Another training night for Intermontane Challenge – Tonight was the perfect night we arrived at the trail about 7:30pm and did a few trail running photo shots for Ann Corbett from Defeet so we ran up and down Elbow Valley hill into Canyon Creek Trail. As Phil was running up the last time some mountain bikers were coming down so he jumped out of the way as it were we knew the riders so we took some great pics of them as well.
Now on to our mountain bike hill repeats of the gravel road upto ‘You Shoulda’ then a sweet fast ride down. We started riding at about 8pm the sun perfectly in our eyes for the first hill repeats as we climbed up the hill which is pretty steep our sunglasses were fogging up with the heat and working pretty hard putting on a good pace to the top trying to get in 2 hill repeats before dark. Finally at the top ready for the fun part Phil attaches the Go Hero camera to his handle bars and I go first down the trail as he follows I try to keep my glasses clear on the way down so I didn’t have to stop and so I don’t crash. What a rush we make it to the bottom pretty fast with a burn in the legs and arms we come to the end of the down so it’s time to go back up again.
One more hill repeat this time we come across a deer and take a quick stop to say hi and then back on our pound up the hill also a fast ride trying to beat the sun going down. Reaching the top is always the best part until you go down and down once again a great trail and a great rush just watch those tight corners.
We finished the ride at 9:10 so a great night for a ride and for hill repeats – just as we got home the lightning and thunder started and the rain and hail was pretty crazy.
We went to Gabriola Island for a family reunion and we were able to sneek away for a quick paddle on the ocean. We rented some kayaks from one of the local kayak outfitters and 11 of us took off for some fun in the sun and some peace and tranquility on the ocean. We all started out from the small local marina and headed out into the wild blue yonder looking for seals and adventure.
It was beautiful out on the ocean with the small waves slapping against the boats. We made quick time out to the first rocky out corp that was supposed to have seals on it. Bob, Roberta and JJ got there first and got some great views of the seals on the rocks. By the time the rest of us arrived the seals had moved from the rocks into the waters around us.
We decided to move on to the next set of rocks that the seals were supposed to frequent. This set of rocks was quite a bit further out and you could tell by the seals. As we began to get close these seals instantly left their sunny warm rocks. We played around in the water here with the seals for awhile and then decided it was time to start heading back in towards the marina.
We all decided to take a new route back so that we could do some more exploring. As we came around the south end of the island we saw about 10 seals all basking on the rocks. These seals were much more accustomed to people and kayaks so they did not even leave the rocks, they just looked over at me and seemed to smile for the camera. I got nice and close to get some good shots but still remained conscious of their personal space.
After visiting with the seals the rest of our group headed back to the marina. Grace and I decided to do a little bit more exploring before calling it a day. We found some nice coves and bays to explore. I saw a sea otter scratching on the rocks. He quickly ran off into the ocean as soon as he saw me.
Once again Chuck from Intermontane was nice enough to take us out for another ride on another section of the Intermontane Challenge course. We went out early Tuesday morning, we met at Chucks place and carpooled over to the trail head. Once again another smoking hot day in Kamloops. We started off with about 10 – 15 minutes of road riding from the parking lot over to the trailhead.
Once we started up the trail there was no rest from the relentless climb to the top. We climbed for about an hour on a completely exposed doubletrack road. I think Chuck was trying to wear us down by putting us in the heat. It worked, we could barely keep up and could not keep the sweat out of our eyes. We finally reached the singletrack trail, we thought that we must be close to the top at this point. Not a chance we climbed for another hour in the heat on a singletrack trail to the very top of the mountain. The views of Kamloops and the surrounding areas was amazing. We attempted to climb the wall but only I was able to make the climb, but Grace and Chuck put in a tremedous effort.
We stopped and took lots of photos, I used photography as an excuse to not continue riding and so I could get a rest. We started our descent down a fun piece of singletrack with some steeper sections Grace whimped out and walked a few as she’s not quite used to this kind of riding yet. The rest of the singletrack was among small brush and rocks where Chuck took photos of Grace and I going down the rock garden. At the bottom of the rock garden the trail turned into double track which was fast, fun and very dusty. There was more singletrack awaiting which was a fun swooping trail.
Back to the road to end our ride with a few minutes of road we were back at the truck. A great day and a great ride guided by Chuck from www.Intermontanechallenge.com. This race is going to be hot that’s why they call it the challenge it’s not just the riding. It’s Everything.
We arrived in Kamloops Friday night and got a hold of Chuck from www.intermontanechallenge.com and made arrangements to ride the 5th stage of the race with him early Saturday morning. We meet at the TRU where the race is being staged out of. Chuck had brought us jerseys for the race and some samples of the food, FUBAR, who his sponsoring the race. The FUBAR drink and bars are really good, I will have to try and make them myself. Recipe to follow.
Chuck did a great job of explaining us his vision for how the race is going to go down and how big of a role the TRU is playing. We are now definatley going to stay there as it just makes the most sense since the race is going to being and finish right out front of the accomodation. We took off from the start / finish line and headed up to Kenna Cartright Park and started climbing right off the bat. We climbed almost all the way upto the tower on double track. Grace and I were a little concerned that this was what the whole day was going to be like. The sun was beating down on us and we were definately realizing that heat is going to be an issue for us in this race.
We finished climbing and finally got into some single track. Super fun trails that were not super technical but definatley did not feel like we were riding in a city anymore, this was full on mountain biking and this is in the backyard for people living in Kamloops, what a perfect life. We kept going round and round on what seemed like an endless amount of awesome loops rolling singletrack carved into the desert like terrain. We finally got to the last loop and Chuck asked me if I wanted to lead as the final loop out was easy to navigate and even I wouldn’t get lost! I started whipping down this undgulating piece of singletrack, loving every minute of it. I finally ended up back on the trail we began on 2 hours later and missing lots of sweat. It was a perfect ride.
