Wednesday, October 31, 2007

I'm a winner

Pub night last night for the carpenters. Cheep beer, nachos and wings. Put those carpenters to shame with the amount of food I consumed compared to the rest of them. Plus scored a bunch of raffle tickets, and won. A lot. I had 7 tickets, 4 of which won. A few others won too, but I cleaned house. Books, gift certificates, candy and this wicked little wooden hand carved box. Luckily for me, cause I was on a roll (both in winnings and beer consumption) the bar closed at 12. Got up this morning to a wicked fall day. Seriously like 14 degrees and sunny out. Windy, but super nice. So I rode to Kingston. 6.5 hours, 150 something kilometers, and one seriously wicked day. Stopped in at the Cinnamon bun place for an icing covered goodie and a doppio espresso. Got home a little late (dusk) but pretty happy with the day. Apparently its almost deer hunting season too. Asked my country boy roommate, and I can see the deer are starting to get cocky around here. Not sure if they're mocking the geese and ducks (its open season on those suckers) or just teasing all the local hunters. Either way, I've decided that they are actually evil geniuses. Either way, in about 2 weeks I should be seeing a lot less of them, if they are smart they will get back to hiding, if dumb they will be strapped to some large man's pickup truck. Crazy prancing wannabe reindeer. I fully almost hit one too. Pranced right across the road in front of me. Back to class to tomorrow and then back to Ottawa Friday. Wicked. I think my salmon is done. And time to hide from trick or treaters cause we didn't by any candy...

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Checks it

Cyclingnews - interviews Van V
Cyclingnews reports to you what I already know. My boy (loosely translated into "teammate") is kinda a big deal. I'm referred to in the article. Look for "Canada". I therefore must be kinda a big deal, by association. Its a celebration.

Attention: Due to increased cycling activity in the area, Sandy may not be available for comment. Thank you.

So it is fully cold out. 4 hours out riding in the prime of warmth, and I was still bundled up. Crisp, chilly, the kind of weather where you need to eat those extra calories to stave off the deep empty stomach feeling. Luckily I discovered a wicked sweet cinnamon bun shop on my route that allowed me to add in those extra calories to my nutella sandwiches. Pretty windy out too. I think I need to put on some winter fat soon. Even the local cows are developing some thicker coverings. Could be a tough mission. I think I'll try to make a good attempt at the Gonq Halloween pub night tonight. I mean: cheep beer, and half price nachos & wings. This combination should allow me to add some pounds. Yes, I realize it will not work. Not sure of plans the rest of the week, nice long ride day tomorrow. Class and riding Thursday and Friday. Back to Ottawa Friday. Fellow Echelon brother Geoff will be back in Ottawa visiting me and maybe his girl friend. So ideally some beers with him Friday. Maybe some riding with him too. All in all, should be quality times. I wonder if I could move these quality times to a warmer climate like any clear thinking cyclist should. Where is my winter training local? Jan goes to Africa, Shawn goes to Australia, hell - I'd settle for a few months in Mallorca! Now accepting donations in the form of money and/or plane tickets. We thank you for your contributions towards a Sandy-free winter.

Monday, October 29, 2007

It gets dark early.

Seriously early. Like 6ish. That sucks. Plus it was cold out today. Class for the day, ride after. Time to get some rollers, or at very least bring the trainer out. Managed to squeeze out 2.5 hours after class anyways. Training starts now, and I need miles. Try to squeeze out a 4 or so hour day tomorrow, Halloween pub night, then a real good long day Wednesday. Not much else to report. Over and out.
ps - I hate math class with a bleeding passion.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Weekend done.

