May 12th (Afternoon) and May 13th (Morning)

May 12th (Afternoon)

·         Fluids Intake:

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

o   Afternoon: 2 bottles of water

·         Food Intake:

o   Morning: 1 piece of whole grain toast with butter and peanut butter, 1 English muffin toasted with butter and peanut butter

o   Afternoon: Steak with carrots, mushrooms and potatoes, 1 bag of chips

 

So I fought off the urge to have another Dilly Bar today and it may have worked, as I felt a bit better starting my ride than I did yesterday. I still felt a bit “heavy” in my gut to start off (no comments there, folks...), but I’m wondering now if that is too much water or something, is that possible? They say 8 glasses a day, right? Well, I’m sure I’m pretty close to that (not including what I drink during my rides, as that sort of cancels out with the dehydration that comes with exercise).

 

Heading through Peterson’s creek was a bit rough and shaky. Traction is now becoming a fading memory as the trail just gets more and more dry every day. The sandy sections at the top seem to be getting deeper, and I had a rough time through the straight sandy section again (had to put my foot down for balance half way through). My brakes really need a better adjustment, as they squeal all the way down (annoying!). I missed the first of the two hard switchbacks, but again I didn’t give it a fighting chance. I did make the next one, but with my foot out. I’m getting really annoyed at my lack of confidence. I don’t know if my confidence is getting worse, or if I’m just expecting more by now, but either way I’m getting frustrated that I keep missing certain sections or don’t feel as controlled as I think I should be. Going up the other side wasn’t my best by a long shot. I figure I was average today. Still the same 4 stops, but about 1/3 of the way walking. I didn’t make it nearly as far up as I did on Monday. They say the mind gives up before the body, and I’m sure that this is the case here. I need to start becoming more mentally tough, both through the ups and the downs.

 

The rest of the ride was pretty good. I felt pretty good on the pipeline trails (still, obviously, didn’t make the last peak before Rose Hill yet). The section between Rose Hill and Juniper was actually really good and fast. As I’m learning the trail more and more, I’m finding the right gears at the right times and picking better lines which makes for a much smoother and faster ride. As it was Taryn’s soccer practice today down in Valleyview, I took the Juniper hill down. It was good to ride that hill again, tucked in as far as I can, eyes watering from the wind, gasping for breath... Yep, an exhilarating ride to be sure! I think if I lived in Valleyview, I might choose to ride home through Juniper just so I could ride that hill down... :)

 

May 13th (Morning)

·         Fluids Intake:

o   Evening Before: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 3 glasses of water

o   Morning Before: nothing

·         Food Intake:

o   Evening Before: 2 pieces of lasagna, 3 homemade buns with butter, 1 bowl of ice cream and 1 cupcake with cream cheese icing

o   Morning Before: nothing

 

After an evening of thinking about my lack of confidence, I decided to start going with the latest sports world thought of “I believe”. Well, I figure I need to start just believing that I can do what I need to do. I think I do have the skills to make the trails where I struggle, but I fail because mentally I bail too early. And what if I do wipe out? I wiped out as a kid and never even missed a day of school. Granted, the issue here I think is now if I break something and miss work, I put ourselves in financial strain. But, hey, other than punching walls with a bear fist, I’ve never broken any bones so I should have confidence that I can still “bounce back”! :)

 

Anyways, coming down the steeps out of Juniper was still a bit shaky, even though I tried to win the mental battle, I still lost and walked the steeps. The tight down-and-up switchback still gave me trouble again (why is this difficult all of a sudden?) But I shook that start off and started riding with more confidence. I made the 2x6 bridge smooth and straight. I made it through the two dips in the trail that threaten “endo!” every time. In fact, I made them smoother than ever before, and faster to boot. I think I’m learning what it means to “pump” the trail with my arms, as it really worked well through here. The stretch from there to Valleyview was good as always! Fast!

