Latest addition to the family

Viewer discretion advised. There may be, ahem, "porn". Scroll down, if you dare.

Almost there....

Okay, so it was bike porn. Not necessarily that colour, and probably not with that wheelset, but you never know. The baby hasn't even been born yet, and we don't know what "babies" are in stock. Shockingly, for the first time in recorded history the CRA has spit out a refund for me, after years and years of paying. I'm not one to question, although undoubtedly there will be a reassessment later this year. Just as with the additional payment in the first go-round, there's always a reassessment. Before that day, I'm going ahead.

Better baby pictures, hopefully this weekend.

Ride on.

Weekend TT update

Yet another brutally windy weekend. This weekend was the Alton Time Trial weekend. Unfortunately, some of us couldn't make it out for the "mostly flat" time trial course - only Darren and Cliff made the grade. One note of interest: when Darren says the course is "mostly flat", don't believe a word he says.



I went out on Saturday for a solo TT, since it was the day. For those who have been following along, yes, I remembered my helmet this time. However the wind had other plans. I estimated the wind to be between 35 - 40km/h, since that was the speed at which there was no forward wind resistance. It was so quiet at that speed that it felt something like what I imaging the eye of the tornado would be like.



I wouldn't count these results as being worth anything, but for the sake of interest, here are the duplicate TT results, taken at two different segments on a 75km route.



TT #1: Elapsed time 32.39, average HR 142 - average speed 27.6 km/h

TT#2: Elapsed time 23.33 (with one 12% grade, one traffic light and one pull to the side of the road and stop for ambulance), average HR 135 - average speed 38.2 km/h.



Of note, the second repeat was over two hours after the first, and after several lung-busting hill repeats. Also, from a RPE perspective the second was a bit of a "sand-bag", maybe a RPE of 4-5. After finishing the repeat I had several km of new, flat pavement ahead of me so I put the hammer down and mashed - spent a long time over 50 km/h with tailwind. There's no way I was putting out the same effort on the way back with the tailwind, whereas on the first I was fighting to keep the bike upright and out of traffic (guessing RPE 8-9).



So, what does this data tell me? Absolutely nothing of any value, other than the fact that a power meter might have helped to equalize. Speaking of power, and specifically hill power I put the killer hills from the last long ride (Bell School Line and Sixth Line) back in the repertoire. At that "speed" (and I use that term very loosely on those hills) wind is not a factor. I did also manage to break the speed limit on a downhill - 65km in a 60km zone - which is always cheering. Thought I could do the same coming back down Sixth Line. Alas, the limit is 80km/h, and I came up short there - last peek I stole was as 73.4 km/h.



Finally, met another rider stopping for a drink and a snack passing by Kelso Glen. She had come out from downtown for some hill repeats, but was nearly fried from the ride fighting into the wind the whole way. I did feel a little sympathy for her, but figured she be home (between 50-60km away) in less than an hour.



Peace.

Some people never learn

What a beautiful day for a ride, and I've got the sunburn to prove it. Now, you would think, after slogging through some nasty hills on the weekend, one would be disinclined to go through the same work/torture again. If that's indeed what you think, read the title. Four of us - Chad, Tom, Craig and me - climbed Walker's Line, followed by Bell School Line and the Sixth Line Hill, famous home of the Milton Tri. We also added on a nasty little section of rollers on 22 Sideroad, made more nasty by the fact that they ended on a gravel washboard. Another nervous 1 km search for pavement that fortunately passed without incident. For interest's sake, the approximate route is here: http://routebuilder.org/27n

One quick side note: if you're leaving your garage needing to carry three things to the car for your ride (shoes, pump, helmet) I'd recommend making sure two of the things are your shoes and helmet. It's usually safe to assume that someone will have a pump. Not so safe to assume that they'll have a helmet you can borrow. On the plus side, riding without a helmet is less weight. On the negative side your head is decidedly non-aero (especially if lumpy like mine - wife would say "made of rock"). It's also a freaky little head game (pardon the pun) to pay very close attention to the road and other riders and branches and cars and wind and trucks and...you get the picture. Oh yeah, also on the negative, you could die. Did it today - 93 km without a helmet. Would not condone or recommend it for anyone else.

Peace.

Week in review

Definite bike focus this week, with the weather finally allowing it.

Swim - 2500 m one (!) swim
Bike - 232.5 km -525min
Run - 135 min

The pinnacle of the week's rides was a three-hour, strength-building hill session this morning with Darren and Stu, through the Forks of the Credit, up famous McLaren Hill and even more famous Hockley Valley Ski Resort. Got to eat my first bug of the year today. They're definitely out - I had things ring off my helmet this week big enough to sound like someone knocking on a door.

Good week. Good work. I'm tired. Going to bed.

