July 2010

Training with sorrow is definitely not the same as training with anger.
Instead of being fueled to push yourself harder, to suffer more, all you want to do is pull over to the side of the road and curl up in a little ball...

Recap of July

• 924 kms (riding + running.)
• Close encounter with dogs & pavement.
• Couple of nice rides in Houston with Eric, Vince and Astrid, including group ride with WCC in Willis.
• Stage 1 of Tour de Bowness, Road Race - report upcoming.

* RIP Anneke (mum) - I'll always keep you in my heart. *

Watch out for that...

...Dog!! Well, two of them, technically.

I was riding home last night after work, along the bike path between
two fenced-off sections of dog park. There were a couple of cyclists up
the path from me, for which a couple of dog owners were waiting at the
crossing gate.
When the cyclists passed by, the dog owner did not bother looking up for
more cyclists, and proceeded to open the gate and "release the hounds!"

I saw her holding the gate from a distance, but as with most
dog-owner-path-crossers, I figured she had seen me and was now
watching/talking to her pets, waiting for me to pass also, as I didn't
see her make any movements to open the gate, etc, after the previous
cyclists passed...

Just as I enter the roundabout/crossing, she opens the gate and 2 large,
hairy dogs immediately bolt blindly in front of me.
I slam on my brakes to avoid severing one of the pooches, and manage to
reduce my speed enough to avoid serious injury to the dogs, but because
my rear brake is significantly thinner than my front (replacement is
sitting on my desk... yyyyea, I know), I end up flying over my
handlebars and lying underneath the bike on the pavement!

Shoulder took the brunt of it (road rash and deep bruising), followed by
forearm (long scrapes), wrist, hip, and thigh.
As for the bike, my flight deck was scratched and turned inward a bit,
bar tape torn, some other scratches on the paint, and my rear wheel
dislodged (and un-trued).

The dog owner was very apologetic, "I didn't see you...", well, that's
because you didn't look, b*****.

I put my wheel back in place and rode home sore, pissed off, and
bleeding from 7 different places, but otherwise ok.
Could have been worse... at least I could still ride in today.

Pictures coming shortly.

June 2010

Highlights:

- Achieved 1,000 kms between running and cycling again, although just barely. Rain for much of the month plus short distance races did not help...! Please let July have more sun than rain.

- Pigeon Lake RR - survived! And experienced my first mass sprint-finish, as over 30 riders stayed together till the bitter end.

- Banff Bike Fest - What a great experience overall. Hill Climb was less than ideal, but I used that dissappointment to fuel my ITT less than 48 hours later. Also, my first crit I not only managed to NOT get lapped, but even got my first whopping 2 ABA points for coming in 8th! Had a great time, and really felt comfortable and in my element in that race. Apparently, I'm more of a sprinter than a climber.