SO how did I end up teaming up with Rick. I guess it should start back to how I met Rick. it will be just over 4 years ago that I was in Ottawa to help my sister move into a new apartment. A few friends invited us on the now annual Maple syrup ride into Quebec. An out and back ride to a maple syrup maker where we ate then road back. Now on the return route about 15 minutes after we started comes this guy just mashing the pedals and flying past everyone. Right behind was Tobin and a few others. They basically went by us like we weren't even moving. At that time I couldn't even imagine riding with them. That was the first time i sort of met Rick.

The next time was at an adventure race in Parry Sound. I was there supporting Team StarChoice with my sister. That's when I found out she was dating this guy. Long story to that. So from there we started chatting and that summer ended up racing together on a 5 person team. The next step was each of our 24 hour solo at Hot August Nights. First year for the race first year for us. Ya I had problems but did ok. Rick pushed through and placed in the top ten. The next year came and we both went to sign up for solo at Summer Solstice. Unfortunately it was sold out for solo so on a whim we decided to try it tag team. We finished 3rd considering all the things that went wrong. It was a great feeling.

The next year for Hot August Nights we went at it again improving our total laps but finished 6th. Very tough field at that race. Rick really pushed us through on that race. He was on his game, I was fighting with my body. This year was 2 tags as you have read about earlier. I owe a lot to Rick.

He is a well established adventure racer and I have yet to have a chance to race with him. One day. I needed to give Rick some good props because we are all back at solo's for next year and I will be kicking his ass. He might not pull the laps of an elite rider but he will always be able to push through the worst conditions and keep motoring around the course. This is what makes him a threat at solo. If you ever get a chance to race with him do it.

On another note when are you going to marry my little sister?

Holidays are coming and I really need them. I'm bailing on my yearly trip to Killarney. Its been so busy with racing this year and September is completely nuts also that having a week off with no real time commitments. The time trial championships are on the 8th this year and that is the only scheduled event for me. I'm thinking that I will get over to Collingwood and ride 3 stage one day for sure. Its been a few months since i was there.

The body is recovering pretty well. My knees are making some strange sounds but with all the problems I've had in the past with them its nothing that has me in panic. I'm sure it was that 10km run with zero training was the root cause. I'm not sure how much running I will do this fall. I have my new roller skis to start playing with in October.

SO what have I learned this season about myself and my body. First of fluids can change. All my stomach issues were caused by Gatorade. Now the thing to remember is that I used this for a couple years with ZERO problems. Now what is one of the golden rules. You don't screw with things on race day and since I never had any problems on training rides, even up to 7 hours it was hard to track down. Thanks again to Tobin. You don't win the national 6 day expedition adventure race championships with out knowing about nutrition.

My one race with actual muscle cramp issue came with the change over of fluids. My sodium intake was not high enough which has been remedied. I goofed a bit by not calculating out my proper mix between eload and cytomax. This was the first race with the new drinks and I didn't calculate what percentages I used to intake from the Gatorade and adjust it to the new drink. That's all taken care of now. The last 3 results have proven that with things. Of course I still have my famed nervous stomach. You may carry stress in your shoulders I carry mine in my stomach. Its been like this since my Dad got sick 4 years ago. Even with the perfect food intake it could turn anytime and remove it. I don't even think about it now. Some may remember a couple years ago on road rides I would just throw up for no reason.

I've also got my sciatic nerve and low back problem very much under control. Not gone but hopefully over the off season it will be. This is also linked to what pace I go at for how long. So what does this mean for me. It means even without consistent top ten finishes and 3 podiums so far this year that I have had a great year. Getting the body figured and fixed was defiantly a priority. My intensity and endurance has continued to grow and has me already looking forward to next year. After a couple months off the bike of course.

I guess I kinda sorta rode yesterday. Midland Tri Club had their final time trial of the season followed by the BBQ. Hey there's food I'm in. I haven't TT in a few weeks and it looks like I won't again till next year. The Trinity hanged on the wall last night. It did give me a chance to play with the final addition to the road bike. I topped out the front of the bike with an Amoeba Scud flat wing handlebar. Oh its nice.

So my ride last night about 3.5 km out to the mid part of the hill to take photos. That's a total of 7km. Not bad!!! Surprisingly my lower parts didn't feel all that bad when it came to sitting. My right knee is a little sore but I know that will clear quickly. I'll get out for a an 1 to 1.5 hour flat ride tonight to get the legs loosened up tonight.

