900km, Done

With my lunchtime ride today I passed my goal of 900km for the month with three days left in the bag to go for 1000. More than half has been on Molly, she only got one speed but it's fast. If I look a little tired it's only because I'm working on about three hours sleep thanks to our idiot neighbours and the police.

Molly from where I sit

at the Parkdale trailhead just after passing 900km,
time for a nap.

New Blog.

I've started a new blog, don't get too excited it's just a place to put all the bike related things I come across while surfing instead of boring you with it here. Check it out if you are interested at ispirato da bicicletta.

Molly in the morning light.

July

I managed just 600 km in July, down a bit from June. On the positive side 400 of those km were singlespeed on Molly. I have come to love riding her. My legs feel great as a result. I hope to do at least one long ride this weekend so I pulled Bonnie out of the basement yesterday and again today to get reacquainted. It's hard to remember that I have gears, never mind shifting. After riding up and down Victoria Ave. on her unforgiving stiff frame and high pressure tires I have a new found respect for the riders that do the Paris-Roubaix. Riding a day on cobblestones has got to be murder.

For anyone interested in a simple explanation of the the tour or any stage race, see the video below. For a laugh check the link for the Norwegian share the road ad.

riding the cobblestones, just marginally rougher than Victoria Ave.

Tour de France video
Norwegian Share the Road ad

Back to the Grind

After two weeks of eating pretty much whatever I wanted, it was back to the 'Lose It' diet plan Monday. I managed to gain only 3 lbs. in Calgary and have shed that and another 3 already with lots of riding and not much eating. I turned down the crazy this morning and had a big breakfast. It sure was good to go below 230lbs. for the first time in probably 20 years. If you're planning to start a diet here's a suggestion. Make your initial weight something like 255lbs.. When you lose that first 5lbs. it becomes 249lbs.. Then you are halfway to the first 10. You get two bits of motivation very quickly. Helped me immensely. Those middle numbers changing really spur me on to keep going. I hope to see that first number go down sometime in October. A party will follow.

Mike managed to get to Ikea and bring us the correct pieces for the bathroom cabinets. It turns out they messed up the order, not us. Does anyone need stainless steel legs for a double wide tall Lillangen cabinet? Didn't think so. And of course the cabinets are on sale this week.

Another series of flats has plagued Molly this week. Mike has Lisbeth while he's here so I had to get something back on the road. Bonnie's front wheel is at Petrie's and Eyowen is being welded. I finally got a good patch on Molly's front wheel at 10 last night and rode this morning with no issues. It's a good thing I have 4 bikes to choose from.

June saw another 711km on the bikes and I passed 2000km earlier this week. My legs feel very strong, I might just have to sign up for the Caribou Ride in September.

bike art at Cibo
the wall behind is made from various historical buildings

another shot from my turn
on Cullen watch at Cibo

A Good Flat

A flat tire is not often seen as a good thing. Tuesday morning I headed down the basement to grab Lisbeth for the ride to work, saw the totally flat rear tire and uttered a few words of frustration. My only other geared option is Bonnie and she had my clipless pedals on and they are not handy for work as they require lugging another pair of shoes to change into. So out went Molly my skinny tire singlespeed.

The roads from home to the far west end of Victoria Avenue are not what I would call smooth. Parts of Victoria's bike lanes appear to have been mined for some rare surface material. Potholes abound. Molly is not a cushy ride, her frame is stiff and the tires carry 100 psi of air. Not great when dodging potholes. So I wasn't looking forward to an hour of pounding.

But I forgot how she feels. Speed is addictive. At lunch I have been riding out to Park Dale and back instead of eating, about 15km. I got back to Chapples golf course and checked the time, I had another 10 minutes to spare so I added a few laps. Today I added a lap to my morning ride and another at lunch. I just can't get enough of the speed even with just one gear to mash.

I came up behind a fully decked out rider just as I started my return from Park Dale. Let's just say his shoes and pedals are probably worth more than I have invested in Molly. I stayed with him for a bit fully expecting him to pull away slowly. Well if he was a car there would be four doors lying on the path under the expressway. On the slight climb from the underpass I had had enough of the view of his expensive Castelli shorts so I said "on your left" and zipped by. I was sure he'd be pushing me the rest of the way but that's the last I saw of him.

Having more than one bike may seem frivolous to some but for me having another ride that can totally motivate me all over again makes it all worth it.

So Tempting

It seemed like a good day when I got a green light at the Harbour, something that rarely happens. That was the highlight. Went to FCD a bit early only to get chewed out for this and that, and was offered to do shop work only if I want to leave and go elsewhere. How nice. If I leave to go elsewhere I won't be coming back anytime soon, least of all to do shop work where a customer is charged up to 7 1/2 times my wage.

