What's that I smell?

That's the smell of a stale blog. One of the millions on the web.
I figured I'd at least post to make sure it doesn't get deleted.

Well we are 18 days away from the Paris to Ancaster race. Will I be ready?
I imagine I will be stronger than last year. but how strong is the Question?

I'm thinking I will get my UCI racing license before the race. I need it to get into the 1st wave, and it turns out the Southern Ontario CX series upped the license requirements for the series , so I need it anyways.

Well I gotta go.

Riding in the rain is fun!

It was rainy today. I didn't ride much. Only a short sprint to work. I barely got wet. Mostly road spray.

But the topic I've been hearing about lately is riding in the rain. It reminds me of a lost blog entry I posted on another site. I resurrected it for here. It was a good ride, one of many rainy rides I've had.
Here it is:

"Today I felt the feeling of being alive.

Sep. 27, 2007
I did it again today. I felt truly alive.
@ about 1:00pm today I went to do a lap on the We Need more Cow Bell cyclocross race course.
There I was alone in Bergoyne Woods. Just me and my bike.
Dark clouds looming off to the west. Temperature was warm so I decided to ride anyways.
I get to the imaginary start line and wait for my heart to settle a little before I do a hot lap.
My clock ticks past zero and I am off. At the same time the drizzle starts to turn into a steady rain. Here I am sprinting along the grass in the middle of the field for no apparent reason. I don't feel the rain yet. All I feel is my legs getting tired and my lungs calling for more air. My brain says go go go.
Turn left, turn right, sprint, go go go over and over again.
About 5 minutes into the 2 mile lap I am starting to get tired and now I feel soaked. It kinda feels like I am riding in a pool.
The rain is now pouring from the sky. The wind whips it into my face as I speed along.
I am bombarded by all my senses at once. I guess the self exerted pain of racing along and the extreme weather has magnified all my senses. Across my face is one of the biggest smiles I have produced in many days.
When I realize that I am smiling and I see the situation that is creating such glee I can identify the feeling now of being truly Alive. I think it might be that all my senses are more acute and right there. There is nothing else to feel but the moment.
Looking back on the ride, I might say that it was a pretty crazy situation. But I had a blast. It was 15 minutes in my day where nothing else mattered. Just get to the finish line was all there was to worry about.
Maybe that is why I ride/race my bike?
While I race along all the worries and troubles of this world disappear. I feel alive to my senses and my surroundings.

Hope you enjoyed the read.
I hope maybe you to will get that feeling of being alive soon."

I'll probably get wet tomorrow morning. It's alright. I enjoy riding wet.

SUNday solo ride.

Slept for 10.5 hours after yesterdays ride. Whew I needed that.

Rolled out of here at 1:00 headed for the Falls and beyond.

Ended up doing a good 74 Km ride



It was a good day on the road. Warm but a little windy out of the WSW at around 20 km/h. It was really had to work to keep the pace around 25 km/h. But the sun was shining and I was in the zone as far as my heart rate was concerned so it was all good. A great day for base miles.

First stop was on Lundy's Lane at Starbucks for an Americano and a marshmello cake. Met a friend there to chat a bit then went to his house to fix his bike a bit. NOT really FIX his bike , like mine is FIXED. But work on it for him. Hooked it up for him and he hooked me up with a home brew americano which was pretty good with the little biscotto er what ever that little bread is called. It hit the spot and helped me work in the wind.

Left there and headed down the Niagara River Parkway for a bit. Remembered that Sara the "First Lady" from the SHCC worked at the Willoghby Museum. So I stopped in there for a squirt in the washroom and checked out her place of employment. Also saw her caad 9 road bike. Pretty sweet.
Went further down the parkway and then the real work started. Headwind all the way back up Marshal rd all the way to the canal. I can't complain. It coulda been windier.
It was good though. A great day for a ride in the beautiful sun.
I couldn't even tell I was riding FIXED until I hit Glenridge rd coming down the hill. It was a blast. Holding off pedaling until I thought I could spinn the rest of the way down. Ended up hitting 53.3 km/h. Spinning my ass off. So fun!

Is it FIXED or Broken?

SO I got ready for a ride saturday by throwing a track cog on the left side of my back wheel and flippin it over. I went with the same sized cog as the free wheel I've been rockin since I got my Kona Major One at the Squeezer.

I rode fixed before, so it didn't take long for me to get used to it. After a couple self kicks in the ass I remembered I couldn't stop pedaling.

42X18 is probably the borderline for small gearing and riding in a group. I was able to keep up to a pace of 30-32 km/h. Anything over that for an extended period was pushin' it. Under that was more comfortable.

I headed up to meet the SHCC gang at the Dump @ Brock University

Got there right on time and rolled out with Tom M, Keith F, and Val and Tim T.

We did a great ride out to Smithville.
Into the wind or a cross wind all the way. It was a chore for me to keep the pace high. But we stayed together and got there in one piece.
I kinda held the group back a bit on the way back down wind. I could only push it up to 32 km/h most of the way. Until we got to the hill at Rockway, then I told them to go ahead as I couldn't descend as fast as them.

Going down the hill was the funnest part of the ride though. Spinning my feet at about 200 rpm trying to keep from bouncing is pretty Freaky! It makes me laugh out loud.

So would I recommend riding a fixed gear bike to anyone? You betcha! It was hard but it was fun too. It wouldn't be as much of a challenge to just ride a geared bike 100 km