X+1

My biggest fear is not the cold or falling in a snowbank, it's possibly getting another bike to drool over. I have a couple of days of holidays remaining from last year and am cashing them in for a 4 day weekend. I arranged a loaner fat bike, a Salsa Mukluk 3 for tomorrow and will head to Centennial Park for a long ride around the groomed trails.

The BMC GF2 that I had my heart set on and have been saving for is a far cry from the Mukluk, in more ways than one. The GF is sleek and fast and weighs less than 20 pounds. The Mukluk is slow, bulky and tips the scale at 35 pounds. The end use of each could not be more different, smooth pavement and warm summer days or the mud and snow of winter. Bouncing around at a top speed of maybe 15kmph or flying at 50 plus. 100 psi in the tires or 10. Decisions decisions.

I don't have enough saved yet for either but...I guess time will tell. Never forget the formula for how many bikes one needs, X+1 (where X=how many you currently own).

What To Do With A Piece of History

I love the first week of a diet. The weight melts off and skipping food doesn't seem that hard when the results are so positive. It won't last but losing just over 8 lbs. in the last seven days was easy.

The cold we've been having is finally going to break so I'm looking forward to some outdoor riding. Even a few days with warmer temps and no snow would be nice.

Tonight I was invited to a meeting at the FW Gardens about its future use because Northwood is a main tenant. I think it's going to end up as a parking lot for the court house but that's just a guess. Turning it into retail space just doesn't seem realistic when so much of Victoriaville is vacant. Maybe the court house will help revitalize the south core but parking is going to be an issue. Where will Northwood end up if the Gardens is no longer available? I really don't believe we need another venue when we can't fill those that we already have. The Gardens is old but it's home.

Back to Work, Back on Track

After a long break over the holidays it was back to work this morning. With -34 on the dial and 23 kmph winds it was Defcon 5 for clothing, ski goggles et al. Only my legs felt any cold and just as I made the last bit straight into the wind. My back was actually sweating where my packsack made contact so one less layer would have worked.

I have reversed the direction my weight was going over the last five days, sticking to the Lose It app and riding as many kms as I did in all of December, 75.

On boxing day our tv box decided to stop working, Shaw tried online to fix it to no avail. They finally came on January 2nd. The tech tried everything I had already been told to try and then advised me that we needed a new $350 cable box. I said I could always call Tbay.tel and get two for nothing with a new sign up. Some how everything was working five minutes later after "one more try".  The "one more try" included an ipad and some on screen diagnostics that were not even attempted the first time. Oh the wonders of technology, and competition.

The Northwood season has one more weekend of regular season and then playoffs that are stretched out over more than two months. The Robin's Tournament grabs a whole weekend of our ice and Family Day weekend takes another. We have a meeting scheduled for January 19th to try and get some help for next season. I'm just not going to do this on my own any more.

New Year, Same Old Challenges

I've started riding in 2014 this morning after slacking off in December. Final number for 2013 is 5275 km. and I hope to top that by at last 1000 for this year.
Wish me luck as I attempt to get under 200 for the first time in I don't know how long. I'm starting the New Year 55lbs. lighter than last year but have paid the price for not riding enough and eating too much in the last month.