WEEK FOUR

Date: Monday, 9 June 2008
Notes: “Rest Day” – for everyone it seems as Amanda didn’t take the opportunity to go out for a ride herself this morning. I’m feeling pretty stiff and sore this past weekend’s rides and the Alley Cat.

Forecast is calling for cloudiness and rain all week…. Well there’ s a few DVDs on my shelf that need to be watched (and the trainer’s been feeling lonely…).


Date: Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Time: 1:29:48
Distance: 31.82
Average Speed: 21.26kph
Temp: 9°C
Wind: SE 17kph
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Notes: Met Ryan at the Roastery at 5:30AM. Susan hadn’t gotten the email – as I suspected as she hadn’t replied and unfortunately I couldn’t call as my phone had been mysteriously out of service since Monday afternoon!? So we rolled on over to her house and found her just leaving to go on a ride on her own. We all rolled south of town and did a little tour of Furdale.

50 Ball Crunches, Back Extensions on Ball, Leg Raises, Push-ups

Took Keira to gymnastics, then over to grandparents. ~10 km

Date: Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Time: 1:13:20
Distance: 29.72
Average Speed: 24.31kph
Temp: 8°C
Wind: E 15kph
Conditions: Cloudy
Notes: Met Susan at the Roastery this morning for another Tour de Furdale at a slightly quicker pace.

50 Ball Crunches, Back Extensions on Ball, Leg Raises, Push-ups

Took kids to Library for story time. ~8km

Date: Thursday, 12 June 2008
“Rest Day”

On “Rest Day” I rode to my folks twice to drop off/pick up the kids and in between hauled about $400 worth of groceries home from Steep Hill. Then made a second trip to Steep Hill later to pick up rotting vegetable matter to compost. ~15km

Date: Friday, 13 June 2008
Time: 1:24:37
Distance: 35.91Km
Average Speed: 25.49kph
Temp: 9°C
Wind: NNW 13kph
Conditions: Cloudy – Light Rain
Notes: I rode out Valley Road to the Berry Barn by myself this morning. Had to wait 10 min. for a train again by the landfill. Despite it not being that cold it FELT really cold. Maybe it was the damp. I did get sprinkled on a bit. It felt like a really hard ride, but it was one of my better morning efforts. I feel tired.

50 Ball Crunches, Back Extensions on Ball, Leg Raises, Push-ups

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

Again with the train.


Date: Saturday, 14 June 2008
Time: 2:20:32
Distance: 60.14Km
Average Speed: 25.67kph
Temp: 6-9°C
Wind: SW-W11kph
Conditions: clouds… rain…
Notes: Susan stopped by to ride with me this morning. We got as far as the landfill and it started raining. By the time we reached valley road it was REALLY raining and we were soaked. She said at the bottom of the hill she was going to turn around and head back. I thought about it and at the bottom of the hill I turned around too… of course as I turned around I realized the rain wasn’t really coming down THAT hard and it wasn’t THAT cold. It might have seemed a bit worse as we were riding into the wind. I decided to make a makeshift seat cover out of the plastic sandwich bag I kept my wallet in and press on! I was wet already… So I pressed on and the rain let up a bit, then rained some more, then let up a bit, then rained some more… I didn’t really feel all that cold until near the very end when maybe the wet and wind started to get to me. I skipped the crunches, etc and went straight to the shower upon arriving at home.


Date: Sunday, 15 June 2008
Time: 4:07:57
Distance: 110.57Km
Average Speed: 26.76kph
Temp: 5°C(!?) - 15°C
Wind: NE4kph - calm
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy
Notes: Took forever to get on the road – didn’t get rolling until 7AM.

The day before there had been some ticking in the front wheel – actually it had been going on, on and off, for a week or so – but on Saturday it was a bit more persistent and I was able to determine that is was in fact the front wheel. Upon examination I realized ALL the spokes on my front wheel seemed quite loose! When I went to tighten them up in the evening I blew a spoke. Luckily I have a PILE of bikes and scavenged the front wheel off the Mikado – of course the computer sensor was in a slightly different location and the tires were 700x28 (instead of 700x23) so I had to reprogram the computer…

Then the shoes that I normally ride in were still SOAKED so I used some different shoes which required some tweaking of saddle height, etc….

Finally got out on the road… Out valley road loads of SUVs and Minivans with Tri-bikes dangling off of them flew by on their way out to Pike Lake for the Spin Off Spadina (or whatever they’re calling it now).

I took the pike lake highway to highway 766 towards Delisle. At the 50km mark a blue and black streak in an old-school bike doctor jersey flew past in the opposite direction – I think if might have been Sarah Robins…? Anyway as I approached Delisle I considered my route options. Originally I had planned on taking highway 7 back… and maybe at Vanscoy taking highway 672 either east back towards valley road or north to the Grandora road (that turns into 11th Street)…. In the end I just decided to avoid Highway 7 – as I was really enjoying the ride and the silence – and headed back the way I came.


Some Cows along Highway 766. One is on the outside of the fence. When I went by them the first time he (she?) was standing quite close to the road.

When I got back to the Pike Lake road the Triathlon was in full swing. I couldn’t believe the number of Cervelos out there! The sound those full carbon bikes with carbon wheels make… that low kind of hollow rumbling… I don’t know – it just don’t sound right to me. They probably rock, but it just gives me the heebie-jeebies!

I saw Crystal Clark roll by – the Vegan Triathlete I was getting tired at this point – to tired to realize who I was looking at until she had almost rolled past, and too tired to cheer her on… she looked tired to… and grumpy… or maybe that look was just the look of fierce determination to KICK ASS!

The road home took me along the Tri-route for a bit – some of those foks just don’t go that fast… of course they had just finished swimming a kilometer or two and had to save energy for the run… still…

Some Triathletes… I have no idea who any of them are…

The last 20km I was starting to feel sore in the neck and shoulders and back. The last 10km I was feeling the bonk something fierce. I was a little wobbly on the bike and it took everything I had to stay upright a few times. I did make it home and at a record average speed over a long distance ride (for me anyway…).

Looking forward to another rest day.

I think I might skip the crunches, etc on the weekends when I’m doing longer rides – but may do them EVERY weekday morning (even on “rest days”).

The sad, sad thing is that after four weeks of all this activity and laying of the potato chips, licorice and root beer… The amount of weight I’ve lost has been negligible… damn, that’s a little depressing… I’m actually going to have to start counting calories and stuff (you’re never going to get me to live off of three protein shakes a day like Mike Magnussen did in Heft on Wheels!!! A brilliant and inspiring book by the way!)