repechage cc lsc ww

Coming off a great day with my baby I am left very reflective and very hungry!! Thinking about last weekend as its pain is still very fresh in my head. We flew back to FMM for a celeb ration of life for Dad put on by the School board. I must be honest in saying I was less then thrilled about this ceremony but mom booked us tickets then told me so I couldnt really avoid it. The turn out was nice, people that I really didn't expect to see even showed up. Gil Espejo put together a great lil slide show of photos my family put together complete with music. Francois set up a web cam at Aarons hospital so he could watch via Skype and people could talk to him as well. The topper was the Lefevbre and Diakow families dressed up in the Bill Pringle tuxedo!! I got stressed about nothing as it was very nice lil ceremony. The next day we took dads ashes to the cemetery to place him in his final resting place. A perfect -28 for the day. A lil prayer and words and mom placed him in as I comforte...

Sunday was the last Cross on the Rocks race at the brilliant venue of Shawnigan lake school. Mical and I awoke nice and early, had a big ass breaky , packed up Big Red and made our last race day trip up island. For those of you who have never seen Shawigan School it is one of those places that the Fortune 500 kids go to school at. The grounds are out of a fairy tale almost and the facility as a whole is immaculate! You walk into the rugby clubhouse where registration was and its all oversized leather sofas and chairs. I wanted to cancel our day and get a cigar and brandy and enjoy the room, but there is a race today so maybe another time! All set so we gear up for a couple warm up laps of the 3km course. Super soft "cow pasture" right off the horn. Twisty, off camber, slippery and throw in a mini whirly bird too........thats gonna be DEEP!! Next section spit you into a creek bed single track, rocky and how you say moist and fast? Leading up high speed to the run up of 1000 ...

I am sitting here editing photos, having a beer and reflecting on this past week and all the emotion and energy surrounding it. It was truly one of the busier weeks in a long while. First there's racing Sunday, Mical and I driving home Monday, working all week and squeezing in a few pre work rides, organizing and unpacking and lotsa figuring out where stuff goes best....as well as 8 bikes!! Take that and couple it with my fathers passing my mind has had hardly a moment to rest. If Mical wasn't with me this would be soooo much harder then it al ready is! She truly is the light of my day! She arrived right into a double header weekend of racing on the rock! I couldn't get Saturday off so I sent her out solo in Big Redd to find the farm. From what I heard it was a total slop fest!! And after seeing some pics I know why! She had fun and her bike and kit, even after spraying it off was more then a lil funky!! hahah. Jamie and Susan threw a nice social later that eve and we got t...

It has been a few days since dad has finally passed away and I honestly don't know what I am feeling. Such a mixture of emotions that I don't have the ability to truly deal with. I had spent 7 weeks with him and watched him deteriorate to the point that no human should reach and it tore my soul apart bit by bit. From the strongest man to the most frail frame imaginable. Nobody should have to go through what he did and conversely nobody that loves him should have to watch it. It is absolutely gut wrenching. If I had to do this solo I wouldn't make it. Being back here I find myself not really caring about anything other then Mical and us living our life. Not motivated to work hard at the shop even though I truly do enjoy work and all its foibles!! I just want to ride my bike, eat good food and have fun with my girlfriend. I don't think that's to much to ask is it? To bad about that money part!! Mical will just have to become a venture capitalist!!! ;) I am supposed t...

Days are getting shorter. Rain is coming more frequently. Puddles forming as leaves fill them up. I love The Island's fall season. I have my cross bike all dialed in and was supposed to hit up some Wednesday night practice but was a solo shop day so no crossy for regy!! :( Its all good as i made my own cross ride home in the pouring rain! Up teh road into Cedar Hill Golf Course, down teh 18th fairway and zooming over some gravel and then chip trail. A short lil zip and then back on teh road, FOOEY! Some more at the gorge and even more down the tracks and up past the Pongo Hospital. Gettin muddy and soaked for the sake of getting muddy and soaked!! Makes me reminise about days when we were children and our mom would send us out the door saying something along the lines of " Now stay the hell outta the mud puddles!!" or " Try not to get too dirty." well, as anyone would know that is just a giant neon sign to a kid sayin "GET AS DIRTY AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN!!!...

I have finally evacuated Alberta for the sanctuary of VanIsle. 7 weeks in ole AB. was enough. I made teh decision a week prior and was feeling immense guilt up until I left as dad was deteriorating badly everyday. I had put life on hold long enough and there was nthing left for me to do there. I wanted to be there for mom but she stated that again theres nothiing I could do. Being in Fort Mac made me realize why I came to the island in the first place. Flying over the rockies and the ocean made some weight ease from my shoulders. I really do love it here and I am so lcuky to be able to call it my home. I didnt have but half a day to sort myself out before i had to get back to work. While at work I had a hard time focusing and figuring out what I should be doing. 7 weeks off will do that i guess! I finally found my groove by Thursday I think. Still a lil cloudy but I will get there. Watching my dad dying has made me realize that I shouldnt be afraid to do the things I ha ve alwasy want...

On the eve of returning to the island i can't help but be riddled with guilt at my decision to leave before my father passes on. I have been here 6 weeks watching him deteriorate to a mere shell of the man i remember and am asking myself " How much longer can this old bugger hang on?" I have spoken with my mother about what I should do and she agrees that I should return and resume my life as there is absolutely nothing i can do. My outlook on life has been altered since my return to Alberta; partially form watching my father fade but mostly because I now have someone to share my passions with. Without Mical this time here woulda drove me insane!! She allowed me to enter her world, filling me with warmth and support. Understanding of what I am going through and being there for me as it happens. Escaping to Calgary and Edmonton a few times to be with her and her kool ass family was invaluable to my ability to cope. Being able to have Mary here was a must as well. Anyone...