http://www.b4h-whistler.org//blog/1765594-b4h-fundraise-ride/

Come ride with me!

The time has finally come for me to do something with the Whistler chapter of Bicycles for Humanity. I have wanted to do this for some time now, but you know how it goes: busy schedules… Anyway, on June 22nd B4H Whistler will be holding a fundraiser ride. It sounds like it will be a blast, but I will again miss out due to race schedule, this time I’ll be in Quebec taking another run at the Canadian title.

So, because I can’t make it out on the fundraiser ride, we decided that every person to enter will also be entered in a draw. Five names will be drawn to do a group ride with me the following weekend, (when I am actually in Whistler for a few days!).

We’ll get out on the road and talk about training, about racing, how crazy the peleton is over here in Europe, and how the fans are even crazier! I’ve been racing past several hundred thousand each weekend, and there are some crazy ones! When it comes to things cycling and travel related, I’ve learned  a few things over the past 15 years.

As an extra bonus, I’ll be bringing along a signed jersey for one of the lucky five riders to head home with.

Ultimately, this is a small way in which I can take part, and I really hope you all sign up, and bring along as many friends as possible for the Fundraiser ride on the 22nd. It is for such a great cause, and the folks behind it have put in a lot of effort to create a really great day.

Can’t wait to meet the winners!

Will

http://www.b4h-whistler.org//blog/1765594-b4h-fundraise-ride/

The last 2 months: I’ve lived in 3 countries, (visited others) caught 8 flights, slept in 15 different beds, got in 10 days racing, 8 days at training camp, bought a car, rented 2 different houses, operated in a foreign language, spent 45 min in the back of a police car, and probably did a bunch of other stuff, but that part of my brain is hurting from trying to remember all this. 

The countries were Canada, (winter) Spain, (sunny spring) and Belgium (winter revisited). As for the racing, it’s been a bit of a lackluster start. At training camp I was ripping, but haven’t quite found a rhythm in the races just yet. A few good days, but nothing to write home about just yet. My schedule this year has a lot of bikin’ on it, so there is plenty of time for things to come right on the competition front. Right now it feels like the race season is only just beginning.

The team is split into French and Flemmish speakers, and for the moment I’ve been rooming with French guys. I’m working on mon francais, which is vastly improving, but my flemish on the other hand… fritjes anyone?

The car is coming from Germany and we are still waiting for it to be delivered. Luckily I have been able to borrow wheels from the team in the meantime, thanks to Devos Renault for that one!

Finally the police car: Right now we are living on the edge of a tiny little village, they are doing construction on the main street (only street) and have decided to make it a one way road for a couple days. I drove into town yesterday from a side road and turned on to the main drag which evidently becomes a one way during certain times of the day due to construction (this town has about 100 residents and there is no traffic.) About 50 Meters later I am stopped by a cop standing on the side of the road, he has 2 other cars stopped in front of me. After waiting a half hour for him to deal with the first in line, it’s my turn. I had to sit in the car and tell him my life story, get the 3rd degree, and pay 150 euros cash! (I didn’t have that much cash so did a little cross training and jogged to a bank to get the cash) I tried to talk my way out of it but good luck with that one! I’m still not even convinced there was a sign from the side road I came in on, but that was pretty far from this guy’s area of interest. Pretty sweet little afternoon that one was.

Aside from that, Belgium has been good. Tasty fritjes and baked goods, bakeries are absolutely everywhere! It is definitely winter here. I think I’ve seen a high of 4 degrees, and most days are around 2. The weather really isn’t that bad though, people complain about the rain here, but we are from BC, and our idea of a rainy day is a torrential downpour for 24 hrs, so a foggy gloomy day here really isn’t half bad when you can stay more or less dry.

Our house is great; super bright and warm with a wood-stove, and it even comes with an insane kitten that tries to steal my dinner.

I’m glad it’s so cumfy because I now have two whole weeks in one
location. Same bed for two weeks feels like a holiday!