Went over to Superior Bowl and met with minor baseball coaches to draft teams and then home to read and relax. Caught a bit of the hockey game. Had a bit of clicking while riding Molly around tonight. The chain-ring bolts had come loose, not sure how that happened but shes good to go again. Got some nice looks today as I rode around in shorts with a toque under my helmet, especially from Sal.

week 1/5
toast, 2 bananas, coffee, jalapeno gouda, 2 hm buns, clamato juice, granola bar, 3 peanut butter cookies, 1 beer, strawberries, pot roast, potato and corn, diet pepsi

Go West Old Man

Plans for Calgary (and now Vancouver!) are coming together. We both have the time off and have a room booked in Brandon for the night of the 1st. It will be a couple of long days driving but great to get away for a bit. Checking out the massive amount of bike paths and singletrack in Calgary is interesting. There's a provincial park about 20 minutes from Mike and Mel's back door with more than 50 miles of trails. Better raise the seat up on Mel's bike and get your legs in shape Mike, we're going for a ride or 2.

My energy was still up today. Took the long way to and from work with a medium route at lunch. After supper I headed out through town to the far side of Westfort on Molly. A strong headwind made the outgoing part of the loop tough, Molly's 48-16 gearing is a b***h. The return was much more enjoyable. New saddles have cleared customs so I should have a smoother ride by sometime next week.

B.S.I.

With CSI branching out to more and more cities and spawning so many copy-cat shows I started my own version, Bike Stolen Investigations. I've checked out a few of the seedier pawn shops and chased down 2 suspects over the last few days with no luck so far. There sure are a lot of grey mountain bikes out there. It's a good thing Molly is fast and I can catch up to most anybody who isn't aware they are even a suspect. I may never find her but at least I'm giving it a whirl.

Feeling It

I haven't felt too good about myself for a while now. Not exercising anywhere near enough, eating too much, putting on weight, knowing it and not doing much about it. After dim sum with Jen and Curtis, some groceries and a Shoppers stop I went for a ride. It was about 11 degrees and gorgeous. The little kid 2 doors down was out without a shirt. I pumped up the Continentals, adjusted the front brake on Molly and put her outside. I changed and was on my way, looking for dry pavement. I headed west to Rosslyn then up 130 to Oliver, down Golf Links and home. Just under 40km. Rosslyn Road on an old steel frame is pure torture. Molly's gearing is low. Getting her moving is tough and climbing any sort of hill is a chore. But once you get her moving she flies. Quietly. And she seems to roll forever. I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow but right now feels pretty good.

Ask Me Again.. Why Do You Do It?

It was only 8 1/2 km but getting back on a bike for the first time in weeks felt so good. I was determined to ride over to the rink today. I've been itching to try out Molly (of the new wheels) but with slick tires she was an iffy choice. I went into the basement and couldn't decide. Molly finally won. I walked out the ice covered back lane and got on once I reached dry pavement. Down Ogden to Simpson and then around down town for a bit. The low gearing makes it pretty tough to get moving but provides lots of speed. Everything felt the same. No not the same as my last ride, I mean my hands hurt, my butt hurt and my legs hurt. But I was smiling all the way.

Then I got to the rink. Disallowed goals, goals that should have been disallowed. Coaches that haven't lost since early December whining about refs. Parents abusing volunteers. Kids supposed to be shaking hands throwing punches. Two weeks to go. Then I'm going to hop on that bike and never look back. At least til next fall. And the answer to why do I do it. Right now I can't answer that because I'm asking the same question.

And On It Goes

My latest attempt at a cartoon, It Must Be Zamboni Dust. 


Nothing much new to say. Northwood is into playoffs and along with that goes the usual change in attitude for some. We've had issues with one goalie being too young all season and it came to a head, he just didn't want to play anymore so we asked for help from other teams and they refused. Had to put my foot down after he started crying when asked to go back into the net for the playoffs. Everyone says they understand. I'm just calling him injured.

Work hasn't changed much, slower if that's possible. It almost feels strange to go in anymore. Can't get used to that, not ready to retire mentally or financially. I can honestly say I spend more time with hockey commitments now than I do at my paying job.

I spent an hour wrestling with Molly's new front wheel and fork this afternoon. They didn't want to go together. After carefully filing the fork for a bit I tried my dremel-clone and then just put a 3.8 drill bit into my electric drill and used the edge to hone out the fork so the axle would fit in. I'm anxious to get out. As soon as my back is ready it's time to hit the road.

