Social media jersey and off season update!

In honor of coming in top ten in The Unofficial, Unsanctioned Women's Social Media Jersey competition, I'm choosing to celebrate with a new blog post! Yay! This contest was organized during the end of season women's races leading up to worlds, and encouraged rider use of social media. Fans generously donated towards a prize fund for the winners and could vote for riders nominated for their social media efforts. Overall, I thought it was a great idea for helping people follow women's racing! A frustrating problem in women's cycling at the moment is that it can be very difficult for fans to even follow the races because there is often times very little media coverage. Read more about the contest here: http://prowomenscycling.com/2012/09/25/social-media-jersey-winners-rewards-and-dammit-maths-is-hard/

Gonna hang this certificate proudly with the maple leaves on my wall

It has been a little while since the last race of the season which was the World championships where I finished 21st. I've been back in University mode since then and using my brain a bit more than my muscles.

The off season has been pretty great so far. I've been out mountain biking a ton on the amazing west coast trails, even got out for some night mountain biking last week with some other crazy fools from Republic bikes in Squamish. It is great training since I never want to be the last rider or dropped for fear of being eaten by a cougar.
The torrential west coast rain season has officially begun as well. I try to see training in the rain as a chance to improve bike skills and to work on my mental toughness. Really the hardest part is just getting yourself out the door, it's not so bad once you're out there. And the rain does make you really appreciate that token sunny day;).

Thanks to everyone who donated and voted in the social media contest! You are amazing for supporting women's cycling. I will try to live up to my prize and publish some more blogs. Happy trails!
-Leah

A token sunny day!