I'm on holidays in less than a week. Its going to be nice. My week is already filling up though. I'll be helping Peter K out as he gets ready for Ironman Florida. I know very little about training for an Ironman but I know more than enough about finding energy losses during the ride. Hopefully we can find a few things in his riding to make him stronger going into the run. Peter is planning on being the youngest Ironman Finisher.

Hot August Nights

I'll my hopes for rain came true. I got down to Albion mid afternoon and started to set up. It was far from hot but the humidity was high. Just moving around you started sweating. This is a good/bad thing when it comes to racing. Sweat keeps you cool, sweat leads to rashes.


With everything setup it was time to preride the course at cruise control pace. It was an awesome course. Very similar to the first year of Hot August Nights. Now the biggest thing that was different for us at this race was the distance from where we transition to where the timing tent was. Normally only a km or so. Not this time, still had 5km to go. Hannah and I went out to check things out. I'd heard some comments that the course had no flow. HMMMM. Maybe those that said that should take up knitting because this course was excellent. Took an hour and nine minutes to check things out. Rough calculations would be very low 50 minutes at race pace.


So me wanting rain so bad was answered. The clouds rolled in late Friday evening with a steady drizzle. Around 9:30 after I was in my tent trying to sleep it down poured like someone turned on a hose. It was almost deafening. I managed to sleep though. 7am I was up. Stupid internal clock won't let me sleep in. The rain had stopped and it was pretty much dry everywhere. Still looking threatening though. New said chances of showers and thunderstorms for the rest of the day. WOO HOO.
So the game plan was for me to do the first 3/4 lap to get us in a good position right away. Rick is bomb proof and steady but I'm a quicker off the line. I was able to get a bike staged in the first 30 riders. Thanks to Don and Shane from Barrie Cycling Club for the warm up before the start. Its been awhile since I've really had to hammer right out of the gate. Things went well and I hit our transition zone in the top 20 giving Rick a good open course. Now its trying to go from 100 to 0 as quick as possible and rest.



Rick was riding well but had some cramping issues in the first couple laps. He managed to work through it. He was running steady laps. I was on. I was a bit concerned about my low back an legs being recovered enough after the adventure race. Things were a bit tight all week. If it slowed me down then I'd be almost scared as my first 3 laps were at the 50 minute mark. This was even with the rain. I have come up with a great tire combo running a Hutchinson Scorpion on the front and a Michelin XCR dry on the rear. Both tubeless with sealant in them. Things felt good.

As the sun ore lack of it went down out came the lights. The new system is awesome. I've never run a bar mount until this race. I've always found a helmet mount was adequate. Once I got things in line and got used to the projection turning I loved it. I never had to change a battery. The new system is so bright that my first 2 night laps were almost as fast as my day laps. Of course a bit of fatigue was kicking in and I slowed to one hour flat for my last night lap.



As the light came up comes renewed energy. The hills still hurt but it made the single track more enjoyable. I got my lap times down to 56 minutes again. My stomach did some weird things first thing in the morning and I could feel that bad feeling coming on. Yep puked. Now the cool thing was I didn't even slow down and it was in a technical section. No splashes on the bike or gloves. Everything settled and took 2 gels during that lap.

As the clock ticked closer to the 12 o'clock finish we started to calculate out the final laps. Rick needed to pull his fastest lap of the race for us to be capable of squeezing in another lap before the 11:59:59 cut off. That whole lap that he was out I was just watching the clock. I knew I had to blast a 54 minute lap but I would also have to do the additional 5 km to the timing tent on top of that where we would swap for the last lap. It was roughly 14 minutes from our transition to the timing tent. When Rick came in at 11 I knew there was no pressure to push another lap. We had 3rd place wrapped up. I still pushed and did a 57 minute final lap. Now as I went into the timing tent I had my only mechanical. I don't know how but the chain flipped and got jammed in between the cog and the spokes. Well I only had 10 feet to go. From there it was up on the podium!!!!!



It was a tough course but there were alot of payoffs out there to give you that craving to do another lap. For me everything after the sugar shack made me smile. Hell any where I can use my big ring makes me happy. This was the first 24 hour where we did get rain. The course held up awesome. My butt is a different story.