EDITOR'S NOTE: no more whining from me about my "tough day" (big baby!). I need to HTFU. Check out this killer weekend.

Peace.

Do or do not, there is no try...

Yoda is the man. There was very little to like about the new "old" Star Wars movies, but the younger (?!?) Yoda, with the lightsaber and the high-impact aerobics was definitely one of the high points. But I digress....

Originally I was going to call this "the end of Coach Troy", but that's not necessarily true. Today I had a choice: slot in Coach Troy for another bout of crankarm bending, or hit the roads and crank it outside, as Cliff says "crank it 'til it hurts".

It's 22 degrees C (that's warm for you Amerks - 68F in your cute little temperature system) and sunny. Coach Troy never had a chance.

This morning was a power set, all in the big ring. 8 X 1 minute in the biggest gear I have (52/12), the last two of which were standing uphills. Brutal. Averaged 34 km/h (21.2 mph for you others) which doesn't sound like much, but is a pretty good clip for me.

Today, cranked it until it hurt. So much that I just finished my "recovery" run, nine hours later and I'm totally bagged. Good day overall.

Peace.

I'll huff and I'll puff...

April showers are famous. Everybody has heard of April showers. In fact, for a large percentage of people April showers are good things that are usually welcomed. After all, who has a problem with flowers (all you allergy sufferers, put your hands down - I know, I know).

Nobody talks about April wind. One can ride in the rain, although one may choose generally not to, especially in April. The wind is killer, especially when you have to lean sideways into it, so as not to be blown off the road. That was today's wind. My plan going out was for a solid three-hour ride. After fighting the bike for an hour, I realized this was not going to be possible.

The plan for today was to put together a monga training day - not quite the Alton Half, but pretty close - swim, bike and run. Here's the play-by-play on why it didn't quite turn out that way.

Step 1: the swim. One of the benefits of "underemployment" is being able to swim in the middle of the day. Lane traffic is not necessarily lighter (in fact it's often busier around lunch), but speaking of lunch, later in the day, I've at least managed to get some fuel in. That's not always possible for a 5:30 a.m. swim. I didn't fuel today, and paid for it. I completely struggled and battled to get to a measly 2500m before packing it in.

Step 2&3: long bike, long run. The plan was to catch up with my buddy Chad in Carlisle today after getting my car back from a trip to the mechanic, to put in a long ride (at least three hours) followed by a long run (90-120 minutes). Now, he's an Olympic-distance specialist (which means he has no staying power, but I digress). What he does have is speed to spare. I can't keep up with him, but generally manage to keep him below the horizon and in sight.

So, upon dropping my car off this morning at 9 a.m. I was told it would be at least three hours before I could get it back. Curses, foiled again. That killed the original plan right then and there. Right then and there I decided to do the solo jaunt. I went out for the ride, and after fighting the wind as described above, packed it in, completely fried after 2.5 hours. The run was cancelled.

At the end of it all, it was still 3.5 hours to go in the log today, but with a little better planning it could have been 3.5 hours of better quality work. Season is still young, but need to focus a little better going on from here.

Peace.

Back, and just as salty...

The Mouse that Took Over the World.

Indeed.



Well, we're back, rested, recovered and decompressed from the trip to WDW. This year at Disney is marketed as the "Year of a Million Dreams". It could also be the "Year of a Million Stuffed Animals", or the "Year of a Million Commercials", or even the "Year of a Million Pictures of Mickey Mouse on everything from plates, cups, shirts to walls, floors, tiles, bedlinen, statues, posters and topiaries". I guess that wouldn't be quite so catchy.



This is not a trip for the faint of heart. Four Disney "parks", targeted to kids, plus two "water parks" and another park targeted at the adults with the bigger wallets. Almost all in seven days. The kids, of course, loved it. Princesses and pirates and Plutos and Goofys as far as the eye could see, with the omnipresent Mouse That Started It All always in the background. We crossed one water park and the adult park off the list, and were left with the rest.



At the end, lessons learned from Disney:



1. Getting up at 3 a.m. for the airport is going to make for a long day, no matter what else happens that day.

2. Never drink any beverages, hot cold or otherwise, around hyper children in or on an airplane. I wore two coffees myself (on the same flight) and my wife an orange juice (different flight, though) that proved this.

3. Very few things can possibly live up to the hype. By definition, not every event can be "spectacular" or "once in a lifetime". If you like roller coasters, however, Space Mountain is pretty dadgum close.

4. Oversaturation, part I: disregard the weather reports, and pack raingear. It's Florida. It's going to rain at some point. When it does, it's going to rain hard, a lot and for a long time.

5. Oversaturation, part II: there is no opportunity lost to market, advertise or attempt to sell something to someone. At any time when you are going to be standing or sitting still, or even sleeping, you will be sold to. Even the bedlinen is branded, logoed and (presumably) for sale.

