Recovery ride - Winnie the poo day.

As the title suggests, on this blustery, rainy, cold day between meetings and such I found a window to ride. yay!

..is that silence because nobody cares or you're all just floored that soft-guy finally started his season?

Ostensibly this was a recovery ride from last weekends Del-shoes 'anti-race' but I suppose it's pushing it to call a six-day-later-ride a "recovery" ride. Still, if it's not recovery from the Anti-race, it's recovery from something..I had rather intended to mount the trainer sometime this past week, for those purposes but things being things, that didn't happen. So, with a busy schedule the only available window was Friday. Unfortunately the weather wasn't so super hot. Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be quite nice, but today was generally yechy.
no matter, it is what it is, and one has to take advantage of the opportunities presented as they present themselves.

Things started out quite well. Weather was cooperating with the rain holding off and it stayed

that way for 20min or so until I was behind the Parliment Bldgs. So, donning rain coat I continued on, as did the rain.Managed to get the clothing mostly right so while I was a little warm early on, the temps dropped up in the parc and I was pretty good. ..'cept for the feet.
I'd neglected to put on my goretex socks or booties so once the rain & spray had completely soaked my feet & ankles It got a bit chilly down there. My ankles felt like they had ice cream headaches!

Still, all was well and the park was understandably deserted. Only two cars in Gamelin lot with a pair of cyclist suiting up, and throughout the ride I saw one jogger, three small groups of walker/hikers and three cyclists besides myself.

Everyone was cheerful and offered smiles or waves. nice!
Noteably; two of the three cyclists offered purposeful and clearly discernible waves..
THAT my friend is 66% of roadies offering acknowledgment of a fellow cyclist on ONE ride!!
It just doesn't get better than that. ..granted three is a small n but I'm not going to get hung up on conditional considerations that dilute the importance of that stat.

66% of roadies waved. Now, if you want to get freaky and include me,(i waved also) that already impressive stat launches up to a stratospheric 75%!! But that might be greedy so even without me the 66% is positively massive.

I personally am going to consider that one item a positive harbinger of upcoming wonderfulness. ..two of three riders willing to remove a hand from the bars to acknowledge a fellow rider and spread some cheer on a blustery, wet, cold day.

I propose to you good people that those kind souls are spearheading the revolution. yep. Remember, you read it here first.

I also had the fortune to commune with nature for a moment when I came face to face with a young buck on ..wait for it..

Fortune.

woah, get it? see what I did there? oh, yeah I gots wordsmithing all locked up over here.
Heres young Buck himself.
(how do I know he's young? well, I don't. I'm totally clueless actually, but young buck sounds better than old buck to me and I felt I had to pick one.

Unfortunately I noticed while taking the snaps that my momentary comrade-in-climbing has an injured leg.

That saddened me.

Suddenly, trying to get a good snap to show all you good people seemed completely trivial. The consideration being that a deer with a bad leg in late November has some very serious challenges ahead of him.
The fates can be cruel bitches, and I fear that my new acquaintance had Lachesis measure out a shorter string than he deserves. ..bitch.
However, despite Bucks questionable future, it's not my place to interfere with the moira (unwise to tangle with the weird sisters) so I carried on my way wishing him the best and hoping that he stays clear of the predators long enough to heal up.

The actual climbing of fortune was pretty good as the slower pace and harder work managed to warm my feet a tiny bit.

At the top Champlain was totally deserted as would be expected. It was no day to daly about in the blustery cold rain so I snapped my evidence shots and carried on down blacks. Pretty

uneventful ride back. ..I think.

I actually got immersed in thought and when I was rounding the corner to the Raymond overpass I was thinking "have I gone down Pinks

yet?"

I was honestly oblivious to most of the descent for being immersed in thought. huh. ..hope i didn't miss anything.

Anyway it was all good back to home. I was pretty soaked but felt ok until I got in the shower to warm up and apparently my feet were colder than I thought. The shower felt like red hot pokers raining down! My thighs went beet red and my feet went all purple and blotchy while the nerves spazzed out like ..um, insert witty analogy here, I'm tired.

..but the nerve spaz was short lived and totally worth it.

How to turn a dreary old day into something better than it looks like through the windows.

late breaking news. Just checked the forecast and while it's apparently going to be swell through the early next week, it's calling for rain and snow for Thurs, Fri next week. That should make things interesting for next Fridays ride. ..oh yes. There will be a ride. This year I'm going to ride until I can ski. ..guess I better find those Goretex socks!