 

The streets to Lansdowne was a decent section, not as fast as I have been, but still only 19.5 minutes in all which is a pretty good time (my best so far has been 18.5). TRU to work was even better, I felt. In fact, I learned that my bus driver has a bit of a sense of humour as he said “Race you to the mall” as I got off at TRU. Rather funny, really, when he hardly says more than “Hi” and “Bye” usually. I got onto Hillside right away after the trail ended this time. There were a lot of cars that passed me going up, but all but one moved right over into the other lane to pass. I was using the 2:2 combo for most of the way past the mall and then again past CDN tire. A time of 26.5 minutes on this stretch. Again, a good time (better than average, not quite my 25.5 best though).

 

Now I’m wondering if what I eat the day before affects the morning after this much...? I will continue monitoring this for sure and see what little diet changes make big differences on the saddle.

 

May 11th (Afternoon) and May 12th (Morning)

May 11th (Afternoon)

Fluids Intake:

·         Morning: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 2 bottles of water

·         Afternoon: 3 bottles of water

Food Intake:

·         Morning: 2 pieces of whole grain toast with butter and peanut butter, 1 apple fritter (from Tim Horton’s), 1 tapioca pudding

·         Afternoon: Steak, potatoes, carrots and peas, 1 pear, 2 chocolate chip cookies, 1 Dilly Bar

 

As you can see, I’m going to start monitoring my food and fluid intakes. No, I’m not going to become a “calorie counter”. Honestly, I’m not too concerned with all that jazz just yet. Instead, I’m hoping to start seeing a connection between my energy levels (up or down) and the food/fluids I had that day. It just seems that I tend to have so many ups and downs as far as energy levels are concerned that I want to start seeing how much my food plays a part in that. Therefore, for the first few weeks (probably ‘till the end of May), I’m not going to alter any habits at this time. However, after that, I’m going to see what sort of correlations I can see and start making better choices.

 

All that being said, my ride home today was OK. I did feel like I had some pretty low energy levels (and thus I was thinking about that fritter and Dilly Bar the whole way home, and NOT in a fond way...). I didn’t make it as far up Peterson’s Creek as I did the last couple of days (was this due to low energy, or the fact that the last two times there were people standing up on the higher trail watching??? Haha!). I probably walked about 1/3 of the up side trail again, and I felt very unsure of my ability to get out of my pedals in time on the steep climbs, so I bailed probably sooner than I normally would. I sure hope my confidence in this comes quickly. Going down into Peterson’s I missed the first of the hard two switchbacks again, and nearly wiped out through the straight sandy section as my bike started fishing wildly through it! My mistake there, though, was taking my foot out and therefore putting all my weight on my saddle, rather than behind it. With the drier weather recently, the trail down is getting tough again as traction is becoming very limited. I did make the second hard switchback, but with my foot out there as well.

 

The section across Frolek’s land wasn’t too bad, actually. I did indeed feel much slower than normal through there, but I am happy that there are finally good lines to ride that don’t require as much floundering through the deep sand and silt as I was doing the first few times. So this stretch is getting somewhat better for sure.

 

On the pipeline hills before Rose Hill, I made the second to last peak but not the last one. In fact, I didn’t even make an effort on this one. I pretty much pedaled up just to where it gets very steep and stopped, not trusting my ability to get my feet down when I would need to do so! After Rose Hill, I again followed the pipeline trail to Juniper. The hills on this trail definitely feel like they’re getting easier, and the more I get to know the trail, the faster I am getting so it is getting more and more fun for sure!

 

May 10th (Morning)

Fluids Intake:

·         Evening before: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 1 glass of orange juice, 1 glass of milk, 1 glass of water

·         Morning of: Nothing

Food Intake:

·         Evening before: 1 bowl of zuma borscht (sp?), 1 piece of lasagna, 1 serving of salad with Ranch dressing, 3 homemade buns, 2 cupcakes, 1 cinnamon bun with butter

·         Morning of: Nothing

 

Well, as for the food monitoring, I can already tell you that after looking back at just one day, I can’t believe I eat that much!!! Yikes... I guess I need to start realizing that every ounce I shove down my throat is just that much more I have to lug up the hills with me on my next ride...

