Flats Flats Flats!

I have changed 5 (FIVE!) flats in the past two weeks. Okay, one of them was on Martha's bike, and was an excellent opportunity to teach her how to patch a tire, but the other 4 were on mine, RIDICULOUS!

Thanks to the huge amount of flats I now have an ever growing list of things I need to buy to prepare for the rally. I found some new black & purple grip tape at Racer Sportif the other day ($16) - so I can have the bars retaped before I go, but that also brings up the idea of changing the bars to something that fits better.

So here's my list so far:

- tubes - 700Cx18-25mm tubes with a minimum 48mm presta valve. At least 6 needed! ($4 each)
- a new patch kit, have used up nearly all my patches so far! ($3)
- handlebar bag to hold stuff on the rally. ($50)
- Martha also needs a tire change kit for her bike.
- Rim tape ($2)
- Mr. Tuffy tire liners - Orange ($20 a set at Urbane)
- new handlebars (??? plus installation and cables - at Urbane or CBN)
- new shorts! (very important!!!) - need 2 pairs. ($50 each)
- new gloves (am getting blisters on my palms now through the others) - 2 pairs ($20-30 each)

That list isn't too bad I guess... it's about $250 worth of stuff, not including the new bars... Am glad I found the purple tape.

Update: Okay -- I've decided. I'm going to spend the money on having the bars swapped out for Women's specific bars. It's going to make a difference to the fit of my bike as well as riding ability. Urbane estimates the cost to be $150. Fun.

Update again: Also REALLY need sunglasses. Good ones. There's another $100

Sore! and somewhat crispy.

Well -- my weekend was full of check marks in the "win" column.

Friday my Bike Rally Fundraising got a major boost --- THANK YOU to all who've donated already! It's such a relief to be nearly 90% done my fundraising requirements to participate in the rally, and it's such an encouragement in the middle of those really long training rides (seriously - my brain goes: "Must not quit, lots of people have already committed their support, must keep going!")

Anyways - first soccer game in YEARS was on Saturday morning. Am not a good soccer player, but had fun. And managed to touch the ball more than once, so that was good. Unfortunately, my team - the "Maroon Team" lost, 4-0. But oh well.

And yesterday went out for the 74km Finch-Aurora Training Ride. WHOH! What a ride. It really digs down into your guts. I tried to think of clever synopses for each chunk of the ride.... here's what I can remember.

Start (0km) - Finch Subway Station, 9:40. Group stretching, Announcements. No one else from my team was at the ride that day, but everyone's pretty friendly....

10km - onto Leslie Street, heading North out of the city. Have been climbing hills since beginning and realizing that they're just getting bigger. Am entering that "Zen phase" where I realize I don't have a $2000 bike, am not the fastest, and am committed to just keepin' going.

15km - hate hills. Hate climbing hills in a headwind.

20km - hate hills, possibly hate myself as well. Bike rally was a dumb idea. Am cycling by myself now, occasionally catching up to Les who's in front of me. Try singing show tunes to take my mind off hills.

25km - The map says the turn off Leslie comes at the bottom of a big downhill.... have only been going uphill, in a headwind, so far, looking forward to the promise of a downhill. Hope the map people weren't wrong.

27km - short downhill then a sharp curving uphill, I get off and walk the bike up the last half of the hill. My knees thank me. Only another 50km to go! ARRGH! Still sort of hate myself.

28km - Whoo hoo. Found the downhill - turned onto the side road, must be close to break time now! That means close to the half way point. Turn on the side road to find another hill ARGH! Really love my camel back - water in a tube is great.

32 km - wow, this is actually a nice ride in the country. Hmmm, wonder where I am. Rolling hills are more entertaining than straight hills... I think. Don't want to climb more hills.

34km - Hurray, break at Tim Hortons in Aurora! Eat a Fibre 1 bar, chat, eat some fruit snacks, drink some gatorade. Change the tire that blows ride before I'm ready to leave. Luckily a nice guy helps me by pumping me up with his awesome pump. Make dirty jokes about small chambers being easier to pump. Back on the road!

36km - ARGH. More hills. Glad I didn't bring a cellphone. May have called a cab by now. Sing songs about bike riding to myself.

41km - Keele Street, Huge Rolling Hills, rolling hills are good for breaks and momentum. Am flying. Achieve new top speed of 60.4k/hr - that's FAST on a bike! Am also bringing up my average ride speed to closer to 20k an hour - good stuff.

50km - Realize King City looks quite nice, come into Vaughan and give an audible "Holy F*ck!" when I realize I'm coming at Canada's Wonderland from the north...... realize how far we biked up all those damn hills! Realize I might not actually hate myself and that I'll have the best exercise high when this is done. At 50km done I realize there's only about 23km left and am briefly excited, untilI realize how wierd it is to be excited at ONLY 20+k left.

60km - Home stretch. Am feeling it, but muscles have succumbed to their punishment and are just pressing ahead.

67km - Catch up to the two men I've been leapfrogging with since the break, decide to ride in slowly behind them to try and cool down.

72km - Done! Stretching, congratulating others, stretching. Leave to buy timbits. Eat all of bought timbits on the way home.

The rest of my day went something like this: TTC home, horrible sore ride from the subway station. Get home, stretch, greet kitties, shower (best shower ever!), curl up on the sofa and sleep! Wake up, eat pasta, back to bed!


Woke up this morning to the worst sunburn ever! Lesson learned. Also making a mental note of things I need to buy - new shorts and gloves are at the top of the list.

mmm, what have I been doing?

It's been BUSY lately! Or maybe it just feels that way because I just sent in the budget for work and the invoice on the same day, and I've been in and out and around lately!

I was sick a couple of weeks ago, horribly ill with a cough that hurt my lungs. I tried really hard to wrestle through a short training ride the Saturday I was sick... and I think Martha and I went about 40km or so (maybe a bit more), before I threw in the towel. It was probably pretty pathetic to see, imagine me in full bike gear, with some awesome legwarmers on, hunched over my handlebars hacking a lung up - pretty.

Then last week we went White Water Rafting - which was COLD! But fun, and way more work than I thought it'd be! Combine that with a bunch of nature walks and I spent the whole Holiday Monday sleeping!

Mar and I have decided that it's imperative that we start biking mid-week, so we've arranged a standing date to meet after work to do the exercise thing. Last week we did a really solid, and fast, 45km - it was awesome, and celebrated by a fantastic Griffin-burger!

So this weekend I am playing soccer (eep!) on Saturday, and biking 74km on Sunday. Sounds fun doesn't it? I already have the ice packs in the freezer!

i <3 my bike.

I was so lazy this weekend, it was a bit silly in fact - but my muscles feel way better today.

On Saturday I joined the bike rally crowd for a quick 46km training ride - where I met the super nice Christine, who helped me battle headwinds and was my company for a super quick last half of the ride. It was a good ride, the first half took FOREVER (maybe an hour and twenty?) while the last half was a super speedy 40 minutes or so. All in all a respectable ride at about 21km/hour speeds averaged.

In the afternoon I went hiking with my Aunt in Milton - which was great, even though we got rained on, but I think I've found a new favourite activity (aside from cycling, and soccer). It was great though.

Speaking of Soccer. Our two "newbie practices" last week were great, and alot of fun! I totally appreciated Hege, and the other women who came out to help us out. It was alot of fun to play with a bunch of people who didn't have much more skill than I. My plan this week is to spend at least two afternoons in the park practicing my dribbling skills... I need it!

Okay.. so maybe I wasn't THAT lazy. I can feel the muscles starting to engage again, which is nice.