Since moving to BC, I’ve had to get used to long stretches of rainy weather. I’ve always liked a lot of diversity in my exercise and training, but it’s easier when I don’t have to worry about an upcoming event where my training has to focus on swimming, biking and running.
Sun Hang Do
The Lightning Kid and I have been practicing this martial art for the past 3 years. It’s a bit of a local phenomenon with clubs throughout BC’s lower mainland and it’s descended from/similar to Tae Kwon Do.
We recently got tested for new belts, and we’re excited to join the ‘Black Belt Club’ where we add grappling and weapons to our training. I honestly could have/should have/would have devoted an entire post to Sun Hang Do, but in the meantime here’s a video of the Lightning Kid’s first belt test, and another of us both testing 2 years later.
A clip from our 2nd most recent Belt Test
Iron Cycle
Iron Cycle is a spin studio in Downtown Abbotsford. My wife and I used to do spin classes at a GoodLife Fitness, but with the advent of Peloton, Soul Cycle and the like, spin classes have stepped up a level. The class is conducted with very low lighting, and the club provides shoes with clips and towels. The song lists are heavily curated and the instructors pump you up with their high energy levels. We come out of the class drenched with sweat, but with a feeling of accomplishment, and it’s a nice ‘date’ that doesn’t revolve around food. Keeping up my bike fitness is a good idea for the next triathlon season and it would pay dividends if I’m on a bike event for the Ski 2 Sea.
We usually do the ‘Capable Ride’, but there are also Yoga classes and a hybrid class that combines spin with stretching and strength work – I hope I can try these sometime too. And yeah, I dig the name.
Body bar
I’ve been interested in these as a piece of strength training equipment for a while now. Between strengthening for kayaking (in case I need to do it for the Ski 2 Sea) or for Bo Staff work in Sun Hang Do (see above), I think it could be a nice addition to my home gym.
Cindy + other Crossfit.
I read somewhere that the ‘Cindy’ Crossfit workout is Tom Holland’s (a.k.a. Spider-Man) favourite workout. It’s 20 minutes of doing As Many Rounds As Possiple (a.k.a. AMRAP) of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 squats. I can’t do unassisted pull-ups so I use a band.
This workout makes me sweat a lot, and I’ve found that I’ve improved on the pull-ups already after doing it sporadically throughout the summer. I sometimes do variant push-ups, or lunges instead of squats .
Project Climbing
Project Climbing is a bouldering gym that has branches in Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Cloverdale. The boys and I have experimented with bouldering from time to time in Mississauga, on our trip to Berkeley, California and at both the Abbotsford and Chilliwack location. Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or harnesses. Indoors, it’s a pretty low commitment way to get a full body workout that works your stabiliser muscles and co-ordination. I’m hoping I can squeeze in a few visits to this gym and improve my skills, grip strength (a significant marker of longevity) and upper-body strength.
Rucking
I had an old backpack that I filled with old weights and kept it in my car – sometimes when there was time to go for a little walk, I’d throw it on for a bigger calorie burn. Unfortunately, while parked in downtown Vancouver (Gastown to be precise) while the Lightning Kid was rehearsing for Toronto Kids Fashion Week, someone smashed in my car’s back window to take the backpack. I was upset, obviously, but I had to laugh at the idea that the thief probably thought they’d scored a laptop, when it was just relatively worthless weight. I hope they nearly dislocated their shoulder when they snatched it. So I might spring for a high-end ‘official’ pack and use it in the same way – but not keep it in my car when parked in a bad neighbourhood.
I honestly thought I’d be mountain biking more regularly when I moved to B.C. It’s been hard to find trails that are appropriate for my beginner skill level. They’re either on the side of a mountain where one slight bobble would send me careening to my doom, or simple flat gravel trails. At least those are the kinds I find in our neck of the woods; I lose interest if I have to drive more than 20 minutes to find the ‘right’ trail. Furthermore, this activity is one that I’m unlikely to do in lousy weather, so maybe it shouldn’t be on this list – but still I’m hopeful that I can find some subset of trails within the local networks that I could practice and improve my skill on.
