Six Things for Sunday

Number 1

A little while ago I decided to upgrade my TV in my living room. I had a 30-something inch Acer that had been given to me, but it used to be a demo TV and the screen has issues. So when Costco was running a deal on a 40 inch Samsung LCD, plus get a Samsung blu-ray player for an extra $100 it seemed like a good deal. But now I had four TVs. The first TV I got when I moved away from home that is upstairs in my bedroom. The upgrade to TV number one, a 27” Sony flat screen that is hanging out in my garage for trainer workouts. Plus the Acer and the new Samsung. Four TVs for one person seems a bit excessive, right?

Number 2

So I put an ad out to sell the 27” Sony last week. And here is the response I got back from someone:

“I am looking for a TV to donate to an elderly gentleman in a nursing home. As he doesn't have any family in Calgary nor does it appear he has anyone to visit him, he is always striking a conversation with people going by to find out the highlights of hockey games - for which he is very interested in and loves the game. Due to his eyesight not being what it used to be, he is unable to read the paper. Therefore, a thought was to try to find this gentleman a TV so he can enjoy watching a game and bring a little pleasure over the holiday season.”

So he came by and picked up the TV yesterday, and I’m happy that I was able to give it to someone who will get some enjoyment out of it.  The Acer is now hanging out in the garage.

Number 3

Things have been a little bit…arctic…in Calgary this week! Work (and a few fun activities too) sucked up all my time and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday wound up being rest days. Unless you count a bunch of walking that I did to get to meetings or pick up Christmas presents. It has been in the minus teens and twenties around here with snow falling off and on for what seems like about three weeks straight now. November was so beautiful that December is a bit of a shock.

Number 4

I managed to knock off a great trainer ride on Saturday morning. It involved a bunch of gear pyramids, which are always fun, and took me 55 minutes. Later in the day I dropped my bike off at Bow Cycle to have a few things adjusted – the derailleur needed to be repositioned as the chain was rubbing on it. An easy fix though. She’s also getting some new bar tape and will be cleaned and shined up.

Number 5

It would feel wrong to not run once all week, so I made it to the Y just as they were opening up at 7 am. Given that it was -28C (-18F) outside a treadmill run was really the only option. At least I got to run in shorts though! I hopped on for 30 fun filled minutes. I kept cranking up the speed as the run went along and watched the visual display show me as a little red dot running around a track. Talk about boring! You are running on a treadmill, visualizing yourself running round and around on a track…

Number 6

And reserves are coming along. Everyone keeps asking how they are going but it is really hard to quantify. The best I can say is that they HAVE to be done by December 18^th. And that I’m getting on a plane at 8 pm on December 18^th. And that I’ll most likely pass out the entire way after being so sleep deprived for so long..!!

Hope you guys had a great weekend!

Sunday’s Highwood Pass Ride

Back in June a few of us had planned on riding Highwood Pass in Kananaskis one weekend.  Apparently this ride is amazing – big climbs and terrific scenery.  The road is closed over the winter and we were hoping to ride it before it opened to traffic.  Sadly we were going to ride it on the day that it wound up alternating snow, hail, rain and sun.  On my schedule for this weekend was a hilly 100K route.  No easy riding allowed.  So when it came time to consult my riding buddies Pam and Tara I proposed Highwood Pass for our ride this weekend.

We met up at my place early on Sunday morning and drove out to Kananaskis together.  As we passed a few trails on the way in I noticed they were closed off due to bears in the area.  Gulp!!  We parked at the village, hit the bathrooms and got ready to go.

The ride is essentially an out and back along Highway 40.  There are no services along the way until Highwood House (where there is a gas station), then turn around and come back.

It was an amazing day – nice and warm and a clear blue sky.  I tried to take the time to look up and appreciate the amazing scenery.  I wasn’t sure what to expect for hills or climbs but I was feeling pretty good on the uphills.  I kept scanning the ditches on the side of the highway looking for animals (okay, specifically bears).  We were trying to keep together as much as possible just in case we did sight one.
  I was pedalling along and all of a sudden I dropped my chain.  I had enough momentum going that stopping wasn’t an issue and I hollered at Pam as I put the breaks on.  As I stopped my bike I looked down and then looked back.  My chain was lying on the shoulder of the highway behind me.
Oh so disappointing!  We were just over 13 miles into the ride…less than an hour.  None of us were carrying the handy dandy chain repair tool.  Thankfully there were three of us, so Pam rode back to get her car and Tara stuck with me and we started walking back towards Kananaskis together.  I was happy she kept me company in case we saw any bears.  She didn’t want to leave a girl on her own on the side of the highway.  I guess we all have our own perspectives on what to be worried about!  A couple of cyclists stopped to help, but no one had the tool or was able to rig the chain back together. 

I’m hoping the 2.5 miles or so that Tara and I walked (in our bike shoes) was enough to count for a brick that day!  Note to self though, walking that long in bike shoes makes for exceedingly tight calves the next day…ouch!

Pointing in the Right Direction

The bike tire has been replaced!  The sidewall of the tire had broken down, causing it to warp.  How does it happen?  First off, the bike tech asked me if my tire had been near the exhaust of my car.  It hadn’t, but heat near the tire could be one cause of damage.  Another possibility is wearing the tire down on the trainer over the winter, then the tire continues to break down as you ride outside.  One other possibility…and this is just a theory here on my part…  There is a little arrow on the tire showing you the direction that it is supposed to rotate:
It isn’t really obvious and I didn’t even know it existed until I was changing my tube out just before Wasa.  It is entirely possible that I had the tire on backwards at some point, which would also cause the sidewall of the tire to break down (since it is stronger in one direction).  Although I reserve the right to be wrong on that!  So trust me guys, I’m learning a lot about taking care of a bike as I go along.  After awhile you realize that cleaning and lubing a chain isn’t that difficult, and you learn who to ask for advice!

Since my bike needed some TLC this evening I decided to get my run in today.  Have I mentioned that it is taper week?  Just because there are no really long workouts that doesn’t mean that the workouts aren’t quality ones.  And today’s quality workout involved speed intervals!  It was essentially a repeat of Sunday’s run, except it was 8 x 2:00 speed intervals instead of 10.  Given that I rode hill repeats yesterday I was actually really happy with how the intervals went.  I was about the same pace range as Sunday on the intervals and felt pretty strong the entire way.  Tomorrow?  Bring on the bike!