Beer Mile 2010 Penticton

What a Performance!! Jeff and Wade threw it down! Here is a little video to help explain. I hope to participate next year and break my personal record of 14:50*.





* I can't hold my liquor at all.

GW

the first flakes!

There was a buzz in the air yesterday at school. It was snowing! You know when kids can't do anything else but look out the window, that was yesterday. Fortunately, I had a strong coffee yesterday morning that made me bounce off the walls too so the energy was there! (I think I was more excited than the kids!!) When I finished up at work I dropped by the Bike Barn to say hi to the crew and then I went home and waxed my skis, in preparation for a ski this weekend!
It was been a good fall, I did a few xc races and was happy with my running. I did Provincials in Aldergrove and came 17th out of 22. It was a frickin' hard course, 5 loops and 3 significant hills in each. I ran 40:48, a slow time but the winner only went 33 mins and he can run around or under 30 mins. Plus, I felt great!! That night I went out in Vancouver with Sam and his GF Katherine as "Allan" from the Hangover. Awesome times!!
Turns out, the hills or the dancing did in my right calf. I ran a few times after BC's but pulled up lame walking up some stairs at school. I'm currently on the mend and taking it easy. I would gather that this is the best time of the year to be injured, so it's R&R right now.

I can't wait to ski!!


GW



ps: yes that is a " man-beard"



** Correction to a previous post. Thanks to DBD (was TBD), ADB, and KBD. :)

Socialization

We saw "The Social Network" the other night and I've been thinking about it all week. I've spoken to a couple of my classes. About what a friend is, how we communicate or rather how "they" communicate and what it means to be a friend to someone.

The more we (my classes) talked and the more Katie and I talked about it, the more questions we started to ask. For example, what will happen to society in 5 or 10 years or even 50 years when the teenage generation doesn't know how to talk to other people?

They can text to each other across the room or while sitting/standing beside each other, but they can't talk to each other in person. I don't think it's facebook's fault or textings fault - people passed notes to each other for a long time. It's not even the kids fault,(I sound like my dad saying that) really its no ones fault. But, eventually we need to connect with people in person. Think about the most recent best night or day you've had. I bet it was with a person, not sitting in front of a computer.



I think I better go watch the first karate kid (thanks Chris), then Jerry Mcguire.


GW

A little inspiration!

We'll it's been a whirl wind of a couple of weeks! I have a great posting at Pen-hi teaching Math and Science. I'm also helping coach the cross country team! We have 31 students running cross country and a few of them are absolutely flying! We're looking for big things! I stumbled upon this video, If anyone finds this cheese in Penticton, let me know.



GW

Summerland Triathlon

So this past weekend I decided to race in my hometown of Summerland. It was an amazing day all around.

The day started with the 5-7 year olds. They were so inspiring, they had to do a 50m swim, 1.5km bike and a 500m run. I was amazed at the sheer determination and how much fun most of them were having. Albeit there were some tears but after some sympathy from a mom the kid got going again.

I remember my first triathlon, I think I was 7. I came dead last but it didn't matter, I had picked the most dandelions out of everyone and I won a Waterman pen set, which is still in my parents basement today. What does a 7 year old do with a pen set?

On to the race. I had a good/short dip in Okanagan lake and was out on to the bike.



I led for about 7km and was caught by Scott McMillan and Fraser Cashion eventual winner). We were separated by about 20 seconds. Coming into T2, Scooter led in and I followed, Fraser made an error on the last corner and got caught up with another racer.

On to the run, I was the first to get caught by the fast moving Fraser Cashion (him and his brothers can frickin' run like the wind -Braedon ran 36:22 at the peach Classic this year) He went past me and eventually beat me by 37 seconds, but the real race was for 2nd. Scott and I ran side by side until the short downhill into the last 300m of the race. I was confident that I could take him in the sprint as we had sprinted in a cross country race about a year ago and I had some good wheels then. So I led it out and put in a surge and then a final kick to the line. It was super fun racing and hats off to both Fraser and Scott. Great times!!

