I am typing this offline on the subway so referencing anything is pretty much impossible unless it is archived on the Blackberry. Speaking of which, I was going through my old bike routes that I posted to runningmap.com, I saved a link to each route in my outlook notes. I used to be so impressed with myself that I could ride 75 or 80km. Of course previous to this spring - and buying Amy - the last time I rode my bike in a serious way was the late '90s and back then I did not know better - i.e. use back country roads, clip into the pedals. Oh and a steel frame 12 speed with friction downtube shifters is not nearly as easy, or sweet as carbon fibre, Look pedals with STI shifters. Back to my routes though, July 6 of this year is a big date, not that I tried to remember at the time, it was a Sunday, it was also the first time I rode a century.
Here is a thought, I have never done a century without bonking. Well not exactly. The July 6 ride I bonked at about 145~150km, after peeling off from the group and just taking it easy coming home, I though I was tired, it turns out I bonked but I did not know better at the time. A few weeks later we did the Simcoe ride, I think Dan and I both bonked, well maybe Dan was tired but looking back I am pretty sure I bonked, again at around 145km, but I never made a century that time, I got a lift home from Elgin Mills and Woodbine (yes I hang my head in shame). The next century was the ride with Aaron and Sigrid, that was 196.5km, I bonked again around 145km, that time I recall Aaron said "no offence but I think you bonked" Well Aaron none taken, I will go a step further, I was an idiot. I should have been refilling with carbs, every stop I bought, or got, water (bottled or tap) until after I bonked. After I polished off the Endurox I was toast in the making, although I did not have to be. I had granola bars I never touched - oops! The recent 200km ride I did with Aaron I bonked again, although I am pleased to report I was well clear of my 155km barrier, I made it to about 180 or 190km before the tank ran dry, so I did make a century, just not the full ride.
Here is another thought, I am quite possibly the most anal retentive person I know. I lock my bike up underground in the building parking lot, it is a secure location, except that executives also park their cars there. Just because these people can make off or defraud millions of dollars from hard working stiffs and little old ladies does not mean they can drive or park their cars worth shit. Yes, my bike, Erin, got clipped. I want someone to explain to me what moron managed to clip anything that is more than 10meters from the nearest parking spot? The damage is all to the left control leaver, it is all cosmetic, but it is there and it is really upsetting. Time to start a revolution, throw the fat cats into the sea! (Or at least get them to buy me a new control leaver.) Live free, or with a shiny new bike! I am gonna start writing... a little red book. Maybe I better not.
Has anyone ever read Quotations of Chairman Mao? I did. Its actually... well it is exactly what I expected. Mostly, work hard, have lots of children. But I have to confess I was really just interested in seeing how many references there were to Dr. Bethune, I could find just one. It is sad actually in his early years Mao did a lot of good for China, but after the revolution of 1949, the best thing Mao could have done is step aside, but after working so hard to gain power, to step aside would have been impossible.
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Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
On Rantings from a socialist
Sorry for the lack of recent content, I have been rather busy lately.
Anyway I have done a couple group rides since my last post. Friday morning my neighbour and I went for a very short ride, we had to work after all. But we got to climb Brimley out on the bluffs and that is a brutal climb, 20% at times - so nearly as bad as Rattlesnake point. Here is the route or see below.
My neighbour wants to do a 40km ride this Friday, which will probably mean waking up at some insane hour like 3:30 or something... argh!
Saturday I helped my uncle cut lumber at the cottage, they have a wood burning stove for winter heat and no connection to the grid for water or electricity. My brother brought his neighbour up, who had a little too much fun with the chain saw - every dead tree for miles - is now under the cottage in a size suitable for the wood burning stove.
Sunday I went on a BCC group ride, here is the route we took, or see below.
It was a beautiful ride, except for Vivian road. Truth be told, I would tend to think we would be better off turning on Aurora Rd from Leslie and then taking Woodbine north to Vivian. Around Newmarket Vivian (or Mulock as it is called there) is an ugly road, so is Leslie actually, too much traffic. But the ride down 9'th Concession made it all worthwhile. There was a massive wind from the North, made the ride that way pretty hard, but coming south I literally was not even turning but when I looked at my GPS I was clocking in a steady 45km/h. When I started turning I managed to hit 60km/h. The spin around Musselman was a blast, there was a sharp turn that I had to brake for, the posted limit was 20km/h and I was doing over 40, then I started to push, hard and was quickly up over 40 again and had to tilt way over to follow the curve in the road.
