Tip to Tip

I decided to do the Biking for Breakfast Challenge over the 8 Hours of Gore because I haven't done the tip to tip thing before, and it was going to be much cheaper than the 8 hour jaunt through the woods. I figured I could pull out about 8-10 hours on the roadie, but that on a MTB might be a bit rough.

I also realized Im partially retarded when I decided to do the tip to tip(285km) on an antique Peugeot I had recently restored. I tried to go as close to the real deal days of racing complete with spare tubular strapped around my shoulders, steel bottles and of course the old rig. I topped everything off with some wool and an ashtray to smoke for good measure. I retained some of my sanity by keep my clipless pedals and chamois creme....

There were a few of us who headed to North Cape the evening before to stay on the gym floor as to forgo the 3am departure from Charlottetown the next morning. The bus ride was fine and the dinner provided at the school was just dandy. It was early to bed as the crew of us awoke at 4:30 to make our way to North Cape.

To my surprise the Jay boys showed up which proved to be good company. They also pushed the pace a little bit faster than I was planning and within 15km I realized the decision to ride the old bike was a big mistake.

We pushed on and the first 150km flew by. I popped my Ipod in one ear and the soothing voice of Lady Ga Ga helped to numb the pain in the legs, it also brought back memories of french sport directors singing in perfect English who could normally not say a word in my mother tongue.

It was when the hills hit in Bonshaw that Trivett and the Jay boys put down the pepper. Maybe it was the 150km before that, or it being the longest ride since May, or even the fact my smallest gear was a 42x19 but I was off the back like it was 1992. I huffed and puffed as Im sure I looked like I was attacking my own bicycle but couldn't hold strong with those boys.

I coasted into Charlottetown with Matt and a few other guys and I was pleased the see we weren't stupid late, and in fact the Jay boys hadn't left the mid-ride feed station yet as we arrived so quickly it simply hadn't been set up!

Along with this my feed bag with my fresh supply of cigars also hadn't arrived so I was forced to keep the lungs clean for the further kms.

We sat around for enough time to grab a bowl of soup, some bread and a coke and off we went again. The final kilos weren't much fun as it was a steady push all the way to east point. Many of us(myself included) bonked hard but managed to pull it back together enough to finish.

One things for sure, no one was talking the last 100km......

The final 20km were the toughest for me. We maintained a steady pace and the pain of a consistently slipping seat post was setting in. I relegated myself to sitting on the back avoiding all pulls as I knew that would be the straw that broke the camels back. Once again Cory did the brute of the work and we rolled into East Point in 8h 3m. I was cooked....that's for sure.

Trivett proved he is the real deal and stayed strong the whole ride.....scary strong.

I was fully done by the end of this and the only stop I made after was Macdonalds to get a chicken burger and fries....Jesus it was good.... then promptly went to bed at 8:30.

(the fini)

I was up early the next morning at 7 and headed for work...anther day of Kayaking.

Opus Stakh

(MTB bikes look better dirty)

I figured it was time for a new ride. The problem however was the I had no coin to throw down. After thinking about new Mountain bikes for months I decided to take the plunge and borrow some cash. With my strategically laid down new part purchasing along with using some of the newer parts from the old rig I managed to put together a pretty sweet new ride for myself.

I decided on the Opus Stakh. Opus has always been good to me and my Fhast was one of the best riding bikes I have ever ridden, so it wasn't a hard decision to stick with them. There have been many Stakh's floating around PEI the past few years and everyone Ive spoken to has always had good things to say. Because of this I figured I wasn't going to get any bad surprises.

When I pulled then new frame out of the box I was shocked to see I had been given the 2009 paint scheme. Most of Opus paint jobs you either love or hate, and for me this was one of the worst. In my opinion it looks like the french tried to pay tribute to the Crucifixion of Christ with the black, white, and crimson color combined with the weird barb-wiring like font.... I was honestly thinking of painting the front triangle before building it up. hah

I waited a week or so for the remainder of the parts to roll in and between hectic work and drink schedules I build up the new girl. To my surprise and shock the bike doesn't actually look that bad built up. I threw on a mix of Sram XO, Mavic CrossMax wheels which are always solid and the new Fox F100. Ive never ridden a Fox but their reputation is something to hear.

