The tool for Portugal..

....not quiet set up right yet, but here it is. The machine I'll bring to Portugal that hopefully will become my new best friend very quickly.

Thanks to Hardcore Bikes for helping me out and getting it built so quickly.

Didn't get out on a ride yet, beside one loop around the block with Toby, who is a wild dog after! Think he was more into it than me today, ready for more. It definitly rides different but will get to test more when I'm ridable again. Today I drove around trying to find a massage therapist, without luck. Jen, my regular is away and it is a bad time to be away. My shoulder and back area is doing something funky, which is nothing new after longer rides, but I don't have much time to let it rest so a little extra help is required. I have 1 and a half week to get in the last effort of training and fitness before I fly off to see family and hopefully rest up a bit, then 9 days in the saddle exploring all through Portugal.

happy riding.... :)

Sunday Water Valley ride....

...2011, and here is a link from 2009 which I didn't ride but Erik is better at referencing places, for me it's all the same, road, another road, some farms and some more road.....
Here is a shot of the ride, we rolled for 8hrs and 29 minutes.

There was six of use that left Cadence shortly after 9AM. To my disappointment Erik was not one of the six, my plan B for the day was to join him on the short loop if I had to fall off, as he had some other commitments for the day. So as we left Bowness and headed north I was trying to come up with a new plan B, and the best I could come up with was to finish the full route, the B would just mean alone. On our way out we met Dallas who was joining the ride also, up until that point I enjoyed the fact that the pace was manageable and quiet enjoyable, and it actually stayed that way all the way to Water Valley Saloon, about 3 plus hours in (must add I wasn't the pace setter, but comfortably sitting behind). The pace turned around at the saloon, were the few orders we had took a long long time! We filled up on drinks and headed out again.

A second group ride on bike also had a pit stop.

 At this point Dallas turned to home duties and took short way back, I thought a bit about joining him as my shoulder was in bad shape, but then who am I kidding, hanging on to Dallas on his sprint to make it home in time for cooking duties... hmmm not so much. So long loop it was. Now it ride was just pedal and pedal some more. Just like any long ride it sort of becomes a blur for me. I'm not sure how people remember so many details about places they go, all I remember is quiet time, just me and my bike, with no worries in the world. We did some great climbing up to a point just before hgwy 40, which I do recall as it rewarded us with some fun fun downhill, nice wet soft sections that made it extra fun on the corners. On the bottom we regrouped and then back to pedaling... and it felt like we were going up a lot, so I lost a few of the guys and figured this is looking like plan B. But we regrouped again and everyone seem to be ok with keeping the group together, and that made me happy, I probably would still be out there pedaling if I had to go to plan B.

Besides for the shoulder issue, I hadn't really hit a low point, I just didn't have the power to go any faster up hill than I did, but I was enjoying the ride, then at about 160 or so km, I really thought this is it. I was ready to be done, and was happy when someone had agreed that we were taking the shortest way home, whatever that meant. Then we got to a stop and some discussion around a "wild cat hills" came up. Very timely since I was sure I had zero left in the legs. Craig made the selling point "when will you ever get to do such awesome climb when you're this tired??" and Keith who had suffered the last little while took off, in the direction of the hills! So off we went, and what an awesome hill to ride when you're at your lowest, I thought I had to come off the bike at one point, but manage to use my weight to get the pedal to go down, and somehow managed to get up, and all of a sudden I felt a little more energized, just by the fact that we did the climb, completing the ride the way it should be completed. So thanks Craig! We all appreciated that after the fact.

We stopped in Cochrane for some drinks and fuel, and again I had to let the boys go on the climb out of the town, but made it up and from there its just a breeze. Since I moved to Calgary I've not been so happy to see COP, it looked so great in the distance, still enough snow to ski on.

When I got to my house I felt the best I have in a long time, it reminded me why I love this, it's that feeling.

Looking forward to next year!

happy riding,

The troop, still having fun.

Calgary south... ramping up..