Now overall our little group of racers walked away with some awesome results. Rick and I 3rd. Tanya Hanham(the vegan vagabond) took 2nd in solo women. She unfortunately missed the awards. Machine head Racing took 2nd in the Mixed 5 person division. Unfortunately for Craig who would have probably kicked some serious ass on this course had some major body issues. I know he will be back and stronger for the next event. SO thank you again to my mom and Aunt for putting up with us again. I think they have it harder than we do racing.

So whats next. Well the plans are already coming out for next season. Its all solo. It looks like there will be two battles for Summer Solstice for next year. All the boys will be coming out. Pierre wants to try for a 3rd podium finish. Tobin has put out the challenge to all of us. Mike A wants to improve on his 4th place from last year. Its going to defiantly be a fun race.

As for this season. I have a couple weeks off then its off to the Ontario Time Trial Championships. I'll take a couple days off the bike to recover but then back at it to get the bike tweaked. From there will be 3 long weeks as the season comes to an end. Pauls dirty Enduro is an almost positive race. 100km is a great distance. The following weekend will be the Hardwood fall 8 hour. This is going to be my big focus. From there the next weekend is the Mountain View Race the Night. This will be all for fun.

Its that time. I'm heading out in a couple hours, Rick should be already on the road. I hope he is. All my lights came in. I'm looking forward to playing with the new systems. 60 plus watts, sweet. My legs are feeling good. I spent an hour doing yoga this morning just to get a few things in line.

As I'm looking outside though its doing what I wanted but now I want it to stop. Its been raining steady. I have no problem racing in the rain but I really don't want to do the setup this afternoon while getting soaked. I'll have a race report up either Sunday night or Monday morning. Wish me luck

Its almost time. Legs are feeling good. More later

I was invited out to a fun ride in Copeland Forrest last night. It was just what I needed to get my legs up and running and get my mind ready for Hot August Nights. Copeland is just south of my place but I really haven't spent to much time in there. I think that will change. We started out with a group of 12-14 which eventually split up in to a couple groups. It worked out great for me. The pace was just high enough to get my legs feeling good but not hard enough to strain anything.




Unfortunately my camera was acting up but there were a couple awesome sections seeing the guys riping on the berm downhill. Ended up at a two hour ride with a bit of downtime in there. My legs are feeling alot better this morning.

Now after the ride came the best part. Went out for wings and beer. Not my normal apres ride routine but hey why the hell not. The group I rode with goes every Tuesday and I think I'll meet up with them a few more times. About the only downfall now is the lack of daylight. We rolled back to the cars just before 8 and there were a few sections out there that were a bit sketchy because you just couldn't see anything. Well its all the more reason for some night rides.

Two days left so I'll start getting gear packed up. Rick will be here late tomorrow night. Its finally raining and lets hope its happening at Albion Hills.

who beat me while I was sleeping?

My legs don't work!!!! Whole crap are my calves killing me. I'm walking around like an old man and it hurts to walk up stairs. Why? Oh ya some dumbass ran a 10k trail run with zero training let alone the paddling and riding after it. Everything is very tight but will release. Its going to be a mellow week for me with Hot August Nights coming next weekend. The legs are a bit better this afternoon but of course they lock up when I don't do anything for a while.

I did go on a 2 hour recovery ride this morning. It did help and about an hour in things felt good. Sprinting still hurt though. Lots of stretching this week. I'll be riding with a couple friends on Tuesday night down in Copeland Forest. It will be a very easy pace. Besides that I'll preride the course on Friday.

The map is up and it looks like a fun course. Some preriders have posted times of 55 minutes and about 15 km. I'll figure the elite single lap guys will run mid to high 40s and I should hopefully run low 50 minute laps for the whole race. With that it could be a 24 lap finish for Rick and I. I'm getting a bit anxious for the race. My other light will be in on time also which makes me happy!!!!!



Weather for the race is looking not to bad and there are some chances of rain this week. I'm hoping so, the dust was murder on the lungs. Were camping again with Big Ring (Craig) with Tanya beside us but It will become one big site. Should be another great race and I'm hoping to stick to this winning streak I'm on. I like the podium A LOT!!!!

Hot tub time.