I finally got to Vancouver on my cross Canada flight. Haven't had much free time for flying lately. One more hop to Victoria and that project will be done. I have learned to use the radios for navigation and don't even turn on the gps very often.

Time to check out some olympics. If you haven't heard Tigers press conference, he's sorry. I felt especially bad for his mother when they showed her sitting in the front row. He should do something special if and when he returns to playing, like donate his winnings, all of them.

New Source of Energy

I witnessed the exchange of at least a dozen Snuggies (4 million sold in 3 months) or their clones the Slanket, the Nuddle, the Cozies, the Cuddlies (who knows how many more!) over the holidays. Across North America there is a new, cheap source of electric power. Just hook up a battery and every time grandma heads off to the kitchen or bathroom the static discharged by the removal of the 'blanket with sleeves' could power a tv through the next commercial break. Better yet, we could power up all those Slap Chops into Zap Chops. The next twist in the viral blanket market is expected to be 'team' Snuggies, I can't wait for the Bears version. When the Leafs Snuggie comes out they'll have to open a new factory solely to produce enough cheap blue fabric to keep up, we can just forget about wind, solar and hydro-electric power. Save the Norwesters, buy your neighbour a Snuggie and a case of beer.

I went to Petrie's early this morning and assisted in the making of two new wheels for Molly. Gone are the rusting, heavy, steel rimmed originals. Now with aluminum rims, new hubs and spokes she'll be more reliable, lighter and have brakes that work. Time to strip off all the components and give her some new paint.

Had a nice dinner with Mike, Mel and the Merciers last night. Then went back to their place to witness the miracle in Chicago on the high-def big screen. Me in my Payton jersey amongst a family of Viking fans. It worked, guess I'll have to wear one for every game.

Trust

When to give it, when to question it, how much to offer, how to test it without destroying it, when to end it. I've asked myself all of these questions with recent Northwood hockey developments I won't go further into here. I had that little voice in my head telling me something was wrong but I didn't listen until it was too late. There are so few people willing to lend a hand outside of coaching that any help is welcomed. But I guess I have to learn to be more suspicious of 'volunteers' with motives other than the kids well being.

I thought up a new fundraiser which will help offset some of my darker thoughts about packing it in. Ford has a promotion where they supply pink hockey pins to The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  The league buys them for $3, sells them for $5 and keeps the $2 profit. I decided to order some t-shirts for any kid who sells 4 pins. I've already had people anxious to buy them so it looks like it should work well.

I managed something in Flight Sim on Tuesday that I've never been able to do prior, land a jet manually. The de Havilland Beaver is a pretty easy bird to land because you can slow her down to about 50 knots and float in, a Lear jet is another story as at 100 knots it starts to stall and fall out of the sky. I've done ILS landings a few times but this time I just lined up and used the landing lights to bring it in. My next big flight (around the world?) might be a whole lot faster.

A cold has kept Sal at home for 2 days and shes taking 1 more tomorrow because they have a busy weekend coming up. If you know her you know it's pretty bad if shes not at work. I've had the same but really no where near as bad. My ears are really plugged but otherwise I'm ok.

I've only riden back and forth to work a few times in the last few days, picking up groceries tonight and being off 2 other days. We're trying to find a hub for Molly so I can get her back on the road. The last time out I stood to cross Fort William Road and broke another spoke, just getting too old (the spokes not me). I'm going to try and make her fixed if we can find a hub, not too easy for 27" wheels but I want to keep the rim size because of the new tires that just went on. Fixed will mean no coasting, if the wheels are turning the pedals are going around too. Old school but something I want to try.

Disgusted in August

August was an all round bad month. I'm not going to blame everything on the weather or the constant mechanical problems with the girls. I got a bit lazy and maybe just tired of riding alone. I skipped three days during my holidays plus the two when we were away. I got out with Molly the day we returned and she added a broken spoke to the 2 flats sitting in the basement. My heart was just not into riding for a bit. Sunday I got out for 40km on Jill after wrestling the Schwalbe Marathon+ tire and a new tube onto the rim Saturday night. I fixed the flat on Eyowen and retrofitted an old crankset so I have a bad weather singlespeed bike ready to go again, should have had one ready all summer(?) I guess.

Hockey is just around the corner and I've been busy fielding calls and handling the online registrations which are high this year. Northwood will take 96 players for 6 teams again and 65 spots are already gone without an official registration. I'm on for the Lakehead Minor AA registration for the next two nights and then Northwood's next week.