... to Sunday, the Portugal Gang decided to explore the south country of Calgary. We rode some great city path ways all the way down to 22X pretty much. I'm trying to pick up on where we go, but I'm sure I'll have to ride them a few more times before guiding anyone along. Super day for a ride though. Craig and I drove down to Erik's place and had a quick look at his new spot, which looks great, impressed with his interior decorative skills, I should have him over here for some tips.... Two other Dead Goats joined us for the first bit of the ride. I quiet enjoyed the pace, nice and flat and perfect for getting ready for tomorrow. Then we got out of the city and the flat pathways ended, and was replaced with some pretty cool farmers roads. Nice and windy, up and down, and not to forget , Dry! It was a bit more leg work that I had hoped but I did my own thing, while Erik got some kicks of intervals in, don't even think I have the kick if I tried. On our way in to the city we had a short little stop in Fish Creek while Craig fixed the first flat I've experienced on these group rides. Some pedestrians were quiet concerned and felt very bad for us, like it was the end of our happy ride. We ended up at a great sandwich place, but like with the name of anything, I can't remember. It's a hidden little spot not far from my work and it was very tasty.
By the time I got home I must admit I was a little bit concerned about tomorrow.... legs are feeling the riding the last week and tomorrow is the big day, biggest single day in my cycling life.


happy riding....

 GPS and I are figuring things out... handy to be able to take a few pictures with it....

Weekend warm-up ride,

So this week I actually got some riding in. I started off with easy ride to and from work Monday, and now that the weather is good the other "breed" of cyclist are showing up on the path in the moring, which I've had on my own the few times I rode in over the winter. So easy it's not easy to do when you are being passed by the commuters! Tuesday I road to and from with the plan to do a longer loop home, but I felt tired so road hard in a good pace, and then rested up. Wendsday I rode in and on my way home I joined up with Alana and got my longer loop in. Thursday I rested up for a good weekend of riding.

So today, day after restday I needed to get my legs moving again, so the Porugal Gang set out for a weekend warm-up ride. Craig, John and Erik was meeting at a church in West Hills, so I figured I'll ride there using my GPS to get some practise for Portugal as there will be no course markings so I better know how to follow a map. I used my little mapping tool and drew out a track to get to West Hills, from there I figured there wouldn't be too many churches so I'll find them. But the GPS and I never made friends on this ride. I got sent home and then west and in all directions until I recongniced the spot I had met Alana once and from there I sort of new how to get to West Hills. I was already late, but figured I'll try, but I'll take the road. I got to West Hills, went to the only church I new as it has a big tower on it. But no boys, I figured I missed them so started my own ride, when I saw John and Erik riding down. Sometimes being late pays off!
I thought I had a bad start until John told me his story...he was on borrowed shoes, drink and pedals, and with two right hand gloves...

We ended up finding Craig and had a nice touring ride towards the Bow river. Nice pace until I let the boy play boys up the hill coming back out.



Tomorrow a little bigger ride to ramp up to the big day on Sunday.

Happy riding!

weekend of celebration..

...of old age and more snow!

But it didn't slow us down too much.

Friday I picked up Mer at the airport and went to the regular red's breakfast place, I'm starting to think I really need to explore different breakfast places around the city, but this one is safe. Made it home in time to join the noon ride that Alana put on. The weather wasn't as great as we expected but we got in two hours, but to Jeff's disappointment we never made it to the coffee shop in Cochrane.
Enjoyed a good movie, and even better ice cream after. The weather had start turning at that point so I figured Saturday ride was probably not in the plan.
And that was the view from my car Saturday morning on our way to Tim's birthday breakfast. So the day was spend running around after a little trip to the dog park. Enjoyed a great dinner and evening at home. Mer made my favorite beef salad and of course some more ice cream. Another movie, but this time not as successfully as Friday.

Sunday was airport drop off then attempt to get some exercise after a lay low week. I was out of luck until I figured I'll see if anyone is doing group ride, sent Erik a message and sure enough, he was on his way out for a solo, and now we all of a sudden had a group ride! Yay, that beats getting gators out to go snow hike the mountains!
Since the focus of my training these days is Portugal, I brought the newly addition to the gear, my Oregon550, the GPS recommended to use for the race. Besides "loosing" the map, and not figuring out how to stop the timer I think I'm getting the hang of it. It's a bit hard to read off when in shade, but there should be some setting on it to fix that. And the symbols for peach trees is of course missing, but according to Erik will be a treat in Portugal. The cool camera feature works well too, I just twist it up and click, and a picture... and not too bad quality I'd say.

Awesome day to be out, mostly clear roads, but a little bit of this.....

A little snack in Cochrane. Erik posing for a little camera test...

Happy it wasn't too much of this, but at least we made it up on first attempt...better drive in our engines than a good old minivan which needed three attempts!!

this is what you get if you forget to twist the GPS unit up....