On the ride home I was talking with someone and I mentioned to him that there were an awful lot of Stupid Ugly Vehicles. He liked the acronym and pointed out that with the rise in gas prices SUVs were particularly stupid, but at least global warming would be good for us cyclists in Canada - with all the rain climate change has caused, I am not so sure. I came up with a new acronym, it occurs to me that I have a Sport Utility Vehicle, I used it to commute to work, to buy groceries, so it is a utility vehicle and I use it for sport because my SUV is a bicycle I call Erin! Hey she's even black just like the big behemoths that turn our roads into potholed disasters.
Anyway I have done a couple group rides since my last post. Friday morning my neighbour and I went for a very short ride, we had to work after all. But we got to climb Brimley out on the bluffs and that is a brutal climb, 20% at times - so nearly as bad as Rattlesnake point. Here is the route or see below.
My neighbour wants to do a 40km ride this Friday, which will probably mean waking up at some insane hour like 3:30 or something... argh!
Saturday I helped my uncle cut lumber at the cottage, they have a wood burning stove for winter heat and no connection to the grid for water or electricity. My brother brought his neighbour up, who had a little too much fun with the chain saw - every dead tree for miles - is now under the cottage in a size suitable for the wood burning stove.
Sunday I went on a BCC group ride, here is the route we took, or see below.
It was a beautiful ride, except for Vivian road. Truth be told, I would tend to think we would be better off turning on Aurora Rd from Leslie and then taking Woodbine north to Vivian. Around Newmarket Vivian (or Mulock as it is called there) is an ugly road, so is Leslie actually, too much traffic. But the ride down 9'th Concession made it all worthwhile. There was a massive wind from the North, made the ride that way pretty hard, but coming south I literally was not even turning but when I looked at my GPS I was clocking in a steady 45km/h. When I started turning I managed to hit 60km/h. The spin around Musselman was a blast, there was a sharp turn that I had to brake for, the posted limit was 20km/h and I was doing over 40, then I started to push, hard and was quickly up over 40 again and had to tilt way over to follow the curve in the road.
On the ride home I was talking with someone and I mentioned to him that there were an awful lot of Stupid Ugly Vehicles. He liked the acronym and pointed out that with the rise in gas prices SUVs were particularly stupid, but at least global warming would be good for us cyclists in Canada - with all the rain climate change has caused, I am not so sure. I came up with a new acronym, it occurs to me that I have a Sport Utility Vehicle, I used it to commute to work, to buy groceries, so it is a utility vehicle and I use it for sport because my SUV is a bicycle I call Erin! Hey she's even black just like the big behemoths that turn our roads into potholed disasters.
What ride would be complete without pictures, sadly most of the ones I am in I look like I was in the middle of being stung by a bee.
I really was not in that much pain. (Actually I was not in much pain at all.)
Okay here is a story that happens to be true. Republican, or at least conservative columnists have found a way to blame the latest banking crisis on the democrats. It seems some minor legislation passed in the late 1970s which required banks to consider making loans to black people is the cause of the multi-hundred billion dollar subprime loan fiasco. In other news, Jews now being blamed for World War II and the bubonic plague! (Damned neo-conservatives, in another time or place they would be call holy inquisitors. You know the more I think about it the more truth their is in that remark, the Inquisition did not care for facts, did not have a problem with torture, believed they were doing gods work...)
Anyway I posted a response on an American political cartoonist blog where one such column was printed, my post is below. (Spelling and crammer mostly fixed up here.)
Someone just forwarded me a column by a Massachusetts 'conservative' (I use quotes since there really isn't very much that is conservative in the batch of neo-cons running DC these days) columnist. The talking points, in fact the entire article was virtually identical to this one. Holy smokes, do Republicans have only one modus operandi?
The problem is greed, pure and simple. Everyone wants more, the $400 million executive bonus, to the subprime loan for a new car (or to pay medical bills?) Regulation to put a check on greed and prevent bubbles, such as the Glass-Steagall act repealed by the Republican congress of the late 1990s is critical. There is in a word blame enough for all, but truly a lot of the blame can be placed squarely on the shoulders of those who drafted banking law over the last ten or so years (the banking lobby) and those who embolded them by enacting these laws (the Republican congress.)