A Date with Ilsa?

Having my lack of fitness exposed (as in exhumed), dusted off, and shoved rudely in my face this past weekend, it has become incredibly apparent that this will not stand!

Changes need be made.

and change is a comin'!

So, facing the off season aka "dead zone" between cycling type weather and ski type weather the need for myself to seek out, plan, partake and effect some positive changes in fitness has been acknowledged, accepted and plans are being hatched.

The challenge is, that fitness for fitness sake is kindof um, ..boring. I'm not a gym type guy, and while I dig the spinning thing my favorite instructor (foreground in red) is doing his classes on Thurday evenings and that doesn't work so well for me.
Thursdays belong to the wee man himself;

and he will not be denied!

so, drastic measures are being employed. Home use of swiss ball, stretching, planks, pushups (!) and crunches are happening in my world for starters. It really is a love / hate thing for me though and I benefit from the motivation that a structured program provides. Holds my feet to the fire so to speak ..but as stated, the spinning program doesn't work for my schedule this season so apart from infrequent drop-ins I'm going to have to look further afield.

After much searching, interviews, (actually not), research (yeah, not really) and wondering what the hell to do about this, (I actually did do this) I've come across what I think will be a perfect solution..

Ilsa.

..not to be confused with Elsa who also keeps folks hoppin' but in a very different way

I don't know too much about Ilsa yet, but I've got a good feeling that she'll meet the divergent requirements of being cheap, flexible (with regards schedules) and provide an alterative to the standard mirrors, egos, narcissistic b.s.* that is a typical gym.

*"Puuush it!, It's all you! It's all you!!.."

It would even go so far as to say that a gym to me is like a torture chamber. So, if I'm going to sign up for torture I should at least be in surroundings conducive to torture and this Ilsa has seen to in spades!

Behold!

All that needs sorting is a quick visit to ensure that the change rooms provide a suitable environment for going from work mode to 'pump me up' mode, some scheduleing and we'll be good to go.

I've got a good feeling about this. yep, Ilsa's gonna make me her bitch and we'll both be better for it!

stay tuned for recon snaps of the changing facilities. giddy with excitement over here!

Anti-race weekend of get the hell outta dodge

The family truckster post Anti-race.

Not the first time OBR and myself have run with the same numbers on our plates, but this is the first time we shared that number with 25 other riders!

This past Friday after errands were run and money was hemmoraghed, yours truly packed the family truckster with one small, and one large hardtail
(one being my own and one belonging to the r-inginal Big Ring himself.) upon completing the packing** we (and by we, I mean me) headed off to Bobcaygeon to meet up with the the r-ignal Big Ring who was headed in from parts quite south of there.
Once clear of the cluster coitus that is traffic around Bank, Heron, Baseline etc, the drive was lovely. Tunes were cranked and karaoke was practiced to Morrisey, Jesus & Mary chain, Sonic youth and Jimmy Buffet among others. It was a textbook example of how to celebrate your own company without need of closed eyes, bitten lower lips and personal lubricant.
..anyway. The rendevous with the OBR went swimmingly and would have made a swiss watch look like a cereal box sundial on account of our timing. The touch-base "where-bouts-are-you?" phone call identifying that with 10min to the evenings destination, and us having started ~700km apart OBR had actually ended up right on my bumper for the last 15min into the evenings destination. ..go team! (infectious catch phrase used with apologies but without permission)

An evening of Bobcaygeon hospitality followed and the morning had us both in the family truckster on route to the Delstalk Anti-race in Collingwood. I do believe that there will be full reports and photos on the wondrous Jager fueled love-in that was Delstalk here & here among others. It was indeed wondrous, there was Jager to lubricate motivation, dull anxieties and generally provide a frivolous Anti-race atmosphere.
(I approved, I imbibed. ..Abide.)

A potentially freakish horror show** was narrowly avoided with the generosity, preparedness and good will of Del himself when I discovered that I'd left my shoes at home. ..(!!!)
I have few personal heroes beyond Winston Churchill, Lux Interior & Vinnie Jones but I can now add Del to the short list of thems' what are worthy.
The ride was awesome, the weather flawless, the company without peer and that first fucking hill drilled a hole in my soul the size of all the worlds problems.