The ride definitely made my day, as I had pretty much discounted the day and classified as another rest day. And it couldn't have been much better of a day for a ride.

So all in all a great birthday weekend, and now I don't have to worry about getting older for anther year :)
Just dropped a load of cloths, drinks and lunches at work so plan to take advantage of the weather this week and ride to work everyday. I have 3 more weeks to ride my self in the kind of shape that will let me survive 9 days of pedaling through Portugal.

Happy riding!

Another winter weekend...

... to make sure we really appreciate spring when it arrives!

Quick trip to Sylvan Lake on Friday to pick up Toby the dog. Steve got him self a nice little spot to enjoy life after work!

Saturday group ride was a small group of Alana and my self, with a coffee hello from Erik who stopped by only to say hello and have a nice ride. He had already got in his hours and was on his way home. So the "group" headed for a city ride due to a bit of time restrictions. It was good, a pace different than other Saturdays, and on a crummy day we still got a good 3 hours in on the bike. It still beats any hours spent on the trainer in the basement.

Today was the March Crazy ride or something like that. But with the forecast not so great, it got canceled, and to day I caved in as well on the "don't change your plans due to Calgary forecast".
I called a Toby and I day. I decided to unpack winter gear, not to confuse anyone to think that my life is organized by seasons, it was only a mental unpacking required. Ventured out to Barrier Lake and something tells me it was my lucky day. Sunshine, blue skies and perfect day to be outside, though at the same time the inside of my head wondered if this was the case in town as well, and was I missing out on the Ride of the Year?

Started at Barrier Lake with sunshine and blue sky! :)



Toby was happy to see the ride being postponed!



yeah!! is that sign of a real bike trail!!?? :)

...... the "real bike trail" quickly was gone.....



Finished Jewels and on to trek Prairie View up and back down on the other side

 

Closer to the top it was ice all around, while the sun was out it was a nice view.

At the top I realized my glasses were gone!!... turned around and went down just passed the photo above and found them in the snow like this... not only did they fall off my vest hook, I also stepped on them and both arms came off... but free glasses are not always crap, the arms are designed to come off on impact and so they did... easy fix. Thanks to the optometrist from Fernie many years ago...



At the top, sun hiding.

 Came back into town and still foggy and overcast so I'm assuming I didn't miss out on a great ride today.

Looking forward to next weekend and hopefully some spring rides!!

happy riding :)

Quick road trip..

..to Sylvan Lake. Steve has his retirement house here and was coming down so Toby put his paw out and caught a ride down. Now just waiting for the two boys. Cute town.
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.

New friend...

...and hopefully best friend by the time we arrive in Portugal....

and what's up with the snow!

Happy riding!

stick with the plan...

...someone said... Calgary weather forecast should not stop any plans you might have to get out... and second day in a row with snowfall warning we head out for a ride and it turns out to be the best ride of the year... well beside the hurt...


Craig and Alana both rode strong and I was just happy we had a coffee stop in Cochrane.

A banana bread and a mocha helped, it even had a nice flower on it to cheer me up! Then we hit a little bit of single track and that cheered me up even more :)
I'm not used to big miles and my eating after the ride doesn't seem to cover the calories, who thought I'd need to train eating as well. Can't listen to the body saying it's full when it really needs more, so keep stuffing my head with some more. So today I suffered and was hungry almost off the start from yesterdays ride. Now, after the ride, I had some snack and feel full, but I'm sure it didn't cover what I need. So I'll have a few more snacks before bedtime.... some say its the perks we get...
Thanks Craig for getting us out!

happy riding!

Love for the ride...

...is slowly coming back!

After a week of fixing bleeding bodies, doing CPR, putting out fires and skidding around in the mud in a truck I was ready to ride a bike! Strathmore was fun but a week was a bit heavy on the nose, so I'm happy to be back home and getting back on the bike. Same plan as last week, easy Friday with goal for Saturday ride to hang on!! And with the forecast calling for 20cm of snow I really had no choice but to go as who knows the when the next good day or riding will be.



We did pretty much the same loop as my first time out with the group, this time a much smaller group but still strong! the start as always was a race to hang out, but different than last time, I seem to recover on the flats today. And that was the case through the ride. Not to say it was an easy ride, race pace for me, but the voice in my head was nice and calm, and seem to enjoy the ride! :) It was what they call a no drop ride, I like to call it a catch and release ride... catch them.. let them go...catch them... and so on... which is nice. Rather than a two hour hard, loose them and fall into my own pace for the next two hours, I kept a good hard pace for the whole ride. I enjoyed it so much, specially the weather since we all thought snow, I ended up doing a little extra loop downtown after the ride. Great feeling, and this is the ride I'll have to keep reminding my self of when those rough days come around, as we all know, they will come around again...

