Mother nature really does have a sick sense of humour. Yes, I do know I live in the snowbelt area. Yes, I know that it is January. Yes, I know there is supposed to be a crap load of snow on the ground. The question I have is why the hell is the snow only in my town!!! My company is based in Barrie which is about a 25 minute drive south of here. Today there was grass showing just about everywhere and the roads were clear and dry. The sun was out, no wind and at minus 7 it's not bad for January. On my way home I'm thinking I can get a couple hours in outdoors and maybe even on some slicks instead of the cross wheels. Missing that speed right now.

YA RIGHT!!! It snowed here part of the morning which meant no speed for this fella. A few unplanned delays kept me from getting on the bike as early as I had wanted. My original plan of a two hour loop over to the gym was downgraded to an hour. Well some outdoor time is better than none. It felt great and the tempature was hovering around the minus 6 range but the sun made it all worth while.

Slide into the gym for an hour of abuse before the ride home. Is everyone that social when they are at the gym? I forgot my headphones today so went musicless and it was almost impossible to do my full set without someone starting to chat. Maybe I'm just anti social. Note to self Music brings focus to Matt. It's not that I don't like to be social its that I hate the gym and want to get my workout done as fast as possible. I can sit on the bike for hours on end but the gym is so dam boring.

Now the first part of my ride was great. Sun was up good tempature etc. The return trip was almost cruel. I don't think the tempature was that much colder but with out the sun I was a wee bit chilly. To top things off it was so cold that my headset was starting to freeze up. Glad I wasn't on slicks so I couldn't get rolling that fast. Probably be dead in a snowbank somewhere. Also with the cold tempature no pictures. To cold to pull the camera out. All in all it was 2.5 hours of fun and tourture. You can pick which one is which.

Relax time. outa here

Testing, Testing, 1,2,3. Are your legs ready? Well the legs were ready but the rest of the body wasn't. The cold is just hanging on enough that I rescheduled my power test. Guess it turned into a real rest week. I am feeling better and am not sitting on my butt doing nothing at least.

Its actually kind of funny. I've raced with a broken rib, major sciatic nerve problems, strained knee, sprained muscles, dehydration etc in the worst possible weather conditions and a simple little cold has shut me down this week.

Well if I am doing a VO2 and max power and heart rate test breathing seems to be an important part of it and I don't think Heather would appreciate me hacking up flem all over her gear.

I've been proactive though with the rest week which was just under and 1.5 hour recover spin yesterday. Today was a short time on the bike. Really short actually but stretching was my focus. Are roads have been clear for the last couple days and I really had this craving to get some outdoor miles in. Well the wind and the 15 degree temperature drop that happened in the course of 6 hours changed my mind on that. Steady 60km winds with gusts up to a 100km kept me hiding in the house tonight.

It's hard to believe we are at the end of January already. It's still 2.5 months away till the first testing of the legs in a real world situation. Awww the Uxbridge Icebreaker. I will say that I'm very disappointed that they moved the race from the first day of April to the middle of the month. Last year their were many racers who were fighting Hypothermia. Dressing for this event is tough. Last year it was 3 degrees Celsius and pouring rain. Personally I loved every minute of it. I know a few that were not happy on their drive home.

I love the really crappy conditions like that. Cold, rainy windy etc. Train in it because you don't know if your going to have to race in it. I say this as I'm hiding in the house keeping warm as the wind is blowing and the temperature is hovering at minus 10 degrees Celsius and minus 24 with the wind chill. There is that fine line between brave and stupid. Tonight I decided not to cross it.

Back at the gym tomorrow, hoping to get an hour plus outdoor ride in if the weather is a bit more agreeable. The intensity picks up again this weekend. Bring it on!!!

Still got it. I am feeling better though. I'm just a grump S.O.B. when I'm sick. I better get better soon before someone smacks me. Had my Monday night abuse session with Dr. Cameron. Recovery is much more important than most think.

if you think about the time that we spend on the bike and the amount of time most actually spend stretching or with massage it is more than likely not enough. If you spend 3-4 hours on your bike but only 15 minutes of stretching afterwards do you really think that's enough? Nope!!!! I learned this the hard way a couple years ago and the total cost of that was a few DNF's that could have been prevented.

I spend on average 5 hours minimum a week with stretching/yoga and it has made a world of difference. This is not including the A.R.T and physio from Dr. Bill or the massages from Cindy. I'd be a giant pretzel if I didn't put this time in. Active recovery is even better than sitting on the couch watching the tube on those rest days.

