Fun in the Woods

Spring is in the air and it is becoming easier to get outside and play. One of my major goals at the Boys and Girls Club is to promote a healthy lifestyle through diet and exercise. We have had a mix bag of weather this April, but that hasn't stopped us from getting outside every day at the LCO Boys and Girls Club.

Tristan and Sunny enjoying the fire. Only one match to light this well made fire.

Our forts from last fall were still standing, but we did a renovation and expansion.

Jayden, Migwan, Kalista, and McCayla were the lead builders in a couch and a bed. We had 15 kids on the construction project.

Who needs a playground when you have trees

Paige gathering the sap from the trees

Boiling down Sap with Bob. Bob, an ojibwe elder taught the kids the proper way to tap the trees, gather the sap and make the syrup. He taught us the ojibwe and the american names of the different trees and plants in the sugar bush.

Maria playing the flute

Hide-and-go-seek at the Pow Wow Grounds

Final Hill Climb...Best race of the season

With one race to go I held the purple distance leader bib by 7 points. The final race was a big one. Double Points. Super Tour Finals. The distance title and $2,000 would be decided by the 4km, 250m vertical race up Dollar Mountain in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Red Heads Climbing up Elkhorn Mountain: Matt Gelso and Brian Gregg Photo: Nils Ribi

The hill climb is a race I have been visualizing in my mind all season long, but in particular theses last 4 weeks of training. I had my race plan dialed for the pursuit start on the final day on the mini tour. There were several races going on that day, but I was focused on the standing for the hill climb alone.

Super Tour 2011 (Distance Champion Brian Gregg, Sprint Champion Mike Sinnott, Overall Champion Lars Flora) Photo: David Wheelock

The race went perfect. I went out hard for the first 500m, then brought the pace down and settled in to my red line. I received some splits on Lars who started ahead of me that I was leading by 15 seconds at the halfway point. I pushed it hard a bit early but crossed the line knowing it was a great race. I finished 3rd on the day, just behind Kris Freeman and my teammate Tad Elliott. This was a great race for me and I am very happy to end the season on such a positive note. Now it is time to relax and recover from training. Wedding planning is on the agenda.