Sunshine.....finally

Winter may have come to an end this past weekend, but Mother Nature probably still has something in store for us. Had to look after my son on Saturday, but Sunday was looking good. Time to dust off the road bike.

Decided to head out for a couple of hours, legs were a little iffy due to lack of riding because of all the snow. Rode north with the wind to warm up, felt not bad. The sun was a welcome change. Cranked up the intensity and headed east, I wanted to ride more into the wind so my legs could relax on the way back.

One shitty thing about the city going through such a big boom is all the damn construction. The road so far isn't too bad, lots of mud on the shoulders, though, so I have to be wary. Heading south on TWP 264 now I think, I'm going straight into the wind. I feel really good. I'm surprised as I thought my recent inactivity would slow me down.

Now the fun part: the wind at my back!! Big ring it all the way back, 28 km or so. I wish all rides were like this. Except for the road conditions on the way home. I took a different route than the one I went out on, the shoulders were useless, filled with mud, gravel and other crud. I stayed on the road as much as I could, there was more traffic as I got closer to the city so I did ride some in the gravel.

Had a decent commute in as well today. It will be my second last one as my job ends Wednesday. And, of course, the weather forecast sucks just in time for my layoff.

Sigh.

new bike!!!!

There's nothing quite like getting a new ride to get you excited about getting out there for a ride. It was tough, but I parted with the Blur yesterday. Today, I headed down to the Bike Shop to pick up my new ride.

Rocky Mtn ETSX-70. I had an ETSX before and have regretted selling it ever since. Love the ride. And this one has a carbon rear triangle. Rode it back to work and not-so-patiently watched the clock the rest of the day.

The opening chords of "Dancing on Your Grave" by Motorhead are playing as I hit dirt for the first time. The bike tracks like I've owned it for years. There's a fun little singletrack carved into a hillside near my home. I fly through that and head home to grab a water bottle, I've got a group ride with the Deadgoats tonight.

I pedal uphill and into the wind to the top of Nose Hill where 15 or so people are gathered. I see a few familiar faces. Tim is there, Devin, Erik, Dominik, Gerry, Lloyd, Maz, Ivan and a number of others.

We head north and rip some steep stuff, my brand new brakes aren't working well and I almost hit the guy in front of me. Oops. I always forget there's a little break in period. We wind our way down into the valley, it's still a little sloppy. We then have to go back up. Damn, these guys are fast. I'm not used to this bike and it shows. I manage to make it up and we head back down. My brakes are working a little better. The next climb is a killer. I don't do so well on this one. My two hours of riding are catching up to me. I walk a little, we get to the top and drop back down. We take a sharp turn and I blow a shift, instant calf cramp. I'm forced to stop and stretch it out a little.

I get back on the bike and pedal hard to try and catch up. There's little rest as we're climbing an even steeper section this time. I make it 80% up, which I'm happy with considering how far I've ridden already. We play around a little on some cliffs and then head out on some more singletrack. Whoever says Nose Hill is boring simply isn't looking hard enough. I'm exhausted and bid the gang adieu and pedal towards home. One last rip down the hill...

I get home and can't even get my shoe off I'm so tired. Great first day on the new bike. I figure I did about 45km. Can't wait to get in some more, but the weekend is doubtful due to snow in teh forecast. Bummer.

Finally, a great weekend for cycling

We finally broke the 20C mark this weekend, I've been waiting for quite some time for that! Got to ride for the first time with my Trans Rockies partner Niall. Did a nice ride out to Cochrane and back, just over 60km. Had a pretty decent pace, it was windy as hell going out. I'm confident that we're going to be a pretty good match.

I still have to work more on my endurance as he's done a whole bunch of these crazy races and it's just my first one. I was thinking about doing the Salty Dog, but I'm not sure I'm ready for a race that length yet, especially on a new bike. We'll see how I feel in the next week or so.

The Canadiens blew a chance today to take a stranglehold on their series losing in OT to Boston. They need to get Saku Koivu back on the ice as I see poor Plekanec getting hammered on out there. One day for them to rest and they'll get back at it. Hope the Flames play better in the next period and a half as they're behind 3-1 after 3 very quick goals in the first by the Sharks.

Playoff season

A surprising campaign for the Canadiens this year, most pundits picked them to miss the playoffs. Instead, they win the Eastern Conference. Alex Kovalev, who I would have given away for a bag of pucks at the start of the season was the big difference. He decided to play hockey instead of piss and moan this year. He showed the way for the kids (especially the Kostitsyn boys) and the rest is history.

I'm still not expecting a ton from this group, being as young as they are. I also will not be surprised if they do well as they are playing like a confident group.

Got a decent but muddy ride in today, felt pretty good, I was climbing very well. I need to visit a shop and get them to torque my shoes properly. I've never had carbon soles and don't want to screw them up.