Eva’s Blog

After a lot of thought and reflection, I have decided that it’s time to hang up my racing helmet. A crash resulting in a damaged knee at yesterday’s cyclocross race made me realize that I have a lot going on which is affecting my ability to focus at races. It’s time to step back, enjoy other things in life, and maintain a more balanced life (that includes some riding - and perhaps a fun and social racing event here or there in the future … or maybe not).

eva :: Sep.21.2009 :: Cycling, Racing :: 3 Comments »

Cyclocross fever

Went to the first Southern Ontario cyclocross race of the season yesterday.  It was great to see so many people that I haven’t seen for a while, the atmosphere was energetic yet chilled, and the race was tough and fun.  I’m pleased with my race, and I felt a bit better out there than I expected given the randomness of my riding and minimal racing this season.  It was a nice surprise to see that I landed 3rd in the Master Women’s results.  I look forward to getting out to several more cross races this season - I definitely have cyclocross fever.  Oh,  and my new ti and carbon True North cross bike is great!

TV interview

I did a fun interview on CTV news focusing on healthy eating and online food logging.

Long-weekend play

Here are a couple of photos from the September long weekend, which Dave and I spent with Jasmin, Nick, Mari and Dave at Jasmin’s cottage.  Got out kayaking on Lake Huron - beautiful, crystal clear water with amazing views of the moon rock below.  And, headed out to The Bruce MTB Adventure Park - lots of fun rooty and rocky technical riding on flat, rolly terrain and a bunch of stunts too.

Me in my new kayak on beautiful Lake Huron

Me jumping at The Bruce MTB Adventure Park

*Photos courtesy of Jasmin

eva :: Sep.13.2009 :: Cycling, General, Lifestyle, Racing :: No Comments »

New job

In the past few weeks,  I have applied for, interviewed for, and accepted a new job as a Computing Consultant for Information Systems and Technology at University of Waterloo.  I’ll be starting my new position next week.  This is an exciting vertical move for me along my career path.  I’ll be a project lead on a web-content-management-system implementation project, and I’ll also be responsible for staying abreast of provincial legislative requirements for web accessibility.  There was an interview with me (scroll down once you get there) in the University of Waterloo Daily Bulletin about the web content management system.

New kayaks

Dave and I bought new kayaks on the August long weekend, and have had loads of fun paddling them around during the past couple of weekends - mainly at a friend’s, Joe’s, cottage at Muskoka Lake.  It was amazing hanging out with Joe and his family - they totally made us feel welcome and at home.

This is the first time that I have ever bought a boat.  After testing several boats, I decided on the P&H Capella and Dave decided on the Current Designs Rumour.  I’ve spent a bunch of time practicing my wet exits and self-rescues, and Dave has spent a bunch of time practicing his rolls.

My Capella

Dave in his Rumour

Muddy me

Here is a picture of me after completing a very muddy lap at the Hardwood 8-hour mountain-bike race a few weekends ago.

Me with a mud beard

Photo courtesy of Jasmin Hofer and Nick Leja

eva :: Aug.11.2009 :: Cycling, General, Lifestyle, Racing, Updates, Work :: 2 Comments »

Ah, finally a chance to do a bit of blogging!  Dave and I have been keeping busy, as usual!

East Coast vacation

Dave and I had an amazing  East Coast vacation.

Our travels included visiting Acadia National Park and enjoying lobster omelets in Maine, camping on the ocean shore and hiking in Cape Breton National Park, staying in a cabin and hiking in Fundy National Park, touring around Halifax, visiting Peggy’s Cove, making a pit stop in Pugwash NS (great name), picking up some wine at Jost, and seeing tonnes of wildlife (moose, seals, porpoises, whales, eagles, and more).

The biggest highlight of our trip was taking a sea kayaking course and going on a sea kayaking tour with Coastal Adventures - absolutely amazing (the location, the people, the bed and breakfast, the curious harbor and gray seals, navigating through rock gardens, etc.).  Mmm, I’m remembering the smoked fish that we picked up at place just near Coastal Adventures. I have wanted to sea kayak for about a decade now, and the two days spent with Coastal Adventures have just made me more excited about it!

