Pain in my what?

I have a wonderful, beautiful, friend named Stephanie. Stephanie and I work together, but have become friends over a shared love of being outside and staying active.

Our friendship started when we discovered that we both were members of the same gym and started hitting up some of the classes together. Then she invited me to her cabin in paradise, then I invited her to join my paddling team, that winter we chased her dad down the ski trails (man that guy is fast). We both agree that exercise is better when you have a friend to celebrate with.



Stephanie, doing what we do at her lake (sorry boys, she's engaged)

A few years ago, one of us heard about a little event going on that piqued our interest. They branded themselves as a "scenic cycle" and "pleasureable paddle" following one of the lovely rivers that flows through our fair city. "How bad could it be?" we thought.
Oh yeah. They called it the Pain in the ASSiniboine. Starting from The Forks you would bike 32 kms of road, river trail and paths to Beaudry Park, then get in a boat and paddle back to The Forks. Sounds fun right?

Nevermind the fact that I hadn't riden a bike in over two decades, no time like the present to get back on it. I added a few spin classes to my workout regime and pretty much just hoped for the best. It was 2010 and we finished 23 out of 34 teams. There were just over 70 racers and I am quite proud to say that I only cried once.



At the start line, 2010



Over the years we have finished 34th of 55 teams, 41st of 76 teams and this year we had a great bike ride and finished in 4:34:22 (yes that is over four and a half hours) and placed 47th of 86 teams! It has been so much fun watching this event grow over the past four years to over 250 racers. Every kind of adventurer is out on the course, ranging from elite athletes to the "oh god, please just let me make it through this". Each year we have been slowly inching our way closer to the former from the latter.



Start line, 2013



Our latest strategy for this involved bringing a small stereo for music and chowing down on brownies the whole way. We both have learned the lessons as to how to keep the body fueled over a 4-5 hour race.



Transition from the bike to the canoe, 2013



Next year, due to her upcoming nuptials, I might have to do it solo, but until we finish in the top half of this group I hope my gal Stephanie will keep me as her Pain in the Assiniboine.



Our reward at the finish line, 2013