 

The ride in this morning was pretty good. I just about wiped out again on the trail network out of Juniper. Not in the same spot, but at a quick little switchback where I drop down and then have to bank up the edge right away to make the turn. I tried to go too slow and ended up dragging my rear wheel out of position. Oops! No harm done, though... This time at least. The rest of the ride out to Valleyview and then to Lansdowne wasn’t too bad. 20 minutes, which is average. Not amazing, but not slow. I was spinning in the big ring for most of the way.

 

From TRU, however, I felt pretty dead. I didn’t stop, but I was definitely spinning a lot slower than normal. In fact, by the time I made it up to Dufferin, I cruised along at about 20 km/h where I normally average speeds closer to 30. It showed in my time of 28.5 minutes for sure, as my last two days were 25 and 26.5. I crossed over Hillside and rode up on the street at the first entrance to the mall (yeah, I’m paranoid about getting that $110 fine for sidewalk riding). Only 2 or 3 vehicles passed me by the time I got up to Canadian Tire, so that was good for it to be that quiet.

 

I’m thinking about heading in to Lansdowne 10 minutes earlier and try catching the Summit bus at 7am instead. This would get me to TRU at 7:10 (instead of 7:25) and then I would attempt riding over the hill through the Kenna Cartwright park instead of taking the streets. It would be a tough climb up the north side of the hill, but then some fun, quick trails coming down into Dufferin before I’d have to get back on the street up to work. Dave took this way the other day and said it took him 20 minutes, so for me, that should be about 40 right? :) Once I know how long it would take me, I could go back to the #7 bus at 7:15, but for the first few times this would give me some extra time to find my way across the ridge.

 

The other thought is when will I start riding the whole way from home? Well, seeing as how I’ve been riding from TRU now for a couple of weeks, and feeling so exhausted by the end of the week, I don’t think I’m ready for that type of work out yet. But I think maybe this idea of riding through Kenna Cartwright might be a better option, as it shouldn’t add that much to my climbing already, or time for that matter, but would keep me on trails longer which is really where the fun is!

 

May 10th (Afternoon) and May 11th (Morning)

May 10th (Afternoon)

Well, the trail-home-debut with the SPD pedals went pretty well. My overall times and speeds weren’t much different in the end than normal, but average numbers. These shoes do have a downside, though, and that is when I found myself walking up long steep hills. I found myself walking up on my toes, and therefore using different calf muscles than normal. But overall, I really enjoyed them. I had a couple “panic” exits and I managed to unclip in time, so that’s good. It shouldn’t be too long before I start unclipping without much thought anymore.

 

Heading down into Peterson’s creek, I didn’t make the first of the two troublesome switchbacks again. In fact, I really didn’t give it much of a chance, but jumped off before trouble could start. I think this is partly due to the fact that I am still not confident on this corner, coupled with the new shoes that I am not 100% comfortable with yet. However, the second switchback after that I unclipped and put my foot out and made it. So I’d say I missed 1-1/2 switchbacks down... :) Going back up was pretty good. I noticed my speed was a lot higher than I think I’ve done before, and I made it all the way into the sandy switchback (about 10 feet farther than Friday). I walked a maximum of 1/4 of the way, if even that any more. And still 4 stops, although I might say “3-1/2” really as on my last stop I didn’t really quit moving, but jumped off, walked a bit, and then jumped back on. Normally I would stop and catch my breath for a minute.

 

I didn’t make it even 1/2 way up the last peak at Rose Hill due to my chain jumping right off the ring when I tried dropping it down into the granny gear (this was one of my panic exits from my pedals). However, the rest of the trails were really good. I rode the pipeline all the way through to Juniper as well.