Has anyone heard of the Ski-to-Sea relay race? It’s a relay from the top of Mount Baker to Bellingham Bay, done in seven different legs: cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, running, road bike, canoe, cyclocross/gravel bike, and sea kayak. I heard about it (or at least, a now defunct Canadian version) years ago and had it on my bucket list, but I realized last year that now I live close enough to give this a try without having to spring for airfare and shipping equipment.
I’m not in shape to try it the next iteration, so I figured I’d start trying to build a team for **next** year, that is, May of 2026. A team needs to be from 3 to 8 people (less than 3 is logistically impossible anyway). The link to the event site is here: https://skitosea.com/
Each leg of the race has some details that one should be clear on – for example, the downhill ski portion has a climb so it would be best for someone with backcountry ski gear for climbing. Stand-up paddleboards are not allowed on the canoe or sea kayak portion. No aerobars are allowed on the road bike portion. I’ll examine each leg and rate how plausible it is for me to be a candidate for completing that leg as part of a team.
Leg 1: Cross-Country Skiing (Length: 6km)
Cross-country skiing is one of my favourite sports (check the receipts!). I’ve been doing it since I could walk, and the distance isn’t too onerous. The terrain will probably be tough (intermediate to advanced according to the description) and being the first leg means getting up extra early for various logistical reasons. I just got some new skis this year so I can work on my skating (which is banned during the first 100 yards of the race), so this feels like an area I can shine in.
Plausibility: High
Leg 2: Downhill Ski/Snowboard (Length: 4km)
This sounds like a no-brainer, but unfortunately, there is a portion where you must climb to the top of a hill – over 1000 feet of elevation gain! I thought this required climbing skins and back-country skis, but according to this year’s rules that kind of equipment isn’t allowed. So I guess it’s just a matter of toughing it out in heavy ski boots, and the rest is all downhill, literally.
Plausibility: Medium
Leg 3: Running (Length: 13km)
13 km is beyond my current running endurance, but it is something I could train up to. Mountainous terrain (though it is a road run course) adds extra challenge. The problem is, in a group of 3-8 people which the relay demands, running is one I imagine most people would want to have for themselves.
Plausibility: Medium
Leg 4: Road Bike (Length: 66km)
Seems simple enough for a triathlete, right? It’s even a net downhill! However! Aero-bars are only allowed in the competitive division, so I’d be riding my old road bike might be the better option. There are also no course markers, so having a good familiarity with navigating the course is important. Last year my son and I failed to complete a 50 km bike ride due to some wrong turns on a fundraiser, so that shakes my confidence a little.
Plausibility: Medium
Leg 5: Canoe (Length: 30km)
I know how to canoe, but I don’t have one in BC, and I don’t relish getting strong enough to complete this leg. It is completed in a team of 2, which further complicates training.
Plausibility: Low
Leg 6: Cyclocross (Length: 18km)
I’ve flirted with Cyclocross a little, and always wanted to get a Cross bike. Even if I didn’t, a Mountain bike can be used.
Plausibility: High
Leg 7: Sea Kayak (Length: 8km)
While I don’t have a kayak in BC, I’d be willing to consider getting one and possibly training myself up for this event. Still, getting time on larger bodies of water might be difficult.
Plausibility: Low
The Hidden Event: Logistics
The ideal team has 8 people – one for each event, except canoeing which has 2. This has the simplest implementation, since everyone on the team has one starting line they have to be at (on time), and one event to be competent enough to finish. I think it might take a little of the ‘multi-sport’ fun out of it, though. Any fewer team members (to a minimum of 3) and somebody has to shuttle between events after finishing a leg. The race demands certain road closures, and getting equipment and bodies moved around will take several vehicles (they list 3 vehicles for the 8 racer scenario).