With the last quote though my down time with this cold and rest week has been spent searching the online car dealers in search of my new toy. The Subaru has put her time in and will be off to a new owner in the very near future. I've pretty much got the Sub sold before I have the new car even found. Treating myself with the new toy even though I've already heard that " No Mr. Spak we won't insure you with that type of vehicle" line go through my head after I looked at a 340 horsepower Audi S6 wagon. Don't need it but!!! I'm off to the city this Saturday for some test driving. Great way to finish up a rest week.

Back to resting. 2 days to feel good, 2 days till power test.

Being sick sucks!!

Alright, that's it, I'm sick. Shit!! Yep I said it. I think I have had it all week but the cold finally hit on Friday night. I woke up Saturday morning with a sore dry throat and knew what was in store.

I guess I really can't complain about it to much since I can't even think of the last time I was sick. It also did come at a good time. Ok well maybe not since I don't think being sick ever comes at a good time. I started a recovery week as of Saturday. Feeling drained kept me out of the gym but I did spend an hour and a half on the rollers. Kept the pace down to zone 2 and just enjoyed the ride.

Are you supposed to sweat out a cold? Also is it feed a cold and starve the flu or is it reversed?

Why is it called a cold when all I'm doing is blowing my nose? It should be called a snot! Maybe that's just not politically correct enough.

Today was another story. Still felt a bit crappy but staying in bed was not an option. It was the day I flip over to being a coach for the Tri club so it was pack up the car with the rollers etc and off to the gym. Normally its 4 hours for me but I set everyone up and just did my own thing spending 2 hours in zone 2. Surprisingly I felt really good during this and my legs felt better than they have all week. It was all the more reason to take it easy.

So what do I do to kill the common cold? I got hooked on using Cold FX a couple years ago. I've found it really works and I'm already feeling better. If things continue I should be back in a happy place in a day or two. This will work out with the power test on Wednesday.

Alright back to rest time.

Finally got out of the indoor training regiment. Wednesday night I met up with Heather for a couple hours of play time in Tom's forest. I so needed this.

I'm just coming up to a rest week and the body is feeling a little weak so a fun snowshoe was just what the body was asking for. The Molly Monster was happy too and I don't need to duct tape her feet to the floor to slow her down.

With the crazy weather and the lack of skiing or snowshoeing I don't know how had more pent up energy. Me or her.

Thursday was a different story. It was supposed to be a mix of gym and bike time. The gym was the easy part. Well not really. Hardest sets of the week and I think that is why I just couldn't get on the bike when I got home. I should have integrated a ride to the gym but with all the crazy amounts of snow we have had I just couldn't motivate myself for it. Yep rest week next week. I need it.

The legs are feeling strong even though my knee has been a bit sore the last couple days. It's related more to my I.T. Band being stupid tight and not having a massage for another week and a half is not going to help to much. I'm feeling a bit drained. Is it the increase in training, the increase in snow and extra work load, the lack of sun. I don't know but I think I'll be back at it by the end of next week full of energy. If I see an increase in power at my test that will definitely help.

On the bike tomorrow, going to attempt an outdoor ride. Weather permitting. A little sun would be nice. MMMM I think its the sun I miss the most.

Still snowing and snowing and snowing!!!

Will it ever stop!!!!!!!!!! Still snowing. I need to get out and play in the snow very soon or I will snap. All it seems that I'm doing is working, training and clearing snow. I like the first two and don't mind the third but not twice a day. Because of timing I have been restricted to indoor training which is getting to me. Starting to feel like Jack. A little to much indoor time.



To give you an idea of what we are dealing with in snow. That is the roof of the Subaru. That's about 4.5 feet of snow in my front yard.

Besides becoming the 24 hour world champion of snow removal. Ok mild exaggeration. The last couple days have been treatment, the gym and trainer time. Next week is a well deserved recovery week. I'm feeling a bit drained but in a good way. Legs are feeling strong and my knees have been feeling amazing. I'll see the numbers next week when I get tested again.

I need to play in this snow so badly that I'm skipping the bike workout for a snowshoe adventure tomorrow. The Molly Monster needs a good run also and it will help me not hate all this white stuff. With the depth of it I have a feeling that I will get a better workout on the snowshoes than on the bike. Hopefully get some great photos of the adventure. Till tomorrow. Anyone wanna come over and shovel?

