Ready to rock… but not too hard.

Day one was ok. Not great, because the competitor in me hates to let other teams pass us by, but we held true to our pacing guidelines. Steady and consistant is our focus. This is a long race, and rememberIng thIs detaIl Is crItIcal. Some people will push too hard and tire out. Others are really just THAT strong and can hold a crazy pace for several days (and those riders are here racing- pushing hard and knowing that they can maintain their stamina). We’ll see. As the race progresses, riders will fatigue. I’m hoping that our pacing structure (from our trainer) will help to keep us in the race as we enter the harder stages (with longer distance and steeper climbs).

Oh my gosh!!!! Now I’m nervous! 2 hours still start time. At 9:33 we’re scheduled to roll across the start line. Eeeee. This is where it’s always good to have your mom to calm your nerves. (She’d say, “oh Meg, don’t be ridiculous. You’ve been training for this. You’ll be fine. Just go out there and have fun.” Jeff thinks his mom would say, “don’t crash and don’t feed the bears.” All good advice. So… wIth that… here we go.

A great pre-race day in Fernie with family. Jeff and I are are excited to be spending some time with my cousin James and his family (Daisy, Calvin, and their dog Sage).

And a little good luck for tomorrow…

Here we go.

This is the best looking group that I’ve ever seen at an airport.
Look at all the bikes!

(Trying hard to be inconspicuous… but this new phone is huge!) There are, at least, 12 pepole here waiting for the Fernie shuttle. Eeeee… this is getting more exciting.

So here we go!!! After some late night packing and an eary morning, we’re off! (One of us might be expressIng outward excitment more freely than the other.)

Bike boxes and bags have been dropped off at the baggage area (fingers crossed that they meet us in Calgary) and we’re eagerly awaiting flight #1. We have a small delay… but no problem. That just means more time for airport fun.

Jeff may choose to work…. but me…

I’m adjusting my fancy new Cannondale factory racing helmet. Yeah!!!

So I FINALLY upgraded my phone. (Yeay me!) Now, like most of the world, I can access the internet and post photos to Facebook. Lets hope this trial with a blog post from my new phone works. (It will make things a bit easier at TransRockies- assuming we get a data signal or WiFi.) Here we go… take a look at our essential drink mix. Ooh. Ahh. Fancy.

It’s looking good! Checking the weather forecast too far in advance can cause heartache and pain… as the old New England saying goes, “if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute”. Fortunately, Jeff and I aren’t traveling in New England. Let’s hope this forecast holds true.

Looks to me like we’re in for a few days of perfect temperatures and sunshine. And *what the heck* for good measure let’s throw in a 100% chance of bike riding fun.

We fly in on Wednesday. The race starts on Friday. YEAH!!!!!

The Fernie, BC forecast…