St. Adolphe... almost.

We've been having a little warmer than usual spring here in Manitoba, so the roads are clearing up quicker than normal. Nearly all the snow is gone. Yesterday was a nice, sunny +8 degrees Celsius out, so I took advantage of that and went for a ride south to go see how the roads were out to St. Adolphe. This is a very popular route, and one that I often head out on, it's a nice 30k ride if you leave from the perimeter highway, but can be stretched to 50k if I leave from home and add a little loop just past the town of St. Adolphe.

One reason why I wanted to head out that way was it follows the Red River, which is very high this time of year (not as high as last year when the roads were flooded out). As I came up to the turn to go over the river, I saw a barricade. So naturally I went through it and rode the very loose, and very rough gravel road up to the bridge.

I had to get off and walk a couple sections, so I took a couple more photo ops.

You can start to see the water level and ice on the river.

The geese are coming in already, and there was a herd of deer out in the field too.

And this is why this post it titled 'St. Adolphe... almost"

Last year the bridge was found to be unsafe to drive on as one of the support pillars had shifted.

I remember riding over it a couple days before it was discovered and thought the gaps in the expansion joints looked different than usual. I did forget about it by the time I got back home though. Hopefully the bridge is fixed soon as the residents have to drive a long ways out of their way to get over the river now.

Riding with Abby

It was quite a nice day out, so naturally I wanted to get outside for a bit (even though I'm a little under the weather lately). As I pulled up to the house Abby, Natalie and their mom had been out drawing on the sidewalk (and tree stump) with some chalk. I had mentioned earlier in the day I had hoped to go for a bit of a bike ride when I got home. Turns out Abby wanted to go too. So I got the trailer all set up, got our helmets out, and went for a ride. Abby had a little snack (some gummy bears) to keep her occupied during the ride (~1/2 and hour or so... I think).

She must have had a long day, because when I pulled into the driveway, and opened the cover on the trailer, this was what I found.

It was a nice relaxing ride through a couple of neighborhoods. Maybe next time we'll take Jess and Natalie too.

Roller Race

Just a quick update. Went to the Belgium Club here in Winnipeg for a 2-up roller race last night. (Click here for short Demo video).

2 bikes are connected to the dial in the middle that measures how 'far' they've gone. It was a 500m timed race, so full on sprint from the start. My time was 23.96 seconds. Fastest time (that I know of) was 22.75 seconds (Nicely done Jeremy). I'll find out today how it all ended.

Had some fun. was good to see the bunch from the shop. I put up a respectable time, but didn't feel so hot afterwards so I withdrew.

Sponsored by Woodcock Cycleworks. Thanks!

Skate Skiing

Last week I had to go to a course on human factors in aviation (federal requirement for people working in the aircraft industry). It was a two day class that was at the Aircraft Museum here in Winnipeg. The course itself wasn't all that exciting, but it was a good couple of days.

On the second day we finished up quite early, the weather was quite nice, so I saw it as an opportunity to give skate skiing a try.

First, there are two different kinds of cross country skiing, Classic and Skate . I've done classic skiing before, and is far more popular and common than skate skiing. I have wanted to give skate skiing a try for a while. Last year I picked up a set with the intention to use them right away. That never really panned out. So, here's my chance.

I went home, packed up my ski gear (classic and skate) and headed to LaBarrier park (my favorite skiing location here in Winnipeg). There was only one other car in the parking lot, perfect I thought. Nobody there to see me fall as I try to grasp this new technique. I grab my skis and am pleased to see that there is a groomed skate trail right by the parking lot. Perfect. I clip in, and off I go.

The first lap must have been pretty ugly to watch, I sure didn't feel very graceful or smooth. I was getting the hang of it though. Shortly after starting my second lap, and my confidence was starting to build a bit, a family with a couple of dogs is walking back to their car (along the ski trail), heading in my direction. They pulled to the side and stopped to wait for me to go by. So here I am, trying to be all cool (which is quite hard to do while trying something for the first time, but they didn't know that), when my ski catches an edge and over I go, not 10 feet in front of them. I start laughing to myself, and say as I get up and get skiing again: "Why does that only happen when someone is watching you?" we all have a chuckle at my expense, and I ski away.

This time I went down to the river, the snowmobiles have made a nice hard-packed trail to ski on and I ski for a while down there before coming back to the car and packing it in for the day. Only one fall for the outing. I was quite pleased. I'll be doing it again. Now, how can I sneak out of work early this week....

I feel all grown up now.

This past weekend I took part in the GGG (Guys Golf and Games) weekend. After a night of Gluttony, Games and Groaning, getting not nearly enough sleep, and eating a 'hearty' breakfast, I found myself playing golf with a few friends and my father. While walking down one of the longer holes (8th possibly), my dad reminded me of the conversation we had had a year earlier.

I was finishing up school, working at the bike shop, getting used to being a father myself after 1 1/2 years, trying to be a good husband (and succeeding sometimes) etc. I had been working at the shop for a while, and was really enjoying the work. I got to fix bikes (which I really enjoy), I helped people find a bike they would enjoy riding, train other mechanics, and do some administration work for the shop too. I was enjoying it so much that I was talking with the owner of the business about buying it from him. Obviously not a small decision.