 

I guess 20° and sunny means “Come out and play”. Suddenly, after a few weeks of seeing pretty much nobody from Berwick to home, I passed two bikers going up out of Peterson’s creek, three joggers going across Frolek’s land, two more joggers just past Rose Hill, one hiker on the pipeline trail heading to Juniper, and two more bikers just minutes later. I guess after a few weeks of cloudy, cold and wet weather, people are chomping on the bit to get outside.

 

May 11th (Morning)

I had my first endo on this bike this morning!

 

I was coming out of Juniper, heading down the steep sections where I meet up with the trail network that runs me down to Valleyview. It is a narrow trail, probably about 6” wide, winding down the hillside of clump grass. If you aren’t sure what clump grass is, think of a smooth dirt floor, and then every 1/2 a foot there’s a “clump” of grass sticking out. The base of these clumps is very solid and unmoveable. So, as I was coming down this trail, I cut a corner too sharp and hit one of those clumps dead one. Instant stop. And over I went. Thankfully, I haven’t forgotten how to fall and landed on my shoulder and rolled. Granted, I rolled over my back pack, but it seems that only my pear suffered. After I stopped laughing, I got up to survey the damage. Other than dirt and grass stuck in various spaces on the bike, it was fine. Myself? Well, I scrapped off some skin on my knee and shin, but nothing bad at all. Granted, I ended up walking a couple of the steeper sections after that, but tomorrow’s another day!

 

My ride from TRU was again 2 minutes faster than my average of 28.5 minutes, so I do believe the pedals/shoes have a lot to do with that for sure. The sun was bright and warm, so I need to start looking at getting some sort of sweat band or something to keep it out of my eyes. I braved the street on Hillside from mall up and actually had no cars pass me until I was into Dufferin. So, my sidewalk stint is now less than a block, so that’s good (I don’t need a $110 fine right now). I was in 2:1 and 2:2 all the way up Hillside, so that’s getting somewhat better. The biggest difference I’ve been noticing lately is the fact that I have reserve energy left during my last climb up to work. The first month or so, my last climb was grinding and wheezing to the top, hovering around 95% of my available energy reserves. Lately, though, I’ve felt like I’m only around 75%, if that really makes any sense. In fact, Pat (a co-worker) came up behind me today and I raced him to the top (sort of, as much as a biker can race a car). So that’s really cool!

May 7th (Afternoon) and May 10th (Morning)

May 7th (Afternoon)

Getting ready and then leaving work, I felt really stiff and sore. However, once I got riding things loosened up and I ended up having a really good ride. Out of the two troublesome switchbacks going down into Peterson’s creek, I ended up missing the first one, but I made the second one (which, in my opinion, is the more difficult one really). Going up the other side I made a record distance, just to the bottom of the sandy switchback. I’ve never made it this far in one try yet, so that was really cool. I then also started back on the bike right after the switchback (I normally walk another 20 feet or so ‘till I start riding). However, I did catch up to a couple walking their bikes up. I walked with them for a bit ‘till I continued on. The lady’s comment was “I just keep hoping this will end, but it never does...” And then she says later “He tells me there’s good riding up here, but how good can it really be to have to endure this hill?” Hah! Yep, brings back good memories of my first few times. Now my thoughts are simply “Dang this still sucks.”.

Going through Frolek’s land wasn’t much different, other than the fact that I’m learning the nasty sand traps to avoid and, if avoided, I manage to push through the rest not too bad. The transition to my singletrack at the end is still quite a little cliff to climb up, but that won’t change now if ever, so I just have to accept it. I just about didn’t make the second-to-last peak on the pipeline hills before Rose Hill. I lost a fair amount of traction right away, which killed my momentum. However, I was able to still power to the top, so that is progress for sure! Up ‘till this successful attempt, a loss of traction meant a dismount every time. I made it over half way up the last peak.

