Got out for another ride yesterday. 4 hours this time. Rode up to Kelso, did most of the trails, then rode home. The trails were in pretty good condition for this time of year. Still a few trees to be removed and some debris on the trail from broken branches etc. Almost went down a few times on some corners that had small pieces of branches on them....they act like rollers and completely throw you off track. Got home and a few hours later my rear tire was flat. Had a 1 inch thorn straight through the tire. I'm surprised I even made it home. Weather isn't looking too good for the rest of this week so not sure how much riding I'll get in. Probably good to have some extra time....we have the "big" garbage on Saturday. You can throw out anything you want (except for metal items....that is a separate pickup) including tables, dressers, couches, toys...anything. It is a garbage pickers dream....good thing because our garage is pretty full of junk that needs to go.

Still haven't signed up for the 8 hour at the end of May....starting to reconsider doing it solo. Maybe 2 man?

Steve

Put in the longest ride of the season on Saturday. Rode into Toronto from Oakville to meet Mark for a ride in the Don. It was really the first time out on the trails this year as well. Everything worked well including the new Industry Nine wheels and Kenda Small 8. I had the tires pumped up pretty hard because I was doing all pavement into the City (takes 90 minutes), but they had great traction in the trails as well. I think I am really going to like these tires. Anyways, found Mark downtown and we headed up to the Don trails which were in great shape. No mud, but still tacky...great conditions. Rode North to Sunnybrook then crossed the river and took the flats back down. I was getting a little tired by this time so we started back down to the lake. Mark and I parted ways a little later and I rode home. Total ride time was 6.5 hours. I was originally dreading the ride home a bit but felt better than I thought. Today we took the kids to the zoo but I was a little worried about how my legs would feel, but it turned out okay. Although I don't know if 4.5 hours of walking is ideal active recovery.

So I got a new job and start on May 1. That leaves me a little bit of time to get some good riding in now that the really good weather is here. Training is going to be interesting once the job starts but I still think I'll be able to ride a fair bit. Hopefully I will start the Tuesday night series soon. I won't do the first one as that is my first day on the job....don't think they would be too happy with me saying I need to leave early for a bike race.

Steve

Got in a great ride on Good Friday with Dave. We started at about 9am and the temperature was about -5 celsius but about -12 with the wind (about 30km/h). Oh ya, it was a blizzard to when we left. It's a good thing he came out or there would be no way I would have ever gone on my own. We ended up riding right on 5 hours and I must say my feet were just about frozen by the time we got back. It was pretty fun though....longest ride of 2007 so far. Dave was dropping me on the longer climbs which really was no surprise. But I didn't feel completely exhausted at the end which is a good thing.

Got in about 3 hours yesterday....really good ride down in the trails/paths of Erindale Park which was fun. Got totally lost but wasn't worried about it....just having fun getting a solid ride in since not much happened during the week on my vacation due to weather and a couple of other things going on. Hopefully better conditions will be coming our way in the next couple of weeks....I might have some extra free time on my hands.

Still screwing around with the race schedule this year. I was hoping to do the Boler Mountain 12 hour in July again but I found out they moved it to the weekend before the 24 Hour in August so that probably won't work. I might just do the 8 hour at Hardwood that month. What I am looking forward to is the Tuesday night race series....should do wonders for my speed. Many years ago when I had one of my best seasons I put in lots of base in the spring but then really only raced during the season. Usually every weekend and the occasional race during the week. Basically I raced my way into shape. I hope to do a little better than that but hoping some extra racing will improve some of my weak areas....namely short term speed.

They are here!

Industy Nine wheels arrived today! They look great. Got the tires mounted up and put them on the bike. Also got some nice Salsa red skewers to go with the red hubs. Here are the pictures.

Got in a bit of riding over the weekend. Kids had birthday party and lessons etc. Started out late in the day Friday and went for a hard ride for about 3.5 hours. Maybe a little too hard as I bonked for the last 30 mins. Probably because I didn't eat anything and just drank water. When I got home I could barely stand....you may know what I am talking about....searing pain shooting through all the muscles in my legs. I slept well that night.

Decided not too ride Saturday as I was still a bit sore plus I had a few saddle sores that needed tending to. Planned to ride Sunday early. Got up, ate, dressed and rode for about 5 minutes before turning back when I realized that since I can barely see 10 feet in front of me from the fog and thus cars probably can't see me. Ended up going to the zoo and walking around for 3 hours so at least I got some exercise. Gotta shed this extra winter weight.

Getting anxious for the Industy Nine wheels to arrive. I did a bunch of upgrades to other parts such as a new BB (crank brothers), chainrings (race face), cabling (fully enclosed stuff), and of course the Kenda tires. I'm trying to wait for the wheels before I take the MTB out but it is getting difficult only riding the road bike (when my preference is the MTB). Planning a week off right after Easter...the wheels should be here by then and I plan to get in some epic rides that week. Plus I have my traditional 100KM Good Friday ride on the MTB if anyone is interested. I have been doing this for years but had trouble finding anyone willing to test their fitness this early on with such a long ride. Maybe Dave will get out with me one of these days.

Steve

Got in a bit of riding over the weekend. Kids had birthday party and lessons etc. Started out late in the day Friday and went for a hard ride for about 3.5 hours. Maybe a little too hard as I bonked for the last 30 mins. Probably because I didn't eat anything and just drank water. When I got home I could barely stand....you may know what I am talking about....searing pain shooting through all the muscles in my legs. I slept well that night.

Decided not too ride Saturday as I was still a bit sore plus I had a few saddle sores that needed tending to. Planned to ride Sunday early. Got up, ate, dressed and rode for about 5 minutes before turning back when I realized that since I can barely see 10 feet in front of me from the fog and thus cars probably can't see me. Ended up going to the zoo and walking around for 3 hours so at least I got some exercise. Gotta shed this extra winter weight.

Getting anxious for the Industy Nine wheels to arrive. I did a bunch of upgrades to other parts such as a new BB (crank brothers), chainrings (race face), cabling (fully enclosed stuff), and of course the Kenda tires. I'm trying to wait for the wheels before I take the MTB out but it is getting difficult only riding the road bike (when my preference is the MTB). Planning a week off right after Easter...the wheels should be here by then and I plan to get in some epic rides that week. Plus I have my traditional 100KM Good Friday ride on the MTB if anyone is interested. I have been doing this for years but had trouble finding anyone willing to test their fitness this early on with such a long ride. Maybe Dave will get out with me one of these days.

Steve

Princeton Tec

The new Princeton Tec Switchback 2 & 3 arrived on Friday. I am very impressed.....they are very small and light as you can see from their size in my hand. Burn time is approx. 6 hours on high and the light is very bright. The kit is fully complete with everything you might need: Helment mount, bar mount, AC Charger, Car charger, European plug, extension cord and of course the light and li-ion battery. I can't wait to use these lights. They are available at Mountain Equipment Co-Op (www.mec.ca) in Canada - $254 CDN for the Switchback 2 and $370 CDN for the Switchback 3. In the U.S. they can be found at numerous on-line shops...the one I use a lot is Speedgoat - $250 US for the SB 2 and $370 for the SB3. So they are a great deal in Canada.

Here are some pictures.