Portugal is about a month away... so one good day will need to grow to 9 good days..

happy riding!

Ouch...

Weather finally picked up this week, with a few nice days during the week. I decided to skip swimming and ride to work, it felt great riding in to work in the morning and I hope this means I can park the truck more from now on!
Weekend looked great as well, so I took it fairly easy on Friday with a little hike out in Bragg Creek to let dogs run out some energy, while I could save up some for my second attempt on the Calgary group Sat cross ride. Since my memory from the last one, even though I try hard to forget, is the voice in my head saying "keep on pedaling, keep on pedaling" I figured Saturday wouldn't be any different since not much have changed in my bike fitness, but I set my goal for the day to just hang on.....
Goal quickly had to be modified after I lost the wheels of the group for the second time, after leaving Bragg Creek to do 66 down to the gate... the voice in my head didn't help this time...actually the voice wasn't as friendly this time.. I definitely have a lot of work to do!!
So the new plan was go to 55km, turn,  wait at coffee shop with a coffee and muffin... so that I did. Though the group was not coming back, I later learned that it was a good thing they dropped me :)
Though it's hard, I'm glad the Saturday group ride is there, it gets you out and for the time I'm able to hang out, it pushes me that extra bit I wouldn't do on my own....

Sunday I went out with Lisa and her friend. I learned a nice new route to ride. The ride it self, planned E2 pace, again felt hard to me. Another wake up call on all the work I have in front of me. Though I know one day I'll enjoy the rides again!
It's always hard, specially mentally to get started and get the specific activity fitness back.

A week of work related training in Strathmore will put a bit of a breaker on my the bike, though brought it and hope to get it out. This place is as flat as anything, so that's nice, but the smell!! what is that..?? I can't imagine what it would be like in the summer.



Toby is visiting in Fort McMurray while I'm in Strathmore. I'm sure he is doing good with Sporty and Sequoia and his old favorite trails. But he wasn't sure about the drive up, it took him a few different positions in Meredith's car before he got comfy...

miss you buddy!

happy riding....

Weekend in Waterton...

 What can I say!? By far (of the very few) the best back country weekend! Thanks Christine and Troy for letting me hang out and getting another taste. At this time I'm guessing this is it for this winter but I can not wait until next year to get back there again!
Waterton had tons of snow, up covering windows on the houses in town and in the mountains even more. The weather was funny, giving me the scare with a bit of a cold morning Sunday but as soon as we got further in and got our gear on it was perfect for having fun going up and coming down. I had to give up trying to keep up with the Misseghers but did what I could, though going down almost hurt more at the end. Legs not used to this, but the mind was laughing and smiling the whole time!
Now I'm gona have to switch my mind and trying to get the smile and laughs back while sitting on the bike, not easy after this weekend, but with only a bit over a month until Portugal I better get my legs moving in circles....

happy riding!



Christine ripping it down on the board!

 

Me, not quiet ripping it, but getting down...

 

Getting ready to skin accross lake and try the other side for the rest of the day..

Quiet house!

House is empty again, well, I'm left with two dogs for the week :) But I had a great visit and wish we could do this more often. I do miss Fort McMurray for those reason, the easy access to friends who loves to get out, regardless of weather and other things in life. Thanks for the visit and hope we can do it again soon! And even though we survived the cold, next time I'm sure it'll be warmer and even possible time to get on the dirt trails with our two wheels!

Happy work week!

Snow shoe and a very cold ski...

Monday was shopping day for some, so Ken and I took dog duty. Packed up the truck and went to Bragg Creek for a quick snow shoe. As we got close to town the snow was coming down pretty heavy, and it didn't stop until after the shoe. A few inches of fresh snow made for a great shoe! We figured it would be great to get out again today for a ski. And true that!
Not a track in the snow from anyone, fresh snow everywhere, a few inches and if it wasn't for the temperature of well below -20 and a little wind, we could have played all day. What a difference from some days out there, where you can't even find parking. So nice and quiet, dogs loved it and of course had as wait a few times while they did their little run away game!
And to top of the day, a great mocha at the local cafe in town! I like weekday outings...but work comes in the way most of the time..

