May 9, 2006

Well long time no update so here we go. I am going to start off with this winter. I moved out to Chilliwack AKA "the Corn" in the middle of January and Marty Larzski came over from Toronto to help me move and to ride in the mild bc weather. The move went good, but the weather just sucked it rained 28 straight days in January. Marty was hating it and he went back to Toronto after like 2 weeks. I was left to pound out the miles on a solo mission, it was wicked. I did a ton of mountain biking because the trails out here are insane, some of the good trails are the Mexican Ninja and Mongoloid but I call it the Mongolian grill. I also played hockey like 3 times a week and watched the Canucks loose tons of games and not make the playoffs, the only justification there is that the leafs also didn't make it. I did one local spring series road race in March and it went ok but I was hurting, but that's ok its only March.

April was time to up the racing and travel but I had to Kybosh the ice hockey "I have kyboshed before and I will kybosh again". First up was the sea otter classic, I meet Kiara and Ray or mechanic at the airport after mad flight delays and we got into Salinas late on Wednesday night, hit the Sizzler and then went to bed. A couple years ago there was like 10 drive by shooting in Salinas. But I didn't get shot so it was fine. All the race courses had been hit by crazy rain the week before and it was so muddy and they just ran the races as normal, no alternate routes or anything like that. Thursday morning was the first race, the Supper XC half paved race way half muddy ruts and guys doing endos and doing face plants in mud holes. I finished in the top 25. Friday was a 4 min TT and I was like 20th ish. Saturday was the short track and I had a wicked start and then kind of blew up and finished 20th ish again, there were so many guys crashing in the mud, I keep the rubber side down and watched like 100 endos. I wore through a new set of disc bake pad in 20 min, muddiest race ever. I rinsed down with a fire hose they uses for putting out car fires, there was some serious power and flow, I was down. Sunday was the XC, I don't want to talk about it, but I had a real crap shoot for a race. Then the tree of we hit Turtle by and mowed some burritos. And home after that.

Tour of Willamette was next and it was 3days 4 stages. I drove down with Ma and Pa and my sisters, both of them, in the RV and we stayed at Wal-Marts in the greater Eugene area. The race went good I just finished with the pack on all days, and did a TT with no aero gear at all. Then I got in a crash at the finish of the circuit race and went down in a soft grassy ditch and got race leader Svein Tuft's handle bar right in the chest all I got was a very minor bruise on my He-man chest. The last day was real fun with tons of climbing and some very cool roads. I have been very down with the Burrito and we went to taco Delmar and feasted on the Supper burritos almost every night. I love the burrito. "hate the drake" but love the burrito. My mom made me some food on the way home with sour cream and my stomach didn't feel the love and I had the worst/best gas. Foy what a stink. Mental note don't eat sour cream unless you want to stink.

The next week I raced the BC cup the Cow trail classic in Merritt. It was a little drive about 1.5hrs away I went up with Aaron and Ben from the natural earth racing team. The course was real fun very fast and flowing kind of like the old Summerland course. We had to do 2.5 laps and first one through got a 150$ prime and I was gunning for it and dug way to deep trying to hold off Matt Martindill, I got the prime but really messed myself up my race was done and I just rolled in for 3rd behind an charging Neal Kindree and Brendan Macintosh.

NORBA #1 Fontana Cali. So this was the best part of the year so far for many reasons. Last year for Jan/Feb/march I lived in Ontario Cali with Steve Landis. The Fontana race course was like 30min bike ride from the apartment where I stayed last winter, so this area is like my second home. I flew in on Thursday, but I had a 3hr layover in Seattle, good thing I had a people magazine "I think I'll read it in the park, its suppose to be a beautiful day" Roddi Lega picked me up with his sweet Chevy Aveo and we dove up to Rancho Cucamonga to stay with Steve and his family. Now I am not a real basketball fan but it was wicked watching Steve Nash and the Phoenix suns beat cocky Kobe and Lakers, the Landis family was cheering for the Lakers, oh fun times. I you know how I said I was loving the Burrito, well every day on the way home from the course we stopped by the Baja fresh and oh was it good, the day before the race I ate a 2lb burrito. I was stuffed, I don't know how I am going to do the 8lb burger but it will done. At the Baja they ask you for your name when you order and Roddi said his name was Hector, "hector, your tacos are ready". XC was on Saturday and I had a decent start and was in the top 20 on the first lap then I passed a big bunch right in the middle of the race with like 5 guys all at once and never looked back, I managed to make it up to 10th and that's where I finished, it was such a hard day, "stick a fork in me jerry, I am done". Good thing we hit Baja on the way home. The Norba is now UCI so there is money, I made 53 bucks, wicked eh? A PGA golfer makes like $100,000 or more for a 10th, and they are fat. Short Track was on Sunday and I am a little high on the nervousness because of a crash in Idaho last summer in the short track and the resent crash in Willamette. I touched my brakes a little to much in the start and half way through the first 3min lap I was almost last place. I chased very hard all race and ended up 12th. I felt supper strong, I just got to get my brain to tell my hands not to touch the brakes so much. I flew home Monday into Bellingham and my Dad picked me up and drove me home. Doing drive through customs is so easy compared to the hour long line up at YVR. Now I am full on chilling because my legs feel like concrete. Next up is a weekend of no racing and then its out east for a big block of racing with 3 Canada cups and 2 Norbas and a World cup. I cant wait till the next NORBA, I will be on or near the front row for the first time in my life.

Thanks to Teamrace.com and all the sponsors for making everything possible.

Ricky.