Not much to report. Got out for a few nice easy rides on the cross bike. Moved some more furniture and appliances. Found myself a new project to occupy me for the next while, and have decided its business time. Time to start ramping up the miles for next season. Originally planned on carting the trainer up here, but forgot. So I'll not be riding quite as much as hoped. But will be making that extra effort to get off facebook and the stupid internet in general and go ride. So, think I'll make the most of this last "relaxed" evening for a while and watch a movie. To answer a question straight out that I seem to be asked quite often lately: yes, I will be back cross'in it up soon. Thinking maybe this weekend. Not sure if I really want to drive to Kingston/Quebec provincials yet though. I'll do some pondering. But yes, Sandy will be back. And with some new smoking hot argyle socks. Just wait. These suckers are classy AND tall. Decision time comes dawning soon, hopefully be able to provide you folks with more details on that soon. But I gotta figure out whether Belgium will work ($$$ wise) for me next season, or if Sandy will be rocking it out back here in Canada and the US. Hopefully some other travel too... For now, no worries. I have Spiderman 3 on my computer, and intend to enjoy it.

Friday, October 26, 2007

weeekend

Not a bad day yesterday overall. Though I still find myself in not the greatest mood. Snuck out for a few hours in some glorious fall weather on the bike yesterday between classes. Learned to set up scaffolding. Generally a write off as a day, nothing really cool to report. Scaffolding is cool, but Darren would let us test out the pulley system by hoisting me up. Made us use some inanimate block of concrete. Woke up this morning to some serious fog. Like can't see my car parked in front of the house from my second story window thick. Cool. Back to town today, Neil and Anna's 2nd annual Halloween partay tonight. I think I've slacked on the costume front wayyyy to long and am now screwed. Work Saturday, and Fortune on Sunday. Really upset about my mood being kinda bummed out. I like happy Sandy. Hopefully shop class will allow me to vent anything by hitting stuff with a hammer and operating some heavy machinery. I have also decided that I really don't care that much about Halloween, some people love getting costumed up, some love candy. I can't say I'm that huge a fan of either really. Maybe thats what this is about. Posts may again be somewhat irregular for the weekend. Perhaps I'll see some of you this weekend. Otherwise, don't do anything Sandy wouldn't do. Or if you do, let me know and invite me along. I like new things.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

The guinea pig goes extreme

Made the trek into Ottawa yesterday for today's doc appointment to check in on my asthma issues. Finished watching "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" on Friday night with Sarah. What an awesome movie, been a while since I watched it. I fully suggest it to any and all of you wankers. So good that I even grabbed a copy of the soundtrack today between ride and doc's. Pretty awesome cool soundtrack. Perfect length to listen to on the way back to Perth too. Managed to even sleep in this morning, first time in god knows how long. Stayed comfy in bed until like 9:30! Got up for the paper, some breakie, and of course a nice strong Bialetti and then the ride. Decided to take cue from St-John and head out for an extreme cross adventure. Stopped by the shop on the way for some bars and friendly conversation. Been sporting this neck scarf thing too for the last while too, seems to help with the asthma coughing and keeps my neck warm and sickness free. Anyways, hit the bike paths up all the way to the park and into it until I found my first trails. Hit up 5, 25, 15 up to Kingsmere, cut up to trail 1 (up Penguin) and rode out to the Mckinstry Fire tower and then turned around and went home. Somewhere between 4-5 hours (closer to 5 methinks) of rocky, slippery, rolling, jungle cross. Wicked time. Beautiful day in the end too. Plenty of sun. On the other hand, apparently my single 42 tooth front ring is not ideal for climbing, but I'll call it a "muscle tension" or "power" workout. Got home with a bit to spare before heading to see doc, so headed out for a little shopping: got some swanky argyle socks, a sweet scarf (more everyday than cycling scarf) and the aformentioned soundtrack. Plus the latest CycleSport mag I've been craving soooo bad. Got to the doc's and have now been made into the office pet project, or guinea pig as my mother calls it. Basically he wants to help me get to an "even field" asthma wise, which I'm down with, so has put me on this "pilot project" where for the next month and through the winter I will record my lung capacities a lot and record them on this cool online journal which will then make me fancy graphs. Other than graphs, this little German lung capacity thingy he gave me, will allow me to measure lung capacity before and after rides and in different conditions to better allow him to prescribe me the best medicine. Pretty cool I'd say. At very least should be fun for me. Now, a few more classes before back home for another rockin weekend. I think some tea and CycleSport is in order. Maybe some Life Aquatic muzak....

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Rain and essays.

