May 28th (Afternoon) and May 31st (Morning)

May 28th (Afternoon)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Morning: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 1 bottle of water, 1 cup of coffee

o   Afternoon: 1-1/2 bottles of water

·         Food Intake

o   Morning: 2 pieces of multi grain toast with butter and peanut butter, 1 banana, 2 vanilla Oreo’s

o   Afternoon: 1 macaroni and beef casserole, 1 bag of Dorito’s, 1 orange

 

Today was really good, actually. Lots of slick mud going up the temporary road beside the old Merrit highway as I go to connect to Springhill, but I made it and sprayed a bunch of mud all the way back down! The way down into Peterson’s creek was my best since the rain tore it up, I made it all the way to the troublesome switchbacks, but still walked the section between them. However, going back up the other side I made good distances up to the first two stops, and then actually made it all the way up on the final stretch, making my total number of stops down to 3 finally! I was stoked about that accomplishment for sure, and then just about got knocked back over the edge by an excited, overly friendly German Shepherd at the top! I still say it was only 3 stops anyways... :)

 

I took the regular route across Frolek’s land today rather than going to the upper trails. Dave says the “Sticks and Bones” trail up top is basically gone now from the logging, so it’s no wonder why I missed it before. I’ll probably go up there again next week just to see and try out some more trails and have a bit of exploring fun, rather than my typical “all business” ride home. Can I really say my ride is “all business”? Not really, I still have fun whatever I do!

 

Due to the rain ripping up the pipeline hills trail at Rose Hill, I missed the final two hills again. Hopefully these trails will get improved soon with the hikers/bikers and more rain, but until then, it looks like I have a bit of work cut out for me for sure!

 

May 31st (Morning)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Evening Before: 1 glass of milk, 2 glasses of water, 1 glass of Iced Tea

o   Morning Of: Nothing

·         Food Intake

o   Evening Before: 1 piece of pizza, 1 piece of white toast with margarine and peanut butter (I had a bigger lunch, so not much for supper)

o   Morning Of: Nothing

 

This weekend I sanded down my front rotor and pads, and even took a drill bit and hand chamfered the vent holes (as per a tip I read online for helping to eliminate brake noise and howls). I took the bike up to the top of Omineca and rode it back down, trying to break in the rotor again (in an attempt to eliminate the “jerky” stops due to a sticky section of the rotor). However, by the time I made it back to the house, they weren’t yet broken in and I could already feel the sticky spot again. I took it down another few hills but as the rotor broke in more and more, the jerkiness returned. I may have to take it to the bike shop and get their advice/thoughts as to what I’m doing wrong.

 

Anyways, in spite of this, my ride this morning was great. I felt really good right from the start. At the trailhead coming out of Juniper, I saw the same biker that I had seen before, so this time I stopped and talked with him for a minute. It turns out he works at TRU and rides to/from work as well, so that’s cool! If I get to know him a bit, I’ll have to ride with him to TRU soon and then ride the rest of the way to work. This would mean my goal of riding the entire way would be realized, am I ready for that yet? I don’t really know for sure! :) I guess if I rode with him, we would probably split ways after the Peterson Creek trail and I would take Springhill up to work. Hmmm.... It would mean no more Kenna Cartwright park, though, and I am enjoying those trails! As I left, another mountain biker pulled up as well and started talking to him, so I’m not sure if they ride together as well, or what. But it would be fun for a bunch of us to ride together for sure.

 

As my front brake still isn’t fully broken in yet and I don’t have full power, I decided to walk the two steeps coming out of Juniper. However, the more I walk these the dumber I feel as they are looking easier and easier. Tomorrow I will ride both, I WILL! I did, however, make the down-and-up switchback easily, so that was cool! I just picked my line and let it go and it was fine. Unfortunately, the second dip in the trail got me a bit off balance and I had a bit of a fight with a fallen tree which decided to throw one of its branches out at me at the last minute to grab my arm... :( If it tries that again, I will break the thing off, it doesn’t know who it’s messing with here!!!

 

I made good time (19 minutes) to Lansdowne, and a really good time (32.5 minutes) from TRU to work (my previous best was 33.5 minutes set last Wednesday). Dana was talking about a few bears they’ve seen in their backyard, so I was for sure looking out every where trying to keep my eyes open for any chance encounter I might have! Apparently some ignorant hiker has been rumoured to be leaving piles of dog food around on the trails “to attract the deer”... Yeah, OK! Another candidate for a Darwinian award soon I’m sure. So, armed with this new information, every little noise behind me made me whip my head around! I was a bit jumpy for sure, but I still contend that the “chance” encounter with the elusive black bear still beats the “guaranteed” encounter I had every morning with some angry or distracted motorist... I did, however, just about run over a little chipmunk. He had a stash of seeds on a little flat rock and was enjoying his breakfast and either didn’t care about me or didn’t dare risk losing his stash, and as such he didn’t move until the last second (about when I actually saw him and told him that if he valued his little life he’d best get moving). Luckily for him, he ran to the left (if he’d chosen the right, I would’ve most likely run him over). I did avoid his breakfast platter, so it was still there for him whenever he probably ventured back to it.

 

May 27th (Afternoon) and May 28th (Morning)

May 27th (Afternoon)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Morning: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 1 bottle of water

o   Afternoon: 2 bottles of water

·         Food Intake

o   Morning: 2 pieces of multi grain toast with butter and peanut butter, 1 banana

o   Afternoon: Roast beef with scalloped potatoes, rice and peas, 1 bag of Doritos

Today is Amberly Adema’s birthday (a friend of Taryn’s). So, the Adema’s had a party after work for her, and therefore I did not ride (well, other than the five minutes from work to the Adema’s). Instead, I went to the party and hung out with the Adema’s and the Douglas’ which was fun. Still raining out too...

May 28th (Morning)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Evening Before: 2 glasses of milk, 1 Dr. Pepper

o   Morning Of: Nothing

·         Food Intake

o   Evening Before: 4 pieces of pizza, assorted veggies with dip, 2 pieces of sesame seed toast with margarine and peanut butter

o   Morning Of: Nothing

Well, it rained all night again, but at least this morning it stopped so I was able to ride with just the moisture splashing up, and not also coming down! There is still a heavy cloud cover, with rain forecasted through 'till Sunday. All this moisture is good for sure for our lawns, but man does it make the trail riding “interesting” to say the least.

