If I had a better word than "super" to describe this vacation I would have used it, but the truth is, I needed the extra califragilisticexpialidocious to make you understand just how amazing this week was (and how long this blog post is going to be, oops - my bad).
We left for Mt. Tremblant on Wednesday and I knew that I was in for a long drive, but the few stops along the way, especially the one in Ottawa in the Bayward Market for mussels, fries and treats made it rather enjoyable. We arrived at destination around 5:30pm and after settling in our condo at Cap Tremblant Resort, we decided to go out for a shakeout run on the Petit Train du Nord trail, part of the run course and a stone throw away from where we were staying.
(Brace yourselves, there will be photos, and lots of them!)
The walk towards the condo
Our condo is at the bottom. No stairs, yay!
Living room
Seating area
Kitchen
Bedroom
Cozy, eh? I could not believe it when I saw it. Very quiet, spacious... exactly what we needed, and perfectly located in the old Mt Tremblant, away from all the craziness of the athletes village.
At the start of the run with my Ironman in Training
Oh deer! Stopped us dead in our tracks and we took pictures and a video. These guys were totally unphased.
Zin ran 8km run and I settled on a 6km distance as an out and back on the trail. It was exactly what we needed after sitting down for 8+ hours. Back at the resort we took a shower and went out for dinner because we were starving!
The next day we met with friends for lunch in the athletes' village, then walked around for a bit, immersing ourselves into the M-Dot Extravaganza and posing for pictures, pretty much like everyone else. My favorite past time in these places is to find the hardcore IM fans and the wannabe pros. Quite entertaining if you ask me. So much compression gear and aero everything! But let's go back to the most memorable detail, the food.
We ate in a restaurant called SoCal Kitchen and it was absolutely delicious. I even placed the guacamole as second best that I've eaten, first being the one that I make based on an Alton Brown recipe, of course.
So much yum
Athletes athletes everywhere
A gorgeous day in the village
Quick ride in the gondola to save the legs with view on the finish line
Pledging allegiance to M-Dot
And another postcard view from the gondola with the changing tent in the background
We spent a bit of time up and down the streets of the village, wondering what else we could eat, then headed over to Lake Tremblant for a swim. I had never swum there outside my IM race day back in 2014, so I was really looking forward to finding my zen in those waters without the pressure of the race. Little did I know that I was going to have one of the toughest swims in my life. The lake was super choppy and the training course was tricky, so Zin, our friend Louis and I decided to go out to the 7th buoy and back. According to my Strava, we swam for 1.4km in about 34 minutes, but it felt like double the effort. We were pretty happy to be done!
I don't even remember if this was before or after. Let's pretend it was after and the wetsuits dried really really fast.
We rushed back to the condo, took a shower and went out for dinner with friends, again. If this sounds familiar, it's because we love to eat, as you must have noticed. This time we met a larger group of friends from our tri club in St Jovite at Le Vieux Four, one of our favorite Italian restaurants in the area. And in a very non Italian fashion, I had mussels and fries, again. And they were even better than those I had in Ottawa at the Fish Market. However I was a little disappointed because the waiter forgot to bring me a salad with goat cheese that I ordered as appetizer and I finished by drowning my sorrow into a cup of Tiramisu. (story of my life)
The next morning, we went to St Jovite for breakfast and started the carb loading in style. Started? Umm... for the day, that's it. Bon appetit!
Brioche and almond croissant. Orgasmic.
Back to our home for the week, Zin had a bike workout on the menu, and I supported him by streaming the men's Olympic triathlon on my laptop since CBC did not care to show it on TV. I also cheered him from the couch and refilled his bottles when asked. I am such a nice sherpa.
Then we went back to the village for registration. Hubbs and our friends met again and they all lined up at registration, at the M-Dot sign for pictures and in the IM store where they collectively left a little fortune. You can't help it when it's your first Ironman, I guess. For once, I was pretty restraint I should say. I bought 2 IM beer/cider glasses (because we had booze in the fridge), the last Kona DVD (because the Kona Lottery is no more and IM did not send me one this year) and a magnet for our car since we were both going to be legitimate 140.6 drivers.
And speaking of legit, here's another M-Dot picture because I was wearing my finisher tshirt. So legit, I'm going to show it to you in XL. Ahem.
Two thumbs up for this IM finisher. I hope I didn't break your screen...
