Vegan-ish-ism is going pretty well, for the most part. I began it as a challenge to live and eat sustainably (well, moreso) for the month of July to coincide with a bunch of skinny guys riding up mountain passes, and slightly less skinny guys going hell for leather on the flat.
So...how's it going? Well, pretty well. Being vegan-ish definitely makes you take the microscope to what you eat so much further than vegetarian or quasi-vegetarianism. It shines light on what we are used to; for most of us that's a lot of animal products as foodstuffs! Indeed my friend and Sol Breads workmate Rachael (nickname Racki) has decided it would be a cool thing to do as well...and had a few moments with cream-laden spoon-in-mouth completely innocently. I bit the end off a croissant by accident. I also have consumed some protein bars, too, which although not vegan, are as close as you can get (pretty much).
And anyway, I need the protein bars in order to get massive at the gym. Well, the goal is the opposite really; burn more fat and put muscles in the places where they're needed and increase core strength. It's amazing what a few good dedicated twice-weekly gym sessions will do to your stability on the bike! Now if only I could magically have the legs to back it up...
They will come, i'm sure of it!
Speaking of good legs, I have just been perusing Cyclingnews, and believe it or not there is OTHER RACING on aside from the Tour. The Giro D'Italia Internazionale Femminile is full swing in Italy. No big surprises that powerhouse and superstar Marianne Vos is presently stealing the show, well up in the GC lead at stage 7 of 10. Having reigned supreme in pretty much every cycling discipline out there, Vos is a huge inspiration to myself, and I am sure to many other female (and male too!) cyclists.
You know what else is cool? World Cup XC racing. I find it even cooler than road racing (because it is). Recently Mont Ste Anne held a round of the World Cup which saw super speedy Canadian Catharine Pendrel write her name all over the course (funnily enough I have had dinner with the champ after the Canberra World Cup, Zoe and Waz and family were celebrating and randomly...Catharine Pendrel was there having dinner with us! How cool is that!?).
I watched most of the race on Freecaster.com, and it looked like a nasty course. Average speeds were really quite low and the course looked slippery and technical. Katherine O'Shea, Aussie National champ and all round nice person, was also racing the Mont Ste Anne World Cup summed the race up "heat and humidity + mud = tough race". Short vid of the race can be seen below;
One day, I may just race some World Cup XC, not in the immediate future but perhaps in a few years. I just can't wait to head to the USA next year for a holiday, work trip, sweet trails and hopefully a few pimping MTB events. You never know, I may just meet some of my US mountain bike hero's while i'm there?