This cell phone picture really doesn't do it justice. It ain't the muddiest I've been by a long shot, but fairly muddy for trying to go to work! :) Maybe I should've taken a picture of me instead...

However, I had a great run down from Juniper. On the two sections where the trees cover the path, I stayed on the bike with just a foot down and made it around them (no trails around the trees other than what I’ve “made” up ‘till now by just riding it each day). I just about went and made the first steep, but couldn’t get my foot clipped in time, so I bailed. I couldn’t clip in for the second steep either, but I stopped and backed up and tried again and then did make it, so that was cool! The rest of the trail was really good, I made the 2x6 bridge and the 2 dips with ease it seemed, even though the down-and-up switchback foiled me again. I think because it has foiled me so many times now, I’ve lost confidence and just need to ride it again (beat my mind, don’t give up when I want to do so). I mean, I’m what’s the worst thing that could happen? I could get muddy? Oh no... The rest of the double-track to Valleyview was really good. I came down the final section actually pretty fast, with my new front rotor allowing me to control and modulate my speed with confidence I haven’t had on that section before, so that was awesome! Speaking of that rotor, I’ve been told that I didn’t break it in properly and probably created a “burned” spot on the rotor that is grabbier than the rest. I will lightly sand the pads and the rotor this weekend and break it in again to see if I can get rid of the pulsing/jerking motion for next week.

The section of trails through the Kenna Cartwright park went really well, I made it with no stops again for the second day so that’s awesome. Again, mentally I was dying for a break, but I was able to convince myself to shut up and keep riding, so that is great progress in my opinion! The trails were pretty soggy, but the forest was so quiet and serene really with the low hanging clouds. The only noise being my grunting and groaning, but the bike has worked great all week, even covered in mud, so the ride is great. On Monday I think I’ll try the Kinnikinnick trail all the way to see if I can do it or not. It looks pretty intimidating-ly steep (I know that’s not a word, but whatever) so I’m not sure if I can make it or not, and therefore I’ll leave it for Monday when I’m fresh and hopefully the trail is dried out a bit after the rain.

May 26th (Afternoon) and May 27th (Morning)

May 26th (Afternoon)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Morning: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 1 bottle of water

o   Afternoon: 2 bottles of water, 2 glasses of Pepsi

·         Food Intake

o   Morning: 2 pieces of multi grain toast with butter and peanut butter, 1 banana

o   Afternoon: 1 Chicken Ceasar wrap with fries

 

Today Taryn had soccer practice in Valleyview. So I thought I’d take the opportunity to take my morning trails in reverse and get some fun downhill trails through Kenna Cartwright park (instead of all just climbing). The wind was blowing like crazy in pretty much every and any direction (seriously, it didn’t seem to matter which direction I was riding, I was getting blasted by wind). I took the power line trail at the end of Copperhead Drive and then rode down and connected to the “Red Fox” trail and took that down to the main Reservoir trail. The ride was fun, but it was over way too quickly and then I had to contend with traffic from Home Depot all the way down Columbia and then across on Valleyview road. The stretch on Valleyview road was pretty brutal against the wind, but at least there is a bike lane so I don’t have to worry about going too fast. My time was pretty bad at 33 minutes (I think this route used to be about 25 or less, so even with the added time through KC park, 33 minutes is slow). But, the ride through the trails was a fun change up for sure. I’m getting rather bored of my typical run home! :)

 

May 27th (Morning)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Evening Before: 1 glass of Iced Tea, 1 glass of milk

o   Morning Of: Nothing

·         Food Intake

o   Evening Before: 1 helping of macaroni and beef casserole, 2 pieces of sesame white toast with margarine and peanut butter, 1 small bowl of Life cereal

o   Morning Of: Nothing

 

The rain came down hard all night. In the morning, however, it was only drizzling. Not wanting to be a “fair weather rider”, I hopped on the bike and headed towards my trail head. Well, the rain had made a soupy mess, and by the time I got to the two steep sections coming out of Juniper, my tires were packed with mud! I couldn’t see much, either, with my glasses getting covered in rain drops. So, I pulled them off and continued down the trails. I missed quite a few sections (steep downhill’s, the up-and-down switchback, the first and second dips), so it was a rather brutal section. But, I got onto the double track and started to pick up some speed. Unfortunately, I picked up a bit too much speed and started to slide out on a corner. Feeling like I wasn’t going to make it, I made a last minute decision and directed the bike down a piece of single-track that was conveniently there for me to bail onto! However, it quickly became apparent that this trail was not for a guy with my skill (or lack thereof) on such a wet day! The trail rode right along the edge of a clay cliff that dropped about 20 feet straight down on my right, and, and then continued to drop down about another 100 feet or so to the valley bottom below! I came up to the edge of a steep downhill that rode precariously near the edge and I said “No way” and turned around! With the trail as greasy as it was, I did not feel like challenging fate that morning. So, I turned around and made my way back sheepishly to my double-track trail. The rest of the ride was good, but with my detour and stopping to clean my glasses constantly, I was about 2-1/2 minutes longer to the bus stop than normal. Ugghhh...

 

Going through Kenna Cartwright park again was good. I wasted a lot of energy going up spinning in some pretty muddy sections, but I made the entire climb with no stops or breaks so that was cool. I got to work very wet and very muddy. I think I’m going to start leaving a container of Wet Ones at work for days like today!

 

May 25th (Afternoon) and May 26th (Morning)

May 25th (Afternoon)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Morning: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 1-1/2 bottle of water, 1 cup of coffee

o   Afternoon: 1-1/2 bottle of water

·         Food Intake

o   Morning: 2 pieces of multi-grain toast with butter and peanut butter, 1 banana

o   Afternoon: Pork chop with rice and peas

 

Today’s ride was pretty good, actually. Physically, I’m feeling really well lately. The bike is running well, although the front rotor definitely has an annoying “sticky” spot (that’s the best way to describe it) which means a very bumpy ride when trying to stop! I will be looking into this today to see if there’s something I can do to fix it. I think if I leave it, it might start doing damage to the fork (the constant jerk every revolution of the rotor I’m sure will significantly reduce the life of the fork tubes and stanchions! :)

 