Back to St Jovite for a late lunch at The Vieux Four. I really, really wanted that goat cheese salad, and Zin continued his carb loading with pizza. I also could not resist the Profiterolles, so here they are in all their beauty, before I murdered them. You must wonder who is doing an Ironman here... But it explains why I put on 10lb since the beginning of the year.
There was a 3rd crouton there, but I ate it before I took the picture
No caption necessary. Lick the screen here.
Once again, we went back to the condo and I was itching to go on my bike (and burn some of those damn calories). Zin told me not to ride the bike course because he didn't want me to die before I saw him finish the IM, so I listened and went to ride on the safer parts of the course. Sort of. We needed to settle the argument whether Montee Ryan was going up or down towards the highway 117, so I took the Petit Train du Nord to Montee Ryan, then "up" to the village, then on the run course to old Mt Tremblant (Chemin du Village), and on the Petit Train du Nord for another loop. I guess the argument is settled now (he won).
It was absolutely glorious, aside from the ... uphill section on Montee Ryan. I was on my road bike and did not have clip-on bike shoes, and let's say I struggled a bit there. However the smile was stuck on my face for the rest of the ride and I just didn't want to go back inside. I rode for about 1.5h, then called it a day. Not only it was getting late, but I was also tasked to get us dinner, and as a good sherpa, I drove back to the village and quickly stole a chicken from St Hubert (within the free 15 minutes parking that I found without a credit card).
What day is it again? Friday, that's right... Pretty sure that I got a few things mixed up above, but who cares... it all happened one day or another. Swim, bike, run, eat, sleep... repeat.
Saturday morning I tried to beat the rush at the beach and started my day with an early swim in Lac Mercier. There were only one or two people in the water and I could not wait to join them. I brought my little orange buoy just in case I was going to meet a weeds monster or a local version of the Loch Ness, but soon enough I completely forgot that it was trailing behind me. So much for the extra safety. At least it kept my car keys and phone dry.
As for the swim, I loved every minute of it. I was apprehensive at first of the big, unknown lake, but it turned out to be the most beautiful swim that I've ever done. I even swam in a heart shape for posterity in Strava. How cool is that?
For lunch we went back to the village because I was in mood for another salad, this time with duck confit. The restaurant La Forge at the top of the main street in the village makes an an awesome version of it, and I eat it every time I go to Tremblant. You should try it sometime, preferably paired with a pint of Stella. ;-) The afternoon was pretty uneventful for once as everyone decided to rest their legs before the big day. Since I did not have the race pressure, I chose to tire my legs a little more instead, with another run on the trail, topped with a walk from the condo to the trail and back, which added another 2.5km to the total.
I was pretty tired from all the walking/biking/swimming though and chose to keep it short, only a 5km out and back. However, the walk back added another challenge with the 15-30% incline of the road. It was so steep, I had even been afraid to ride on it on my bike. Once again, I met deer on the path and even saw a few that made the climb all the way to our backyard.
The rest of the evening was quiet as well... We watched some TV, then went to bed early. I believe it was 9:30pm. Zin fell asleep instantly. I am so jealous... I think I woke up around 2am and it was almost impossible to fall asleep again. I don't remember exactly when our alarm went off, but it mustn't have been later than 4am. All I remember is that we got dressed, had something quick for breakfast and then I drove Zin to the transition area where I dropped him off before going to park the car near the swim start.
The plan was to stay with hubbs until the start of the race, then go back to the car, pick up the road bike and follow him all day with my camera, hopefully able to take some good pics and give him some kisses in return.
After a bit of a freak out because he forgot his aero drink bottle straw at home, we met at the swim start and I finally managed to calm down knowing that he found a bike technician in transition who helped him out. Many thanks to Cycle Technique for their assistance!
It never gets easier... just a little overwhelmed.
Soon enough we heard the deafening noise made by the jets flying above us and we knew that we had to make our way to the beach. I asked Zin not to die once again and gave him a goodbye kiss. I watched all the waves starting the swim and once everyone was in the water I made my way back to the car where I picked up my bike. I rode back to the village and positioned myself along the red carpet that led from the swim exit to the changing tent, starting the wait. I saw the pros coming out, then fast Matt, our club coach, Louis, Paul and eventually Zin, who did not have the best swim, but gave me a thumb up nonetheless. Apparently there had been a lot of chop on the second half of the swim and that made it a lot more challenging than expected. I knew hubbs was a good cyclist though and I was expecting him to catch up. Onward and upward!