Anyway would republican columnists just shut up. They (the Republicans) destroyed this country's standing in the World. They destroyed much of the military capacity of this country, they are destroying the economy, what can they possibly do next? Just shut up and move to Beijing please!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
On working too hard and decent drivers
Its easy, too easy, to bitch about all the inconsiderate drivers, of which this city is over crowded, but today I ought to tip my hat to the guy (or woman?) in a Nissan Murano. They had an Ironman finisher border around the licence plate and they... you may need to sit down for this bit... they yielded to me! I was in the bike lane on the right hand side of the road, I had to turn left, and they let me in. It was a really cool experience, not feeling like a big target to drivers.
I have come to an important realisation regarding my body, if I exercise too hard, be it skate, cycle, swim or run, when I am near the wall my body throws out a sudden burst of power and then gives out almost completely. I've seen it happen a million times, well not a million, but a whole lot, while skating and it has happened once or twice riding. (Probably swimming too, but I hardly swim anymore, ever since I became a certified lifeguard I pretty much stopped swimming.) On a recent ride I was falling to the back of the pack, suddenly that burst kicked in and I was in front, way in front and then I hit a red light and that was that, from there to the coffee break I was struggling to keep above 20km/h, getting dropped was unavoidable despite generous offers from other guys in the BCC.
The same thing has happened in skating, actually a lot more often, the burst then the drop. I need to find a way to know, this burst is it, after that I am spent, unlike the other more modest bursts. If I knew that I could better ration my strength. Something for me to think about.
Okay I have to rant for a second on US Politics. It seems the Senior Senator from Arizona and Republican nomination for President has decided to suspend his campaign because he feels he cannot cope with the pressures of being a presidential nominee and manage the vast US economy (as one of the one hundred US Senators) at the same time. I've got to ask, what is he going to do if he is elected president and there is a foreign crisis during a period of poor economic performance? If ever there was a person less qualified to be president... his name would be George Walker Bush, governor of Texas circa February of 2000 through to the present time.
I have come to an important realisation regarding my body, if I exercise too hard, be it skate, cycle, swim or run, when I am near the wall my body throws out a sudden burst of power and then gives out almost completely. I've seen it happen a million times, well not a million, but a whole lot, while skating and it has happened once or twice riding. (Probably swimming too, but I hardly swim anymore, ever since I became a certified lifeguard I pretty much stopped swimming.) On a recent ride I was falling to the back of the pack, suddenly that burst kicked in and I was in front, way in front and then I hit a red light and that was that, from there to the coffee break I was struggling to keep above 20km/h, getting dropped was unavoidable despite generous offers from other guys in the BCC.
The same thing has happened in skating, actually a lot more often, the burst then the drop. I need to find a way to know, this burst is it, after that I am spent, unlike the other more modest bursts. If I knew that I could better ration my strength. Something for me to think about.
Okay I have to rant for a second on US Politics. It seems the Senior Senator from Arizona and Republican nomination for President has decided to suspend his campaign because he feels he cannot cope with the pressures of being a presidential nominee and manage the vast US economy (as one of the one hundred US Senators) at the same time. I've got to ask, what is he going to do if he is elected president and there is a foreign crisis during a period of poor economic performance? If ever there was a person less qualified to be president... his name would be George Walker Bush, governor of Texas circa February of 2000 through to the present time.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
On Missing An Escape The Don Ride
First a video I have posted to YouTube. Since I am no good at video editing (well I could hack this, but I'm too busy) I will just say, turn the sound off, you really don't need to hear the wind noise and my lame jokes at the very beginning - and they really are lame, like not even worth groaning about.
And here are a bunch of images in case you have not gotten your fill of Lake Simcoe (or me)!
In unrelated news, I gave blood yesterday, I documented that previously. It was donation number 62, or potentially 186 lives saved. I must admit though, donating blood is a pain from an athletic stand point. Normally I pass three or four street cars every day on my commute into the office. Today I had to really fight just to pass the first tram. Yesterday I was riding up a hill and I got completely winded, now granted I was climbing, but still recovery time is a lot worse and I am frantic for oxygen by the time I finish a sprint - far more frantic than normal. I suppose I should expect this, but it sure would be nice if I could be generous and donate without actually suffering. Oh well, I guess my suffering is pretty small compared with someone who needs a liver transplant.
There was an article in today's paper, the author, John Barber, proposed that Yonge Street be reduced from four lanes to two, one in each direction, then widen the sidewalks and make bike lanes that are physically separated from the road, with planters or something similar. What a great idea, only I've got one better. Reduce Yonge Street to two lanes and then do the same thing on Eglinton and Queen Street. In short make downtown bike accessible to normal people, i.e. people unlike me who are unwilling to ride among the 2 ton killing machines often benignly called cars.