Anyways, going down into Peterson’s Creek was pretty tough again with the trail as rough as it is now (see Friday’s notes). But, the new rotor works great, and I felt like I had more than enough control to go at whatever speed I wanted, so that is cool. Going back up, I made it up to the sandy section again (about 20-30 feet further than my normal distance, but not a record yet). I also made it further at my next stop and my final stop, so that’s encouraging. Once I got to the top of the ravine/canyon, I decided to keep going up and to see where the upper trails went. So, I followed the trail up instead of across Frolek’s land. And I followed it up... And up... And up some more! Wow, there was a lot of climbing, but really I felt pretty good. I got off at one point to climb over a fallen tree, and another to wipe sweat away (I wasn’t wearing my gloves this afternoon), but that’s it. The road at the top was pretty rough from the logging I think. It made it very difficult to try and spot trails heading off of it, as I had to concentrate so hard on all the little rocks, dips, loose sections and sticks/logs in the way. So, finally, at the end, just before coming into Rose Hill subdivision, I found a trail heading down so I took it. About half the way down, I came to a fork and took the left trail, but should’ve gone right! I ended up right at the bottom of the biggest hill on my Rose Hill pipeline section, the hill I never make... So, after all that extra climbing, I still got to go up this dumb hill! :) Oh well... The rest of the ride was good, through to Juniper with no extra surprises or new trails.

 

May 26th (Morning)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Evening Before: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 1 glass of milk, 1 can of Dr. Pepper

o   Morning Of: Nothing

·         Food Intake

o   Evening Before: 2 buns with farmer’s sausage, fried potatoes

o   Morning Of: Nothing

 

I again took the trails down from Juniper and they went really well. I made the second steep, and the down-and-up switchback (although my foot was out again). The first dip in the trail just about sent me for a loop, I must’ve been day dreaming or something... From Valleyview to Lansdowne I was in the big ring again the whole way, so this is good to see it so consistent now. I went early so I could catch the 7am bus, as I needed to be at work early, and it worked out really well. In fact, I may do this a lot from now on.

 

For the second day I took the trails through Kenna Cartwright again. I took the Reservoir trail all the way again up ‘till Doc Findlay. However, this time I turned off of Doc Findlay onto Red Fox tail (or something like that), which took me more direct to the power line trails, and I avoided 2 very steep, hard climbs! This route dropped about 1.5-2 minutes and about .8 less kilometres.

 

May 25th (Morning)

May 25th (Morning)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Evening Before: 2 glasses of water, 1 can of Dr. Pepper, 1 glass of milk

o   Morning Of: Nothing

·         Food Intake

o   Evening Before: 2 pieces of multi-grain toast and 1 toasted English Muffin all with margarine and peanut butter

o   Morning Of: Nothing

 

Well, with my cold more than gone (sweet!), I took to the trail coming down out of Juniper again. It was fairly overgrown since the last time I rode it a week ago, but still OK. I was not, however, feeling very confident this morning again and walked the steeps, even had my foot down on the down-and-up switchback. But I made the rest of the trail really well, and the fast double track was pretty good. It did have a few sections where the silt and sand had piled up as well, so I did end up slowing down on a few sections. But all in all, it was still a blast. The new front rotor has much more power on the final descent into Valleyview. I was much more controlled, and realized how much I used to rely on my rear brake coming through this section. I did notice this weekend, much to my surprise, that my rear pads were more worn than the front and I think this is probably why. I never really trusted the front to do what I needed it to do, so I was using the back a lot more. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, really, but I will need to work on balancing this out. Who knew that something as simple as slowing down had so much involved in it?

 

Once I hit Valleyview Road, I was again in the big ring the whole way to Lansdowne. It was fun, with a decent time of 19 minutes (my best to date is 18.5 minutes). I also noticed that my legs weren’t burning as much coming down as they were before, so that’s good.

 

I got off the bus at TRU again, after a week of easy riding to work from Roger’s Way. However, I instead rode over to the Home Depot and entered the Kenna Cartwright park (see section K-12 of the map). I started up the “Reservoir” trail heading north west and rode it up until it intersected with the “Doc Findlay Loop”. I then took this and headed south-east. Shortly after, this trail met up with the “Kinnikinick” trail (I’m not making these names up!) which I rode up a couple grunt climbs ‘till it met up with the “Doc Findlay Loop” again. Around the bottom left corner of section L-11, I took a shortcut and cut directly west until I hooked up with the power line trail (not on the map) that took me to Copperhead Dr, which takes me right up to work.

 

Granted, this route adds a bit of distance (about 2 extra kilometres) and time (about 7 minutes today). I climb more, as I go right over Mt. Dufferin and then back down again. However, I’m off the streets and on trails, which is always more fun. Plus, by doing this, my ride is now probably close to 85 or even 90% trails vs streets, so I can finally set up my tires for trail riding, thus improving my traction. I can lower the tire pressure and flip my rear tire around. Also, as I’m looking for a good rear tire, I don’t have to worry as much about rolling resistance and can simply concentrate on finding something with good all around traction (the terrain in Kamloops is extremely wide and varied and thus caused problems when trying to find a tire that is good in so many different terrain types).

 

I found it interesting this morning as I was looking over the map of the KC park that Dave took me on mostly black diamond trails! Kind of cool, really. I also noticed a couple other options that I will try when riding over the mountain in the mornings as well. The KC park has so many trails to try, I’m tempted to even start taking the 7am bus instead of the 7:15 so I can have an extra 15 minutes of riding through there! Wow, this commute just got awesomer!

 

May 21st (Afternoon) and May 24th (Morning)

May 21st (Afternoon)

Well, today was my first ride home back on my regular trails this week, and boy was I in for a nasty surprise! First of all, the greenery had grown probably 2-3 times as tall as normal in just one week. What a wonder a bit of rain and then sun does to this parched landscape! There was so much foilage in spots that the trail was just about overgrown!

 

But that wasn't the nasty surprise. The trail going down into Peterson's Creek has been just about completely destroyed by the downpours we had earlier this week. The trail has been trenched down the middle by a gulley about 4-6 inches wide, and about 2-4 inches deep. So, trying to avoid catching a tire in the gulley was a bit challenging. And then the rocks appeared. And I mean boulders! Ok, maybe about 6-8 inches in diameter, but big enough to throw me off my bike! The rain had washed rock after rock from the surrounding hills and dropped them on the trail in continuous lines and sometimes actually piled them up! Some corners were washed away (well, 1/2 the trail I suppose), and others quite impassable! I actually walked a portion of the trail down!