WHAT THE $%&@!!!! Ok, winter is back. 3 weeks ago winter literally disappeared in 48 hours. Well it returned in less than 24 and it came with a vengeance's. Sunday is my day of coaching and also my longest time on the bike. The day started out not to bad. Well except for the fact of having to snow blow the driveway at 7:50 am so I could get to the Subaru. There is something to be said about all wheel drive. Without it I wouldn't have gotten out today since the plows didn't come by till well after I was gone. I'm hoping the Audi will be as good in the snow.

It was group spin day which makes the time go by much quicker. We have some pretty amazing athletes in the tri club including Louise who is our World Champion Ironman in her age group. I hope I'm in half as good of shape as her when I'm in my 60's.

For this fella it was 2.5 hours playing in low mid zone 3 followed by another hour of high zone 2. The last hour was spent alone but it was time to focus. Put in a good movie and just spun. Now 3.5 hours is more than enough to drain most people including myself at this time of the year. What was to come in the afternoon took things beyond.

Mother nature has a sick sense of humour. She dropped well over 2 feet of snow in less than 24 hours.


The Element didn't have a chance in hell getting out until I cleared the driveway.

The truck was clear last night

Now my driveway was the easy part. It was off to Mom's and lets just say that again. Mine was the easy driveway.

This is the snow bank at the end of the driveway and yes that is my waist and remember that I'm 5 foot 11.

There was next to no snow here on Friday. Lucky Mom hadn't planned on travelling to far today till I came up in the afternoon.

From there it was over to Mom's neighbour to clear their driveway. It was in the same shape as Mom's 2-3 feet deep. By the time I was done all of this it was 2.5 hours of snow blowing. Now just for a joke I wore my heart rate monitor. Mid zone 2 average. So I trained for 6 hours today. Lets just say I am completely wiped. It's a rest day tomorrow but this includes treatment from Dr. Bill.

No outdoor riding for a little while but I 'm thinking some snowshoeing and x-c skiing will definitely be rotated into this weeks training to give the legs a change from the bike.

Time to eat, again. Calories to restore. Later

Well no outdoor riding for this fella. It was decided by uncontrollable circumstances. First off is the cross bike itself. Broken chain. I don't trust the existing chain to repair it. Very unlikely that I've gotten that strong to break chains while doing hill intervals. Thanks Craig, it did boost my ego for a second. With a new chain needed a call to Georgian Cycle stopped an ideas of outdoor play. Dave is in Venezuela diving. Lucky guy but the shop is shut down till next week.

The second thing to stop me was the cray amount of snow that has dropped in the last 24 hours. Let me rephrase that. Last night I could still see the garden in the front yard this morning there was close to two feet of fresh white stuff out there. Of course I did have the option to pull one of the other bikes of the wall. Not happening. This just meant a weekend of indoor training.

Short time at the gym this morning which still put a nice strain on the legs. I swear that no one works out in my town once the weekend kicks it. Actually its great since I'm never waiting for a machine or bench. Of course after the gym was the first round of snow removal. From there it was into a room with a sorta view. 2 hours of roller time.

In less than an hour this is the snow that has dropped from my view on the bike.



To keep the mind focused watched Off Road to Athens while riding. Man do I ever miss singletrack. I miss dirt, bermed switchbacks and even catching a bit of air. Awww to day dream. Today's bike time was just endurance miles. The legs were feeling a bit tired for the first hour but then things came together. The time spent in the gym is defiantly putting an extra strain on them but the benefit is starting to show.

With the new fresh snow and cold temps dropping outdoor riding may be detuned a bit more but will be able to to start spending some time on the x-c skis. I know that the Molly Monster will be happy with that. She does grumble a bit every time the rollers or trainer gets setup.

The knees are feeling really good. The whole body is actually feeling really good and strong. The next power test is still a week and a half away. I'm looking forward to it and hoping to see the numbers that will put a smile on my face.

The last two days have been fun. Tough indoor training session yesterday. Yep riding in a room with a view. Unfortunately the view doesn't change much. This afternoon was looking up also. Thursdays are the beat the crap out of Matt day. With a recovery day tomorrow along with physio treatment Dr. Bill wants me to go hard at the gym. Thanks.

This also still incorporates some time on the bike. The plan was a sub hour ride to the gym but with as many hill intervals as I could squeeze in. Things were going great, well except for the pain in my chest. Into the longest roller things went down hill. Nope the body didn't fail, the bike did.


I would estimate that I have close to 40,000 km on the road and a complete unaddable number in the trails in the last 5 years and I have never ever broke a chain. Until now. I was lucky that I didn't get kicked off the bike since I was standing when it happened.