Recruiting and managing an 8-person team has to be challenging too – ensuring everyone is trained, equipped, and informed is a serious bit of management/leadership.
If anyone reading this wants to join a team with me, drop a comment or reach out online. I might start recruiting in local Facebook groups in 2025.
Abbotsford has several multi-use trails they label ‘Discovery Trail’, but since there are several, shouldn’t they comprise one network? The answer was never obvious from the trail entrances, but there is a website and a map:
Still, I had struggled to really understand how it could be used to cross from one end of town to the other. Until I made a concerted effort this July to get across town. Because I knew some sections were gravel, I opted to take my mountain bike. Having a gravel bike (my next bike – the correct number of bikes to own is the number you have plus one), would have been ideal.
I wore my Shokz Open SwimbPro Bone Conduction headphones to provide music for the long ride. I filled my hydration pack with a water/electrolyte mix and I set off to find the entrance to the first Discovery Trail West of Whatcom Rd.
Scenery/Musical Highlights
The Who’s ‘Baba O’Riley’ came on as I rode into an open field “Out here in the fields… I fight for my meals.”
“Out here in the fields”
On the way home, I had to do a lot of climbing. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” was playing (I guess I had a Classic Rock soundtrack for this ride). Most of the song (I’m sure you’re familiar) is slow and plodding, but right before the monster guitar solo, the singer says “Won’t you fly, Free Bird…” and that was the moment I crested a hill and started coasting down a well-deserved downhill run.
Challenges
One of the things that has kept me from being able to pursue this little project is the boardwalk West of the Abbotsford-Mission Highway has been in disrepair until this spring. I’m so glad they’ve fixed it and I’ve used it for some trail runs already. It crosses a beautiful marshy area.
Crossing the Highway itself is also a challenge – there isn’t a good crossing that is on the way, my best solution was to cross at McCallum and ride on the shoulder on the wrong side of the road until I could turn off toward the trail.
Whenever the trails peter out and you have to transition to a road, it’s good to have done your research to know which road will keep you on route to the next trail entrance. I didn’t leverage this website, but maybe I should have.
Since it’s an out-and-back, getting to the end was the climax, and then I had the long (and net uphill) ride back to look forward to, and most of it was the same scenery.
Nature Highlights
I saw 2 snakes (probably garter snakes) on the ride – it was a sunny day, and I think they enjoyed the heat. There was also a moment where I could swear a dragonfly was trying to race me – it flew alongside me for a few hundred meters.
I helped myself to some blueberries when my energy was lowThe trail led through a cemetaryRiding Selfie
I’m looking forward to doing this ride again in the future – perhaps even extending it.
I’d been wanting to combine an excursion to downtown Abbotsford with a road cycling training ride for a while. Before I committed to executing the ride, I made sure to scout out the route beforehand to look for obstacles, challenges, problems, etc.
Marshall Road has a nice 2-way dedicated bike lane, but I did have challenges with Amazon delivery vehicles blocking it, and it ends right as the downtown area really starts in earnest. By the time I got to the area with the most interesting shops and businesses, I was walking my bike (in bike shoes). On the positive side, I rode along Gladys Road without having any cars to contend with and noticed some bunny rabbits that ran alongside me (instead of perpendicularly away from me) as I rode.
I had scouted out where I was going to park my bike and what I was going to eat when I reached my destination, so 2 weeks later all I had to do was make sure I was prepared. I packed my Salomon hydration pack with a U-Lock and sandals to walk around in. Of course, I also filled the hydration bladder with water and electrolyte powder.
One of the things that had annoyed me on my initial scouting ride is there seemed to be no way nicely cross Highway 11 – Sumas Way. On this attempt, I turned North after the Marshall Bike lanes ended and thought the map was showing me a secret trail. That ended up being a dead end, so I used the bridge over Old Yale.
After that, I had a pretty easy way into the downtown core, and I parked and locked my bike under the supervision of 3 upstanding Abbotsford citizens.
