Honey, It's Mr. Ballard

A 15km ride on Ethel tonight got my total for 2009 to 6000km, nowhere near where I wanted to be. Lots of excuses but none that are really valid. I'm not going to set any wild goals for 2010, just keep riding and see where I end up.

At the next LMHL meeting I'm going to make a motion that referees pay per game is cut in half. Hell they get so much help from the parents and coaches I'm not sure why they get paid at all. I witnessed a Novice coach on Monday that was unbelievable. Referees call a game that turns into a circus a 'gong show'. This guy was a one man gong show, bellowing from the drop of the opening faceoff to the end, at the refs, his kids and nearly at the opposing fans. His team won 4-0 and I swear the kids on the other team were afraid to score. They probably had friends on his team and didn't want them to get yelled at. I wouldn't be comfortable with him coaching a  teenager nevermind a seven year old. At the end of the game I looked over at a grandfather I recognized and we both mouthed the word, "WOW". Yes the Leafs brass is watching your every move and the phone call is going to come, just make sure you are the loudest thing in the arena.

Brandyn was here last night and he read me a story before bed. He needs some help on new words and rushes through but he is reading extremely well.

Oh Ethel...

...how I haven't missed you. I'm determined to ride 20km every day in December and like someone hit the big switch in the sky, snow. I bolted a saddle to Ethel and hopped on for another 5 km to make my daily quota. Listening to an MP3 book that makes walking a breeze but just doesn't cut it when pedaling somehow. It's going to be a long winter.

Thunder Bay in Flight Simulator with the Tile Proxy utility running from Yahoo Maps

New Toy

One of the items I received at Christmas was a small video camera (Creative Vado) capable of quick uploads to Youtube. It can hold up to 2 hours of video (1 hour higher quality) on the 2 gig flash card and is only about 1/2 inch thick and 4" x 2". Over the weekend I MacIvered an old light mount into a camera mount so that I can attach the camera to the handlebars of a bike securely and remove it quickly if the weather turns ugly. Check out my first test ride with the new setup below.  

Ridng Along to Gold

It's too bad there isn't a World Junior Gold game every night. I hopped on Ethel at the start of the second period and never had an indoor ride go by so fast. I usually try to go about 17-18km per hour and add some sprints. As Espo got the second goal I looked down at the speedo and it read 22, adrenaline kicking in I guess. I did 17km at an average of just over 20kmh. It felt like an outdoor ride as I wasn't even thinking about the effort.

Way to go boys, 5 in a row. 

2008 Stats

Total Miles 4499mi

Geared 1985mi (44%)

• Jill 828mi (18%)
  
• Bridget 1157mi (25%)
  

Singlespeed 1991mi (45%)

• Eyowen 78mi (1%)
  
• Molly 908mi (20%)
  
• Cecelia 1005mi (22%)
  

Stationary 523mi (11%)

New member of the family Eyowen November 22, 2008

R.I.P. Cecelia November 18, 2008

'08 Wrap Up & '09 Goals

What a dumb-a**. One more mile and I would have made it 4500 for the year. I should have added things up long before today. I just checked my last post of 2007 and my weight was x-80 or 245. After another holiday season where temptation arrives in every conceivable kind of container, I'm at 240. Not a great year for loss but I think I'm ready to get at it again. I heartily partook in holiday meals and goodies so I'm surprised I didn't show a net gain. I am beginning to know my weaknesses, if I take just one small thing I shouldn't, I'm likely to take a whole bowlful. I turned off the switch on the holidays on the 29th and haven't gone off the wagon since. 

As for biking I did lots of miles but I think this year I should be looking for more hard rides rather than just miles. I can easily churn out 30 miles, I need to sweat a bit more to make the miles count. To attain my goals for the upcoming year I'll need to work harder than I did in '08.

Later today the odometers on all of the girls will be zeroed and reset to track kilometres. I'm hoping for a 25% increase so that will be 5,625 miles or just over 9,000 km., 10,000km sounds much better though. Hopefully more miles will mean less weight, I'm shooting for 210.