From Rose Hill to Juniper, I took the pipeline trail again mainly because of a nasty headwind that was starting to pick up. But the fact that this curvy, up and down trail is so much fun might have had a little to do with it as well. :)

May 10th (Morning)

Well, I finally bit the bullet and bought some biking shoes this weekend. Louis Garneau’s from Spoke ‘N Motion. I have priced out shoes at all the local bike shops, and these were the cheapest anyone had. I could’ve gotten some cheaper online I think, but I tend to have issues with fitting and didn’t want to risk ordering something I couldn’t try on first. So I cleaned up and adjusted the bike this weekend, threw on the clipless pedals I had purchased at a garage sale earlier, and went out to the front yard to test them out. After about an hour or so of nothing but circles and stop-n-go on my driveway, I got the tension where I’m comfortable. Clipping out isn’t hard, if I’m thinking about it. The only issue is that I have to be able to do it instantly without thinking about it. Those are the “panic” moments when all I can think of is yank, yank, yank! Which doesn’t always have the best results. So, I loosened the tension up pretty loose, had about 10 ‘panic’ moments of yanking that still resulted in a success un-clippings, so I think I’m ready. ;) But the bunny hopping is amazingly easy all of a sudden. Love it!!!

Notice the colour coordination? Yeah, total fluke...

Just had to get the shot with the pedal in there!

Heading down the trails I had a bit of mixed reviews with the pedals. With them set as loose as they are, I didn’t realize how much movement (twisting movement) my feet would still have. This may take a little getting used to as I develop confidence with them. However, any down side due to this was quickly erased by the first climb. The ability to spin smoothly (pull and push) made the hills just that much easier. For that alone, this system will stay.

As if I wasn’t already convinced about the SPD’s by the time I got to Lansdowne, my ride up from TRU to work was 3 minutes faster! Granted, some of that may be due to my “Monday Morning NOT blues”. But I think the majority of the time saved was the SPD’s (we will see how the rest of the week goes if this is indeed true). I was actually shifting up and down all the way up, where I’ve normally been in the lowest gear grinding the entire way. Plus, up ‘till now, every morning ride has been 28.5 minutes, plus or minus 0.5 minutes, regardless of whether or not I felt good. Today, suddenly, I drop 3 minutes?

Well, now we will see how they fair through my nemesis that is Peterson’s Creek. I’m a bit nervous about panicking and not unclipping in time... But let’s not think about that... :)

May 6th (Afternoon) and May 7th (Morning)

May 6th (Afternoon)

Well, I got a “freebie” today. No riding home! Instead, I met Corrie, Helen and the kids down at Wal-Mart after work. We went out for supper to White Spot for a Mother’s Day early celebration. So, I had a very quick 7 minute ride ALL downhill, hah! I thought about riding the trail beside Hillside down (I should’ve, really, I’m sure it would’ve been pretty fun). But, my pride got in the way when I was waiting at the light and some car pulled up beside me in my lane trying to crowd me out... So, naturally, I had to beat him/her to the bottom of the hill! Which I did... Not hard with speed limits in effect! :) Anyways, obviously with a ride that short there’s not much to tell.

 

May 7th (Morning)

Another good ride this morning in the end. I still absolutely love the trail network coming out of Juniper. I made the second steep again. From the top to where I hook up with the singletrack, there are two trees that have fallen across the trail. Normally, I have to get off and walk around them as the grass off the trail is aptly named “Clump Grass” which means every “clump” is big enough to stop any bike going less than 10 clicks. But, I’ve been slowly wearing down an alternate trail around these trees, and so today I was able to stay on the bike the whole way around the first one (just had to put my foot down at one point), and 1/2 the way around the second. If I had a chainsaw, I would go out and remedy the issue all together, but for now this will have to do! The last two days I’ve noticed a biker behind me as I’ve been riding down Qu’Appelle. He has followed me both times of onto the dirt paths, and this morning as I stopped on my side trail to let me saddle down a bit for the steeps, he rode by on the main path. I may have to ask him if he’s commuting or just riding for fun one of these days. Maybe we can ride into work together or something?

