Blue Skies

Victoria Day : 80 k

So this past Monday I got to spend a decent amount of time on my bicycle. I ended up cycling 80 km from Hamilton to Kitchener. The day was forecast to be sunny, but ended up being quite cloudy with the occasional sun and occasional precipitation.

Eritia joined me for the ride, up to Cambridge, before heading back. That works out to about 100 km for her; fortunately the wind was with her for the ride back. Meanwhile I headed against the wind for the last 30 km.

Things I learned from the ride:

• I really need to try a different seat. Four hours really lets you know where the pressure is.
• My knee warmers are amazing.
• Two water bottles and two energy bars was almost not enough. (Gatorade in both bottles)
• The last 20 km was as intense a mental struggle as a physical one. I’m hoping this will be easier with other people riding along.

Fundraising / Exercise Update

So exciting news! A week ago I finally broke the 60% mark, leaving a mere $4000 to go!

In other news, I finished my last session at the gym where I was doing strength training. I’ll still be heading in once a week to keep the upper body workouts going, with a few leg presses and squats to maintain the legs thrown in. This also means that I’ve freed up another day of the week to go cycling, so I’d best take advantage of that.

I went for a stellar bike ride today; the sky was blue, the sun too bright to look at (just like a good sun should be, right?), and there was a bit of a breeze. The trip that Eritia and I took to MEC a week and a half ago is paying off, I’m enjoying the greater gear selection immensely. No more feeling too cold on a ride, or having to do laundry constantly (I did that?) due to all my bike shorts being dirty. I also picked up another pair of cycling shoes last week since the ones I had turned into swimming pools whenever the road was wet. Unfortunately, they’re not quite right since they make my toes go numb after about 30 minutes of cycling. I’m hoping they will improve once I’ve gotten them broken in and stretched a little bit.