August 6th (Morning)

Another good ride again. I did feel more tired and lazy this morning than the last couple of mornings, but in the end I still had a decent time of 61.25 minutes.

Heading down the Juniper main trail, I came across my Weinaramer (how do you spell that?) again… This time, I took off my glasses and stopped as he came bounding up to me (he did appear less threatening today). I waited for him to run back to his owners (who took their time even noticing I was there and didn’t start riding again until she had a grip on his collar. He didn’t growl or snap as I rode by, but he did pull against his owner for sure. Again, I didn’t say anything to them, what do I say really? It still bugs me that the dog is 100 yards ahead of them and it takes them a few minutes to even realize someone is on the trail and that they need to get their dog…

Anyways, I managed a speed of 50km/h coming down the first hill at Rose Hill. Rather dumb, really, but so much fun it’s a temptation I cannot seem to overcome! I know, I’ve got an entry level bike with spokes breaking left and right, a tire with more cracks than the Sahara desert floor, and a front fork known to bust it’s caps right off and send springs flying into the rider’s face, but… I can’t help it!

I did notice today that at the top of the climb up from Frolek’s lower road my heart rate had managed to hit 95% of maximum. The last couple of mornings, I’ve been around 85% here, so I’m not sure what I did differently. Maybe just more tired this morning? Less oxygen in the air because of the smoke? Speaking of smoke, coming home yesterday the skies had started to clear, or so I thought. However, this morning, they were just as bad as ever. Apparently BC is battling 411 wildfires right now across the province, and additional firefighters from Ontario, Alberta and even Washington have shown up to help. Crazy!

I was going for the “cool” effect through the front wheel… I don’t know, I think it turned out OK! Anyways, this shot is looking North, that’s Paul Mountain on the right. I can hardly even see Westsyde, and for sure I can’t see Rayleigh…

The rest of the ride was good. The neat older gentleman with the black and white Collie that I see on the Tom Moore trail often I actually met up with today near the end, right at the Castle Tower’s entrance. This time, however, he had a lady with him. Maybe wife or girlfriend? Either way, it was cute to see them both sniffing and picking flowers! The only negative was that the trail right there is very narrow, and I just about knocked them over trying to squeeze past…

Well, it’s Friday of a short riding week. Which is good, because the front brake noise and the rear derailleur mal-adjustment is really annoying, and I can’t wait to completely clean, oil and re-adjust this thing for next week! Let’s see if I can make the ride home tonight with all 64 spokes intact!!!