First Ride:

Unreal. That's all I have to say. I took the rig out to the trusty St Catherine's trail on a down pour kinda day(only days I have off really). Despite the rain I had the new rig looking at me begging to be ridden. I have test ridden a few duellys of many brands in my time, but never liked any of them which was why I stuck to the tried and true hardtails until this bike.

I imagine its the VPP technology that Opus used to design the bike but its simply unreal. The bike handles great and instead of feeling like your always working against the bike , it feel like it is complimenting each pedal stroke. I find the bike is the best tool Ive ridden yet for finding flow on trails that have a hidden line. The Fox fork is everything I imagined it to be in a dream fork, and I can see why people have been ignoring the few extra grams in favor of them.

The Sram components are tried and true and have always proven to work well. I would go as far to say I prefer Sram over Shimano XTR now.....which was a bold statement even a few years ago.

I haven't run into any problems with the rig after a few weeks of riding. Its still proving to be a dream machine for me. I find myself looking for the odd couple hours that I can rush out to the trail to get a quick ride on the rig.....its proving to be something that motivates me to ride!

I'm moving to Halifax in a few weeks and I'm looking foreword to doing some exploring on the new rig on some gnarlier trails and testing its limits!

eeeeek

Life has been moving very rapidly, and find that it has taken a complete 180degree shift from merely 2 months ago. As you all know I was racing in Europe and now I'm living the chilled life here on PEI. I went back to my old job of being a kayak guide which is pretty stress free and also a great way to stay outdoors. Along with that Ive been pulling the odd shift at Smooth Cycle.

I haven't dropped off my bike duties completely and still ride often. My interest in cycling has never wained but sometimes the motivation to pound out a hard 5 hour ride does. With that being said though I hopped into the 100km Mtb race Concour the Pass with Ardelle and Brucious. It proved to be a tough day for me though day for though as I suffered from heat stroke and pulled out at the 70km mark. During the last section of single track I wondered whether I was going to make it out alive as I was so dizzy riding the rig. Luckily I had the shops Scott duelly equipped with a Fox Talas which in all honesty did most of the riding for me in the last parts. Not only was I not accustom to the distance, but also the high heat just killed this guy. Bruce had a great race and is showing great form now. The old man took the show...you know who I mean.

I ordered a new MTB being a Opus Stackh. I plan on throwing some of the parts from the Fhast onto the frame along with ordering a couple new bling pieces to spruce it up. When I ordered it I asked for white, but received last years color......which you either love or hate as with most Opus paint schemes.....this one Im not so much a fan, but I think it will grow on me. As it stands I'm waiting on a new derailleur then the bad boy is ready to be built up.....ohhhhh exciting!

I think life is a continual search for balance and Im constantly working on it in pursuit of happiness. PEI in the summer offers this and I find work, riding,fun, and dancing are fairly well balanced in my life right now. Im still throwing in the odd race here and there which is good for me. The problem with racing is that it falls after a Saturday night. Hah.

(Damn bridge was out...added over an hour to ride for 10pm roll in)

Spell Check works in Canada

Life has been moving on. After France I absolutely needed some time off. I needed to see my friends and family and have some beers and live the easy life here on old PEI. I think I hit the rest a bit too hard as its been about a month since Ive done a race. hah

Im starting to get back on the bike mixing between some mountain bike rides and the odd ride with the boys. The itch to ride and race is gingerly coming back. I felt my life was so one sided in France that when I rolled back into Canada I had to go the opposite direction for a little while....which was a success for sure. I find myself looking to go back on the rig again...which is a good feeling. Toward the end of my time in France I was getting burned out thats for sure.

The Cyst has gone....It lingered for a good few weeks and I tried to pop it a few times with no luck as I didn't have the "balls' to go as deep as I needed to. One night I simply got tired of the damn thing and drove that needle in as far as the bite piece could take and managed to get to the root of the bastard. Its good as new now!

