More XC racing

Another Tuesday night race at Kincaid last night for me.  Overall I'm pleased with my performance.  I foolishly hadn't tightened my seat bolt up enough so ended up completing the last 1.5miles stood up which was tiring (See photo below), I also missed a turn on the final section of the course which was really dumb.  It definitely helps to have a good cross country bike, the Fatbike just wasn't cutting it, roll on the next race, 24hours of Kincaid this weekend!

End of lap one feeling good but tired

Stupid Nick forgetting to check seat bolt

Once again I am thankful for all the people who support me whilst racing, especially Amanda who looks after Fiona during my races I really couldn't do it without her.  Also a huge thankyou to all the people who helped get my bikes over here you have made this racer a little bit faster if only in his head.

GPS track of the route, includes heart rate data to see how hard I was working.... ignore the 200+ figures they are not correct but for the most part I was maxed out.

Getting out of Anchorage..... if only for one night.

The weekend of the 24th to 27th May is Memorial day holiday here in the USA.  For us that means Amanda gets a Monday off work (Bank holiday for UK people)  Being as organised as we ever are in the Blades household we hadn't realised this was sneaking up on us.....

With a lack of planning comes problems like me not booking time off from work (I work Sunday's) and not being able to find a place to stay.

Late last week about the Wednesday night we finally managed to come up with plan of what we would do.

Friday evening I would spend some time racing my bike up one of the local hill climbs, the race was part of a weekend race series but at least I would get to test my legs out on one of the longer hill climbs in the local area.  
Saturday morning would see us head up the road to Talkeetna about 2.5 hours away.  While in Talkeetna we would ride the Huricane flag train and take in some of the town once we returned, we would stay overnight in Talkeetna and return to Anchorage Sunday morning so I could sell some bikes.

Pretty much everything went to plan. The train ride was a huge success.  We actually saw Mount Mckinley (Denali)!!!! This is a pretty big deal, as most days of the year it's shrouded in clouds.  Also seen were Moose, numerous birds and we even got to see what an Ice Jam looks like.  Fiona was awarded a "Golden Spike" - really just a genuine used Alaskan Railroad spike - by the conductor of the train for being such a good kid on the trip.

We stayed at a local B&B up there called the Meandering Moose which had a really nice atmosphere, so much so we have booked to stay there again with Grandma and Dennis when they visit in June.  We had dinner at Twister Creek Restaurant  which was really good, Amanda had the brownie for dessert, and claims it's the best one she's ever had in her life (can't be that good, Nick had to finish it for her).  Although we had to leave too early on Sunday to get breakfast at the Talkeetna roadhouse we brought sticky buns back to Anchorage with us and they were enjoyed by all who got to have some (especially at work).    

Here are a couple of pictures from the train journey.

Turn around stop at Hurricane

The train

Train and Mount Mckinley

Train Shadow at Hurricane Glutch

Mount Mckinley

Ice jam next to tracks

Ice Jam

Saying goodbye!

6 months in and it seems the snow has finally gone.

Amanda, Fiona and I have been in Alaska a little over 6 months and it seems spring has finally arrived.  We have arrived in a record breaking snow season though not for snow amounts.  2012/13 had a snow season that was 232 days long (Measured from the first day of snow to the last day)  And if anyone is wondering that is a long time and even I am getting pretty fed up of the snow now :)

Apart from the snow season what else has been going on since I last gave an update on here.

Amanda has managed to run a chipped sub 30min 5km race so is super happy.

out on the course

Amanda and I have joined a cycle racing team (Revolution Racing) which is going to be really awesome.  I have already been racing a couple of times with them (10 mile time trial and a hill climb) and have been well and truly beaten.  I am slowly building up my riding volume to get to somewhere near the level of cycling fitness I had before I left Denmark. I am hoping that by riding my Fat bike with slicks on the hill climbs when my road bike finally arrives I will have big power advantage, well I can hope can't I :)

Fat bike vs Road bikes = Nick losing race

In other news I am no longer only a stay at home dad!  I am now working at a local cycle shop (Paramount Cycles) selling bikes.  This is a lot of fun and I am learning a lot about bikes and  finding the right bike for the right person.  It has been a bit of a shock to have adult conversations again bit I am slowly remembering how to do it. 

Our sad news for this blog is that Ron our intrepid rescue cat from Colombia is no more.... he never returned from one of his adventures outside and by the time we got to the rescue shelter he had been put to sleep. :(  Two things are really frustrating about this, one it was our next door neighbour who took him to the shelter and two we never thought to go to look for him at the shelter.  Susan is now microchipped though and has become a much friendlier cat since the demise of Ron.  RIP Ron 

On a happier note, Fiona has finally figured out how to ride her bike and it would seem how to knock people over also :)

The days here are getting really long, 20th May 2013 Sunrise 05:00, Sunset 22:54 and still a month of getting lighter for longer.  On the solstice we can expect Sunrise at 04:21, Sunset 23:42 and I have been informed that the afterglow even here in Anchorage means it doesn't really get dark :)   I am looking forward to it.  There is also a 24hour Mountain bike race on that weekend so we shall have to see how this all works out with the arrival of Grandma and Dennis.  

