Friday, July 16, 2010

Hope you can keep up!



Where to begin.... This week as flown by from racing to flying to crashing (wakeboarding) and to working I have just been trying to keep up with everything.

I was excited for the past weekend. Shannon and I headed to Bala to meet up with friends at their cottage. It was located on Go Home Lake and not to mention Damien had a kick a@# X-Star, which for people who don't know is a boat which creates a really big wake! I also had a race on the Saturday so it was easy to wake up early, head over and race then come back to the cottage. First lets discuss wakeboarding.

I used to wakeboard all the time! When I was in highschool all of us would head up to the cottage and do some serious sessions on the water. I even entered Wakestock, the first year it came out in the amateur division;) I was able to do inverts, 360's and all sorts of crazy moves. Now lets fast forward to the present. My first run on the Saturday after the race started off great. I jumped off the dock and was off. After a few jumps I felt like I was back in the day just doing my thing. My new rule is don't listen to my brain, it never works out well! I hit the jump and decided to throw a huge Tantrum, which is a back flip, then into a 360 rope pass. After some solid attempts and landing them I might add, I felt pretty good about myself that this married guy still had it in him. Not to mention my wife thought it was hot haha. It wasn't until I woke up on the Sunday and couldn't move that I realized my body is meant to only go in a straight line and not to contort myself like I used to do. It is Friday and my body has just started to feel back to normal! Lesson Learned.

Thankfully I made the triathlon first priority before my wakeboarding ways. It was a sprint distance race, which I was excited to compete in. My goal was simple, go as hard as I could. after a 1km warm up swim I hammered the 750m swim and as I was sighting around the 2nd bouy I noticed someone 50m ahead of me? I thought I was leading but was mistaken and had to kick it into gear! I excited the water in 2nd and knew I had to crank it on the short 20km ride to catch this person in front of me. Finally at 10km I caught this guy..it was Ryan Smith!! It was great to have some competition out and how hard he made me work on the bike! I came into transition in the lead and now had to hold people off. My goal was to run the first 2.5km just under 6min miles and at the turn around see what's up. At the turn around I was a km ahead of 2nd and took the win at the race. I was given a great plaque and not to mention raised a ton of money for a great cause!!!!

Still more.... Sunday, barely able to move we drove home and I got packed up ready for my next adventure to Scottsdale Arizona. I was sent an email last week from a guy named Reagan, who is the owner of Mach Bikes. I first came across the bike on twitter and just sent them a message saying how good they look. It is a mix of Willier with Specialized! However what makes it a Mach is the top tube, which is stealth. We talked about the design and how much I like aggressive bikes and he said I had to try one out! At the point I just got word from Lewis Elliot, who was part of the National US Cycle team and Pro Triathlete that he smashed the course record of the AZ Triahlon on a Mach. I was on the next flight out. I got down there on the Monday and the bike was dialed with full Sram Force return to center shifters, ISM Saddle, Easton Bars and I put my HED Stinger 6 wheels on them. I was still sore from the weekend but went out with the Tri Scottsdale ride at 5:30am...ouch. Right away I felt the responsiveness and aggressiveness of the Mach and was immediately out front setting the pace with Lewis. After the 35mile ride we were off running and it felt easy transitioning onto the run. After a swim I was back on the next flight home with a crazy bike. Did I forget to mention the pink is back!!! haha

Although I will be riding the Mach I still need to do a shout out to the best bike shop around the GTA Gears. You can't beat the knowledge and supplies they have in there shop. From bike fitting to bike fixing they are the place to go and love having them across the street from the gym;)