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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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....