Bronze at 8 hour relay race

Last week, I entered a 4-person relay team into the Hardwood Epic 8 Hour Mountain Biking Relay Race - which took place yesterday.  None of of us were serious about the race - we just wanted to head out to have some fun, socialize and promote True North Cycles.  So, I called the team True North Out Four Fun.  Mid-race, one of our teammates came back and reported that we were sitting in first place with a couple of other teams hot on our tails.  We were surprised!  It ended up being a fun “race” to the end, and we ended up in 3rd place with it being so close for the top 3 spots.  We were really happy with our podium finish!  As usual, everyone on our team was on single-speeds - it was a regular category (i.e. not single-speed specific).

Also worth noting was the weather.  It was wet out there - and that’s an understatement!  The organizers shortened the course (just after my soupy lap), and the race ended half-an-hour early.  I had lots of fun riding a lap during a downpour - practiced my cyclocross-running skills up several slippery climbs, enjoyed the technical descending resulting from the conditions, and giggled about the silliness of being out there.  A teammate got a photo of me absolutely covered in mud, which I will try to get and post soon.

General stuff

I’m not racing much this summer, and would say that I am exercising regularly versus training.  I’m enjoying spending more time reading, listening to classical or jazz, and hanging out with Dave and Alex.  Alex is such a great and snugly cat - and she’s curled up against me right now.

Photos from vacation

 Coastal Adventures sea-kayaking retreat

Dave in Cape Breton National Park

Me as the captain of an ocean vessel

Waterfall at Fundy National Park

Mountain bike challenge for those who may be interested!

 Larry the lobster became dinner

 Moose on Skyline Trail in Cape Breton National Park

Peggy’s Cove

Sad rock on beach at Cape Breton National Park

eva :: Jul.26.2009 :: Cycling, General, Lifestyle, Racing :: 1 Comment »

I came across this article called “Lyme disease: Tiny tick, big problem” on the CBC website yesterday.  It reminded me that I really don’t like ticks.  And, I have to blog about ticks because it will make those who know about my fondness of ticks laugh.  I, and others I know, have found ticks burrowed into our skin.  I’ve had ticks in both Ontario and in Scotland.  Anyhow, the article is worth reading since it raises awareness about ticks and Lyme disease.

eva :: Jun.10.2009 :: General, Other :: 5 Comments »

Getting out of balance

Work has been pretty busy lately, which has meant fewer hours of exercise in a week and squeezing in workouts where I can.  Most of the workouts I have been squeezing in during the past couple of weeks have been 1 hour rides and a few hikes, and not much else.  This led to my body reminding me that it doesn’t feel so hot if I don’t have variety in my workouts involving stretching and working different muscles to keep things in balance. I have been eating out a bit more than usual too, and this unfortunately resulted in me being accidentally exposed to wheat/gluten which translated into abdominal pain on Saturday.  So, another reminder that it was time to regain balance in terms of diet and exercise.

Racing called off

Needless to say, on Saturday I wasn’t feeling so hot.  This was a bummer because I was planning to go mountain-bike race at the Boler Ontario Cup on Sunday.  On Saturday night, it was evident that Boler was no longer in the plans, and it was time to start getting things back in order.  So, Sunday became dedicated to getting back in balance.

Regaining balance

Sunday, the plan was preparing meals for the next few days and getting in some workouts to feel better.  So Sunday was a busy and relaxed day. Dave and I got in a good run on the Grand River Trail near our place earlier in the day.  The run felt great.  Later in the day I did some strength training to deal with some imbalances, and this left me feeling much better too.  I prepared a bunch of meals for the upcoming week.  And, I prepared a great meal for Dave and me to enjoy on Sunday evening comprised of eye-of-round in a vodka, blueberry, spicy basil and tamari marinade with a side of asparagus, onion and mushroom stir-fry - it turned out really well.

Taking some photos

Photos from my run with Dave: squirrel during warm-up; Dave after the run; me after the run.

A squirrel on the Grand River Trail

Dave after his run with me

 Me after my run with Dave

Feeling much better

Since the weekend, I have done some yoga and gone for a ride.  I plan to keep mixing it up with some running and strength training to keep fine tuned!

eva :: Jun.09.2009 :: Cycling, General, Lifestyle, Racing :: No Comments »

Ahhh, a moment to relax.  What a busy week at work, and busy weekend too!