Happy cold day! (March is here... spring right?..)

Skogan Pass

Great day for a ski! Meredith, Ken, Steve and I and of course the dogs and went out to Nakiska Ski hill to explore the Skogan Pass trail. I'm not too well known around the area yet so Annette was gona join us, but that didn't happen until a few our later for some snack and drinks at the ski hill pub! She then had raced the loop to try to catch us but by chance missed us at the only intersection we could have missed each other. But the good news is I didn't get us lost, it was pretty straight forward. We skied up to the lookout and decided to skip the top of the pass,  had a snack and blasted back down again, so fast it was hard to stay warm! Nice rest at the pub, and then Taco night!

Good day with great company! Spring must be just around the corner??!!#$$@??

happy ski!

No spring yet...

This weekend is booked for McMurray visitors. Unfortunately their plan on heading south for some warmer weather hasn't come true, but regardless of cold we managed to get out today.  We are still waiting for Ken and Sporty (the dog) to arrive so today Steve, Kelly, Meredith and I ventured to Barrier Lake. We hiked up Prairie View in the cold, and enjoyed an even colder and windy view, and hiked back down. I think we all had a good hike, and treated our self to a nice meal at the local restaurant. Ken arrived just in time to enjoy the meal with us.

Hope to get a ski in tomorrow!

Happy weekend!

Flames night....

Good food, great seats but no mini donuts.
Calgary lost and I'm sure someone back home is happy Boston took it home! I was hoping to feel the heat from the flames, literally, more often. Only once did it fire up.
Back on the bike tonight, radio rave is on I hope, as no sign of outdoor riding weather this week.
Happy riding!
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.

Riding weekend...

So from spending most weekends in the mountains playing outside, this weekend I decided to dedicate to the bike, as news since last weekend is the added TransPortugal to my schedule. A race I have wanted to do but not had the chance. Now I'm booked and better start getting ready, meaning more time on the bike.



little added playtime for the boys

Minor mechanical.

It wasn't the best weekend for riding outside, so Saturday was indoor session. Indoor cycling have never been my thing, and never will be, I've tried it all, movies, music, ipad, books etc... it will never fit the definition of fun. So yesterday I went over to Bow cycle and thought I'd get one of those Spinnervals, "motivational" training sessions for indoor, oh heck, lets just get 3 while I'm at it!! I'm sorry Coach Troy, you just did nothing for me!! and neither did the 100 riders in the room riding with him... so I was back at listing to my TV rave party and just getting through the session. So if anyone is interested in my three movies, two never used let me know!! Though what has added some element of fun is using Katys trainer which reads out power. Something new to focus on, so that keeps my attention for a bit. I even figured out how to calibrate it after my first ride, and now I can't get anywhere near the power I had before calibration. Prior to it I felt pretty strong... now I have a long ways to go!!

Today was a good day though, my first mtb ride of the season!! and it is never boring!! -15 seemed to be a cold one, but as usual I'm hot after my first two pedal strokes. Mostly from being scared for what will happen on this ride, my last ride with the group was long and hard, this one turned out to be great fun! Ended up starting the ride with a flat tire outside cadence, guess the cold did something to the Stans, or the fact that the bike hadn't seen the sun since the fall. Pumped it back up and it was all good.
Road trough Bowness, up to Tuscany, back down to Bowness and the valley over to Montgomery and the trails in Edworthy. And never got cold, not hands, not feet. Good winter day I'd say. And hopefully some more to come, and soon spring....

Portugal in end of April is giving me all the motivation I need to keep pedaling... even indoor!



Happy riding!

Snowshoe/Hike w/Toby

Since Saturday was no dogie activity day, today it was all Toby's call. He gave me the "make it long hike in the mountain" look this morning so I figured that would be the plan and a good plan it turned out to be. Great snow, great fun! And I'm sure it was a record wind crossing the dam.

Til Mamma der hjemme, ha en riktig god morsdag!! kos deg masse. Klem kate og Toby.

Happy winter!

Saturday Cross ride - ok so here we go...

...again, back on the bike, so why not start with the Saturday Group ride. Seemed like a great way to start on a beatiful winterday in Calgary.



A few hours later... I sure had a hard ride, if I wasn't clueless to were we where I would have found my own way home, but had to suck it up and hang on! Which of course now I'm happy I did, a good tired feeling and it can only get better right??