I then ran towards the road and took my camera out again, waiting for him to start the bike. And then I waited again... crazy how 5 minutes seem like an eternity sometimes...
Eventually I saw him zooming by and managed to take the kick ass picture below. It was going to be one of the best I took that day since everything went down from there... especially the weather. A few minutes later and it was pouring!
I quickly retreated to the city in search for coffee. By then I was completely wet and was trying to minimize the damage on my camera. Thankfully my camera bag had a protective sleeve and I had brought big garbage bags to wear over my clothes... not very helpful to keep the rain out, but at least they kept me warm.
After camping for an hour or so under a big patio umbrella at one of the coffee shops atop of the village, I took my courage in my hands and rode over to the General Store to buy an umbrella for my camera. I had procrastinated the entire trip, hoping that the weather gods would be wrong, but it was clear by then that the rain was not going to stop. I bought one of the last umbrellas they had, and the perfect size to carry around. I was back in business, yeah! Quickly I rode over to the turn around at the end of the first loop and Zin showed up less than 5 minutes later, woohooo!! Despite the downpour he was having a great bike and I could not be happier to see him safe after seeing so many police vehicles and ambulances leaving for emergencies the road.
Another hour or two went by and I tried to keep myself busy catching Pokemon in the village. But soon enough I had to go back on the road to see him coming back from the second loop and start the run. I was once again relieved to see him zooming by on his way to Chemin Duplessis and I knew that it would take about 30min for him to roll into transition. I went over to the run start and saw a few familiar faces leaving the changing tent. Eventually Zin appeared in a dry change of clothes and he stopped to give me a kiss. Everyone shouted "oh les amoureux!!"and cheered for us. And so he was on his way again... From the number of open umbrellas around you can guess that his dryness was not going to last.
By then it was almost 2pm and I was starving!! I joined Matt's family in the village and they brought me a yummy vegan pizza, which I inhaled (thank you!!!). This time we were going to wait for Matt to start his second loop in the marathon. He was having the best day ever and we were all excited that he might qualify for Kona. As you can see, his wife Cary and I were all smiles, despite being drenched to the bone. The ice cream must have helped for sure!
Once again I saw the pros running by, then Matt and soon enough, my hubby. I gave him another kiss, the crowds went wild again and my smile got even bigger. That's when the Ironman photographer nearby captured the image below. I am famous, yay!
From that moment on I started following him on the run course on my bike, trying to dodge runners and cars left and right. That course was sure interesting for a paparazzi like me... But it was a lot of fun. Here's hubbs doing his best shuffle run on the second lap. He was struggling a bit because he could not hold down calories, but he was making forward progress and that was great. If he was going to keep up the pace he was going to finish in daylight. How awesome for his first Ironman!
I waited for him to come back at the end of the Petit Train du Nord and saw a lot of familiar faces again: our friends Paul, Louis and Mike Cooke, Durwin Brennan, then Jamie from the blog "From Couch to Ironwoman". It was really great to see them all. Once he started running the last 5km I knew that I had to go ahead and drop by the car to pick up Zindine's dry clothes so he can change into them after the finish. I stayed with him for another 5 minutes then hurried up to get myself to the finish line before he arrived.
There is always plenty of movement in the stands and I had no doubt that I'd get a good spot to see him finish. I left my bike somewhere at the back and joined by Maggie, Louis's wife and kids, I started the countdown. It took maybe another 10-15 minutes, then I heard Mike Reilly calling his name. I was over the moon and so incredibly proud of my hubby for finishing under 11h30, more precisely in 11h 19min 23sec. You can see me in the video on the left of the arch (second row from the bottom) taking pictures with my DSLR and yelling "Wooohoooooo!!!!".
We were soon joined by Matt and Cary who gave us the best news of the day: Matt finished 3rd in his AG and qualified for Kona!! There is going to be such a party in our tri club!! Louis joined the finishers' ranks just 30 minutes later, then Paul. For their first Ironman, and despite the very harsh conditions, these guys absolutely rocked it!! So much respect to all.
The boys went to shower and change clothes at Louis's place, then we went out for pizza. I had a salad again (because I had pizza at lunch) and for once I skipped dessert. I did however splurge in a different store as I was sick and tired of my wet running shoes, so I bought the first pair of flats that I found and it was a pair of Birkenstock, my first! However I still had to wear my wet shoes one last time to go pick up the car and then Zin and his stuff from transition.
