Canada Day

Today is Canada Day, the country's independence day. As with the Fourth of July in the States, it is a holiday: the government and most stores are closed and Canadians take family vacations or hold neighborhood block parties.

This is the second day that Phil and I have been in Vancouver. We've settled into our friend's (Gabrielle Kissinger, Greg Kehm and sons' Quintin and Sebastian) wonderful home in the Kitsilano district and had a dose of local culture and cuisine. After assembling our bikes and confirming they hadn't taken a beating during air travel, we went downtown to Granville Island, a market of of agricultural and artisan goods. Listening to street music, we sampled sweet kale from a farmer in Squamish and browsed traditional instruments produced by some of the 20 First Nations that inhabit BC. We bought fresh eggs, locally-picked strawberries and chocolates filled with lavendar and pink grapefruit. We observed the making of wood-carved totems and tasted seafood seviche at a restaurant overlooking the inlet.

From most viewpoints, infrastructure stands out as icons of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Looking towards downtown, we could see buildings the hosted the athletic teams of different countries. Looking north towards the mountains, we could view Cypress Bowl, where much of the skiing events were held. Gabrielle and Greg had attended the Olympic nordic events and said it was an awesome experience to witness the speed with which skate skiiers could glide uphill ("faster than I could ski downhill," Gabrielle, said - which is not true given her skiing history, which included the Canadian Ski Marathon).

Later that day after sampling a green tea chai - its pepper had me sweating - we saddled our bikes for a spin along the shore which had us looking North over the inlet towards Howe Bay. That is where our journey will begin on Saturday, when we take a ferry at Horseshoe Bay in North Vancouver to Nainamo and then a bus to Cumberland. We spun past towering Douglas Firs and Western Red Cedars, as well as triathletes preparing for the Vancouver Half Iron on Sunday.

That night, we went to eat at Pear Bistro, a fantastic restaurant that Greg described as a BC specialty. We were not disappointed with local elk, prawns and wild "salmon candy," (some sort of caramelized and cured delight). While sampling a pinot noir from the desert region of BC, our server told us that the wine was taken care of by the table in the back of the restaurant. We turned to see folks from West Point Cycles, a local bike shop we had visited earlier in the day, who called out "..to a good race!" We were blown away by their friendliness and enthusiasm, which they had also shown earlier. This act confirmed our perception that Canadians are incredibly nice people, or at least everyone in Vancouver was that we have encountered so far.

The next morning we set out on bikes for espresso touring. We first hit a place around the corner which claimed to have the gooiest cinnamon buns. We won't argue with that as well as how well a double espresso washed it down. Later on the ride, we hit the 49th Parallel Roasters to sample the Piccolo Latte. We had been introduced to their delicious roasts the day before when Greg produced a series of double cappuccinos with perfect creme from his kitchen using their Epic Espresso beans.

Mid-day, we went to registration to check in our bikes and pick up information. Again, uber-nice people took care of us. We met the bike techs, Obsession: Bikes, which brought me relief knowing that there would be mechanics waiting at the end of every stage. Just that morning, Phil had given me a mini-review of the mechanicals I might encounter along the way. I'd also reviewed the mandatory gear list with diligence.

Back at the house, Gabrielle accessorized herself with a gorgeous Trife with Summer Fruit (with perfect custard) for the neighborhood block party and we wandered to an adjacent lane that blocked traffic by the presence of a bounce house (Quintin and Sebastian had already been there for hours). We met spirited Canadians who cracked dozens of Dungeoness Crab with gusto, and sampled tasty dishes and a local microbrews called Phillip's Blue Buck.

It has been amazing to take a break mentally and physically from biking and the race, and just let the days unfold, eating good food and being good tourists. The last weeks and months have been fast-pasted, structured and to-do list driven. Although packing tonight got my head in the game a little bit, it was the best race prep I could have done to enjoy some very interesting surroundings.

It made us feel not so far away to do Facetime with our kids and my parents, as well as Skype Phil's parents. Austin and Carson were goofy with the technology - they wanted to show us rocks they found today or point the camera at the dog or make funny faces. The only real comment they made was that they want Phil to win first place and me to take second. We'll see what we can do :) We've also adored Gabrielle and Greg's sweet kids, Quintin (almost 8) and Sebastian (age 5). It was inspiring to see them into celebrating Canada Day (Quintin was the first one up this morning to work on red maple leaf signs for the day). They've also shared their Star Wars lego ships and Pokemon cards, which make us feel right at home.

Tomorrow, the journey begins. Our endlessly generous hosts will take us to North Vancouver. We'll check our bags and get the skinny on race details at a mandatory meeting. Rumor has it on www.cyclingnews.com that there will be a few sections within stages that are timed and mostly downhill (glad I took the downhill clinic at Sugarbush last week with Mountain Moxie).

Come back for more!