Racing in France we had 2 nights at a really nice hotel in the “Natura” part of town. Swimming pool, sauna, a lot of sexual themed artwork in the lobby and restaurant.

The hotel also had rules: No Bathing Suits Allowed! (Seriously)

We discovered that the Natura part of town is a full on nudist village. This explained the artwork and the abundance of spa themes. It was freezing cold though, so not a lot of skin on display for this visit.

Life in Spain: Washing my bike in a fountain by the entry to our apartment.

Life in Belgium: “Ours is the scary horror movie looking house at the end of the lane”

Since we are literally living in Flanders Fields, there is no shortage of war memorials.

The part I find amazing is how many of these memorials feature CANADA on them!

A sunny day at the races. Jumping on the bus and taking a shower after a hard day in the saddle: Priceless

Time to check in from Europe and my new team Accent Jobs Wanty.

It may be the middle of winter, but the season has begun: On Jan 2nd Shani and I flew over to Europe. The first stop was Belgium. I met some of the staff on my new team, picked up the new Carrera bike, and spent a full day at the sports hospital doing all the requisite UCI medical testing. I am now declared fit to race a bike for another year! We had a few days to visit some friends and Shani met with her new team also. She was loaded up with new gear, and pleased to see it is run by some great people, and of course, sponsored by a Belgian beer company.

After stop number one, we caught a quick flight down to Girona where we have a nice little apt right in the old town. Girona feels comfortable now, crazy how these places all over the world are beginning to feel like a second home. Shani got settled in, but for me, it was again only a couple days before I was picked up and drove another 600 km south to team training camp in Benidorm. It’s a tourist hot spot, but this time of year is off season. Cheap hotels, great roads and weather reaching over 20 degrees! All this all means that half the pro teams in Europe have training camps in the area. It’s pretty easy to forget that it’s the middle of winter.

That was until this morning when I flew back up to Belgium one more time. I was looking out the window at a Europe covered in snow! I’m here just for 1 night for our team presentation. It is quite the event they have set up, taking place in a stadium with a DJ, drummer. lots of flashing lights and loud music, just like bike racing right?. Seeing the snow reminds me how happy I am that I have just under two whole weeks ahead in Girona. Two weeks in one place to just train and not travel seems like a real treat right about now.

As for camp, it was really great. Being a foreigner on a team is new to me. In the past I’ve ridden with Canadian and US based teams, ie, English speaking. Now the challenge is to learn French and/ or Flemmish, and fast. I roomed with Vogondy, a Frenchman, and in the 8 days at camp my French is coming back to me, but still a lot of work to do. The team is a really good group, the staff are all pros, and we got in some great rides. The last couple days we opened it up with a 209 km ride, followed by some intensity the next day, where we split into 2 groups. One group got a head start and the 2nd group would chase em down. My group caught the one we were chasing! It’s always a good way to build some camaraderie. One language everyone understands is riding hard.

Now it’s time for me to go put my face on and get my picture taken here at the team presentation. Lots of hands to kiss and babies to shake out there.

               Training camp in January, hotel on the beach!

Half of the squad, finishing off a day at camp with a bit of motorpacing.

Two of our soigneurs showing off some SiderTech at camp. They were visited by reps from the company and given instructions on the magic blue tape.

Staf is one of the first to try the SpiderTech and he’s sold.

Preparing for the team presentation, way too much excitement for me to handle.

Heading out for a ride in Benidorm, “no wait, let me get a picture”

The trusty steeds await.

Upon realizing December had already begun, Shani and I decided we’d better get up to Whistler for a family visit. The last few months have absolutely blown by, and we now have less than a month to go before heading to Europe. We’ve been packing a year worth of logistics into two months, all in order to get ready for the next adventure, as we won’t be seeing much of Canada in the coming year.

