Provincials

As a kid growing up with a rather strict British dad, there were several rules to be followed.  Eat with your fork in your left hand and your knife in your right, always say Thank You, speak just loud enough so that those around you can hear, but you don't disturb other conversations.  The list goes on, but those are the good ones that I remember and that I still follow to this day.  There is one rule, however that has become a part of my adult life that I broke yesterday: you never enter a competition you haven't prepared for.

I'll never forget my dad pulling me from a skating competition.  I was 10 years old and I had starting slacking at practices.  The night before a meet my dad told me I wasn't competing.  "Start practicing more and I'll let you enter the next one", he told me in his to the point, no nonsense, don't argue with me fashion.  It was a good lesson.  One that made me a better competitor and made me not just try my best on game day, but in practices too.

Yesterday I raced provincials.  I was nowhere close to ready.  Rides since I've felt better have been completely unstructured and I knew I was slow.  But, I needed to get back out there.  I needed to feel what it was like to feel like a hero for 30 minutes and like death for an hour.  I needed the feeling of digging deeper for any amount of energy you have left to finish the race.  So, I broke the rule that has governed my competitive life since childhood, I swallowed my pride knowing that I would not be a contender.  I lost the race in a spectacular fashion.  But, it felt so good to be back.

Big thanks to all the spectators cheering for me, even though the next girl was 10 minutes ahead of me.  I even had some cheers from my fellow racers while out on the course.  You guys rock!  Thanks for welcoming me back in such a warm fashion.  Standing in the start pen with you felt like coming home.  And lastly, an enormous Thank You to Caleb for the perfect feed.

I have two racing friends that were also out this year.  I hope you are better soon and back out there.  We miss you!

slower than in races past on the uphills

at least going down is just as fast :)

Good things do come in small packages

It is September and my race season has really just begun.  Finally healthy, I am super excited to race my bike.  In my illness I lost 12 pounds and I joke that 6 pounds came from my left leg and the other 6 came from my right.  But, in all seriousness - I think at least a couple of pounds came off my calves, glutes and biceps :)

So, eager to race and test my new parasite-free fitness I have done a few Wednesday night races at Hardwood. The series came to a close all too soon last week, so Jeremy and I decided to venture down to the King trails for their weekly series.

The race has a real small town feel.  After chatting with Matt P and Sean, who create a unique course each week through fast and fun flowy single track with at least one hill to remind you that you need to ride hills more often, we were soon swept up by one of the regular racers who took us on a tour of the trail.

The race went off at 6:45pm and I got lined up next to a decent sized field of women.  They ranged in experience from beginner to fast and I soon realized I would have to work to have a decent race.  After two laps of the course, I crossed the line in 4th.  In true small town fashion, Jeremy and I were embraced by our new comrades and spent a good 45 minutes after the race chatting.

We'll be back there for the last race of their season next week.  Promises of a post-ride trip to the pub, draw prizes, fun trails and great folks... looking forward to it!  You should come too.  Directions and info at: www.kingweeklyseries.com

Trek Women at Buckwallow

The Trek Women had our last ride at Buckwallow.  We had a small, but incredibly keen group in attendance.  Highlight of the day was when I went down a section of trail and told the ladies if they wanted a challenge to follow me, otherwise stay to the right.  I looked back and not only did everyone follow, but everyone cleared the section.  Personal highlight was clearing all of Bear Bluff for the first time.  Good to ride with some strong females, as sometimes my ego is all that's needed to step up my game and not wuss out on the rocks : )

Thanks Eden for the pics...

all smiles as the rain begins just as we finish our ride

being the only novice, Kim scored a private lesson with Erica

Sessioning some rocks

For sale: uber light race wheels - SOLD!

I am selling a set of 26" wheels.  We (Jeremy) built them last year and I have only ridden them a few times.  $675.  Regular retail over $1100
contact: tammyjrobinson at hotmail.com

SRAM XO cassette

Stans rims

WTB Laser Disc Lite hubs

For sale: hardtail -- SOLD!

I am selling my beloved hard tail... 15.5" Gary Fisher Frame.  $850
Contact: tammyjrobinson at hotmail.com

 it might be a little girly for the boys who aren't man enough for all the pink and white... but the pink bottle cage and cable housing are easily swapped out for other colours.

 Avid Elixr Carbon brakes and SRAM XO shifters

SRAM XO rear derailleur

Bontrager Race Lite Wheels

XTR cranks (sorry, the R has been smudged off due to my terrible pedal stroke)

Chain rings... XTR for middle and big; BlackSpire for grannie

XT front derailleur

Chris King headset

Manitou R7 Fork

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)

mom

"It looks like we found the problem.  Your tonsils are the size of golf balls."

They feel more like tennis balls.  I hadn't eaten anything more than soup in days and even that was hard to swallow.  I started feeling sick with a sore throat on Monday.  By Wednesday things started getting worse and as I got home from work, the shivering started.  My temperature was starting to rise and by that evening my fever was 102.5F!  I've never felt so sick - or at least, don't remember ever feeling so sick.  As the fever rose and my throat became more sore, I grabbed my cell phone and called Jeremy who was on the couch downstairs.  I couldn't imagine getting out of bed.

He came upstairs begrudgingly.  "When have you ever known me to not take care of myself when I'm sick?", I asked him.  "Help me".  He didn't know what to do.  I don't know what I expected.  My mom would have known, but I'd have to settle for my husband.

 "What do you want me to do?" he asks.
"Make me feel better", I replied.

Eventually this conversation turned into him going to Hardwood to race the Wednesday Night Championships.  I wasn't going to die, we decided, but my climbing fever was making me feel worse and worse.

Fast forward to Saturday, I finally called my mom to tell her I had Strep Throat.  She asked if I'd been eating and I said 'not much'.  She got right in her car and came down, despite my pleas for her not to.  The house is a disaster and I'm pretty sure there were things growing in the kitchen sink, it had been so long since I'd felt well enough to clean.

That's the great thing about moms.  She didn't care and when she arrived she set about making me feel better.  Four hours later, in a now clean kitchen, she'd made my favorite German dish... roladen - a yummy stew with thin slices of beef wrapped around pickles.  It was somehow perfect to make me feel better.

I don't know what her secret is, but my mom always knows what will make me feel better when I'm sick - all of it is psychological for sure as the only cure for me right now is the bottle of Amoxicillin on my kitchen counter.  Not to knock my husband's efforts, but he just isn't mom.