 

December miles

Riding:106 miles

Walking:52 miles

12-30

Ethel:5 miles

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

12-29

Eyowen:2 miles

Ethel:4 miles

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

12-28

Boots:1 mile

100 push-ups

12-27

Ethel:12 miles

100 push-ups

12-25

100 push-ups

12-24

100 push-ups

12-23

Boots:1 mile

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

New Rules

With the busy holiday season ongoing, drivers in T'Bay have adopted a whole new set of rules to help get the gifts under the tree. Most noticeable, the first 15 seconds of a red light no longer means stop. In that first few seconds when the light turns the color of Rudolph's nose, anyone making a left is ok to carry on. Whether you are in the intersection or not is now irrelevant. Christmas spirit takes on a whole new meaning as people carelessly steal time from other drivers.

A meeting of the Northwood coaches saw good discussion but a decisison to drop the remaining practices in favour of more games. I went with last year's survey which pointed to kids needing more practices. I redid the schedule during lunch on Wednesday and emailed everyone with the news. Replies came fast and furious, all in favour of the original schedule. Coaches have re-thought the move and all but 2 want the practices back. The 2 will get shceduled together so they can have scrimmages if they choose. They both have poor turnouts for their practices so maybe it's something to do with the practices or just the mix of parents. More games mean more time in the arena for me so I'm all for going back to the original plan, plus I think it was a step forward for a rec league.  

Tomorrow is our annual Christmas Skating party. I got my blades sharpened and have the 'jolly' uniform all ready to go. It should be a good time for the kids as the committe gathered lots of prizes, treats and 25 large pizzas were donated by a grandfather. I have to wrap up here so I can get the tunes ready.

I missed walking on Monday norning with all the snow but made the hike every other trip. I thought I would eventually have to stop because of cold but I don't think it will get much worse than the -38F day (windchill) so maybe I can go year round without using the car. 

Farzum and I talked about making one of the girls into a fixed gear today as we was doing the blades. He said I could try Nathan Petrie's ride out to get a feel for it. He wants the web site I started for them to develop so he can get rid of some of the odds they have from 75 years in business. Maybe I can get some bartering for parts going.

December miles

Riding 83 miles

Walking 50

12-20

Ethel:5 miles

Boots:2.5 miles

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

12-19

Ethel:5 miles

Boots:3.5

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

12-18

Boots:3.5 miles

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

12-17

Ethel:5 miles

Boots:3.5 miles

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

12-16

Boots:3.5 miles

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

12-15

Ethel:6 miles

Boots:1.75 miles

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

Some Web Apps

Did you ever get a text file with no capitals? Type for 5 minutes with cap locks on? Here's a handy little web app that can save you alot of editing, 'Case Convertor'. Just copy and paste your text into the box and select what you want done, process and then copy and paste back to your word processor, or save as a text file. The thumbnail of the webpage was made with another web app called 'Thumbizy'. 

The newspaper generator can be fun. Make a headline and a story and email it to a friend. They'll be looking twice.

December miles

Riding 62 miles

Walking 35 miles

12-13

Ethel:5 miles

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

Another One to Pray For

Ok, I admit it. This morning was cold. All week people have been asking and until today I really wasn't, but this morning got a bit chilly. Only from the waist down to the ankles, everything else was good. The temp at 8am read -29C or -20F with a windchill of -39C but the wind didn't make much of a difference as it was at my back for a change. 

Ginko and I watched Home Alone, at least until we both took a short nap. He was up in bed by 8 so he should be good and ready for a day out tomorrow. We're hitting his favourite spot for breakfast and picking out a tree along with whatever else Sal has planned.

I got an email today about one of the other league presidents in town who has been diagnosed with a cancer that they haven't been able to source. He needs a PET scan and can't get scheduled so some friends of his are trying to raise cash for him to go to Duluth and get the scan quickly. The hockey community is coming forward to help out as emails have been sent around town. He is also one of our little league coaches so I've asked for them to help as well. He's 36 with a 14 year old son, a new wife and a baby on the way. The damn disease has absolutely no conscience.