Going back up the other side wasn't nearly as bad. There was a gulley on that side as well, but no rocks and none of the trail had been washed away at least. So, going up, I still had my typical 4 stops and 1/4 of the way walking. However, on Frolek's land, the rain actually helped improve things a bit. The deep, sandy and silty areas were more packed down and easily ridden through.

 

But, then the pipeline trail at Rose Hill threw a few surprises of its own. One decent had quite a gulley dug into, that I had to slowly work my way around it, killing any and all momemtum that I normally gain from coming down this side, meaning I had to actually pedal up the next hill! :) And then, I came down into the final valley, probably a bit too fast, and the bottom had turned into a sandy and silty mess! I just about bit it, flipping through the sand and landing off the trail! But, luckily I stopped on my own accord rather than using my head or body! :) The rest of the ride through the pipeline trails to Juniper were good, with very little changes other than the greenery being quite overgrown! In the end, my time was a great 43.5 minutes so I was very pleased with that, as I felt like it was longer.

 

May 24th (Morning)

Today is Victoria Day, May long weekend. As such, I didn't have to work today. So, instead, I roped Dave into a ride around in the Kenna Cartwright park so I could find some trails to take from TRU to work in the mornings instead of riding on the streets. This would mean a bit more climbing in the end, but all dirt with no cars (just maybe the odd bear instead, but I have a feeling he would most likely be much less of a threat than enraged rednecks in their "compensating for something" overdone trucks)!

 

Now, just to put things into perspective, I've only ridden twice with Dave. He rides multiple times a week with his friends and they do trails like up and down Peterson's creek twice just for fun... :) Last year he took me out on two rides, one in this park and one on Cole Mountain (above Aberdeen/Pineview). Both times I died. Both times I'm sure he regretted dragging me along as he sat at the top of every hill waiting for me to catch up! It seemed like he was beyond my grasp by the time we even started pedaling.

 

Today, however, was a much different storey. We climbed up the Tower trail and I easily rode beside him the whole way, even talking! I felt really good. He indeed started loosing me on the down hill sections, but I'll just say that's because he knew the trails and had a full suspension bike... I'm sure it had nothing to do with my lesser skills! :) Ok, so the technical skills need some more work now. But my climbing ability has been greatly improved (he even mentioned as much, so that was cool).

 

Anyways, the trails were sweet! Technical, sweeping, up and down. Some trails where you had to hang right on the edge to avoid hitting the trees or hill on the other side of your bike... A bit nerve racking at some points, but sweet for sure. There was one technical descent that I walked, and one steep climb that I missed. But other than that, I kept right up with him and finally didn't slow him down! Instead, we stopped and enjoyed the scenary together, rather than him just stopping so I could finally catch up... :)

 

Well, it was actually a fairly light ride in the end (about 1 hour of riding time), and I found some really good trails that I'm going to try this week. Oh, and I put a bigger rotor on the front this weekend (180mm). I broke it in last night, and it worked wonders on today's ride. I actually felt very controlled on the descents, able to go whatever speed I wanted. We'll see how it does on the two steeps coming out of Juniper tomorrow to see if it really is better, but I think it will be much better. I may have to take the wheel in and get it trued, as it seems to really grab at a certain spot on each revolution, making for a very bumpy ride when hitting the brakes (only really noticeable on the paved streets).

May 20th (Afternoon) and May 21st (Morning)

May 20th (Afternoon)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Morning: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 1 bottle of water, 1 cup of coffee

o   Afternoon: 2 bottles of water

·         Food Intake

o   Morning: 2 pieces of white toast with butter and peanut butter, 1 tapioca pudding

o   Afternoon: Roast beef dinner with potatoes and peas, 2 lemon cookies, 1 orange

No ride today again.

I met Corrie instead just down at McDonald’s and we ran some errands at Rona and then out on Westsyde. I am on the tail end of the cold, so I figured it would still be good to be taking it easy this week as per my original plan. Next week I’ll be back at it full time again.

May 21st (Morning)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Evening Before: 1 glass of milk, 1 glass of water

o   Morning Of: Nothing

·         Food Intake

o   Evening Before: 5 thin pancakes with butter, peanut butter and syrup, 1 piece of chocolate cake with icing

o   Morning Of: Nothing

Another really good ride this morning! I was again in the big ring the entire way from Vicars to Lansdowne, and only felt like shifting down maybe once. The road biker I was trying to chase yesterday morning actually caught me this morning. I’m not sure when, because I didn’t see him when I looked behind me all the way ‘till where we split ways, and at the last hill, I glanced behind me to see if I could move into the lane and he was pretty close! Someday maybe I’ll give him a run for his money, but I doubt that will happen any time soon! I’ve seen him bike in the biggest gear up the hospital drive! Yikes...

I took the bus one last time up to Roger’s Way again. I felt really good up Hugh Allan today again, and got the same 11.5 minutes that I did yesterday (which was a record time yesterday) so that’s pretty cool. I should see if cutting over from Hillside to Hugh Allan on my route from TRU is a better way than going all the way up through Dufferin?

This coming Monday is Victoria day, so not work. I’m thinking about heading out and trying some new trails down out of Juniper. I’ve seen a trail head about 1/2 way between Juniper and Rose Hill that I’d like to explore. It looks like it would meet up with the same fast, double-track I take already, so that would be cool. And it would mean I’d get to ride the fun pipeline trail for a bit each morning too. If Corrie’s up to a decent hike, maybe we’ll try hiking over Mt Dufferin from the Home Depot entrance into Kenna Cartwright and see what kind of trails might be there for me to ride instead of the streets from TRU. Anyways, should be a good weekend! Hopefully we’ll get some good weather (it’s supposed to be warm and sunny as of today, but that seems to change often).

Progress

So, I decided to go through some of my comments and times I recorded on my biking spreadsheet from the last few months to see the progress. Kind of interesting!

 

Home to Lansdowne Village, March 15th (first morning ride): Time was a whopping 20 minutes, comment “Felt OK”... Hah! That’s as wordy as I got back then...

Work to Home via trails (first attempt), March 16th: Time was a nasty 70 minutes, comment “Harder than anticipated; Walked 2/3 up the east side of Peterson’s creek...”

Rogers Way to Work, March 31st: Time was again a whopping 20 minutes, comment “Still haven’t conquered the Hugh Allan hill yet... down to only one 3 minute stop!”

 

Rogers Way to Work, April 5th: Tim was a decent 14 minutes, comment “...middle ring 3/4’s of the way up Hugh Allan hill (lowest was 1:2 combo), record time and first successful climb to the top!”

