Monday, March 25, 2013

Keep Going

Advice from Eric

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxGRhd_iWuE&feature=youtu.be

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Progressing

Well! Steve and I have been here about a week and things have been going great. We do some rides together, but both being only children we occasionally venture out solo. Ive logged about 500km over the past week, which isn't insane, but the fact that the riding in Penticton is basically alllllllll climbing it throws an edge into your rides. Most rides over 75km will have over 1500m elevation gain....throw that in day after day(especially coming from the east coast) and it leaves a man quite fatigued(especially a heavy one).
                                                      (exploring the local backwoods Mtns)
The weather has been great as well. Temps are usually hovering around 8 degrees but today was 16! This was very welcome as you can imagine. Because of the pre-mentioned insane climbing you always have to wear extra clothes though because during the ride its not uncommon to encounter snow and to be pretty high up....and much colder.


Living with Steve is pretty good, other than his consistent farting which goes off like clockwork every 43 seconds 24 hours a day(I can hear it in my room even when he's sleeping).Ive made a deal with him that as long as he farts, Im going to jump out and scare him at any opportunity...which has been a useless tactic to stop the farting, but pretty fun on my end. He also uses odd feminine products I find in the bathroom.

The cats are hating each other.....Henry is usually in about 23 fights a day. If its not with the fat grey cat, its with the skinny orange one...or the black female cat. At least hes getting some exercise.

The bikes are great! Ive never ridden a Norco before, and its far from the first brand you would think of when you say "high end road bike" but I think that may be changing. Ive ridden lots of bikes, and Im very happy with the Tactic. (Not just saying that)

The Bike Barn is swamped so Steve and I are going in tonight to pull a couple hours of repairs. Its a great shop, and I love working there so its almost like not working(especially when you throw in a legit espresso machine(free) and a beer fridge(also free after hours of course...))



Friday, March 8, 2013

Onto the New World!

Whoa! Long time no post!

So after a month of fighting through the snow in February in Halifax I have made it to BC to join my team, RideOkanagan.com! This is my second year with the team, so the adjustment is much easier knowing what to expect.

The weather was mostly horrible in Halifax all February this year. Usually you can ride and have a decent training regime but snowstorm after snowstorm delegated me and the cycling house to the basement for hour after hour on the trainer. I spend quite a bit of time in the gym as well. With the lack of riding though I feel like I'm playing catch up though as I sit here in BC in the first week of March.

I also went on a cruise with my mom, aunt and uncle, for the last week or so of February! Ive spent so much time away from my family the past....6-7 years that I try to see them as much as possible. With Moms cancer scare a few years ago, that time means more to me than a week of training at the end of February.

That being said, I was very happy with my weight when I left for the cruise....but not so much now. It just means a lot of work..and starving in the next few weeks.

It feels really, really good to be in BC again. I am in Penticton living with my team director, in the basically the same set up that I had last year.  Ill working a couple days a week at a great shop, The Bike Barn bikebarn.ca where I worked last year as well.

To be honest it feels that I never left last year, and I am super happy to see everyone and live in this small town that was voted best riding in all of Canada! The basement(Where me and Steve live) got a reno as well, so I'm living in style now!

Which brings me to my other bit of news, that my buddy Steve Flanagan from PEI/Halifax has also joined the Ride Okanagan team this year. We are now room mates, team mates, and work mates. His blog is at summerofstevie.blog.ca.

Steve and I hopped on our new rigs from Norco, which is the new bike sponsor for the team yesterday after many painful hours of travelling. To be honest we both felt terrible! A combination of jet lag, with days of travelling and also the altitude in Penticton had us riding like little girls. I never noticed the altitude that much before, but with our heart rates many many beats higher than normal just cruising around it might take some time to get use to it, and also to the new bikes.




Because Im planning on staying out in BC longer than last year I thought I would take my best buddy...Henry this year. So now the house has 4 cats, and Henry is fighting for his place in it to show who's boss! Also coming out in May is M'Lady Meaghan! So hopefully this year will be much less lonely than most years away cycling.