I took the time to do a little shopping at the Spruce Collective – I grabbed an Abbotsford keychain, a magnetic poetry kit and some post-cards (I’ve taken up post-card writing as a little hobby – old school correspondence for the win!).
The ride home was tedious, not only because I crossed Hwy 11 the hard way (dismounting and crossing a multi-lane roadway as a pedestrian), but also because it was a net uphill, and my hydration supply had gotten luke warm in the summer heat.
Still, I’m proud of the accomplishment, and had a nice little excursion.
I think I had the best bike ride (or at least best solo bike ride) of my life this weekend. I had the idea of riding home from church in Chilliwack – Google said there were good bike routes, so I saved one to my phone, but more on that later.
In anticipation of another triathlon training season, I decided to update my road cycling shoes. The cleats were worn down and the velcro straps were coming apart, in spite of multiple gluings.
And so I bought a pair of new bike shoes, and they had a feature called a Boa, which I was not familiar with. There’s a little dial that essentially tightens some wires that act as light laces. I was a little concerned that the wires could break and then what happens to the shoe, but they come with a lifetime warranty, and it looks like they’ll be pretty good for on and off during transitions and triathlon. And what’s nice is I can even tighten them as I ride. I found I was riding along, and I thought I could use a little bit more responsiveness out of the shoe and some tightening. So I just was able to, while I was riding along, reach down, turn the little wheel, and the shoe got tighter.
I also tested using my Shokz OpenSwim Pro’s . I had turn by turn navigation in my ear while still being able to hear cars and the rest of the environment. So I got cues as I went along. Once I was on the on country roads, I turned on the music.
The ride was just perfect. It’s the kind of thing I always wanted to do, ever since we moved to BC: doing something outdoorsy while fitting it into the rest of my lifestyle (between the kids getting tutored and going to church). The weather was beautiful. The ride was flat. I used technology to not get lost and stay motivated. I noted that much of the ride did have signs to designate the roads as part of a bike route, and in the busiest parts of Chilliwack, there were dedicated bike lanes.
I need to find more routes like this, and ideally add mountain bike rides that are of an appropriate level for me – not just flat gravel (e.g. dyke trails) nor single track on the side of a mountain where I could break my neck.
Bone conduction (or Open-Ear) headphones transmit sound by inducing jawbone vibrations, freeing your ears to hear outside sounds. This makes them ideal for women runners who, unfortunately, need to be more aware of threats when running alone. My wife has enjoyed a pair of Shokz for years, but I was intrigued when I heard of a waterproof version.
From the Shokz website: Transducers send vibrations through the cheekbones and deliver sound directly to the inner ear, bypassing the eardrum.
Overall First Impressions/Controls
I’m not an audiophile, but I had trouble believing that this technology could produce the same quality of sound as regular earphones. My favourite songs sounded the same.
The only controls are two volume buttons on the right side, and a “multi-function” on the left. The multi-function has to be pressed a combination of times to advance or go back a track, held down to enter pairing mode, etc. The volume buttons are used to power the device on/off in addition to obviously controlling the volume.
Normally I prefer to have more dedicated controls rather than memorizing combinations to accomplish basic tasks, but I can see how not having to fumble around searching for the right button when the headset is being worn is actually more practical and user-friendly.
Bike Test
My first test of the OpenSwim Pro was on a bike ride. Normally, headphones would be a big no-no on the bike, but the open ear should mean that a rider can maintain situational awareness. On this ride, the way out was mostly downhills and steep ones at that, so I didn’t listen to music at all, because I wanted my full attention on handling my bike through the turns and such. I had planned to listen to music to motivate me up the steep climbs home. Unfortunately, I remembered to turn on the music a little late, but for the last stretch, I did notice that I could hear a car come up behind me as I rode.
Run Test
I brought the headphones with me on a run around the track at the town stadium. I had the music playing while I used the bathroom before my run – what was interesting is when I used the hand dryer, I couldn’t hear the music anymore. So loud sound coming in your ears will override the music coming in through your jawbone vibrations.
