Home Sweet Home

This year has already included a lot of travel all over the US, South America and Europe. A break in the racing finally allowed for a visit home to Winnipeg! So nice to reconnect with friends and family and sleep in my own bed for a little while. Some highlights included:

• Banana bread experimentation time. Coconut, peanut butter and cocoa powder make excellent additions. My first attempt suffered slight structural issues though..

• Racing locally! The Seven Sisters Falls race coincided with being home. Racing with the guys was good entertainment. Thought I was back in Holland a few times. Same extreme flatness and relentless wind, but with much wider roads (fun fact, there is a Holland, MB, they even have a wind mill. Ironically it is one of the few places WITH elevation in the province). 

• Training with the provincial team program kids. It is crazy to return and see how much the program has grown in the past few years. There were probably five of us back when I was training in Winnipeg, now there are 35 kids in the program, and they are fast!

• It has also become tradition that the Manitoba Sports Centre puts me through a series of "torture" tests every time I come home for a visit. Fun times being poked and prodded, forced to ride exhaustion with a mask on my face and repeatedly stabbed in the finger. At least it is motivating to break records and see improvements:). I’ll forgive them for this pain because I am extremely grateful for all their support and services! The Sports Centre has been instrumental in helping to bring my performance to the next level these past couple of years.

All set for testing

I even got a few days off for a cabin adventure! 

Cyclists take note, tree climbing is an excellent arm workout

I tried to teach MJ to fetch, but she really just wants to look pretty and get pats

The spring flowers were out in full force! 

I’m now in Ottawa for the GP Gatineau UCI race tomorrow. Afterwards it’s a bit of an epic adventure around the US as demonstrated by this travel schedule between now and the end of June:

GP Gatineau, Gatineau; Exergy Tour, Boise, Idahot; Liberty Classic, Philadelphia ;Airforce Classic, Arlington, Virginia > Nature Valley Grand Prix, Minneapolis, MN; Nationals, Lac Megantic, Quebec; Home.

If any readers are from these places, come out to cheer on the team and say hi!

 I will also add some photos here once I find a better internet connection.

Leah