Sights from our ride on the Palouse today.

Two things you can say about the Palouse are that it is beautiful and the riding is fantastic. Here are a few shots I thought I'd share from a regular old ride we can do any day of the week. What did you get to see on your ride today?

Quick Elkhorn Update

While I wait for some samples to finish their time in the water bath at work, I figured I'd write a quick update about last weekend's Elkhorn Classic. The first stage, a 70 mile road race, worked out very well for the Bob's women, with Jenn Halladay, Sarah Barber, and Ally Stacher getting off the front in the lead group of four riders, which also included Alice Pennington. Jenni Gaertner was not far behind, while I managed to lose several additional minutes. I don't know what it is about the first stage of Elkhorn, but I seem to have a bad day there every year! The cat 3 Bob's women also had a strong showing, finishing in the lead group for their category. Ted had a day similar to mine.

Saturday morning was a 10 mile time trial. I was relatively happy with mine, finishing 2nd, but I didn't feel it was my best effort. All of the Bob's ladies finished high up in the TT, so it was a good stage for us all. Ted had a rough TT, finishing a few minutes slower than he did last year. All in all, it's been a frustrating TT season for him.

Saturday evening's crit was crazy! Dark storm clouds rolled in for the start of our race, following thunder and lightning that had struck for some of the earlier men's races. I had heard rumors that the course was slippery when wet, but I had no idea how bad it would be. When the rain started coming, I decided I did not want to be in the pack, so I attacked off the front, gaining a small gap. Going into the first corner, I felt my rear wheel slide, thinking for a second I would hold it up. Nope. Down I went. Unable to unclip from my right pedal, I looked back to see a large chunk of the pack suffer the same fate, sliding and crashing. We first heard that our crit had been neutralized, but minutes later heard that the race was called. Our poor teammate, Jenn, was taken to the hospital by ambulance, having fractured her pelvis. There were lots of bruises, but everyone else was okay.

Following our "race," the cat 3 men took to the course for some easy warm-up laps. Sure enough, just riding easily, numerous riders crashed out in the same corner. The rain poured part way through the 3's race, so their race was also called, and the 1/2 men's crit was outright canceled. There would have been serious carnage if the races had continued. It was like riding on an ice rink.

Going into the final 100 mile stage on Sunday, my teammate Sarah Barber was the leader on G.C., so our main objective was to defend her placing. The race mostly stayed together until the final 6 mile climb, with Sarah successfully maintaining her G.C. lead and Ally Stacher finishing 4th. Aside from Jenn's unfortunate crash, it was a great weekend for Bob's. Now, for the next two weekends, we actually get to stay home. What a novelty! I don't think we'll be going anywhere.

Methow Valley Omnium

Here's an actual bike race report - the first in a while!


Feed zone crew.


Ted, trying to bring back the lead group.


Ted, taking a drink in his crit.





Mixing it up in the crit.

Last weekend's Methow Valley omnium was a bit rough for Ted and me, after having taken about 10 days off the bike in Canada. If you have not been to the Methow Valley, it's a beautiful area.

The race started off with the time trial, which is a nice 9.5 mile course with rolling hills. Ted was highly disappointed with his result, but I don't think he should have been, given that he was having horrible stomach issues all weekend; he finished in the top half, but was over a minute slower than last year. My time trial, for some reason, ended up being pretty good. I finished 2nd, one second behind Robin Secrist. I checked with the official because I had timed myself and my posted time was several seconds slower than what I had timed, but it turned out that all of the times were off by the same amount, so it did not matter. I was told I was not even considered to be any competition heading into the weekend, so it was nice to prove some people wrong.

Saturday evening was the criterium in downtown Twisp. Jenni and I were the only two Bob's women, and we were highly outnumbered against some of the larger teams. Jenni rode really aggressively, getting off the front a couple times, and scoring some primes. Nothing managed to stay away, so it came down to a pack sprint. Neither Jenni or I had the greatest finish, but we were in there somewhere.

Ted's crit was kind of strange, with the pack splitting. Ted was in the second group, trying to chase down the leaders, but very few would work with him, so the gap grew. Ted's group ended up being pulled out by the officials when they were lapped by the front group, but with points still on the line, there was a lot of confusion. No one in Ted's group heard the announcer say they were pulled out, so they literally rode until after the leaders had lapped them. This caused a split in the leading group, so Ted told the official he should have pulled them earlier.