Work to Home via trails, April 8th: Time was a decent 47 minutes, comment “8 stops up Peterson’s this time and 2 at Rose Hill still... walked less...(closer the 1/2 the way)...missed 2-1/2 switchbacks instead of 4 finally, the ‘1/2’ being that I put my foot down on one”

Home to Lansdowne, April 21st: Time was 15 minutes, comment “Feeling ‘unmotivated’ suddenly, although my ride was OK, it was just average... I didn’t work up much effort at the top of Juniper and it shows by the top and average speeds”

Work to Home via trails, April 22nd: Time was 32 minutes due to being cut short by a wrecked derailleur, comment “Ride was pretty good, except the end! I hit a log... tried to bunny hop it... bent my derailleur. Bah! So I’m now down for tomorrow!”

 

Home to Lansdowne via trails and streets, May 3rd: Time 18.5 minutes, comment “Coming out of Juniper the trails were really fast (almost too fast as I slid out on one corner...)”

Work to Home via trails, May 3rd: Time was a good 43.5 minutes, comment “I made ALL the switchbacks down into Peterson’s creek for the first time! Still 4 stops going up, but I’m closer to 1/4 walking now.”

TRU to work, May 10th: Time was a great 25.5 minutes (yet to be beat), comment “First day with new SPD shoes/pedals! ...they were obviously a success... the speeds on climbing we better/easier for sure.”

Work to Home via trails, May 13th: Time was 44 minutes, comment “Down into Peterson’s creek was tough (trail was very ripped up...)... Felt pretty good today, so maybe what I eat really is making a big difference.”

Home to Lansdowne via streets, May 20th (today): Time was a record 12.75 minutes, comment “Wow, what a good ride!”

 

Kind of cool to see the progress, from not making it up Hugh Allan to cutting my stops up Peterson’s creek from 8 to now 4. Pretty cool to look back at stuff like this, so I’m glad I’ve been keeping records. Anyways, time to work!

 

May 19th (Afternoon) and May 20th (Morning)

May 19th (Afternoon)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Morning: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 1 bottle of water, 1 cup of coffee

o   Afternoon: 1-1/2 bottles of water

·         Food Intake

o   Morning: 2 pieces of white toast with butter and peanut butter, 2 lemon cookies, 1 banana

o   Afternoon: 1 bowl of chili, 2 buns

 

Wow, I wasn’t paying attention to the weather, but I walked out of the office and just about got blown to Merritt!!! And if you know this area at all, Merritt is the exact opposite direction to home from work, so, yes, I was facing a brutal headwind! I checked when I got home, and winds were gusting over 70km/h (www.weatheroffice.gc.ca).

 

So, I knew I was in for a doozy of a ride regardless of which way I went home, so I figured I’d still ride the streets (I will further explain why a bit later on here). Heading down Hillside through Dufferin was brutally slow, and even once I hit the hill going down towards Wal-Mart I was pushing just to keep my speeds above 50km/h (normally I’m riding my brakes here to keep it under 60km/h). Thankfully, the flat stretch on Notre Dame wasn’t too congested, so I wasn’t in the way of too many as I putted along. However, traffic was very congested heading down Columbia all the way to Valleyview, so it was not a fun stretch at all. Traffic and headwinds = slow and grumpy! By the time I got to the Juniper hill, I was already quite tired. So much for taking it easy this week! However, the winds didn’t seem to be much of a factor heading up the hill, and I felt pretty good today. Definitely better than yesterday’s ride with rain in the face and winds blowing me back down! I was a good 4 minutes longer today, though, guaranteed that was due to the winds all the way from work to the Juniper hill.

 

When I got home, no one was there! So I phone Corrie’s cell, and it turns out she was out hiking with all 4 kids and both dogs!!! She had gone out on the trial where I normally come in, so as I didn’t go that route, I completely missed her... Oops... So, I hopped back on my bike and rode out to meet her as she was heading back towards where she’d parked the truck. Kind of funny, because I was quite tired already, but I made the hill just before the trailhead in a 2:5 combo and pretty fast. Normally I ride that in 2:2 or maybe 2:3 in the mornings, hah! Guess I was motivated...

 

But I was thinking about the different routes and the benefits of each. Obviously the trails are way more fun and I get more of a full work out with the upper body being much more involved in the ride. However, other than the Peterson Creek hill coming up, I really don’t have many long stretches of climbing. Any hard climbs are usually over pretty fast. So, I’ve been wondering the last few days if I will ever make it all the way up Peterson’s creek and I think I know where I need to improve, and that would be endurance. I think I have the skill, and my tires have the traction, to probably make all but maybe the steepest little section. I think I even have the muscle power needed. But where I fail is that I just can’t seem to keep pushing when I should, and so I stop and walk or take a breather. That’s where I think the Juniper hill will come into play for me. I think I should ride this hill probably twice a week at least to help build that endurance. It’s a long, steep climb in the granny gear. My legs don’t get nearly as tired as on the steeper Peterson’s creek trail, but they’re burning pretty good by the top for sure. So, I think if I through this route in a few times, it should help me build up the endurance I need to keep pushing and hopefully I will be able to make the Peterson’s creek trail soon. At the beginning of this week, I chose the Juniper hill route as maybe being the “easier” route. After two times up now, I can say pretty definitively that in the end, I’m just as tired so I don’t think either way is any different really.

 

May 20th (Morning)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Evening Before: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 1 glass of milk, 1 glass of water

o   Morning Of: Nothing

·         Food Intake

o   Evening Before: Roast beef with potatoes and peas, 1 bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with milk

o   Morning Of: Nothing

 

This morning was a blast! I hit a record time of 12.75 minutes to Lansdowne (previous best was 14 minutes) and 11.5 minutes to work from Rogers Way (previous best was 12 minutes). Granted, I had some 30km/h winds helping me along finally! I also saw a road biker ahead of me when I turned onto Valleyview road, so I pushed it trying to catch him. By the time we got to where the road splits, he went up Columbia and I went down Battle street and he was definitely starting to leave me behind. However, I noticed that I hadn’t left the big ring since Vicar’s street and I kept it in the big gear all the way ‘till the bus stop. Pretty cool! I normally gear down a few times in between, but this time I had enough momentum and “motivation” to keep pushing the big gear and it showed in my time for sure, slicing off over 1 minute from my previous best.

