Nationals-2009 Best Nat’s Ever

Starting the blog up again.  I’ll probably post again in a year or so.  Keep checking back.

Here is how my Nationals 2009 went. 

-flew to montreal
 
-watched, “I Love You Man” and it was funny as heck
 
-got rental car
 
-drove 5.5 hrs to St Felicien, QC, got in at 430 am
 
-slept in late
 
-pre rode the course with Bobbin’ C (Cody Canning) and Geoff Kabush rode with us a bit and he called me fat and I called myself a dump truck
 
-went for supper.  Mike’s.  It’s a QC chain.  I had the BBQ chicken pizza.  Don’t do it, read on.
 
-team meeting.  It was decided that I am a the coolest.
 
-feeling a bit bloated now
 
-feeling pretty bloated now
 
-bedtime
 
-stomach is angry and feeling nauseous now
 
-uh oh, find a bucket
 
-puked and green apple splattered about 10 times throughout the night
 
-last puke and dry heave at 9am…it’s amazing how much puke can fit in a dump truck like me
 
-pre race meal-a corn flake and a headache
 
-drove to race course
 
-warmed up feeling awesome (sarcastic)
 
-start line, everyone was mellow and nice (funny how relaxed the elites always are)
 
-start….bang! 
 
-last place
 
-moved up to 5th last
 
-got to the first steep hill
 
-it looked like everest
 
-couldn’t push my legs hard enough to actually move up the hill
 
-moved off the trail and felt shame
 
-dnf’d
 
-watched a bit, thought how I want to be fast nationally next year, it’s going to happen
 
-packed up
 
-drove 5.5 hrs back to Montreal airport
 
-hr 5 of driving, huge crazy mofo of a rain storm (it was on the weather channel news) and I was scared
 
-drove for 1 hr more in Montreal rain storm looking for a gas station that was open….none were open
 
-bagged the heck out of the rental car
 
-return of rental car
 
-stood in line at rental car office
 
-listened to 2 ladies trying to return a car that had a flat tire
 
-the desk guy said their car was from a private owner in Toronto and he couldn’t change cars
 
-the ladies were really angry and thought it was the worst day ever in life
 
-they complained a bunch more
 
-lady 1 dropped her change purse and it went all over the place
 
-she almost died because she thought it was her worst day ever in life
 
-lady 1 noticed I had already been waiting patiently and it had been for over 30 minutes
 
-lady 1 suggested to me that my day must not be as bad as hers
 
-I updated lady 1 with my trip up to that point
 
-lady 1 looked beaten
 
-lady 2, and desk guy also felt sorry for me
 
-after 30 more minutes lady 1 and 2 figured out their rental car problems
 
-back to my car problem
 
-desk guy said it will be 150 bucks to fill it if they do it
 
-I went back out and found a gas station and filled up
 
-returned car 1 hr late…he didn’t charge me a late fee and was nice to me
 
-went to the Tim Horton’s in the airport for a bagel
 
-ate the bagel as my first food of the day and it was gross
 
-found a nice place to sleep by a broken waterfall/staircase on the east end of the airport
 
-it was drafty
 
-got a few hours of sleep and some bug bites
 
-woke up, brushed teeth, and got on plane
 
-watched “the Sopranos”, 3 episodes, it was good
 
-flight landed smooth, my being on the plane probably had something to do with it
 
-Lovely Kathryn was waiting for me and it was all good
 
-Best trip ever!  Hope next year is even better.

TR ‘07

The first day was a tough one.  I ate cream corn soup and it was really difficult.

Day 2.  Radium…..I think, to Nipika.  This one was kind of a good day.  Like Thanksgiving.  Lots of Turkey powergels and cranberry juice.  Roddi had a good start and kept up with everyone.  Tim and Roddi won by 5 minutes with a crazy hard flat that made Roddi swear like a hockey Dad.

Day 3.  Nipika to Nipika.  Roddi set the pace like a sleeping Wallaby.  He was falling asleep on the bike for the first hr of a 5 hr day.  It was a silly Nanny like non-other.  Tim and Roddi won by 5 minutes like the champions that they are.