In a perfect world, nobody would drive. But then in a perfect World I wouldn't need to commute.
And here are a bunch of images in case you have not gotten your fill of Lake Simcoe (or me)!
In unrelated news, I gave blood yesterday, I documented that previously. It was donation number 62, or potentially 186 lives saved. I must admit though, donating blood is a pain from an athletic stand point. Normally I pass three or four street cars every day on my commute into the office. Today I had to really fight just to pass the first tram. Yesterday I was riding up a hill and I got completely winded, now granted I was climbing, but still recovery time is a lot worse and I am frantic for oxygen by the time I finish a sprint - far more frantic than normal. I suppose I should expect this, but it sure would be nice if I could be generous and donate without actually suffering. Oh well, I guess my suffering is pretty small compared with someone who needs a liver transplant.
There was an article in today's paper, the author, John Barber, proposed that Yonge Street be reduced from four lanes to two, one in each direction, then widen the sidewalks and make bike lanes that are physically separated from the road, with planters or something similar. What a great idea, only I've got one better. Reduce Yonge Street to two lanes and then do the same thing on Eglinton and Queen Street. In short make downtown bike accessible to normal people, i.e. people unlike me who are unwilling to ride among the 2 ton killing machines often benignly called cars.
In a perfect world, nobody would drive. But then in a perfect World I wouldn't need to commute.
On A Few More Good Photos
All photos were taken by Aaron, I am including my personal favourites - that I have not already included in previous posts. There were almost all taken as we rode along Lake Drive on the south shore of Lake Simcoe. (The image of the water bottles I include mostly for humor value, that one was taken at a Tim Hortons on Dalton road, just south of Lake Drive.) 
I like the last one because a careful eye will notice that my legs are blurred but my upper body is in focus. Aaron managed to keep a very steady hand for that shot, recall he was on a bike as well, that is talent.
I like the last one because a careful eye will notice that my legs are blurred but my upper body is in focus. Aaron managed to keep a very steady hand for that shot, recall he was on a bike as well, that is talent.
Monday, September 22, 2008
On Past Rides and Recovery
I am going to donate blood today so I will be off the saddle for the next couple days, except of course for the commute to and from the office. This is probably a good thing, I need to recover from the Saturday ride. Except I really will miss the freedom that comes with the saddle.
This Saturday (Sept. 27) I have to go to my Aunt and Uncle's cottage to help them prepare it for the Winter, Lesley said I should ride there. The cottage is in Rosseau, about 220km from home, I don't think I can do it. For one thing I would need to find a safe route, for another, the roads near there are not exactly well paved. (That fact that I will have just donated blood makes it even more foolish for me to even consider riding there.) And then by the time I arrived I would be ready to crash, I'd be in no shape to cut wood or whatever else they need help with.
I read the following in Today's Globe And Mail, in the context of Georg's anonymous posts it seems relevant (yes I am still on that crap, but I am getting over it).
Anyway I have an appointment at the clinic, time for me to give up a pint of AB+. If I have time later I'll post some more YouTube videos of the ride from Saturday. Aaron's a good photographer.
This Saturday (Sept. 27) I have to go to my Aunt and Uncle's cottage to help them prepare it for the Winter, Lesley said I should ride there. The cottage is in Rosseau, about 220km from home, I don't think I can do it. For one thing I would need to find a safe route, for another, the roads near there are not exactly well paved. (That fact that I will have just donated blood makes it even more foolish for me to even consider riding there.) And then by the time I arrived I would be ready to crash, I'd be in no shape to cut wood or whatever else they need help with.
I read the following in Today's Globe And Mail, in the context of Georg's anonymous posts it seems relevant (yes I am still on that crap, but I am getting over it).
Our modern culture, come to think of it, is one long string of attack ads – through YouTube videos, satirical Web pages and gotcha e-mails, we are constantly holding up our public figures, and even each other, to scathing ridicule and scorn.
Most times on the Internet we hide behind anonymity to do so. (Will the reader, for instance, who called me “patriarchy's handmaiden” please step forward? Just for a little chat.)
The truth is, even if we're not the ones on the attack, we're all complicit, quickly forwarding the best nasty e-mails or hurrying to YouTube to witness the next takedown. It doesn't say much for our collective humanity, does it, when during elections the political ads that work the best are the most vicious ones?
Anyway I have an appointment at the clinic, time for me to give up a pint of AB+. If I have time later I'll post some more YouTube videos of the ride from Saturday. Aaron's a good photographer.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
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