September 26, 2006 Summer's NOT gone! Cheakamus, 'cross, BBQ, Andrea's coming, JB's first race, animals! Okay, I need to make this quick, because I'm picking Andrea up from the airport soon, and I know when she's here, I won't have any time to update. We have lots planned, including some sightseeing in Vancouver, hiking, a fantastic road trip and more! I hope the bear who has been frequenting our garden will visit while Andrea is here. She needs to see at least one bear! He's taking time to smell the flowers! We've had quite the wildlife activity in the last little while. Not only the bear and the deer, but also the sap suckers (woodpeckers) have been visiting. Hellooo up there! Could you keep it down, please? And the beavers... This is either Frank or Gordon, working on his dam in front of Jeanine's family's condo at Whistler. In other news... A couple of weekends ago, Jenny, Chris and I braved the slopes of Mt. Baker in Washington State. We rode our bikes from Abbotsford, all the way to the ski area on Baker (plus a 15-kilometre detour, just 'cause 150km wasn't quite long enough)! It's approximately a 150-km round trip with 40km of climbing to get to the ski area. Sounds like fun! It was beautiful and sunny when we left Abbotsford. In fact, it was nice all the way up to the base of the mountain. Then it became overcast and a little chillier, but we didn't really pay attention, because we were nice and warm from climbing. Finally, at Heather Meadows, just a couple of kilometres from the top, it started to rain. We stopped, put on our rain gear and contemplated turning back, but we were SO close. "We can make it up," we said confidently. And we did make it up, but we forgot to consider making it down. It was driving rain and hail at the top and we quickly got soaked and chilled. Partway down, we had to turn around and head back up, because we were so cold. My hands were numb and hardly able to pull my brake levers. My body was shaking so hard, I couldn't hold my handlebars steady, and my lips were blue. Great. Going up felt so good, because I started to warm up, but it was so bad, because I just wanted to get home and going up meant we were going in the complete wrong direction. We finally managed to get to the bottom unscathed and we stopped at the nearest cafe to warm up on coffee and soup. Mmmmm! Jeanine, the bike racer! This past weekend, Jeanine did her first bike race ever! Yay Jeanine! It's about time you went and got it over with. Jeanine has been hanging around bike races and bike racers for years and years. She even knows more about the sport than I do. But she had never actually bit the bullet and pinned a number on. That all changed Sunday, when she lined up at West Point Grey Academy in Vancouver with the Women's C Group and suffered through a cyclocross race. Way to go, Jeanine! Lisa and I are so proud of her. Jeanine smiling nervously before the start of her FIRST RACE EVER. Sandra, the bike racer! Yeah, yeah, we all know I'm a bike racer. Yada yada yada. However, I raced twice this past weekend. Saturday I placed third in the Cheakamus Challenge mountain bike race and on Sunday I was fourth in the Giant Cyclocross Series Race #2. Check out my race reports. Me sharing the podium with Alison Sydor (hero material!) and Trish Sinclair!