  

December miles

Riding 57

Walking 35

12-12

Ethel:5 miles

Boots:3.5 miles

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

12-11

Ethel:5miles

Boots:4.5 miles

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

Walking in the Zone

This morning's walk was a bit of a test of my cold weather gear, -25 with an 11km wind. Except for an Ipod malfunction before I even go out the door it was all good. I put a new set of tunes on last night but the software must have gotten trashed so nothing worked this morning but I was already layered up and ready to go when I made the discovery. A sweat was already forming so I grabbed my phone and used it instead. The only cold I felt was on the front of my legs during the last quarter mile or so as it was directly into the wind. The ski goggles definitely make the package work as my head was toasty all the way. The Ipod problems became a positive as I learned later in the day.

I was dreading the walk home as soon as the heavy snow started at about 3pm. I was not looking forward to trudging though powder. I got the Ipod restored in the morning but lost the tunes in the process. I have a bunch on my pc at work so I grabbed something I knew I would enjoy quickly as I didn't have time to be too picky. Led Zep IV or ZOSO. I hear lots of Led Zep these days as the 'classic' rock stations try to convince a younger crowd that they were the best. I've been listening to them since they were not allowed on radio, no need to sway my vote. Most of what I hear are single cuts. Listening to the entire album is a treat. The chords of the next song are already playing in my head before the last one ends, I know where every note of Jimmy's solos are going. I must have listened to that album more than 100 times but it has never sounded better than it did today.

The walk home itself was more fun than I thought walking could be and not only because of the tunes. Being enclosed in my orange tinted world was like walking through the storm but being detached from it. I couldn't feel the wind, couldn't hear it or the cars and it all just seemed to be floating by as I marched on. A train had traffic backed up on Memorial and I passed a dozen cars along Durban as they tried to fight their way onto the main street. I passed some of them again as they were held up at the lights at Isabel. Drivers hate it when I pass them on a bike, they must have been cursing my progress as they sat motionless. 

  

December miles

riding 47 miles

walking 27

12-10

Ethel:5 miles

Boots:3.5 miles

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

12-09

Ethel:5 miles

Boots:3.5 miles

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

Saddle Upgrade

I carried Ethel's seat post to work this morning through the lovely fresh powder. It was warm enough to pull my gloves and unzip after about a mile. At lunch I jigged the extra seatpost I had in the basement, which is bent but works for the project, to our drill press. I drilled a test hole successfully and then took the plunge and cut the top mount off of Ethel's. The spare seatpost slide into Ethel's but with lots of play. I ran the drill through both and then put a 5/16 bolt through, drilled through both again and added a second bolt and brought the creation home. I attached a saddle and rode 5 miles after making a few adjustments. Total cost $0, and the results were as I had hoped. Much improved comfort while riding the dreaded indoor season. 

As I drove around at work today I saw so many guys out on bikes it was depressing. When I made the hike home it was like walking in a mixture of brown sugar and margarine with a nice coating of Pam on the sidewalks.  The first day at 100 didn't kill me. The last 3 or 4 of each set feel just like they did last week so I must be getting a bit stronger as I continue

   

December miles

Riding 37 miles

Walking 20 miles

12-08

Ethel:5 miles

Boots:3.5 miles

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

My Cold Weather Hero

Sitting on Ginko was a bit of a downer, he was asleep for the night before I even left the house to walk there.  The football game was not worth watching and the hockey game was over for me after the Canadiens did their pre-game history lesson. Listening to Jean Beliveau talk about the good old days whe the Habs ruled the NHL roost was interesting. He made $100, 000 for 5 seasons, total, and won something like 10 cups. Eric Staal's contract works out to that much per game.

The pic above is Jill Homer, my cold weather hero. She's getting ready to ride Iditabike again, 350 miles across Alaska. Her post today discusses her cold weather gear, items she will be using again and those she is looking to replace. Love her bike, a Surley Pugsley. Her exploits and achievements are the reason behind my naming my Lapierre bike Jill. Check out her blog for some great writing and pix of Alaska.

Next week starts 100 push-ups and sit-ups a day. I was going to ride on Saturday but it snowed just enough to make me decide against it. I'm going to take Ethel's massive seat post to work with me and try and fix a normal one to it so I can put on a decent saddle. Riding her is only painful because the saddle is uncomfortable, like sitting on a wooden barstool for a long time, it cuts off the circulation.  

