Team Time Trial

Yesterday was the first stage of the Tour de Toona. It was unique in that we started with a team time trial...the first many of us had ever done. We learned a lot today and really enjoyed the team dimension of this event...it's definately one of the most tactical races we do! We finished in 6th overall, further down than we had wanted to be at the start of this race, but ready to race hard over the next few days!

What a cool book...

Jeff and I went to Long Point Provincial Park for a couple of days before I head off to Altoona. We found this book at a store close by. (Long Point isn't actually in Northern Ontario, it's on a sand spit off of Lake Erie - almost as south as you can get in Ontario). But it was fun to read about the history of one of the most beautiful places in Canada, written in such an entertaining fashion...knowing one day we're going to move up to North Bay :).

If you could read his mind...

...he'd be telling you how utterly happy he is that I finally took that "psycho" kitten away :). Oby went to the vet to get neutered the other day and Dougy was his old happy self again...unfortunately it didn't last long. Oby's back and ready to play!

Nationals 2007 - Saint-Georges, Quebec

For the second year in a row Jeff has been my team support at Nationals...from working in the feed zone to following me in the time trial. I really couldn't do it without you Buddy! :)

The start of the road race...3pm, 30 degrees, 127km. A challenging course both physically and tactically! Gina Grain took the win, I was 7th and Betina was 11th.

A Bronze medal in the National ITT :). It was nice to share the podium with Anne and Lynne.

Dinner with Betina and Dan at Maison Vinot, our B&B.

A fond farewell to our hosts and new found friends Raymonde and Philippe...I'm already looking forward to our evening chats next year when we return for the 2008 National Championships!

Rain at last...

My dad has the most beautiful garden in the WORLD :) Here are some pictures of the plants that are loving the weather today.

This is Sophie enjoying the garden.

The fish and frog pond (just behind the flowers)

The rose garden

And more beautiful flowers that I don't know the names of :)

Our Wedding Venue

Jeff and I are gettting married under this maple tree in Mike and Val's backyard. If you look on Google Earth at 31 Irvin St. in Kitchener that's all you'll see...a HUGE maple tree :).

This weekend we did some major backyard renovations while Alex and Maddie were checking out the fossils in the rocks.

Nini was a little bored.

"Just a little to the left Honey....no maybe over there instead" :)

Now THIS is more like it!

Down time...

Jeff summed up the life of a professional cyclist really well when he said you're either working unbelievably hard or resting unbelievably hard. Here's me resting "unbelievably hard". We went up to Pinery Provincial park earlier this week and had an amazing time...eating, swimming, eating, resting, eating, walking among the sand dunes, and eating :)

At last!

So I made it to Nature Valley and I conquered the race that cracked me last year! It's one of the hardest stage races we do all year, I think because the stages get tougher and tougher as the days go on.

To get to the races our host "Dad" escorted us by bike along one of the MANY bike paths in Minneapolis-St. Paul. In all the places I've visited, I've never seen such an incredible network of paths throughout the enitre city.

This is Speedo - our team mascot for the week :)

This is one of our many podium shots. We ended up with two stage wins, a stint in the yellow jersey, the best young rider's jersey and the most agressive rider's jersey.

And these are some of the most adorable kittens I've ever seen. Our tenant and friend Paul is selling them, but I think they'll still be there when I get home :).

Waterloo-Wellington Airport

It took me 20 minutes to get to the airport today (and that's only because I went the long way :). The Waterloo-Wellington airport now has 2 carriers - Westjet (for Canadian destinations) and Northwest for connections from Detroit. It was so nice to park within 100m of the entrance and then to have breakfast with Jeff at the Runway Cafe while watching the planes take off!

COLD water at the Elora Gorge

This one's for you Brooke :)...I was thinking of you telling me about soaking your legs in a glacial fed river after your rides. Well...this river definately isn't glacial fed...but it felt good all the same.

Ah...camping

One of the best things about having a Monday/Tuesday weekend is that you can go camping and nobody's there!

Guess Who!

Yes...this IS my fiancee Jeff :). We went to his staff party and were asked to dress in our best Hawiian outfits...Jeff won best costume by far!

For Sale

Just a little aside...I'm selling my Cervelo P3 (reluctantly :). It's a super fast bike with 650 wheels, Shimano 105 and HED racing wheels (including disk). I'm asking $2000.00 CAN for the bike and two sets of wheels. Email me at cyclehobson@aol.com if you'd like more info.

Along the bike path...

Today's 3 km time trail was in Lachine along the bike path. It was really pretty and really windy! Times were incredibly close, with Judith Arndt winning over Dotsie Bauche by only 4/10th of a second! This evening we raced a criterium in "Little Italy", Montreal. To me, criterium riding can be like running through a mine field...crashes happen everywhere and you're just plain lucky if you don't go down. Betina and Cath went down today...fortunately they didn't hurt themselves too badly and are in good spirits for tomorrow.

Fast, raining and mucky!

Three words that sum up todays first stage of the Montreal Grand Tour. We made 23 turns per lap (in an 8 lap race)...thats 184 accelerations in under 3 hours at an average speed of 40 kph. Forget feeding in the feed zone :). We all stayed upright and finished in the main group, with Cath our top finisher in 14th.

After the race...

We went to the top of Mont Royale for some pictures (Chissy was STILL trying to pee for Doping Control :)

The Olympic Dome

The mountains

A little critter taking bread from the tourists

Brooke's birthday dinner :)

Thank you!!

My mom and Winnie once again made the marathon trek to Montreal to watch me race the World Cup. Fortunately the start/finish was at the bottom of the hill this year so they didn't have to carry all the fruit they bought us up the mountain! Thanks so much for coming to the race, it really meant a lot :).

Our friendly neighbours!

Just outside our window is a tree with a perfect spot for squirrels! Lucky for us it's only 3 feet from the house and we can watch them without scaring them away :)