 

TRU to work was nice and sunny, which made the 3° cooler temperature not feel too bad. I feel that my cadence was much smoother and faster these last two mornings which is a good sign. Same 28 minutes still, but I have a feeling that this will be a time that will be hard to really make any drastic improvements on. Until I start getting my speed up at 10km/h or higher for the entire way up Hillside, I have a feeling that 28 minutes will be my consistent time. I’ve been thinking lately about when I might try riding the entire route. I don’t think this will be something I will try for at least another few weeks or a month, considering how sore I’ve been feeling this week with just the TRU stretch. But I think that if I can make it from Home to the Berwick in about 45 minutes, I should be able to make it to work in another 35-45 minutes meaning only 1-1/2 hours of riding. That would mean leaving around 6:30 which isn’t that bad.

 

I’m thinking about taking a bit of our tax refund this weekend and picking up some SPD shoes. I will have to go out on Saturday and practice for sure, and I have a feeling that there will be a few crashes (well, “fall overs” more likely) coming in the next couple of weeks. But, the benefits for just climbing alone will be worth the break in period. And bunny hopping will become easier as well of course.

May 5th (Afternoon) and May 6th (Morning)

May 5th (Afternoon)

Slightly on the chilly side again, even though the temperature says 11° or so. A bit of headwinds from work ‘till Berwick (Peterson’s Creek entrance), but nothing too bad and not really noticeable on the trails after that. I made it down Peterson’s creek without stopping (made each switchback) and up the other side with the typical 4 stops. However, I did not make it as high each time as I had the last couple of days, so I figure I was back to about 1/3 of the way walking the bike.

 

Nothing new to report across Frolek’s land. Same sections are still torn up, but as more vehicular traffic occurs, I suppose this will eventually smooth itself out. I have found the best lines, I think, so there are only a few sections that cause me too much grief. Nowhere near as fun, though, as it used to be!

 

The pipeline hills before Rose Hill were good and fast (and no logs/sticks in my way!). I made it pretty far up the last peak, actually, and if I’m recalling correctly I believe it was my best attempt to date. Probably over half way? Whatever it was, it was enough to make me think I’m not too far (maybe a month or so) away from making the entire hill, which will be nothing short of triumphant! I will let out a whoop then for sure!

 

I picked the gas pipeline section after Rose Hill to Juniper again, and that was a lot of fun. Definitely a couple of doozie hills, but all in all still a blast. Taryn’s soccer practice was today down in Valleyview. Normally on Wednesdays, I’ll ride down Juniper’s hill on the street. Today, however, I thought I would finally brave the Kamloops Bike Ranch trails! Well, without the proper planning, Mr. Murphey’s law would have me pick the Black Diamond trails by accident!!! Yep, I ended up walking a lot of extremely steep sections and complete drop offs! Even if I had the skill to make the jumps and drop offs right now, my bike would surely split in two with the air time that would be required!!! Brutal! Still pretty fun, but the fun is always significantly less when walking is involved! I checked the maps, and found out where the blue and green trails are, so next time I’ll try a blue and see if that is a bit better!

 

May 6th (Morning)

I felt not too terrible this morning, and with no head wind on the first stretch to Lansdowne, I was in the big ring most of the way again so that was really nice! I also made the second steep section of trial coming out of Juniper finally! And it really wasn’t bad at all, not sure what I was so nervous about... :) The first section has a nice fat tree awaiting me if I screw up, so I may still require some confidence to attempt it. ;)

 

From TRU, I took the trail beside Hillside as soon as possible. As the hill is so steep, I’m only going about 7-8 km/h so I have been riding the sidewalk in an effort to not get run over on the street (very busy and tight two lane street with no shoulder for biking, so I’d be right in the lane with no room for cars to get around without cutting it very close). However, as riding on sidewalks is illegal (and I really don’t wish to walk the whole thing or what’s the point), I skipped onto the trail right away. So, I still ride the sidewalk from the mall ‘till Canadian Tire and will just risk that I don’t get grief for that part of my ride. After that, I can ride on the street as the lane is bigger and there is room for cars to get around me without running me over or off the road entirely. In doing this, however, I did manage to shave 0.1km’s off my distance, hah! Still 28 minutes of riding though. However, I did feel that I was spinning in a faster cadence at the end than usual, so that’s a good sign!