During the run, I was able to have conversation with my wife when I passed her on the track without turning down (or off) the music.
Swim Test
So the headphones are waterproof, but that doesn’t mean they can connect to Bluetooth while in the water – this is made clear by the manufacturer. So for swimming, you use them as an MP3 player; remember those? You have to load MP3 or other audio files from a computer over the USB cable to the memory of the OpenSwim Pro. MP3s are getting a little hard to come by, but I still had some songs loaded on my phone (in unprotected m4a format from iTunes) that I loaded onto my computer and then back to the headphones.
The headphones convert from Bluetooth to MP3 mode by pressing the 2 volume keys simultaneously. On my first swim, I absolutely loved hearing music and the laps seemed to tick by with less boredom and tedium. The headphones hug my head and can almost be forgotten, which is a far cry from the “listening to music while swimming” I had over 10 years ago.
Other Applications
I’ve used these headphones a bit in the office as a way to listen to music or be on a call while having a better awareness in my surroundings; e.g. a co-worker wants my attention. The microphone seems to work well for calls, though I prefer noise-cancelling headphones for longer sitting periods of meetings or deep work.
Conclusion
So far, the Shokz OpenSwim Pro is one of the best electronics purchases a multi-sport athlete could buy.
Whenever I’m in a new place, I try to discover what kinds of recreational opportunities are around. Back in September, I was in the parking lot of Shark Boy’s gymnastics club, when I noticed terrain of a unique nature. It was a BMX park, with bumps and curved embankments forming a course that is completed in a single lap, although it twists and folds back upon itself rather than just being a circle.
My birthday happened to fall on a Sunday, so the Lightning Kid and I decided to give it a go, while Shark Boy was at his gymnastics training. For the footage, we’ll have to consult the Lightning Kid YouTube Channel:
I was on my hardtail mountain bike, which is not quite ideal for jumps and such on this track, or maybe that’s my lack of confidence talking. We did go back once, and I wore clip-in shoes rather than the trail runners you see me in during the video. We also got a chance to witness a race to end the season and see how it’s really done, with a mechanical gate to keep the starting line honest, found at a top of a ramp by the start of the course. A rep from the Abbotsford BMX club told us they would transition to indoors, and how welcoming they were to beginners.
Unfortunately, it took us a while to get back to them, and by the time we did, the Lightning Kid had lost all the confidence and ended up walking his bike around the ‘half-track’ which is the latter segment of the indoor course with smaller bumps. Shark Boy tried the whole racecourse but found his mountain bike wasn’t well suited to the racing gate, as he couldn’t sit in the seat and stay balanced while waiting for the gate to drop. He got to try a loaner BMX bike, but he hated how low the seat was – BMX riders typically stand on the pedals for the entire ride, and absorb the bumps by bending their knees and elbows. Shark Boy seemed to be doing well adapting to the bike and a new style of riding, but apparently he hated every second of it. I thought that would be the end of our foray into this sport, but apparently, the Lightning Kid was adamant about coming back.
On your first visit, you can get a 1 day BMX membership for liability reasons, but subsequent visits mean an annual membership. I have to admit I didn’t want to spring for one just to watch him walk his bike, but thanks to some great coaching by the staff at Abbotsford BMX, he got to ride the half-track the very next visit! Looks like I’ll be investing in the official protective gear (gloves, helmet with face covering, etc) for him, but I’m not sure if it’s something I will take up myself.
I think I’ve hit the big times. This weekend (according to my training plan) called for 2 hours of running, 1 of swimming on Saturday as well as a 5 hour ride on Sunday. I woke up at 5:00 AM on Saturday with running gear laid out in advance in the basement. I even remembered hydration for myself.
Ready to roll… before sunrise.
