One week to Nationals! I am so excited!!
He said
Well, the nerves and excitement is starting to kick in for Emelia. Next Friday around noon, we head down to Niagara Falls to spend the weekend there for the All-Star National Championships. The team has been working extra hard to get their performance dialled in and perfect. The closer we get to the event the more Emelia has let on that she’s getting both excited and nervous about it. This will be a very big stage and her first time competing at this level so I can understand her feelings—hell, I am nervous for her! Aside from being super happy that she finally in second year of Cheer is getting the real performance experience, we’re also delighted because there will be a team dinner gathering the Saturday night so we finally get to meet her teammates and their families.
After trying wrestling and deciding that is not for her, and then thinking that maybe she’d join rugby with her friends, Emelia has passed on that and settled on Track & Field—something way back at the start of high school she was pretty certain she wanted to do. I am happy she’s back to this as it is a sport she has comfort and experience with. She has always been a good runner given that she has her Mum’s long legs and this sport has way less risk of concussion, injury, and most importantly close contract. She emailed the coach last week to see if she could still join after passing on it initially and missing the first team meeting. They invited her out and practice begins this week.
I was able to find a set of replacement tires for my bike on Tuesday and get them on to the bike. I took a quick 5 km ride that night to make sure they were good and while they are decidedly different, they will do. What this has sparked is that the Vanterra bike might not be the bike for the long haul for me! I have learned a couple of very big lessons. The first, the frame size limits the max size tire (32’s) I will ever be able to put on, which is limiting to the type of gravel terrain I prefer to ride and even race in. The second is the frame size I have is a 56 which after a visit to my local bike shop Outspokin Cycles, is at least 2 sizes too big for me. So, this is decidedly disappointing. It’s clear the bike I got was really just a road bike when what I have learned is my passion is more for the gravel and non-road type riding. The Paris to Ancaster Race I am in at the end of the month will really be where I see how important racing and hardcore gravel is to me.
The other news is this week I signed up for the MS Bike ride to raise funds for The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. The ride goes two days, where day one you ride from Grand Bend to London, and on day two you ride back. The Sherwood’s have done it a couple years now so I will be joining them on Team Cowbell. The ride goes in July and there are fundraising goals like the other rides I participated in last year. It’s all on the road so probably the least favourite of my biking disciplines, but hey, we’ve learned my bike is really more of a road bike so we’ll see how well it performs in that. By all accounts from the Sherwood’s the event is a lot of fun so I am super excited about it. Plus I am hoping to get my hands on a super cool Cowbell cycling jersey!
She said
This week will be focused on getting Emelia ready for next weekend. As the weekend approaches we are all getting pretty excited. We have had a chance this season to experience some in person cheer competitions and they are a lot of fun. But from everyone who has been at Nationals it is an experience like no other. With Covid restrictions being lifted we even get to see an in person awards ceremony! Emelia is beyond excited.
As we plan for next weekend Emelia’s cheer gym has been absolutely amazing at prepping parents for the big event. On Saturday we had a gym-wide Cheer Zoom meeting to go over all the details for the weekend. We found out that over 400 teams are participating from all over Canada. We know that Emelia has her first day in the early afternoon and second day later afternoon with awards around dinner. For this competition we are heading to Niagara Falls. Emelia hasn’t been to the Falls since 2013 so she is so excited to see all the touristy sights with her friends. And we are really happy that after two long years we are finally able to meet more of Emelia’s teammates as one of the parents planned a team dinner. The kids are so stoked!
Friday after lunch we will head down to the Falls and let the fun begin! The kids have worked so hard and have performed so well at all their competitions so we know they will do well, but more importantly they will have fun and have memories that last a life time.