This was on the Blue cross bike. I know that I'm the main reason it broke. Well let me rephrase that I know that me riding the last 3 months in complete crap like salt, dirt and snow has been far from kind to the drive train. This is also the only bike that I have a Shimano chain on. There will be a Sram put on tomorrow.

Of course I didn't have a chain tool. Why would I? Ya dumbass. Wait I know why. Because I have a cell phone and a loving mother that lives a few blocks from my place. Mom is also my biggest supporter and heads the pit crew. If only she learned how to fix bikes. Just kidding.

So with the wrench through into my spokes it was forcing my self to stay hyped for the gym. Walked in the door, changed, jump in the car and was at the gym with in 15 minutes. At the end of the workout I was kinda happy not to have the 30 minute ride home. My arms are aching and I wish my legs were feeling that good. These super sets really hammer you. Some of my sets included 12 rep step ups onto a 2 foot bench with 80 pounds. After 12 step ups for each side I go right into 20 inverted push ups. Ya the heart rate was up in the 180s. Set two was worst. 12 step ups with the right leg then 20 push ups then 12 reps with the left leg followed by another 20 push ups. Oh ya one more set of the same. Just an example of what I'm doing. It is working though. Making huge jumps in strength every week. Will see how it transfers on the bike at the end of the month when I get tested again.


Awww rest day. Tough weekend coming so I think I will take advantage of it. Later!!!!

Just didn't have it in me today. I have not skipped a training day yet and everything has been feeling great. Today I just felt blah. I've been a bit tired the last couple days but it has nothing to do with training. I think it caught up with me. Now this isn't to say that I totally dogged it. I did hit the gym and get in my scheduled workout. I did skip time on the bike. It was a low zone 2 ride. I just didn't feel like riding in the slush tonight and the rollers and trainer just seem to look a bit better hanging on the wall.

The legs of course are a bit sore from treatment yesterday. It's a good sore but still sore. Felt better after the gym. My right knee is coming along amazing. One of the biggest issues has been the inflammation. It has affected bits and parts of the training. Well it's gone down thanks to a mix of Dr. Bill and these things.

Since I really didn't want to go down the path of excessive Advil use and Dr. Cameron was dead against it also this is what he has prescribed. It has been some of the worst weather for my knee and I have next to no pain in it. This stuff works.

Since I didn't work that much on me trying to stay slim and fast I figured it was time to do alot of the part swaps on the XC Carbon. This is my training bike/backup but I want it as close to the race bike as possible. The only difference between the two will be the shock. So this meant stripping parts of the NRS. All in all between the shock, bars, stem and brakes shed another 1.4 pounds off. Sitting just a hair over 22 pounds.


As I'm eating cajun french fries I'm almost feeling a bit guilty about slacking off tonight. Almost!!!! I have a tough 2 hour trainer workout tomorrow. Hopefully playing with the bikes tonight will get that drive to be on the bike going. Always does.

I have a new playground for my Sunday training.

It's going to make those long hours on the trainer a little more enjoyable. I run two zone specific sessions followed by an additional hour of base. These means Matt gets to spend four hours plus on the bike. My buddy Rob was the only one to spend the whole time with me. Strong rider coming back from a torn ACL a year ago. Wants to be back up in Expert this spring.

It's treatment day. Thank you!!!! More later.

These super sets the Dr. Bill has me doing hurt!!! Not complaining but crap I feel it at the end of each set. I think hill repeats would be less painful. On a fun note was a 2 hour ride with Brent. Mixed it up between the bike path, which was only partly clear and had tons of hard packed snow sections. Also got to play on a little bit of singletrack. MMMM I miss singletrack. This was an easy ride day as tomorrow is going to hurt. Today was high zone 2 low zone 3 but nothing above that.

It's pretty wild that this is the middle of january and I'm riding singletrack. Well take what you get. The car roof box is being sent out to the vinyl shop on Monday. The design is looking pretty sweet. Thinking that the new wheels that will be below it soon can't come soon enough.

Fun adventures this weekend. More later.

I've been crazy busy the last couple days. The weather has been crazy also. Wednesday was the Tri Club open house. We had a great turn out and had some new faces. Lots of enthusiasm, I'm still not a triathlete but I play one on tv? Well to make my day a even more challenging I went out and played in that crazy wind. It was nuts out there and anyone with some common sense would have turned around and drove to the meeting. Not this cowboy, I'd rather suffer in 60 plus km/h head winds riding than have to sit on my trainer. Squeezed an hour in before the meeting. Of course I still had to ride back. Now this is where I was smiling. All that suffering into the wind I got the pay back on the return trip. Lets just say it was fun.

