Quiet Night

Pretty quiet one here this evening. It is just me and Murphy holding down the fort. Marc has gone out to get his hamstring checked out by his sister. (Little known fact - Marc's sister is a physiotherapist. Very handy at times like this.) Yep, yet another side effect of Marc's crash on Tuesday night is a very tender hamstring. We think the his saddle must jammed into his hamstring when he crashed... Crashing is not fun or cool. Sometimes I hear people (who have never crashed) comment on wishing they could have road rash because it is "so cool". Uh uh. Not cool. It hurts. It feels as bad as it looks. So don't wish for it.

Racing action yesterday in Ottawa. It was pretty darn sweet. In fact the whole day was pretty darn good. Had a relaxing start to the day with some chilling out, surfing, television watching and just generally taking it easy. So nice to not have to travel to a race. Made it downtown for the 35th running of the Preston St. crit. Lets just say it was packed down there. It seemed everyone from the Ottawa race community was out plus all the people out to enjoy Italian Festival. It made for an awesome race atmosphere. The racing was pretty darn good as well. Unfortunately our race was done primarily in the rain... This made for some slippery roads and resulted in a rather big crash early on in the race. A good friend of ours and a very popular guy in the racing community went down hard. So send your thoughts out to Craig B. today. Get well soon Craig - we're all thinking of you. To keep things short, I finished third. I'm content with this. I did not have my best day technically on the bike as I was rather tense with the rain. For a complete run-down on the day and a race report, go visit Ottawa Cross.

After my race and sometime spent doing the "bike racer shower" at the car... (The "bike racer shower" involves a bottle of water, a towel and rather vigorous scrubbing. All the while trying to be a bit discreet while standing naked in a parking lot... ) I found Marc and we watched the elite men's race. What a race. The Ride with Rendall team once again dominated and really showed what team work is all about. Nice job guys! Very impressive. I had a great time cheering on the guys and chatting with all the friendly faces as we walked the course. Great way to unwind after the racing. We fnished off the afternoon and evening with a great RWR barbecue. Lots of time to sit around, eat, tell stories and simply relax.

I must admit, this morning did come awfully quickly. I would have liked to have stayed in bed all morning. But for a Monday it has been pretty fine. Nothing spectacular happened. Had a great tlk with my coach and we're putting some plans together for the fall. Sweet times ahead. Decided to beat the heat and did my recovery ride on my 'cross bike. Wise decision as I think I was still suffering some dehydration from racing in Sunday's heat. (I didn't take a drink from my bottle once during the race. It just didn't ever seem like the right time...) Hit up the trails by my place and had a fun time zipping around on the singletrack, sand and pine needles. Funny, I ride at this park pretty much once a week and I always find a new trail or a new route to my favorite sections. I also seem to always be able to scare myself. Lucky to have such solid training grounds close to the house.

Next up on the bike racing calendar is Road Nationals. We are off to Beauce, Quebec this week and I'll be racing on Saturday. Looking foward to doing a long road race and testing out the legs on a few climbs. Sunday will be a fun day - I'll get up early for a long ride and then get myself over to the race course to help out in the feed zone. I'll be passing up water bottles to the Ride with Rendall guys and cheering them on. Should be fun to hang out in the feed zone and catch up with more people I don't get to see very often.

So short week at work this week. But on the flipside, there is lots to be done here before leaving. Food to prepare. Food to buy. Bags to pack. Laundry to do. The big question is: how many books should I bring with me? I just started reading: A Short History of Tractors in the Ukraine. This is not the type of book I would normally choose but my co-worker and a number of other people have suggested it. I'm only about ten pages in, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the novel.

Got to say, one thing I'm really enjoying are our new chairs! Yep, new chairs. We have six chairs in our backyard now. Thanks to our neighbours, Ross and Lori, we inherited their old backyard set. I love these chairs. So much more comfortable than sitting on the back step. Murphy likes them as well. I can only imagine how much Minou would have enjoyed reclining in the sun in these chairs.

Okay, I best be off. In theory I should chip away at my list of "to dos"... But I still have Tuesday and Wednesday...

Comments

[Ross Brown]

Congratulations on your Sunday finish, Vicki, and good luck in Beauce.

I'm glad you're putting those chairs to good use!

[Mike Ewart]

Well done on Sunday and get well soon Marc, tractors in the Ukraine is an excellent book, do persevere. Hope you havent got rid of the chairs on the front porch I really like them

[Mel]

Congrats on your race results! I hope Marc is healed up soon.

[vicki]

Thanks for the comments. Marc is getting better everyday. We still have the adirondack chairs on the front step - they are ready and waiting for you Mike!

[Dad]

Better late than never. Well done, kiddo; maintain, maintain, maintain.