Springtime on the Island

Victoria is an unreal place to train in the springtime. The last few weeks have been full of local races, exploring new roads and trails and finding out just why this place is Canada's cycling capital. Former Canada Cup racer, Carter Hovey, showed me a whole new side of Victoria when he took me up on the highland xc trails. I've ridden my xc bike over 100 times in Victoria, always at the Hartland Dump trail network. What Hovey showed me boggled my mind. There are months of exploration ahead, apparantly the "Dump" only makes up about 10% of the trails around Victoria. Super stoked to get out there to get lost in the future.

The races have been solid. The Island Cup XC series out here is probably the funnest race series in Canada. 80% singletrack courses, solid rider turn out, BBQ's, super laid back racer attitudes and $20 entry fees bring us all back to why we started biking in the first place. Last week in Cumberland was no exception. The race was fast from the start with Stefan Widmer (Rocky Mountain) and I gapping the field early. I had a good legs and could set the tempo up the climbs but Stefan is an unreal bike rider and would constantly gap me on the singletrack. In the end the best rider won on the day, not by much as I came in 40 seconds behind. Good times for sure.

The local VCL (Victoria Cycling League) is a solid series as well with weekly wednesday night road races on 2-3 km road loops out in the countryside. I had a 2 race winning streak going into the race last night but was outduelled by Nic Hamilton and Marcel Arden, both riders coming off strong rides at the Walla Walla in the States including Hamilton's victory. With a strong field I decided to set the tempo by attacking at the gun. Didn't work out. Ended up 5th which was solid considering I'm training for Marathon races and rode 6 hrs before the race. This weekend is another Island Cup race upisland in Parksville.

The other night we had a small dinner party in Victoria with homemade Veggie burgers and Chocolate Moose. Below is the Chocolate Moose recipe, courtesy of Canadian Ski Mountaineering Champion and fellow Jasperite Reiner Thoni.

Good for You Chocolate Moose

4 ripe avocados
1 cup coconut milk or almond/rice milk
1 cup cocoa powder
add sweetener to taste of your choice. Agave nectar or real maple syrup makes it smooth and healthy. Bannas or dates are also great but not as smooth. Stevia is another all natural, no calorie sweetner option as well .
1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla seeds

Method

-Put all the ingredients into a food processor, or a blender, and blend until smooth.
-If it is not sweet enough add more sweetener and if consistency needs adjustment add more avocados to make it thicker and water or milk to make it thinner.
-Next, place in a bowl and put in the fridge for 1 hour. Keep in mind when mixing ingredients that it will firm up in the fridge.
-Serve with fresh fruit to enjoy this guilt free treat!

Loaded with healthy fats, antioxidants and electrolytes it not only tastes good but it feels good to eat!

Nice Work Reiner!