Archive for May, 2009
The sting
If any of you have ever felt the sting of nettles you know how uncomfortable it can be. So if you were out on a training ride, you probably wouldn’t ride into a thicket of nettles - right? Well I didn’t intend to, but…
As I approached a very short steep hill in the wrong gear, I really didn’t think that was where I would end up. Wrong gear meant my legs wouldn’t take me up - so I rolled back to try again. You can do that on a trike. Then suddenly “ouch” - I had rolled off the path backwards - into the nettles.
The good news is that I didn’t sit in them (like the ant hill) and the sting went away before I finished the 94 km training ride .
It was a great ride with Mary and Louise (who are riding to Conquer Cancer in a few weeks time). I cycled for 6 hrs 11 minutes and averaged15.15 kmph. I think that I have proven to myself that I can manage about 100 km a day in average terrain. Feeling confident that I can have some reasonable days on the cross-Canada tour.
Stopped on my way home to buy a new blue rack bag and new red panniers to match my red & blue trike. That should be all of the shopping for now. Both me and the trike will ‘look good’. Even if we don’t go FAST!
So I think I will be ready to go at the end of the week (May 30th).
Another excuse for not training
I know that we are about to ride more than 8500 km and that I should be training to get my mind and body ready for the Blind Guy Biking. But since I am not athletically-inclined, I can find a zillion reasons for not doing it - “it” being the dreaded “training” word. And here are some recent ones:
- On Thursday, we were putting new bookcases in the office so I convinced myself that all of the heavy-lifting of boxes of files would qualify as weight training that day. (It does - right?)
- On Friday, I took my trike in for a tune-up. Doing a long training ride right after to make sure it was well-tuned would have been a good idea. But I thought it was a better idea to go shopping for some new fuchsia gloves and socks to match my fuchsia and black REVERSE Gear warm weather outfit (jersey, camisole and shorts) and red gloves and socks to go with my new RG jersey. And so I convinced myself that the short, fast ride from Urbane Cycle to MEC was “sprint training”.
- On Saturday, it was raining. Len said that I will need to ride even if it is raining on the trip, so it is good for me to “train” in the rain. My response: “Exactly - so why would I subject myself to it now when I don’t have to”. So I stayed inside and worked on the route and maps instead.
- On Sunday, it was cold. Since I have previously been in the Rockies in early June and know it can snow there at that time of year, I felt that I should prepare myself for it, but… then again maybe it won’t snow this year so I won’t need to train for “cold weather”. Besides, I rode to the St. Lawrence Market all winter so I already know I can do “cold”!!!
- On Monday, I had two excuses - my grand-daughter and my music. I think taking my grand-daughter to the swimming pool is a good substitute for cycling. I was using my legs as I flutter-boarded across the pool. Tomorrow when I get around to really “training” those leg muscles, they should be nice and supple (I hope).
- This afternoon, I am loading my new iPod. While it may not be training, it is an essential part of the preparationfor the trip. I cannot imagine being out there for 3 months without all of my jazz and country favourites. Not to mention my classical music to go to sleep to. Hmm, maybe after pedaling for 5-7 hours a day I may not have much trouble falling asleep - just maybe?
Well stay posted to hear more about our “training”, I do intend to start sometime before we leave next week…
Ants in my pants
When I was younger, my mother used to say I had “ants in my pants” to describe my high level of energy and activity. But yesterday while doing a training ride for the Blind Guy Biking tour - I actually did have “ants in my pants”. And boy did they hurt. I do not know what made me ride home faster - the ant bites or the fact that it was “raining cats and dogs”.
So you are probably wondering - how did the ants get there?
Because it is not summer, many of the toilets in the parks along the bike trails are not yet open. Having drunk copious amounts of water, and being in need of relief, I raced back to one that I knew was open along the trail. Ooops, we missed the sign-posts and were now several minutes past it. I did not want to go back up the big hill so I decided the bush would just have to do. (Practice for the many times crossing Canada this summer where I will be between towns etc.)
As I walked back to the trike I felt a sharp prick. Thinking that I must have picked up a twig in the soft fleece of my REVERSE Gear tights I reached inside to remove it. What I pulled out was a big black ant. Suddenly - ouch - another prick on my hamstring. And out came another. Two ants - but six big painfully itchy welts when I came home.
I could not wait to get into the whirlpool to soothe my cold, soggy, itchy body. Not surprising, I had done only 43 km rather than the 60 -80 that was my goal when I woke up in the morning.
Also not surprising, I decided that I would rather stay at the computer on Sunday and work on the route plans and the media kits for the cross-Canada ride than cycle in the chilling 6 -12 C that greeted us on this sunny Mother’s Day.
Greeting to all of the mothers out there, including my friends, sisters and daughters. Hope all of you had a wonderful Mother’s Day. I certainly had a productive one - at home! No ants - just me and a warm cuppa tea this afternoon.
Optimistically not-training for X-Canada trip
We leave to cycle cross-Canada on May 27 as part of the Blind-Guy Biking campaign to raise funds for Special Olympics, etc. Richard Holloway is the “Blind-Guy” and Len will be his captain for much of the ride.
For them the ride involves getting the tandem recumbent tricycle ready (which only arrived mid-April from Greenspeed in Australia and was put together by Urbane Cycle in Toronto) and of course planning the logistics of the trip. They are also trying to get as many training rides in as possible before we go - like the one in High Park last Saturday to break-in the brakes and the one this Saturday to work through the gears on a few hills in Caledon.
I decided to join them on this adventurous ride - for my personal health and happiness. And since I will be going along for the ride I will obviously be contributing as part of the team. So when not riding (or completely exhausted from chasing the tandem up and down hills), I hope to help with PR and cooking etc.
I suppose I should train also if I am going to try to “keep up” with them on the road. But my preparation for the ride mostly involves visiting as many of my friends and family before I leave and maybe catch up with a few while I am on the road too. So this weekend was busy with friends visiting on Friday night and grand-kids visiting from Kitchener. It was a perfect weekend - time at the park, a few swims, and even an early morning jaunt to Fort York to watch their mom and dad finish the Sporting Life 10 km race in excellent time. It may be my last visit with them until September and had to make it a good one.
So I really haven’t had time to ride my trike. But I’m still confident that once we get out there on the ride that I will get in shape quickly. I am such an optimist…
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