My weather app said the sun wouldn’t rise until 6:30, so I had over an hour to make up my own course that would keep me under street lights. I went towards my office and ran through the industrial areas there. Seeing a truck yard at sunrise isn’t really my cup of tea, but if you want to fit your run in and be available for your family, you have to make some sacrifices. I had a few peaks at a map and I felt 99% sure I could connect back to the Etobicoke Creek Trail once the sun was up. The problem was I would be running beside the airport runways. I got to a point of no return on one of the airport service roads where there were signs saying that you couldn’t go any further… then I saw two cyclists go exactly where I wanted to run. I followed. It was nerve-racking, as I knew there were plenty of police cars patrolling the area; I’d been seeing them all morning. As I envisioned explaining myself to a police officer, my confidence in knowing my local geography dropped from 99 to somewhere in the 80s… Suddenly I recognized a familiar rolling in the landscape and some of the runway lights, and hopped onto the trail for the run home. I thought I’d be over 19 km and find myself trying to go around the block to get 20, but I only clocked 19 once I was already near home.
On my calves, I was wearing lavender calf sleeves by Legend Compression (Disclaimer: I was given a pair of Legend Compression calf sleeves for review purposes, all opinions are my own). I wear compression sleeves while running (and sometimes cycling) mostly to combat Achilles tendinitis and any other calf tightness/injury. What I noticed about the Legend compression sleeves it that the fabric felt very natural and breathable on my skin, like regular socks, and quite unlike most compression wear I’ve tried. That morning was quite cold and though I don’t regret wearing shorts and short sleeves, having a little extra insulation for my lower legs was nice. I could still feel some twinging in the lowest parts of my calf (which don’t get covered by sleeves – which I prefer to socks for the sake of wearing them in a triathlon where my feet get wet from swimming), but I think I weathered my 19 km run better for having worn them.
I was a lucky man that morning, as the kids had slept in, and I found them and my wife cuddled up together. I snuck in a few cuddles of my own and made pancakes (with extra protein from both Manitoba Harvest and Everlast Nutrition). We had a busy afternoon planned, and to make sure it happened, my wife ran errands while I took the kids to L.A. Fitness. The Lightning Kid has been to their Kids Klub daycare a few times, but it was Shark Boy’s first time; I tried to couch it as less than a play centre, but more than a daycare (which he kind of equates with ‘school’), while I quickly got 1150 m (a.k.a 1.15 km) of swimming in to round out the day’s mileage at 20 km.
I got your Fitspo right here..
That busy afternoon, I mentioned? Two birthday parties. The first was a classmate of Shark Boy’s and they went to Air Riderz trampoline park, which also had some climbing features (complete with safety harnesses and helmets). I took the Lightning Kid down the road to a favourite play centre called ‘Balls of Fun‘ where we goofed off and recreated a scene from the old 90s video game Street Fighter II: the Hadouken ‘Fireball’ technique (minus actual fireball).
I collected them from those two venues and shuttled them to another birthday party, with a Frozen (Lighting Kid favourite) theme and bouncy castle. I don’t need to tell you how well they slept that night. As for myself, I had some nerves before the longest bike ride of my life. I had signed up for the Burlington Mountain Equipment Co-opCentury Ride; 100 km in Niagara Escarpment country. I had put out my gear the night before, and I woke up before everyone else. I dressed in my new gear from RODS Racing. If you don’t know, RODS (Racing for Orphans with Down Syndrome) helps get children with Down syndrome who are currently being housed in orphanages around the world into the loving arms of families who would like to adopt them; the families are ready, the kids are great, all it takes is cash to get around the bureaucracy and logistics. If you would like to help, my donation page is here.
#RedAndBlackAttack
I drove to Burlington’s Hidden Valley Park to find things in full swing; although I was there before 8:30, which I considered early for the 9:00 start, I had just enough time to switch shoes and put the bike together, pick up my numbered bib and take a bathroom break before they wanted us to start lining up on the road to head out; this was around 8:45.