Wye Marsh Adventure Race

So I was smart and went to bed early last night. I really didn't know what to expect for this race so I figured I better be well rested. Start time was for 9 but registration started at 7:30. Since I'm anal about being at races early so I'm not rushed I was there at 7:30 with my coffee. I wasn't the first one there. Brent was feeling healthy and ready to race. Of course Brandon was a bit disappointed and debated on leaving since he wouldn't be racing. So mild coaxing and he was armed with my camera. Almost 200 pictures. Thanks Brandon.

All the local racers including 2 Wonder Womans. What is with all the super heros at events?

The field was relatively small but that didn't mean it would be a cake walk. Brett and Davis from the Mountainview Cycling Club were there. These young guys are extremely quick on the bike. There was also another team that I didn't
know. These were the ones to watch.



It was go and Brent and I went hard and put a pretty good gap on everyone in the first 2 km. That was probably a bad idea but I also had in my mind that the run was only about 7 km. Ya well that was wrong. As I mentioned earlier I haven't run since early spring, it started to show. Brent is a strong runner and I forced him to pace down. We held a good lead into the 6 km mark when the team from out of town caught us. We hit some crappy tough stuff and Brent I were able to pull ahead again but once it smoothed out these two were off. At the 7 km mark I was starting
to get a bit mad/sore. Pick one!!! I was doing a modified 10 and 1, let me rephrase that Brent my heart rate is at 190 I need to walk for a few seconds!!!! Hit 170- and go at it again. We finally saw the run into the transition.
9.9 km and 54 minutes later. 7 km my ass!!!! I have know problem running those distances when I've been running. Oh for the numbers, average heart rate of 183 and peaked at 190. Not bad for a trail run.

The out of towners had about 2 minutes on us going into the paddle. I borrowed 2 kayak paddles and had a regular flat blade in the boat. I loaned another team my paddles which I think may have been a bit better on this course. It was narrow out and back with 6 foot high bulrushes on both sides. It was really nice out there. We made one bad nav error but managed to maintain our distance behind the first place team to the check point. Now the return loop was fun. First victim were Sherrie and Karl. They didn't know what happened. As we approached and cheered them Brent and I shifted our paddles to the one side. SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH!!!! soaked!!!! Next came the Parkers. Same thing, soaked with next to zero retaliation. We hit every team on the way back. I would easily say we lost a good 1-2 minutes in our screwing around but hey it was fun.



We finally hit the shore and Brent almost lost it trying to get out of the boat. A little refooting and we were off to transition It was now my strongest part of the race. AWWWW I love my bike. Now my calves were not feeling great on the run up
to the bikes. Actually they were pretty much locked up and cursing at me!!! A quick change of foot ware and we were off. Now Brent is a very strong triathlete but hasn't spent much time on a mountain bike. After a missed turn we got in a rhythm and he followed. He did awesome on the bike. It wasn't very technical but lots of beach sand which will put the best riders in an unhappy place. At about the 3 km mark we caught the out of towners. I knew that we couldn't back down to much because of \the team from Mountainview. They are very quick. The bike finished up at 13 km with some cool climbs and a couple fast downhill rollers
Nothing to crazy but still alot of fun. Brent and I rolled into the finish and I went across doing a wheelie. Hey why not.




Now I didn't know that the local news channel was there and got it all on tape. In the end we finished just over 5 minutes ahead of the 2nd place team. I had an amazing time and will defiantly do this event again. Irene Parker got her revenge
for the soaking in the paddle multiple times. Awww it was worth it. I found out later that a couple teams went for a swim in the marsh. Not my first choice of place for a dip but some of these triathletes are water crazy!!! It was a great event and it also helps raise funds for the wildlife centre. From what I understand ARC is going to run the event next year. The Wye Marsh also has a run set for October which should be fun. Awesome scenery and great trails to run on.


So how do I feel after this race. Happy to have won it. Happy to have finished it but my calves and quads are not happy. I've already been in the hot tub once these evening and did some stretching. I guess not running then doing a 10 km trail run was not the greatest idea.

Thanks to the Wye Marsh for holding the event and some of their sponsors. MEC donated some awesome gear and I came home with a cool tent and pack. You can never have enough gear. So what is the agenda for the rest of the weekend? Tonight nothing, hot tub, movie, stretching and a beer. Tomorrow if I'm willing will be mountian biking in Copeland Forest with a couple friends. I say willing more because they are leaving at 8 am and I might not want to race out at that time. If not it will be a couple hours on the one of the bikes for sure. Alright time to relax

Anyone from the race today who would like pictures get in touch and I'll forward them to you. I will eventually get them up on the site but 200 will take some time.