I haven't been taking my camera out on rides mostly from being absent minded so no pics this post.

IN other news Im selling my SRM. Mainly because I want the money to put toward MTB parts and because having the numbers there drive me crazy. It works great, but not for a guy who is slightly obsessive compulsive. hah $1700 or best offer.

New Lands

Racing has been going horrible to tell you the truth. I was in the Tour de La Manche late last week. It was a 5 stage, 4 day race and is one of the premeier races in the region which has a very high calibre of racers, mostly filled out with DN1 and Dn2 teams.

The first stage proved to play out for me as most other races have done this year. I rode well the first 50km. When we went into the hills I got a flat and had to chase. I managed to get a horrible wheel change from a friendly team that too way too long, and I also got a Campagnolo cassette which didnt work very well at all. Its tough trying to get back onto the pack after a series of tough climbs, especially when the pack is 150 guys strong and pushing it. Needless to say I didnt make it.

So, becuause I didnt make it back on I rode that last 100km by myself into a the head wind(pt to pt) with the broom wagon 15 feet behind me. My lead moto got lost 3 times and twice I had to stop and wait for them to look at the map of where to go. It was brutal.

Ive been nursing a solid cyist that I got form riding my TT bike a few weeks ago and nothing seems to make it better. I even got a perscription form the doctor for it, but its still keeping on.....Anyway. So I rode he TT a good 14km. Nothing crazy..I wasnt the best but wasnt the worst either. The problem was the 20 minutes hard effort with MR cyist caused it to inflamme like crazy.

I started the next stage later in the day, but pulled out after 50km as it was like riding with marbles under your skin...what a nightmare.

So that was it for my racing in France. I go back to Canada......tomorrow actually...and Ill be looking foreward to it.

I had 3 days left in Flers and couldnt ride becuase of Mr cyist so I decided to take a little trip up to Caen to help the time pass. Its a bigger city and there is more going on. I mostly just walked around and did some shopping. Nothing crazy. Its and old town right on the coast of the continent. You may know it as its the closest city to the Juno beaches where the Allies landed during the war.

I knew I would probably find some English here. It seems like finding English people is what I would think buying drugs is like. Everyone seems to know someone who is from England or is fluant in English. The thing is you have to ask, and they may or may not know depending whether they like you or not.

I had my ears open all day listening for the framilier English jibberish when finally at the end of the day I heard two gals speaking English to each other. Now, this is where it gets tricky as you dont want to appear like some crazy person. Basically what I said to them was "You speak English! want to be friends?!"

So this is how it went down. The two gals are here for school to better their French and they are from differant parts of the US. We later got some pizza and met up with two of their friends form England and had a few beers in an Irish Pub. It was great!

Being in an Irish Pub speaking English is very bizzare for me. When ordering you definetly get a shock when you realize your not in either Ireland or Canada for that matter.

It ended up beign a great night. The next day I bummed around the town a bit and headed down south to Flers. Here I sit at the computer desk with my life skattered all over the floor as I have to pack and do laundry...tie some loose ends and fit my life back into the suitcase before heading to the Great White North.

Uncertain Days

(Canada comes out on top!)

No posts in awile but a few interesting things have been happening. Zack and I went to Mont St Michelle last week. It is a huge attraction in Europe, but I had never heard of it until Benoit mentioned it. Its basically an old Abbey that was made in 700Ad, which turned into a jail and a few other things throughout the years. Words cant do it justice, as its turely amazing to see. It was nice to be purely a tourist for a day.





The real fun started later that night when Benoit dropped us off at the train station. No big deal. He was headed to see his girlfriend who lives in the area, and the plan was the take the train back to Flers for the night.

We soon found out that there is only three trains that depart from that town in the course of a day, and of course we had missed all of them. Well friends, we didnt really have many options of what to do. I miraculously had Francks number in my bag so we called him in Flers to see if he could get us, but he wasnt home. Zack and I then walked to an internet cafe and facebook stalked Benoit to get his cell number. We tried calling him to see if we could devise a new plan, but it turned out Bens cell had died.