 

I again chose to ride the bus up to Roger’s Way. I am getting over this cold for sure, but still just want to play it a bit safe (granted this morning’s ride and the Juniper hill in the afternoons is sort of throwing that plan out the window). The ride up the Hugh Allan hill was pretty good, and I even managed to chop a bit of time off of that stretch as well, so that was cool! I got to work and noticed another bike outside, so I’m guessing that maybe Dustin rode to work today now too? He’s talked about doing it, so that’s pretty cool if he did! He lives in Aberdeen, so I’m thinking it would be a decent 30 minute ride for him or so? Even Alex and Aaron have been talking about wishing they could start riding to work as well. You never know! Maybe we’ll be installing a bike parking lot soon!

 

May 19th (Afternoon) and May 18th (Morning)

May 18th (Afternoon)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Morning: 2 bottles of water, 1 cup of coffee (cream and sugar)

o   Afternoon: 2 bottles of water

·         Food Intake

o   Morning: 2 pieces of whole wheat toast with butter and peanut butter, 1 banana

o   Afternoon: 2 hotdogs with cheese

 

Well, I thought I’d try an “easy” route home today. It was raining pretty good during the afternoon, and Corrie and I even talked about her coming up to get me, but we decided I would just ride. My cold isn’t getting worse, and in fact it may even be getting better? I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch yet, but it does seem as much.

 

So, with a little bit of drizzly rain, I headed out. I decided to ride only on paved streets all the way home, meaning I’d have to tackle the Juniper hill at the end. But, I felt that this would be easier in the end than riding the trails, with less upper body work. I rode down Hillside, across Notre Dame, down Columbia and then across to Valleyview road. The ride was pretty good, actually, and the streets were drying up already by the time I got past the mall. I really only encountered one impatient/unobservant motorist who seemed a bit perturbed that she wasn’t able to merge and had to hit her brakes to avoid running me over (thank you). Other than that, it was pretty decent really.

 

Then I turned up the Juniper hill.

 

Corrie said something about the wind when I left work, but it wasn’t at all windy here so I didn’t think much of it. But as soon as I turned off of Valleyview Road onto Highland Road and headed up to Juniper, the wind slapped me in the face with authority. I think I even heard “You.... shall.... not... PASS!!!” in the distance. :)

 

By the first corner, I had dropped into the granny gear and rode on the dirt off the road (it was very busy, and motorists do not take kindly to going slow up this hill as they absolutely must make it to the top as fast as possible for no reason at all). I had a bit of a hard time breathing deeply, probably due to my cold. And the rain started pelting me pretty hard, which made it very difficult to see the bumps and rocks to avoid. And every time the hill got steeper, the wind seemed to get all the worse! In fact, at the very top the winds blew so hard, that I was struggling just to stay on the road (I had moved back to the pavement at this point due to the shoulder being very ripped up by the rain and water flowing down to the ditches). When I arrived at home, I was dripping wet, soaked to the bone! It was a bit crazy for sure! The kids didn’t even want to hug me... :)

 

So, after that ride, I suddenly wasn’t sure if this actually was they “easy” route. I guess it was the “easier” route, but not easy by a long stretch! My time and speeds were actually all still the same, but with 2 kilometres added to my overall distance. My cold doesn’t feel too bad at all, maybe even better now, so I hope I didn’t just prolong it with this ride. I think I’ll still do this again tomorrow and possibly for the rest of the week. It actually wouldn’t be a bad idea to ride this route one week each month just to switch up the routine a bit.

 

May 19th (Morning)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Evening Before: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 1 glass of water, 1 glass of milk

o   Morning Of: Nothing

·         Food Intake

o   Evening Before: 1 small bowl of Chili, two buns, 4 perogies, asparagus, 1 cupcake and 1-1/2 pieces of chocolate cake both with cream cheese icing

o   Morning Of: Nothing

 

So I definitely ate too many sweets last night, and didn’t feel that great this morning (just more unsettled than anything else). But the ride into Lansdowne was pretty good considering. Juniper’s hill was cleaned up a bit (no more gravel/rocks across the road from the rain) so I was able to let the bike go this morning (I hit 77km/h, and that was with a bit of brake tapping at the first corner for fear of gravel on the road). I had the big ring in use mostly from Vicars to the bus stop, so that’s always a good indication of how good I feel. I took the bus again all the way up to Roger’s Way as my cold is still not gone. I will most likely keep this route ‘till next Monday just to be sure. The ride up Hugh Allan hill was really good again, but my “pulling” muscles in my thighs are really starting to complain lately... :)

 

I was complaining earlier this week about my cold, thinking that my immune system should be better with the exercise I’ve been doing. Well, now I’m thinking maybe it is better, as it is fighting this cold off better than the colds I’ve had for the last 5 or so years! Normally, a little cold sticks with me for about 2 weeks, and usually turns into a fever/flu as well. This time it’s stayed as simply a runny nose with a bit of a scratchy throat, and now seems to be getting better already after just a few days. Nice!

 

May 17th (Afternoon) and May 18th (Morning)

May 17th (Afternoon)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Morning: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 1 cup of coffee and 2 bottles of water

o   Afternoon: 2 bottles of water

·         Food Intake

o   Morning: 2 pieces of whole grain toast with butter and peanut butter

o   Afternoon: 2 tuna sandwiches, 1 banana, 1 chocolate pudding

 

No ride home today!

 

A combination of my head cold along with monsoon rains, thunder and a spectacular display of lightening (OK, I’m exaggerating about the rains of course, but it was a heavy downpour for sure) kept me from riding home. Corrie was coming up to Aberdeen to pick up some pictures and get some stuff at Wal-Mart, so I jumped on the opportunity and got her to pick me up.

 

So no report, other than the fact that my cold isn’t getting worse, so that’s a really good sign right now!

 

May 18th (Morning)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Evening Before: 1 medium cup of coke, 1 glass of water, 1 Dr. Pepper

o   Morning Of: Nothing

·         Food Intake

o   Evening Before: 1 Big Extra (no cheese or bacon), 1 medium fries, 3 Mennonite cookie things, 1 cinnamon bun, 1 hamburger bun toasted with butter and peanut butter

o   Morning Of: Nothing

 

Yeah, we broke down and ate at McDonald’s last night. I can’t remember the last time we did that, but it wasn’t good! :) Sure, the food tasted good, but I felt cruddy all evening after that. Then, finally when I started feeling better, I felt like I was suddenly starving (hence the binge eating last night).