With time a wasting it was great to take a few days to see the family. We got out for the annual Christmas tree chopping excursion. This time we hiked right from the house, and it was snowing/ slushing the whole time. We navigated a creek crossing where we had to throw the Winston the dog across, (maybe he’s smarter than us, because there was no was he was going to cross that cold water) we hiked/ bushwhacked up a steep hillside, found the perfect trees, then slid on our bums down the side of a cliff to get out of there. It was all in good fun and we got the bushiest tree I can remember. It looks like a farm tree! (Don’t worry, we only cut them down under the hydro lines in areas that get pruned no matter what) We also got 3 other trees for the neighbors, really helping out “the hood.”

My mom’s birthday was last week, and since it’s still slow season, some of the restaurants in town have their specials running. We did a belated birthday dinner at Araxi, which was unreal. A 5 course menu: Shani and I had the duck. Living in Abbotsford I regularly ride my bike past the very farm where the duck comes from, good looking meats!

My dad is now in the used car business, and he often has to get to Squamish or Vancouver to pick up vehicles, and bring them back to Whistler to sell. So on Wednesday he did the full on day: he was up early, slayed the powder on the hill, got home by 11:00, just in time to head out the door with me on the bikes and ride to Squamish. He picked up a car and continued on his work day, I kept riding and ended up riding back to Whistler in a full on blizzard! Nothing like a road ride in a snowstorm, next time up I think it’ll be time to break out the skis.

The visiting was awesome, but didn’t last long enough. We had to get back to Abbey. Shani has exams this week, and I have to keep pounding out the miles. This semester has been nuts, seriously, all she does is train and study!

The Europe plans are coming together, it’ll be Spain for Jan & Feb, then up to Belgium after that. I can’t wait!

The happy tree chopping family returns. Look at that tree on the left!!! 

Heading out for chilly one with the old man. The sun was almost peeking out.

The sun didn’t come out, it’s dark and stormy now, it only snowed more and more from here on out. Good times!

By now it would be safe to say my article is sufficiently “out there.” In the days following it’s publication I was truly amazed at the response. It has been overwhelming how positive and supportive people have been.

When I wrote the article, my daily routine consisted of waking up to the sound of the CBC. For a few weeks they were regularly featuring news surrounding the “reasoned decision” Lance Armstrong case. I would get up, eat breakfast while listening to the news and checking my e-mail, and then immediately get into the day’s discussion. It doesn’t take much fuel to get the morning debate rolling here on the farm. Ricky loves to argue/ debate, and Shani is currently in a course titled: Sociocultural Aspects of Sport. We are all three cyclists, and between us, there is no shortage of discussion.

So the forum has been open, debate/ yelling/ laughing/ solving all the world’s problems; combine this with some encouragement from mom, and I was led to put a few ideas down on paper. (By paper I mean on the computer, as I don’t think I am actually capable of handwriting anymore).

To make a long story short, after having it sit on my computer for two weeks, I finally sent the article into a friend at The Vancouver Sun. He said he’d pass it on to his editor, and they’d get back to me before moving forward. The following night I received an e-mail saying “thanks for what you’ve written.” The e-mail was from someone I didn’t know and seemed like junk. I didn’t really put two and two together at first, but in short order I had received literally hundreds of messages, all along the same line. The article was published, and people were reading it. The comments have poured in from others who are also frustrated with doping in the sport, people who want to see it improve, people who have been afraid to publicly say how they really feel. It was overwhelming the amount of support I received.

What this all has led me to believe is that we are right now in the midst of a profound shift in our sport. I really and truly believe we’ll look back in ten years and see this time as a turning point. I’ve felt very pessimistic about the subject in the past, but at the moment I’m in the optimist camp. Things are unlikely to ever be perfect, but I am seeing so much energy pushing us all in the right direction, that it can only be positive.

So here is my opportunity to say thank you so much to all of those who have been so incredibly supportive. With this momentum behind us, I think (hope) we’ll hear from many more clean professionals, fans, and sponsors alike, all moving us in the right direction. 