Seriously. That mutherfuker hill made entire solar systems look like styrofoam science fair models. I can't remember sucking so hard for so long anytime in the last several years. Granted, my fitness and especially my cardio is total ass these days but the few rides that I have done this year lulled me into the belief that I could still fake it by employing my inherent willingness to suffer. sortof. Not so much on that climb. Perhaps the worst part (you know apart from ninety million miles of sustained vertical with no reprieve) was that you could see right from bottom to top, arrow straight all the way. That means you can watch the gap(s) widen as you fall off the back while riders tear you off their wheel one by one ..jeezus f'n heartbreak.
Anyway, the hill was climbed and I may or may not have been the only geared rider to dismount and walk part of it. ugh. I'm not a singlespeeder so I'm really not comfortable with the whole walking-bike up steep bits thing. ..I may have to build a singlespeed just to justify that kind of craptasticness.

The rest of the ride was brilliantly, magical, lovelyness though. Smooth flowy single track, a bit of woodsy hike-a-bike, a wee bit of gravel, and some really nice sections that felt like if Dupont Forest and Camp Fortune hooked up and had singletrack babies. Nice, flowy S-track through the woods with the odd bit of technical thrown in to keep things real and test (and illuminate) respective Jager levels.

The apre-ride (thats ski hill speak) was celebrated at Blue Mountains Fire Hall pizza joint. Blue Mountain is Intrawest so if you know what Intrawest is then you know exactly how contrived a reasonably genuine looking "fire hall" can be when you plop it at the bottom of a ski hill in a cookie-cutter pedestrian street village. But hey, they had beer so It's all good if you don't order the hot dog pizza like OBR did.
I approved, I imbibed. Abide.

So, that was my Anti-race. It was truly awesome.
Many thanks to Peter, Del, and the rest of the Misfit Psycles organizers. Good people were met, new friends were made existing friendships cemented.
Tomorrow (or some day soonish) we'll talk about what if anything the hell comes next!

**driving 550Km for a ride only to end up drinking myself legless alone in a bar instead of making badly needed pedal strokes would very probably put me in a truly apocolyptic mood for some time.

$100 Bike Challenge - Finale: Mission Accomplished!

When I last posted, the bike frame had been painted and clear-coated and was left to cure for a week. The final product turned out pretty nice and I was satisfied with it.

Reunited - frame and fork

Now the fun part, assembling the bike. First, the fork, headset, and quill which all went on easily. Next the bottom bracket and and crank set, went on fine but I notices the pedal were quite far out. Then I put on the rear wheel - I had removed the cassette and installed a freewheel - and quickly figured out that the chain line was not going to work at all. The free wheel was way too inboard and the crank too outboard! *&?%#@!! As you all know, the chain line is the key to a single-speed (SS); it has to be straight! So, I went out and checked with the experts. The guy at re-Rycles didn't know much about SS bikes but suggested that the bottom bracket (BB) spindle was too long. Next, I brought the frame in to the dudes at Tall Trees. They suggested a few things:

BB spindle too long,

• a mtb crank (which I was using) is further outboard because it has 3 rings compared to 2 on a road crank
• I could move the spacers on the rear hub to move it further out but that would require redishing the rear wheel

I have done 4 other SS builds, guess I had been lucky because I had never had any of these problems with the others. So, my option are: new BB, new crank, wheel rebuild or new wheel at that price.

Considering these options and my $100 budget, I decided to try one thing at a time starting with the cheapest. So, I started with the BB. I found one at Pecco's in Hull for $15! And not a really crappy one with plastic cups. I know it does not have great bearings, but it will do. This time I went with a 107mm spindle (the other was 113mm). Let's see what happens!

When I got home, I installed the new BB and then the crank. Well, what a difference! The cranks actually set totally flush with the spindle and gained about 1cm inboard on the drive side. Things were looking up. I put the rear wheel on and threw a chain on and 'shite'! Chain line still slightly off but not by just a couple of millimeters - slight bend in the chain. Now, how was I going to solve this bit. I put the bike away and decided to ponder this little puzzle.

See the bend in the chain at the top of the freewheel?

The next day I did a bit of research and do-it-yourself bike Guru Sheldon Brown (R.I.P.) had the solution - spacers between the crank bolts and spider. And, I just happened have 3mm spacers. I installed them as suggested and bingo! I got a straight chain line!! Pretty damn close anyway.

Spacers between the spider and chain-ring improved chain alignment

Straight chain line!!

I was finally ready to put the rest of the parts on, handlebars, brakes, seat and post, grips all went on with know. As I was adjusting the rear break, I notice something that almost made me want to throw the bike over the fence! The wheel was seriously out of true! @#$%&!!! I know that most shops charge a standard fee between $25 - $35 for truing wheel that would break my budget. So, I had to do it myself but I had never trued a wheel in my life.

