Well I did the epic 8 hour today. No not the race, but my own version of it. Actually it only lasted 7 hours but still it was a pretty good ride. Did lots of exploring. Headed into the St. Helena Rd section of the trails to see if I could figure them out. I couldn't. But did some decent trails. Then went in the back way to Hilton Falls and proceeded to get lost for about 2.5 hours. It was fun...I wasn't actually in Hilton for most of the time....it was the agreement forest that is connected. It got a bit frustrating trying to get into Hilton....seemed like I was constantly doing circles. But still did some great trail that was super rocky technical. It is really amazing how the 29" wheels help with that stuff. I never used to be a good technical rider but I have more confidence with this bike and was able to ride the majority of sections. Eventually exited Hilton and went over to Kelso. I was at about the 5 hour mark by this point and getting a little tired. Managed to ride up the escarpment and did every trail at Kelso which only too about an hour. Then headed home which took another hour. Overall it was a pretty good ride....especially in Hilton. Rode much of the trail in my big ring with the exception of a few really rocky areas. But I felt like I was motoring along most of the time which was fun.

Going to get out to one of the Tuesday night races soon. My son is doing the kids race at the 24 Hour so I want him to have a go at the course he will be riding. He's doing really well for being only 6 years old. We're hitting singletrack behind the house and he is handling it really well. Biggest thing he needs to work on is slowing down for the corners....we've had more than one crash from taking it too fast, going wide, and clipping a tree. He always gets right up and keeps going. So much fun....my prodigy!

Steve

Long time since the last post. New job keeping me pretty busy and limiting my riding time to the weekends right now. But since the mornings start early now I'm thinking of trying to get out for some early morning rides for 1.5-2 hrs. Maybe to some sprint and interval stuff. We'll see. I've been getting lots of riding in on the weekends though. Last weekend did 3.5 hours Saturday and Sunday. Also got in a 5 hour ride today, although I was starting to feel pretty tired from the Saturday ride. Speaking of the Saturday ride....I took out my Cervelo road bike...and decided that is the last time I am going to ride it. It's officially up for sale. I just am not enjoying riding it at all. I just think about wanting to ride my mountain bike instead. So I've put it up for sale on Canadian Cyclist classifieds: Here are the details:

2005 Cervelo Soloist Team 56cm (anno black frame)
Dura Ace Shifters
Dura Ace front and rear derailleur
Dura Ace Brakes
Dura Ace Cassette
FSA Carbon Team Issue Crankset
Cervelo Carbon Aero post with SLR XP saddle
FSA handlebars
Carbon stem

Asking price is $2300 which is a pretty good price for top of the line bike and components.

So what am I going to do with the money? Build a hardtail with a carbon rigid fork. Going to put the old King wheels on it with the XT disc brakes I had. Then I am going to move the current drive train on the Asylum over to this bike. I plan to buy the new XTR shifters and derailleur for the Asylum. I've had the old stuff for a really long time (about 6 years) so it was time for some new stuff. It still works well and will go with the hardtail.

Anyways, that's the plan....as long as the Cervelo sells. If you know anyone who might be interested just have them post a comment with contact info.

Steve
Easton Circuit wheels with

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