Last up was Sunday's road race. This year's course was far better than the one used last year, which was painfully boring. I raced early in the morning, so Ted dogsat for the morning. A couple of non-threatening breaks went up the road, so we let them dangle out there for a while. It was obvious that there were some alliances between teams, with one team not chasing down another. What's the point of that? They might as well just form one team. On the last lap, a break went up the road with Robin Secrist and Suz Weldon, along with one other. I knew we couldn't let Robin and Suz go, so I chased them down, knowing another Wines woman would counter-attack immediately. Sure enough, Suz attacked. After my monster pull, I was not ready to go with her, but Jenni was on her. No one really chased, so their gap increased. Suz eventually popped Jenni, but Jenni managed to solo in for 2nd. I hung in the pack for the sprint, finishing in the middle somewhere. Jenni moved up on G.C., which was awesome. I fell back, but overall we did well, especially considering how outnumbered we were.

It was super hot by the time Ted raced, so Hitcher and I spent some time in the feed zone. The first time through, Ted was off the front in a break, but it was eventually reeled back in. It stayed pretty much together for a while, but Ted began cramping terribly, which ended up killing his race. He finished it out, but felt horribly afterward because of his seizing legs and cramping stomach. His legs are still not feeling good.

Overall, neither Ted or I had our best race, but it's a fun race to do. Up next is one of the best races in the Northwest - Elkhorn. The women's field is pretty big, with thirty 1/2 women and over forty 3/4 women. Bob's will have a full team there, so it should be a lot of fun.

Canadian Grand Prix

Here's the final update from our trip to Montreal, with lots of pictures from our days spent at the race track. First up we watched the practice sessions, which are the least interesting of the three. Next was qualifying, which can be pretty intense, as the drivers fight for faster times to get them a better position on the starting grid for the race. Finally, we had the race itself, which went by way too quickly.


Even for the practice sessions, the stands were almost full.


Removing a damaged car from the track.


A spin-out in our corner.


There were also Ferarri races.


The Canadian Snowbirds flew overhead before the qualifying sessions and the race.


I think the Red Bull cars are the best looking cars.


There were other types of races also, including these little cars driven by 15-20 year old boys. They have motorcycle racing engines.


A variety of cars were on display, including an F1 car, an Indy car, and a Nascar car.


In the practice and qualifying sessions, several people took trips across the grass.


The panoramic view from our seats.


After the practice and qualifying sessions, many of the drivers were complaining about the track surface, which was breaking up terribly, causing slippery, dangerous corners. A group of race officials gathered in our corner shortly before the race, obviously examining the surface. Moments later, a crew appeared with some sort of mixture they painted onto the track - must have been some sort of sealant. It must have worked fairly well too because we saw no one slide out in our corner during the actual race, and the complaints from the drivers seemed to decrease. The consensus still seems to be that the track needs to be paved for next year.


The parade of nations before the start of the race. The flag bearers were all Budweiser girls. We never did figure out what the girls with the umbrellas were supposed to represent. More entertainment for the men-folk, I suppose!


Sitting in the stands. Our seats were in the first corner.


The throngs of people leaving the race. We heard that 121,000 were in attendance for Sunday's race.


The Montreal skyline. After the race was finished, we opted to follow the crowd and venture across a bridge, which appeared to head straight to downtown Montreal. It turned out that the bridge curved in the distance, taking us to the industrial old port. We were lost, but eventually found our way to our hotel... after 2 hours of walking.


There was the parade of drivers before the start of the race, with all of the drivers doing a lap around the track in vintage Austin-Healey convertibles.


The crazy start of the Grand Prix. Hmmm... I bet these guys would be killer crit racers!

Montreal

Ted and me in Montreal.


The famous smoked meat sandwich at Schwartz's Deli.


The cobbled streets of Old Montreal.


Horse-drawn carriages were all over in both Old Quebec City and Old Montreal.


A bronze in Old Montreal.


This almost made us feel guilty for taking 9 days off the bike. Almost.

Much of the Montreal portion of our trip was centered around the F1 Grand Prix, but we also did a bunch of other things.

Ted had decided in advance that he wanted to treat us both to some fantastic meals in Montreal, and he did just that. Our first night's reservation took us to Laloux, which was a wonderful French bistro. We opted to order from the a la carte menu, rather than trying the tasting menu, and we were very happy with all of our dishes. The highlight of the meal was definitely Ted's pan-seared foie gras, which was the best foie gras either of us had ever had. It was delicious. Really, the whole dinner was great. Our waitress seemed a bit pretentious, but the sommelier more than made up for it with his great attitude.