Rain, cold and generally miserable day today. No ride so far as again my day has been full with writing bloody essays (which apparently I'm pretty decent at) and a Drafting midterm. Pretty sure the midterm went quite well. Even with me arriving late. Basically, realized I was running late, grabbed my stuff, then realized I could not find my keys. Not a huge deal, I ride my bike to school, but unfortunate and worrisome nonetheless. Searched for a while, realized that I was now late, got soaked on the way to class cause my raincoat was in the car (missing keys...), ripped through my test and drawings, and got home to finish up my huge arse essay for Architecture. Found the keys by the way. Apparently I put them through the wash. Yes, I am that smart. They're all good though. Handed in my huge arse essay, got my last huge arse essay back (86%!) and generally dozed off. Not really. Now, time to get my stuff together (cleaned the room too, as it was quite the disaster area) and hit the road for Ottawa. Oh, got the bar fridge up and running finally and the Brita water filter in it. No more chlorinated tap water for this wanker! Oh, I've had a few coffees today now, so am somewhat jittery. Time to get back to the tasks at hand, and by that I mean stop updating you cyber fools.

back

Sandy is back online. Good weekend with not too much riding. I did however tame and ride a wild horse. His name is Arthur and he is roughly the size of an elephant. He thinks I'm the apple man as I greeted him with apples. Spent a good deal of time working on a bleeding architecture essay. Needless to say, I can write an essay. I churn them out like textiles from china. Gonna read it over today to see if it actually makes sense. Apparently this counts for 20% of my final grade. Luckily I have a few large projects going on currently. So needless to say, this may not be a great week "riding" wise. Back into O-dot tonight. Gotta see the Doc again for the asthma check up tomorrow, and maybe I can find some work to makes some cash monies. Otherwise I will be riding my bike slash hanging out at the Cyclery. For now, I should probably make an attempt to make it to drafting on time, as I believe I have a mid-term exam now. This does not help with my "happiness is priority" lifestyle, as exams don't make me happy. But passing my courses kinda does. I think I want to start using more random cliche sayings here on the blog. Make you scratch your heads and think more. For now, its too early in the morning. And I have to go write a test. Like fish in a barrel.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Morning rant

So here I sit, back at home as English for Morons got called early. Again. Not that I'm complaining. We ran out of time after getting our "email" assignment explained to us (we have to email the teacher, she will reply, and then we reply back). Nothing complicated like attachments or forwarding. And I get graded on this. Oh, we also went through a slideshow presentation on "how email works". I kid you not, this was the title on the first slide. I was pretty close to getting up and leaving. But, in an attempt to improve attendance, we now have grammar quizzes at the end (actually at the middle, cause we always get let out early) which count for nothing but attendance marks. I circle random answers and "practice" my grammar skillz, and then receive a mark for attending the class. Fun stuff. We even got assigned our next assignment, due in a few weeks: oral presentation. Ten minutes in front of the class, on ANY topic we chose. Apparently I can cook in front of the class, one dude wants to give someone a tattoo... I'm going to do a secret scientific study to gain extra marks on my quiz. It stated (true or false): "Listening takes more energy than a running race". I answered false. I was wrong. I tried to argue, she is stubborn. Luckily I am more stubborn, thanks to my mother for the genetics. Basically I intend to bring my heart rate monitor to the next few classes, and wear it for my next few rides and compare average heart rate and calories burned. She will rue the day the docked me that mark! Plus it will make me attend the class. I think I'll make a slideshow with graphs for extra irony.
On a side note, if anyone hasn't heard this tune yet checks it out. I heard a while ago on CBC Radio 3, and found it.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=77509698
Have a good weekend. And if you are in school. I'm sorry for you having to read about what I did in school while you undoubtedly stress over something real. Like algebra. If it makes you feel better, at least your course stimulates you. I got shop for that. And homemade science fair projects. Stay tuned for the results of Listening vs. Cycling: An Energy Comparison.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