So, where do you turn when you want to know how to do something? The Internet of course, and Youtube and plenty of video and I found one that I liked. I went ahead and put the bike on the stand, using the rear brake as guides and started tightening and loosening spokes as per the video I watched. After about 20mins, the wheel looked pretty good and wasn't rubbing the brake pads anymore. That's it, I can't believe it; I am finally done! The bike looks great and works great!

Grips matching the paint job

Our spokes-model shows off the new build!

This was my most rewarding build for many reasons: it was challenging, I learned a lot and it made Melissa happy!

Did I meet my objective of the challenge - under $100? Here are the details:

• Frame - $0 (from the trash)
• Paint materials $40
• wheel, tires, tubes $0 (already had those)
• Brakes, cables, housing, seat post, seat bolt $20 (Re-cycles)
• Brake levers, handlebar $0
• Grips $12
• Freewheel $10
• Bottom bracket $15
• Pedals $0
• Crankset $0
• Chain $0

Add it all up for a grand total of (drum roll...) $97! I should get a few stickers with leftover $3!

Now if you remember my very first post about this build (aka Part 1), I mentioned that I built myself a fixie. Well, take a look at the pics below. Took a few days to get use to riding fixed but I love it now and ride it every day.

Vintage Miele frame, Velocity Deep V rims - Nothing says Pimped-out like Purple!
Rides like a dream on 700 x 35 tires

Sweet chrome sweep-back handlebars with rim-matching purple grips

$100 Bike Challenge - Part 4: Paint job complete.

The painting of the frame is now done and I'm pretty happy with it. The final step, the clear coat, was the trickiest I thought. Few lessons I learned:
- Prep work is the key
- Never, ever touch clear coat before it dries
- Little mistakes can easily be fixed with low grit wet sandpaper
- Patience - don't rush it

I am allowing the clear coat to fully cure and won't build the bike until next Saturday. Hopefully for my next post, you will see the complete build. Here are some pics of the finished paint job.

$100 Bike Challenge - Part 3: Some Lessons Learned

So the frame has two coats of Ford Light Blue and is ready for the final step - the clear coat. I was keen to get the clear coat on and got set up quickly. I started applying the the clear coat and it went on very well. All was going smoothly until I noticed a glob of clear coat on the inside of one of the chain stays. I took the corner of a rag and very gently removed the offending glob - MISTAKE #1 - clear coat really sticks to paint! Touching it or trying to remove it will peel paint off!!! &%#@@!! Nothing I could do. Bike was still wet. Best to continue and deal with it after the frame dries. I also noticed a spot on the head tube where a tiny spot of paint had peeled.

Doesn't look so bad in this picture but I could not let that go...

I considered letting those blemishes go. But I couldn't. So, the next day I set out to fix them. I wet-sanded the offending spots then stood the frame on a drop-sheet in the garage and reapplied the blue paint. Took only few minutes and the frame was back like new. I placed at spotlight to help it dry quicker. I was pretty pleased with my job and went about cleaning up the garage. I opened the door to let some fresh air in (I don't know if you've been paying attention but I had been putting the frame on a stand to paint it - not this time though- MISTAKE #2). A gust of wind blew in which caused the frame to fall on the spotlight making a nice long gash in the paint, AAAARGH!!! Well, at least it was dry or it would have been worse. So, again I grabbed the wet sandpaper and smoothed out the gash, dried it and reapplied paint. Well, a disaster was averted and the frame looks fine. Although, it will need a bit more sanding and a few more coats of clear coat. So, stay tuned as I set out to apply what I hope will be last last coats of clear coat (I hope) and start the final assembly.

NCC Public Workshop

Hey folks,

Got this notice from Matt of Tall Trees fame. Anyone who can provide some constructive input should make an effort to attend. I regret that I'll be in England on business and will miss the event. Note the immediate deadline.

Public Workshop

Gatineau Park is an important natural area in Canada’s Capital Region, measuring 361 square kilometres. The park, which features rich cultural and historical attractions, and is a prime location for a range of outdoor recreational activities, receives more than 1.7 million visits every year.

Managing environmentally respectful recreation is a unique challenge and an important responsibility. The National Capital Commission (NCC) is initiating a recreational services plan that will guide current and future recreational activities and programs in Gatineau Park.