Check the photo out below. Oh yeah and that is thee Jeff Symonds in the background. What a grin... everyone loves a sprint!!





Take care

GW

Nationals - The exam

Yesterday was the National Triathlon Champs in Kelowna.

I'm going to preface this post with an analogy. Triathlon or sport in general for that matter is like school. You spend a lot of time and energy preparing for an exam, making sure there are no holes in your knowledge so that when it comes time to write a test you can handle anything the prof throws at you.

I felt like I had studied appropriately and was prepared, apparently I was studying the wrong material! This exam kicked my ass. Big shout out to the guys in the 25-29 age group, they were frickin' solid. Rob, Ryan, Ramzy and Clarke great races guys! I look forward to next year already!!

I had a good swim warm up, and got the position I wanted on the beach, far right with a straight line to the first bouy. The gun went off and I was smooth, I found Ryan Smiley's feet right away and felt comfortable. The swim went as planned, 19:40.

Out on to dry land, My wetsuit wouldn't come off, I think the zipper got caught up in my racing suit, then as I got it off by my bike my left hamstring cramped up nice and tight. I didn't want to let this phase me so I spent the first 10 mins on the bike stretching it out taking in some fluids and a gel. Meanwhile I lost touch with some fast cyclists. I salvaged the bike ride and got my legs back on the 3rd loop and got my mind ready to run fast. Just a point, Rob Eakin went past me like I was going backwards, it was awesome to see!

My running has been very promising lately. Through T2 I picked up my feet and tried to run under 40mins (which was my goal) The first 3km were tough but I found my stride for the final 7km. Just kept trying to build. I finished 13th in my age group, not good but I don't want to be a whiny little bitch. It wasn't my day. Thankfully though I had a bunch of fun still.
Next year I want to be stronger and it will happen, just gotta keep my stick on the ice.

I would really like to thank all the people that have helped me out this year. Andrew, Chris and Ginny from BPR, Will from the Bike Barn, Mark Kildaw, Marc Nicmchuk, and the guys that I look up to and am fortunate to train with DBD, ABD and KBD. I'm very fortunate to have all these people that help me out so much! Also to my girlfriend Katie for being a big supporter of my training.

Is it time to ski?


GW

Bacon and eggs

So this morning I got home from a nice run with Jill and decided bacon was in order. I figured Jordan, Jill's husband seems to do pretty well eating bacon so why couldn't I? So I popped over to T-bones and picked some up. It was glorious! I paired the bacon with fresh/ripe avocado and tomatoes and a couple of eggs.


Bacon and Eggs it's whats for breakfast!!

GW

A Review - The Local Lounge in Summerland

We went to the Local Restaurant in Summerland a couple of nights ago, it's about a 15 minute drive from Penticton and definitely worth it. This is a fairly new restaurant in South Okanagan, that prides themselves in serving local foods, meats, produce and wines.

Our roommate Dharma took us out and once again we were treated to a great meal over looking Okanagan lake. A couple of my best students were working that night, it's always fun to see kids outside of school. We were initially seated in a booth and then when a table outside became available we moved out on to the patio.



We started with some adult beverages from the Cannery and then went to order. I enjoyed the Cherry spare ribs with Jalapeno corn bread and asparagus.



Katie got the halibut and chips



and Dharma ordered the amazing Local burger and fries.




We didn't have to wait too long and the food was amazing. I looked at the ribs and the meat fell off the bones - absolutely amazing, Katie's Halibut could be described as coated in crispiness, not batter and fish but just a little bit of batter and a whole lot of fish. Finally Dharma's burger was juicy and full of flavours.
For dessert we ordered the Chocolate cake, it was baked fresh after we ordered it and had this really sweet raspberry syrup drizzled on it.



Between three of us it didn't last long.







All in all it was a great night, the service was really good, the food and venue awesome and the company great!

Enjoy!

GW

Peach Classic tomorrow!