This adventure race tomorrow is going to hurt. It sounds like it starts with a run and man the legs are going to be mad at me. Its only 7 km so roughly 30 to 35 minutes. I'm still un sure who will be in the front of my canoe. Brent has yet to call both Brandon and myself. I'll get out on the road bike in the afternoon to try and soften things up. The fun thing will be competing against all my local friends.
I'm starting to really like these hometown races. A little more fun a little less intense and focus.

I can't believe the season is almost over. Its the end of August already. Its dark early and will start getting cold at night. Awww means time for night riding. So even though the season is not over I'm in that review phase. So far I've had one 9hour win, 2 top 10 8 hour solos and one really bad tag team race and a now cured stomach problem. I'm also in control of my siatic nerve problem which between that and the stomach have caused alot of problems. I still have to thank Tobin for that cool last lap where we talked and pretty much sourced out my problems.

SO what are my plans for the rest of the season. Hot August Nights is Tag with Rick. I want podium, let me rephrase that I want to win the Tag Team division. I will be riding full out every lap. As for the fall 8 hour at Hardwood. Same thing, well top 5 will make me happy but I know I can step it up. I'm still looking into the Dirty Enduro 100km race. Looks fun. I also have Race the Night which will be alot of fun. As for cyclocross. Not this season. I'll be prepping for x-c skiing and our 24 hour x-c ski race.

Oh on a great note. Its raining again!!!!!! finally

The night ride last night was a lot of fun. Its been a couple months since I've played in the dark. It also gave me a chance to test out the new lighting system. I've had great luck in the past with Nite Hawk. They are not one of the big three that everyone talks about but they are defiantly putting out a great product.

The new system is the K2 Digital Emitter. Its an led system that the manufacture rates at equivalent of a 20 watt halogen. Well I brought out my 20 watt halogen system and this new set up blows it away. On 100% power it has an estimated 5 hour burn time. They always under rate the time and I'm expecting closer to 5.5 hours out of it at 100%. Now when this system came out last year I called Nite Hawk to ask if the batteries are compatible with their halogen systems. At that time they said NO. Well I plugged it in and they work perfect. That means I can us my bigger batteries from the dual light system. This means over 10 hours burn time off one battery at full power.

http://www.nite-hawk.com/bicycle.html


I ended up riding the Mountainview 9 hour course twice. I was out for an hour and a half and really got in to a flow. Ya well work the next day shut that down. I could have ridden for hours but things have been crazy at work so that meant a realistic bed time.

Tonight was just an easy spin, well sort of easy spin on the Trinity. It was crazy windy which meant even spinning was a bit of work. I met up with a few tri club members who were on their way out for a run. My legs are feeling pretty good.

Now my weekend plans have been changed again. I'm doing a small adventure race at the Wye Marsh. Its more of a sprint race and I don't think there will be much navigation. Its more of a off road tri with roughly a 7 km run, 3 km paddle and a 10 km bike. Very short but hey its local and its a charity event. Now the run will be interesting. I haven't run since early spring. In other words its going to hurt. Tonight I washed and waxed the canoe. A clean boat is a fast boat. Originally my teammate was Brent but its up in the air right now because of a cold. Brandon maybe filling in which still means I will have a strong teammate.

Not 100 percent sure what caused it but I felt like absolute hell this morning. Something really set off my stomach and I was actually getting motion sick while driving. I ended up taking the morning off work and slept. Things started feeling better after I brought up breakfast a couple times. By mid afternoon I was feeling pretty good.

I had the time trials planned for the day but ended up bailing on it at the last minute for a solo ride. Mixed it up with some sprint intervals and then a 25 minute TT. With the type of training and racing I've been doing this summer I've found that I don't have that quick acceleration power but I can hit a pace and settle in forever. Its also taking me a long time for me to really get warmed up.

The season is actually get close to finished. After the 24 hour race I've only have the Fall 8 hour and the Race the Night left. The Kingston 8 hour will probably not happen because of time conflicts with my holidays. Off to Killarney for that week. Now the Dirty Enduro is an option that I'm really considering. Its a 100km and will be great to get the legs fired up for the 8 hour the next weekend.

Its been a long season but its seems to have flown by. It will be next to no time when the roller skis come out and eventually the x-c skis. If we get the same precipitation during the winter that we have had this summer its going to be a green winter.

