Two Whistler riders are taking on the punishing La Ruta de los Conquistadores in Costa Rica, a four-day stage race from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea.
Mike Charuk has won the Masters B title for the past two years against a tough field of veteran riders and racers, and is back for a third year.
Sarah O'Byrne, riding for Australia, is taking on the course for the first time.
The race got underway on Wednesday, Nov. 11 and wraps up on Saturday, Nov. 14. The course covers close to 400 km of ground, but what makes the days so long is the sheer amount of vertical - over 12,000 metres of ascending and descending volcanoes from start to finish, which works out to close to 10,000 feet of climbing per day.
You can follow the race online at http://larutadelosconquistadores.com/info/.
Speed skaters on pace in Berlin
Despite injuries last season to some of Canada's top speed skaters, the team is in great shape heading into the Olympics, with athletes on or close to the podium in every event at the Short Track World Cup events in Montreal and Long Track events in Berlin.
In Montreal, Canadians struggled out of the gate on the first day with 225 skaters representing 35 countries, one of the largest fields ever at a speed skating event, as the race is on to claim Olympic quota spots.
The Canadians cruised through the qualifiers for the most part to improve their medal chances greatly.
Charles Hamelin had the best day on Saturday with two gold medals, one in the 500 metres and another in the 1,500 metres - the second World Cup gold medal in the 1,500 ever won by a Canadian skater. On the women's side Kalyna Roberge won silver in the 500-metre race.
"It's incredible," said Hamelin. "Every time I step on the ice it's to win, but to get out of this with two gold medals I couldn't ask for more and I'm completely satisfied."
Roberge's race was one of the most exciting of the day, as she held the lead at one point ahead of World Cup champion Wang Meng of China after a daring inside pass. Wang took the lead back in the next lap, but Roberge dogged her to the finish line with a hometown crowd cheering her on.
Valerie Maltais and Roberge also raced in the B Final of the 1,500-metre race, placing 11 th and 12 th respectively.
On Sunday, Hamelin added a bronze medal in the 1,000-metre race to his medal haul for the weekend. At one point it looked like he could have taken his third gold medal but some aggressive outside passing by the other skaters left him in heavy traffic in the sprint to the finish and he had nowhere to go.
Canadians added two medals in relay, with the women's team third after a crash involving the Italian team and the men second behind Korea.
In Berlin, the Canadian long track team was equally impressive. Kristina Groves started the day with a fifth place finish in the 3,000-metre race, earning a berth in the 2010 Olympic Games. Brittany Schussler, Clara Hughes and Cindy Klassen also cracked the top 10 in sixth, seventh and ninth, respectively.
On day two Christine Nesbitt won gold in the women's 1,000-metre race, which she followed the next day with a gold in the 1,500. Schussler was third in that race and Groves fourth.
Denny Morrison made up for a mistake the previous day to win bronze in the men's 1,500 metres.
Racing continues this weekend in the Netherlands.
Toronto awarded 2015 Pan Am Games
Toronto's bid to host the Olympic Games in 2008 was trumped by China, and the chances of winning a future summer Games after Vancouver's successful bid to host the 2010 Games are slim to none for at least a decade or two.
Sill, Toronto pulled out a consolation prize last week with the awarding of the 2015 Pan Am Games - arguably the biggest athletic event in the run-up to the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
While there will be fewer legacies than an Olympic Games, the $2.4 billion bid includes upgrades to existing sports facilities, additional aquatic centres and stadiums and an affordable housing project on industrial lands on Toronto's waterfront.
Few surprises for Canadian halfpipe team
The Canadian Freestyle Ski Association announced its halfpipe team for the upcoming season. The team was arguably the best in the world the last two seasons with medals in almost every World Cup and professional event on the circuit and an overall title for Squamish's Sarah Burke.
Burke will once again lead the women's team, where she will be joined by veteran Rosalind Groenewoud of Calgary and newcomer Dania Assaly of Edmonton.
The men's team will be led by veterans Mike Riddle of Squamish and Vernon's Justin Dorey, with standout Matt Hayward taking the season off to recover from an injury. That left a spot on the team, which was scooped up by Penticton's Matt Margetts.
Trennon Paynter will once again coach the squad - a rarity on a tour where athletes are largely self-coached and receive more support from sponsors than national teams.
"It may not be easy to surpass the results of previous years, but the team is up for the challenge and is approaching the 2010 season on a mission to raise the bar to new levels," said Paynter.
Relay teams race Haney to Harrison
The annual Haney to Harrison road relay is heralded as one of the last major events on the B.C. running calendar, taking place the first wet, cold Saturday of November.
Runners from Sea to Sky regularly take part in the relay event, where teams of eight athletes cover 100 km of back roads from Haney to Harrison Hot Springs, with legs between six and 15 km in distance.
The Chachie Brothers team from Squamish was the top Sea to Sky team this year, placing 21 st overall and seventh out of 23 teams in the open men category with their combined time of 7:41:43.
The Crossfit Squamish Posers placed 35 th overall and eighth in the open men category with their combined time of 8:00:39.
The Adidas Running Room team was the top relay team this year, completing the course in 5:39:25 while averaging a kilometre every three minutes and 24 seconds.
The Haney to Harrison is also an ultra marathon, and people can race the entire 100 km solo if they choose. This year 29 men and women went the entire distance. Darin Bentley led the pack with his incredible time of 7:49:37, averaging a kilometre every 4:42 from the start of his race. To put that into perspective, he ran the equivalent of a 44:20 10 kilometre run 10 times in a row.
There are a few events remaining for runners, including the annual Fall Classic at UBC.
Whistler's biggest yoga class
Whistler's yogis and yoginis may practice different flavours of yoga, but when it comes to charities they can all agree. On Friday, Nov. 20, Whistler yoga instructors are inviting members of the public out to a 108 Minutes of Yoga session at Whistler Secondary School, raising funds for the United Nations Children's Fund, also known as Unicef. The event is part of the third annual Yoga4Kidz National Challenge, with yoga studios across Canada taking part. Participation is by donation, and the session gets underway at 4 p.m.
Tickets selling fast for Jamaican Bobsleigh House
The Savage Beagle welcomed the Jamaican Bobsleigh team to the community this past Saturday as the four-member squad was in town for international training week, also kicking off the Beagle's official designation as Jamaica Bobsleigh House.
While the team has to officially qualify they have qualified in every Games since their debut at the 1988 Summer Games in Calgary, with the exception of 2006 where they were forced to borrow a sled.
Throughout the 2010 Winter Games the Savage Beagle will be selling tickets to the House at www.jambobhouse2010whistler.com or through Pam McColl at grafton@shaw.ca. Ticket sales are strong, according to the Savage Beagle.
"The Jamaicans bring an infectious enthusiasm to not just the Olympics but to life itself," said Savage Beagle co-owner Derek Pink. "We're donating a portion of our cover price to help the team get better equipment and support their efforts to qualify for the upcoming Games."
