Since last August I had spent a total of 3 weeks at home in Victoria BC. It has been epic, lots of great times overseas, a bit of time up North in the patch working and then also a week visiting mom in Jasper. Every once in a while you need a break though, some time to kick back and spread your belongings out. A chance for some home cooked food and good old Canadian past times like watching Hockey night in Canada or some Beavers build a dam.
I had big plans to hit the ground running when I returned from Australia but my mind and body had other ideas. Landing in Canada on May 6th it was off to Kona USA to pick up the new rigs and visit with the Bellingham based Kona crew. On the way back into Canada I learned a lesson on importing goods. I must of had a four leaf clover stuck to my shoe as the border guards gave me a get of jail free card on this one. All I can say is don’t monkey around with the Border dudes as they are clever and have the power to run your show.
From here my body had the full meltdown and I spent a few days holed up in my Condo in Victoria trying to battle out the jet lag and a drained system from pushing overly hard the past few months. Luckily I escaped without being overcome by an emerging sickness, in big thanks to a diet of garlic, apple cider vinegar, oil of oregano and vitamin C. It takes a while to bounce back from these long trips overseas and I’m slowly becoming more accepting of this although it can be a bit depressing going from the highs of travelling and racing back to normal life. 
Having the past 3 weeks in Vic has been stellar, a little side trip up to Barrier to visit my Dad and Eileen to ride horses around one weekend was a nice break from everything. They spend there summers in the backcountry camping and exploring around the mountains with there horses which is super rad. Getting to tag along once in a while is always a treat.
Also in the mix was a fun race up in Cumberland, part of the Island Cup Series. This is the grassroots of mountain bike racing and what this sport is suppose to be all about with a chill atmosphere, BBQ’i ng, great single track courses and good company. Other then that the days have been full of getting my Canadian life back up an running, a bunch of good training, and some good chilling out at Nourish Café. The boys down at Russ Hayes bike shop helped get the new rigs dialed in and are always around there shop sending off good energy into the cycling world. 
Every time I come back to Victoria I appreciate it more and more for being a perfect place to call home for a bike racer as this town has everything an athlete needs and then some.
Next up on the schedule is an emerging Canadian mountain bike classic called the Nimby 50 over in Pemberton this weekend. It’s only in its 5th year but has quickly gained a reputation of being one of the most technicaly demanding and fun 2 hour races around and quickly sells out its 400 spots. It starts with a 100 switch back climb up a mountain, followed by an epic decent, eventually finishing
up with a flowing 40 minutes through rocky rough terrain to the finish line. All capped off with a solid after party-BBQ on a country farm. Canadian mountain biking is a thing of beauty as the courses we have out here on the west coast are second to none! Can’t wait for this one.