Tomorrow night NIGHT RIDE!!!!!!

Awwww. Hour and a half of yoga and everything is back in line. Less than 2 weeks now till Hot August Nights 24 hour race. I have my fingers crossed for some rain in the next 2 weeks. We have barely had any rain all summer and the trails are hurting. Saturdays ride I wasnt sure if I was in the bush or at the beach.

Updates from my sister has it that Rick has been training hard and spending lots of time on the road bike. I'm hoping he is as strong as he was for Summer Solstice 24 hour. Let me rephrase that. He better be!!!! I know he reads my blog.

I still have thoughts about not doing this race solo. Well there is always next season. I've already been looking into a few changes and additions for races next year. Trans Rockies has always been on my mind but I'm now afte watching the movie 24 solo been tempted at trying to go to the world championships instead. I've been looking into a 24 hour race down in the states during the winter. I'm up in the air about the provincial time trial championships also because there is an 8 hour race in Kingston in the same time frame.

I've also been asked to do a short adventure race this weekend. Its pretty much a sprint race. This will be a last minute event, I'm loaning a friend one of the Giant NRS's and I'm not sure if my race bike will be ready in time. It would be a fun race but I will say that the running will probably hurt since I haven't done any real runs since the early spring.

Time for dinner. It will be time trials tomorrow.

A different weekend for training. I flipped my rides this weekend and went to Tom's on saturday morning. My race bike is in the shop getting a major overhaul including shock seals etc. Its due, so it meant playing on the backup bike. No major difference between the two. It was a shorter ride of an hour and a half because of secondary plans.

I've been looking into changing my lighting system to led and digital. I was M.E.C. bound to look into a few different systems. A few hours later I was bighting with traffic coming out of Toronto. I don't know how people can deal with that day in day out. I'm going to be doing some testing on my lights this week and try and get a night ride in up at Mountainview. Its been a couple months sincce the last 24 hour and this race will have alot more time spent in the dark.

Sunday was a interesting morning. Got into a few beers Saturday evening and unfortuatly that led to a couple more beers. The Barrie Tri was on and I'd planned on riding down to cheer on a few friends. Lets just say the that first 30 minutes were not a fun. Lots of climbs and a hangover don't go well together. Awww I only do this a couple times a year. Its just over 55 km's to Barrie so the round trip plan with the touring around the event would be 120km. Well then the weather started to roll in. When I got the offer to head over for a BBQ after the race I took them up on it. I have zero problems riding in the rain but lightning on a bike do match to well. So did I train alot this weekend. NOPE!!! I am working on shorter rides at a higher intesity which was the results of this weekend.

It will definatly be a yoga night tomorrow.

The new sweetness

Great call this afternoon that changed my riding plan. Dave had the bike ready. Dave's shoulder is back to well almost normal and Georgian Cycle is back to full operations again. I also saw that they have finished paving the Tay trail system to Waubaushene. Hey and the weatherman was wrong again. Because of the I.T. Band issue i wanted to have extra time after the ride to spend stretching so I kept things short. An hour twenty with the cool down.


Now the nice thing today was the pretty new front end on the OCR. So what used to be a Giant OCR 2 is only a frame. The new Carbon fork is awesome. The final setup took nearly a pound of the bike putting it just above 18 pounds. Not bad for a bike that used to be 22 pounds. Why did I do all these changes to it. Cause its fun!!! That and I love the feel of this bike. Now the new fork has just topped it.

The Tay Trail is the old train tracks that have been paved. Its now 15km one way. There are road crossing so makes a great place for interval training. Tonight was just a base ride with a couple sprints.

The 45 minutes of stretching tonight is starting to open the legs up again. Everything should be back on track by next weekend. When things still go pop when they stretch I'm not to worried. The moment that I can't touch my toes.

Things rolled alot smoother today. It was the Awenda Park loop today. This is a nice route with some rolling hills. I added in a nice cruel climb into my route. The section of Marshall road between Foster and Balm Beach Road is a cruel climb. Its not that its extremely long or a 20 percent grade but its got the worst pavement for rolling on. It sucks an bit of momentum out of you. It is 2 km long at an average of 8 percent but that pavement is the topper.

