Got nothing, rode my bike in the dark, booked my pass out place for Saturday, ride my bike again tonight in the dark. That's it.
Try to be creative tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
The great white north
Great weekend away from the regular grind around the house. Lots of mellow time and it was fun spotting snow patches on the drive up. The weather Saturday was not as nice as it was farther south but I still did the last unofficial ride on the Anthem. One is clean and put away the other was due for some abuse.
Not really knowing what the roads/trails would be like up there it was a safe choice. Once I saw all the bright orange jackets wandering around the bush armed with high powered bb guns I was pretty certain I'd be sticking to trails that resembled roads. I had a little concern that they would not be able to tell the difference between a deer and a skinny guy on an orange bike.
The main roads into and around the cottage are gravel but lots of rollers and turns to keep things interesting. The rare times I did come across another person out there I did get some weird looks. I was starting to guess that cycling is not very popular up this way, then I came across this.
Yes that is a cyclist on that picture. Continued on my planned out loop out to the 518. Let's just say that I'm already planning a trip up here to ride this road on my road bike. Great views, some good climbs and very little traffic.
The sun broke a few times and stopped for a moment to enjoy.
The closest I did get to some trail riding was this.
Of course I made every hunter jealous as i ran into Bambi out there. Kinda startled me as I heard the trees snap when the deer took off in the opposite direction. Spun my legs out after 2 hours and headed back to my hang out for the weekend.
The view was amazing but the lake was a little to chilly to do much more than look at.
Sunday was spent waterfall/rapids searching on the way home. This is where I scoped out the 518 as a ride. What an amazing road. If we keep getting a break in the weather I may attempt to get a good long ride up there before the snow comes.
Tonight, the MNS will be back at it. An interesting thing is the weather is very much a flashback to the winter of last year. First Monday it was crazy warm, like its supposed to be today, the next Monday there was a dusting of snow but still rideable. The following Monday, snowstorm. Not sure if I want a repeat of that or not at this point.
Back to the real world of work this morning.
Friday, November 6, 2009
The friends you keep
Last night was the first of many cold weather Thursday movie night. It may change days but the idea is the same. Had a few of the Monday Night something crew up to the house which of course some say is in the middle of no where. Just because it's not surrounded by 20,000 other houses doesn't mean it's isolated. We have running water and hydro.
What was interesting is where the mini tour of the house finished and what seemed to be the highlight of the house. My place is pretty cool being a 1930's home, lots of character. So after the normal living area stuff we end up in the basement. Nope, no axes came up and the basement is not creepy. Where do we end up sitting and staring?? At the first project I took on when I moved in last year.
With some friend's it's the sun room that they like, with others it's the fireplace and living room area, but with my cycling friend's it's the bath tub in the basement that had them all staring in awe. With winter coming and and the crap that is on the roads the thought of a salt covered dirty bike and the chore of cleaning it never amused me much. Come in and trying to warm up and you have to head right back outside with buckets of water. Awww the enjoyment of standing out in the sub freezing temperature splashing water on the bike and yourself hoping to get the worst of the grit and salt off. At my old place I resorted to this once or twice. Let's just say that it would not go over to well with most. Some wives, girlfriends, etc would not be to impressed about seeing a bike in the main bathroom.
My suggestion, lose the laundry tub, who uses it??? With the snow coming anytime and those long miles put on slat covered roads means lots of cleaning afterwards. I much prefer to do this in the warmth of the basement while having a beer. I think Jeremy may get lucky since his wife seemed to be drooling over the bike wash tub than he was.
So maybe after showing off my bathtub I can now understand why they have this really pretty washers and dryers. I can now see a few friends standing in the laundry room around a washer going ohh and awww just like we were staring around a dirty bath tub with bike cleaning stuff around it. I guess it's the friends you keep on what you like.
I'll be using the tub for sure when I get back on Sunday. Heading to the great white northish to the lady friend's cottage for a little canoeing, hiking, resting and yes riding. The NRS-1speed will be beaten on this weekend. Hopefully some ;good pictures and a story to tell on Monday. No I will not be racing on Sunday but if timing is right I will be there to cheer on the last race.
The sun is out, need to stare in awe!!!
What was interesting is where the mini tour of the house finished and what seemed to be the highlight of the house. My place is pretty cool being a 1930's home, lots of character. So after the normal living area stuff we end up in the basement. Nope, no axes came up and the basement is not creepy. Where do we end up sitting and staring?? At the first project I took on when I moved in last year.
With some friend's it's the sun room that they like, with others it's the fireplace and living room area, but with my cycling friend's it's the bath tub in the basement that had them all staring in awe. With winter coming and and the crap that is on the roads the thought of a salt covered dirty bike and the chore of cleaning it never amused me much. Come in and trying to warm up and you have to head right back outside with buckets of water. Awww the enjoyment of standing out in the sub freezing temperature splashing water on the bike and yourself hoping to get the worst of the grit and salt off. At my old place I resorted to this once or twice. Let's just say that it would not go over to well with most. Some wives, girlfriends, etc would not be to impressed about seeing a bike in the main bathroom.
