King Weekly Series

Post-race sunset over King

Last night I decided to pay a visit to Matt P's series up in King, at last. I WISH I had known about it sooner -- if you have never been, go. Amazing course (especially if you need to work on cornering as I quickly discovered is the case for me), great crowd, awesome draw prizes courtesy of Trek Store Toronto and Joyride 150 and a regular post-race outing at a nearby pub (so make sure you bring decent civilian garb).

Even got to meet Canadian "elite amateur" mtb legend Andrew Watson ... although he only managed a second place finish to Sean Ruppel's W. Elbowing notwithstanding.

Thanks Matt for putting on a great event. I hope I can squeeze in another visit to the flowy trails of King before the season's out. Four Wednesdays left if anyone wants to check it out!

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce ...

Ella!

Baby Eleanor "Ella" Claire Mombourquette arrived on July 26 at 6:35pm, weighing 8 pounds 15oz. Proud parents Kim and Bryan have been kept very busy with her robust feeding schedule and diaper changing needs. She likes celtic rock music and always wants to be a part of the action. Living in a house that is so musically inclined — and sharing a birthday with Mick Jagger — leads me to believe that she has got some pretty talented genes and we can look forward to many touching performances.

Then again, maybe she's a future champion mountain bike racer.

Who knows?!

Can't wait to get to know her, and spoil her (which is my right and responsibility since I am "the cool aunt")

Race Report: Ocup 6, Kelso

Oh hiii.

Long time no posting, je sais, and I'm sorry about that. But today I had such a fun time at Kelso I am inspired to share a race report!

I haven't been to many races this year so the usual "race stuff" was not coming naturally to me. Hence, I spent all of yesterday preparing, slowly, so as not to forget anything. Even with all that careful preparation, somehow this morning I still managed to leave later than I should have. I arrived at the venue with barely enough time to register before hitting the road to warm up. Yikes!

The drive to Kelso involved torrential downpours so I was not sure what to expect. But the beauty about a weather "limiter" is that everyone has the same one so it is what it is (and it ain't what it ain't.) Luckily, the gods smiled on us and the sun came out just in time for our start. I think it was because I paid my dues riding a time trial in the pouring rain on Wednesday, but I digress.

The start was good ... great, even. Despite being a little flustered over my late arrival, I got myself together and was calm and collected on the line. At "Go", I found myself a spot in the tight pack as we went up the start hill, down the other side and then ended up in a single file as we began the BIG climb. Oh Kelso ... how you hurt us so. For those who aren't familiar, the BIG climb goes from the bottom to the top of the Niagara Escarpment. Parts are in the shade, but most are exposed to the sun. It is steep, long, and hot. And yet somehow I felt GOOD!

I made a move early in the climb and by the second part of this three-parter, I was sitting comfortably third wheel and our group was pulling away from the pack. That is, until I confused my lock-outs with my shifters, mis-shifted and sucked my chain on into the wrong side of the rings -- thank you oxygen-debt. I was too "dumb" to figure out what to do so I tried a couple things then let my heart rate come down to "thinking" and "seeing" levels. By this point, the entire women's field was past me, and the next category was rallying up too. Oh no!

Trying not to panic, I sorted myself out and began my race again, this time with a lot of fire in my belly. I actually wonder if it wasn't a sort of blessing -- although I'd gladly take that time back, thanks! Racing from behind, I was definitely "in the hunt" which is a great way to be. The first lap seemed to fly by and I gobbled up a couple girls. The second was more of the same. My final mark was Erica on the hill, and then it was one final time around. side note: huge thanks to Sean Ruppel for his colour commentary at the top of the hill. For the record, I do NOT have a drinking problem in case you happened to be within earshot.

Anyway, happy to report that besides a recurring chain-suck issue, the race was very "clean" despite slippery conditions from the earlier deluge. I'm super happy to have rode well -- and safely -- and to come home feeling stoked on a job well done.

Here are the results. My time was 2:07:08.84 and the next fastest was Laura at 2:04:22.60 ... that means that even with the stops I had to make (maybe 2-3 minutes total?), I don't think my time suffered all that much. So 6th place, and that's all me, baby!

Ontario.ca/Progress

I owe this blog a massive update -- but for not, here is a massive picture of all the great things Ontarians are accomplishing together! Get the whole story at ontario.ca/progress. Hope everyone's having a wonderful summer!

Raw "Cheese"cake

This weekend my new roommate arrived and to welcome her, I made a cake! This cake is actually healthy for you, full of good fats, proteins and nutrients from living macadamia nuts and cashews, dates, lemons, berries, coconut oil and honey.

I'm super happy with how well it turned out, and it's so easy I'm sure I'll be making it pretty regularly -- I'm dying to know how it goes with every kind of berry.

To get the recipe, visit www.priscillalevac.com. Her photos are way prettier than mine too, but I'm still pretty proud of my creation!



Step 1: Macadamia/coconut/date crust processed in the Vita Mix and pressed into a pie plate
Step 2: Processing the "cheese"
Step 3: Firming up in the freezer
Step 4: Added the sauce, pureed in the Vita Mix (raspberry!) and it's ready to serve.

Musselmans Lake

Worlds collided this morning when some of us from the office decided to spend some extracurricular quality time together sur velo! Let me tell you, it sure beats golf!

Four of us parked at a perfectly suited lot full of others enjoying some early morning cycling at Victoria Square. Then off we went for some rolling hills around Aurora. I recognized part of the course from 2007 (?) Ontario Cup road provincials by Magna but otherwise it was a totally new route for me.

The best part was the loop around Mussleman's, and just that makes it worth the trip.

Thanks to Jamison, Grahame and Sean for an awesome ride! And special thanks to Sean for the data below (since I screwed up my own by forgetting to hit go again after a nature break ... classic).