I decided to skip the Harwood Ontario/Canada Cup mountain bike race this weekend.  With lots to get done, spending five hours in a car this weekend didn’t make a whole lot of sense.  And shoulder injury meant it was smart to take some time off of the mountain bike this week.

Given our busy schedules, our trip to Nova Scotia is fast approaching.  This weekend, more preparation for our trip became a priority - including breaking in my new hiking boots; getting Dave’s cross bike ready with gears; me recovering from shoulder injury; and planning what we want to see and do in Nova Scotia.

Highlights of the weekend included: hiking along a new-to-me section of the Grand River Trail to break in my hiking boots; heading to Bollywood with Dave for some Indian food; and heading out for a road ride once Dave’s bike was equipped with gears and ready to roll.

Me hiking along the Grand River Trail south of Elora

Enjoyed hiking this section of the Grand River Trail just south of Elora.  Lots of large mosquitoes though - impressive how large they were.  This section of trail would be very scenic in the fall, and would make for great snowshoeing in the winter.

Breaking in my new hiking boots

I was sad that my old hiking boots had to be replaced.  I wanted to keep wearing them and wearing them, but eventually I had to admit that I have worn them out.  I like my new boots, and hope that my new boots will work as well as or better than my old boots.  And, yes, I checked for ticks after this grassy hike!

Dave in front of True North Cycles after our windy road ride

The road ride was amusing with 60 km/hr winds.  On the way out into the wind, I kept realizing that I was already in my easiest gear.  And, on the way back, with the amazing tail wind pushing us along I kept trying to shift into a harder gear to find that I was already in my hardest gear.  Glad that we checked for wind direction and speed before we headed out riding.  A wise thing to do around here!  And, I am thinking that it’s good that Dave put gears on his bike given the impressively windy conditions.

Shoulder ouchie

Last week, I had an encounter with a tree on my mountain bike.  The tree was absolutely fine while my shoulder felt the pain.  The bruising went through the colours of the rainbow including purple, green and yellow - yuck!   This serves as a reminder to stay wide on the corners and not cut in too tight!

Alex taking it easy

What a life!  Another rough week for Alex! :)

eva :: May.31.2009 :: Cycling, General, Lifestyle, Random :: No Comments »

It’s been a relaxing Victoria Day weekend.

The weekend started off with a girls-night-out on Friday with Melonie and Joyce at Bollywood Bistro in Guelph, and then Dave arriving home for the weekend just before midnight.  :)

On Saturday, it was a rainy day, so Dave and I headed to the MEC in Burlington to pick up a bunch of stuff in preparation for our trip to Nova Scotia at the end of June.  I am so excited about this trip!  I have never been out east.  In the evening, we met up with some friends for sushi in Waterloo to celebrate Richard’s birthday.

Dave and me hiking on the Grand River Trail

On Sunday, we relaxed and hung-out at home for most of the day.  The weather was really nice - cool and sunny, so we headed for a leisurely hike along the Grand River Trail during the early evening before dinner.  Then we came home and enjoyed some dinner and wine.  I cooked some steaks on the iron skillet that worked out really well. Usually, Dave cooks the steaks on the skillet, so I was pleased that my culinary adventure turned out well.

Today, it was super nice.   So, we packed up the car to go mountain biking in Collingwood.  Absolutely great ride with great trails.   It was fun riding the technical stuff where balance and ratcheting are required to get through sections.

eva :: May.18.2009 :: Cycling, General, Lifestyle, Random, Uncategorized :: No Comments »

Picture of Mari, me and Susan hanging out at the Albion Hills Ontario Cup mountain biking race. It got sunnier as the day went on.

eva :: May.18.2009 :: Cycling, Racing :: No Comments »

Dave and I packed up the car in drizzling rain for heading to Ontario Cup #2 at Albion Hills.  Not much to say about this race except that I got in a good workout. It was a dull course with relatively little single-track and lots of double-track with a good amount of the double-track being super muddy. It was nice to see a bunch of people at the race. In terms of riding, it was much more fun riding endless single-track with Dave earlier in the week in nice weather. I am still planning to head to the Hardwood Ontario Cup in a couple of weeks where I prefer racing in cool and wet conditions versus hot and dry conditions – so, it probably means that it will be hot and dry for the Hardwood race. ;)

eva :: May.15.2009 :: Cycling, Racing :: No Comments »