Have your say about the trends, preliminary assessment and initial strategic framework, during the first phase of the consultative process.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009
6:30 pm to 9 pm

Relais plein air du parc de la Gatineau
397 Boulevard de la Cité-des-Jeunes
Gatineau, Quebec

As this consultation will take the form of a workshop, registration is encouraged.

Please register by September 10, 2009, by contacting Emily Keogh at 613-239-5315 or emily.keogh@ncc-ccn.ca.

The second and last phase of consultation will take place in spring 2010, and will focus on proposals regarding modifications to infrastructure and activities.

$100 Bike Challenge - Part 2

In my last post, I had just finished giving the frame a second coat of primer and left it to dry overnight. The next day, I wet-sanded it again with 600 grit sandpaper to smooth out the surface. I then dried it with a clean cloth. The frame was then ready to be painted. I was very excited about this part, because the other steps had gone so well.

Melissa wanted a blue bike - light blue or baby blue, to be exact. So, I went to Crappy Tire to pick up some automotive spray paint. The colour I chose was Ford Light Blue. I was ready to paint! I started with the fork because if I screwed it up, I could do it over. Heck, I could go back to recycles and get another one for $5! Well, the first coat on the fork went on very nicely. Smooth like buttah! Sweet! It was time to do the frame. I set it up on the stand and started spraying very carefully, just very light passes. I didn't want any drips or bumps. I made sure I kept the spray nozzle clean by wiping it constantly with a rag. I went through one can of paint. Fortunately, I bought two. I finished the frame using one third of the second can. I held a trouble light in one hand and sprayed with the other. This allowed me to see if I missed any spots. Once the frame was done, I let dry in the garage for about 1 hr, then I took outside to check my handy-work. Well, the first coat look great with some minor imperfections and it wasn't bumpy at all.

Ford Light Blue automotive paint

I let the frame dry overnight and fixed the imperfections and gave it a light second coat the next day. I liked the end result and decided that would be it for painting. After drying for another 24hrs, the frame would be ready for the final step - a clear coat. That's for tomorrow's post!

The frame looking very fresh in its new colour

The $100 Bike Challenge - Part 1

This blog has been pretty quiet over the past couple of months. So, I am going to tell you about a couple of bike-related projects I have on the go. The first was building myself a fixie which I have done and is working very well. I've been riding it to work everyday.

My second project is the more interesting one (to me anyway). A while ago, Melissa challenged me to build her a ''good'' commuter bike for under $100 - basically using all the spare bike parts I have lying in the basement and in my garage. What I had in mind was to build her a single-speed (freewheel) commuter, something that would be very low maintenance. Earlier this summer, I had found two ''Supercycle'' (Canadian Tire brand) steel road frames - one blue, the other black - in the trash. They were beaten up but were structurally sound, no bends or dents. They are the right size for Melissa. She wanted a blue bike, so I decided to build-up the blue one.

Scavenging around in the basement and garage, I found all the parts I needed - cranks, BB, wheels, brakes etc. When I took the fork off the frame, I noticed one leg was slightly bent and there were some bearings missing. A quick trip to Recycles and the Bike Dump netted me a replacement fork and bearings for $5.

So, I was ready to build but one thing was really bugging me. Cosmetically, the frame was really beaten up - lots of dings, scuffs, scratches and some rust. I just couldn't let that go. It needed to be painted. So, I called around and the cheapest paint job I could find was $150. That would break my $100 dollar cap big time. The only option was to do it myself but I didn't want the frame to look like I just took a spray can to it. So, I started to search the web and I found this guy's blog. He provides simple step by step instructions on how to paint a frame. I read his posts very carefully and thought I could do it.

The original frame - Click on image to get a better idea of its condition

I began the process on Saturday and so far, it has gone very well. First, I needed to clean the frame with paint thinner then sand it with a low grit sandpaper. The trick here is to just dull the paint and smooth out all the rough spots. Once that was done, I had to clean it and prepare it for priming.

Frame primed and looking much better already

The first coat of primer turned out pretty good, not too many bumps or runs. I hung the frame out to dry for 24hrs. The next step was to wet some very low grit sandpaper (400 or higher) and gently go over the frame to smooth it out. I did so, then dried the frame and applied a second coat of primer. The frame was left to dry overnight again and wet-sanded. Now it's time to apply the colour...

Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow.

24 hrs of Hot August Nights - Summary version

Very low attendance this year compared to other years. Not many teams from Ottawa that I knew. BRR mixed consisted of Mark M, Tanya, Papa G, Leslie Greene and Mark Pearson (subbing for Zamboni)

Rain started literally at the same time as the start of the race. Things got really slick by 1pm. It rained on and off until about 9pm. Chico and crew did a great job keeping course in reasonable shape.

