2013 Valley Gran Fondo - The Phamlee Edition!

This year I once again took part in the Valley Gran Fondo but was joined, kind of, by Chelsey. While I did the 162km route Chelsey and her friend gave the 50km route a try; Chelsey has only had her bike for a week and her friend for a month so it was pretty cool for them to give it a go - it helped that Chelsey won a free entry through work!

By all accounts Chelsey had a good ride, they told me about the enjoyment of the ride, hanging around the rest stop and checking things out - they clearly were not concerned about beating a specific time! On the other hand, I was trying to beat my time from last year which I succeeded at doing! Last year I completed the 162km route in 5hr 31 min and a few seconds and this year I did it in 5hr 16min and a few seconds so I whipped 15 minutes of my previous time which I was pretty stocked about.

But much like last year I hit a pretty big wall and struggled at the end. Last year I lost my mojo with 60km to go and this year I lost my mojo at 120km with 42km to go. I felt like I was going to puke and was cursing my bike telling myself I would never do it again. But, once I finished and rested for a bit the feeling of completing it and beating my time of last year helps erase the bad memories on course.

Also, last year I beat the family to the finish line but this year everyone was there and it was pretty cool to see the kids there when I crossed!

For those of you who like to look at data, Dad I am looking at you, I have embedded my Garmin data above the pictures below. If you are wondering about the time difference, the Garmin data does not include my stops for water where as the "official" Gran Fondo time is from when I cross the start line to when I cross the finish line aka "chip time"

Up next I have planned to do Ryder Hesjedals Tour de Victoria in September but will see how much I ride in the next month and see how my head is before I officially sign up for that, stay tuned...But for now, I have posted some pictures of the family from Sundays ride below. Enjoy...

Third Annual Tuc-el-nuit lake Trip

This week is our families third annual trip to Tuc-El-Nuit Lake. Just to provide you all with a re-cap, we stay at The Lakeside Resort in Oliver and it is the same place Chelsey went to as a kid and the same place her Mum went as a kid, now we are taking  our kids and they LOVE IT...so do Chelsey and I!

Historically I would do a blog post everyday but I have not done that this year as we spend most of the time hanging out at the lake and there is only so much I can write about that. When we first started coming here we would take day trips and stuff but we found that the kids, and us, had so much fun at the lake we didnt really need to go anywhere else; I didnt even take my golf clubs this year as I dont want to miss an afternoon at the lake.

On the Sunday morning Kyah and I went to watch the lead groups of riders in the Axel Merckx Gran Fondo ride by, then we hung out at the lake and went to Tickelberries for ice cream after dinner. Monday we hung out at the lake and today we hung out at the lake. Today though was the sand castle competition and the kids and I made an awesome canoe. Below are some pictures of the past couple of days and I am sure Chelsey will have more on her Facebook. I will try and take some more pictures over the next couple of days but for now this is all you get! Enjoy...