natbikes.com

First off I’m not sure where to start ranting…  So I’ll start with the good news:

Training is coming together.  After having smashing bike rides out here in the desert, some really good runs coming along over the past days, I had a solid swim yesterday.  So its all coming together.  Of course realizing that made me too nervous to sleep well last night.  (more…)

So I got my new Hawaii TT bike yesterday, from Gears, which was really exciting. Swapped out the parts and got it rolling, just as the heavens opened. So I went out with Yorkie and some of the guys, of course with the rain and near darkness (yes mother I had a light on). Bam hit a rock and flat. fix it, ride home, shower, sleep.

Today we were leaving for the brick workout, and as I go to pack my beautiful new bike, it’s got a rear flat, (guess yesterday was a double flat). Somehow in the rush to fix that, I forget cycling shoes… guess the bike-run transition will be that much faster..  We’re riding in a pack, and two guys touch wheels in front of me, boof. Not a happy camper. (more…)

SO I finished the muskoka tri, hung out 5h for awards (plaque and socks) drove home slept 2h, ate supper, and jumped into the subie for the 5h drive to Ogdensburg NY and the start of my bike tour. I cracked after 4h and put the tent up behind a church and slept.  (yes this is a slightly old post, but I have posted the pic’s up on-line).

Plus I just got a holla from Kurt and Jen’s 2WD Euro Tour. They’re over in in Norway still at the start of a multi month, multi country euro tour. (more…)

Clermont Florida…

Sean was telling me how great the pool at the ‘NTC’, it was truly spectacular. Two days after ending our drive here, I did another 1900m test, and after a month of 22km swimming weeks I was a little disappointed to only take 15s off my time.

RACE DAY. Florida’s Great Escape Triathlon, March 9, 2008
1km swim, 27km bike, 5km dirt run was the deal for the day
I have been telling anyone who would listen… watch out for the energy of the first race, as I have 2 years pent up competitive energy, and I was planning on taking it out on the elite field with prize moolah 3 deep. (more…)

Before I get into things, I would like to re-assure everyone that I have been simply really busy doing different kinds of hiking and camping trips, not wallowing at the bottom of a cookie bag as some of you may assume…

Bike touring marriage, you say. I gotta get me one of those. yeah you do. (no it doesn’t make sense, but sounds good).

Anyhow the day after the wedding, having refrained from punking the bride and groom, I rode to the scene of the crime, was loaded down with rolls and roast beef, and started riding. And I rode. The days were A) social, or B) >200km while pulling 65lb bike/ trailer combo.

I was supposed to A) meet Brent and Greg at their hotel… but I was 2+h late. (more…)

Everything was steaming along fine in our deck renovations. Once Kev and I had finished 3 weeks of procrastination and started work. We also fabricated and painted cupboard doors to complement last winters back-splash.

Long story short, I was 2 days late, and starting to scheem up very complicated methods for ‘biking’ (car ride, train, bus, fed-ex) the 500km to Justin’s (yet to be organized) Stag in KW. Tracy who was (thank muchas) flying my suit up to Thunderbay for the wedding, called to see why I hadn’t dropped my shoes off, and then suggested ‘wouldn’t it be easier to car pool with me to Toronto tomorrow?’

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Welcome back. So I have been working. Yes. I, work, appeared in the same month. Back in Ottawa area, a place that I really enjoy, walking the dogs.

Not arrested, but then I still have time. I did get warned for swimming in pink lake. Apparently it’s forbidden. Since when the ranger approached me, I was wearing swim trunks, flip-flops and a towel around my neck (and the ranger said… I saw you swimming for an hour) I didn’t bother to protest. Plus neither she, nor the dozens of tourists present commented on the clothing optional part. She also mentioned that the gates normally were locked at 9pm and it was now 10 after. Overall a very pleasant experience with the ranger. (more…)

On the Dempster Highway, the 732km dirt road, we went 4 days without seeing a building of any kind - meaning that we camped in the dirt, rode in the dirt, gravel, and rocks. Drank, ‘washed’ and did laundry in creeks and streams. It was cool, because for a bit I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it.
So I woke up, and was the slowest to get rolling in the morning - surprise. When we’d asked at the tourism office, they had said if we dropped a food box off with them, they’d confirmed that we could leave boxes of food with our names on it and they would arrange for moto-tourists to drop it off ahead of us. So I rolled back into town, and got my food boxes on. Then punched it back to the ‘home of the muskox burger’ and start of the Dempster highway. (more…)