I asked someone in the crowd what their estimate of the number of participants was, and they figured 250. I couldn’t help but notice that I was the only one with a triathlon bike there; I did see one girl with aero-bars on a road bike (much how I used to ride), but I still felt like a freak among what seemed to be a hard-core cycling crowd. The large numbers did make it seem like it would be safer out on any heavily driven roads. The marshals emphasized this was a ride, not a race, and the roads were open to all traffic, so safety first!
The ride started uphill, of course. For the first 5 km or so, I was happy to take an easy meandering pace, but soon it felt too slow. I needed to pace myself to last for 100 km – I knew this, but if the pace felt unnatural, and maintaining it was going to mean taking longer to finish than I was ready to spend on this event, that meant I would have to pass. This is where I seem to have a bit of a disconnect with pure cyclists. They like to ride at least 2 abreast and occupy the whole lane. This is considered the safest practice, I know, because it forces cars to acknowledge that the bicycle is entitled to the entire lane under the highway traffic act. When cars pass, they go around the group in a separate lane. As a triathlete, though, I have an aversion to crossing the centre line, even when there is not oncoming traffic, just because the rules so strictly prohibit it – it can mean disqualification. Plus, it seems dangerous. So I found myself sometimes waiting for opportunities to pass; I don’t think “on your left” is as much of a thing in straight-up cycling.
After some climbing to get over the Niagara Escarpment, there was plenty of flat land to really see what kind of speed you could build up to on flat land. It was a beautiful day, with perfect weather. The first rest stop came at 23 km, and they had bananas, Clif Bars, Pro Bar Base protein bars and Nuun hydration tablets. No porta-potties though; that might have been a little prohibitive for such a small support crew to transport, but I could have used one. From that point, the century (100 km) and 50 k routes split up. That was also the point where I separated from the crowd. Sometimes I rode behind a pair of riders or so, but for the bulk of the ride I was on my own. The course maps they had provided us had a list of ‘cues’ on the back that told you when your next turn would come in terms of total mileage. That came in handy for reassurance, but for the most part I could see the little white arrows painted on the road because they came as such logical junctures. The route was so rural and abandoned that I often forgot that cars could come by. At the second rest stop (48 km) my drink mix (Everlast FUEL with BCAAs and electrolytes, use the code IRONROGUE for a discount), was getting weak from being diluted with the water I had added, so I popped in a NUUN tablets. I have many blogger friends who rave about NUUN, and now I get it. It gave me some nice pep for the remainder of my ride. I didn’t see any of the Pro Bar Cookie Dough flavour that I had promised myself at the second rest stop, and the third rest stop (same location as the first) had run out by the time I got there.
The ride went through so many small villages that I can’t remember the names of them all, but one location I did recognize was African Lion Safari. One of the riders jokingly suggested a detour through there; “What could possibly go wrong?” I asked. Overall on the ride, I had my chain pop off way too much. Other riders suggested replacing the chain, but the bike is still too new. I think the front derailleur needs an adjustment – this is something I have to take up with my bike shop, as it costs me way too much time, and trying to put the chain back on while balancing the bike at the side of the road seems to get a lot harder as my legs get tired. The last 25 km were a bit of a struggle. I can remember thinking at 82 km “I don’t want to do this anymore.” It wasn’t so much that I wanted to quit, but the aero position was hurting my neck and shoulders quite a bit, and to not ride in aero was making the ride slower and ultimately take longer. Still that part of the ride was a net downhill, and all familiar from the ride out, so the kilometres clicked by fairly quickly.
I rolled into Hidden Valley Park after nearly 4 hours of time in the saddle (I paused Garmin tracking during the rest stops) with a big smile of accomplishment on my face. While I was tired, I think my legs would still have responded to the command to run, if I had to, so things are looking up for Barrelman. The local Rotary club was grilling burgers for free and a bike shop had put up a beer tent with a local brew; sadly they only took cash so I have a future date with Cause and Effect by Nickelbrook Brewery.