All went without a hiccup and we were back in our condo by 10pm. This day almost felt too ...easy. Nope, I don't believe it either. I know that it certainly wasn't for any of the athletes. Plus, spectating is quite a sport in itself, so I crashed on the couch, exhausted but so friggin' happy!
The next day we were lining up for the finisher jacket at 6am, no surprise here. The boys were feeling a little tired, but not tired enough for some shenanigans with the fallen Ironman sign. Not sure what happened to it... but it literally went downhill from there. By noon that M-Dot was completely destroyed.
Which one of you broke the Ironman sign, huh?
We were surprised to see that there were no "special" jackets other than the ones we had seen a few days before in the store. So be it. The boys got theirs then we went for breakfast. I had one breakfast, Zin had two, of course. It was so, so good! We definitely recommend the restaurant Le Saint Louis in the old Mt Tremblant.
We spent the rest of the day being lazy. No more workouts for either one of us, d'uh. I have little recollection of what happened that day, so it's probably better that I start wrapping up this blog post as well. The next day we drove back home anyway, The End.
We had just about the best time ever. Beautiful setting, excellent food, great company, and outstanding races by all our friends. How could I ask for more? There is only one thing left to do.... sign up for another one. Hahaha!! Ok, maybe not an Ironman, but we'll go back to Mt Tremblant next summer as we all signed up for the 70.3, yeah!!!
If you read all the way here... congratulations. You are an endurance reader. Bravo!!
If you read my Wasaga Beach Olympic Tri race report, you know in what shape I left for Huntsville. In two words: not pretty. Tired, stinky, hungry, thirsty, and eager to take a shower and relax a little. The drive to Muskoka was quiet and introspective and I reached the destination shortly before 5pm, just as the skies opened up and cleared the muggy air. I joined my friend Wendy at the Super 8 Hotel in Huntsville where we shared a room for the weekend. She was going to race in the Ironman, along with 12 other of my friends and members of the FMCT club, and I was going to be her sherpa and volunteer at the event.
After I settled into our room and took a well needed shower, Wendy and I went to Boston Pizza for dinner and indulged in a healthy meal (salmon, steamed vegetables), and finished with a not so healthy chocolate explosion cake that we shared. Given that I had skipped lunch, I didn't even flinch. Down in ma' belly, decadent calories! We called it a night pretty early afterwards, as the alarm clock was set for 4am.
I slept pretty well myself - but of course, I was completely exhausted and I had no race anxiety to keep me up all night. When the alarm clock went off, I was almost anticipating it. I had no issues waking up and I was ready to go go go, and so excited to see my friends taking on The Beast.
I ate a peanut butter and jelly bagel, while Wendy ate her honey nut cheerios, then we were on our way. I wasn't very hungry, but I made sure to take a lot of snacks with me to have enough to eat until midnight. On site, I waited for Wendy to get her bike ready, then we went inside for a potty break and that's when I noticed that she didn't have her chip on her ankle. I rang the panic bell and together we started running around, asking the volunteers where the Sportstats tent was. To our surprise, there was no Sportstats tent near transition, but I knew from Ironman Mt. Tremblant that they should have chips at the swim start. However, we could not afford to waste too much time going back and forth from the beach to transition with just under 30 minutes to start. After asking half a dozen people, eventually we found a volunteer captain who had the idea of calling Nick Stoehr, the race director (or maybe it was Rich Trenholm), and he confirmed that they had spare timing chips at the swim start. Phew! All we had to do was to run there and hope for the best.
We said our goodbyes on the parking lot near the beach, I took Wendy's flip flops, then I joined the spectators' side with the plan of going as close as possible to the mass of athletes and check on Wendy to make sure that she found a chip. There were lots of athletes and finding friends in the sea of green and pink caps wasn't easy. I managed to see Amanda (from our club) and Kim (from Two Years to Kona), but the music was loud and all my screaming didn't help. I was desperately trying to find my bestie Carol, but to no avail. Big sad face, as I had promised her that I'd give her a big hug before the start.
While I was looking for both of them, Wendy found herself a chip. You can see her picking it up at 20:30 in the live stream video from the swim start (Won with One red top).
I didn't know this until later when I finally saw her walking towards the start. As for Carol, I missed her when she walked just in front of me. But she was in the middle of a group of very tall guys, so I'm not surprised. There she is at the bottom of the screen beside the guy with TEAM on his wetsuit, and I am against the railing near the speaker with my Ironman backpack (30:05).
