Kokanee Sponsors River Valley Cycle XC Race Team

Last night River Valley Cycle hosted its HUGE customer appreciation night, and announced Kokanee as the new sponsor of the RVC XC mountain bike team. It was a very cool night. The store was decked out with wall-to-wall deals on TLD gear and rides, from Santa Cruz, Kona to Rocky Mountain. For a long while there, the place was so packed you had a hard time getting around  to check everything out. Not to worry though, the RVC staff served up a choice open buffet and there was lots of Kokanee to go around!

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TransRockies – Alberta Bound

Just prior to the New Year I learned that the TransRockies was headed home.

In partnership with Travel Alberta the 2010 TransRockies now begins where it once finished. Riders will start in Fernie and ribbon through what is promised to be “the most spectacular scenery in North America” to a finish line in Canmore. For those us of living in Alberta and familiar with riding in the Banff/Bragg Creek area, many of the trails coming in the finish line will certainly feel like home.

I have to say, I’m stoked to hear about this seasons’ route changes. Though not on my schedule this season, I think the changes are due. Comparing last years TransRockies to many of the newer races (i.e. BC Bike Race, Intermontagne, etc.) the TR was a very different beast. You had to earn every checkpoint, there were no free rides from trailhead to trailhead – often resulting in a grind through many kilometres of somewhat dull logging roads. On the flip side, it sure made you appreciate the bombing descents and singletrack when it rolled out before you.

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Lance Armstrong – Comeback 2.0

As one of my b-day gifts this year, my wife gave me Lance’s newest book, ‘Comeback 2.0 Up Close and Personal‘. Instead of another traditional text heavy autobiography format, Lance opted to allow professional sports photographer, Elizabeth Kreutz, VIP access to his life as he mounted his ‘09 tour comeback.

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Behind the Scenes of Life Cycles

A nice look at the two minds behind the upcoming film “Life Cycles.” If the way they strung this preview together is any indication of the quality and style of the actual film, I’m stoked for this one. They’re just hitting post production now, but after perusing the shots and teasers off the site I think this is going to be the type of film I really dig.

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Achilles heel

I usually don’t have sweets in the house – generally speaking I don’t really crave them, but there are some things, when placed in front of me, that have a tendency to disappear in fairly short order. The first are potato chips. Crisp, salty goodness… Should a bag open, it will not be closed until only crumbs remain (which usually doesn’t take long). The second are Guylian chocolates… Aromatic roasted hazelnut praline filling enrobed in silky Belgian milk chocolate… I will literally continue to eat these until I feel like I’m going to vomit. I cannot stop. It’s different for everybody though… Should you find yourself out to dinner with Sheldon and find crème brûlée gracing the menu you’re in for a treat. They might as well serve it with a straw ;-)

More recently Sheldon went to town at McDonalds – A very infrequent binge both he and I used to enjoy when I was living in Edmonton. Since he was going for a record, he posted his attempt: 2 cheeseburgers, 1 medium fries, 6 McNuggets, 1 McChicken, 1 Parm Chicken Wrap and a Coke. Impressive to say the least. So I decided to do the math:
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Lance Armstrong in Edmonton

7:15am. My alarmclock radio goes off, and as I come to, what do I hear? Lance Armstrong is coming to Edmonton! For two days, Aug 25-26, he’ll be in our fair Capital City to raise awareness and funds in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

It’s not every morning you wake up to the news that one of your HEROES is coming to town!

Ode to a car

As some of you are aware, and many of you are not, I have been without a car for upwards of 7 months. That’s not to say my ‘household’ has been without a car, but we’ve gone from a two car household to a one car household. This was not a conscious choice, and we’re still anxiously awaiting the repair of said car.

When this vehicular challange began in June of last year, I wasn’t too fussed – I ride to work most days anyway, Calgary sees little precipitation in the summer and I thought it would be good for me. As the days grew shorter, the light waned and the mercury dropped, I became a little apprehensive, but not alarmed. I had braved a Canadian winter before and would do it again – Though admittedly with the safety net of a car whenever I deemed it necessary – I would have no such luxuries this winter.

Looking back on the last 6 months, there are three main things that strike me:

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iPhone Cycling Apps

Every now and then, Ken will say something that makes sense. It’s not that often though, so I wanted to be sure that I marked this very ‘rare’ occasion.

Several months back, Ken wrote an article on bike gadgetry. Like many trendy, designer-types, when it comes to all things design, Ken is a fan of what I’d call, ‘intelligent or elegant simplicity’ – esthetics come second only to function. So, in an ongoing effort to keep his bike cockpit clear of cables, cords and compu-clutter, he posited on the application of the iPhone as a cycle computer. At the time, it was easy enough to see the possibilities, but the idea of attaching your precious iPhone to your headset as you hurl down some single-track didn’t seem very practical. Even a road ride would pose some risk – pavement isn’t known for its forgiveness. All that said, this hasn’t deterred a number of cycling apps from being designed.

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Race Across the Sky

I couldn’t be more excited for a movie I already know the ending of! This Wednesday, there are a bunch of us taking in a one-night only screening. Got my tix already!

Fat vs. Carbs – The Fuel Battle

So, this week I met with my new coach, a Mr. Mike Sarnecki. He’s going to see me through the following months, as I get ready for my second race season. Though I haven’t seen my new training schedule yet, I’m guessing my volumes are about to increase here right away. I have some big goals this year though so I’m ready to put in some solid time. In prep for this, I’m going to need to be a bit more diligent about my diet – specifically, my caloric intake. I’m happy to report, I’ve dumped all the weight I gained over the Christmas Holidays (some 9 lbs) and I’m back to a reasonable fighting weight. This is good news but, I’ll need to be sure I’m fueling my body properly moving forward, or risk dropping more weight, which I don’t want to do. More than that though, this year I want to make sure I’m fueling my body with the ‘right’ stuff, so as part of that, I started to dig into the Fat vs. Carbs debate.

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