Lastly I'm going to leave you with a picture from my ride today, not a perfect shot as the train only says ALASK.  but that is more down to my poor timing rather than what is actually written on the train.  Hope it gives some of you an insight into how lucky we all feel we are to be able to live in this wonderful state. 

Another fun packed weekend

The weekend of the 22nd February was a busy one for all of us up here.

Saturday morning was spent at the Fur Rondy or "Rondy" as it is know locally.  The origins of this festival come from when the trappers used to trade furs.  It is now self labelled as "North America's biggest winter festival."  From reading the paper and what we saw of the festival it seems pretty big,

At the Rondy on Saturday we saw a parade and some sled dog racing prize money for the 3 day event is $70,000 which is not to shabby.  On the 2nd March the ultimate dog sled race (Iditarod) will have its ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage.

Here are some pictures of the sled racing from the heart of Anchorage.

Following the Rondy we headed back home to relax a little before Amanda and I got ready to go racing.  We had arranged to have a baby sitter so that both of us could race and then out for a meal afterwards.  I am sure I speak for both of us when I say we had a great time.

The course we rode is normally unavailable during winter months as it was on ski only trails.  Once again Chain Reaction Cycles here in Anchorage came through and put an a superb course, though not all of it was rideable it was fun to race and since it was only a 30min race that meant flat out the whole time, half the course was a run with bike half ridable, guess it's good I have been practicing pushing things while running with Fiona. I managed to get 4th place :) Results

Sunday morning was spent with a nice walk to the local shops to pick up a few essentials for dinner  then since Amanda kindly agreed to look after Fiona so that I could go riding again (no if, buts or maybes I have the most amazing wife ever!!!)

The ride on Sunday was on a permissive trail for winter use which the state park is assessing its usage to potentially open it up fully next year.  Although part of the route was more hikeyourbike rather than rideyourbike the route was still fun and once again I got to see some trails I wouldn't want to ride first time on my own.  Thanks to Paramount Cycles for hosting the ride. 

Going up looking back to Anchorage

Looking back along the trail

Regroup point after unridable section, me in blue jacket

Route
Finally today we went to see some of the snow sculptures put on for the Rondy.  Link to ADN images
My images, are not quite as good :)

The force is strong

Killer Whale

Fiona wouldn't stand near this one or have it behind her for a photo

Hi Mum

A frozen river and lots of wind

Last week I managed to get to two ASS (Abominable Snow Series) races.

The first event (ASS #4) was on Wednesday night  (Yes another night race Pam) at the local trails to my house, some might say this would give me a local advantage though I have definitely not been riding there enough for that to have an affect yet. Fiona and I picked Amanda up from work and then dashed to the races, we were running a little late as Fiona need to pee at Amanda's work, why is it little ones always need to pee when you are in a rush.

We got to the race and I got ready as quickly as possible before rushing to sign on.  The race was a one lap ride for me and I did really well, I managed to finish 5th in my class or possibly 6th depending on if they got the timing right. results are here The course was fun and took in the multi use and single track trails at Hillside area.  Since it had been snowing that day there was about 3-5inches of fresh snow on parts of the course which lead to some very interesting racing.  I am pretty sure I had too much air in my tyres as people were riding and I was pushing, once again I am still learning a lot about riding on snow.

As it was a race I didn't stop to get any photos but Amanda did get this snap of me getting ready.

Getting ready

The next race I got to go to was ASS #5.  This was being held at the Friends of Eagle River Nature Center which is in the Chugach State Park.  Biking is not allowed in the State park and for this race the organisers had to apply for special permission to ride.  The course was a 10mile loop however 2/3 of the race was on the frozen Eagle River.  As if riding on ice was not hard enough nature was playing its part with some really strong winds, how strong, a couple of points I had to walk/run as the wind had blown me off my bike.  It was also balmy warm 42F or 5.5C which meant that the snow was soft and the river was not quite fully frozen :-0

Riding a frozen river

The race was really good fun and I learnt a few more things about snow riding, mainly don't have a frame bag on when it is that windy as it turns your bike into a sail.  Thanks again to Amanda and Fiona for being my personal cheering squad.  Nothing makes you pedal harder than having people you know cheering for you, well maybe being chased by Zombies but I've not encountered that yet.  Here are the results  Finished a lowly 19th but at least I can say I was there, I even managed to do two laps and I know some riders dropped out after one. 

Here is a great shot Amanda took of me as I finished the race, I was completely shattered at this point.

A very tired Nick

Garmin files of the two races