 

As I’m still fighting off this cold, I opted for another light ride again this morning. I took just the paved streets to Lansdowne with still a respectable time and I actually felt pretty good considering last night’s eating parade! Then again, I only had a light ride yesterday too with no riding home, so physically I’m not that tired right now either. I rode the bus again all the way up to Rogers Way and made it up the Hugh Allan hill probably as good as yesterday. I felt really good, and probably pushed it harder than maybe I should’ve considering this is supposed to be a light ride! My time was 12 minutes from Rogers Way to work, which was my best time set only once before. So that’s cool.

 

I am feeling pain in some new muscles in my legs these last two days. I’m thinking they are my “pulling” muscles, now that I have the clipless pedals. I read online that the pulling action does indeed use a different set of muscles than pushing, so I think they’re telling me that they don’t appreciate their rude awakening! :)

 

May 17th (Morning)

May 17th (Morning)
happy birthday to my wonderful wife!!!! I hope your day is OK with all 4 rugrats running amock there... :)

·         Fluids Intake:

o   Evening Before: 3 glasses of juice, 2 glasses of water, 1 glass of milk (yep, it was warm and I was thirsty!)

o   Morning Of: Nothing

·         Food Intake:

o   Evening Before: 2-1/2 hot dogs with mayo, ketchup and relish, assorted fruit slices, 1 toasted English muffin with butter and peanut butter

Well, I have once again developed a cold. Thankfully, so far, it is just a head cold. I checked back, and my last flu/cold ended on March 26th. That means 1-1/2 months of health and now another cold? ARRRGGG!!! I was hoping that riding was going to help boost my immune system! Maybe it is, and that’s why this cold is nothing too major yet? Anyways, I was being extremely religious about sanitizing and washing my hands like there was no tomorrow. I did, however, slack off in the vitamin department as those dumb things kept making me sick unless I took them instantly with food, which I often forgot. Of course, I took one this morning now...

Anyways, my ride this morning was light. I decided to still ride (don’t really have much of a choice at this point if I expect to get to work on time). I figure I’ll take it easy this week, though, and try to let my body fight this latest infection. So, I rode paved streets all the way to Lansdowne. The trails don’t add too much extra strenuous work, but I’m going to just cut back as much as I can. I still rode pretty good to Lansdowne, even though I was concentrating on “spinning” lightly instead of hammering. I still kept the chain on the big ring for most of the ride, though, from Vicars street to the bus stop. It was a fun ride, but I really didn’t even break into much of a sweat. I tried to drink more water than I normally would as well. The downside, this morning, was that my computer wouldn't work? Not sure what I did while cleaning, but somehow the magnet isn't tripping the receiver anymore. Maybe I need another one of Taryn's hair clips to move the receiver closer to the wheel again... :) I'll have to try and fix this tonight, I can't seem to live without knowing my speed!

I then rode the bus all the way today, like I used to do, and got off at Roger’s Way and Hugh Allan again. The Hugh Allan hill used to be such a killer, but now this is my “light” ride? :) Granted, the idea of a “light” ride in Kamloops is an odd one for sure. Basically, it’s just “which hills are shorter or less steep?” Anyways, the ride up the Hugh Allan hill was pretty fun. I was thinking about the first couple of times I rode the hill... Back when my 16 month old son was in better physical shape than I was... I had it in the granny gear from the get go, and walked half the hill. My goodness, what a wuss!!! :) This morning, I was spinning lightly in 2:2 and 2:3 combo all the way up ‘till the last steep section where I dropped it down to 2:1. That stretch still burned a bit as it is pretty steep, but I still only broke into a sweat at the top. I pulled into work hardly even breathing hard, hah! So, yeah, my “light” ride this morning was a success for sure in that regard.

Now, going home is another story. I think the Juniper hill will be lighter than the trails, so I’m pretty sure I’ll take the paved streets home.

Ok, I’ve gotta go, this vitamin is starting to make me sick again... >(

May 14th (Afternoon) and May 15th (Morning)

May 14th (Afternoon)

• Fluids Intake
• Morning: 1 Bottle of Gatorade, 2 bottles of water, 1 coffee with cream and 1 sugar (not the normal 2)
• Afternoon: 3 bottles of water
• Food Intake
• Morning: 2 pieces of whole wheat toast with butter and peanut butter, 1 banana
• Afternoon: 1 piece of lasagna (yes, the leftovers are finally done!), 2 buns with butter, 1 bag of chips, 1 apple

 

I had to go by Brad and Dana's after work to pick up a CD of the pictures Dana did of Avery. This added about 1 kilometer and 3 minutes to my overall ride, plus the hill up to their house. But, other than the extra climbing, the ride was OK. I again met some hikers right on the sandy section coming down into Peterson's creek, so I had a foot out all the way through it (although I rode through it much faster than the last few days for sure). I'm not sure what was going on today, but I lost my balance twice and tipped over not being able to get my right foot out of the clips. Once when approaching the first troublesome switchback down into the creek, and once just past Frolek's land. Funny if you had been watching I'm sure! I was hardly amused though...

 

I passed a 7 or 8 year old boy at the bottom as he was hiking up with his Mom and he asked me how I make it all the way back up to the top. I, in my infinite ability to think on my feet, said "It takes a long time" as I rode by... Great inspiration! Just think, someday this boy will be struggling with something in his life and he will think back to this moment to draw on and think "It takes a long time". Wow... :) Yep, I've never really been known for the ability to think of a quick response! Going up was OK, but 1/3 of the way walking and still 4 stops.

 

Frolek's land wasn't any worse today... And that's really all I can say about this stretch! Hah!

 

The pipeline trail from Rose Hill through to Juniper was really fun, though. I still missed the last peak just before Rose Hill, but the rest was really good.

 

All in all, I did feel not too bad today, even with my Peterson creek climb not being that great. But that evening I was exhausted and ended up going to bed around 9:00pm and was asleep shortly thereafter!

 

May 15th (Morning)

Well, I don't normally ride on Saturdays, especially with a full week of riding already. However, it was men's breakfast this morning. We were to meet at the church at 7:30am for prayer, and then to go for breakfast. So, I decided I'd like to go, and figured the ride wouldn't be that strenuous so why not?