From there was out and around the park and back down Champlain. It was a nice loop at 70km at 2:10 for time. I am having a bit of an I.T. band problem right now and it really showed up on the Trinity. The climbing position is considerable different and I haven't spent much time on this bike in the last month. I have two weeks to get the legs back fully stretched out. Not sure what the plan will be tomorrow. The rain is supposed to come back in even though they weatherman haven't predicted anything in a while.

Crap!!!

The rain held off and I got home early, well 4 pm so I thought I'd go play in the hills for a couple hours on the road bike. I love my road bike, it used to be a basic Giant OCR2, now its upgraded to full Ultegra and Mavic Aksium wheels. Its just has a great feel especially climbing. Now why was I pissed off. Blew a bottom bracket 35 minutes into the ride. I could feel a bit of a click and started looking for a frozen link. Then that nice rythmical clicking started.

Called for a ride home and debated on going out on the other bikes. Ya well that basiclly meant nope. Drove to Georgian Cycle. Dave is up and running again and his shoulder looks to be about 60 percent. I'll be getting the new carbon fork put on at the same time so I guess its not that bad but it would have been nice to have finished the ride. I've got the Trinity ready to roll for tomorrow night. I'm thinking the Awenda Park loop.

Day one of the long weekend.
Nothing out of the normal. Had my massage at 8 am. which was great but sitting in the car for 5 hours wasn't going to help We were on the road at 10 and traffic was like expected. BUSY!!! I've made this trip to Ottawa so many times and I'll admit that I do have a very heavy foot. Normally this isnt to much of an issue but witht he long weekend traffic there were a few extra police out. Yep I got caught. 109 in an 80. No break or reduction. Considering how many times i've done this I've never been caught and I'm normally on the higher side of the speed I was caught at. From there on it was a pretty uneventful trip. The 417 through Ottawa was sweet no traffic jams. Rolled into my sister and Rick's place around 3:30. It was a a pretty mellow night. A few beers and the movie 24 solo. Great friday night.

Day 2
The plan was to leave the house around 9:30 to meet up with Craig (Big Ring). He was obviously expecting the phone call that we would be late.It was just after 10 when we rolled out. Picked up Craig and headed out to Kanata Lakes. Lenny was already in the parking lot waiting pateintly for us.I've never ridden these trails and should have listened to Craig and changed out my tires to something a bit more agressive. I'm still running the Hutchinson Scorpion in the front but the Michelen XCR dry in the rear was slipping a bit. These trails were pretty sweet. Lots of big rocks and and techical climbs. Not a trail to ride for training but definatly a fun place to play. I did see where a 29er has its advantage. I was on my NRS1
which is not a great trail bike the way it was setup. Still had an amazing time.

Rick tried to become the next Evil Knevil lauching off what the guys call the largest jump in the trail system. He was doing great till he hit his brakes on take off. From there things went bad. Let me rephrase that,things went down.







Craig trying to kiss things better. That or rubbing some salt in the wounds.

I didn't go with out of a good fall of my own coming around a blind switch back I got stalled up on root and endoed. Slammed down on the top of my head and I'm still feeling a bit of strain in the top of the neck. I haven't had a good crash in a while so I think this was do. Kanata lakes was a great place to ride.It definatly makes you work your skills to the max. Rick wasn't having the best of time out there also fighting a flat. Race bikes are not always the best in the trails.

Day 3

Rick was dragging his but this morning so it was a solo road ride. It was a nice change playing on some new roads. I kept the pace down to low 30's and found a couple cool climbs on my ride out to Cumberland. A few body areas are still not recovered from the 9 hour. Now I will say one thing, driving 5 and a half hours after the ride was not great for the body. It was hottub time when I got home.


It was a pretty cool weekend with some new scenery. Its back to full out training again this week. Time Trials tomorrow night. I havn't played on the Trinity in a couple weeks.

Its here. So I'm Ottawa bound for the weekend. My cat-obsessed now naked friend has a cool mountain bike ride planned for us. I've been having nightmares since I read his last post!!! I have a massage in about an hour from now then its 5 hours in the car fighting with long weekend traffic.

Almost a week off the bike feel weird. Hell the last 2 weeks there has barely been any riding just 2 long races. Its going to be a bit strange getting back into a training schedule again. Now with this nasty heat wave we have had the last week I will be honest and say I didn't mind relaxing. I love the heat but the beach was more enjoyable.

I'll get out on the road bike for a couple hours tonight to loose up the body. Should get lots of great pictures from this weekend.