Well, it's the Peach tomorrow! The town is buzzing and very busy. I'm super excited, there are lots of fast guys coming up from the coast so it should be a really competitive race.

Race report tomorrow!


GW

Ps: Still yet to hear how boy's night went last night? There was a lot of trash talk at Physio this week about the taber toss and golf ball catch. Can't wait to see the photos!

It's getting hot out there!

I think the movie says enough. GW

Famous?

I was looking on the YVR website today to see if Katie's flight had left yet and there was a cyclist on it and oh yeah, it's me!!?! Not too many Bike Barn Jersey's in Vancouver let alone on sweet blue Cannonadale's with a yellow Giro Pnuemo!!

Initally there is a picture of a terminal but if you click on the little arrow, there's me!!! HA!

That's gotta get me some free flights?!




GW

North Shore World Championships of the World!

I had a great race today! Here's a little video!! Congrats to Rob on the win!


Results


GW

Please be careful.

I got home from a hike with my rec leadership class this afternoon, to see a terrible accident in Quebec. Just speechless.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/05/14/quebec-cycling-accident.html


GW

Holy Gloves.

I've had these gloves for about 9 years. I got them before I went to Victoria to train for a summer, with the big boys. They have lived in Australia and riden around Europe. I had to lay them to rest today.

At least they were good for picking certain things.


GW



Race season is upon us! I'm stoked!!

Annual Waterman East Egg Hunt

Every Easter the Waterman clan comes together to collect those pesky little eggs, that get laid by the Easter Bunny. Every year it turns into a mad rush for eggs and then several well planned ambushes to get others eggs. My tactic is to wait for my little sister Erin to build up her egg supply and then attack! This isn't a normal attack, I get her to pull her basket away and then I kick it. Eggs go everywhere, I push her over and scramble for eggs. This would work well except for the fact that Sarah (my older sister the vulture) and her Husband swoop in takes them all while we are fighting. I always end up laughing too hard to win.

This year Katie and I lost with 24 eggs, Erin had 31 (minus the four I stole after the fact) and Sarah won with 34.

After the hunt my mom and dad prepared an amazing turkey dinner. I feel very fortunate to be able to spend time with my family.

GW

Easter Ride!

Four days off and 5 rides! Today Chris and I headed out to the Westbench in Penticton. I think it's called the Sepratist. Legend has it that a French Canadian made it. hmm.

"It'll be just around the corner.........."

Were the words from my esteemed riding partners. They were talking about the team car as we waited patiently. Dave had a flat, no let's be more specific than that - a pinch flat. Maybe ABD forgot to fully inflate his tires or it could have been what DBD said matter of factly. "People only get pinch flats because they are fat" At this point in the ride Tom let us in on a little secret - he had 4 cups of coffee this morning before the ride. pee #1.

We continuded on to Giant's Head the first climb of the day to be met by happy people hiking up and down and a 150lb grey Great Dane that decided to run with us as we rode up. This thing was HUGE! Very impressive and beautiful and it had a teethy grin the whole time. At the top pee #2 .

We rode back into Penticton to The Bench for a coffee and granola muffin. - that brings the count to 5 for DBD. We also proceeded to watch a family have a nice morning and see their son slouch over an iPod touch playing a game the whole time. It was time to ride. pee #3?.


Onwards and upwards we headed up to Spiller, above the Eastbench in Penticton. At the base of the climb DBD stopped to remove a couple of layers, oh and I think pee #4.

We passed the dump and the grade increased. I was just controlling my breathing and focusing on a steady cadence and spinning circles. At the steepest part of the climb DBD turned the screws just a fraction. What happened next is always a pleasure. ABD yelling a profanity and being dropped like 3rd period French. I went around him directly to Tom's wheel. We had a little battle to the top - I took a solid 2nd place, and we waited for Dave. pee #5.


All in all it was a great ride and fun as well.
Thanks for the ride guys.