Well it seemed Zack and I were shit out of luck(excuse my French). We walked around the town with the ten oclock hour approaching and went into random bars to see if we could use their phones, to make a long distance calls to Flers. Of course with this I had to buy beer at each place. Zack doesnt drink so I found myself with 3 beer into me at 3 differant bars within an hour.

Anyone who knows me knows Im a cheap date, and I was feeling pretty good by this point. Also, it had becoome obvious that no one was answering their phones and we should find a place to stay for the night. The train station seemed like the best option, but was something each of us were looking to get out of.

Keep in mind I dont speak french well, Im basically useless to tell you the truth. Any progress we had made was solely from Zacks french skills, which he tells me arent very good. If it were up to me to get us home and we had gotten ahold of someone, I would have no idea how to get the message accross that were stuck in a town 100kms away. My key role in this was to drink the beer that got us the use of the telephone.

So, Zack and I walking around this cool little town when we spot a group of 4 girls. We walk up the them and Zack speaks french when they abruptly cut him off and say "We speak English" in perfect English! Turns out we meet 4 gals who are teachers. Ones from England, ones from Mexico who speaks perfect English and the rest are from France who also speak English well.

I instantly have a mini freak out, as other than Zack this is my first face to face conversation with anyone who speaks English in over a month, Ho daisy.

So we head to the bar. We all get drinks and I have a couple more beer which puts me in a good mood. The ladies offer us to stay at their place for the night and it ends up being a great night, and an even better story.

The next day Zack and I wake up early and head out to explore this little town that proves to be a sight in itself. Its directly on the water and reminds both of us Maritimes boys, of home. Feeling the salty air and seeing the active fishing harbour is something only a guy from the Maritimes can appreciate.


With that we get some breakfast and wait for the train to take us to Flers. An omlette and a few coffees later we meet up with a brother and sister from Austrailia that just finished an extensive bus tour of Europe. They were quite the cats and we chatted for a good 45 minutes before they had to take off to find a rental car.



We made it home later that day with tired bodies and the scent of adventure still in our minds. It was the random and uncertain days like that, that will stay with me as memories from this trip.

No Blue in France.

This week is an easier week for me here in France. Easy weeks are dangerous buisness, as there is the potential to go stir crazy. Im not one that likes waking up and having nothing to accomplish throughout the course of the day, so this leads me to have to fill my time with something when the bike demands only a few hours a day.

Ive been having a hard time sleeping as of late. Wether this is from too much on my mind, or too much time at the coffee shop I dont know. Most likely its a combination of both.

As mentioned, in France they dont have coffee shops per se....just bars that happen to serve coffee. I have carved a spot in a couple of small bars here in Flers, and each has its own unique characteristics and benefits.

One is the 'happin' spot in town I guess you could say. Its right in the center of town and it draws a lot of the youth of the town. the atmosphere is good, and the coffee ok. I always feel at odds with the manager though. In realilty, I only go for coffee and the odd beer which doesnt amount to much money spent at once. The fact I dont speak French seems to make it difficult for everyone and sometimes it seems like Im the odd ball of the place.

(The Old Man Bar)

The other place I know as the 'Old Man Bar'. Its a small place tucked away in the corner of Flers. I call it the old man bar as there is only old men and sketchy Turks that go there. The bartender is a solid guy. Ive never been able to have a real conversation with him obviously, but I noticed one day his hands were that of a working mans hands in a former life. This guy would have no use for something as silly as a pair of oven mits. In my mind I picture him tending a farm or being a mechanic and giving it all up one day to open up HIS bar, accomlishing his dream after a lifetime of manual labour.

The coffee is cheap and the beer is good here.

Of course the hip bar seems to draw in the few attractive women that Flers has. Its nice to sit and simply hear people talk who are your age. So here is the draw back, Do I go to the place with the cute gals and the sketchy Turks, or the place with the unreal bartender with the old men and the sketchy Turks?

