Killer Mountain Challenge Champions

Having been raised with three brothers, I have borne witness to an interesting phenomenon. When you place more than one male in a room, and introduce a competition of any kind, large amounts of testosterone begin permeating the air, leading to various strange behavioral changes in the participants of said competition. Previously timid men may begin boasting of their skills, while others will try to undermine the confidence of their competitiors.

Our Killer Mountain Challenge is no different. By the time the trash talking ended, and the dust had settled, one could have sworn that one was in the company of Olympic level mountain bikers.

Case in point: Emile, a former road racer, and generally all round excellent rider, hails from Holland. Which is flat. As in - without hills. Thus, Emile is a terrific, strong and fast rider on the flats. Fredie, whose idea of a relaxing ride is traversing the Swiss Alps for exersize after work, is ok on the flats, but can navigate up a mountain side as effortlessly as the billy goats of his native Switzerland. By placing these two characters together in this competition, one is almost suffocated by the levels of testosterone. Emile blasts away from the group on the flats, while Fredi seemingly without strain floats up the mountain. At the end of the ride, they both turn on Big Al, whose riding strengths do not include either flats or mountains, but rather the technical, single track trails of the rolling hills of Canada.

That aside, despite Emile's greatest efforts, he was able to climb only 50% of the way up the mountain. Always only as far as a certain metre deep pit, on the left side of the trail. Fredi has since christened it the Emile pit, as Emile seems unable to veer away from it, and consequently winds up falling into it.

Please meet Fredi Miklevic - from Switzerland.

Fredi is our Killer Mountain Champion for the 2006-2007 season, with a remarkable 88% of the mountain conquered. Conratulations Fredi! When are you coming back for a visit, dude? You have to meet your new challengers!

For all of the other guys that attempted the mountain - keep training, and we'll see you again next year!

The competitive spirit is alive and well among the women, as we have had many women attempt the 'Killer Mountain Challenge' as well. It is interesting to note the differences in preparation between the men and the women. There is less trash talking, more checking of the equipment, and more hydration among the women. Some of our female competitors logged their best effort after several attempts at conquering the mountain. One such woman is our Women's Killer Mountain Challenge Champion for 2006-2007.

Please meet Diane Horton of Toronto, Canada.

Diane Horton - The Women's 2006-07 Killer Mountain Challenge Champion

After several gruelling yet determined attempts, Diane logs in as our female champ with a well deserved 50% of the mountain conquered. Congratulations, Diane!

Killer Mountain Challenge - 2007-2008 Season

We have had a very strong season so far, with many attempts at the mountain challenge. The trash talking among the men continues unabated, while the women continue to hydrate.....! However, I must share this story - about my three favourite Frenchmen.

I received a call from one of the hotels that there were several guys interested in the mountain bike tours. No problem. I go to meet the customers, to explain about the 3 tours, the early morning pick-up etc. That is when I met Christophe Chaput. I start to explain about the three different rides, and start telling him about the mountain challenge. Well........ Christophe starts looking around and asking 'What mountain? Which mountain? How high is it? Why hasn't anyone made it to the top? I will make it to the top. Who is this Fredi?

We make all of the arrangements, I pick up Christophe and his two friends, Patrick and Frederic on the morning of the ride. While Al is getting the bikes ready, Christophe is totally stoked about the challenge, and asks me to send Fredi a trash talking e-mail, basically telling Fredi that his crown is being threatened! Just before the group left, I asked Al if he had his camera with him, but Patrick assured me that he had his. I just had a feeling about this group.........!

After my yoga girls had gone home, I see the riders making their way up the last hill. And I hear Al shouting - 'Nora - get the camera!' Not only one of their group made it all the way up, but two. Both Christophe and Patrick challenged the mountain and won.

Please meet Christophe Chaput, Patrick Casalino and Frederic Chevalier - of France.

This is photographic evidence of Patrick's one, successful attempt to conquer the mountain. Congratulations, Patrick!

After a few attempts, this is Christophe's ride. The others in the group, stood by the side of the trail and cheered Christophe on, as he made his way up the mountain.

Al and I had so much fun with these guys, that we invited them to our 'White Party' to inaugurate our new swimming pool.

In this photo from left to right: Frederic, Patrick, Maryluz (of course!), Christophe and Kathy.

For all of you extreme athletes out there, you gotta hear this! Christophe is planning an epic bike ride journey, from his home town in Marseilles, France to northern China. This mammoth undertaking is called "The Iron Bike Adventure". If anyone is interested in following Christophe's progress, please email me at: nowind-nocry@hotmail.com and I will pass along his contact info to you. Christophe - Good luck on your ride, and may the wind always be at your back!