Hamstrings

Holy hamstrings batman!!! They are TI-I-IGHT!

November 3rd marked the beginning of off-season, base training. I'm hoping to really gain a lot this year in strength and speed on the bike. I'm not bad on speed now, actually. I made some really good progress last year on my average speed. I guess now it's maintaining that speed for longer durations, and climbing faster. The climbing faster thing comes down to something that's called power to weight ratio, and frankly in the last 2 years mine has been shit! Can I say that on the blog? Well, it has. Now that I've got some health stuff sorted out I think I might actually be losing some weight. But I haven't dared step on the scale yet. I promised myself and Jess that I wouldn't for 2-3 more weeks. Just stick to the program and wait for it to happen.

So, base training... right now I'm in the middle of a six-week period which is called 'pre-base'. I'm not allowed to push hard on the bike or any other cardio activity I decided to pursue - zones one and two only (estimated HR zones for me since I haven't done any fancy-shmancy blood work to know exactly what my zones should be). It's actually really hard to sit on the bike for an hour and not push yourself. You know - it's fun to crank up the resistance and push hard - get into the music and such. However lazy I feel for the super-easy workout, it's supposed to work - burn fat now, and prepare my muscles to use fat more and conserve carbs a little more when I'm on the bike in the summer. You want to conserve some of the carbs in your muscles for when you have to push harder or faster quickly because carbs are quick energy. The low burn is the sitting and climbing kind of stuff. If I can use more fat for energy then, I'll be working more efficiently. Anyway... I don't want to bore you with all of that.

At the gym I've started to really do a lot more strength training. My legs aren't used to maintaining a contraction for extended periods of time - hence hamstring hell tonight! Ahh! So right now I'm preparing them for heavy weights which I will start in 3 weeks' time. This year I plan to really push myself when it comes to the weights. I know Jess is a bit skeptical (although still on board with the plan) - not of my ability (god knows she had me doing some crazy weight last winter) - but I kind of bulk up quick, so you know... I don't want to look like this:

i removed the image...

Hahaha! Funny picture (never knew 'muscles' was spelled with an 'a'). ;) I want to be really, really strong. I want to climb those mountains in Vermont next year. So, here goes nothing...

And I apologize in advance to my poor hamstrings, quads, glutes, and calf muscles. No pain no gain, as they say.

Wings

Back for a whole month now before having to travel again! The last 2.5 months have been exhausting with travel every two weeks... be careful what you ask for, eh?

It's a bit rough leaving plus 30 degree weather to be greeted by true Canadian autumn in full-swing (minus 2 this morning). Still, it really is good to be back.

Last night I got to fly direct and it was a great flight. First I want to tell you all that my experience with WestJet was really nice. I know, we all love to bash the airlines (particularly our favourite monopoly - Air Canada). WestJet seems to be getting a lot more flights started up to various places (including Hawaii and Bahamas - for all you snow birds). The staff is ultra-friendly and easy going. Geez... I sound like an advertisement, but I wanted to just put that out there. I guess I fly AC too much so common courtesy seems like a novel experience today!

We flew at 42,000 feet (I watched the map on my personal satellite TV when I wasn't reading my book which I will blog about soon), and we had clear skies the whole way (the likely cause of our 25 minute early arrival - sweet!). It was phenomenal to look out the window and correlate which state I was seeing form my bird's-eye-view. Not often can you see the world from that height. And I also saw 3 different planes flying below us at different points during the flight. Wow!! The only other time I've seen planes around me while in the sky was at LAX when we took off - then they are much closer to you and you are silently thanking the women and men who are working in the control tower that day. Flying these days is usually more of a pain than anything else, but yesterday it was a nice experience. It reminded me of the novelty of the experience when I got to fly as a child.

So now it's time to get re-organized, do the laundry, clean the house - all of the little things that never get done when you are gone every other week for weeks on end. And this morning I got all caught up on my emails, blogs, and podcasts. Speaking of podcasts... check out this video: Ben Harper. The way he so quickly and so assuredly turns thought into words reminds me of how lacking I am in the ability to truly articulate my own ideas and feelings.