More class cancellations and therefore more ride time

Sandy's Week Totals For the week:
Class time - 8 hours (plus 5 more tomorrow)
Ride time - 14 hours
Needless to say, I am quite content with my week. Yet somehow still looking forward to the weekend so much. 1 more day of "class". And by class I mean English as an 12th language and shop. Tough, I know. But no time for a ride. Apparently my instructor from math, who also happens to be my Safety teacher, has not shown up all week to school. Hence my lack of attendance today in safety. Hence anyone's attendance. So instead got home at the lovely hour of 11am and proceed to have the coffee and breakfast I slept through in the morning before shop. I knew it was a little bright out when I woke up... Got some laundry done, ironed a shirt. Yes, I am fully domesticated now. Then, you guessed it - hit the road. Saddled up and decided to try out a new route. So rode to Calabogie and back. First stretch is a little busy traffic wise, but the middle 4 hours of the ride was wicked. Flat to Lanark, gentle rollers, steep rollers and finally some long rollers. Turn around and do it all over again in reverse home. Couple of serious pitches, but mostly nice steady gradients. Couple of climbs more than a km in length too. Felt good to do a few extended climbs. Quick stop to restock the ride food supplies and water and that was it. 5 hours and 130 some odd kms later, its dinner. Leftover scalloped potatoes and meat loaf. Time for some relaxation now followed by a very sound sleep I feel. Back to Ottawa tomorrow. No race this weekend. Heading up to the areal park at Fortune instead. Should be a good weekend. Posting may vary.
Good luck to those racing cross Nat's this weekend. Try for some repeats and perhaps a few new jerseys.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

$$

Car battery died. Forked over some cash monies to Canadian Tire for a new one. Ouch. Plus, this cut into my ride time for the day. Burn. Still got 3.5 hours in. Felt pretty good, and the weather was pretty good for mid October. Started out really nice, but then the clouds rolled in and brought some wind. But hey, I had a vest and some gloves so no worries. Weather is looking somewhat iffy for the next few days. Luckily I've had some decent training to date this week so won't feel terrible about missing a day. I'm even going to go so far as to start my homework tonight. Well before most of it is due. Keep in mind I will try. No guaranties. But to be fair, my weekend is filling up quickly with much more entertaining options than homework. Plus I don't want to be screwed by a bunch of homework all at once. Important question wise, what for dinner? I know I want some tea, but I gotta start cooking soon. I think I'm feeling meatloaf. Maybe with some scalloped potatoes. I feel some stretching tonight too. Weekend is almost here...

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

wing night

Tuesday night is wing night at O'Reilly's here in Perth. Cheep wings, good beer and live music. Needless to say, I have participated and attempted to improve my social status from "that guy who rides his bike." Other wise, good day in life. Managed to get 3 hours riding in plus some grocery shopping in. So it was a productive day. Day of tomorrow. Gotta check the car (it was giving me some worries today) to see if I will a) be doing a real nice long ride, or, b) heading into Ottawa to get the car checked out and a shorter ride. Here's hoping for a good clean start for the ol' Civic tomorrow! Really looking forward to the weekend today. Even with the mid-week day off, it seems to just make me crave the real weekend that much more. None the less, I'm off to bed cause its late and my roommates bought me a few beers. Gotta sleep that off pre long ride tomorrow.

