BCBR Recap Episode 8: Day Six, Squamish + Mr. G's Wild Ride!

After a little delay I'm happy to be back to project "write all of BCBR down" with a recap from Stage Six in Squamish. As is the case with this event, every day was my new favorite day. Could not be more true in Squamish. One day, I want to live in Squamish and ride my face off until the end of my days.

The heat was of course still with us, and thankfully, we started out at a nice morning hour so it stayed manageable for the first couple of hours. We lined up at the community center for the penultimate race of this adventure, and it felt like the nerves were all time for me. I wanted to finish safely, but I wasn't quite ready to be "almost done." I also felt the other ladies nipping at my heels a little bit -- the competition was top notch and no one was giving up anything. Hence, I wanted to have a solid race on our last real shot at GC gains (and at the very least, prevent any losses). 

I have raced in Squamish before, years ago, for the Test of Metal so I had some idea of what was waiting for us out there. I also remembered how awesome it was to climb through town and have so many locals out cheering us on! Even ran into Sarah, who I used to work with back in the Premier's Office!  

Squamish is also awesome because the trails don't wait for you to get out of town limits -- they are right there, in between houses and neighbourhoods. So we moved from road to single track and back again before finally settling into a day in the woods. 

The first descent of consequence was SO fun. Rock drops, big bermy switchbacks, roots, skinnies ... everything you could ever want, challenging enough to scare you, but still just inside the limits of my capabilities, which means you get that awesome pay off: big sense of accomplishment, translating to a confidence boost. Got kind of drunk with it. 

My usual suspects were buzzing around but I maintained my usual strategy of consistent and steady, with no mercy on the climbs. I knew I was holding fifth and hadn't seen the other ladies much after the first technical section. For this big day I added another couple turns of the screw so that I was often riding a little above what I knew I could push, relying on opportunities for recovery to help me balance it out.

Stand out sections were Half Nelson -- which they should have some kind of warning about. I'm picturing a sign that says "Maximum Fun Ahead" or something -- just so you're not taken by surprise at video game turns, berms, drops and tables. Rollercoaster smoothness, with tons of Gs and I was quickly losing my MIND. I could barely concentrate because I was frothing so hard. More locals were up there cheering us on and trying to impress some kids I accidentally nose-wheelied a landing off a table which was exciting for all involved. So happy to ride it out and hopefully they thought I did it on purpose! 

Half Nelson kept bringing the thrills right into the day's feature trail, Pseudotsuga. Which was basically MORE thrills like Half Nelson's buff single track but with more big berms and a little bit of chunder thrown in.

Interviewed this spaceman, Tippie, and found him to be "out of this world"

Squamish was also the biggest day for climbing so adding in its nearly 1,500m was making my efforts costly. I realized I'd overdone it shortly into Powerhouse Plunge and its follow-up single track through the highlands. All of a sudden I felt like my gas pedal had gone dead. Whoops. 

It seemed to be something I could mitigate with just a little more mental focus so I tried to stay centred and remind myself what I was doing constantly. Therefore, the final few km of the stage were some of my hardest. I was thrilled when we popped out back on the pavement, a sure sign the finish was coming quick. Thrilled at least until a pack of 5 in my category mobbed me, and hit the gas through town. I was thusly motivated. The last stretch ended up being an exciting battle through town and connector rec trails as I worked to haul back all but three of the ladies that jumped me. It didn't matter that much, my fifth place in the GC was well-protected. But every day is a race, and I wanted to post a good result as the week wound down. I had to settle for 8th.

With my race over, it was time to recover for the final day in Whistler. But on Day 6, I also got to play support crew! Gerhard joined the industry and sponsor guests of the race to get a taste of Squamish riding and the BCBR experience. His wave left after all of the racer waves, and he'd been out riding all of the same terrain -- all 55km of it. Rocky Mountain had a sweet Altitude 799 MSL Rally for him to use, Lululemon kitted him out, he borrowed a few things from my stash, and he was off to the races. Literally.