I saw Wendy just a minute later and I was super stoked to see that the chip situation was under control. You can see me again with my hands in the air calling her at 30:54 (I had no idea that I was on camera). After all athletes entered the water I was somewhat relieved and went to ask whether Wendy's chip remained the same and if I could track her online. I was reassured that her chip has been paired with her bib and that after the swim it will appear in the results. Okay then, that sounded rather promising. And on that note, I walked over to the swim finish.
It was a cool and overcast morning and the temperatures were forecasted in the mid 20s C. Just perfect for racing! I thought about the IMMT athletes and how much they suffered in the heat and told myself that people at IM Muskoka were much luckier, especially while dealing with this grueling course. The flatter part of the race though, the swim in Peninsula Lake, was looking like it was going to be fast. The water was like glass and not even The Beast, that was hiding at the swim exit was going to disturb it. (Who put that thing there?? So fitting.)
Just as I thought, the first athletes started coming out the water around the 54min mark. I saw many of the people I knew finishing the swim and I was so happy to finally see Carol, that I started screaming like an idiot. I ran up after her to give her a hug, which I managed to do just before she hopped on her bike. Then I came back to wait for Wendy and once she came out of the water, I followed her back up. Who said spectating wasn't a sport? It wasn't even 9am and I was spent. She went in transition to her bike, but not before having a swarm of volunteers coming to cover her in sunscreen. I found the scene absolutely hilarious and I could not resist but taking a snapshot.
The Sunscreen team in action
I chose to stay around Deerhurst for the remainder of the day. I waited until everyone else I knew got on the bike, then I went to check out the Ironman store. So much M-Dot swag, my eyes started to bleed. I did buy my husband an IM Muskoka 70.3 backpack because I lost his string bag from a few years ago when we did our first 70.3 there, then I went to sit down and rest for a bit before deciding what to do with my free time. While I was hooked to a plug, charging my phone, I chatted with Paolina Allan from Ignition Fitness about Kim and her spectacular swim, then Paul from my tri club joined me after arriving at the resort for his bike handler volunteer job.
Look who I found in transition! The fantastic Captain Tracy.
Paul and I went to look for the volunteers' tent and we were lucky to find breakfast being served. I had a muffin and a juice, then went back to transition to find the bike handler team captain. It took me about 30 seconds to decide to take on a second volunteer shift that day. I had done bike handling at IMMT and this team looked like they could use some help. We spent the next 1.5h talking about catching bikes, running with bikes, putting bikes on the rack, what to ask the athletes, what to do with the numbers on the rack, with the bike computers, their nutrition, their shoes, where to line up to hand over the bikes, which side athletes were dismounting most on, etc. I quickly realized that this team had very different instructions/opinions than the team at IMMT, so it took me a moment to re-adjust my thinking. It's hard not to judge, knowing that this was a first Ironman for this team, while IMMT had it going on for a few years and it was a well oiled machine. But I gave up on my (strong) opinions and let the captain run the show as he thought was best. Sometimes you just have to trust the people and the process, even if they are different. And guess what? It all worked out very well in the end. Given that this race had 1200 less athletes than IMMT, the stream of bikes was spaced enough that we weren't rushed and we didn't even have to use the spare rack.
Paul showing everyone how it's done
I spent most of the day running with the bikes, leaving the catching to the most eager folks in the team. In the end, while it was a hard job because I had to walk/run a lot, it was also a lot of fun. It allowed me to see all my friends coming in with their bikes, and give them hugs, encouragements, high fives, or just play the paparazzi by taking photos and videos for their friends and family.
Around 5pm I asked to be excused since I was getting tired and I really wanted a little break before starting the next shift. I went inside Deerhurst and noticed that they had dinner food for the athletes and volunteers, but I didn't have a wristband that would give me access to it. Since I joined the bike handlers team impromptu, I was only given a tshirt, but no wristband - so I went over to the finish line where I checked in with Kari and got my wristband. Now I was legit and I could eat. Not even 5 minutes later the same wristband was being cut and I could put some food into my plate. I took a sub, pasta salad, an apple and another banana. I ate the pasta and the fruits and decided to keep the sub for later. I charged my phone again for a bit and spent about 30 minutes catching up on social media, lounging on one of the fancy chairs inside the building.