Either way I cant talk with anyone, so in reality it doesnt matter. I guess varition is the spice of life when it comes down to it. A bar to suit your mood when the mood strikes. When you only know how to order one type of coffee and one type of beer, consistant change in scenery becomes very important.

Clear Days

I raced in the beer league this weekend. There was a higher end race that the team also went to but there was only so many riders they could send. Since Ive been sucking as of late I got to race in the beer league.

Keep in mind, a beer league race in Canada means that some of the riders have beer guts....but in France they are old pros and upcomming strong guys. Since people have a 'relaxed' work schedule in France, everyone has a ton of time to train aswell. Beer league also brings out about 100 guys at least, even with another big race going on.

About 85% of the races that Ive raced in France, the break has always gone within the first 20km or so. Keeping this in mind for this race I had a good warm up and tried to get in everything that moved. I had some great attacks, and managed to be at the front and got in about 3-4 good breaks but they didnt stick and only lasted about 10 minutes or so.

I rode my ass off until the 50km mark and I thought to myself "Well Ryan, maybe it'll come down to a bigger group today." The course was pretty flat so it was probable. After 5 km of sitting in the pack I looked up and saw the pack split. It was one of those breaks where you knew it was the break of the day.

I thought to myself why me...and moved to the front again and attacked to try to bridge up. I was in no mans land for a good 5-8 minutes when a couple other guys bridged up. We worked for about 20km to try to bridge up but we couldnt find the last bit of juice to get up there. Even in France it seems there are guys who want to bridge up and guys who just want to look cool for their friends, and we had a couple of these guys which didnt make life easy. It was in this group that I finished. I rolled in about 35th or something.

This time of year co-incides with allergy season, and today was quite the show. There wasnt a time when my nose felt clear. Most people wouldnt know, but the farmers blow(close one side of your nose with your finger, and blow) is a constant action among all us cyclists. Usually by the end of the race your covered in both your own and other peoples spit and snot. Its not uncommon for someones snot to get carried by the wind into your face. Its funny, because at the time you dont really think about it, as its just something that happens, but if it happened to me on the street I would be pretty disgusted.

I caught myself walking down the street in Flers and had the urge to clear my nose. I had a finger on one side of my nose to blow...when I caught myself and realized that this is something not to do in normal life. hah.

During the ride with Arnault(Bens brother) last week he came around me and I didnt see him as he pased. Just as he passed I spit out a pretty solid piece of spit...and caught him right in the hip..dead on. A big "ahhhhhh' was let out by both of us and I sincerly appologised in my best French as it was an accident. He relaized this and I whipped my loogie off of him with my hand and rubbed it on my shorts...again appologising.

When was the last time you spit on a FDJ rider?

Lucky 300th

This is the 300th post on The Fine Grind!

I had a great training week this week, a good hard 3 hour ride with a chill 4 hour ride yesterday. Benoits brother decided to hop in with us. He's an unreal guy who you can sence would never think a negative thing toward anyone. He has absolutely no conceided head on him. This for someone who dabbles between the French National team, and FDJ Protour team. Good Company.

The people here in France have treated us Canadians so well during our stay. I could not ask for anything more and the hospitality has been simply unreal. To take someone you have never met, accept them into your home, feed them for months, and never ask for anything in return is humbling.

One of the things that has been hard on me living in France is that my french is not good enough to actually communicate with these people. I can sence the quality of these people and I know under differant circumstances many of these guys would be my best friends. Because we cant speak, my relationships stop at simple greatful gestures and smiles. It really is a damn shame. Its something I know Ill regret, but not something that I cant really remedy.

The weather has been holding out, and we have a nice day again. I got a tubular flat on the weekend. Because you have to replace the tire this is usually a huge pain in the ass and can be very expensive($30-$120) so its not something you want to do often.

You know cycling is ingrained in the culture when you can buy Vittoria tubulars at the grocery store. No Joke!

Rough Stuff

The weather has been great here. The boys and I are all rocking pretty good sun-burns/tans and I might spend some time in the sun today to chase away the Casper appearance.