Gerhard has a nappetizer before sushi

I'd love to read his race report on his day but I'll share what he told me at least. Sounded like he started out pretty great with a solid 20km, but then his newness to mtb-ing and sudden dive in caught up with him after the first aid station. He was doing a good job with his eating and hydrating, but on a hot day with a surprise effort like that on your body it was hard for G to keep up with the caloric deficit. Still, he had the same breathless descriptions of the best bits like all of us, so I knew he had a fun time. In the end, he crossed the finish line at 6:29:37, salty and shattered. I have never seen him like that. But under all the sunscreen and dust, there was that telltale single track smile.

Ladies and gentlemen, Gerhard is now a mountain biker. I was so proud of him for taking on that challenge and for sticking it out right to the end. Just wish we could have ridden it together!!! We will be back.

55 kilometers, 2,000 meters of climbing and nearly seven hours to finish the Squamish stage of the #bcbr2015. I was wrecked after one day. Huge respect for all the riders that ground it out for seven days. Thanks for lending me this empathy machine @rockymountainbicycles.

A photo posted by Gerhard Gross (@gerhardmg) on Jul 5, 2015 at 12:39pm PDT

Both of us were only too happy to have the AC in the RV and we finished the day with a massive protein intake at Satchi Sushi in Whistler village with mom, dad, and family friends Dennis and Dianna. An awesome day. And just one more to go!

Rocky Mountain Altitude chilling at the RV 

Race morning 

Getting ready for our lead out

Getting focused in Wave 2

Another one from the paparazzi 

the front of the race gets ready to roll including our women's winner, Katerina Nash

Gerhard finishing an awesome day in the saddle!! 

The face of a champion!! yay G! 

G's borrowed shred sled

Liv Beyond!

Making laps to all my favorite bike makers' websites today and I see a familiar face on Giant/Liv's! That's me! Brought me back to the photo shoot that almost never was.

Jake and Elise asked if I would be a part of their annual catalog project and I said yes. And then I put a very unsightly and unphotogenic hole in my knee that would definitely not work. Instead of being a model myself, I helped them find models from the sidelines (even Gerhard had a photo shoot!). I felt terrible, because I of course never intended to let them down, and plus, I love photo shoots!

But at the last minute, and with enough time passed for my knee to heal back to function, Jake again asked if I could come out for a photo shoot. I was really happy to work with him because his work is always amazing. But it's also nice to have photographic evidence of the rediscovery of my trail mojo. This was only my second ride back after the big crash, and sessioning these rock gardens with the welcome pressure of a camera was the perfect catalyst to getting back on the bike.

Thanks to Jake, Elise and Liv Cycling for the chance to play on the new Intrigue. Super fun bike, with a confidence-inspiring ride.

Gerhard Gross sur velo! Jake Orness photo.

My Man In Sochi!

My husband, Gerhard, Transworld's Managing Editor, left for Sochi this week, along with Photo Editor Chris Wellhausen, and they're doing an awesome job covering the Snowboarding, including the Olympics' first Slopestyle event.

He posted a great blog post today, adding to some interesting articles about how the events are being judged as well as reflections from the athletes. He will continue to light up the wires until he comes back next week. I'm looking forward to that day!

But until then, follow his coverage via TWSnow.com, his Olympic Blog or his instagram (@gerhardmg).

Let the games begin!

Love Nest Achieved!

Over the past week, the house hunting -- which we've been engaged in casually since I got here -- turned a little more serious. We gave our notice a couple days ago at the house we've been sharing with roommates since I relocated to San Diego after our wedding last March, and now we're about to move into our first "real" place of our own in our married life! EXCITING!

Today, our search came to a happy end with a great 2 bedroom/2 bathroom condo we're renting from a nice guy in a great part of town. If it weren't for the fact that we have to BYOF (Bring Your Own Fridge), I'd even say I was worried about it being Too Good To Be True. Since it has a garage and an additional parking spot that means we can use said garage for all our toys, I'm worried it's TGTBT anyway. 

The other great feature of this place is of course, location, location, location. Not only will we still be living in "the shadow of La Costa," so I can ride to my favourite mountain bike trails, we'll also be living at the top of a particularly gnarly Strava Segment. Thank god Base Miles are over! Because here come the hill repeats ....

BC Bike Race Reconnaissance

Gerhard on "Tea Pot" 

Usually when we come to see my in-laws (though after a certain Christmas tree debacle, I think I’ll start calling them the “out-laws”) we make a point of heading over to Mount Washington to get some holiday turns in. But with warmer than usual weather on Canada’s west coast … or at least Vancouver Island … we have found activities even more to my liking!