Day 4.  Nipika to Whiteswan.  It was okay day.  We were 2nd.

Day 5.  Whiteswan to Sparwood.  We won this day and a camera man took a picture of me walking a rocky section.  I was embarrased and I feel ashamed for the foot work.  I will never let it happen again. 

Day 6.  Longest day ever.  130 some kms.  But I felt like a bag of super fat great mountain cyclist.  It was a good one.  I ate 3 pretzels and dutchy and cripes was it spanking dutch.  The Costa Rican’s said that they ran into a bear….but it was a cow.

Day 7.  Winners.  United Cycle Champions.  Costa Rica 2nd.  I think this is perfect timing.  Game over.  Thanks for reading.  I love you all.  I’ll be back when time wears out my wicker couch.  Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

Bus Driver

So, who wants to come out and take me on in a few BMX races this year?  I’m getting very close to mastering the manual.  So far I can ride the rear wheel (that’s a manual if you don’t know) for about 10 feet.  Tomorrow, 20 feet, the day after that, your face!  That’s right, I’m sending out some trash talk to all of you to see if any of you are up for some BMX racing this year?  It’s on now.  Don’t forget, I’m the bus driver, I take everyone to school.  Actually, in another week I’ll have my class 3 drivers license.  So I can actually be a bus driver for real.

For any of you that are interested in seeing me play what could be the last hockey gamel of my life (as a goalie), come on out to Onoway, Albertay on Friday night at 8pm.  It costs $5-10 to get in and it’s game 4 of a 5 game series for the NCHL Championship, with my team the Lamont Bruins up 2-1.  Here is a quote from the Lamont Daily newspaper that was in last weeks Sports section.  “That Roddi Lega is the reason we are in the finals right now, he is so handsome.  He is definitely one of the top million goalies that ever played in Lamont.  I would even go as far as to say that he could probably play in the NHL….at least for the Leafs.”

 Now back to writing my Trans Rockies ‘07 race report.  I bet you can’t wait.  Ha.

Hockey Star

Dearest Everyone,

 How are you?  I’m still here kickin’ it on the down low.  I work at the Alberta Bicycle Association and I sit at a desk all day and phone people and talk about bikes.  I might write again in a few days if I photosynthesis the right combo of light, coffee, beer and cheese.  Prepare to be blow ow ow own away……or possibly let down……time will tell.

 Rocko out

Waaah Haaaaa

Wow this thing had better be good.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll throw down race report from stages 1 and 2 to keep you vultures off my back ahhhh haaaaa.  Today my excuse is that I worked for 21 hrs then I played hockey poorly, twice, and now it’s super late and you all have probably already got 4 hrs of sleep under your helmets. 

Working Hardly on it

Yup, it’s still coming along slowly.  O BOY O BOY O BOY O BOY.  e i e i e i o.

Trans Rockies 2007

It’s in the works.  I am trying to finish it up here but the freaking thing is taking me oodles of time to get right.  Hopefully it’s ready to go any day now BOOM POW SPEELONK that’s you being knocked right out of your socks with joy and rugged good looks.

Downhill

R 2 N S H is in the HHHHOOOOOUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSSE.  That’s Roddi 2 Nottie So Hottie is alive and well here in Cow Town.  My last three days in Calgary have shown me that the way of life in the movie, “Fubar”, is still kicking strong like Chuck Norris and Jean Claude Van Dam combined.  I have seen many a mullet while on my training rides and I really do think they are making a comeback.  One fellow in particular had a staircase shaved into the side of his head/mullet.  Very nice, how much (registered quote from Borat).

 The last write up I did was from a World Cup way back in St Anne Quebec.  The following weekend we raced in St Felicien which is so into the heart of Quebec that even at Tim Hortons I had to break out ah fran say.  Bon jure, ooon caffay avec ooon soocruh aye ooon cramm, and, ooon doooze grains bagel avec burrr.  Usually I received a coke and a turkey sandwich from that order.