Monday, October 15, 2007

class cancellations and an impromtu sprint work out

Math was canceled. Glorious day. Yet at the same time unfortunate, as out of 7 weeks of school we have now had 3 classes (out of a possible 7) and of those 3, we only accomplished anything in 1 (the other 2 involved us talking and waiting for our workbooks to be shipped to the school). Needless to say, although fun to miss math, we are ridiculously behind and most likely screwed when it comes time for a test or something like say, an exam. I predict for class next week, we will be again handed out 7 bagillion pages of worksheets and told to work on them and learn. This works in theory, until you don't understand how to do something and it can not be explained. Pretty sure, with this kind of ammo there is no way the school can fail me though. Other wise a tame day. Haircut and some other errands in the morning. Had to get the now overgrown Euro-mullet trimmed up to go with the suit for the weekend. Few groceries to be done tomorrow now, and I should be set for the week. On the plus side got out for a nice 3.5 hours on the bike instead of math. Cruised the sweet roads until after dusk (woops). Some good climbs, and the aforementioned impromptu sprint workout. The dog caught me by surprise the first time, but the second time I saw him so slipped up into the 53x11 and played match sprint with him. Wanker. Pedaled along a-la track match sprint, and waited for Lassie to make his move and then gunned it. In his defense, he lasted much longer than I expected, but got wupped none the less. Robbie Mac races horses, I out gun large dogs. What. Got a little carried away trying to make the ride go 3.5 hours instead of the planned 3, and got caught out a little. But made it home fine. May have found some rollers, though if anyone local has any there are wanting to get rid of; let me know!, which will be nice. Be able to keep riding past 6:30 and still technically not be riding the "trainer". Easy way to add on an extra hour or so to my later day rides and not freeze in the rain on other days. None the less, always nice to end a day with a nice ride. Time to get used to starting some days with a ride too I suppose. Even got a check in the mail today for my bursary from school. How they got this address, I will never know. On the other hand, though I have this check burning a hole in my pocket, I do believe it is supposed to go to my mother as it is to pay for school. Unless she is reading this and feeling generous. Thats a hint. I'll give you until the weekend to claim it mom.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Relaxin in the fall

Sums up my weekend pretty well. No rides. No worries, mostly was not at home (avoiding the work waiting there). For sure one of the best weekends in a while. Back Friday night, made sushi with Sarah and watched the Wallace and Gromit movie, hilarious. Worked Saturday, then out to Barrymore's to see some pretty sweet shows and enjoy a few beers. Clarke came out, good to see him again before he jumps his flight to Aus soon. Planned on getting up Sunday morning to head out to Almonte to at least watch the cross race. But received a better offer of stay in bed and head out for breakfast at the more reasonable hour of 10. Sure beat the idea of walking home at 6am and getting on my bike. Hung out in a laundromat, more fun than it sounds, reading th paper and drinking coffee and some general people watching. Home, put to work cleaning out the basement. Dinner and now back in Perth. Stuff to do this week: start riding again, find myself a dress shirt (Sandy may be going formal next weekend) and attend class. Easy enough. We'll see how it goes. Enjoy your week. Perhaps I can update with some more exciting news as it comes. Speaking of riding actually, I need some rollers. This lack of sunlight thing is not helping my training efforts. Anyone out there in internet land got some they want to let go of cheep?

Thursday, October 11, 2007

coffee

Thats my plan. Wheels are not only in motion, but they are rolling. Coming soon. Coffee. From me (slash Coutt's Coffee Company of Perth) fresh roasted, organic, fair trade coffee. Get ready for the unveiling, and look for it at a bike race near you. Basically, had a good meeting today with the owner (who is a wicked cool guy) and just need to finish off ironing out the final details, but he is quite excited to sell to us. And by us I mean me and the bidniss partner, Keir. Let me know what kind of coffee people like (medium, dark, espresso) in the comments section. Cause I'll be pushing this stuff on you soon, and let me tell you. It's delicious. Hope to be up and running about the end of the month. More details to come, plus some snazzy logo action.
On a separate note, this weather blows. Cold, rainy and generally miserable weather. That combined with the fact that my day has gotten rather busy with business meetings, has now meant that I will not be riding outside today. And not inside, because I have not brought a trainer up. I'm thinking yoga could be fun tonight....

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Who new you could tear gatorskin?

Fun ride today. Belgian ride basically. Little rain, quiet roads. Long. Nice 5 hours in the saddle, nice crisp air. More exploring of the wondrous roads around Westport. Flatted my tyre after about 2 hours. Actually sliced a big gash across the top of the rubber (not through the Vectran) but also sliced the sidewall, straight through the Vectran. Woops. Didn't even realize it until after I pumped up the new tube and saw it bulging out the sidewall. Pulled a Macguyver and used a sharp rock and my teeth to cut out a section of the old tube and boot the tyre. Pumped her back up, not too much pressure, and continued along. Thought about heading home early, but decided to screw it and keep going on my exploration. Just skipped over the gravel roads for today. 130km anyways, probably 90 of which on this booted tyre. Quick shower and an omelette then hit the road to pick up a new mini fridge for my room from some family in Richmond. Back to school tomorrow though. No more riding all day, at least until the weekend. Movie time with some more turkey now.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Late breaking news flash

Sandy in action sequence. Notice how the more I run, the less I smile.