6. Oversaturation, part III: I didn't think it was possible to up the advertising ante, but the folks at DisneyWorld have found a way. Certain rides and shows are "brought to you by" or "made possible by a generous grant from" . I will not propagate the ads by mentioning the companies here, nor should I have really been surprised.

7. Dripping irony is watching a video called "the Circle of Life" (remind you of anything?) in which the morale of the story is that we all have to do our part in reducing, reusing and recycling in order to protect the planet we live on. This is followed by night-time parades with fireworks and light shows that consume gigawatts of energy every day. Contradiction, anyone?

8. Motorized strollers - what to say? Everything that can be said, has been said. I've never seen so many motor-powered wheelchairs, scooters or strollers before. One shouldn't be surprised - after all when pop/soda is unlimited and ice cream is served by the half-gallon pail complete with sprinkles, candies and "whipped topping", what else can be expected? The new "low" is watching one family - husband, wife and extra-large daughter (she might have been twelve years old) take turns getting out of the scooter and walking/driving around. Episodes like this (thankfully there weren't many) make it a lot more difficult to take those who really need the service seriously.

Oh yeah, training. No cycling, no workout swimming. Got in two plus-30C runs. Very, very hot and humid. A true "rest week". Going to have to make it up this week.

Cheers.

Out of office auto-reply

I am out of the office, with intermittent access to email, although available by phone. If you need immediate assistance, I'm afraid you'll have to call someone else. :)

See-ya!

Good practice, what do you want to do.... :)

Today's workout summary:




45 minutes easy spin - after yesterday's deep into the night discussions, there wasn't much energy left for more than this.


60 minutes - 2500m pyramid swim - actually 2700m.


60 minutes - easy run. Testing the achilles - haven't run since Thursday and it seems to be resting uneasily. No pain, no problem afterward, although to be honest, I must admit I did baby it. This is definitely something that'll have to be checked out. Any run course with moderate-to-nasty hills, or any time the form breaks down in the late stages of a long run, it could "zing" like a harp string.



As I mentioned before the plan for next week is to do more running and probably zero biking, unless I can locate a spin bike. The good news is that the pool at the hotel is apparently big enough for good swim workouts. Bonus.








So I'm essentially back to ground zero in the job hunt. Here's the situation:



Door #1: not going to pursue this candidate (me) - too junior, not enough experience (?!?) I thought eight years was plenty, but...



Door #2: choosing to search in a different direction - less production management and more engineering/maintenance. Not closing the door completely, but I've been indirectly identified as a consolation prize, at best, at this time.



Door #3: not returning my calls. Certainly would have been the opportunity that would have come with the most challenges, in the beginning.





So that's the current deal. Plenty of other fish in the sea, so to speak. In reality, I think this was a good first step, and I'm not just trying to paint a happy face on the situation. It allowed me to get some practice, and it illustrated some of the obvious "rusty spots" in my interviewing technique - it has been at least six years since I interviewed with any seriousness. There are some other hooks out there right now, and I certainly have the time and the "comfort zone" to find something that really fits, so time marches on. Not a big deal. More time to hit the bike (woo-hoo!), and it's certainly advantageous to be able to swim in the afternoon, rather than at 5:30 a.m. It also gives me more time to decide what I "actually want to do with my life" - a little Twisted Sister flashback for those of you of a certain demographic.

Come on now, you wanted to see that, didn't you?

Peace.

Bad start

Three more sleeps...my daughter has been walking around for days, counting down and flashing the fingers.

So, I've checked out the website of the place we're staying at the House of Mouse. Three pools, plus one kiddie pool, but no indication of a workout facility (specifically spinbikes) or internet access?!? I don't know which is worse - the threat of no wheels or the threat of no 'net.

Anyway, in preparation for this upcoming "caveman" week this week's workout plan was weighted heavily to the swim and bike, with very little (actually none so far) running. Last week was a pretty big run week (for March) and next week will also be run-focused, if the achilles lets it be so.

The point? Yes, I'm getting to it. Dragged myself out of bed at 5:30 this morning, headed out in the cold to the pool, to find two other people lined up outside the door arguing with the lifeguard on the other side of the closed door. Seems that a key had broken off in a door (never did figure out which one) and the pool couldn't be opened. Grrr.... not a good start to the day. It can only get better, right?

Shuffled the day around, and got in a solid swim later in the afternoon, and followed it up with a long set of hill repeats on the bike, in the basement.

Finished the day having a couple of BEvERages with an old friend of mine. We spent a few hours talking about my current state of employment and any advice/suggestions he could come up with to alter the situation. An interesting conversation to be sure, and certainly was worth the price of admission at the time. Perhaps a topic for a future post.

Peace.