We’ll see how it goes!

What’s your plan for staying fit this winter?

cyclocross!

on saturday, we went to go watch our friend jeff in a cyclocross race at a local conservation area. i’ve been wanting to go see a race for ages, but we just haven’t had the time. when jeff told us about a race in the city (at one of our favorite hiking locales) on halloween, i knew it would be fun times.cyclocross is kind of a crazy sport. the bikes are road-like, but much more rugged. they run knobby tires because the majority of the course is grass or dirt (with only the occassional bit of paved area). the courses have run ups and barriers, where you have to dismount, throw your bike over your shoulder, and keep moving. races in ontario run from september to beginning of december, with 1-2 races per weekend (insane! i can’t imagine racing that much). cyclocross was originally designed to extend the roadie season into the fall in europe. it’s quite big in belgium. the ontario cross scene is still small, but it seems to be gaining in popularity.
when i was shopping around for my commuter bike last spring, i was looking at road bikes and hybrids. jon pointed out that a cyclocross bike was exactly what i was looking for. i wanted the sleekness of a road bike, with the drop bars for going fast down hills, but something a little more heavy duty. the average hybrid is just a mountain bike with 26″ wheels that are slightly slick- wouldn’t be useful for doing much offroading or racing (in tris or distance cyclocross races like paris to ancaster). after a few test rides, i found that indeed, the cyclocross was light enough to be fast (i mean, you have to be able to pick it up and run with it) but still durable enough to deal with the runaround of potholes and poorly paved toronto streets, so that’s what i bought. i never actually had any intention of doing any *real* cyclocross racing – races are about 1 hour long, on a course of a few kilometres. you do as many laps as you can. the winner is the first person to come in at the end- i see it as similar to a 10k run effort. now that i’ve been to an actual race, i might just be reconsidering! it’s much less dangerous than i thought – especially on slower courses like this one. the field is more spread out and there isn’t the same potential for crashing as in road racing. granted the race we went to, on halloween, costumes encouraged and prizes for winners in the form of beer and cash, was a little more laid back than most, it seems like a fairly casual, not crazy competitive sport. i think i like it. there is a lot of getting dirty though. you can see one of many mud puddles in the below pictures. i took a bunch of video of the riders splashing through which i will eventually find time to edit. maybe next year i’ll find a fun beginner race to do, since i already have the gear!

the course was very tight. there were tons of really sharp turns, but other than that, it did not seem like a super technical race (which is what keeps me away from mountain biking). the costumes were great and it was nice to see people getting into the spirit of halloween. jon and i squeezed in a quick hike up part of the niagara escarpment before the start.