I like this one. Flying re-mount. Didn't even break a top tube.
ps - white booties are SO the way to go.

Thought I'd share some pictures and a link showing how important I am. And by important I mean road by the correct dude with a camera. I feel I deserved it though. Just scroll down. My name is there. Also seen running up the right side on the one titled 'double barriers'. This is where I catch and crush Keir (in red). Sorry buddy. Other images shown thanks to Joel and his dad. Check their website at VeloCicloFoto. Follow the link to Cyclo-cross.
Ontario Cycling Association: Newsletter
ps- I made cookies, and they are good. The ride will be good tomorrow now. According the the weather predictions, should be Belgian. Wicked.

Fall weather and rain

Quite chilly in this old stone house this morning. And continues to be, as none of us actually even know where the thermostat is. Needless to say, I sit around in my finest of sweats and merino wool attire. Sipping tea and eating toast actually right now. I realize this makes me seem somewhat old, but; a) I like tea & b) I just bought some really fresh raisin bread from the bakery on the way home from class. I love fresh bread. No more cellophane wrapped, mass produced bread for me. I'm done with it. No ride today. Not only due to the miserable weather (I'm fine with that once I get rolling) but this was actually an earlier made decision. Long ride tomorrow though. No matter what. Turkey dinner tonight. Apparently our family cooked a turkey the size of a bloody hippo, so I will now be living off turkey and pumpkin pie for the week. On a related note, groceries were finally done today as well. Down to Foodsmith's for some produce and a few other staples. And of course some more beans and potatoes to go with my turkey feasts! Trying out a few of their store made bulk musellis too. Gonna mix a lot together and see how it goes. I'm also going to try baking cookies this week, maybe even tonight, for ride food. I finished off an incredible bag of them yesterday (baked fresh by a wonderful particular person) and am now in cookie withdrawal. I feel I will need them if this weather continues for my ride tomorrow. Really not feeling more than 1 Powerbar (or similar bar) for any ride of any length. I think I passed my yearly quota. Luckily I now have fresh bread (add nutella) and some more fruit. So I should survive this catastrophe. Kinda pumped actually to not have school tomorrow again. I like this 1 day on, several off thing. I may have to talk to the Gonk about implementing a 1 on 2 off system for the whole year. Assignments are starting to be given out again (and returned) so looks like I may be back in the homework boat again. Unfortunate. For now, I want more raisin bread so, adieu.

Long weekend

Wicked weekend. Though it appear that sun and warmth is gone. Real fall has made its return. Kinda enjoying it so far though oddly enough. Wicked Sunday ride, up for a morning loop with Keir, Erik, and Thomas, then a sweet ol' bike path cruise until Keir felt guilty about missing his homework. So continue on along to the coffee shop to re-gain feeling in my extremities (cool riding through light rain/fog, except when you realize how poor your circulation is in my hands and feet). Home, ended up re-drywalling my room (?) and then back out to Perth. Plenty of relaxing, some wicked times, and of course the usual riding. Now 3 days of class (nothing tomorrow!) before back home again. I have a tough life right now. On the other hand, I need groceries. I really am low. Back out to the shop between classes, maybe a stop at the bakery too....

Sunday, October 7, 2007

World co-ed cyclocross madision champion

Me and Sarah Coney just finished crushing all comers in the first ever (non-UCI sanctioned) World co-ed cyclocross madision championships. Sarah even had world champ shirts made with our names on them. We of course lived up to the hype, crushing the Viponds in the process. All I know is that I cruised the bike paths in my world champs shirt and will fully be wearing it for thanksgiving dinner tonight too. Thanks to Nick and Catherine for trying and then buying me lunch after as my spoils. Good times were had. Other that that, nice simple weekend. Little bit of a rush right now, though did stop by the Landsdown farmer's market on my way home from the coffee shop, bought some wicked homemade hot sauce from a crazy Jamaican dude. Vancouver hot sauce, extra hot. Wicked good. Luckily I didn't have much cash, or I would have went home with a lot more than plenty of free samples. I'll be back though. Happy turkey festivus to all!

