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!