Chuck asked us if we wanted to go for a Coffee, or a beer on a patio, or beer on his boat and a float down the river. With out even a thought we took the boat and beer option.
We picked up some beer and went to the boat with Chuck and Wendy and went for a float for about 4 hours down the river in there boat. 30 -35 degrees, 2 hour bike ride, 4 hour float, a couple of beer each. The absolute best way to begin a holiday.
Great workout tonight with lots of lunges and box jumps this will definately help us this summer on the trails. With the snow falling yesterday and the temperture dropped we opted to go inside for some cross training.
Workout
6x( 10 min warmup, 10 box jumps, 6 lunges with front leg on bosu ball, 6 lunges with back foot on bosu ball, sideways walking with theraband around ankles at least 100 meters)
Finish the night with some great food like strawberries and tomatoes and a glass of water.
We just returned from a beautiful trailrun in bowmont park. We went for just over an hour, it was great to see so many people out enjoying the sunny warm weather regardless of what they were doing. The trails were completely clear and almost completely dry. There were a couple of spots where there was some mud holes but 90% of it was dusty dry. If this weather holds we will have to get the bikes out and hit the dirt in bowmont properly! Have fun and keep training for summer it will be here soon enough.
We decided to do a road ride with some friends since all of us had Friday off from work because of Good Friday. We met out in Bragg Creek at the community centre, since the strip mall out there has put up signs saying unauthorized vehicles will be tagged and towed. Our friends Brit and Brad brought there friend Curtis with them. The three of them had there road bikes and Grace and I had our Gary Fisher HiFi mountain bikes. We knew this was going to be a tough slog to keep up with them. We did not realize how hard until the first hill out of Bragg Creek. Brad took off up the hill. I stayed with him but quickly realized keeping up with him was not going to be an option, we were going to have to hammer as fast as possible just to keep him in sight.
The weather was beautiful about 15 degrees and the sky had scattered white puffy clouds. There was still lots of snow on the sides of the road but the roads were very dry. The road was not overly busy with traffic which allowed us to ride often 2 by 2. We made it to the gate at the end of the road in 1 hour which was about 10 minutes faster than Grace and I normally would on our knobby tires. We all had one of my energy balls, check out the recipe here. Once we had finished our snack and felt rested we started the trip back to the cars.[kaltura-widget wid="9c9atkc0ws" size="large" align="l" /]
The awesome thing about riding from Bragg Creek to the gate is the majority of the way back is downhill and usually the wind is behind you on the way home. We pounded hard back to the cars, Brad dumped the rest of us after the first major uphill and we did not see him again until we finished. I think he was just so happy to be outside that he forgot about the rest of us. At one point Curtis and I tried to catch him but it was not going to happen. I gave up at Allen Bill pond and waited a couple of minutes for Grace and Brit to catch up. Curtis kept going with the chase. Brit, Grace and I all took turns leading and pulled each other all the way back to the cars. It was a perfect way to spend one of the first sunny afternoons. A good ride with some good friends!!!!
This morning we started out at 6am again with a gym workout. We have moved to some different workouts now instead of strength. This workout included Box jumps, Front and rear lunges with one foot on the bosi ball, and sidewalking with a theraband around our ankles.
This evening after work we went for a road ride in Bragg Creek. We used our mountain bikes and started from the Bragg Creek Mall parking lot and rode 15km to the Moose Mountain road. We then turned around and rode back. It was a beautiful evening and the sun was out the whole time. It was warm enough for shorts and t-shirts except for where it was shaded and the cold was reflecting off the snow on the sides of the road.
It was very exciting and uplifting to our spirits to finally be outside riding the bikes again. It was nice to see that all of the hard work in the basement training all winter is paying off as we get outside.
Once again another great day of training, we started out at 6am with a gym workout. This is our last week for strength training before we go into endurance and core. Over the last 5 weeks we have seen good increase in strength and now it is time to strip down the muscle but keep the strength.
After work we went for our local 5km run around our neighbourhood in South West Calgary with our dog Buddy. We then came home and got straight on the bikes in the basement (hopefully for the last time this winter) and pounded out an hour on the bikes watching the Transporter.
Today’s workout ended up being a Triple Threat. We started out with our Gym workout at 6 am this morning. See below for details.
Strength A – All weights are in Lbs.
Exercise
# of Sets
# of Reps
Phil’s Weight
Grace’s Weight
Leg Press
3
10,8,6
300,360,440
180,200,210
Incline Bench Press
3
10,8,6
50,100,110
50,55,60
Single Leg Squats
3
10,8,6
15,15,15
0,5,5
Side Squats
3
10,8,6
15,20,25
5,7.5,10
Seated Row
3
10,8,6
90,105,120
70,75,75
Standing Hamstring Curl
3
10,8,6
50,60,70
10,15,20
This evening after work we went for a quick road run with Buddy. 30 minutes on our favorite route straight out of our house. We came home and got directly onto the bikes in the basement. We did an hour ride in the basement watching the movie Saw II.
That was the end of our exercise for the day now repair and prepare for tomorrow. We had a pineapple shake for dinner and then went in our Infrared Sauna.
Another training night for Intermontane Challenge – Tonight was the perfect night we arrived at the trail about 7:30pm and did a few trail running photo shots for Ann Corbett from Defeet so we ran up and down Elbow Valley hill into Canyon Creek Trail. As Phil was running up the last time some mountain bikers were coming down so he jumped out of the way as it were we knew the riders so we took some great pics of them as well.