Thursday, October 4, 2007

woah

School, ok. The roads I rode on today, knockout. Perfect day. Hit the road right after class in the sun. Wicked that is such nice riding weather in October now by the way. Found myself a general route plan via the wonder of google map, loaded my pockets with some cookies and figured i had 3 hours to ride before dark. Good plan, figured I could do this ride in 3 hours. Might be tight. And it was. Seriously, some of the best roads I have ridden in a long time. Brand new pavement, quiet, rolling and curvy roads all the way. I flew. Rolled along, happy as can be, soaking in the sun and the surroundings down to Westport, found the wicked climbs/descents into and out of Westport (some serious grades on these suckers) and rolled along back into Perth. Main difference, distinct lack of sun for the last 25 minutes or so. Little surprised, but to be fair, I fully was starting to get worried in Westport already when I saw how low the sun was. No matter, got a little chilly, I just picked up the pace for a bit and rolled home after 3 glorious hours. Now settled in, clean and full (salmon, couscou and veggies) its game time. Obviously had to watch The Office first, but now Sens vs. Leafs. 2-0 Sens right now too, wicked. I'm liking living with 2 Leafs fans. It's almost too easy. Especially after the OT win last night. More class tomorrow, or perhaps a ride?... haha. Then home for some turkey and other fun. Cyclo-cross Madison World Championships at Britania Park in Ottawa on Sunday, time for me and Coney to win that rainbow jersey and some burgers from Team Vipond. I should mention that Vipond translates loosely into "losing team vs. Sandy". Little know fact. I suggest anyone looking for a good morning, come down to the park and watch some wicked cross action. Back to the game, but enjoy the weather and weekend.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

work day

No ride today in the end. Normally a long ride day in the week with no school, but got the call from Kiwi - needed some assistance on a bathroom reno. More involved in the cleanup. But got to spend a good portion of the day driving around in a big truck/van thing wearing my work boots and generally feeling like one of the manly dudes you see in beer and/or truck commercials. Pilled my truck full of heavy stuff, drank some beers and then performed feats of strength while driving my truck off road. Just replace beer with McDonald's (Kiwi's lunch of choice) and replace off-road with the dump. Kinda off road? Got home, and then removed pieces of my house with a crow bar for my mom. Again, man stuff. Destruction of property. Feeling pretty full of testosterone, so headed off to Yoga after. Good stuff, really realized just how inflexible my body is. Managed to fall asleep in the "final relaxation" exercise too. Oops. Too much man time. Just managed to get home in time to catch overtime of the Sens game too, we won. Suckle that Toronto fans. For now, time to sleep and prepare for more man stuff tomorrow, cause I got shop class for 3 hours. Gonna build something. Maybe my box. Sandy and power tools. That should scare you. At least I haven't been to the hospital yet like several of my fellow carpenters. Wagwam

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Nothing much happening

It's how I roll. I can smell the fun from here.

First lap. This helps sum up why I love cross.

This photo compliments of Vicki/Jenny. Did I mention I dislike running?

Connor, you learn well grasshopper. This is cross to me.

Basically nothing. Plenty of school work the last couple days. No ride on Monday. More work today, but hopefully a after class ride this afternoon. Gotta do groceries too. Out of most fresh fruits and veggies plus a bunch of staples. Last of the eggs, no milk... Couple of hours on the bike should do me good though, melt away the worries of these last few day's projects. Clear the head and get back to business. Gotta get the form ready for the Madison Cyclo-Cross World Championship. Me and Coney will be wupping all comers, in some ridiculously Euro kits. Just wait. Rumours of World Champ jerseys being made for the podium are in the air. Separate news, fall is here. For sure one of the best times of the year to ride. Cool, crisp air, and the knowledge that soon you'll be riding the trainer. Found a few pictures courtesy of zoomphoto.ca and hopefully we'll have some more wicked ones courtesy of my buddy Brendan the photographer. I'm sure he'll have some good ones, perhaps someone can alert me when he drops them off at the Cyclery... Steve?? Nick??