Orange County - East

Here I am, putting my post-conference day achy feet up (smelly, achy feet - ick! no socks worn today), writing for whomever it is that reads here. I got a pedometer in my conference package and so far I've walked 6.5 km. Far less than I should have - as I was intending on walking to the congress centre, but realized it's at least 1.5 km's to the end of the drive of our hotel/resort. Then maybe 2-3 km's to the facility. So instead I take the shuttle with everyone else. What's new today? Well, second conference in two weeks - I'm just about lectured and exhibited out. The US conferences are so different from those at home. Firstly, they are 100x larger - everything is bigger... booths, congress centres (this one is one million square feet and that's no exaggeration - obviously the conference doesn't occupy the whole space), lectures, numbers of delegates, etc. All the rules are different here too. My time spent at the booth is quite useless because I'm not allowed to dispense my ever growing knowledge. Not here. That's not allowed. So I just look cute and speak French with all of the people here from Marseilles, Lyon, Paris, and Switzerland (today's list of French-speaking foreign delegates). The US reps think it's great that myself and the Quebec rep can do this so, even when the person can speak English, they send them our way. It's funny how I seem to be speaking French so much more these days. And in places I wouldn't have normally thought it would happen - US conferences and Panama (last spring) for example. It's great! I've also been speaking French with my Quebec counterpart most of the time here - it's really fun to talk and know that 98% of the people around us cannot understand. He, he! So many things I could write tonight, but I'm fading fast and need my sleep. Perhaps I'll have more to put down at another time.

Vive le Quebec!

Bonjour tout le monde! Comment ca va? I don't know how to put the accents on here in the blog. I'd probably have to change the template to French. I know a lot of you don't speak the language and I don't intend on practicing here, so I'll spare you. I'm in Quebec this week. Arrived yesterday. I have an amazing view of the city from my hotel room window, which I'm looking at as I write this. The fall colours are spectacular - still! There's a little river that I can see with a little bridge. I was kinda wanting to stay home this weekend, what with the good weather (hello - get in as many more km's as I can on the bike before it gets put up on the trainer for a few months), and with so much traveling right now. When you think about it all together it's a bit overwhelming. So I guess I have to remind myself of that old saying that never fails: one day at a time. Mm-hmm. That's right. I'm feeling so much better these days (that fatigue thing is finally sorting out). I went out last night with a group of people and got in late. Forgot to change my ringer from "silence" on my cell phone (aka alarm clock) and it didn't wake me up this morning for the 7 AM symposium... I did however, wake up at 6:06 AM on my own, felt the need to check the time and promptly hopped out of bed. OK - who are you? If you told this to my parents they might faint. This is not normal first-child-of-theirs behaviour. It's great though. Maybe I'm easing into morning person territory. I'd love that. You know why? It would mean I would be spry for early morning bike rides. Yes, it's all about the bike. I think my mind was totally not on packing when I did it Friday... forgot one of my suit jackets for a pair of pants I brought, forgot gym socks, forgot my keyfob. I decided, for the first time, to pack my shoes and some of my food in a separate, small bag and check it as well (I always bring snacks and stuff with me so I don't get tempted by the crap they serve at these things). That way I'd have more room to bring stuff back from the congress, as well as not wind up with a bag that's overweight. Well the small bag didn't show up with me. I saw it go on the plane (a prop) in the 'wa. I think it stayed behind in MTL. It arrived a few hours later, but I almost had to wear my sketchers with my suit to the first night at the exhibit (a small embarrassment). Things that make life un-dull. I wasn't panicked though. I figured I'd get the bag. I actually would have been surprised if I hadn't. Where did I find blind faith in Air Canada?

Beauty - how do you see it?

Hope this actually works. I had to paste code - that's a first for me. Am I turning into a science/techno geek? lol! I LOVE these videos. Believe me, I'm not immune to these pressures myself. Perhaps that's why they resonate so. You can go to the website and spread the word if you feel moved to.

Just Stuff

Well I'm finally starting to recover. I really got hit hard with that virus last week. Still coughing, but from what I've heard that will last a while. My weekend, while very nice, was low-key. Just what the doctor ordered. Trained with Jess yesterday and even though she took it easy on me due to the illness, she still kicked my butt! Man! I'm sore today. And then I did a spin class later in the day. Maybe not the best thing to do, I thought during the class, but I made it. I really prefer training on my own bike though. Those spin bikes are really uncomfortable. Then today I got a lot done! I went for a very short ride. Nice just to get out. It was cooooold though. I was bundled up good! I actually cleaned my office up!!! That's something I've been procrastinating on for a while. I go through this cycle every month or so. My friend, Lisa, teases me about it. I get all stressed out because I've let my office turn into a minefield of papers and files and crap all over the desk and floor. I downgraded my desk last year to prevent it from getting piled up with crap and force myself to be on top of putting papers away in the filing cabinet. No such luck. They just end up on the floor. So, this is what I was thinking - I'm just terrible at cleaning. I mean, when I clean I do a really good job. But I hate it so much that I don't do it often. The two things I always stay on top of are the kitchen and bathroom since, being a Science major and all, I did my fair share of Microbiology labs and know all about wet environments being the worst. So I'm a clean freak about those rooms (other than letting the dishes pile up for a few days first). Otherwise though, I kinda live like the stereotypical single guy. Which I'm not. It's kinda funny, really. Maybe I need to put an ad out... WANTED: cute, tall guy who is insane about cycling and doesn't mind cleaning up after his hopelessly messy gf. Keep me posted if you find one. I'm sure they're hard to come by. Oh, and I've got books to blog about eventually. I know Mir has posted on that blog recently. She's the bookworm in my circle of friends. And before I left for the east coast I downloaded some new music. My current fave is KT Tunstall's new album. I loved Eye to the Telescope, but the I think I love the new one even more! SHE ROCKS! (see below)