With base miles season wrapping up, I am determined to cram in as many as possible. So I borrowed my mother-in-law’s grocery getter and took myself on a little tour (photos below!). It’s a Norco “Wolverine” circa 2002ish with a super-riser bar and a side-view mirror. It did a fantastic job and it made me smile like crazy, especially when waving to "real" mountain bikers getting ready at the many trail heads I passed.

However, in my Boxing Day travels, I was surprised to see signs indicating the proximity of Cumberland – home to Stage 2 of the upcoming BC Bike Race. In my mind it was some ways away, but here was this sign saying "Cumberland - 7" – and then I realized I’m back in Canada so 7 was actually kilometres, not miles. A stone’s throw! We were already planning on renting mountain bikes for the following day, but unsure how we would transport Gerhard, me and our bikes to the trail without monopolizing the family vehicle for hours (or how everything would fit, anyway).  So this was an excellent realization: We can easily access the famous trails of Cumberland by riding out of our own driveway. Cumberland, by the way, is mountain biker mecca. Just CRAWLING with riders and amenities geared for riders. I think I may have even spotted Canadian Olympian Geoff Kabush (whose hometown is Courtenay) on my little trip. Can't be sure.

So today, we headed over to the amazing Trail Bicycles shop (thank you for all your help, Ryan!) which is literally a five minute walk from the out-law’s place. I traded in my Norco Wolverine for something a little more burly, and modern: The 2014 Sight Carbon 7.1 “Killer B”. Gerhard got an enviable Trek Remedy to rip around on.

Notes on my demo Norco: It has a dropper post. I’ve never tried one before today, but after our ride, I would say they are mandatory for the riding here in BC. It also came equipped with some SRAM 1x11 (32 in the front but we were wondering if a 30 might be better … more testing required). It rode wonderfully, it’s a TON of fun, but I’m not convinced of its raciness yet. Even in carbon, I absolutely felt the added pounds over my beloved Top Fuel on the climbs, but man, it crushed the descents and floated over rocks and roots alike. I would love to have one of these in my quiver … if only my Top Fuel would fit in my camelback for the uphills. Decisions, decisions.

Our main focus for today’s ride was the “Teapot” trail which will be run as an Enduro section on race day so we did that one twice, while also checking out “Quacker,” “Truffle Shuffle,” “That Dam Trail,” “Buggered Pig,” and “Mama Bear.” It was so nice to be riding on loamy, rooty, dirty, green, rocky, flowy trails again. I was losing my mind. But that might have been the Expresso Clif Snot I inhaled before we hit our first singletrack. Check out all Cumberland has to offer by visiting cvmtb.com.

Best of all is enjoying my favourite activity with my favourite person, Gerhard. So thank to my amazing husband for suiting up and putting up with my full-on frothing all day. You guys have to see Gerhard ride to believe it. He has no business being as skilled a rider as he is for how little he does it. Technical descents? Waits for me at the bottom while I pick my way through what he describes as “like powder, in dirt.” Super long skinnies? Convinces me to try by showing me how ‘easy’ it is, first. Insanely steep and long fire road climb (which it turned out was unnecessary because I can’t read a map or follow other riders’ directions)? He cleans it then says, “that was a little tough,” like it wasn’t very tough at all.  I am so proud. Most of all, I’m super excited he’s agreed to come do it again tomorrow!

And now the pictures from yesterday and today:

Riding with a rear view.

The amazing Norco Wolverine! Gets groceries and base miles like a champ. 

Entering Cumberland! So easy! 

The most amazing fence in the world. 

Real life holly 

Downtown Cumberland

Peace on Earth (or at least on Comox Lake)

Looking out to sea

Indulging in my dirty habit with my favourite guy

Gerhard riding over Sykes Bridge

Me in my ninja position on "Tea Pot" trail

Carlsbad to San Clemente in Flirtees!

Just got back from another glorious vacation in California. My fiancé has the good sense to live there so I am down often, but this is the first time I've worked in a road ride.