My suggestion, lose the laundry tub, who uses it??? With the snow coming anytime and those long miles put on slat covered roads means lots of cleaning afterwards. I much prefer to do this in the warmth of the basement while having a beer. I think Jeremy may get lucky since his wife seemed to be drooling over the bike wash tub than he was.
So maybe after showing off my bathtub I can now understand why they have this really pretty washers and dryers. I can now see a few friends standing in the laundry room around a washer going ohh and awww just like we were staring around a dirty bath tub with bike cleaning stuff around it. I guess it's the friends you keep on what you like.
I'll be using the tub for sure when I get back on Sunday. Heading to the great white northish to the lady friend's cottage for a little canoeing, hiking, resting and yes riding. The NRS-1speed will be beaten on this weekend. Hopefully some ;good pictures and a story to tell on Monday. No I will not be racing on Sunday but if timing is right I will be there to cheer on the last race.
The sun is out, need to stare in awe!!!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Not ready to cave yet
Held off the sick twisted control of Mother Nature and got out for an hour and a half ride last night. I am not ready to ride the trainer yet, I'm going to push that off for as long as possible. That means rain, snow, sleet, hail blah blah blah. It's always better being outside than looking like a caged rodent stuck on a hamster wheel as the world goes by around him.
It was just a mix of paved rail trail and side roads. With it dark so early my amount of trust in peoples driving abilities is a lot lower than during the day. The bike is lite up pretty good but drivers have a hard enough time spotting cyclists during the day. Looking at things with a half glass full attitude, the fact it's dark at just after 5 will give me lots of time with my lights. All practise for this. It's time for Summer Solstice registration already. I will say that riding on the road at night is no where near as fun as in the trails.
It's interesting that my start up for training is only 2 days off from registration date. Yep I'll be back with another kick at the can in the solo division. I'm hoping that the Ruppel's have hooked up with the mob and have plans of kidnapping David Suzuki. They could hold him ransom for some perfect weather conditions for 2010 race season.
I'm hoping so because I'm currently doing the major tear down of both Giant Anthem's for the winter storage cleaning. I'm still finding dirt from the mud fest of Summer Solstice. Unless some miracle bike offer comes along I'll be riding the same bikes for this season. More because I really do love the Anthem's and the 2010 does not have any changes that would make it worth doing the update and I don't need the carbon as much as it would be nice.
More coffee needed, stuck in a training seminar today. Boring, hmmm maybe I should be drinking decaf so I can drift off.
This just came across the screen of my computer. You may want to sit down before reading, You may want to take some sort of medication and possibly look at the pictures from a distance to easy the burn that it will leave in the your brain. Looks like Peter has become the paparazzi. Clicky here
It was just a mix of paved rail trail and side roads. With it dark so early my amount of trust in peoples driving abilities is a lot lower than during the day. The bike is lite up pretty good but drivers have a hard enough time spotting cyclists during the day. Looking at things with a half glass full attitude, the fact it's dark at just after 5 will give me lots of time with my lights. All practise for this. It's time for Summer Solstice registration already. I will say that riding on the road at night is no where near as fun as in the trails.
It's interesting that my start up for training is only 2 days off from registration date. Yep I'll be back with another kick at the can in the solo division. I'm hoping that the Ruppel's have hooked up with the mob and have plans of kidnapping David Suzuki. They could hold him ransom for some perfect weather conditions for 2010 race season.
I'm hoping so because I'm currently doing the major tear down of both Giant Anthem's for the winter storage cleaning. I'm still finding dirt from the mud fest of Summer Solstice. Unless some miracle bike offer comes along I'll be riding the same bikes for this season. More because I really do love the Anthem's and the 2010 does not have any changes that would make it worth doing the update and I don't need the carbon as much as it would be nice.
More coffee needed, stuck in a training seminar today. Boring, hmmm maybe I should be drinking decaf so I can drift off.
This just came across the screen of my computer. You may want to sit down before reading, You may want to take some sort of medication and possibly look at the pictures from a distance to easy the burn that it will leave in the your brain. Looks like Peter has become the paparazzi. Clicky here
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Then and now
With all this extra time in the morning, still waking up at my normal time which just happens to be an hour earlier than what time it really is I've spent more time on my computer than normal. I started to look at what happened at this time last year. What set this off? Well I saw snow for the first time this year yesterday. Snow is better than rain right???
So what all happened. I sold my house, bought a new house, rode my bike in warm sunny weather and went to the Barrie Cyclocross race. Well this year what am I doing at this time of year? I'm not selling my house, I'm working on my house, I'm riding my bike in cold wet crappy conditions and I'm going to try and make it to this year cross race. It's being held at Hardwood Ski and Bike again this season. No I will not be racing, the lady friend and I are off to the cottage but hoping to be back before the last race.
So what all happened. I sold my house, bought a new house, rode my bike in warm sunny weather and went to the Barrie Cyclocross race. Well this year what am I doing at this time of year? I'm not selling my house, I'm working on my house, I'm riding my bike in cold wet crappy conditions and I'm going to try and make it to this year cross race. It's being held at Hardwood Ski and Bike again this season. No I will not be racing, the lady friend and I are off to the cottage but hoping to be back before the last race.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