KT Sampler

Not from the new album, but worth sharing. Yep, she rocks!

Sniffle, Cough, Achoo!

I'm sick. While it was fun (and much appreciated) to stay with my friends and their kids, I generally avoid small humans for just this reason. I go in and out of hospitals and doctors' offices every day and rarely do I get sick. Put me in close proximity to people under the age of 10 and WHAM! Becks has a head cold. Bummer. One minor consolation: I don't think my buddies will be riding on Saturday (calling for lots of rain). Maybe I'll be well enough by Sunday, and if the weather forecast is correct, it should be a reasonably good day for cycling.

Last week was a great week of vacation and travel. I closed out with Thanksgiving weekend in NB with a lot of family and new friends celebrating my sister's wedding. She and her now hubby had a blast and so did the rest of us. It was a very informal wedding which made the atmosphere relaxed and fun. The weather couldn't have been better - Friday was so warm I felt too hot in my jeans. We had a 'bon fire' that night (there was a fire ban so the actual fire didn't exist) and while I got to bed at 1 AM, the vast majority of those out that night stayed up til somewhere in the vicinity of 6 AM. We (the bridal party) on the other hand, had lots of important things to do the next morning and 1 AM was plenty late. A 7:30 AM wake-up to head downtown for hair and make-up was a little unsettling, but damn did we look good! ;) The wedding went off without a hitch and again, the majority of the guests stayed up into the wee hours of the morning. I woke up the next day with my illness in full force - I had felt it coming since I had left the Island. And I was supposed to drive only as far as MTL on Sunday to visit with a close friend, but wound up driving straight home that day so I could get to my own bed and some R&R. Funny, the 10.5 hours of driving doesn't seem as long when your head is all a mush with a cold. Monday I stayed in all day, not even getting out of my PJs.

So, here are some select photos of my week... Enjoy!

(if you look closely you'll see that I never did make any effort to get rid of my cycling tan lines)

Feels Like Home

Driving, driving, driving...

It's too bad the east coast is so far away from the 'wa. If it were closer I'd get out here far more often. Particularly to Spud Island - aka home. My visit to the island this week was far too short. I arrived there Monday after two days of driving and a pretty stiff neck. My audio books were great and all the new iTunes helped too. Lots of car singing. ;) I mapped out a few rides before I left to ensure I knew distances before I head out and get myself into a situation where I need to be back in town still and have 50 more km to go. On Tuesday I did the main ride I really wanted to do. Even though my roots are on the east side of the island, I don't think I've been up to the far north east point since my childhood. The goal for the ride was to loop the tip. And I did. 63 km's later, quiet roads, extraordinary weather, courteous drivers who (get this) move out to pass AND wave at you when they do so!!! Mind you, tourist season is almost over - I saw a few, but it's not like in the summer, so roads are much less traveled right now. Nevertheless, the locals are in no big rush, happy to slow down for you, actually care for the safety of others on the road (well, what would I expect from this place that is my heart's home anyway - there is a reason I love it so much). Unbeknownst to me the ride was full of hills. Some small, some slightly steep, some long, some short, but there was not shortage of climbing on Tuesday. It was a phenomenal ride and I was totally blissed out at the end. On Wednesday I rode around the north coast - an area I am very familiar with. The National Park is open now - no fees to enter. And the road was deserted but for a couple of other cyclists, a couple of tourists, and some road workers. Oh - and the fishermen at the wharf at Covehead Harbour. I stopped there and took a whack of photos and fed their dog, a friendly golden retriever who tried to hop into the car of the tourists that came by. Unfortunately today, as it is every time I leave the red rock, I was sad and cranky. I know the island is somewhere I will never live, but I love it so much and I wish I could visit more often. I feel like it is so much of who I am. This time I also did not have much alone time in my place. OK, so I had a couple multi-hour bike rides. I guess I needed a bit more. Just not enough time. My time got split quite a bit, visiting my family and with a university friend, since I was staying with her and her family. I usually stay with my grandmother, but she had a full house with my folks visiting too and even though she probably wanted me to come stay on the couch, I kind of wanted a real bed and some space. Staying with my friend, Dal, was fun too because I got to take her kids out on their bikes and show them how the bike works and stuff. And they thought that was pretty cool. I think Dal and her hubby are afraid of one day having to shell out several grand for a bike if they keep having me come around. ;) One of my goals in life: get all my friends kids into cycling. Mwahahaha (the evil laugh if you didn't know).
More cycling tomorrow and more updates to come if I can find another computer. Luckily my aunt doesn't mind me hogging hers tonight.

Laugh

Who wants to have a laugh at my expense today? ;) Well, this morning as I sat at my desk gabbing away on the phone to one of my friends I looked down and saw the cord for my palm pilot partway through the shredder. I'm just lucky it didn't short and cause a fire or something because the other end of it was plugged into the power bar - thus funny, not tragic. Picture me lifting the lid off the shredder and seeing the poor little ends of the cords all mangled and the tiny metal insides sticking out in each and every direction. I think I may have to find a different spot for my shredder - somewhere removed from all of the electrical cords for the various work-related devices I seem to need in this strange world we live in.

I'm starting to get excited for my next trip. Until this past week I was kind of feeling a little dreadful. Not because I wasn't looking forward to it, but I'm just so tired lately and I have to do a very long drive for this one. But yesterday I started seeing the adventure in it. :) That's what trips are all about. I'm happy I'm in that head space about it now. I'm going to get a library membership, I think. I want to 'rent' some books on CD for my drive. They are a little expensive so I don't really want to buy any. I hope they have some that are worth renting though, as I know that all the good books and books on CD tend to go on a wait-list at the library and I have no time for wait-lists. I've been downloading some new music because I LOVE music in the car. I have tell you: I'm the absolute best singer in the car. Bet you didn't know that eh? Between singing, audio books, and CBC radio (I'm a bit of a junkie) I should be sufficiently entertained. Two weeks til my sister ties the knot (purpose of the trip). I'm pretty much ready. The only thing I have to really do is remember to pack all of my warm cycling gear because I plan to ride my bike while out there. I'm taking it with me. :) So, more on this stuff to come...

Movie Weekend

Back in the Big Smoke again. I came early so I could spend time here with Ms. Beans. She drove down Friday night and I flew in on Sat afternoon. We stayed with her mom and spent time with her two sisters and her little niece. It was a fun weekend. One of Beans' sisters works for a TV/media company and she got us some tickets to some of the film festival shows. So we went to a movie last night - Eastern Promises. It was the first movie I've gone to in a year or so I think. It's been a while. Movie-going is not on my list of priorities, hence it never happens. I'd rather ride my bike. So anyway, Eastern Promises - quite the film. I have to say, it was very good. Very well done. The story was good. I didn't guess any of the outcomes before they were revealed. That's pretty good. The only thing was that it had some really, really, really graphic violence. That was hard to watch. The older I get the more I cannot tolerate that stuff. I sound old eh? I'm laughing at myself right now. But it's true. Anyway, if you were thinking of seeing it I would highly recommend it - gratuitous violence and all. Unfortunately for me, traveling this weekend meant no cycling. However, I was lucky enough to get out for a extra nice Gats loop on Friday night. :)

Double Century Report

The double century did not disappoint. I woke up on Saturday morning feeling like a small pick-up truck had run over me. Not a MAC truck or anything, but still - a truck. I fought with my thoughts of ditching it and going back to bed the whole time I got myself ready. On my way out the door RobbieO poked his head out and wished me well. Which was good - things like that keep me honest and trying. If I didn't have motivators in my life I'd quit things more often I think. I didn't used to be like that. But that's another story. Anyway, I went. And would you believe that on a day when you felt like staying in bed and forfeiting $125 payment for a weekend away, that you could have one of your strongest cycling days of the summer? I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't lived it. What a phenomenal ride. The weather really cooperated with us too - beautiful and sunny, warm, and a nice strong tailwind the whole way there. Sweet! So we motored - acheiving an average speed amongst our group's highest thus far. Sunday was not quite as easy. If I thought I was tired on Saturday, well... Still I managed ok. It was the mental game that was hard today. The weather held and we did not have the predicted rain (thank friggin GOD because I left my rain coat in the car - doh!!!), but it was overcast and with the fatigue everyone was less chatty today than yesterday. And while our luck was really good and the wind had changed in our favour, it kind of turned around sideways and played tricks with us for the last 60 km of the ride - crosswinds (which are sometimes worse than headwinds). When we rode through a small town after about 2.5 hrs I saw a guy coming out of his house, all bleary-eyed, with bed-head, in his pajamas, letting the dog out, with his cancer stick dangling precariously from his lips. I turned to one of my friends and inspirations, Brian, and said: "I think we've got it right". He agreed. I didn't hang around at Kelsey's after we got back because I really needed some sleep and a hot bath for my aching shoulders (note to self: do not book training with Jessica the day before a weekend of riding). And with that, the last big cycling tour of the season is over and I'm very glad I took part in it. I still have several more weeks left of cycling to do, but this was a really nice way to bid farewell to the bulk of the season. Now, back to reality...

Summer's End Century

Technically, in metric terms, it's more than a century. And it's also twice. So it should be called a double century, plus 40. Anyway, I think originally this ride was an imperial century (100 miles), times two. And that's actually 324 km. And since we live in a metric society, here in the civilized world, they then decided to offer a real century ride, except that there is no way you can get to Cornwall in 100 kms on a bike because you can't take the 4-lane highway unless you are a motorvehicle. So, this weekend I will ride two 120 km rides because once I get there, well I kinda hafta ride home. Of course there is always the possibility of phoning someone here at home and begging and bribing them to come and get me if I really feel like I can't possibly ride home. But that's unlikely. Yet still comforting. Especially since today I'm getting that "I'm really tired" eye twitch. Still no resolution to the excruciating fatigue. But I'm working on it.

Right now I'm making my carbo-load dinner: tuna casserole. I was talking about it with some friends the other week and I've made it twice since. Yum! It will be the perfect dinner before riding tomorrow. Lots of protein and carbs. And speaking of the kitchen, I seem to be having a war with nature in there. This week some bees seemed to think the kitchen window sill would be a good final resting place as they prepared to die. Ick!!! And for some reason the mice seem to be coming in too. They like the cutlery drawer, so I took all of the cutlery out the other week and super-sanitized it and it sits atop the microwave on the other side of the room until further notice of my successful extermination of said pests. I have set the traps and bait (they love nuts so I chop them up and sprinkle them all over the traps). Unfortunately yesterday I forgot to put bait on the traps and I heard them playing in there last night. Buggers. I got up from bed ever so quietly and still they heard me. I will win. I know, I'm not proud of it, but I cannot have dirty little mice living in my kitchen! Besides, if they are allowed to continue to roam they will eventually find out where I hide the food. And that will not be good.

Back to work and back to reality this week and it wasn't so bad. I felt slightly more motivated than I have been as of late. Once I get my energy levels back up I'm sure I'll feel a lot more motivated. Just the fact that everyone is back from holidays and I can walk into offices and actually see people makes it a lot better. And I sat in on a really good lecture today at the hospital on heparin in stroke. OK. You probably don't need to know more than that. I'll start boring you.

Back to reality also means back to traveling a little more regularly, and WOW when it rains it pours. I have many a trip to take in the next 3 months. So I will try to keep the updates on travel fun and add pictures because I'm finding the photojournalism thing is super fun for me too. First trip though... the Century (times two, plus forty). I got a smaller camera now, and will take it with me to capture the carnage.

The 6-day Weekend

Can you call something that was 6 days long a weekend? Hmmm. Well, it certainly was a break, full of R&R. I didn't ride as much as I thought I would. I did do 2 rides in the park. One of them on the last Sunday bike day of the year - my first time though. For those unfamiliar with the term, Sunday Bike Days are Sunday mornings from the May long weekend to the September long weekend where they close 4 different parkways in the city for cycling, roller blading, etc. In the park the close it only until 11 AM (the other parkways are closed until 1 PM). I was still in the park when they opened the gates to vehicular traffic on Sunday and because it was a long weekend - holy crap! - there were a lot of cars that came in. And motorcycles. Those bikers really like to ride the windy, hilly roads. I was so sad as I cycled out of the park that day. Thinking that it was the last one. And I had enjoyed it so, so very much. And it was the last one. Sniff. As I rode home I made a decision to skip some of the Sunday group rides next summer and do park rides instead. Because I loved it so much. And I need to do that more. The hills are fabulous now. They aren't easy. What I'm saying is that I enjoy the challenge and no longer feel like I'm dying. Yes, that's what I'm saying. I love that ride. OK. Yeah. I'm daydreaming about it as I write. I finished my 6 day hiatus off with a 50K ride tonight. Felt good. I rested a lot this weekend and I was getting nervous about riding the big tour I'm doing this weekend. Tonight was good enough to make me feel more confident again. I can do it. I wanted to take some nice pictures this weekend. Maybe some to post. Instead I really didn't get up to too much. Other than resting and a little bit of apartment cleaning (not as much as I'd have liked), the only other major thing I did was to create my training plan for the off season. I spent literally about 4-5 hours. Now I know my start date and what I'm doing every day for 30 weeks. I'm pretty excited about it because I can envision my progress as I put the training down on paper. Passionate, passionate, passionate. It makes life fun.

Now it's back to reality. Eek!

Extra, extra, extra looooooong weekend

It's day two of my 6-day weekend. He, he, he. How you like me now? OK. I'll stop bragging.

I took it really, really easy today. That's what this weekend is supposed to be about, so I'm glad I'm sticking to it so far.

Yesterday was a pretty packed, and fun day. Cleaned a bit of the apartment in the AM. Trained with Jessica in the early afternoon. Went out for a ride to the park later in the afternoon, but rode from my house instead of driving up there, so it was a much longer ride which was nice. On the way there I crossed paths with one of my cycling buddies and he was headed to the park too, so we rode together. It was a fantastic day for a ride. The sun was out, the air was fresh and clean, and the hills were great. At the beginning of the season I said I was going to crush Pink Lake hill and I think I've done it. The last two or three times I've climbed it I felt strong and totally not intimidated by it at all. What a change over just two years back when I thought I'd die on the way up. And I feel this way despite some nagging issues with fatigue. That's a good sign. Next summer when I should have this health stuff behind me I will be so much stronger. I look forward to that day.

I bought some new shorts today to replace my poor Shebeest shorts that had to retire. They saved my hip from major road rash in April when I had that little crash, but after a couple of months of washes they were about to show a little more skin than I'm willing to bear out there. I had my mom shopping in the US for new Shebeest shorts for me since they're hard to find here, but she was unsuccessful - late season and all. She also told me that the salesperson said something about them being bought by another company. Hmm. I'll have to keep my ears open about that because they are seriously my favourite chamois. So, the new ones are far more expensive Sugoi and I'll have to see if I like them as much. I also decided to purchase some lube to put in the pedals - once I borrow a wrench to get them off. I was going to take my bike into the shop for that, and for them to check out the rear derailleur, as it was skipping a bit, but RobbieO tweaked the derailleur and it was pretty good in the hills yesterday, so I'm going to see if I can do this one myself. I still have a few good rides to test out my handywoman/mechanical skills before the last big weekend of touring. If I still need to, mid-next week I'll take it in to the boyz at the shop.

The rest of the weekend is up in the air. I keep changing my mind on plans. Mostly I want to rest. I still have to spend some time planning the off-season training schedule. And the apartment still has a very long way to go before it looks anywhere near presentable. If the fact that my friend of nearly twenty years was by the other day and I felt embarrassed about the state of affairs doesn't tell you how bad it is, then I don't know what else could.

Up, forward, down, push back

I wonder how many of you decifered the title? I'll let it simmer with you for a while.
Well, I'm getting close to 3000 now. I guess with at least another month (and I'm really, actually hoping it's more like two, in fact) of cycling left I know I'll reach 4000, but perhaps not my goal of 5000. Today I went out only because my mileage goal drove me to do it. I guess that's what goals are for. That, and the fact that when I thought about what I'd do otherwise I couldn't think of anything better, and would very much rather put off all of the other stuff I could do anyway. Laundry and dishes aren't quite as exciting, I'm afraid. But after yesterday's ride in the quite ferocious wind, I was feeling pretty bagged. Even after having a good nap, going to bed at a reasonable hour for a change, and knowing I could nap again after today's ride - I was still feeling mentally and physically tired. Unfortunately this is more than a bit of a problem for me these days, riding aside. I have been plagued by this deep physical fatigue that I can honestly say, at this point, I'm feeling in every cell of my body. It's been building for months, but now I'm at a point where I can't even really accurately describe it. However, I keep on keeping on. Life doesn't stop for tired people. So I'm working on the cause and hope that it will start to resolve soon and in the meantime I nap and bike and work and nap. That's about it. There's not much room for much more. I don't know where I'd find time or energy for more. I hope that when the new academic year starts in a week's time and work picks up that I don't get my butt kicked.

Enough about that though. Yesterday we rode even though the weather forecast was so daunting, and it was a remote start we had decided to do. Ten people showed up and we rode to Hawkesbury. What a fantastic ride! Obviously we have some pretty intense keeners in our group (I guess considering my physical condition as of late, I'd have to admit to being one of them). Today's weather was better and I did another ride almost as long as yesterday's. So my mileage is still building, my gats loop last week (again while totally exhausted when I did it) was mentally not half as challenging as the beginning of the year, and I think I'm really starting to build a solid base fitness as a cyclist. And that said, I'm such a geek that I took an extra day off next week to add to my extra, extra, extra looooong weekend so I can plan my training for the off-season. Yes, I know. You don't even have to think it.

There they are - all the crazies I was able to coerce (hardly) to come out on Saturday!

2 day weekend - like most everyone else

And it was a busy one. I hosted my sister's bachelorette party at Tremblant. After she heard all about Stef's she decided she wanted to go there for hers. I have to say, I did quite well. Stayed up til 3 AM, and I'm not sure how many drinks I had, but I wasn't hung over. I rarely drink anymore, so that's fantastic! My sister, on the other hand, was hurting bad this morning. I had to give her a bit of TLC. She's ok now. There were 10 of us involved in the festivities, and everyone seemed to have a really good time. The activities of the weekend were: the luge (ok, totally fun!), walking around the pedestrian village, face painting (for her), running into another bachelorette party and participating in their activity (they brought a stationary bike and set it up on the hill, had her dressed up in 80's workout wear, and collecting money for photos of her - when I told her it was my sister's party too they got her on the bike - priceless!), a gondola ride, various bachelorette games which will go unnamed, dinner, and of course, dancing.

Today, even with much less sleep than I typically need to feel good enough to be active, I got out for a ride. It was really nice. I wore my 3/4 pants which I've made reference to before as the scorpion pants. They are Castelli and have the logo on the butt. I find I seem to get a lot more attention when I wear them. It's kind of funny. Today was no exception - other than I got waved at from an airplane! So, I was riding near the airport and past the flying club, and I looked up at a small plane coming in for a landing and saw the person wave at me. I think planes are just so cool. And getting waved at from one is extra cool. ;) After the ride I got home just in time to change and have a quick shake before yoga. Yeah, kind of hard core for someone who partied last night, but I feel great. Can I ask just one question though... what the heck happened to summer???? Brrrrrr....

Extra Looooong Weekend #2 Report

OK. I've spent waaaay too much time on the computer this morning. And here I'm spending a little more. Ah well. I will ride this afternoon instead. Today marks the last day of my 5-day weekend. So nice. I woke up almost considering that I should take the rest of the week off, but then I need to save some days. I think. I have work to do. Yes. I do.

This past weekend I spent participating in the most challenging cycling tour I've done thus far. Vermont. The hills there make Gatineau Park look wimpy. And I did 100 km of them on the first day. My legs were pretty tired on the second day, so I'm glad we did a different route with a little less km's. Here's how it went...

Friday a few of us left together in convoy. Either by a stroke of good luck, or bad luck - we're not totally sure (I'm thinking it was good luck), B & M's car broke down in D's driveway before we left. In the end it worked out probably for the best: we piled all of their stuff in D's minivan (she was originally going to drive with me), then squeezed G's stuff into both my car and the minivan and headed out in only 2 cars. Arriving later than expected, no cycling was done on Friday. But we got settled into our rooms at the University of Vermont in Burlington and prepared for a weekend of climbing. My room was occupied by someone else when I got up to it. We made lots of jokes about the mix up over the weekend, as it was a guy and when I went there his stuff was all spread out around the room but he wasn't there. I went back later, after putting my stuff in one of my friends' rooms for the time being, and luckily I knocked because he wasn't decent (and I had the key). He had taken the wrong room, so I switched keys with him and took his.

Saturday we did a 'short' route... ended up being 100K for the group I rode with since we took a wrong turn and added 10K. The detour was quite lovely and I was happy to say I did 100K of hills. Some of the other routes were 120-150 km and included such routes as the Appalachian Gap and Smugglers Notch. I'm not at that level - yet. Give me a few more years and I'll try them on for size.

Sunday a group of about 12 of us decided to do a route recommended by a local who is friends with someone in our riding group. By chance one of the members of our group had bought a guide book of cycling routes in the area and it included this route so we had our map & directions and we were off. We crossed the ferry from Burlington to Port Kent and the cycled down to Essex on the NY side. It was hard having not warmed up and the minute we disembarked from the ferry it was hill after hill. Ouch. Once warmed up though, it was spectacular. The roads were great and the motorists are so courteous (in both states). What a departure from riding here at times. We then boarded a smaller ferry in Essex and road back up to Burlington - more hills.