BRR ran in 2nd place throughout and we were very close behind first. Things went fairly smoothly for us for the most part except for Mark P has an mishap during a night lap although he was able to finish his lap.

In the morning, we shuffled our order in an attempt to catch first. It was a great effort but we were not able to surmount the lead they had on us. We finished comfortably in second.

Overall, it was a fun race. Had it not been for the rain, it would have been fantastic. In my opinion, it was one of the best race course Chico ever laid out.

Manyt thanks to Melissa, Shay and Madison who fed us like and kept our camp organized for the weekend.

Here are some pics:

Mark on lap #1...

Post lap #1

Mark P. had a very wet and slick first lap...

The Vegan Vagabon put in some fast laps and always had a smile on her face

Mark P, Leslie, Tanya, Mark M, Papa G sporting some hardware

The Vagabond celebrating by stuffing her face with a huge vegan burger! mmmm!

My firt Triathlon!

Hi all

Been a long time!

Although I am a mountain biker at heart, I had to give the triathlon thing a try so I signed up for Ironman Canada!

Of course, Im no fool, who would do an Ironman as their first ever tri?
So, I did the Peterborough Half Ironman, seamed like a logical step.

Here's my report that I posted on Trirudy.com

Hi all

Check, first triathlon done! Here we go, Robert Berthiaume (Mr. Tri2cureCF himself), Martin Zollinger and myself are ready to battle.

The swim went well, I thru myself in the mix expecting a beating. But it wasn’t that bad, yeah a few hits and bumps, but I never felt that the other swimmers didn’t care and where ready to try to get ahead at my expense. I felt respected out there and I respected everyone also. Fun swim.

Into the transition I run, breathing so hard and very dizzy. Martin was already there and soon after headed out. I take off after him not really expecting to catch him on the bike, but I will sure try!

All went well, other then I crashed on the bike 3 KM in (first time ever crash on a road bike). Trying to do too many things on the go (lesson learned), I rubbed a side walk and went down. Hurt my knee and shoulder a little but nothing that would slow me down. After picking all my stuff up, check my ego, check the bike and off I went. I never saw Martin or Rob on the out and back. Great bike course but never caught Martin. A few minutes off.

Here we go, the run that I’m so not looking forward to. Transition to the run felt good, but soon after within a few KM, both quads cramped up! I had to walk it out while eating my banana and e-load caps. Started to run again and just after seeing Martin on an out and back thru the park, my left hamstring cramps. What a long 21 KM run this will be! But dealt with it fairly well and ran on.

Soon after, I see Rob on the run, I expect to see him pass me with a few KM to go, but I won’t go down without a fight. I catch Martin, run with him a bit, we admirer my left over food on the sidewalk where I crashed the bike and I run on. At 7-8 K or so, I tried to drink a little to much while going by a water station and was forced to give it all back 200 M later, stopping me until my stomach stopped rejecting the extra liquid, this to Martin’s pleasure as he ran by me with a few encouraging words. So I ran the next 2 K (passed Martin again) and then started to drink again one cup at a time with my e-load caps, gels and Tums. So other then stopping me during, it didn't affect me much.

All in all, I ran my 21 KM after the 2 K swim and 85 K bike with confidence and finished strong for me with a few new friends.

What a great experience. Whether it’s Adventure Racing or what ever, crossing a finish line, no matter my ranking is always great.

And I can't believe I was able to hold Rob off! Man can that guy run! He beat my run time by 17 min, but I still had 4 min to spare across the finish line! I ran as hard as I could and felt ok for the most part, almost enjoyable!

Still neither of us beat Ann's (my lovely wife) times in her home town.

Now, I want to get my running better as Rob will have more time to catch up for the marathon of IM Can! And he's getting stronger on the bike and he will master the swim soon enough. And as for Mr. Z, maybe I’ll get him on the bike at IM Can. Not that we are competing against each other or anything, just good motivation!

IM Canada here we come!

Thanks to all that have and are helping us along the way.

You can support our Tri2cure Cystic Fibrosis awareness campaign by purchasing a technical t-shirt at any Pecco’s. All sales and proceeds go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation – Breathing life into the future.

www.cysticfibrosis.ca
Thanks to Pecco’s as always. www.Peccos.com

Thanks
Tobin
See you on the trails soon enough! I'll be back!