GW

Post script - I think the best thing about riding is that your bike is always up for a ride, it never says no and wants you to ride it as hard as you can as much as possible even twice a day.

What makes an amazing sandwich?

Have you ever had a sandwich that was like..........damn! The other day I felt like having soup and a sandwich. So I had the stand by cloudy day soup - chicken noodle and I made a turkey sandwich on Squirrely bread. So what makes a great sandwich? Is it the bread? The veggies or the sauces? I think its all of the above, plus the process!

Firstly, the bread. Can't be dry or fall aparty. I like it toasted.
Secondly, mayo or ranch dressing.
Thirdly, put the lettuce on one piece of bread and the meat on the other. This step holds in any juices that may make the bread soggy in transport or storage.

Lastly, I put tomatoes and peppers and cucumbers in the middle.

Sounds pretty good.

the only other thing that could make it taste better is if someone else makes it!!



Take care

GW

reply from Samuel Kohen

ERRONEOUS ON MANY COUNTS!!!!! 1) This was the 3rd annual Kenny vs. Spenny hockey tournament. The score before this year was 2-0 for Sam. This year was the big upset year as Geoff - thanks to his high school students drastically improved his skating ability and has learned how to use his stick to hit the puck. It was a shocking upset that will resonate until next year when the rematch will right the wrong. 2) I don't appreciate the comments "on me being "Way bigger" or my lecture on "weight loss". I get the hint - I am out of shape! Everyone can now attest to this given the near cardiac arrest in the video. I will now hang my head in shame at my great defeat and binge eat until next year!


lol
Sam

You never know what you are going to get........

When you open a drawer in a guys bathroom.




GW

Spring break Extraveganza

Well, another Spring break has flown by! The first week my friend Sam and I headed up to Apex for our annual Kenny vs. Spenny weekend-o-fun. This consisted of snowshoeing up Mt. Riordan a couple of times, skiing and snowboarding, cross country skiing and of course hockey. Oh yeah there was some Call of Duty, beer, and amazing amounts of beef. Plus a sprinkle of unassuming snowballs! We started off with a snowshoe up Riordan, it was my great idea that we should pack our downhill gear up with us, it was good but a sweat fest. The second day we tried to go downhilling but visibility was atrocious! So we cross countried instead. Sam did amazing for a guy who hasn't been more than a handful of times. On Saturday we awoke to an amazingly blue sky and about 10cm of fresh powder. We got down for first tracks and possibly had the best snowboarding I've done in the past 10 years!! We got in about 20 runs and our legs were fried! (this was foreshadowing for the following morning where a mano-a-mano hockey match was scheduled).

A little background info, Sam is a better hockey player than me hands down. He's bigger and has has played a lot more. But......the rink is at altitude, I've been training for triathlon and cross country skiing, oh and my Rec Leadership loves playing hockey. On top of this Sam is studying for his final Med School exam, the big Kahuna!! Needless to say, we are 1-1 for two years. I won 5-3.

That afternoon, I went down to Penticton and got my girlfriend Katie so we could all go for a skate ski together. Once again Sam did amazing for his first time Skating. We made a little promotional video for his upcoming lecture on weight loss.




The next morning we went up to Riordan again sans downhill gear. It was way easier and gave me a chance to catch Sam off guard at the top with a snowball. The perfectly shaped snow projectile caught him in the back, not as good as last years "back-of-the-head-while-he-was-peeing" but still good. It was on, there were several near miss head shots and a couple of good body shots all in all I need to work on my throwing arm! It was a fantastic time!! I'm looking forward to next year already!! GW


Ps: I got consistently throttled at Call of Duty. Plenty of getting knifed in the back and not even knowing what had just happened!

happenings......

It's been a while since I posted something on the blog, but that doesn't mean that nothing has been happening!

