Funny story... kinda.... well... maybe not....

Theresa and I attended curriculum night at Donovan's school the other nite... You know, where you get a brief introduction to your kid's teachers, and what methodology they will be using, etc., etc. So... we sit in his writing/reading class, where he has a new teacher this year. Since she is new, this lady begins by sharing a bit about herself, her interests, etc. She has on overhead projector on which she shows us photos of her many travels: Japan, Africa, Mexico... and this is the image that she shows for my homeland:

La calaca: tilica y flaca...

So I'm sitting there, quickly scan the room, and realize NOBODY else is seeing this but me. She goes on to say she is fluent in spanish, so she should be able to connect better with the kids that are native speakers, and then her presentation continues. After the presentation is over, and while parents are talking to her, I grab my phone and take the above picture.

Part of me thought it was funny, (hilarious, really), part of me was suspicious (of the likely 100's of photos you have, THIS is the one u choose?), and part of me was really bothered by it (lack of attention to detail).

A little more cross racin'

The one really cool thing about cx is you can go out every weekend and give it another go, as opposed to triathlon, where you need to plan things out a bit more carefully.

Good rivalry with Nick Adsero.
Today I fell on the last lap & Nick opened a gap I couldn't close down. 

Photos courtesy of Woodinville Bicycle

So let's see what next weekend brings....

Right on the heels of summer...

cyclocross starts off here in the PNW.

Photo courtesy of Woodinville Bicycle

First race is in the books. I managed a bit of a hat trick last Sunday, starting in the penultimate row, about 50-60guys back, and working my way up the field to 6th. Not bad for the first outing, considering I had my doubts after being only 2weeks removed from a long walk at Challenge Penticton.

One more bike ride before school...

Donovan and I went for a bike ride this weekend, to wave farewell to the summer. I'm sure we'll keep riding throughout the Fall/Winter, specially with the start of cyclocross, but this was the last ride of the 'summer'...

"Papa! You sure you should be taking a photo while riding...?"

Well-deserved bar after arriving at the turn-around point.

There may be something to this....

As seen on display at a grocery store in Manson, WA...

"8 Horns A Plenty"

Challenge Penticton 2013

I would first like to thank Challenge for the amazing experience they put on at what is my favorite race destination, and congratulate them on taking a very strong first step to making their first event in North America what I am sure will become a premier event like Roth.

I have never felt more welcome at a race. Period. This sentiment was echoed by all the other guys and girls I talked to. The Challenge staff treated us like rockstars. I mean, it was crazy how nice they were, how genuinely interested and happy everyone was that we were there racing. This became much more evident later in the day.

The days before the race found the majority of Pros scrambling to find swimskins, as there was the very real possibility race day water temperatures were going to make it a non-wetsuit swim for us. I would like to thank Deb from HUUB for her willingness to help me out, and for being so nice. Deb let me borrow a swimskin that would sit in my backpack all day, thankfully. Even though we were allowed to wear wetsuits, it was a very ROUGH swim. I do not ever remember Lake Okanagan being that mad, and it sure made for very slow swim times, and a good amount of lake water ingestion for some of us.

Once done with the swim, my plan was to keep low, constant watts throughout the ride. No matter what. And I stuck to my plan. I will confess my legs were tired, and I wondered how the run was going to go, but I had done what I set out to do: let the race go and give myself a chance to REALLY run. I started the run dead last, and 5th female.

And run I did (at least for a little bit). Once I found my run legs, I started ticking 6:30s per mile, and started picking off people, and was well on my way to getting into the top10 within the first 8miles. Somewhere, somehow, I bruised my right foot, and it became painful enough to stop me dead on my tracks. My run became a walk, and it was only thanks to Elmar Heger that I got shuffling along again. 

So there we were Elmar and I, walking, jogging, talking, 20some kilometers away from the finish... let me tell you- shuffling through a marathon is more painful than actually running a good one, mainly because thoughts of disappointment and negativity abound. I just wanted to be done... When I did cross the finish, something unexpected happened- I was greeted with smiles, and a hug, and was thanked for not quitting by both Kelly, Challenge pro liaison, and Felix, Challenge CEO.  I spent some time in the medical tent, due to nutrition and hydration mishaps. And then I was able to take in the fantastic atmosphere around me.

Thank you Challenge for the absolutely awesome experience. Thank you Robert @ First Endurance for your continued support despite the hard knocks these last seasons. Thank you Mike, Su and Anja for letting me crash at your house again. And of course, thank you Theresa and Donovan, for all your understanding and patience and love and support. We will get it right....

thank you all for reading 

jc

Bike check-in at Challenge Penticton

A few images from the day before race at bike check-in:

Catching up with local rockstar and buddy Olly Piggin.

The Baggs- Chris and Amy.
This particular photo was kinda crazy, as I had the audacity to ask legend Lothar Ledder  to snap the pic. Ha...

We each got our very own spot, on nice carpet. To my left was Jeremy Hopwood, to my right, Scott DeFilippis. I was cool to see Scott was actually SMALLER than me, as I'm usually the smallest guy...

This is going to be good!

The welcome sight of fresh yummy produce and a new shot at my favorite race:

And, are you kidding me? Check out the cool swag we got: