12 Beers of Xmas....I mean 12 Days of Xmas

Who am I kidding. It's the Beers of Xmas. I won't even try to say I've been training like some of my other blogger friends. The holidays have gotten the best of me and I am embracing them this year.

Thank you to all who have supported me over the years. Next year is a deadline for me. (P.S. that's next week!) I haven't been in the best of training moods since I broke my arm last March! Hopefully I get the January 1 kick in the butt and get in gear.

Hope to see you all next summer on the race circuit!


Rody

Nothing Happening

Just taking it easy and laying low. Haven't really gotten the urge to train for real yet. Been hitting the gym a few times and destroying my legs every time. Need to put in a few weeks worth of yoga to get the hamstrings stretched out. Then we'll see about some real training.

The piles of junk food are starting to form at work. The next five business days are going to be filled with attempts to say know to all the delicious treats that I'm forced to walk by.

Still looking for that perfect camera to slip in the pocket that won't take up too much space. Till then, no pictures for you!

Trail Clearing...Then it Snows!

I took advantage of the another reasonable weekend. Decent temps and no rain during the day. I took to the local trails with a rake in tow. After a few hours on Saturday and Sunday I must say they look pretty good. Should help get things rolling a little sooner in the spring. I also took the time to scrape out a few new short sections of single track. Should make for a lot nicer night riding. I think we'll be able to see the trail now.

This mornings ride to work included the first snow. I was able to take my new NEOS overshoes for a test though. I picked up a pair of the Adventurer™. I think this now completes my crap weather commuting gear. It was the only place I was lacking in weather protection. I'm happy to report that today's light test was a success. I'm almost hoping for a rainy day for a tougher test. I'm confident that in the snow they will be fine on the bike. However that would require a pair of studded tires as well. Perhaps that will be the next review.

Another Great One

I must say I don't think I expected to be riding in shorts and a short sleeve jersey on the 14th of November. It sure was a welcome treat. Ripping trails that are totally covered in leaves but sweating like it's the summer. One word, Awesome. Sunday wasn't quite that good. It was pointed out to me though that it is November and it's still 10 degrees. Point taken. Another 2hrs please!

Sunday I needed to go do something different. Didn't want to ride on the road or take any trail I had been on before. However I still wanted to ride from the house. I decided to ride South on the rail trail towards Markdale and grab some gravel roads on the way. This turned out to be a great idea. I found a really cool gravel road that connects Hwy 10 and Hwy 6. With a really cool section of forest in between that deserves some exploring. If this weather keeps up it might be this weekend.

Happy Trails All

Beautiful November Weather

That was a weekend not to complain about. Anytime you get double digits that are above zero in November! It is you duty as a cyclist to be outside riding.

I tried to do my part. 50km MTB ride on Saturday. 90km group ride on Sunday. Then for good measure, a 40km night ride on Monday! The only downside to it, I don't really have the miles in my legs after this summer for that kind of a weekend. I'm going to need a few days off to recover.

There were some great views riding around the Sound on Sunday. I think I need to invest in a camera that won't take up too much real estate in a jersey pocket. Too many times I've been out when I could have taken a great photo. But I don't want to bother with the camera on the cell phone, it sucks!

All for now. Maybe another night ride yet this week.

Let's call it Re-organizing

Hasn't been much interesting to write about so I saved you from reading crap.

Best time for a small update though. I spent most of the past Turkey weekend in my basement. No, not on a trainer. Just getting the area ready for it. I had a bunch of bikes to move around, bike holding devices to build. Also I managed to get a small work shop area created. I think it's going to be nice. I even added an extra bottle cage on the end of the bench that happens to hold a beer quite nicely. Also within reach while working. A must for any bike area. Next I'm going to try and find a nice opener to install. Perhaps a small beer fridge will appear someday too.

With the Sun pouring in the basement windows on Monday I though I better get out for a ride. Before I forget how! By the time I was read to go, the clouds had rolled in. So no sunny ride. It was still nice to get out and stretch the back after crouching in the basement.

Winding down...To ramp it up again.

Everyone in the MTB racing community is talking about the season being finally finished. For myself I technically didn't even have a season. Making an appearance on one start line doesn't count.

So my thought's are already turning to ramping it back up. I spent some time rearranging my basement the other day for the dreaded trainer sessions. It's not quite finished yet. I need to spend a few more hours getting things set up. It will be better than before.

Spent a couple hours up in 3 Stage on Sunday with the single speed and the rest of the gang from Arrow Racing. It was a good season ending ride. NO more hammer sessions until at least November now.

Bobnoxious Rock

Took the big road trip to Hanover this past Friday to watch Bobnoxious play at the Forum. The venue hasn't changed much, just the name. (Used to be The Hanover Inn) Great small venue to watch those guys play in though. Thanks Kim for the earplugs! I'd be deaf without them for sure. I've got a bunch of good pictures from the show. I just haven't taken the time to get them off the camera yet. I spent Saturday finding out that I can fix bikes while hungover! Just need to sit instead of bend over to do somethings.

Not much else has happened. Haven't been on a bike in a few days now. I will soon though. Perhaps a fall epic ride is brewing!

32x16 Wasn't the right gear.

Decided to ride my single speed out to the Sawmill Trails in Hepworth yesterday. It's a good ride you can ride old rail trail almost the entire way. Only about 10mins of pavement. Riding the 32x16 was great on the rail trail. However I quickly found out that it's a little too big of a gear at the moment for the short steep climbs of the Sawmill. After and hours worth of riding trails I was beginning to work the climbs a little better. It was some great low cadence work that's for sure. I got thinking on the way home that I could stash the necessary tools and an extra cog out there in the woods some where and could just change it when I got there. It would be the best of both worlds.


On the way back to town I noticed something coming up on the trail....Check this out.

Yes this is my hand only inches from this giant frog. I needed something in the picture for reference. I was very surprised when it didn't move. Ever. I thought maybe it was dead or possibly fake. *Quickly looked around for some jokester with a camera lurking in the woods* Oh there it is, a breath. Ok it's real. Glad I stopped.




After that I just cruised the rest of the way in. It was a good 3hr ride.

Put the bright one on your head!

So JK was right I should have put the brighter one on my head.

Single Speed night ride last night. I need to get an 18 tooth cog! Either the chain or my knees are going to blow soon if I don't.

I tried it out with two lights last night. Bar mount and Helmet mount. I put the small light on the helmet and the big light on the bar. JK was telling me at Kelso that he runs the other way around. I think I know why now. I was casting very bizarre shadows and was having a tough time finding the trail at times.

Next time I go out I'll flip them around and see how it goes.

I'm still quite impressed with the small light I have. It's a Sigma Karma Pro. Complete with the Lion battery pack. These batteries are very small, but powerful. If you had wide open trails you could easily MTB with just the Karma on the helmet mount. On more technical trails it's just not quite bright enough. So I think I will bar mount it next time and run the PowerLED on the helmet. It's enough on it's own for a helmet mount. It will be nice to have the extra light coming from the bar though.

Better Luck Next Year

Racing went about as well as expected. Took my position at the back of the group for the trip up the hill. Once on top in the flat sections though I let the 29er roll. Picked up a couple of spots. Rocked the single track. Then the inevitable climb again. Wasn't feelin' those at all. Just rode my own tempo up all the climbs. Losing minutes each time. Top of the start climb on the 4th lap the lights went out though. Quit literally, when things start to go a little black around the edges in your vision you should be aware that you're about to start going very slowly. Not a full on BONK but definitely out of gas. Had to let the guys go that I was riding with and hope I could keep anyone from catching me.

I think the bug to get into shape might come back after I recover from this. It was really good to race again.

In Love with a 29er

First off Congrats to JZ. Great ride at track Nats.

I must admit I think I'm falling in love with the 29er hardtail I've been lent. I took it for a three hour ride up at 3 Stage on Monday. Even when I was done I didn't feel like I had been on a hardtail for 3hrs.

I had the GPS on while riding and I'm going to try and map out 3 Stage. Could come in handy. There are a couple of sweet downhill sections that I'd like to be able to find a little easier.

Let's keep out fingers crossed for this weekend. Perhaps I'll get a chance to race in nice weather.

Race On

As long as the body says it is willing to race and it doesn't rain, it should be game on at Provincials. I've been lent a 29er hardtail for the race. Going to try and get a couple of rides on it next week to get it all dialed for me.

The plan is simple. Don't die! I think it's a solid race strategy. With limited fitness going into a hilly race, I'm not expecting much.

Racing Delay

Took my race bike out for the first time since March on Friday. Thought I would give it a good ride to check out what needs adjusting or replacing. I couldn't remember anymore. I knew that the crank bearings needed replacing.

Hour and a half ride felt good. Wrist held out nicely. I think I'm ready to try out Kelso. At the back of course.

Gave the bike a quick wash and to my horrifying surprise....There's a crack in the drive side chain stay...The racing plan may not happen now.

It's all about

I found this on Lance's Twitter page. Great vid. Performance.

Recharge

Yesterday seemed like too nice of a day to be cooped up sitting at a desk all day. I managed to wrangle the afternoon off work. Yeah. headed home to grab the road bike for a little personal suffer fest. Ate lunch, picked a loop and headed out the door. Ahh glorious sunshine. Instant sweat! This is how summer should be. Riding in the peak of the heat with the sweat pouring off your face.

I miss judged the distance of my loop, I thought it was 100km. Seems as though it's been too long for the brain since I was on that route last. Turns out it's only 90km. That's ok though. I'll forgive myself.

It wasn't the fastest pace I've ever rode at, but was pretty good for my limited fitness. The best part, my hand only went numb a couple of times. So I think I best try some real MTBing again. Perhaps racing Provincials will happen after all. I think I might try out some of those interval things next week to see if I can't force myself to get a touch bit faster.

Night Riding...Hell Yeah!

It's taken me far too many years to make my decision about getting lights for night riding. After some great examples from Doug @ Bikeface I chose a Sigma PowerLED with the Li-Ion battery. It's not a super bright light, but it's also not very expensive. The other cool part is that it comes with an adapter to run the light off of "AA" batteries as well.

Last night I couldn't take it any more and I went out for a late night ride. I used the helmet mount last night. Once I had the angle set it was great! 45 minutes and a little mud later and I was home and hooked. I'm ready to go out again. This fall is going to be great. No trainer for me until there's snow on the ground!

Storm-Ride-Storm

Congrats to JK for his 3rd place yesterday. I take part credit after making him pull me on our ride on Monday!

I didn't make the trip to Mt View yesterday. I didn't think I was up to sitting in a feed zone with that humidity when I didn't have anyone racing.

After the first storm in the morning was over I decided to take the single speed out for a ride and try out the wrist. It wasn't bad, but the ice like rocks weren't helping the confidence any. The hand is still going numb too. Need to get that looked at.

I had some fun changing my first trail side flat in like 2 years. Note to self, put tubeless on the single speed!

Home safe no new injuries. Then that wicked second storm. I should have taken some video of the sideways rain.

All for now...

Missed the rain again

I have somehow managed to please the Cycling Gods this season. Put in a 3 hr ride on Monday with it threatening rain the whole ride. Only two drops fell on me. This morning it was raining when I woke up. But stopped before I rode to work! Bonus!

The 3hr ride yesterday day was spent mostly on JK's wheel. When I could! Still not quite there in the fitness department. That ride should help immensely though. It was a great ride finished off with a sketchy decent down Scenic Caves. The wind was blowing around something fierce. I decided it was in my best interest to hit the brakes at 83km/h. The illusive 90km/h will have to wait for another day. Perhaps once my fitness is better I would be able to take some pictures while I'm out riding.

That good tired feeling again

Made it to my second TT of the year on Tuesday night. 25km ride into the wind to get to the TT. Great for a warm up. Didn't post a great time, but I'm happy since I've been a little lacking in the training department. 55km on wheels for the day. Felt not too bad. At least this time I didn't feel like I was go to spit out my lungs at the end of the TT.

Wednesday night I turned to the shoes for some training. About 9km on the feet and I called it a run. Nice and warm out. Finally.

Long weekend on the horizon. Perhaps a ride with JK.

On the Road Again

Yesterday was my first long road ride post broken bones. Just over the 100km mark. Good tempo with a good sized group. Had a little unexpected chase of the group after I took a bit of a detour during the lunch stop. After about 6km of full gas for me, I caught back up. It's good to know that there is a small engine starting to grow in the legs again.

Perhaps next season I'll be back at full strength.

4 Seconds

Look closely at the TdF results from today and you will see that Lance grabbed 4 Seconds on the line.

Every second counts, just like he said.

Should be a great race to the top of Ventoux tomorrow.

So Much for Summer...

Just checking the weather for the next few days...25 Degrees is okay. But where is the 30 degree days of summer? I think there has been one.

Hoping to get into a 100km road ride this Sunday. I have to see how the wrist holds up. There is a BBQ afterwards though, should help with the motivation.

Perhaps it won't be raining too hard tonight and I can get a run in. L8R

Watching from the Sidelines

This season has had it's share of disappointments for me. They started with a broken wrist in March. So after six weeks in a cast I was going to try and get some fitness back. What better way they by going trail running. Maybe I should have rode the trainer instead. With about 15 minutes left in the run I tripped on a root and broke one finger and dislocated another.

I'm now starting to see some fitness come back. There my not be any mountain biking this year though. The wrist is still quite sore. I think I'll just call this season a write off and regroup for next year.

New Blog

I thought I should start up a blog finally. I'll try to keep it interesting.