Last weekend Katie and I and my sister Erin went to the Olympics. After a torturous drive on Friday night on the Hope Princeton we made it! The next morning after a drizzly run, we went downtown and hung out on Robson and took in the atmosphere! It was absolutely electric and I'm so glad we went, just to see the crowds and people from all over the world. For example we were on the bus heading down and a group of Russians began to sing hymns - only at the Olympics! I ran in to the Austin Horn and his entourage. I think it's always interesting to run into people who you read their blogs so you know what's going on in some facet of their lives. (that's another post)
I wish I had a few more days as it's hard to fit in everyone! Next time.

And now I'm on Spring break, a little too early this year but I'll take it. I started it off ambitiously. Tom and I headed out early on Saturday morning for Vernon. We competed and completed the Sovereign Lake 30km skate. I had a very solid final race of the season, I placed 12th and with in 11 minutes of the leaders. yeah they better watch out!

After the race we made our way back home. Not with out a couple of stops of course!! We stopped at Stussi's to drool over skis, then a glorious bite of bratwurst at Helmuts.





Not sure Katie would have appreciated the 42" LCD playing a video of how they make the sausages. Ha.

If you get a chance it was so good.

From there we made a last minute decision to have a beer at the Cactus Club in Kelowna. No explanation needed. Thanks for the beers Bri.

From the CC we headed to Fresh Air to drool over more skis. Good times. All in all it was an excellent day.

Then today Katie and I went for a run. She went for 90 mins and I ran for 30. The best 30 of the year so far, the achilles felt really good, I'm very excited to slowly be getting back into running. Then this afternoon was my first ride outside, just a high cadence jaunt to Crescent Beach in Summerland. Bring it on!!



Thanks for reading.

GW

Thanks again to Frank of Peach City Runners for the fast skis!!

Fantastic Friends, Food and Fun!!

Last weekend, a group of amazing people came upto Apex to have our Bi-annual gathering. People came from as far as Calgary and Vancouver, Summerland and Penticton! Katie and I, Daniel and Crystal, Meghan and Cam, Pam, Jonathan and Sarah, Amanda and Scott, Adrian and Hilary and Katherine and Link all came up for a weekend getaway. We were treated to Olympic opening ceremonies and mogusl, amazing food and great company. Here is a snipit of us going down Cannonball. There will be one more video to come of a showdown between Geoff (aka: David) and Adrian (aka: Goliath)

Thanks for a great time guys. See you for the Rodeo Wedding this summer. Oh we'll be seeing you all before that though!

GW

Overlander 50km!!

This past weekend I raced the Overlander 50km Skate race. It was a great day for racing. We rolled into Stake Lake Ski area to a disceptive -6 degrees and fog. Over the week I had been watching the weather and had already waxed appropriatly, thanks to Frank for hooking me up with some Black Wolf, I had quick skis!

So after a little warm up the race was underway. It started off hot as usual and I managed to not blow my whole race right at the beginning. At the first hill a group of 6 or so went up the trail and contended for the win. I was in the next group of 8 or so guys and we were rolling! A race was in the works! It was so fun to have guys around me and be drafting and actually have that feeling of racing. I had fast skis, I was catching guys way heavier than me on the down hills. Each lap the effort increased a little so that 1 or 2 guys would get popped off the back of the group. For me this happened around 43Km, I tried to go with another athlete but the call to the engine room for more power went unanswered. Not to worry, I finished and improved on my overall placing from 2 years ago. I came 12th and felt good all day.

The best part of the trip besides the race was hanging out before and after. On our way home we stopped in Peachland at a Restaurnt called The Blind Anger, http://www.blindangler.com/ to have some delicious burgers and fries. Fantastic location, great service and really good food. I will definatly go back there soon.

While sitting reminishing about the day DBD once again offered up some cash for me to jump in the lake. I wanted to, but since he and his wife just had twins, his budget for shinanigans has been reduced. I figured for a brown one I would have but a red one just doesn't cut it.

Here's a few photos taken by Kerry Vancooy.









Thanks to DBD for driving and Johnny and Al for the company. Also to Frank for the wax.

GW

This just in, a post race video!!