Even Slimer was glowing after the ride home.

Today was filled with even more cheap thrills. No rain, no snow, no wind and clear roads. WHEEL SWAP!!!! I've been running the Maxis Locust 30c since the fall and have not really had a day of speed since then.

Swapped out the winter wheel set for some deep dish wheels with slicks. AWWWWW, if it hadn't been an import workout for the gym I would have defiantly spent a few more hours on the road. The ride I did do gave me an idea of where the legs are at. As much as the testing with Heather lets me know in wattage to actually put the power to the pavement and compare is a little more rewarding. Lets just say I'm up, alot!!

As for the gym work out. Started my first set that Dr. Bill layed out. Yep, he is trying to hurt me. Super sets hurt. This is also the hardest of the workouts. Why? Rest day tomorrow. Needed. This weekend is going to be tough on the body.

Rain delay. I'm pretty much sick of the rain. Bailed on the gym tonight for a home workout. 2 hours on the trainer. BLLAAHHHHH and then followed with some core work. Dr. Bill has sent me my new weight training routines. I thought he was trying to help me not hurt me. These will go into effect on Thursday.

The time on the bike was more important today than the gym so no love lost not going. Because of the steady rain I had ZERO craving to ride in which meant wasted time driving there and back.

It's going to be a busy day for this fella tomorrow. The Midland Triathlon Club open house is tomorrow evening. Of course as one of the coaches I need to be there so I'm going to integrate a ride with the meeting. The temperature is finally going to drop and the rain is supposed to stop by mid morning so hopefully be able to squeeze a 2 hour night ride in. I'm getting way to used to riding in the cold that sitting on the trainer or rollers is almost torture. Wait it is torture.

No snow in the forecast but finally seeing some sun in the next few days. Skiing is pretty much a right off for at least a week but some good long outdoor miles are definitely in the forecast. May be able to switch out the Big Maxxis for some slicks. I'm missing those 30 plus km/h rides of the summer. Soon

rest time

Ok it's January and we had a thunderstorm this afternoon. Skiing is pretty much going to be non existent by the end of the week. It hit a record high here of 11 degrees Celsius. Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer. I thought I lived in the snow belt? Sure I love the fact that the roads are clear of ice and snow BUT this
just isn't right.

Where am I going with this. I'm going on a bit of a rant about the environment. I think every cyclist out there is a bit of an environmentalist. If you're not you might want to reconsider because you may not have a place to ride one day. So couple things I've noticed now. Every notice that people really only care about the environment when its a convenient. I swear they created carbon credit so the rich have a reason to still drive their Hummers and Escalades.

I like Dr. Suzuki and he has some great ideas but I sometimes think they are a little short sighted. Like changing all our light bulbs. Hmmm great idea less power used BUT how many people are taking out perfectly good bulbs and throwing them in the garbage? And how are we going to deal with the new bulbs disposal? Don't they have Mercury in them? Wouldn't it be a bigger energy saver by just shutting off the light when your not in that room? Just a thought.

Now alot of you know I own a major appliance repair company. IE fridge stove etc. Couple big tips for you if you want to save power and create less waste. First off, your old fridge is not a huge power sucker in most cases. Hydro companies are pushing you to get a new fridge to save power BUT how much power and raw material was used to make that new fridge. Also how much energy is going to be used to dispose of that old fridge. Also if its more than 15 years old it has the r12 refrigerant which was what damaged the ozone layer. I wonder if how many systems are recovered properly?

If you want your fridge to work more efficiently keep it full!!!! Air changes temperature very quickly. The less air in the fridge the more efficiently it will run. A chink of meat takes along time to thaw but yet air will change temperature in a matter of seconds. The more in the fridge the better. The next big one is your washer. Ideal everyone should have a front loader. Less Water, more clothes washed at once, higher rate of spin meaning less time on your dryer, which really sucks the power, less soap, and easier on your clothing All this means less impact. BUT do not just throw out your old washer. Same thing as a fridge, How much power
would it take to make and dispose of the old unit.

Short slightness has gotten to where we are. A friend of mine sent me this website and it really set me off to type this. EARTHHOUR.ORG VERY INTERESTING!!!

Anyone wanting tips on how to make your appliance more efficient please feel free to contact me. I'm done ranting!!!