The following night we went to Raza, which was fun because it was completely different from Laloux. Raza is very modern and tiny, seating a max of only 24 people. In all there were only 4 people working in the restaurant: 2 for the front of the house and 2 in the kitchen. Since neither Ted or I had ever done a tasting menu with wine pairings before, we opted to do the 7 course tasting menu. The wine pairing was a good decision because all of the wines were from South America, and we were not familiar with a single one! It was a super novel, fun menu. The foie gras here was far from as good as that at Laloux, simply because the chef was trying too hard to make a neat presentation; foie gras is so good on its own that he was doing too much to it. After a dinner of ceviche, fish, foie gras, duck, beef, a pre-dessert, and a dessert, we were stuffed!

Sunday was mostly devoted to the race, though we did get a simple Italian dinner and a few drinks downtown. Although the Grand Prix was over, the downtown was still crazy. It was amazing to see how huge of an event the race was for the entire city, with several downtown blocks closed exclusively for F1 parties. There were concerts and boothes everywhere you looked, and it made for fantastic people-watching. We sat at an open-air bar that overlooked the street, and it was highly amusing to watch the passing traffic. We truly saw all types, from women dressed like prostitutes to old couples.

With the race over, Monday was our day to really explore Montreal. Our day began with a visit to Schwartz's Deli, a Montreal landmark. I had read online that it is considered a sin to order anything but the smoked meat sandwich, so that is what we both went with, and it was great.

We walked our lunch off with a long walk to Old Montreal, which has less of a European feel than Old Quebec City, but still feels very old. We wandered in and out of shops before winding our way back to the hotel for a nap.

That evening we headed to the Dieu du Ciel microbrewery, which was recommended by our friend Dave. I really enjoyed two of the beers I tried, one brewed with hibiscus, and one a vanilla chocolate stout. I'm pretty sure Ted liked them all!

This pretty much concluded our trip. I will, of course, have to do one more entry devoted to the Grand Prix itself, so that will be coming!

Quebec City

Fresh after arriving in Quebec City.


Ted got acquainted with one of the locals.


We saw this cute kitty in Old Quebec.


The Frontenac.


This street performer was a hit with the kids.


A view from the Citadel.


Ted fit right in with this fresco in Old Quebec.


The famous Frontenac.


A window in an old tower.

Of course I thought I would end up doing some blog entries while we were in Canada, but we were constantly out and about, so I'm only now getting to the updates.

We started our trip by flying into Montreal. Arriving late, we got a couple drinks and a sandwich at the hotel bar and called it a night. We picked up our rental car and made the 3 hour drive to Quebec City last Wednesday, where Ted had made reservations at a B & B. If you ever need a place to stay in Quebec City, we highly recommend this place. It is in a super convenient location, within walking distance to Old Quebec City, and the woman who runs it makes a killer breakfast.

With limited time in Quebec City, we did not waste any time before heading out to explore, walking to the old part of the city, which is fantastic. We were starving and had no set dinner plans, so we ended up just picking this place. We finished our first night at the Irish Pub Galway near our B & B, which featured a fantastic cheese plate.

As I mentioned before, Isabel, our hostess fixed us up with a breakfast (breakfast is followed by dessert) that left us without appetites for hours, which gave us lots of time to walk around and explore. We headed to Old Quebec again, and made a quick visit to the famous Frontenac. Lunch was a picnic of cheeses, bread, salami, and lemonade in a park recommended by Isabel.

Dinner for our second, and final, night in Quebec City was at another place Isabel recommended. Chez Victor is a local favorite, featuring gourmet burgers. Ted had a duck burger that he said was fantastic. It is far from just a "burger joint." We found our way back to our Irish pub after dinner to finish our night. Isabel's breakfast the following morning was the end of our stay in Quebec City.

An update on the Montreal portion of the trip to follow...

A few photos....

I may be biased, but I have one pretty kitty.


After an hour of walking a couple days ago, Hitcher chose to lie down in a flower bed, rather than opting for the soft grass.


HItcher, like me at Hood, was having a hard time with our new-found heat!

We're packed (mostly) and head to Montreal first thing tomorrow morning. With any luck, I'll do a couple blog entries during the trip.