The Atherton Project

Episode Eight

The Atherton clan hit up round seven of the downhill World Cup in Bromont, Canada. Mechanic Stevie gets loose on the dancefloor, while Dan stomps his way into the 4X final following a few words of wisdom from trainer Roberts. Will he survive one of the season's biggest pile ups and grab that ellusive top spot?

Episode Nine

Dan and Gee train for the World Champs in Aus, while back home Rachel's getting stronger, preparing for a full-on assault on the 2010 downhill scene.

Still Hungry!

G and I returned from the rugged terrain of Northern Ontario, reluctantly, and have now been back at it for more than a week. Someone I met this week put it great: "vacation is funny ... you get back and you think, 'uh, why was all this so important again?'"

But for the most part, the 'vacation effect' has been super duper positive. Didn't realize how I tired I was until I'd had a break from everything and got that wonderful "recharge" feeling. Ah! So that's what it feels like to be me!

However, finding an outlet for my new energy has forced me to broaden my horizons. My shoulder is still bunged up from the Mountainview crash so riding is on the back burner. My chiro tried accupuncture the other day. He said we'd plateaued in recovery and thus decided to try something more invasive. Translate: I told him I stopped doing my exercises as diligently (since there were no races to keep me honest) and he punished me by sticking needles into my shoulder. Anyway, since then I feel more tweaked than ever so that's a battle. I still ride to work, but anything longer than an hour results in a lot of advil.

That said, I have surveyed the lay of the land and there are a few items on my hit list:

First, Hardwood Hills is running a "Single Track Challenge" for the first time. It's 50km, no loops, and takes place Oct 18.

Then there's the Winter WOW, a really fun event as long as it doesn't snow. And it hasn't the past two times I've done it (but I tend to do it only every other year because on the odds I've got a bike, and the evens, it's already been sold). So that's at Mansfield, Nov 22 and guess what! There's a chili cookout afterwards.

If I'd had my act together I'd consider the Squeezer, but maybe next year. Same goes for Crank the Shield -- by all accounts an awesome second year for Ontario's only stage race. Sweet.

So that's it for me, hope everyone's well and enjoying happy trails. Fall riding is really my favourite. No stress, great colours, perfect temperatures.

I'll leave you with a few shots from "What I did on my summer vacation":

A she-wolf stands watch

Playing on bikes-with-motors, we stopped at the river to check things out

Hiking up our "mountain" and looking out over the rock race to Lake Superior