AJ's Dodgers have won 2 games in a row in the semis to take a 3-2 lead in the sries. Sure gets cool at the ball park when the sun goes down.

! To Go

One more day of work and then a week of holidays. This morning started off...interesting. I pulled Eyowen out of her hiding place in the basement since she was as excited about going out in the rain as I was. Threw on the full wet suit since it was so cool even overheating in the plastic cocoon would not be a problem. Just around the corner from the shop I heard a strange noise but didn't get it. After unlocking the door and dragging her inside I saw the cause of the noise, flat. Not just low but riding the rim for a block flat.

Sal, Ginko and Susan picked us at lunch, my first ride to or from work in months. Brandyn and I were invited to the NorWester for swimming but Ginko says "I'm not really a fan of swimming". Almost drowning will do that to a guy, even if he's only 5.

With no other bikes ready to go Molly was back on duty for the return to work. It was raining lightly so the short trip back was no big sweat. The trip home was another story. Heavy rain for an hour left the roads covered. I had the suit on so I was fine but Molly's brakes are suspect in the sunshine, in the rain they are convicted felons. They can slow us down but stopping is not something to count on. A nice slow ride home in the rain. Had to mention holidays.

Start of Another Season

I attended my first meeting as the new (returning) secretary for Lakehead Minor tonight. I decided I missed working with the exec so I threw my hat in the ring and won back my old spot. They made lots of progress last season and seem to be on the right track. The Key hit most of town late last week so the phone should start ringing for newbies to the Northwood rosters.

Molly got another makeover on the weekend, and she's the velo du jour right now. She's totally smooth and silent with her new Continental Gatorback tires. When I get a free night I'll put up some pictures. Very retro and very quick and her chain has stayed very on for weeks now, the bruises have finally faded and I've started leaving the saddle to accelerate again. Oldest bike of the lot but has the best balance, I can ride her no-hands forever. One more part to swap and she'll hit the scales at less than 18 pounds.

First Crash

I've spent most of the weekend scoring and announcing a Little League Tournament but took time out to have my first crash. I left the diamond to go home for a bit between games and while climbing up the East End bridge Molly's chain broke as I was standing to push her up. I went down over the bars and held her up for a bit. Wasn't going too fast when I hit the pavement and other than a sore knee and some minor road rash everything seems fine. I got over the bridge and then paddled with one leg and the chain in my hand to get home, ate, changed bikes and went back. I'll probably be stiff in the morning but it could have been a whole lot worse I guess. Have to take the chain into Farzum and get his opinion as to why it let go. It's a heavy single speed chain so that really should not happen, or maybe these old legs just have so much power that something had to give.

Bits and Pieces

Happy Birthday Sal!

Sal and I headed for Grand Marais Sunday afternoon. We had a nice lunch at the Blue Water and then began a stroll around the shops. 'Around' them is all we got to do as most of them were closed. We had a nice relaxing day anyway, came home for supper and watched a movie. 

Over the weekend I have not put on many miles as we were busy Sunay and Saturday was a bit on the cool side, along with high wind and bouts of snow. So I spent some time working on the girls in the basement. Jill got a tape job on the bars and has her original bar-ends back. Molly had her chain shortened and the crank is now on a manageable gear. Eyowen claimed the On-One Mary bars back from Bridget. Bridget remains locked up as I decide what to do with her. She might get sold, traded in or who knows. I just haven't had the urge to take her out yet.

My nomination for the Local Hockey hero fell short as Cosimo Filane was selected. He has been involved far longer than I and was part of the team that developed minor hockey in Schreiber. Hats off to him.

I'm really enjoying searching Google Earth for spots Brian has been posting and finding some for him and any one else interested. Friday night I spent more than an hour over France. I love the way the old European cities are laid out from central spots and the patterns of hte farmland.  

If you get a chance take in the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a strange but very entertaining movie. 

The riders in the Giro d'Italia (Italian grand tour race similar to the tour de France) went on a literal work slowdown to protest the unsafe course. As one rider remained in hospital after a spill over a guardrail and 250 foot tumble, the rest of the peloton cruised along at half speed to voice their concern over their own safety. On the day the rider was injured one racer was clocked at 73mph on a descent. 

Ok Mr. Astronaut, Try This One

My last irregular day off for a while so Eyowen and I got some banking and errands done and picked up some new tires for Molly. I'm looking forward to a ride tomorrow but the weather is still going to be cool. Ginko is spending the night. We had supper and watched a bit of a movie, he got his reward for a good week at the DQ and then we all curled up on the couch under a blanket to finish the movie. He didn't quite make it.

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