August 21, 2012 (Canmore, AB) – Yes. The above title is not a typo – although for those familiar with my travel schedule/addiction/reality these last… well… years? Decade? It may seem like you’ve read that incorrectly. It’s been fantastic here, and since returning from our last training camp on Maui which ended in early July I’ve been spending most of my time in paradise and lucky enough (hey – I’m biased!) my home – the Bow Valley.

After ten months of constant movement and having the frightening ability to be able to describe in depth every scratch, stain and broken clip on my duffel bag, staying put in one place for an extended period of time has been a nice change. While I liken life on the road as comfortable and enjoyable as what I’d imagine a grizzly bear’s contentment level after coming across a loaded and ripe raspberry patch devoid of people and/or other bears, I must admit it’s nice to stay in one place for more than five nights in a row.

After so much change and stress over the last months it was pretty apparent I needed some time to stay put and (attempt) to put it bluntly, “get my sh#% together” to quote the advice of someone. The change – as most changes are – was a bit tough, but now going on six weeks in Canmore it’s been lovely to settle back into the community, time with great friends (who I see too infrequently) and my new place to live in town.

It’s been comfortable – yes, but don’t stress – not “too” comfortable. I most certainly have not let my foot of the proverbial gas pedal and training has continued to be going very well in the midst of the changes. After the momentum we gained during the Maui camp – Ivan and I have been working super well together under the watchful eye of Justin [Wadworth]. It’s a different set up with the men and women training separately this year which is a big change, but things with the men’s team seem to be going splendid.

As well as training, I had mentioned it’s been nice to see and hang out with friends (some of which don’t ski race) and I’ve really enjoyed that too. I’m not going to lie, I appear to be allergic to eating dinner alone – which means a lot of great conversations, meals and evenings spent with friends and training with some non-World Cup team members – who are some of my best friends – has been sweet too. No question the friend/social scene is what I miss most about living out of a duffel bag, and that becomes pretty apparent after a few great dinners with the crew.

Ok – I may have fibbed slightly. Aside from hanging out in Canmore, I did enjoy some days in Invermere enjoying what the Columbia valley had to offer, and recently I returned from a short trip to Ontario to visit family, spend a day checking in on Lenny at his family’s cottage (thanks Valjas family for a wonderful (yet too short) time!), see some old friends and execute the 4^th annual “Sudbury Share the Road” event – which was a resounding success this year.

If you aren’t familiar with “Share the Road” I encourage you to check out our website HERE and see what we’re all about.

This year’s event in my hometown of Sudbury saw record numbers and I would like to thank my dad, Chris Gore, STR’s CEO Eleanor [McMahon], all the volunteers, police officers, and Sudbury’s Mayor (Marianne Matichuk) for their tireless work, and support in attempting and working for positive change in the city. While Sudbury still has a long way to go to make it a “bicycle friendly” community, to see almost 300 passionate people riding together was both exhilarating and moving.

This last week in Canmore has flown by and change is in the air again – the Bow River is coming down (which means better fishing, yeah buddy!), the days are getting shorter and my duffel bag is calling to me, begging me to jam it full of gear again. The reality is that on Sunday (Aug. 19) I’m off for our annual training camp down in New Zealand. It’ll be great to be back on skis under those majestic Southern Alps with the boys working hard for the looming season.

Ok, while I’m trying my best to make these updates shorter so more people other than my mother and Jamie Coatsworth will actually read them, I feel like I must speak quickly to how inspiring the 2012 Olympics were. Like most of us sports fans, I love watching the Olympics and the London 2012 Games did not disappoint. Let’s just say the withdrawal I went through the first few days post-Olympics was dramatic and my mornings were infinitely less exciting and required infinitely more coffee to get psyched up.

Some highlights for me off the top of my head were watching the 10,000m with Nish (the last bunch of laps standing and shouting at the television); Rudisha’s monumental display in the 800m as he front-ran to both a World Record and an Olympic title; Bolt’s antics (ok, ok, and victories); Wiggins winning the time trial; Tara Whitten and team winning a bronze medal in the women’s team pursuit; all the distance/middle distance track events and the sadness I felt for both Paula Findlay and Simon [Winfield] in the triathlon (a tough reminder that sport is both beautiful and utterly gut-wrenchingly painful/sad at others) – just to name a few (there were WAY more, but again – trying SO hard to keep it semi-brief!) really moved me. I think though my fav’ of the entire Olympics was that 10,000m. To see Farah and Rupp out-kick the Bekele brothers from Ethiopia almost moved me to tears.

I’m going to try something fun too these days with some quick hits of the summer.

Best run: Actually, Iceline trail in Yoho Nat. Park yesterday with Nish and Matty. It was boss.

Favorite meal: Ok, this is too hard. It’s a tie between brunch-zilla that a whack load of friends and I made after Peri and Joel’s wedding on the morning of July 22^nd (you remember y’all! – and I can’t get into it all right here – it’s too extensive) and a classic home-made dinner consisting of:

– Grilled Halibut (with a cilantro, fresh chili, toasted pine nuts finely chopped, lime zest, soy sauce, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, salt, pepper type rub)
– Brocollini grilled (with EV Olive oil, salt pepper) – finished with fresh lemon and grated parmesan
– Sautéed garden Swiss Chard (again – EV olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh lime)
– Brown rice (gotta be calrose though!)
–  Salad consisting of arugula, feta cheese, peeled roasted red peppers, apple, cherry tomatoes, avocado and toasted pine nuts and whatever dressing you fancy (for me it seems like it’s always a homemade balsamic vinaigrette)
– And dessert of well… anything amazing with fresh seasonal fruit and something tasty like yogurt, Haagen Daz…

Great albums pumping in the truck & at home (in no particular order): Three things here: 1) These are “new” (to me, ok – some are from the spring – but that counts as “new” haha) albums I’ve been listening to and love for the past 5-6 weeks while I was back in Canmore 2) I’m also just loving CBC radio 3 – bordering on addicted, so check it out if you want to listen to fantastic Canadian awesomeness 3) I’m an “album guy” so that’s what I put. There’s been some amazing new songs I’ve been loving too (the new Stars track (Theory of relativity), Metric’s new track (Speed of collapse) Hey Ocean’s “change” etc…), but I won’t get into that now.

– Bahamas: Barchords
– Alabama Shakes: Boys and Girls
– Father John Misty: Fear Fun
– Hurray for the Riff Raff: Look Out Mama
– M. Ward: A wasteland compilation
– Of Monsters and Men: My head is an animal
– Radical Face: Family tree
– Kishi Bashi: 151A
– The Lumineers

Just to name a few (newish) Albums I’ve been loving of late to accompany all the Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Wilco, Beck, Neil Young, Michael Franti, etc… that’s in constant rotation.

Holla’ and thanks for reading. Enjoy the photos as well. Next update will be from winter down in the NZ.

Kersh.