2010...in review

2010 In review. I would have to say that 2010 did not suck.

- The year started off right with a powder day at Revelstoke, leading to refills in the afternoon.

-We did our AST2 avalanche course. It was a lot of fun getting into some bigger ascents and descents, not just yo-yoing the same 200m slope all day.

-Reading week was a lot of fun. We stayed based in Canmore and went for some nice ski tours, and had a fun day at Kicking Horse (KHMR).

-Good winter training, some nice rides on the snow, then on the road in early March! I definitely suffered hard on the road, just like I have suffered the previous springs.

-A sick powder day at Sunshine Village (SSV). We initially were planning on heading to KHMR, but the road was closed due to an accident and we returned to SSV. It was a blessing in disguise as we ripped some deep pow (Dive opened up too!) and didn’t really have to compete with anyone for fresh tracks (except the one time we snaked the ‘freeride’ team. BTW, a good tip: never let a ‘freeride’ team get in front of you, unless you like skiing moguls!). Even with the highway closed, KHMR was super busy

-My first ever skimo race, the Dogtooth Dash at KHMR. Probably one of the hardest races I have ever done, but it is awesome finishing and knowing that you just crushed a ridiculous amount of vert! Definitely a pivotal moment of the year… Shortly after, I started looking around for some used race gear, and I found some

-Bike racing got an early start as the snow disappeared in April. I started off pretty slow (I got dropped early on in a road race), but I got some good races and group rides in the legs.

-April mid-exam break Canmore sessions. I headed to Canmore whenever I had free time to study, play Pokemon, and to do some skiing and biking. The trails were awesome, and I got to ski Milky Way in the Dive! It gets better: An upslope ripped through and Bill and I toured up Nakiska to ski some ridiculously deep powder! That day, I also found out that I would be going to Norway to launch rockets. Skiing Surprise pass in May was also fun!

-I finally got a job for the summer, helping to design some stuff to fatigue hospital mattresses.

-After suffering hard in March and April, I had pretty good fitness in May and June and upgraded to the elite category in both road and mtb. Those were my main two goals this bike season.

-Canada day long weekend was a blast. Justin, Cody, and I headed to Canmore to have a mini training camp, and preride the nationals course. So. Much. Fun.

-Suffered hard against some ridiculously fast riders at the Edmonton Canada Cup and at Nationals.

-A nice break from racing from late July to late August, so I rode some bike park at KHMR with Bill. But the highlight was definitely riding the awesome trails in Rossland and Fernie!

-KIM MITCHELL, sick concert, even sicker mixtape

-My cross season was short, but awesome. I was top 10 every race and did not get lapped! The weather was really nice, and I did a lot of my training on my new mountain bike (Marin Attack Trail). Who says you have to ride gravel trails or get pummeled by roots on your cross bike during cross season?

-NORWAY. Arguably the best week of my life. An awesome course on sounding rockets, in an awesome location (above the arctic circle, on an island, with mountains, right on the ocean), and met some awesome people! I am super stoked on rockets and Norway now!

-November was pretty chill. I rode my mountain bike some more until the snow finally came, and capped off the month with the first ski mountaineering race of the season.

-Finished up my projects and exams in December, ripped a powder day at KHMR in between. Although it didn’t snow much, we did some fun ski tours, and eventually got to rip some pow at KHMR again.
My first biking season in a while without a coach, it went pretty well. I probably would have been faster with a coach, but would have had to sacrifice some of those ski days in the winter and spring.
Very few negatives in 2010. My marks in school slipped a little bit, either I am not as motivated as I was in my first 2.5 years, or I just have to try harder (and not go skiing instead of studying?). Not really that alarming as nobody seems to give a rat’s ass about my marks because I didn’t solve world hunger during my spare time. Oh, and English class sucked (as expected).

2011 started off pretty shitty actually. The fireworks scared the crap out of the dogs. MT’s dog, Cassie, ate what was left of my Toblerone (I am guessing about 400gr), and Geisha decided to run away, and after some frantic searching by everyone in the house, she was found by someone who had used a belt as a leash. Hopefully, as you can see in my previous post, things have started to get better!

I am pumped to do more skimo races in the winter; they are motivating me to keep training through the winter. I would definitely like to do more 1000+m ski touring days, ski some peaks, some powder, and maybe some summer skiing. Maybe learn some crevasse rescue and glacier training to open up more terrain for us. Skiing is important to keep a good balance and prevent burnout. I enjoy getting out, and crushing some vert even if the snow sucks; hopefully I can motivate my friends to think the same! Bill (the trooper), who is a closet suffer enthusiast, is already almost there.

For cycling, I plan on dialing back the amount of road races I do. In the words of Steve Martins, “I have never felt unsafe on a bike, unless I am road racing” or something like that! That said, Tuesday night crits are a lot of fun (solid small group of some chill riders), and the provincials course is also pretty good. Definitely no more TT’s, unless they are of the uphill variety (maybe make an appearance at the Tour de Bowness Hill Climb). I also plan on doing more of the marathon events (either relay or solo), and some bike park/freeride to work on descending.

For both skimo and mtb/CX, I just want to get faster (reduce the time gaps) and stay healthy. I kindof know how to do that, it is just a matter of motivating myself to do that! A hockey coach of mine once said that he wanted each of his players to come out of the season a better person. Yeah, that too!

I hate setting specific goals (I want to win X races, I want to finish top X in this race, I want to make X squad of X people, etc…). They are too dependent on other people, field size, etc, at my current situation (just starting out in elite mtb, and skimo racing), and I am just doing this for fun! Maybe I'll challenge myself not to get "chicked" on the mountain bike this year?

Well would you look at that! Over 1000 words. Congratulations if you read this far… It is amazing how much easier it is to write (or read) for fun rather than for some stupid, useless waste of money course!