Cactus Tales

Hello Gang-a-lang,

As the buttons on my keyboard are being pressed to the smooth rhythm of the Discovery soundtrack I bring you yet another peek into the life of an overworked boy who gets his kicks out of riding pedal bikes fast. The sleep bug is creeping into my thoughts after an epic 140km ride over gravel mountain passes so excuse my lack of creativity and pizzaz. National Team Camp has come to an end and a cycling legend has become a friend. Read on and i’ll take you on a journey...

For my stay in Tucson I am renting a room off a Lady named Val. Val is a boisterous, outgoing lady who grew up in New York but holds onto her Italian roots tightly. She has a narcoleptic/hunger prone son named Dylan. Together they are a family..haha. Dylan has a tendency to fall asleep on the floor or in the middle of doing tasks and it is for the most part a humorous event. No disrespect, he is a good kid. Also staying at The Palace of Greatness is a weenier dog named Lilo and two fellow Albertan cyclists. One Spencer Smithman (aka Papa Smurf) and the lesser half of the do-whop group Pony Patrol (or was is S Club Kelly?) the one and only, Kelly Hall.

For the first week or so i’ve divided my time between training rides with Papa Smurf and raving about the most glorious grocery store in existence. The Sunflower Market. The place has every fruit and vegetable known to man at ridiculous prices as well as an unreal bulk bin section. Deluxe meals are being concocted nightly and I am loving every bit of my Avocado a day diet. The giant box of Schwalbe tires has arrived and I am super stoked to be rolling on the best rubber available this season.

Tucson week two and three was consumed by the inaugural Canadian National Team Camp. This 9 day event brought together the countries top mountain bikers and U23 roadies. It was VERY kool to be able to ride with and learn from some of the best riders in the world (Max Plaxton and Geoff Kabush). The camp included 4 hour daily endurance training sessions followed by IST (integrated support team) sessions where we went over all kinds of top secret go fast techniques and strategies. Needless to say, I learnt a lot and had a TON of fun.

The National Team rides included the best single track Tucson has to offer as well as some solid tempo/threshold sessions up the infamous Mt Lemmon. Post training activities included hot tubs, Chipotle burrito’s and the meeting of the legendary Grey Wolf. Grey Wolf is a man who is banned from all group rides and refuses to conform. He still shows up to the weekly Saturday morning shootout where he acts on his motto “Attack the Pack...then duck in”. This man is a danger to himself and everyone remotely close to him as he attacks into on-coming traffic and gets just far enough up the road to get out of sight and then he “ducks in” behind the nearest cactus. He claims to have never been caught. Grey Wolf rolls with fully custom homemade clothing, a unility belt complete with Oreo cookies, milk jugs and a cassette tape player and of corse a do-rag instead of a helmet. Attached is a Grey Wolf interview.

Also making headlines is the confirmation that I will be competing in the Pam American MTB Championships on April 10 in Guatemala with the Canadian National Team. I am sure this will be a really kool experience.

Keep on keepin on!

CC

Grey Wolf Interview Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX4bjOTsarA&feature=related