not wanted on the voyage

I will spare you the gory details.  The mystery of my GI illness is solved.  I had a parasite.  I can confidently state the last sentence in the past tense.  Like I said, I'll spare you the details.

Slowly, my body is recovering.  I stopped training what seems like forever ago.  That was hard.  Especially as I didn't know what was wrong and the MD kept blowing me off.  I'm still waiting to get in to see a specialist!  Little did I know that when my MD told me he would refer me to an Internist, what he actually meant was: 'let's just wait a little longer and see how sick you actually get'.  You have to develop a loud voice when you're sick.  I am thankful for Naturopaths.

I am also beginning to be thankful for my time off the bike.  Especially now that, that time is not being spent between the couch and the bathroom.

So what have I been up to?...
I taught summer school to students who failed Grade 10 Math.  I am not a Math teacher, but am pretty proud that 12 of the 20 students who started the class passed.  I did not make it easy for them.  I made them work for it.  I made them learn every piece of the curriculum and they had to pass everything.  Definitely rewarding to see them so proud of themselves on the last day, knowing that there were no 'grant' passes.  For some of them, it was the first time they had worked for anything.

I've also had some fun...
My brothers came to visit from England.  I took them to battle the crowds and the heat at Canada's Wonderland.

The next day, we ventured to Hardwood for some riding and then for a raft adventure in Kempenfelt Bay.  Happy to say they had more fun on day 2.  

Then, it was time for some holiday.  Jeremy and I went up to Muskoka with bikes and swimsuits.

Stayed at this great place: http://www.treveneth.com/

In lieu of paying for your room, you are asked to donate the equivalent funds to the Northern Cancer Research Foundation.  

A Saturday morning wander through Barrie's Downtown brought me here.

331 people drumming in unison broke the Guiness Book of World Records!

Thanks Damien for sharing your knowledge and drum so that I could be part of this event!

Today, I am not racing Kelso.  And I sit out without the same sense of loss I felt at Hardwood or Buckwallow.  I'll be back out there soon.  But, in the meantime:

"Complaints about reality are immature."
— Timothy Findley (Not Wanted on the Voyage)