Mainly this is due to my hatred of flying with bikes. So I was super glad to find Synaptic Cycle's Joe Bartoe who rented me a wonderful carbon steed for less than I would have paid to bring my bike on the plane one way.


The bike was a "Liscio" by American company Volagi, which is apparently the only one to include disc brakes as a standard feature on their road bikes. I was skeptical but won over in the end. I would almost say this bike was even better than having my own with me.


Here are the other big wins of my experience with Synaptic:

• The bike was fitted against measurements from my road bike emailed in advance so it arrived ready to ride
• It was delivered and picked up by the super affable Joe
• It came with full Ultegra, and the saddle and pedals of my choice. 

Top marks for Synaptic Cycles, and I am sure I will be in touch again soon. 


So with my borrowed bicycle, Gerhard and I set out for his first "real" bike ride (i.e. I made him stop to buy bottle cages and H2O receptacles at the local REI before we set off). We went from his place near La Costa Ave all the way to Pedro's in San Clemente where we gobbled down ten tacos and a lot of pop before turning back for a glorious tailwind push home.


All told, we conquered about 115km together, and it was wonderful!! Highlights of the ride included:

• Carlsbad Boulevard closed to cars for a triathalon course (which was nearly finished and didn't have any racers left on it) giving us a very large cycling lane for our personal use
• The old highway 101 now closed to cars through Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, but is still open to bikes, making it the biggest rec path I have ever seen
• Unusual road signs like "Tank Xing" as we rode through range after range *yikes* 
• The sweet sweet taste of tacos to shut down a full-body bonk
• A very welcome tailwind all the way home
• The chance to show off my new Flirtees Kit (Thanks Casey!) [Find Flirtees on Twitter and Facebook]
• The part where we were finally finished. ;) 

Now that I'm back in Toronto where it's hotter than Cairo, riding bikes seems less fun. In fact, anything but sitting motionless in my air-conditioned office seems less fun. Til the heat wave breaks, guess I'll continue California dreamin'.

Photos by Gerhard Gross 

The Return to California

I loved California when I was there with Matt P and Pete G back in January. But I had no idea how big a role the region was about to play in life-as-I-know-it when I visited then.

Because this is the internet, and no one has an attention span longer than 2 seconds, I'll get straight to the point. Gerhard has accepted a new job at the biggest snowboard magazine in the biz: Transworld.

Transworld is based in Carlsbad, CA about half an hour north of San Diego, right on the coast. Don't ask me why snowboarding magazines always seem to be published in the most un-snowboarding of places (Toronto, as another example ... no offense Blue Mountain).

And so here we are, riding the rollercoaster of life in the fast lane, trying to figure out what happens next. Because California is a loooong way from Toronto on pretty much every level.

So how did this all happen? Well let me just brag and say it wasn't like Gerhard was looking for a new job. This job came looking for HIM. And if you follow his articles with Snowboard Canada, you'll know why. Or maybe they just saw this: http://bit.ly/ftXswe

Anyway, one thing led to another, and that led to a job-interview in Carlsbad. A quick trip, but I decided I needed to be there to try and make more sense of all this impending change. Maybe palm trees and ocean breeze would be the spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down.

And it was.

I travelled via Vancouver where a former colleague and her boyfriend were kind enough to put me up for the night. That lined me up for an early flight to L.A. the next morning.

When I landed, I was immediately hyped. I went to pick up the economy car I'd reserved from the rental company, and let them up-sell me to a red convertible. It seemed like the obvious thing to do. Then I booted down the interstate blaring the pop-tunes, and letting my new cut and colour fly around in the wind.

I got to the hotel first, so I had the tedious honour of waiting for G. In the mean time, I got a sandwich and a drink from a place up the road and made like ten friends who all had great advice on what to do and where to eat for our little stay. I got back to the hotel and finally Gerhard arrived. We spent the rest of the afternoon booting around in my whip, checking things out and imaginging what life could be like there.

We thought the actual interview the next morning would be over in time for lunch and surfing, but it turned out to be an all-day appointment. So I had nothing left to do but take myself shopping! I also checked out the flower fields which are famous in the area and took myself out to lunch at the "Naked Cafe" before poking my head in some neighbourhood bike shops.