Can't wait for our next outing!!

Life Lately

It's been awhile since I posted last so this could end up getting a little lengthy. a LOT has been going on.

Bikes and Training

Ocup 4 is this Sunday?

I think I said earlier I would race, but it turns out I'm not sure it would be a good idea. Albion has snuck up on me and I don't think I'm ready to get back in the saddle. It's been pretty much the craziest month of my life, and bike riding hasn't really been in the picture. It got pushed off my very full plate.

So although I have the few hours required for the race, that doesn't change the fact that I haven't had time to prepare leading up to it. So you girls will have to have fun without me ... bummer because I wanted to see the new bits of Albion on the track. Maybe I'll just go up for the preride and socializing. :)

Speaking of training though, I'm excited for a new addition to my routines: a regular run twice a week with my friend and neighbour Nathania. She's an IronMan and has my utmost respect -- I just do what she tells me and so far it's been tremendous. I hope she's enjoying our runs as much as I am.

Gerhard has left the building

I think the thing taking up most of the room on my very full plate is Gerhard's recent departure.

Figures you finally find Mr. Right, and then he picks up and moves to California. My broken heart aside, I'm so happy for him and his exciting new job as Managing Editor at TransWorld SNOWboarding. It's the biggest snowboarding magazine in the world so when they came knocking, G had to answer. (There's a little more about that story a couple posts ago.)

For me, this has meant an all-consuming process of administrivia, grieving, organizing, and of course making the most of our last few weeks together. It's been the best of times and the worst of times.

Last week (wow, was it only last week?) we had an amazing farewell tour with the amazing people we're fortunate to call our friends, delicious food, and free-flowing libations at places like Le Papillon, C'est What, that place with the nose on Queen E that serves awesome Italian food, Murph's and then the final farewell for G and about 40 friends showing the love at the Rhino. Sounds like G will be seeing a ton of us on his doorstep, looking for a free place to stay in SoCal.

Congratulations Sasha and Linsey!

To close G's time in Toronto, Sasha and Linsey were kind enough to throw us an amazing party in Aurora on his last night. They got married in a ceremony featuring one of the best vocalists I've ever heard, before getting the party started at the Manor. It was such an amazing time with the people I've known and loved the longest I almost forgot G was leaving the very next morning.

We danced the night away, and even cued up "A Whole New World" (thank you iPhone/iTunes) for Sasha and Linsey to dance to. Which they did phenomenally well! I almost think they were expecting our little surprise! They even sang the words to each other while the wedding guests stood in a circle around them making for a very memorable moment -- even with all the Sasha-esque girlie drinks that were made available fogging things up.

Disney music has a special place in our hearts -- we used to sing at the top of our lungs while picking berries at the farm where we all worked. We'd bust it out whenever we were in the car together and sing along. And although Linsey is the newest part of our social circle, she too has an Aladdin connection since she played the part of Jasmine in her school's musical back in the day. Obviously they were meant to be and the song was perfect on so many levels.

That dance was my favourite of many magical moments that night and I'm super happy for them. Congratulations Sasha and Linsey!!

Goodbyes and Sad Pandas

All too soon, the night was over and the dreaded moment arrived. We made our way to the airport and didn't even bother trying to make small talk. I wanted to cling on for as long as I could so I parked the van and followed G through his check-in, held him up so we could have breakfast (which neither of us felt much like eating) and then tried to hold it together while I watched him disappear into the security line.

And that began a long day of difficulties, which I decided to take out on the grocery store and nap time. By the time I felt fit for human company again, Bruce arrived to cheer me up. We got some pho, caught a movie and it seems life does in fact go on. But I'm not going to pretend like everything's okay. I do my best, but the "sneak attacks" keep ambushing me at the most inopportune moments. For example this morning on the subway when "Set Fire to the Third Bar" played on my iPod. Remind me to thank Snow Patrol for writing all that down for me.




New Roommate

In the life-goes-on spirit, I'm excited to welcome my new fantastic roommate on Saturday so I've been busy getting the place ready for her and our new arrangements. Basically it's been a great excuse to get rid of stuff, and finally get around to proper spring cleaning.

I'm excited about her coming and I think I'm going to make a raw cheesecake from Priscilla's website to start things off on a sweet note. She and I share similar values when it comes to the foods we eat so I'm looking forward to smartening up when it comes to my diet since it sounds like we're going to try to team up in the meals/food department.

Tonight, I made tabouleh salad for a work party tomorrow, a cucumber-mango salad which I sampled and think is pretty much the best salad in the world and I also finished up a raw curried corn chowder (also found on Priscilla's website) I made the other night.

Best Salad in the World:
1 mango chopped into cubes, 1 cucumber peeled/chopped same size, 3 green onions chopped, handful of cilantro chopped, juice from a lime, 2 tbsp of grated fresh ginger, salt to taste. Throw it all in a bowl, let it rest a couple hours then serve with chicken or pork or add in a cup of cooked quinoa to make it its own dish.

The Office

The last thing on my plate is of course work. I count myself pretty fortunate to work where I do, doing what I love with people I can't imagine life without.

This summer especially. With the election coming this fall, our whole team is pulling as hard as we can to deliver the only party with a positive plan for Ontario's future -- the only party I'd trust with my soon-to-be-here niece's future -- back into government. See what I mean:



My projects are pretty large and time consuming (hence, training has been a little dicey) and while they are my number one focus right now, they are also serving as an excellent distraction from all the other stuff going on.

Also, I'm back on the coffee train. Which is also why I'm up at 12:30am on a weeknight, writing novels for the internet.

So with that, I bid you goodnight, adieu, and thanks for reading.