The hills there were very steep and would come up on you all of a sudden. You'd see it and think: "OMG! I have to get into the small ring FAST!!!!". And they weren't short hills either. And sometimes I'd think I could climb something in the middle ring and I'd get halfway up and realize I'd misjudged and struggle to get the chain up into a position to move to the small ring without it falling off. That's a little stressful because you realize you have one of three options: you're in the smallest ring on the cog and the middle chain ring and you need to get to the small ring... 1) gear down the small ring and not only be in too easy a gear, but 95% chance the chain falls off (that's my experience with my bike anyway) - fall off the bike; 2) gear up 1-2 rings in the cog and then move into the small ring - smooth sailing, or fall off the bike because the lactic acid in your quads is killing you; 3) unclip and walk. Luckily I managed and my chain never fell off and even though I had to put it into a harder gear before moving to an easier one I didn't die of lactic acid pain overload. On the last couple of long climbs that ended steeply on the second day, when my legs were so tired and we had recovered too long on the ferry on the way back and my lunch was still in my stomach and the heat was up to 35 degrees Celsius I felt I was going to puke. Two thoughts went through my head: if I throw up now will I feel better or worse... i.e. will I be able to bike the last 10K back? I figured I'd feel better, but I didn't puke anyway. I managed the last of the hills and felt great. I know it sounds a little insane to put yourself through that, but believe me, it's fun. Not always at the very moment, but definitely at the end.

Monday it rained so hard you would not believe. Two groups of us would have done rides (different ones, mind you) had it not been raining cats and dogs... but it was time to go home. Got home, washed and lubricated my bike, did my laundry (smelly cycling clothes - ick!) and stretched and stretched and stretched. Today - recovery ride (once I get my face away from the computer!). Ahhh. The extra loooooong weekend doesn't disappoint.

PS... all of my photos have been moved to Flikr now and you can still access them from the two links at the side... Photos of Becks' Adventures and Cycling Photos

Extra Looong Weekend #1 Report

Wow. What a wonderful extra loooong weekend I had! Took me this long to post about it. Spent some time up at my totally, wicked, amazing friend, Mimi's cottage. We canoed and I even went 'swimming' in the lake 3 times! My version of swimming is floating around with a pool noodle tied very securely around my waist. This is huge for me. Just last summer I was up with the majority of Mim's family and her dad snapped a photo of us in the lake since it was the first time since I've known them and been going to their cottage (we're talking nearly 2 decades) that I went in the water. Saturday's ride got rained out and I cleaned the apt instead. Actually, that was really good to do. No regrets there. And then when I got home from the cottage on Monday I did my first gats loop in 4 weeks. At first I felt wobbly and I was horking a lot of stuff out of my lungs - you forget that the hills are a different beast altogether and your lungs suffer when you aren't used to them. Or maybe it was allergies. Either way, once I coughed some stuff up a few times up Fortune my legs were also warming up and the ride was a good one. One extra looong weekend down, a couple more to go! Don't you just love summer?





(that's the moon, btw - cool eh?!)

Looooong Weekend #1

This is the first of my extra looooong weekends this summer. Since I've already been to Panama, going to take time off for the big wedding day in the fall, I decided to take days here and there. As a result of always taking big trips on my holidays, I've never actually just taken long weekends here and there. Was I ever looking forward to today for the last week!

This morning I actually got up at around 6:45 AM (yes, on my day off - sigh). 7:30 was the only appt I could get before the chiro who's been working on my calf takes off for her holidays. But it meant getting a good first meal in before heading out later in the AM for the first of my extra looooong weekend rides with my friends who also had the day off. :) Did we ever have fun! It's a scorcher out there though. Once Marcia sends the pictures from our lunch stop I'll post one - I don't think we could have fit any more glasses of water and pop and iced tea on our table. Hydration, hydration, hydration.

My calf is 99% better. I still had to back off a lot in the last couple of weeks and stop being so stubborn. It taught me a lot. About not being so stubborn. And about backing off and checking the ego at the door about doing slower rides. Well, I guess it wasn't totally an ego thing - I was also really wanting to push to get better. The group is so strong this year, so I don't want to fall behind. Luckily I have a few wise friends who give me amazing advice which I soak up like a sponge. I'm also behind in my km's goal, but that's ok. I may still hit my target by end of season. I'll surpass 2000 km tomorrow.

Well, back to more R&R.... sorry if you are reading this at work. ;) (sort of)