Vuelta De Costa Rica

Here are a couple links to follow the rolling gongshow known as the Tour of Costa Rica which I'm currently racing with the Canadian team "Tour de Quebec".

Race Website:

www.ciclismoenvivo.com

Costa Rica Newspapers

www.aldia.cr

www. nacion.com

Video:

www. monumental.co.cr

Hello Canada, Goodbye Canada.

I have been back to Canada for 10 days now and have come up with my Christmas wish list.

1. Fly to Costa Rica

2. Race my road bike for 12 days against Latinos on "special vitamins".

3. Rest on the beach

Don't get me wrong, the past 10 days in Canada have been great. Returning to Canada is always great. There's just something about riding bikes in Canadian weather for 5 months through the winter which my body doesn't like. This has caused a seasonal migration south for the past 3 winters. I may have to get this dealt with at some point but for now I will follow the strange outside force which sends me down to central america each winter. I really can't complain.

Too make things even sunnier down there I will be accompanied by my girlfriend Lilla this trip. She has been a huge support for me throughout this past racing season and will be helping our team at the Vuelta de Costa Rica which starts up this friday. It is clear that she is only allowed to put in as much time helping as she puts into sun bathing on the beaches.

If you look up the word Vuelta in the dictionary it will say "see gongshow". After racing it last yr it became clear some of the racers in it have "special" forces for the race and ultimately it leaves us clean eating Canadians a little off the back. For this reason I will be looking at this race as a winter training camp in Costa Rica. We do have a strong sprinter in Jean Michael Lachance which we will be trying to get a stage win for before the race hits the mtn slopes.

Tommorow Lilla and I head down to Seattle to catch a flight south. Flying out of the states is alot cheaper and it allows us to hit up some cheap shopping while the US/Canadian dollars are at par. Right now the mind is still spinning from getting back from NZL but I'm sure Costa Rica will help settle it down. Goodbye Canada! Thanks for the past week of good food, hockey games, wet rides in Victoria and long sleeps in fresh Canadian air.

NZL Bike Tour part 2

Part 2 of the NZL bike tour turned out to be more then I bargained for. Lesson learned, sometimes when 12 different people give you the same advice about what can't be done they are right. But then again sometimes they are wrong. Either way I got turned around 80 km into the adventure which changed my plans for the coming days and put me in a much different location then I planned to be. Luckily I'm in NZL where there's usually another paradise around the corner. The days that followed the lost mission ended up being some of the best yet. If any of you ever wander over hear make sure you check out Kinloch lodge and the surrounding wilderness. There is a reason the Lord of the Rings was filmed hear.

Yesterday I returned to Queenstown for another couple sleeps and had the best day yet in NZL with a bike/hike mission. Today was a little different as I road 1.5 hrs into the bottom of a deep valley, ripped a sidewall in my tire and then hiked 3 hrs back to town. You win some you lose some...

Tomorrow its back to Christurich to visit my Kiwi mates, Jeff and Karen for a couple days before another endless summer will come to an end. Thursday the crow flies back to Canada!