It's Time for a Break

Yes it was finally time to take a week off work and relax. This year Amber and I decided to spend a week in Penticton given that we weren't able to ride in the Tour BC due to scheduling issues (Bon Jovi- which Amber said was totally worth it).We love Penticton and spending a week out there in the beautiful weather relaxing on the beach and riding our bikes was a perfect way to enjoy our holiday. I left for Jasper on Thursday night with Harley and we waited for Amber to meet us the following day. It was nice to have the morning in Jasper and Harley and I went for a great 80 minute trail run up to Pyramid Lake and back. If you've never done that trail I would highly recommend it, one of my favorite runs that overlooks the town.
Amber arrived at noon and we started the long journey down to the mecca. Other than a little air conditioning issue with Amber's vehicle the drive was perfect, gorgeous scenery and warm weather... finally. We spent the next day picking up our race packets, walking Harley, laying on the beach and riding the bike course. We were both racing the Peach Classic, I was doing the Olympic and Amber the Sprint. It was a great race although I wished I had done less training during the week leading up to the event and I really wished I had swam more. It was a struggle to get through the 1500m swim but and I didn't post any blazing fast times out there but it was a lot of fun to not have one person pass me on the bike or run. I ended up finishing a very ordinary 20th but I was shocked to hear that it was good enough for 2nd in my age group, cool.

The rest of the week we spent a lot of time on our bikes riding, 80kms Monday, 165kms Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday off and 90kms Friday. It was great to do the IMC course and we saw a lot of other athletes out there, if I'm not doing Ironman this year it was such a great feeling to fly down to Osoyoos, struggle up Richter and over the rollers, feel a little better on the way to Karameos, hurt up Yellow Lake and coast back into town. I will miss doing the race but I had my run up Lakeshore Drive during the Peach Classic and it didn't take 10hrs to get there. It was a great opportunity to spend some time with Amber she has been so busy lately that it's been tough for us to connect but I really felt relaxed and happy all week to have her and Harley there. We capped off the week with a hilarous float down the canal with Harley and I in the same boat and Amber in a floaty tied to us. It was hilarous because Harley wouldn't sit still for long and we spent half the time trying to calm him down. Back home now and although we always feel an incredible affinity with Penticton, GP is home and we are both happy to be here.