Century Ride Finisher (minus beer) selfie
I drove home and tried to clean myself up – I had chain grease everywhere: my hands, my face, my legs, the insides of my arms. Then I took the boys to the splash pad; they rode their bikes, showing me maybe someday they’ll be up for long rides too. Trips to the splash pad, long bike rides, birthday parties, swimming, running… I wish the summer didn’t have to end.
What’s the longest bike ride you’ve ever done? How are you consoling yourself over the end of summer?
I’ve been wanting to write up about my experience getting an aero-fit at BikeZone Mississauga with Coach (Kris) Kurzawinski for some time now. When I finally had some blog post writing time available, it was shortly before the Bracebridge Olympic Tri weekend, and I wanted to get my announcement about RODS Racing out there first. The next thing I’m going to spend time on writing will be my Bracebridge Race Recap, but fear not! As usual, I have a cunning plan to provide you with the relevant info, without spending time churning out text and photos. I’ve been playing around with Periscope, and though I’ve made some fairly bad (e.g. a live broadcast of a bike ride where you couldn’t hear a word I was saying thanks to wind and vibration), I think this one turned out OK. I think only a few people saw it live, but I figured out how to edit the video so everything is right side up, and put it on YouTube (My Channel – Please Subscribe!). Here it is.
You might say I crossed an item off my bucket list this weekend – the odd part is that I forgot that it was on my bucket list (insofar as I have one). You see, when I was little, my father and a friend rode their bicycles around Lake of Bays over the course of a day. He’d repeated the feat with my mother a few years later, though I had forgotten that little factoid. At any rate, he told me that it was a challenge worth taking on, and I always thought I would do it one day “when I was grown up”.
I was trying to come up with a good long, training ride to do at the cottage when I remembered all this, so it fell to me and Sable to get the job done. I called it “Tour De Lake of Bays” #TourDeLakeOfBays.
The first 24-25 km of the route were very familiar to me, as I had rode them last week. It was a lot hotter and sunnier this time, though. There is bridge construction in Dorset, which made for a good time to text a status update and take a CLIF Shot (chocolate flavour) gel.
After Dorset came the Highway 117 leg, which probably caused me more suffering than any other part. It was very long and unfamiliar, and though I hoped that it would be flatter thanks to how it hewed close to the lakeshore, I was confronted with the same kind of hills I’d been climbing the whole time in my own backyard parts of Muskoka. It must have gotten monotonous and seemed worse than it was, because the Garmin analysis shows I kept up a speed average of over 25 km/h for over an hour.
When I rolled into Baysville, I was seeing familiar sites. I’ve heard stories of people on long bike rides stopping for Starbucks, or Tim Horton’s or whatnot, but stopping at a brewery would take the cake. I didn’t though, since I knew I wasn’t going to be keeping to my projected 3 hour schedule, and I didn’t want to shirk child-minding duties entirely. I doubt the alcohol would have done much for my safety or performance, but it would have tasted SOOOO good.
While being familar ground, the final stretch of Brunel Road followed by South Portage were the toughest. For starters, there was construction on Brunel Road for the first 3-4 km. I had been forewarned about it, but I figured it would be a closed lane or some narrowing; the road was as good as gone!
I didn’t like taking my brand new bike over that gravelly road, but I didn’t have much choice, and taking it easy for safety was a good excuse to take it easy, and give my legs a rest. When I reached the end of the construction zone, I saw a sign that put me a little on the defensive…
The last part of the ride along Brunel takes you by some very pretty lakes; there’s Shewfelt – which is nearly a pond, and Axel Lake (!) which isn’t too visible from the road. I stopped to take a pic of North Tooke Lake (I think) and it’s one of the nicer landscape pictures I’ve ever taken (at least with the help of an Instagram filter).
I finished the ride back at my starting point with a time of 3:17 and texted for a pick-up. I was pretty spent, and even laid down in the dirt for a bit. Being attacked by bugs made me realize that at least I’m in good enough shape to recovery quickly from when I think I’m all tapped out.
