Beater takes a beating

My winter beater/commuter is taking a beating over the past few months of riding to work everyday on the freezing, snowy, slushy, salty, wet roads. Friday, my rear wheel came loose and while trying to get it centered in the dropouts I snapped the quick release axle. D'oh!

Corrosion weakened the axle

Crusty and rusty.

I was getting sick of pushing the big winter knobby studs, so I threw some slicky-slicks on. With more snow this past weekend I may end up switching back.

Remember when my sheer brute strength (fatness) snapped my chain ring?

Well, I'm too cheap to buy a new one, so I fixed it - and fixed it good. A little dremel work took care of it nicely. Only problem is I have to spin to work in the middle ring.

Greasy, messy 7 spd cassette single speed.

I'm hoping that I only need to get by on this piece of crap for another month or so before this arrives and is all built up to take over. The Fisty is going to be my all-around bike: commuter, long distance gravel bike and cx racer. Hopefully it will arrive soon - hint, hint, wink, wink, nudge, nudge! ; )

Progold Lubricants

I'm pleased as punch to say that the fine folks at Progold Lubricants will be standing behind us again this year providing us with outstanding products to keep our parts moving smoothly over the course of the season.

Stupid weather

Well after doing a trial run last night with one guy using klister and the other guy using swix red/silver we bailed on the keski. Even the klister was well below average kick, combined with the course changing to an out and back on the parkway we decided it wasn't worth the $100. We'll replace it with an attempt to ski to the firetower once the snow returns.

That said it was stupid fast when you weren't heading uphill, skating should be good.

What to do What to do....

Well after spending some time getting ready for the Keski it seems like Mother Nature has turned against me. I have not registered yet so the money isn't on the line but I really want to do the event. That said I'm a novice skier and the prospect of 3 hours on a sheet of ice doesn't sound good. How will it all turn out.......

My take on the CSM

Here's my experience...its a bit lengthy but that's appropriate because so was the ski!!

I did not get my Coureur Des Bois Bronze :( but I sure worked my butt off. Can't wait to hear how Rick and Tobin did! They looked great when I saw them.

Good Luck Big Ringers

Good luck Tanya, Rick and Tobin this weekend completing the 160km + course at the Canadian Ski Marathon. May your grip be firm and glide effortless. Looking forward to the race report.

Weekend in Pictures

Saturday

I finally got out on the Rideau Canal for a skate this weekend.

It was a sunny and crisp Saturday morning perfect for taking out the long blades.

A few folks were out enjoying an early morning skate

I made some new friends from CEGEP de St-Jean in Quebec

It was great to be out on the long blades. They are very smooth and effortless, even if my technique isn't perfect. The ice was in pristine condition, like a mirror in some spots. The only downside was a wicked head wind that hit here and there when you rounded a corner.

Sunday

Got a call on Sunday morning from the Dick-tator, Big Ring himself, to go out for a skate ski. Melissa dropped us off at P5 as she headed with the kids for lesson.

Conditions were ideal for a skate ski, unlike last weekend when there was no glide because of the cold. It was also pleasantly mild for a change. Our plan was to do a loop (sort of) and meet Melissa and the kids back at P6 (Mackenzie King Estates).

Big Ring getting ready to climb up Fortune Parkway
(don't know who the dude in the back is- likely a Big Ringer want-t0-be)

The section from P5 to Fortune was nice - good glide which makes all the difference. Having both suffered last week going up Fortune, we planned to make it to the top of the climb with only one stop (I believe I stopped 4 times last week...). We headed up at a nice easy steady pace and before we knew it were more than halfway up. We stopped for a short break and I checked my HR monitor which read 148 bpm (my highest HR ever was going up Fortune last year - 221!!) which was much lower than I anticipated, awesome! We continued on to the top and made it without too much suffering then continued on to Gossip corner for a well earned snack.

Big Ring and I at Black Lake Hill - Wicked ride down, Whoot!

For the rest of the ski, we took our time keeping a nice and easy pace and only stopped at the top of Black Lake hill to get set for the big down hill. The ride down Black's was a blast we rode in the classic tracks and they were fast especially in the sunny sections!

Great day to be out and a great ski overall, my best ski so far this and I think Big Ring will probably say the same about his outing.

The End!

Sick and tired of SICK AND TIRED!!!

I don't know about the rest of you but I've had the winter blahs lately. Even though this winter has been flying by with the nice skiing weather and not that much of the really cold stuff, I've still been down in the dumps!

Over the last 3 weeks I caught a cold, got rid of it and then got it back again. This past weekend I was so lazy that I left the house only once and that was just to go and shovel the driveway and take the Beagle for a short stroll. Check out the crazy beagle...

Good thing she is cute or she'd have gone on ebay a long time ago! I must say though that I have appreciated her more lately because of the passing of Jacks. Oh how I digress...

My couch has a huge depression on it from my ass! For those of you who know me you'll be asking how that could be... well OK, it may not be that wide but it's deep because I've spent so much time on it.

So there I was sitting at my desk this morning thinking how lazy I am. I was disappointed that I chose not to drag my lazy arse off the couch yesterday because it would have been a really nice day for a ski. So then I got to thinking about what I could do to get myself moving again and that was when I got a burst of energy and walked over to McDonalds for a coffee and a muffin. OK, so maybe it wasn't that much of a burst but it did inspire me further... the weather was absolutely gorgeous and that's when it hit me, "why not blow off work for the afternoon and head up to the park for a ski". I called up my best pal to see if she was out of bed yet. She gets every Monday off work and usually hides in bed until the teenage monsters have vacated the premises. She was up and thrilled at the prospect of some fresh air and a nice ski in the park. I took this picture of her at the top of Pink Lake:

We skied for 2 hours and it was the perfect fix for a couch potato. The conditions couldn't have been better; I got the wax just right and the downs were super fun and fast with the warmer snow and of course the warm air and bright sunshine was just what the doc ordered!

So now the next challenge will be to keep active; I've been very sporatic this winter. Hopefully I can shake the rest of this cold soon and start getting into good shape. I am always in shape but this shape shouldn't really count! Spring is just around the corner and soon it will be riding season! Yeehaw!!!