Recognition to those who made 2011 a wicked year!



Juvederm Specialized Mazda - the growth and memories gained from my experiences of 2011 will forever be a part of my cycling career- of my life- that I will cherish.  To have experienced all that was, the highs and the lows, I am so very grateful for. 

The dawn of a new season brings change.  And as such it's time to update my blog.  Maybe I'm a bit sentimental, but rather than forever deleting those who so generously made 2011 possible for myself and my JSM team mates, I would like to "publicly" take a moment to speak to the companies who supported the team, who believed in what was possible from the  union of two regional teams in what was the creation of Canada's first UCI women's team in many years.  To me these logos represent some outstanding behind the scenes people who, in the face of their respective brands, believe in sport, in women's sport, in the individual athletes and in all that is possible when a likeminded group of individuals focus their energy on a common goal.

The amount of energy, time, resources and passion brought together to create the team and the 2011 season was tremendous, probably much more than you or I can actually even grasp.  Our 2011 successes were a direct result of that.

Without the tremendously generous support from Juvederm we wouldn't have been able to put gas in the tank of our mazda 5 team cars or register for the races!  Thank you for supporting women's cycling- a sport which exposes our faces to countless hours of sun, wind and weather resulting in more skin 'character' than is timely.  Juvederm smoothes wrinkles and refreshes your look.  So which JSM team mate was the poster child?

   



Specialized- your brand is dear to me.  My first road bike was a Specialized m2 comp w down tube shifters.  Before that I had a Stumpjumper which I had the opportunity to ride in exchange for dogsitting for a summer- that was possibly when my love for 2 wheels really began.  As your brand has evolved I've had the opportunity to race on several of your road and TT bikes- you just keep getting better.  The 2011 Amira S-works bikes you provided us were incredible!!  Women's specific design built to be raced.  The equipment you so generously provided us allowed us to compete with the best! 
And all the other Specialized bits- helmets, shoes, saddles, etc are second to none!!







Zoom Zoom!  Thanks for the amazing mazda5 team cars!!  There's no question, we travelled in style... and comfort!  What a luxury to have brand new, super practical team vehicles.  The mazda5 seating design is brilliant: stow-away 3rd row seating and sliding side doors in a car.  Clearly mazda employs some top-of-the class auto engineers.  Either that or they've experienced tight parking lots and grocery store excursions that begin with 2 passengers and end up with 6!!



Your belief in sport and generous support of both JSM as well as individual athletes (of many sports!) is outstanding!  On behalf those you have, and continue to impact, Thank You!! 

Eload, you fueled us for thousands and thousands of kilometers- from Arkanas to the heat wave in Philly; from Walla Walla to Sweden with many a stops in between.  There were no cramps.  And I now personally know how it feels to have a drink mix that does not upset my stomach!!   I wonder how many Kilojoules of eload the team consumed during the season?  I suspect the number would be staggering!!  Thank you so very much!!

Georgie- we loved your kit although I do think that whomever the girl you use as a fit model needs to lay off the bicep curls!  OK, maybe I’m just jealous I couldn’t fill out the upper arms!

Our precious Amira’s thank you for your well designed bike racks- ready for a bike change in the flash you never let us down!



 

Great cycling socks and superb compression socks- thanks for taking care of us pre, during and post race and training!









The next time you're faced with brand choice, support those who support women's cycling!  Without the generosity of the people behind the logos there would never have been a 2011 JSM Dream Team!

Ciao,

MoJo

January Training Days: Train Hard, Eat Well & Create Purpose in All That You Do

As the post title implies, January is a focused month, a time where the hustle and bustle of the Holidays is past. January brings a certain space in the life of a cyclist for attention to all aspects of training.  For me it is always a welcome time of the year.  There's a certain freshness with each New Year, an openness and intoxicating sense of optimism.  January 2012 sees me being able to focus on training 100% as my off-season stint of real-world career work has passed in the whirl-wind it was.  The pace of life has again slowed to that of my 'athlete life'.

January is also a time of overload, a time to start stressing the systems again.  And then recovering just to do it all over again.  It's a fascinating and intriguing process and from my endorphin-jacked state, I can honestly say I love every moment of it.  I am supper happy, and thankful, to feel healthy and strong which was not the case last year.  In fact, in all my years of racing, I feel better than I ever have at this time of the year.

Below are a few snippets of my past week of training.  This year I will spend the entire month of January training from home which does have its comforts, even if the thermometer reads a little lower than I'd care for it to and there are days where the roads hide beneath a blanket of snow, necessitating training in the garage on the rollers.

View from the 1st lookout on Cypress, looking over UBC toward Vancouver Island.

Same location, ,but looking east toward Mt Baker.  As it was our third consecutive day without rain, or snow, the air is a bit brown.  A little scroungy, but still a nice view.

2 degrees, fine for the climb up but a wee bit nippy for the descent.  I'm happy enough training in 2 degree weather though as long as it's dry and I have my hand and toe warmers stuffed inside my mitts & booties!

I noticed this along Broadway on my way home from my Lion's Bay, Cypress training ride.  Checkout the sign in the window-  oh yes, I love Trader Joe's too!  We don't have Trader Joe's in Canada but clearly this place is either owned by a fellow TJ's-loving-cyclist or some other like-minded Canuck.  The sign is enough to get me into their shop for sure.  Too funny.

A Biju Thomas & Allen Lim inspired quiche with bread crumb crust.  I of course took a little creative license on the recipe but did follow it pretty closely - the end product was amazing!  I received a copy of The Feed Zone cookbook for Christmas and although I haven't trialled many of the recipes yet, I'm looking forward to doing so as the pages are filled one great idea after another.  Next up are the rice ride-waffles.

Happy New Year!!

Thanks for checking in,

MoJo