We were talking of the pros and cons of that route. Why I enjoyed it, what else I might enjoy, what else I might not enjoy. It was a good walk in the park (something we used to do, usually when I was in trouble for something).

Fast forward a year, and things have changed a touch. Abby is now 2 1/2 ish, Natalie is now 2 months old, I have been at a new job for 5 1/2 months or so (decided there was just too much risk, with not enough reward at the bike shop), I finished the classes I needed for my degree thingy and have been even more involved in the scout/youth program I help with.

And here I am, on my very first business trip. I came here to Montreal for some training on reviewing the pricing in our database and making the needed corrections (there are tens of thousands of parts that need to be verified) I got to meet some of the people I talk with, but never knew a face. Staying in a fancy hotel (The Wyndham), keeping receipts to submit as expenses, and buying a gift for Abby.

Now, I'm waiting at the airport. I talked with Jess and Abby earlier. I got my first "love you" from her as she passed the phone back to mom. Too bad I'll be waiting longer than I expected.

I'm waiting for my first delayed flight.

Eddie Merckx TT

Had a blast at this last race for the season (unless I get a chance to try some cyclocross). The E. Merckx Time Trial race is like the usual time trial, (start at 1 minute intervals, racing against the clock) but different as they give out time penalties for some of the modern aerodynamic bike components such as aero bars (which put the rider in a more aerodynamic position), deep section wheels (more aerodynamic than regular wheels), and those funky aero helmets.

Riders were awarded a time for a vintage wool jersey. I haven't acquired any of the aforementioned parts/accessories, so my time was what it was.



Since I've been racing in the lowest category, and was the first to register, I started first (the slower riders are started first in order to have everyone finish closer together). It was interesting having someone hold my bike from behind so I could be ready to go as soon as the whistle blew (or in this case the starter said.... 3,2,1, go).

Time Trials are a bit different as you really need to know your limits and be able to pace yourself. If you go too hard off the bat, you'll blow up early in the race, if you go to easy, you'll have missed out on valuable seconds. Out of the gates, I found myself going much harder than I should, so I slowed a bit, and got into a good rhythm. Just fast enough to hurt a bit. I continued this rhythm, while staying as aerodynamic as possible (changing position on the bike can save considerable amounts of energy). This continued until 1/2 way through the second lap of birds hill park. This is where the suffering began. I was hitting a bit of a wall. My legs were burning, my lungs were working very hard, and if I had a heart rate monitor it would probably have been beeping madly at me.

After cresting a bit of a hill, I slowed a bit and tried to recover on the downhill while still keeping my speed up. It worked.... a bit. Then I just had to push harder for the last 4km or so.
It hurt a lot. Legs were starting to feel like Jello, Lungs working overtime, heart getting ready to explode. I must have been going fast......


I tried to get a hold of the photographer that was at the race that night, but no luck yet. So here's a picture I took of another racer after I finished.

Race report X2

Well, I've been a touch busy lately and have been neglecting my blog of cycling escapades.
To catch up, we had our second child (July 17th at 2:22 a.m.), another beautiful girl. Mom was a machine in the hospital. Natalie Ann Smith has been a great little baby, and Abby has been an amazing big sister.

A few weeks ago was the 5th race for the Olympia Wednesday Night MTB race series. Weather leading up to the race were... how do you say.... wet. The sun came out and dried up some of the track. I went out to the race, and they shortened the course taking out the really rooty sections (very slippery when wet) and some areas where there was just too much standing water. So it was short laps. I was feeling great at the start, and right from the whistle I got away from my group and never looked back. 2 laps later, I took the win. 3rd in a row. This clinched the series for me as it is based on the points accumulated on your best 4 races (3rd, 1st, 1st, 1st for me). I also had my personal photographer at the race (thanks Dad), and cheering section (mom and sister). Jess decided to stay home.

Shortly after finishing, big, dark, ugly clouds started to roll in. I packed up the bike and started home. It was quite a downpour.





Race # 6
To start off with excuses... I was coming off a week of not really having an appetite for... well, any food so my energy was probably a bit on the low side. I hadn't ridden much at all since the last race (I think I was on the road once), since I finished my exam Monday. So, going into it, I wasn't feeling terrific. I did a warm up lap and was having troubles finding a nice rhythm through the technical sections. Jess, Abby and Natalie came with me to the race and Grandma came to help out too (thank you!).
I lined up at the start, and just wasn't feeling great. So, I just started at the back (sometimes if I follow people for a bit, I get into a groove.... that didn't happen). I passed a couple of the slower riders and was keeping up with the others in my category. I passed one of the other riders while going through a very muddy section (he tried to ride it, I just hopped off and ran through).
That didn't last too long though. I was hitting trees with my shoulders, over steering and hitting the brakes more than I should have. He caught back up to me, so I pulled aside to let him go by and try to catch the others ahead of me (part of MTB racing is yielding to faster riders even if you're racing against them). He was soon out of sight.
After getting out of the technical sections, I turned it up and made up some time to only finish a minute back. I was just glad to be done and not be injured.

There was an award ceremony, where the winners of each category received a nice black hooded sweatshirt. I have a nice new sweater.

Next year, I'll be participating in the sport class (more competition, faster speeds, more laps and... more suffering). I had a great time this year and look foreward to it again.

There is a Time Trial coming up (road race where it's just you against the clock). I think I'm going to give it a try. Should be fun.