Carl and Denise's Wedding

Well, they finally did it. After dating for 12 years, Carl and Denise got married on Saturday at a gorgeous winery just outside of Napier. The theme of the night seemed to be "Good things take time" which seemed fitting being at a winery. The weather was great and it didn't start raining until we were inside for dinner. Denise was gorgeous and reminded me of Snow White with her jet-black hair and red lips. Really, she was stunning.
Bryce looked very handsome too, as Best Man and gave a very good speech. It was a great night and it was fun to catch up with everyone. I really like the pic of Bryce and I when the photographer Anita, caught us laughing in between poses.

Tour of Waikanae 2007

So Bryce completed his 100KM mountain bike race in good form last weekend. He was dry retching at the 65km mark but came right after some food and some good distraction from some friends. This weekend he competed in a team relay called the Motu Challenge and completed a 70ish mountain bike ride. So his training is going well.
Today I did the Tour of Waikanae which was a lap race of 25km and you had your choice of doing 1, 2, 3 or 4. I did 4 and completed 100km in 3hr:46:46. I even had a sprint finish with another guy so I definitely had some energy at the end. I think I have sorted out how to eat properly for these long races and that made a huge difference. For Robyn and any other racing geeks out there, I spent 3 hours above 80% of my max heart rate, my average was 27.1 km/hr, (but was 27.6 for the first 50km) and I burnt about 3000 kcal! I am thrilled with my ride and pretty happy with the amount of training I have been doing, so it makes it all worth it. The only problem is that the Taupo race is 60km longer and has many, many, many more hills (considering the race today had only 1 hill). The results showed that I came 8th female overall for the 100km and 6th in my age category. Pretty happy really!
It was a massively windy day so it was nice to have the tailwinds at times to rest in (even though the crosswinds and headwinds were pretty exhausting). Mark and Rachel each did 50km and they enjoyed the challenge as a good prep for the Taupo race. We still have over a month to go before the ride so I better get moving. More training to do!
Next weekend, Carl and Denise's wedding!!

I think he might be missing a few screws.....

Well, we are off this weekend to Rotorua yet again, to "challenge the forest" to Bryce's endurance, or the other way around..... This is a crucial part of Bryce's training for the 2 laps of Lake Taupo at the end of next month (320km on the road). Like I said, a few screws might be missing.....Truthfully, I am very proud of him and think he'll be thrilled at the end of this season with all he has accomplished with his body this season. It will make him ready for a Canadian winter full of lethargy and eating!!
So here is a link to the copy of the map of the race course for Sunday, 100km on mountainbike trails. It won't mean much to many of you, except for the fact that it is obviously very long. Wish him luck!! Not looking for a place....just to finish!

http://www.n-duro.co.nz/series/evcmaps.php

P.S. For those of you who were worried....it's warmer here today!

CK is cold!

I am sometimes reminded that New Zealand is not the tropical set of islands that many Canadians think of when I tell them where I live. And today is one of those days. I am not sure exactly how cold it is outside, and its not nearly as cold as a Canadian winter.....but when you are expecting it to be Spring and you were wearing flip flops and t-shirts the other day, you don;t expect to have frozen fingers while typing at a computer! I think its worse knowing that my friends and family back home are experiencing an unusually long summer with gorgeous highs of 30 most days.... At least summer is around the bend. However, Bryce and I will be back in the full of winter since we are going home to Canada for Christmas! Ah well, the things you do for family!