 The race went off with a bang and I found myself battling it out for a top 80 spot which is great if the race has a million people in it.  This one had 93.  It was a Britney Spears vs her mom type day for me.  If you don’t read the headlines on CNN it’s like this when compared to me, I now have a 100 foot restraining order on my bike.  It’s not allowed to come any closer than that or I reserve the right to have it arrested and jailed for non-compliance and we all know what happens in jail.  Okay, so I suffered like a fat cat in heat and I had many thoughts of retirement in my mind when the race was over. 

 This past weekend was a Canada Cup race which was at the worlds best race site of Canmore, Alberta.  The course was as good as it gets.  The following will help everyone to understand what I’m talking about.  This course’s hotness is very much like my rugged good looks.  It’s like, chizzled abs, rock hard pecs, stunning square jaw line, humongous round Polish head and GLORIOUS unibrow.  It was just that good.  At least the downhills were anyway.  I tore those things apart like a rich fat kid on Christmas morning.  I was like, YES, YYYYEEEAAAAYYY, WOOPADY DOO, sweet, a new Power Wheels Hummer, thanks Santy Clause.  R 2 N S H was able to ride uphill like a semi-truck hauling elephant dung and then R 2 H was absolutely smoking fast like Burt Reynolds aka the Bandit.  Nobody could even get pictures of me because I was just a blur of United Cycle colors red, white and black.  I also made race car noises as I went by.  ppbppb, bpbpbpppbbpppp, bpbppbppppbpbbppbbppbbpppbpbbpbp, BPBPBPBPPBPBPPBBPPPBPBBPBPBPBPBBPPBBPBPPBPBPB.  Yeah, I’m a 4 speed gearbox.  Okay enough, I ended up 8th place and I did float on the downs and lumber wagon the ups.  It was okay for how I have felt the past 3 years and I was satisfied with it…..for now.  For shame to anyone that was behind me.  Ha.

 July 21st is Nationals at Mt Washington which is on Vancouver Island right close to Comox/Courtenay.  Following nationals is the horribley painful Trans Rockies.  7 days of suffering and pain much like eating stinky Tuna of which I did the other day for the first time and it went okay so that does not make much sense.  Maybe its’a sign of things to come for the Trans Rockies.

 Now for my big announcement.  I’m 99% sure I’m not racing next year, nor will I ride a bike uphill either.  I’ll only be riding downhills all the while melting eyes and blowing peoples minds with my free riding skillz with a “Z”.  I’m planning on working and getting my pre-requisits for the Champion City firefighters application.  After that, in 2009 I believe I’ll be making a return and R 2 H will be like a lazer racer.  Don’t look directly at me or you will get burned.  Glorious, just GLORIOUS.

Let Us All Pray For Roddi’s Legs

Okay hide and seek. Here we go, 1-2-3…. and Roddi has been hiding for the past 3 weeks in a world championship game of hide and seek and yes, he won it. Unfortunately it was a long game and it made his friends bored because they could not read his upbeat web site blog about how great Champion city is and how unfortunate Vancouver is to have the shame of BC, the Canucks (kind of an inside joke but it should make perfect sense).

It has been a pretty tough go for me the past 2 races. I thought I was feeling good after a few days of hard training leading up to the Hardwood Hills Canada Cup. But then in the race I felt horrible and dropped out early like the Canucks in the playoffs. In the days following the race my coach and I rode together and it was obvious that R 2 H had some fatigue in the legs and we tried to give them a bit of rest for the World Cup yesterday at St Anne. Unfortunately I felt the same and was unable to shake the Sedin twins from my mind and I sucked again. I’m quite dissapointed with the past to races and I’m hoping some different training can help me get going again.

10 reasons for not being fast like the wind.

1. I had a stomach issue for the past 2 weeks (Dier Rear).
2. As soon as #1 went away I got a cold.
3. It’s just that time of the month.
4. Baby fat.
5. I have to travel with golden boy Ricky Federau and his positive attitude is pissing me off.
6. I broke one of my high heels.
7. Roomie Stef “Salty Head” Widmer yells in his sleep and it scares my care bear.
8. Tim says, “you must need more coffee”.
9. There is no Fruit Loops in Quebec.
10. Country music

I’m off to the heart of Quebec tomorrow with Ricky and Tim to a place called Saint felicien. There is another World Cup there on Sunday and after that R 2 N S H (Roddi 2 Notti So Hottie) is coming back to Radmonton to prepare for the final Canada Cup in Canmore and then Nationals which are on the island at Mt. Washington. After that it’s the Trans Rockies and everyone better be ready for some serious Oprah marathon on TV while drinking drain-o and eating a smelly tuna fish sandwich and don’t tell me again that the competition just got faster or you may get jersey’d style suffering.