 

Yesterday and today my legs have been really sore. Up ‘till now I haven’t really felt that sore except for on the weekends when I finally let them rest. It seemed that if I kept riding every day that it would keep them from getting too sore. But they’re definitely letting me know lately that they’ve been getting a work out. I’m not sure, but I guess this is probably my first week of riding the complete route home every day (no dog obedience training to go to on Tuesdays) and riding from TRU every morning. Last week was only three days of hard riding with Avery coming on Thursday. The week before that I only rode one day from TRU as my derailleur episode kept me off the bike that Friday. So maybe this week with a consistent, full schedule, is catching up with me?

May 4th (Aft) and May 5ht (Morning)

May 4th (Afternoon)

A bit cold actually today! It was like 12°, but it felt much cooler actually. It was a pretty good ride in all. I missed the second switchback of the two that I always miss, but made the first one. The second one I started losing control and just about bailed into a small 4’ ravine, but managed to at least stop in time! 4 stops and 1/4 walking up the other side of Peterson’s creek.

 

I came around a corner and was about 10 feet from a mangy deer. For a couple of seconds we both just stared at each other, but as I was still moving rather fast, he didn’t take much time to bolt out of there. Still, for those couple of seconds before my brain clued into what he actually was, my heart jumped for sure! I now understand why Rob’s riding buddy had the crash he did when he came up on a bear! Hah!

 

The section through Frolek’s land is still pretty bad, but today I was able to spot the nasty sand traps ahead of time and picked some better lines than yesterday, allowing me to make it through the whole way without bailing. The cliff at the end to get onto my trail is getting really tough to scale up with the bike over my shoulder! The loose sand falling under my feet makes for a tough little climb! But, I don’t see this getting any better ever, so tough luck! I got some good speed on the Rose Hill pipeline stretch, made the 2nd to last peak again and probably more than 1/2 way up the last peak!

 

From Rose Hill to Juniper, I stuck to the main path rather than following the pipeline like I had yesterday. Over all, my time was pretty much the same (0.5 minutes faster) and the distance was a mere 0.04 kilometres shorter on the main path. Not to mention the two hills that suck the life out of me on that path! So, I’m pretty sure I’ll be taking the pipeline trails next time for the fun, variety and the hills, albeit more of them on this route, just don’t seem as bad!

 

May 5th (Morning)

Cold! In fact, it’s snowing out my office window right now... :( But, the ride to work was dry (it had rained last night, but not while I was riding). Coming out of Juniper was a bit muddy, but still a blast. I can’t get over how much fun this trail is. The only problem I have with it is now that I’m becoming more familiar with it, it is over much too quickly! I do wish I could ride trails like these the whole way!

 

Had a headwind all the way to work this morning. Not nasty, but enough to extremely limit my speed! I never even considered the big ring today, and my time was a whopping 51 minutes in all!!! Ouch... I did hit the granny gear on the first half of Hillside and noticed my speeds were still around 7 or 8 km/h, as they are when I’m in the middle ring. The difference obviously being a faster cadence. So which is better? I still felt just as tired when I got to Aberdeen mall, so energy wise I think the same amount is expended. I would assume a faster cadence is better for cardio in the end as well? Hmmm...

 

Well, it was supposed to be a sunny day, so hopefully that still comes around soon! Yesterday morning was beautifully sunny, and then suddenly turned cloudy and sour... Let’s hope for the reverse today!