I am a little achy and stiff this morning. My internal system is, for lack of a better term, "off". I am not sleeping well and my head is a little fuzzy. I am not sure how much can be attributed to the 100 mile ride, the 100 K ride and to the 8.5 hours of driving in less than 24 hours. My ...

To the extent I have a performance goal, it was 3:30 and top 25. It was where I thought I was given everything and nice round numbers. Having finished in 3:20 and 17th, I can say been there, accomplished that. The training may not have been ideal with the bruised and battered body from the 100 mile ...

Now I remember why I have reservations about destination events. Given the time and money involved, I have taken two vacation days. One to rest and recover, today and a day to drive to the event site. I had a massage and ate out but that was the full extent of my day. Tomorrow, or technically today,...

The fun part about being older is there is a sort of random pain generator in one's body and so you never know what part will ache first thing in the morning. The winning part was my neck. Given my ride in two sleeps now, that is not a bad body part to be sore. An Aleve and it was gone. Had a nice m...

So that was interesting. The day looked nice and I had accomplished my to do list for work so off I went on my last ride before the Fondo. The legs did not feel great and I was a little slow. Turns out, I was fighting a head wind of 33 kph gusting to 38. So it was not bad. Left thing a little tight ...

Hot, sunny and no wind and yet here I sit "recovering". Last night after the cyclist high wore off, I could not walk very well. A general sense of malaise overcame me. Tired, sore, achy, stiff and almost depressed or melancholy. The thrill and reward of that ride made it worth it but again...

When the rain finally stopped yesterday, I was going to go for a short jog. But then I realized I did not have any potatoes and so on the mountain bike and over the Safeway. It is around 6 K return but it was encouraging as I constantly going harder than my gears could handle and on one little steep...

The legs were not 100% this morning and so I decided to change up my route. I am extremely fortunate to live right next to a series of rural highways/ roads with shoulders and good pavement and includes a ton of side roads. I can ride due west for around 20 K and in between there and my starting poi...

9.5 of a deep sleep aided by some CBD and my mental attitude and mood is much improved. When I am fatigued, exhausted I tend to drift into an existential void fueled by an inherent sense of nihilism. Last night I pulled up the result of the 2018 Kootenay Gran Fondo ride. My training was near perfect...

My body decided to voice its opinion as to whether I should even consider doing anything other than a 87 Fondo "lite" next July. My legs felt like two lead weights this morning. A simple 5 block walk between two meetings was brutal. My back ached, my shoulder blades alternated between spas...

My last hard training ride before Kooteny Gran Fondo. I had been debating whether to do a less hilly ride but I wanted to see what this bike could do on a route I rarely ride. It was a little hilly but nice sunny day and winds were predicted to be 20 kph. The winds were 40 kph but that did not chang...

This is starting to get exciting. 10 more sleeps. And the rough plan is 50 K tomorrow, 60 or so K on Saturday and then 25 K on Tuesday. I am tired but not exhausted. Sore but not really in pain. It is a feeling that it has been a long and at times tough road but the hay is in the barn. The target is...

A quick update: Had supper and looked at the forecast. Cool and 40 kph winds. So I would have to rush out, get in a ride, hope no flats, rush for a shower and then off to a meeting. OR … I was feeling good and go for a quick and short ride tonight. I was going to take it easy and I swear I was nto f...

Got a ton accomplished at work. Got my oil changed and for the first time in forever, walked out of dealership without having to pay over $100 to fix something. That is not completely accurate as someone decided to kick in my fog lights and a $350 each to replace through the dealership, I will be se...

It is 13 degrees and scattered showers combined with a busy day at work, not enough time for a "proper" ride. But I was anxious to get out and try the new tires. There is a quick 10 K loop of my neighbourhood with about 100 meters of climbing so a good little workout that will have me dren...

The Kootenay Gran Fondo is a very nice event. Great Swag. You cannot find friendlier volunteers. I really loved the 100 K event and thus why I am willing to driver 4 + hours, spend a night in a hotel room, ride 100 K and then drive back home. I am also very excited to have the bike I have now with t...

My road bike is primed and ready to roll now with the new and upgraded wheels and tires. But I was not this morning. It was a touch physical but also emotional and psychological. The ideal place to be is I WANT to ride not that I HAVE to ride. That is it 11 degrees with showers in the area and a cha...

Last night, I was thinking a 90 K ride might be fun and interesting but is that the best ride to do given my 100 K Fondo in 2 weeks. So I sort of resented the Fondo for that reason last night. This morning, why do I have to do a ride of even 70 K. Oh right, because of that stupid Fondo. I also had t...

A rest day today. With the bike up and running well all of a sudden, a fairly hard 90 K ride is possible. No wind, a nice temperature and the only concern is afternoon thunderstorms so good motivation to ride quickly. If anything, it may be a little excessive with the official ride two weeks away so...

I woke up this morning and I was feeling good both physically and emotionally. I credit golf for that as it is 90 - 120 minutes of walking in a nice pastural setting so both my body and soul are feed. I went for a walk and it was very pleasant. The predicted nasty storms stayed east of Calgary. My o...

Due to my back injury, the weather and my training, the golf season did not really start until the end of June. But now we are getting out at least once a week. Nine rounds of golf and nine different courses. It was just one of those rounds. I had no feel or touch around the greens. A couple of time...

After a good start to the day, I thought that after a series of meetings I would have able to do for a nice bike ride. But the meetings were stressful, anxiety inducing and the last one went on much longer than anticipated. So once back in the office, I was dealing with a number of fires and even if...

Once one has gone down the path of insanity and idiocy in how they approach their activities, it is very hard to break that pattern. But I am trying. Last night, hyped at buying the wheel set I did, I immediately wondered if I had done the right thing. So I went back onto the internet and read even ...

My back is a little sore from the last two very hard rides that were a total of around 110 k. The good news it is the lower left back and the compression fracture impacting the right side was not aggravated. So I can easily deal with that. I ended up buying some Shimano Dura Ace carbon/ aluminum whe...

I have to admit I was toying with the idea of buying a $2,000 fat bike for this winter. It did not have to be fancy and if anything, the less fancy the better for less maintenance. And it has to have as wide of tires as possible. That way, I could still explore the trails I want to explore or try an...