R 2 N S H (for now until futher notice)

Mont Tremblant

MY NAME IS HAWWWWWWT SAAAAUUCCCE.  Well, sort of.  I have to bring it down a notch.  That was supposed to be read like the Kid Rock song, “My Name is Kid Rock”.  For those that don’t know the song, don’t worry, it’s not good.  I just wanted to start out with a bang.  But now I’m way of topic and the Sea Captain says, “Yar, I don’t even know what I’m doin”. 

I just got back to a warm and green Champion City and it’s good to be home.  It actually feels a little weird being here as I have been on the road for 5 1/2 of the past 6 weeks.  I’m here for almost 3 weeks, then I’m gone again for another 2 1/2 week trip to Eastern Canada……again.  A lot of francais has been learned by Sauce in this trip.  Here is what I can say. 

Bonjour – Hello.  Merci – Thanks.  Do you have a, Baton de Ockay – Do you have a, hockey stick?  Je ne pal pah france aye – I can’t speak french. 

That’s what I have learned now which makes me very happy.  It only took me 1-3 weeks a year over 10 years of racing and travelling in Quebec to learn that much.  That’s actually pretty sad.  Ca va mal.

The race this week was at Mont Tremblant which is probably one of the best XC courses in the world.  Tremblent is like a mini Whisler, and the course goes right up the village main street in front of thousands of topless fans.  It also has a smoking fun downhill in it that is great for you know who, Mr Smooth.  Some of the racers are painfully slow on these technical types of downhills, all I have to say about that is chew with your mouth closed and you’ll probably ride it better.  Smooth.

I got called up to the start line early because I’m really good, so I had a place on the front row of about 12 rows.  Then when the gun went, I slipped off my pedal, and caused a big pile up behind me.  It was not pretty, I tried to run while on my bike, so yeah huh, I took a couple of ugly Bambi steps then made an attempt to get back on my pedals.  SMACK SMACK, that’s the sound of both my feet slipping off the pedals again.  BEEP BOOP BEEP, that’s the sounds of R2D2.  CLUNK PSSSSSS, that’s the sound of my knee hitting the stem on my bike.  Ouuuuch it hurt, so I had to get off my bike and run for a few seconds and then jump on and get going.  All that happend in about 10 seconds and I went from a top 5 position to about 70th.  After all that Rosie O’Donnel style uglyness I blasted back up to the leaders in about 10 minutes of racing.  Pretty good huh.  Yes, I think so.  The racing continued on and there was a lot of competition as it seemed the winner could be any one of about 10 guys.  Hot Sauce rode most of the race in 5th place and then on the last lap I got passed by 2 more guys and ended up in 7th place. 

R 2 H (Roddi 2 Hoddi) rocked the rocky downhills like rocky IV, and he ate a bowl of Fruit Loops while doing it.  Hah, I actually think everyone should call me R 2 H now, I’m laughing, it’s good.  Yes, the race was okay and my beloved coach Tim Heemskerk and I have planned some great legs to come about in a few weeks time……as if they could get any hotter.

This weekend, on Saturday, Kathryn and I are planning to have a huge B-B-Q somewhere in the Edmonton River Valley (TBA) and everyone is invited so spread the word.  Then on Sunday we have a smelly road race at Pigeon Lake.  It will be full of R 2 H suffering and wheezing as I’m trying to get more and more high end efforts in. 

Race notes from Tremlant.  Evan “Evan” Sherman, was flying all week, but then the day before the race he got green and sickly.  He did a few laps and finally dropped out because his female specific saddle broke under the crushing weight of his make-up bag. 

That’s it for me, I’m off to clean my wounds like Minnie the cat.  Cough cough, hair ball, Meeow.

R 2 H (my new liscence plate maybe)