Hiring: Ninjas

So, today after school I whipped down to Penticton to pick Katie up from work. As I got out of the car I checked up and down the street for parking attendants (AKA: Frickin' Stealth Ninja's). The coast was clear..........or so I thought.

I popped in to KHK for maybe a couple of minutes. Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone by my car. I just figured someone was trying to steal my sweet ride. Nope, they were just giving me a ticket! The deed was done, I now owe the city of Penticton $10, not $35 because I will pay it in the next 7 days.

Here is the ironic thing, the windshield wiper that the FSN put the ticket under was the rear wiper that is on the front. I was driving along and my brand new wiper flew off. If I hadn't replaced the wiper would they still have given me a ticket?

Also, you would think that with the big'ole orange jacket that the parking ticket person wears that I would have seen him/her. I guess it's dark when they turn it inside out.


Watch out out there.

GW

Be safe out there

A friend sent me this tonight and I had a great laugh. It is a bit vulgar but it gets to the point. Literally.



GW

unfinished business

The semester is coming to an end, children are feverishly trying to hand in unfinished work yet they still try not to actually do any work. Now remember this is only some. Others, like the champions that they are have pulled up their socks and stepped on the gas! Definate shout out to them.

Speaking of the pulling up of socks, last year around this time I started a 50km ski race in Kamloops. Poor planning and a weak mind led to an uncharacteristic DNF. This Sunday is all about self redmeption. I don't plan on winning unless Steven Bradbury was my lucky charm, but I do plan on going out on the conservative side of my balance point and feeling great and given'r for the last 20km. I'd like to pass people on the last lap, not be passed. I'll let you know.

On another note, go to www.google.ca and type in "pulling up socks" 2nd row.


GW

mini-vans

Have you ever noticed that you only get pasted by mini-vans? I drive an 'older' Volkswagen Golf, 23 years old to be exact. The "Mobile" has a custom muffler that I didn't pay for but others would, and I go on average about 7-10% over the speed limit most times, except for in school zones. Here I drive 5km below just to piss the people off who don't understand why we drive slow around schools. Because kids think they are invincible. Now back to the mini-vans. My first question is why?

1) Parents are late because they had to get their kids ready.
2) Parents are bored of their existence so they get a rush by going 30km over with their kids in the car.
3) According to DBD, who is a newly-minted connoisseur of the mini-van, it's because they are actually a little performancy.

I'm no expert, a) because I don't have kids and b) don't have a mini-van but I think it's all of the above. If you dropped close to 40 grand on a mini-van you'd want to see what it has too.

Take care and slow down.

GW

Winterman2010

Yes, today was the annual challenge that makes your stomach turn and your "nacho" shrink. I'm talking about Winterman2010, this entails a long ski* and some sort of run or showshoe either before or after the ski. DBD, Jonny-O and I undertook this endeavour at 8:12 this morning. Tom stopped off at Starbucks because he was already worried about the impromptu "Grudge" match he would submit us to.

Once at Nickel Plate I waxed quickly and got going. We started with a Loppet loop(when I say we I mean Tom and I because Johnny-o took a short cut at the upper meadow - I'm just saying is all) A quick pitstop was made for refueling and then we headed off to Panorama, Buck's Trek, Winter's Creek, Motherlode and back for our 2nd refueling session.

We then went out to Silverside to get our 3 hours in. At the bottom of Silverside DBD, threw it down. A grudge match for the ages, approximately 6-8 minutes up Buck's trek. Johnny-o and I were given a minute head start. This proved to be a costly miscalculation by Evans.

I went out hard to demoralize Johnny, and to make DBD think twice. I managed to feel strong and made it to the predetermined finishline approximately 20 seconds in the lead and about 1 minute ahead of Johnny. I'm not tooting my own horn here, just saying that they both looked into their suitcases of courage and found there was none.

After we got in, I went home and they like the champs they are went for a 10km run, to finish off Winterman2010. Thanks for the great training day guys.

GW



*I didn't do the run, I only did the ski. Just so no one is confused.