However the clock was ticking and I was missing all the action at the finish line. I put my backpack away, I said Hi to all my volunteer friends and joined in the fun. It took me a few minutes to understand how this finish line was working and oops, I must have jumped the line before the other volunteers a few times until Dorothy kindly reminded me that I should line up like everybody else. I looked around me and that's when I realized how many of us were there. Whoa, quite the blue and red army!
I was quickly made aware of the rest of the rules (no swearing! - cameras were on us), the Tough Toonie bibs and medal, and the chip strap that people could keep if they wanted to. The rest was just about the same as I knew it. Catch people, make sure they don't collapse, and if they do, use the wheelchair and call a medic. Offer as much support as needed, be it physical or emotional. Don't shy away from sweaty hugs and people crying in your arms. After all, I had done that just the day before and it wasn't even an Ironman. Slaying The Beast must have been a huge challenge and it's totally understandable that the relief of crossing the finish line makes all the bottled emotions spill over.
Personally I had promised a few friends to catch them and/or give them their medals. The first one to cross the finish line was Kim who is on her journey to qualify for Kona. She had a tough run, but she persevered and finished 3rd in her AG (read her blog report here). I could not have been more proud to catch her. I gave her the medal too, then together we took the slow walk towards the massage tent where she had her legs looked after. I don't know who took the picture above, but it's special to me and I know that I'll cherish that moment forever. I am happy to have it immortalized.
As the night fell on Deerhurst, the athletes kept coming in, tired but elated, finishing a journey that may have started months or years before. I was absolutely astounded to see so many first time Ironman finishers that came in under 12h. My mind could not comprehend how come so many of them liked the course. Out of all North American races, Muskoka is in the top 5 for toughness. Yet, people must be gluttons for punishment. Or they trained for it really well, or they were so freaking high on endorphins that they had no clue what they were talking about. Most likely a mix of all.
Our volunteers team kept everyone entertained and welcomed every finisher with a high five and a few words of congratulations. Those two above were a hoot, dancing and singing and pumping up the audience. Even the photographer played along. Nice photobomb, lol! Some friends finished the race before the night fell, others came in after dark. Carol started her run without her chip, so it was hard to track her, but eventually she made it and I felt so relieved (what's it with my friends and their timing chip)!! I gave her a long, teary hug. She is one of the crazies who chose Muskoka as their first Ironman and because of health issues I was nervous that something may have gone wrong. But she is also one of the strongest people that I know and I had no doubts that she'll want to finish no matter what. I was assisting another athlete when she crossed the line because without a chip they could not announce her arrival in advance, but I found her right after she got her medal and the moment we had at the finish line won't be going away from my memory any time soon.
Wendy came in about 1h later. Another fighter who battled injuries and a hectic training schedule the entire season. Wendy and I have known each other for a couple of years now and Ironman is what brought us together. We became training buddies and friends when we realized that we were neighbours, and I could not fathom not being there for her, just like she was for me last year at IMMT. Muskoka was her third Ironman and because of circumstances, her goal was to finish. There she is, looking awesome as usual, a big smile on her face, despite running on huge blood blisters. After giving her too a very sweaty and squeeshy hug, she left to get some food and I continued my shift. There were still 40 min left and about 50 more athletes on the course. Last athlete finished with about 3 minutes to spare and it was rather anticlimactic, since we were told that there were two more to follow, but actually none were left (because of some error).
And just like that, it was over. We watched the fireworks, said our goodbyes, Kari, Dorothy - the most amazing finish line team captains. Got a hug from Rich Thenholm, doc extraordinaire and the life of this event. I'll most likely be back next year, as both athlete (IM Muskoka 70.3 "Redemption") and IM volunteer and I know that no matter what, this place will remain a special one. One day, I may choose to measure myself against The Beast as well, but I am in no hurry - this body of mine is still on the mend.
After leaving the finish line I managed to find Wendy who was chatting with friends made on the course. I checked her bike out, then I left her with her belongings to wait for me to come back with the car from the air strip parking lot. It took me a little while to find the shuttle bus (it has been changing locations every year) and I almost got in a panic, thinking that I may have missed the last one. Thankfully I saw a bus silhouette in the distance and I ran to it just before it closed its doors. Fifteen minutes later I was back with the car and to the hotel shortly thereafter where I collapsed in my bed, happy to be able to rest and appreciate everything that happened.
I will leave you with 2 videos from the event, so you can appreciate as well the way this day unfolded for athletes, volunteers and everyone else who came to witness history being made, right here in Muskoka.
