he passed the Test

Sat turned out to be a great race day for hubby's 5th Test of Metal. It was pouring rain in places on the drive up to Squamish but it stayed relatively dry during the race with only a few sprinkles here and there. It was a cool day so hubby wore his black arm warmers for the entire race.

The race is a mass start but they let you self seed into the chute. Here is where hubby chose to load his bike.


It's been a goal of his to finish under 5 hours since he's started mountain bike racing. And they're off!


I went out to the Powerhouse feeding station to watch the action. I wasn't quick enough to catch the elite riders but I made it in time to see hubby puff his way up the hill. At this point, he is 2 hours into the race. He's not feeling too bad if he's smiling and giving me a thumbs up.


If you look closely, you can see all the grease on his thumb. It seems that he had numerous mechanical problems with his chain & derailleur. He had to stop several times and the last stop involved untangling the derailleur from the spokes on his wheel. After that, he was stuck in that gear for the rest of the ride.

And here he is post-race - complete with mohawk!


Other than a sore bum & muscles, physical damage was minimal. Just a few bruises and several patches of skin missing from the back of his right calf. No band aids were required!

When I told hubby that he finished close to 5 hours, he looked at his watch and said, "Tony's still got 5 hours to go".

When the offical results were posted, he achieved a personal best of 4h 59mins. That's almost 5 mins faster than his previous fastest finish (in 2006) and over 8 mins faster than last year!!!!

We rushed home to unload & cleanup before heading out to welcome Tony home from Ride2Survive. Hubby managed a 15 min nap before we had to leave. He could've napped longer because we didn't realize that the riders were behind schedule. We showed up at the finish line and hung out with Tony's family and friends. Gladys brought the boys and they were riding their bicycles around the parking lot. The youngest one isn't great at steering and tried to run over my foot. Shortly after 11pm, we rang our cow bells and cheered while they rode the last few feet home.

I am very proud of my husband and I know Gladys is very proud of her husband, too. Way to go, guys! We love ya!