 

I took paved streets the whole way as I felt like having just a light workout this morning. At 10th avenue, I headed toward the river and hooked up on the Rivers trail. This trail is paved and runs along the rivers in all directions for miles. It is really quite neat. The ride at 7 in the morning on a Saturday was so quiet, the sun was out and the air brisk. It was a really neat and easy ride. In the end, it took me 1/2 hour from the house to the church, for a total of 13.87kms. My average speed was a decent 24.8km/h with a high speed of 73km/h (coming down the Juniper hill of course). My ride home from work is about the exact same distance, but takes me about 15 minutes longer. Amazing what a few hills in the way do, eh? Also goes to show you that it ain't "all downhill" like everyone believes...

 

I found it interesting, however, at the amount of people that would completely ignore me, avoid eye contact, or appear completely surprised when I would say "Good Morning" when I past them. I don't mean to stereotype based on neighbourhoods, but I would say 9 out of 10 people I pass on my way to work or home during the week will either respond or greet me first. Of course, the friendliest on the trail this morning was the 20year old hippie with dreads hanging out from under his rainbow coloured wool hat riding on a skateboard! Now if that's not stereotyping I don't know what is...

 

After the breakfast, Corrie picked me up and we did our usual Saturday morning errands and now are at home. I need to fertilize the lawn, water it this evening, and clean up the bike to get it ready for Monday morning!

May 13th (Afternoon) and May 14th (Morning)

May 13th (Afternoon)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Morning: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 1 cup of coffee (with cream and sugar), 3 bottles of water

o   Afternoon: 2 bottles of water

·         Food Intake:

o   Morning: 2 pieces of wholegrain toast with butter and peanut butter, 1 tapioca pudding

o   Afternoon: 2 pieces of lasagna, 1 rice krispy square

 

Today’s ride felt pretty good. I felt much better starting out (no stomach “heaviness” or “queasiness” as I’ve experienced pretty much daily for the last few weeks). Maybe this food thing is already starting to make a difference? Guess I’ll have to eat some high fatty and sugar foods now to see for sure, eh??? :) Just kidding...

 

It’s funny how the portion of Summit drive where I ride up from Springhill to Berwick is getting quite easy. I’ve been in 2:4 and 2:5 combos at the top the last couple of times. I remember the first time I rode this, I was just pleased that I made it without stopping! I was probably in the granny gear too... Actually, on Wednesday, I caught up to another biker heading up the hill and had to slow right down until my turn off to Berwick (no room to pass with cars flying by).

 

Going down into Peterson’s creek was controlled, but I didn’t make the technical areas as well as I think I can. That being said, I also tried not to berate myself for it this time! The straight and sandy section at the top I went really slow with one foot down as a hiker was right there (I didn’t think he’d appreciate it if I lost control and took him with me over the edge to the bottom...) I also noticed that someone with a huge rear tire (and I’m sure it was close to a 3” wide tire if they make them that big) pretty much dragged his rear wheel the entire way down. It was brutal, as the rocky terrain was already giving me fits, but now I have this trench that I kept bouncing in and out of... However, I did notice him going up the other side as I started heading up as well. He was resting at the top end of the sandy switchback when I started heading up towards it. Going up I felt pretty wasted, really, still with 4 stops but I started each section a bit sooner than normal so I’m sure I was at 1/4 of the way walking. I never did catch the other biker, but I noticed two things. One, I’m sure his tire was 3” wide, and two, I could tell that he stopped and walked pretty much the exact same sections I did (you can tell this both by how deep the tire tracks are, plus how straight; straight means either he’s heading down or he’s pushing, whereas a track that winds from side to side indicates hard pedalling on the steep sections).

 

Going through Frolek’s land had some new and interesting challenges this time. I’m not sure what, but they dragged something along the entire road up to the gate on the east side. They’ve torn up the road again, but I can’t tell with what. The drag marks were about 1” across by maybe 2” deep spaced evenly about 4” apart all the way across the road. Maybe they were dragging logs? Whatever it was, it once again made for a very interesting ride. But, hey, I guess they just want to keep me on my toes, eh?

 

The pipeline section before Rose Hill was as good as usual, I hit some pretty high speeds through the middle of the hills for sure. Still walked the last hill of course. However, as I rode from the last peak to where the trail crosses Rose Hill Road, the same biker I had followed out of Peterson’s creek came down from a higher up trail and continued on in front of me towards Juniper! And, of course, he rode too slow! :( I caught up with him on the gradual down part of the trail where I get some decent speeds (made me realize how many rocks I actually ride over that I couldn’t see before at higher speeds). But, thankfully, he took the main path to Juniper so I took the pipeline again and had a blast traversing the hillside through there.

 

In the end, the time was pretty good, speeds were average, and I felt pretty good at the end. I’m finding that I’m not wanting to just curl up and die any more when I get home, bonus! Last night I worked on fixing up our mower and even cut the grass in the back yard. Seems like I’m starting to get more into a “groove” lately.

 

May 14th (Morning)

·         Fluids Intake

o   Evening Before: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 2 glasses of water, 1 glass of milk

o   Morning Of: 1/4 glass of water

·         Food Intake

o   Evening Before: 2 pieces of lasagna, 1 large helping of salad with croutons and Caesar dressing, 1 English muffin toasted with butter and peanut butter

o   Morning Of: Nothing

 

My ride down through the trail network was really good this morning! I made the second steep finally again (first time with the SPD’s!) I think I’ll be trying the first one as well soon. The quick little down-and-up switchback I made better than the last couple of days, but still went a bit wide into the next corner, so it’s not 100% yet like I was before. Still rather strange, but maybe this is due to it being drier now or something. When I do make it, I have a much better speed to start up the next hill. The dips and the 2x6 bridge were nice and smooth again, I think my confidence is building slowly. And then of course the fast, hardpacked double track heading to Valleyview was good, even faster than normal. And I managed a bit of airtime off the ledge just before the trail drops down to Valleyview at the end (up ‘till now, it’s been more of a small wheelie or maybe a bunny hop off the ledge).

 

The streets to Lansdowne weren’t that great, really, with only being in the big ring a few times in the end. I had to slow right down at 10th avenue for the light, which once again absolutely kills my momentum for getting up the next hill in the big ring. But, from TRU to work I felt much better and had the 2:2 combo for most of the way up until Dufferin. I rode on the street right from the end of the trail, so no more sidewalk riding with this route. I managed another good time of 26.5 minutes, so I’m happy with that, especially for a Friday ride.