I have been looking forward to this for ever! We saw the Queens from RuPaul!!

He said

This weekend was super important to Emelia for a bunch of reasons: Softball Playoff Tournament, Cheer Choreography Camp and then the biggest thing, RuPaul “Werq the World 2022” World Tour coming to London. I am sure Danielle will tell you all about it, but even with all that excitement, there was something very exciting for me too! Sunday (today) I was entered my second race of the year, The Dusty Nostril put on by Cycle Waterloo. So needless to say all of our dance cards this weekend and we were all very excited about the events on them. But, it did make for a weekend of us all going off in different directions in this perfect storm of things to do.

I worked Friday and Saturday in spots so I couldn’t help with getting Emelia to the multiple locations she needed to be. And when it came to RuPaul that was always a Danielle and Emelia thing. So, as soon as I was done work yesterday I headed up to the trailer because it was only forty-five minute from the race start whereas it was an hour and twenty minutes from home. It allowed me to have a nice evening by the fire pit and to gain 35 minutes of sleep in the morning so it was a no brainer. And I was able to watch Canada win the World Juniors gold medal game and then have some time by the fire pit.

This morning I was up, out of the trailer and on my way before anyone else in the campground was up. Before I knew it I was registered, signed in and ready to go. Well, not before the complimentary breakfast of flapjacks and breakfast sausages which was awesome. And then, all of a sudden. Before I knew it, it was 9am and we were wheeling out from the start line. It’s the first time I’ve raced this style of race—you have 8 hours, a 21.3km course and and you see how many laps you can get done. While I normally ride the G2G at a speed of about 22 km/h, I found myself out of the gate with a lot of full-gassers riding in the neighbourhood of 30 km/h—something I knew I would not be able to sustain.

When it was all said and done, I called in my day around 3pm having completed 6 laps of the 21.3 km course for a total distance of 127.35 km which would be my my second century ride for this year! I definitely did a much better job of my fuelling and hydration strategy this year, because there was no cramping or as it happened in our run to the full E2E experience on the G2G Rail Trail where I experienced the most excruciating cramps I have ever had on my legs. This ride I made it start to finish with no issues. But, the coolest part was meeting all the friendly people I did along in the ride. I ran into people who recognized some of my G2G posts and others who I met for the very first time.

So by 3:15pm today I was on my way back home with filthy riding kit, a dirty bike and a whack load of memories. I was super excited to be back home to hear about Danielle and Emelia’s weekend, but I was also just excited after a pretty full-send day to be home to relax. Given that I just started bicycle races this year it has been such a blast and I have already learned so much. I am going to see if there isn’t one more race I can do this year before setting the road map for next year, but if there isn’t I am already delighted with the results and what I have learned and already have thoughts about what next year will look about.

I already know how great Emelia and Danielle’s weekend was, but I can safely say that everyone in the house had an absolute blast this weekend!!

She said

To say this last week was a full week would be a massive understatement. We had the most packed weekend which meant we also had a full week leading into this weekend. Emelia in one weekend had her year end softball tournament, her cheer choreography camp plus the RuPaul event. It was packed start to finish all week. As we led into this weekend Emelia had her year end softball tournament which meant she had practices leading into the big event. Emelia’s team was a group of her close friends from school plus girls that she had become super close to since they met up in the spring. Emelia just loved taking on this new sport and just loved her team so much. The girls have all become fast friends. We tried so much to make sure she hit everything this week and were able to fit in most of the big events.

After she had practice on Thursday we quickly shifted gears to cheer and her position in the team for the routine. Emelia had been working hard at every practice plus working out at home to get ready for this weekend. She was determined to make sure that she proved to the coaches that she was working to be placed well in her team for the routine. After a few tweaks in placement she is with a great group with Olivia as well as two new girls in her initial stunt group. She is absolutely loving the routine as it is being built. She came home every night thrilled with the creative routine and excited with how it is all coming together.

For the first time since Emelia started Cheer, they are working with a full choreographer to build the routine from start to finish. Since Emelia started cheer during the pandemic it has been a bit of a eclectic build of the routine. So this year being the first with no Covid restrictions meant that they had their first real full choreography camp. We are beyond excited to see what the routine is going to look like. From all we are hearing from Emelia it is creative, challenging and incredible. We cannot wait for the first competition to see how it will turn out. There is a lot of work from this weekend to the first competition in November for sure!

With the long days of training camp this weekend meant that even though we had full intention to fit everything in we had to make some choices. So we had to sadly pull out her year end softball tournament. The team had some tight games but were eliminated by the middle of the second day of the tournament. We are so proud of this team and how they came together and cheered each other on. Emelia is already excited about next year and cannot wait to play again.

If this weekend wasn’t busy enough we had one more massive event. One that is for us 6 months in the making but in the real world more than 2 years in the making. The big event was the RuPaul show. Emelia and her best friends have been huge RuPaul fans for years, the show was one of the big shows that Emelia and I started watching a lot during the early days of the pandemic. As a group – the girls, Susan and I have all become huge fans. So when Susan messaged me in April that she wanted to get tickets for the 5 of us to see the show.

After months of counting down the night was here. I picked up Emelia from cheer and then ran home to get ready. The girls were so excited for the whole event. The show was beyond amazing. The queens put on an incredible show and I have to say it was in my top 3 shows of all time! The entire night was a party from start to finish, the best part hands down was seeing the girls reactions as their favourite queens hit the stage. It was worth every penny of the cost of the show for sure. All three girls were declaring this the best night of their lives and one they will not forget anytime soon. It was a night to remember for sure.

So needless to say we are all happy and exhausted from one of the busiest weekends we have had in a long time. But our hearts are full and beyond happy. This weekend is one we wont soon forget!