Ok back to the bike side of things. No training tonight but an hour and a half of abuse. Physio is almost as hard as any workout. Dr. Bill riped apart my legs tonight. Ever notice how you start to like certain pain. It hurts like hell having tendons and muscles stretched. AWWWW good pain. Man I think I have some issues!!!!

I just wasn't feeling it today. I think it was a combination of a late night, tough gym workout and crappy temperatures. Yes the thaw is nice but its also the worst temperature for aching body parts. I really should have just stuck to the rollers or trainer today but Molly Monster needed a good run.

Out on the skis I went. I was surprised to get as much grip out there as I did but no glide today. Just over an hour in high zone 2 and a slightly tired dog. Well maybe not a tired dog but a little calmer.

From there it was things went down hill. I really cut my time on the rollers down. Just couldn't get the feel for it today so spent the rest of the time stretching. The body said get off the bike today and I listened.

I never ever panic about loosing a day of training. It very rarely happens so when it does I take full advantage of it. Yep, sat on the couch and watched movies drinking coffee and eating potato chips. This is my last easy Sunday for training. Hours ramp up dramatically starting next week. I'm running the indoor group rides for the club which means minimum 3 hours every Sunday.

Well back to doing nothing. Might as well finish the day the way it started. The pace starts to pick up now.

The deep freeze is over. Well at least for the next week. Of course I'm going to take advantage of it and get some outdoor miles in. My cross bike is going to need a major overhaul by the time spring comes around. Whats that saying. Ridden hard put away wet. And dirty and salty. That was the plan for it.

Training schedule called for 1.5 hours today plus the gym. Well I took the long way to and from the gym. Now it is one of the things that I hate but also love about this area. It's far from flat. They may not be extremely long but everything here is steep. Throw some snow on the road and it becomes interesting.

One thing that I have been starting to work on with the winter riding is climbing while standing and not loosing traction. I've always had a problem of losing grip ]in the trails. Of course on the road this is where I like to hurt the boys on those long climbs. I can really pick up the pace when on the road and want to be able to transfer that skill over to the mountain bike. Being on carbon hardtails this year also plays well with this technique. With that said if you can climb on the snow and keep traction dirty should be easy.


Going up

And up



and so is my heartrate. Still in zone 3. Barely

Even Slimer was taking a deep breath

Now those narrow strips of clear pavement seem to get even smaller at 55 km/h. That was restraint descending. Summertime on my road bike I've seen in excess of 80km/h on the same decent. I like speed a little to much. Ask those that have driven with me.

They are calling for plus 8 and drizzle for tomorrow so outdoor training is questionable. I'm going to try and sneak an hour ski in first thing in the morning. The Molly Monster needs a good run. All week the temperatures are well above the freezing mark. We could lose alot of snow very quickly. It's looking like a roller day though. BLAH AND BORING.

A friend of mine got into the debate of cross training in the winter versus sticking to the bike. This really does become a personal choice. It is important to get off the bike after a long season to keep the mind still craving the ride.

Cross training is important as I'm learning from Dr. Bill. Sticking to one specific sport all the time will begin to cause major muscle imbalance. I've found this out first hand and I do cross train. Everyone is building their winter training a little different. For me, I'm mixing things up with x-c skiing and snowshoeing but my most important workouts are still done on the bike even if it is indoors. I agree that if I had to sit on the trainer all the time and that was the only means of training I would start to hate it.

So what is the cure. Keep riding outside as much as possible. When you see things like this it does remind you why you do it.

Of course at minus 12c I didn't stop for very long.

Gym night in between the ride. The workout time has been trimmed down now as everything is done in super sets. What used to take an hour is barely 30 minutes now and I'm feeling it by the end.

This weekend is looking warmer and warmer. Hmmm could be interesting.

Starting the New Year right. I showed a little self control New Year Eve. This meant I leaped out of bed feeling like a million bucks. Let me rephrase that I got up and a good mood and craving coffee.

Cruised down to cheer on some Tri Club members at the Snowflake series 10km run. It was crisp out and I bet there were alot of people muttering under their breathes "What the $%&@ am I doing here" I said it once or twice and I wasn't running.


Had an optional workout for New Years day. Optional meant if my head wasn't ready to explode and I wasn't curled up in the fetal position I would play. Because of the snow and temp I opted for an 1.5 on the rollers. At least I had some company.
Brent wanted to get some practise on his rollers before the first club training session.

We are coming out of the deep freeze this weekend with temperatures way way above the freezing mark. What does this mean. Means the skis and snowshoes are staying on the wall and Matt's going to get some long outdoor rides in. SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!