Traning went great this week, the races however did not. We started out Tuesday as Zack and I had a great interval session during a three hour ride. The next day I was pretty stiff and didnt feel particularily perky but we did put in a good 4 hours regardless. Im ashamed to say I bonked a little bit toward th end, but thats how it goes. Either way I felt I recovered well, and was set for the the races this weekend.

The DN1 race on Saturday was pretty bad. For some reason on the first climb I felt I didnt have any power and just lost contact with the main group going into the windy section. It was wierd because my climbing legs this year arent great, but they werent that bad.

I honestly set it aside as a mental barrier. Saything that it probably wasnt my legs but just my head, and that I may have went into the race not full mentally focused as I should have been.

The next morning the questions were answered as I woke up sick. Having another race that day I didnt feel great about it. I suited up and rode the first 40 km, but pulled out after that feeling pretty shitty.

This season has been like that. When ever you think the match get lit, it quickly gets blown out. I still have plenty of matches left in reserve, but its just frustrating to have the good legs one day and bad ones the next.

In other news(or lack there of) We now have four English channels in Chez Benoit. They are CNN, France 24, Sky news and Russia news TV. CNN is the staple here and I find myself watching hte same programs at least 3 times before they get replaced. Its great to see actually. Simply having English tv in the background is kind of comforting.

From what Ive gathered there is nothing going on in the world other than the Volcano errupting in Iceland. Its on about 23 hours a day. As most of you know most of Europe is grounded and France is no exception. Here in Normandy the air was definatley bizzare for a couple days last week. Zack and I figured it was from the Volcano.

I bought a killer coffee grinder in a flea market here. Its made in Holland and is pretty sick if you ask me. I havent used it yet because surprisingly its very difficult to find decent whole beans in France. It makes you earn your coffee.

In the Mind

I had a decent race on the weekend. It wasnt a crazy high-end one, just a regional France race but it was the first time this year where I felt really great. Honestly, I felt like myself for the first time in a couple years. I didnt get any crazy results but I felt I had decent power and managed to get a top 20 or so.

I missed the winning break but toward the end of the race Zack put out an attack and only a couple of us went with him so we finished in the second group a few minutes back. The course was great being a true roulier course with a ton of wind thrown in.

Yesterday Ben, Zack, Franck and I went to the Normandy beaches to see where the European continent was taken back from the Germans during WW2. It was a team effort with Canadian, English, and American soldiers. Being a history buff it was bizzare to see the places that Ive watched in history documentaries over the years.

All of France gives you the feel that the war is still in recent memory. It wasnt long ago the WW2 happened here. 60-70 years is a blink of an eye in France when you consider a lot of the houses and buildings are over 200 years old.

The beaches and area itself is an interesting place. I got the impression that it was(and still is) a tourist destination as the beaches are similar in beauty to that of PEI or tropical locations. It was difficult to picture the sight of them with the water being red for many days after the landings.

In for the long haul

Race again this weekend. I feel better going into the race this week compared to last. We've had some great rides this week and the household is very positive.

(Ben crashed last weekend)

As mentioned Im living with team-mate Benoit, a 24 year old Butcher and Zack Garland from Newfoundland. Honestly this has probably been the best living situation Ive ever been in for cycling. Every night we usually make dinner together, we share all of our food, and cleaning duties seem to get done without anything said.

(Thats a load-bearing poster)

We all seem to have differant strengths in the kitchen and the meals have all been great. On top of that becuase Ben is a butcher meat is cheeeeeap!

Ive been thinking about the Biking for Breakfast Challenge on PEI this summer. I've never done it, but Id love to on the Bartali. Hopefully I can get that rig rolling by then. I would hope to do it on that old bike, along with a vintage jersey I bought here in France. It would be sweet to rock out for the 300km in full vintage style. Ideally Id like to do it only with red wine to drink, and a baguette strapped to the top-tube for food.

Ive slowly been buying and stealing momentos from France. Ricard is a harsh drink everyone seems to be in love with here. I enjoy it the odd time, but only the odd time.

I obtained the ashtray with the intention of somehow strapping it to my handlebars for the BFBC to have the odd cigar during the ride.