Flying High

...quite literally really...I made it to my first circus session and absolutely loved it. I got up on the swinging trapeze and scared myself, hung from another on the double trapeze, played on the silks, the trampoline, and learned some more acroyoga moves... its gonna be a fun winter swinging high.

I was scheduled to do some cyclocross races this weekend but I got a last minute spot at the crossfit gymnastics certification hosted at our crossfit vancouver gym. Jeff Tucker from Texas was great and I definitely learned some new things to add to my gymnastics bank.

It is different being back in full swing with school and crossfit and life. I wouldn't say my training has suffered it just took some different turns. Due to my lack of funds and time (back at school) international racing is a little tougher to do for now and I am taking this time to experiment with other things that I have been meaning to do such as circus, crossfit, yoga, and well there are tons more but alas only 24 hours in a day.

live, love, laugh,...DREAM!
lina

Thanksgiving weekend and UK weekend getaway

Winthrop Turkey Ridin’

It was the second annual Winthrop Thanksgiving riding weekend. A friend’s parents own a beautiful cabin/unbelievably gorgeous house in Winthrop WA. It is about a 5 hour drive with unpredictable border waits. There was a good crew of us out for the weekend. The weather was blue sky and sunny but the temperatures were brrrrr freezin’ (below freezing actually).



Saturday we rode the cutthroat trails. It is a there and back route through beautiful alpine mountains. We took our time and had lots of photo ops for the photo gurus of the group. I was feeling quite strong on the climb. The harder I pushed the warmer I got but then you have to find that fine balance of staying warm but trying not to sweat. It was about -6 so stopping for too long wasn’t all that pleasant in biking gear. The climb had a good mix of switchback, technical and smooth riding. It was a very rideable climb which sometimes makes it even more difficult. I think Crossfit has definitely helped me improve on my climbing power and strength. At the top we braved the cold and wind and scrambled to the top of the mountain and took some summit shots. The ride down was fun but very very cold. Even though I was wearing winter gloves my fingers froze.



The house is beautiful and an amazing place to come back to after ridin for several hours. We all cooked up a storm of a dinner.

Sunday was the BIG day. We rode Angels Staircase. I forget what the route we took is called but it was amazing and gigantic. We started off the day early and I think we were on our bikes by 10am. It was a huge climb through forest, meadows, sand, across frozen rivers and SNOW. All of our water tubes froze (which made drinkin even tougher than it already is for me). The backdrop was stunning and always changing. Again, I was feeling quite strong and good on the climb. The toughest part was descending Angels Staircase. I looked on in awe of my friends ridin down it all as I walked my bike down the tougher rocky, switchback sections. It didn’t matter though as smiles were all around. There was good sized hike a bike up the high point. We also hiked a bike to short cut through Horses pass as there were about 20 horses and 2 motorbikes at a stand still face to face…. We snuck away. Andrew had one of the scariest tumbles off his bike going UPHILL of all things. He did some acrobatics off his bike and his bike went flying down the hill and luckily into a bunch of trees. I also had a couple of silly falls clipping out of my wrong foot and the bike falling the other way down the rocky hill… but we all came out okay.
The descent was on the whole really fun despite the chilly weather but I think we were all pretty happy to get back to the toasty house for some turkey.

Monday a couple of us headed to the local cross country ski mountain and rode some fast smooth single track trails for about 2 hours. It was a perfect way to end of the weekend of riding. The riding was fab but winter is definitely on its way… it will be ski season in no time…

Andrew's photos here
Paul's photos here
Jacek's photos here


UK in a weekend....

Following my first week of obsevations at Kitsilano Secondary I headed to England for a super weekend. Andrew’s mom just got married. It was a beautiful little ceremony and so nice to meet his side of the family. They treated me well and despite I was only there for two days I feel like I got a lot done. I experienced an English pub, English beer, a couple fo runs in the new forest, I walked the old walls of South Hampton, went to a wedding, ate lots of food and took the foot passenger ferry from Hythe to South Hampton. I am now on the plane on my way back to Vancouver on my birthday. It’s kind of neat to spend my 29th birthday in England and Canada (and it is 8 hours longer due to the time difference…woohoo!)

check out andrew's blog for more pics and a write up

The adventures never seem to stop….and I love it.