 

December miles

riding 32 miles

walking 16.5 miles

12-07

boots:1.5 miles

12-06

Ethel:3 miles

boots:3.5 miles

90 push-ups

90 sit-ups

12-05

Ethel:3 miles

boots:3.5 miles

90 push-ups

90 sit-ups

12-04

boots:4.5 miles

90 push-ups

90 sit-ups

Walking

The only thing about walking to work that I can really say I like is that it gives me lots of thinking time like a long ride, and I get to listen to tunes. It is a more demanding activity than a short, no effort ride so I guess it will be better for the long haul. I have it down to 30 minutes so it isn't taking any longer than the 5 miles ride I was doing when conditons were more bike friendly. This morning was pretty cold with my face into the wind most of the way but with 4 layers on top, 2 on the bottom half, a toque, polar-buff and scarf I really didn't feel it. I'm going to go looking for ski goggles so my eyes won't be watering all the way.

I get to sit on Ginko tomorrow. Looking forward to spending some time with him as it has been a while. He may be around a bit more as Jen is looking to change the arrangements a bit.

 

December:

26 miles (riding)

3.5 miles (walking)

12-03

Ethel:5 miles

Boots:3.5 miles

90 push-ups

90 sit-ups

Damn Slop

I left this morning with perfect conditions, not too cold and dry.  I looked out the window as I was unpacking and the snow had already started piling up. It stopped by 10 but there was just enough to make my way home sloppy and gritty as the temp wasn't low enough to keep everything frozen. Finding the edge of the pavement is a chore in fresh snow, the roads feel narrower. I'm going to be hiking it until either it dries up again or spring comes. Its too tough on the bike and at probably 7 miles per hour the physical part of riding is pretty much gone, the fun with it. I could literally feel the small rocks that were getting kicked up going through the chain and sprockets, crunching and grinding.  

   

December 21 miles

12-02

Eyowen:5 miles

Ethel:3 miles

90 push-ups

90 sit-ups

Northwood and Thunderwolves

Saturday was a busy day as we took almost all of the Northwood players to the Thunderwolves game. 225 people all together. They got a good game to watch as LU won 6-3 over Guelph and included a charity teddy bear toss. 28 huge leaf bags of stuffed toys were collected for various charities.

I made 4 trips on foot to the Gardens on Saturday and another couple for the games today. Not sure why but the distance just didn't seem worth dragging Eyowen out of the basement. I came closeer to falling on foot, about 6 times, than I have on a bike. There's plenty of salt and sand on the streets but nothing on the sidewalks yet. Might be safer to ride than walk to work. My year to date mileage won't get to 5000 but I'm still satisfied. It seems almost impossible to think just how far that is. I've learned one thing from riding and that is things add up, just keep at it and the numbers will be there.

  

2008 4393 miles

November 304 miles

11-30

Ethel:3 miles

80 sit-ups

11-29

80 push-ups

11-28

Eyowen:4 miles

Ethel:3 miles

80 push-ups

80 sit-ups

Nine Months and Counting

Snow. Yech. One day of work left in November. One day of commuting by bike left to complete 9 months for the year. We'll see what December brings. I just checked back in the blog to March when I started full time commuting and had days then 0f -34 with the wind so its no where near that cold yet. Haven't even gone the short way other than today in the falling snow.

 I'm feeling more and more confidence in Eyowen. I'm always a bit leery of my own mechanical skills, and since I assembled her from a bare frame even more so, but today I was up out of the saddle a bit and riding no hands in the usual spots so I guess I'm over that part of getting to know her. The frame is smaller than any of the others so she's perfect for riding now, not as far to fall. Just kidding.

 

November 294 miles

11-27

Eyowen:10 miles

Ethel:3 miles

80 push-ups

80 sit-ups

11-26

Eyowen:12 miles

Ethel:3 miles

80 push-ups

80 sit-ups

Eyowen Lives

I was up at 7, had a quick breakfast and did my push-ups. I wanted to give myself enough time to walk to work in case I had any problems on the first ride. No big problems and she felt pretty good. Very quiet due to the lack of gears and extras. The bottom bracket bearing came slightly loose so I retightened it once I got to the shop. Sal and I went for dim sum and a few errands, she went off to work and I headed to Petrie's for inspection. Everything passed Farzam's lookover except the bearing again. I picked up a couple of the new style sealed units and borrowed a tool. After checking things at the Gardens I headed home to tear her apart and install the new bearings. The installation went well and the difference was very noticeable in the smoothness of the new bearings. I returned the unused bearing and the tool, slipped in to the Gardens and then came home.

