Penticton to Apex

Climbing for two hours to Apex.


A small child could fall in between these bars. I played it safe and didn't take the cattleguards at speed coming down.


Marie Danais and Dave Harju. Two of my favorite people and impressive athletes.


Race morning swim start.


Here is what our set-up looks like.


Not a bad place to work on bikes for the week! I'd say its better than Hawaii. In Hawaii I can hear the ocean but I'm not looking right onto the beach like this location.

Penticton, BC, Canada – I love this place! We are leaving this morning to head back to Wisconsin (as soon as Ben finally gets out of bed). Ironman events are always busy but you tend to miss it once its over. The week went well. I only had a total of 3 athletes competing so I had plenty of time to dial in their bikes, catch up on gluing tires (I think I finally have all the team Bontrager Discs, Aeolus 6.5 and 5.0, and Carbon Aero’s rubbered up), and help some other athletes with their bikes. Not to brag but the women’s winner, Belinda Granger, received some of my handy work. Oh yeah! Who’s the man? I was hoping she might mention me during her awards speech. Not so. I’m always hoping on behalf of all us mechanics out there that we get mentioned once in awhile. Just as the top athletes make their efforts seem easy, I get the impression that I make my work look simple, so much so that our expertise gets forgotten. I also got to help an athlete friend from back east. I really enjoy helping people like Tanya because she is so grateful knowing that her bike will work awesome come race day (and the fact that she brought me lunch a few times). That is the best example of what we mechanics in the bike world provide for our athletes. Worry free bike operation. The athletes only have to worry about performing their best.

Besides the “work” end of things, the highlights of my week stay in Penticton were the rides I went on. It is beautiful around here and cycling in my opinion is the best way to experience a place. The best ride I did was up to the Apex ski resort. I had heard it was a good ride but I did not know much more than that. It took me about 2 hours to get there with only one climb. The whole ride was uphill. Wow! Climbing for two hours when you’re not prepared makes it an epic ride. After 1 ½ hours of climbing in the heat my bottles were empty, and I began to get that up and down self-talk going. Around each switchback I would hope I’d see some kind of sign indicating a ski area. Finally in the distance I saw a ski lift so I felt like I was getting closer at last. Also along the way I had to turn around a bit and wait for a bear which was walking down the road. Eventually a car came by and he scooted off into the woods. I did a little interval effort and made some babbling noise as I went past his location and saw the brush moving around. The next 50 yards was a high level three effort to put on some distance. Phew! Recover, recover! Okay, so like I said, I got to Apex. The bar/restaurant was the only place I could find to buy something to drink so I saddled up to the bar in full riding kit, including my helmet, and asked for “two cokes please.” Ah! Two pints of cokes on ice in five minutes and I was back in the saddle. The descent back into town was awesome. Two hours up and 45 minutes down. The only thing I had to slow down for was a few switchbacks, a stop sign, and three cattle guards which looked a little dangerous if I would have hit them at speed. One of the best rides EVER!

Time to get in the truck and start driving. I think Ben might be getting up now.