Live, love, laugh,…DREAM!
lina

Local fun

It is fairly rare that we spend a weekend in the city or near the city. It was a good one. It is always such fun to find little jewels that are close to home.
Saturday Andrew and I raced in the New Brighton Cyclocross race. It was a 5 min ride from our home. It proved to be a sunny day but being fall the mornings are quite chilly. Cyclocross is a fun "off season" sport for cyclists or a "on season" sport I suppose if that is your only sport. Anyways, it is done in a crit style with many forms of terrain (sand, grass, road, rocks) as well as hurdles that force you to get off your bike and jump over. It was my first cyclocross race on a my new Giant TCX bike. I raced representing Steed Cylces in the women's C group. I was unsure of what the outcome might be and I was pleasantly surprised. I came second and got to battle it out with a roadie for the entire race. She would pass me on the road sections and I would catch up on the hills and technical aspects of the race. I think crossfit is really going to help me (has helped me) in this sport. The tough all out workoutsd we do at Crossfit Vancouver simulate the 30 min intense ride of cyclocross racing. Andrew did really well as well. We finished the day off with more biking around town and dinner with friends.

Paul's Pictures of Cyclocross here

Sunday we were going to race again in Vanier Park but opted for a long day of hiking/biking up Coliseum and Bruwell Mountain on the North Shore. It was a perfect day. Paul, Angie, Andrew, and I biked into the trail head to begin our hike. It was a steep climb up but very worth it. It's amazing what you can find in Vancouver's backyard. There are so many unbelievable little hikes all around within 30 minutes drive of the city. This one must not be missed from the list of favorites. I was a little annoyed to find my quad acting up on the downhill parts of the hike. So, it is not completely healed just yet and strenuous downhill hiking is still aggravating it.... I need to keep working on strengthening and relaxing it.

Paul's photos here, Andrews photos here

remember to keep exploring your amazing area around you.

live, love, laugh,...DREAM!
lina

Merritt Mountain Biking

I am not on the ball with blogging. Busy times.

Last weekend after our little birthday/engangement party at ours Paul, Angie, Andrew and I headed to Merritt for a weekend of mountain biking and camping. The weekend was fabulous, sunny yet a little cool. Merritt although small and really known for its country singers and big music festival has some pretty stellar trails. We arrived fairly late on Saturday (had a little sleep in after the late night) and jumped on our bikes right away from the infromation centre. It was one heck of a climb and kind of really hurt. I wasn't sure if I knew what I was getting myself into but after awhile the trail became a little less inclined and a happier nicer climb to the meadows. The decent was fab, smooth, in the meadows, in the trees, by the river and some awesome little bridges. I felt proud to ride them all. I was having an "on" day. We managed to put in a second lap. ANdrew and I lost Paul and Angie for the first half of the descent but I truly impressed myself with riding some steep slab rides.... YAY! My confidence on the bike is getting much much better....



The night proved to be fairly chilly, we had the campground to ourselves so spread out and built a nice fire. I love camping! especially car camping... Andrew and I brought out the comforter and double thermarests etc. so comfy!

The following day we headed over to a different area. Had a nice sustained long climb with some minor bushwacking and log removal. It was my kind of climb... middle ring all the way...

the descent was great as well with a bunch of variety... we had berms, slabs, forest etc... Once again I was on it with my riding... I suppose my style of trails... Now, if only the shore would become my style of the trails...I'm working on it.

It was a brilliant weekend with great friends and fab riding.... woohoo!

more pics here (thanks Paul) and here (thanks andrew).

live, love, laugh,...DREAM!
lina