The Article:  http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Whistler+cyclist+Will+Routley+says+competitors+used+PEDs+aren+just+cheaters+they+criminals/7502237/story.html

I know it’s fall, but today felt like winter training. It is definitely cold out, and even though I finished my ride at 4:30 PM, it was already dark.

Today was one of those days that makes me love riding a bike, I cranked up the tunes, put my head down and hammered out a 5 hour in the Fraser Valley. The roads were empty because of the holiday, and I just put in one of those solo missions I love so much. It’s really one of my favorite parts of being a bike racer.

We have had an awesome break in the rain this week with a cold high pressure system sitting over the valley, but all good things must come to an end, and today was a last chance opportunity to ride and stay dry.

All day long I could see the storm heading in. I could see it dumping snow off in the distance, the mountains slowly getting gobbled up by what is likely to be a week-long downpour. It was only about 3 degrees in the valley today, so it’s currently dumping snow on the mountains, and just pouring rain outside our door. I managed to pull in the driveway literally as the heavens opened up, so I don’t think I could have timed it any better if my life depended on it.

Sweet sweet training roads. If you look closely, you can see the cut line heading up the mountain, that is the Canada/ USA border. Extreme security!

I haven’t blogged in awhile. As my room-mate would say, I’ve been too busy “Living the dream.” The last few months have been spent enjoying the wonders of the off season:

Hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, hitting the gym, starting a cycling development fund, writing a cookbook, watching as doper after dirty doper get busted, having never ending heated debates regarding said filthy dopers, visiting long lost family members, mountain biking, going to weddings, watching as my team decided to cease operations, frantically searching for a new team to ride for, selling off a boat-load of old gear on ebay, raiding the garden of our neighbor Erna….. This list could go on awhile, but suffice it to say, the dream is alive and well.

My race season ended a bit early this year. And with September being BC’s driest on record, I ended up having a full-on summer holiday. It was totally awesome!

Shani is back to school at UFV, so we decided to move back in with Ricky Federau for one last hurrah on the farm. It will be sold in the new year so this is the last taste of chicken farming life. That, and the last taste of the tomatoes, plums, pears, apples, blueberries, squash and salad greens that his mom grows. (she lives next door)

My mountain bike has seen some good use. It’s always nice to change it up and spend a little time on the dirt. I have had my butt kicked by my dad Tony, by former ripper Ricky Federau, and by current ripper Neal Kindree. My butt is sore, but it’s been a lot of fun.

Try as I might, I’ve not had much luck in the fishing department, catching my first trout on a fly rod was a blast, but the salmon haven’t been as productive. We even got out on the saltwater with my dad and Nels, but we got skunked. Instead the old guys just feasted all day, they brought enough food to last us a week! The sun was shining, so it was a great day nonetheless.

The hunting has been better, Jeremy and I got out for our annual trip and had success. Fresh wild deer liver was on the menu here on the farm last week, and Max the dog couldn’t have been happier with those leftovers.

In the team department, it was a a pretty tough blow to hear the news with team Spidertech. No racing next year meant we were all in a bind and searching for a new team. I am happy to say that the search is going well, and I will blog again in a few days with the full report on that front. For now I think it is safe to say I’ll be spending a lot of time in Belgium next year.

The doping news is frustrating to say the least. I’m in the process of an article on this subject. To Summarize my thoughts: I am pissed off. I don’t think the punishments are sufficient, and I am sick of hearing how these guys “have contributed to the sport.” The fallout of their crimes is very far reaching, and I really wish they would either leave or be removed from the sport so they could finally stop negatively affecting my life.

Shani and I hosted both our families here at the farm for Thanksgiving. That was our first turkey dinner event. It was a blast, we did a hike, had dinner, and even had a little fire in the backyard after.

In the past few weeks I’ve been back to a bit of a training schedule. It feels good to be getting a bit fit again. The rainy season has arrived here in BC, but I have managed to ride every day during the little breaks in the weather, so I’m doing well so far.

For now, there is the re-cap. More juicy stuff to follow. 

    The family on Sumas Mountain. Thanksgiving and it’s hot and sunny!