To celebrate the success of both our days, we headed to San Diego to try some fish tacos one of my sandwich-friends recommended. We drove by a rollercoaster and stopped for some spontaneous thrills and poetic symbolism.

It was a great trip. But is it real life? For one of us, starting June 6 it sure is.

Gerhard has been beavering away to get his documents in order for a move to the States. Lucky for him he doesn't have to "immigrate" in the formal sense because he is a dual citizen. But chasing down passports and social security numbers plus trying to squeeze the most out of his last weeks with healthcare have kept him busy.

I have been working on finding a roommate and fussing over Gerhard's to-do list. We're having a going-away party for G next Thursday by the way if you'd like to bid him farewell (and ingratiate yourself to him so you have a place to stay if you ever want to go to SoCal.)

So that's been the overwhelmingly heavy, scary, exciting, happy, confusing, sad, proud news around here.

West is Best

Dont' get me wrong, I love Ontario too. But it's January ... and it's just not that awesome at the moment.

Hence, I headed west to Courtenay BC to ring in the New Year. If I could fold up my sports equipment into bite-size packages, I could have skied in the morning, then biked in the afternoon. It's winter up high, but at sea-level, it's still spring! Since both my favourite sports take up so much room in suitcases, I opted to bring out just the sticks. (And make up for the bike with my running shoes.)

I had ulterior motives as well of course -- Gerhard has left Ontario for his annual sojourn West. His parents live in Courtenay so he spends some time with them for the holidays before relocating to Squamish for the rest of the winter. I met them for the first time and was treated to warm hospitality, great walks with Max-the-dog, and some pretty amazing eats!!

I stayed a week, and it went by way too fast. Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana!

But holidays don't mean training stops ... completely: I ran my first 10 kilometres-in-a-row ... and rode my first box in the park, too. Woo hoo! Gerhard, Adlar (his brother) and I got up to Mt. Washington a couple times, and a had wonderful time both days.

Pros: some seriously fun runs (rollers! pow! park!); Beaver Tails — Killaloe FTW!; Amazing zones on the back side like a secret gully (that wasn't so secret); cool vibe including hitch hiking snowboarders, bra tree and even a Christmas Tree!; kettle chips; the Boomerang chairlift and everything it reaches; Adlar Gross's amazing kamikaze snowboard stylings (limited time only); great conditions both days, said the girl from Ontario.

Cons: Sushi Mon by the Hawk Chair for lunch was a bust -- wasted way too much time NOT shredding while waiting for crappy Raman noodles -- at least the sushi was decent (tip courtesy of an otherwise friendly hitch hiker we picked up); um ... what's with the lift-littering?; holy line-ups batman ('tis the season); bad drivers burning up their brakes on the road back down the hill (stinky!!!); sore feet from boot-breaking-in-age.

50 cm of snow fell before our second visit so it was a hard day's work on the hill skiing through all that powder. Woe is me! Alas, the sun came out and things got a little heavy, but still awesome. On top of all the other awesomeness, I was rocking my new skis and my new boots (Thanks G and Steph!!). Both get top marks!! I was a better skier instantly!

Back at Sea Level, we did a bit of one of my favourite things: picking up stuff from the beach. Much more sporting in BC because of all the amazing things that wash up! Like Turkish Towel sea weed, Bull Kelp, sea shells galore, pretty round rocks and even things you can eat! Gerhard's dad was telling me that when they went camping as a family, they never brought any food; they didn't need to because there were enough oysters and other sea food to keep everyone satisfied. Amazing.

We visited the only chocolate shop that I think might give Mill Creek a run for its money: Hot Chocolates. Their sea salt caramels are heavenly. Thank god they deliver!!

For New Year's we dined on crab and lobster with some Moet to wash it down, played a rousing game of Yahtzee then banged pots and pans at midnight to keep the ghosties away. I started 2010 rested, refreshed, and renewed.

On my last day, Gerhard and I took the ferry over to Denman Island. We walked the beach, picking up Oysters, stalking a Blue Heron (or was he stalking us?!) and exploring the sea side. We had a drink at a pub overlooking the Strait of Georgia, and learned a thing or two from CBC radio while snacking on candied salmon. It was a perfect day.

The only good thing about saying goodbye, is getting to say hello again. So ... until next time!