I found a fun website last night, pedalmafia. It's a Japanese company that sells parts to make scale models of bikes. The fun part is designing them in the flash program they have running. My Japanese is not quite what it used to be so I'm not positive but I think they make the parts you design in and kit it for your assembly.  Similar to the lego factory design website where you can download a small program, design something in the thousands of available blocks and then have them ship you the parts to re-create your design. The pic below is as close as I could get to Eyowen since I don't have a real picture yet. Can you tell I'm having fun with this site?

November 234 miles

Eyowen:7 miles

Ethel:3 miles

70 push-ups

70 sit-ups

Last Ride for Me?

This morning Bridget and I were out early crunching through the fresh snow. I took the long route as everything was perfect. What was dark was now lit up by the blanket of snow. Lately all I have seen of the bike path in the early morning is the spot 12 feet ahead of me and maybe the eastern horizon. Today was like riding at noon in comparison. It was cool but refreshing, I wanted to keep pedaling.

Then I decided to go for a spin at lunch to pick up some mail, big mistake. The snow was melting, the roads were narrower and I had no front fender. I either went 8 mph or got splashed by my own front wheel.

By 5 o'clock the temp had dropped and the wind was up. It was much colder than this morning and everything was frozen. I was good to the bike path but coming off there and onto the side streets was treacherous. It looked like soft snow but lights shining on the roads revealed ice everywhere. I slowed down and got my butt home safely but am really considering walking to work in the morning.

Bridget got totally covered in slop so I started piecing Eyowen together. She is long overdue and this is not how I wanted to get her on the road but Ceclia's frame is a mess and the other girls are too expensive to abuse. I got the hardest parts installed, the bottom bracket bearings and shaft, front fork and bearings. I'll get Farzam to look them over before I go too far, never assembled those parts before and have only a book to refer to. I took them all apart last fall so at least I had some idea. It all feels tight but free, just not sure about the amount of grease to pack in. 

November 212 miles

11-19

Bridget:11 miles

Ethel:3 miles

70 push-ups

70 sit-ups

Last Ride for Cecelia?

Cecelia started to show her age (20+ years) more than just cosmetically this afternoon. The bearings in the bottom bracket are loose and for now Bridget will be commuting. The bearings made some creaking noises last week but I couldn't pinpoint the source until now. The lights and fender along with her own front wheel were swapped after getting home. It will be a rush to get another less expensive option into service before the snow and salt hit the road.

It was somewhat colder this morning but I'm still not fully into all my layers or options for staying warm. If the temp is the same or lower tomorrow I'll add another layer to the bottom half, the top half was just fine. I picked up some winter cycling gloves and they are much warmer than the mitts I had been using. Nice long cuffs with velcro closures, palms with grip, soft thumbs for drying your eyes and a couple of loose fingers for braking make them really handy.

 

November 198 miles

11-18

Cecelia:11 miles

Ethel:3 miles

70 push-ups

70 sit-ups

Everybody Has A Win

The last place Northwood team got their first win yesterday and I couldn't have been happier. They are a hard working bunch but just could not get that first W. I had one parent from the opposing team tell me she was pulling for them because they were the only one without a win and she was on the team that struggled early last year. The got the winner with only 20 seconds left so it was a great way to do it. After 7 games they are only 7 points out of first so they still have a chance to have a good season. The other 5 teams are very close and no one knows who will win when they get to the rink. Sunday's 3 games were all decided by a sinlge goal (2 in the last 30 seconds) and other than 3 ties it doesn't get any better. 

November 184 miles

11-17

Cecelia:12 miles

Ethel:4 miles

70 push-ups

70 sit-ups

11-16

Cecelia:3 miles

11-15

Cecelia:5 miles

Ethel:5 miles

60 push-ups

60 sit-ups