                 Nels and Tony. Are we fishing or are we feasting?

                 Camping with Luke. I discovered he’s a pyro. 

              Camping with Shani. I already knew she was a pyro!

      The things you see when you go camping in the middle of nowhere.

           I guess I had some fun suffering in the desert of Utah

Back to racing in the US of A! I haven’t raced in the states for quite some time and it was a lot of fun to be back. I forgot how many friends I have in the US peloton, after a couple years on the North American circuit one can meet a lot of people, and this past week felt like a reunion of old friends.

It also didn’t hurt that we went out and won our first UCI stage race at the Tour of Elk Grove in Chicago. It was a full team effort, we were able to control the race for 3 days and came out on top with Frank in the yellow jersey. It was a real treat to get back to racing with team SpiderTech after a month away from the guys.

After the high of winning in Elk Grove came more highs in Utah, but this time it was in terms of elevation and temperature. I quickly went from feeling strong as an ox in Chicago, to suffering like a dog in the desert of Utah. The temp was over 40 degrees every day, and coming from sea level meant the elevation certainly didn’t feel pleasant. Fortunately the rest of the roster had been preparing at altitude already, and were more adapted to the conditions. I just put my head down and suffered, and did the best I could as a team helper. Simply keeping the guys fed and watered is a non-stop job, shuttling bottles and ice socks from the team follow car back up to the guys. I honestly can’t believe how many bottles of drink mix one person can drink it conditions like that. We had another good week, had Lucas finish in the top ten overall, and hopefully gained some fitness out of the deal.

Now I’m back home, and after a brief rest will be out behind the scooter hammering out some motorpacing sessions. Summer in BC is great!

Bike racing is tiring

Don’t forget to sign in before the race!

Team meeting time, it’s always good to go in with a plan.

Caleb took a tumble, fortunately he wasn’t injured, but his clothes on the other hand, didn’t fare so well.

Summer has finally hit BC, and just in time for Superweek. The week of racing is actually 10 days long, and it’s where most of us local pros got our start. It may be several years since then, but racing at home is still a great time.

The halfway point was last night, with the famous Gastown GP. The folks at Global Relay have their office right on the course, and they decided to get involved in a big way, bringing the race back after a 5 year hiatus. It was an unreal night, I would say the best edition I’ve ever seen. 

After a busy spring campaign in Europe I was pretty cooked, and took a nice little break these past few weeks. It was much needed, but it also means the legs are hurting for Superweek. Hurting in a good way of course. I’m using this week to support the local race scene, build up the fitness again, and just feel the love of racing my bike. It’s pretty special to do races of this level with such great competition right here at home in front of our friends and family.

It’s just Ryan and I racing this week for SpiderTech, so we have our work cut out for us, but so far it’s been great. The fitness is already creeping back into the legs. Somehow I’m getting better as the week goes on.

It was hard to sleep last night after all the excitement of Gastown, but tonight we’re at it again in Burnaby, then off to the Tour de White Rock for the weekend. It’s one of my all time favorite races, and the place where I got my first big victory.

With all the time Ryan has spent on the podium this week I’m feeling like I’d better return the favor this weekend. I’m always glad to see him tearing it up.

Getting back into shape in Delta!

My Swiss adventure ended early, and in some ways in was over before it began. I spent the 2 days prior to the race with a nasty fever, and in the end the illness got the best of me. I tried as best I could, but on day 4 of the tour I only made it half way, stopped at the feed zone and that was that.

So now here I am at grandma’s house in Ontario, home early, and resting up in advance of the nationals next weekend in Quebec.

All I can say is good luck to the guys still racing, it’s such a cool race, great that the team is racing at that level, and I am anxiously checking the online updates to see how the guys do.

Until nationals next week, it’s an opportunity to visit the family in Ontario, eat massive amounts of asparagus fresh from the local farm, and enjoy a change of pace, training on some different roads in the Belleville area.

Delirious Swiss Time Trial