I've never ridden such a light nimble, 5" all-mountain bike. It's insane. I can't say enough about how much I love Stockli. Best skis in the world, AND best bikes in the world, as it turns out. Those Swiss just know what's up. We went on a big ride today that was mostly DH on a buffed out rolling trail through the woods at the base of Mt. Hood with serious flow. Our lovely coaches picked most of the team up way down the road toward Portland where the trail ended while my teammate Georgia... she's a machine, by the way... and I rode back up the highway toward Government Camp... yes, that's actually the name of the town we stay in. My new bike is so efficient, and the geometry has it set up so nicely for both climbing and downhilling that I felt like I needed more of a workout at the end of our big ride, and I was glad Georgia was keen to pedal up with me. And I was totally happy to let her lead (there was a bit of a headwind). ;)
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My knee is feeling good... one day on, one day off, one day on...you get the gist. Everything has been progressing just as it should with my knee. Two days of skiing and it's feeling solid. I'll be fine to race this season. The goal is to get a good result at World Champs in Norway, in order to set myself up well going into the Olympic Season. Feels good to be back on snow, pulling starts, and getting my legs back!
I had a great time in the Vancouver Triathlon with my relay team taking the win. Brent McMahon won the swim, and Paula Findlay's Mom ran for us!
Now I'm back in Whistler training hard with the entire Canada Ski Cross Team, getting ready to ski at Mt. Hood in August, after I spend 10 days in London helping out at Canada House August 2-12th. My knee is feeling good! Our training camp has been very intense so far. Today was a bit of a rest day after 3 1/2hrs in the gym yesterday, into hill sprints on our bikes. We did a bunch of speed and agility drills this morning and then went to the pump track! My first pump track sesh. Check out the video... This has been a great birthweek... I really don’t know why we celebrate just one day... we should celebrate the whole week which we were born. In the last 6 days, I’ve gone for 3 bike rides, and spent a total of 16 1/2 hrs on my bike. It started with the Gran Fondo on Saturday. My sister and I decided at the last minute to jump in for some bailers and keep our mother and her sister company on this 122km road ride from downtown Vancouver, over the Lions Gate Bridge, all the way up the Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler. We all had a great time... well, 3 of us did at least... and it was ridiculously gorgeous riding up the highway with no traffic and absorbing BC’s breathtaking scenery at a slower pace than the usual driving speed. After a day of rest, and then a day of physio excercises, my gym program, and a lovely jog around Lost Lake in Whistler, I was ready to hit the mountains again. This time we went on a 4hr ride up into the high alpine to a beautiful lake, and back down one of the sickest trails ever. It’s a super buffed out, smooth, flowy roller coaster of a ride, from glacial ice above treeline into old growth forests and pristine mountain creeks you can drink out of.
Yesterday, we left Whistler at 5:45am and drove up into the Chilcotins, way north of Pemberton. Tyax Air dropped us off at Warner Lake in his float plane and we cruised killer trails all the way down to the truck. 50kms of amazing singletrack in grizzly country with insane views above a string of turquoise mountain lakes. My body needs a break, so I'm off to LA for the Whitecaps game with Jay! I’ve had a great summer of intensive training in the gym and on the glacier. I’m stronger than I have ever been in my life! When I wasn’t lifting weights or jumping around doing agility exercises, I was biking, dirtbiking, or surfing behind the boat.
We just got back from a few weeks of training in New Zealand. I’m skiing really well and feeling really good about everything. I can’t wait for the season to start! I am so excited! I just got back from my first week back on snow after my shoulder surgery. It’s coming along nicely. I wasn’t quite far enough post-op to starting sending it in the course, and spent a lot of time getting used to my new Stoeckli’s.
Yes, I switched to Stoeckli, and I’m pretty stoked about that. I ran the course in sections many times and got my airs dialed-in. I actually had a bit of a break-through with my technique in the air. I nailed the big table-top over and over again. We have new physiotherapists and they are really great. I was able to work with Chris Napier a ton while we were up at camp and he got me on to some new progressions of my shoulder exercises. He and Dave Terlicher will be sharing the physio duties for the season. The really nice thing about this camp was that I got to share my world with my sister. She came up to try out for the team. She improved more than anyone could have ever imagined she would. Despite not having been on race skis since she was about 14, she was pinning it right off all of the jumps with solid skill by the end of the camp. |
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