On the road again.
Yep, it's spring. And the reason I know that is because my knees are giving out on me. I got back on my bike today. Its like to return of the robins for me - the start of biking season. When I am up and running, I ride about 30km on my lunch (1 hour), however when I start I measure it in Lees Roads. There is a killer hill near my office and I always start out riding 1 Lees hill. When I get a little faster, I ride 2 Lees hills (meaning I ride up, turn around and go back down and turn around and do it again). When I can ride Lees Rd 3 times during lunch and get back in time to wash up and get back to my desk in a decent time, then I know it's time to get out and do a Centenial Crescent. 1 Centenial Crescent and back is about a 29km round trip from my office down highway 17. Some decent hills and a good distance for a lunch ride.
And every year as I ride up Lees Rd I aim for this particular green mailbox. Its one of those rural mailboxes that where people go to pick up their mail and its placed at the beginning of a steeper portion of the hill. In years past, I have been huffing and puffing so much when I get to this stupid mailbox that I can't crank it over anymore and I unclick my shoes and put my foot down and gasp for air. The crazy thing is that a stupid yappy dog lives at this particular spot and if he is out when I stop he freaks out and tries to bit my tires. It must be comical to witness this because I am usually so out of breath that I have trouble clicking in my shoes and heading back up the hill. My road tires are so thin and under so much pressure that one bit from those little teeth would mean I'd be changing tubes while kicking away a little growling dog.
But, that's all in the past, I am happy to say that I have been starting off the season in much better shape than in the past, I am able to ride up the hill without stopping. Mind you, my lungs are a little sore today and my right knee is pained. But I did it and possibly by week's end I'll have reached my 3 Lees Roads and will start next week on the highway once again.
Last year, I brought my bike with me to the Motorcycle Races a few times and was even able to take my bike out on the track at Mosport one Saturday evening after the heat races. People were out walking around on the track and I had just come back from a road ride and my husband told me to try out the track. It was during the Tour de France and I have to admit I giggled a little in uncharacteristic vanity when a few people camping up on turn 5 whistled and yelled out "Go Lance" as I pumped up the turn. I also felt satisfied that I rode the track that my husband raced. It has a lot of elevation changes and is a racer's track (great to ride but there are no grandstands and people camp at the corner of their choosing so always see the race at the same angles). Hence, spectators have no clue what the entire track is like. It felt good to be able to relate a little more to what he was talking about when he would say "you know turn seven..."
And speaking of motorcycles, miracles of miracles! I actually got out on my loaner bike this weekend. It's a 1997 GS500 (looks something like this) and it is a great little starter bike. Hopefully by summer's end I'll be out on my bike a 1985 Kawasaki Eliminator ZL900. It's a big burly sucker and I'd much rather get comfortable on the road on a little fart first.
Anyway, although I am excited about the 220 or so km I put on the little bike this weekend, I am more excited for my daughter who got to ride with us on my husband's 954. We surprised her by picking her up from school on Friday and she was a little showoff to her friends getting on the bike. I mean how many 6 year old girls get picked up by their mommies and daddies from school on motorcycles in Canada? Not to mention how many 6 year old girls have 3 motorcycles of their own? Yowsers. So we went and picked up my husband's cheque, went out to dinner and picked up a movie and headed home. Lina reveled in it, noticing people pointing her out on the back of the bike. It's not something you see everyday here. I just thought it was cool that this could be something we did as a family, I thought it would be much later, when she was older. Hubby just thought it was cool that she liked the acceleration the best and took her on a few corners quite fast. Well, I supposed maybe she could be the world's first Canadian and woman to win the MotoGP some day.
And every year as I ride up Lees Rd I aim for this particular green mailbox. Its one of those rural mailboxes that where people go to pick up their mail and its placed at the beginning of a steeper portion of the hill. In years past, I have been huffing and puffing so much when I get to this stupid mailbox that I can't crank it over anymore and I unclick my shoes and put my foot down and gasp for air. The crazy thing is that a stupid yappy dog lives at this particular spot and if he is out when I stop he freaks out and tries to bit my tires. It must be comical to witness this because I am usually so out of breath that I have trouble clicking in my shoes and heading back up the hill. My road tires are so thin and under so much pressure that one bit from those little teeth would mean I'd be changing tubes while kicking away a little growling dog.
But, that's all in the past, I am happy to say that I have been starting off the season in much better shape than in the past, I am able to ride up the hill without stopping. Mind you, my lungs are a little sore today and my right knee is pained. But I did it and possibly by week's end I'll have reached my 3 Lees Roads and will start next week on the highway once again.
Last year, I brought my bike with me to the Motorcycle Races a few times and was even able to take my bike out on the track at Mosport one Saturday evening after the heat races. People were out walking around on the track and I had just come back from a road ride and my husband told me to try out the track. It was during the Tour de France and I have to admit I giggled a little in uncharacteristic vanity when a few people camping up on turn 5 whistled and yelled out "Go Lance" as I pumped up the turn. I also felt satisfied that I rode the track that my husband raced. It has a lot of elevation changes and is a racer's track (great to ride but there are no grandstands and people camp at the corner of their choosing so always see the race at the same angles). Hence, spectators have no clue what the entire track is like. It felt good to be able to relate a little more to what he was talking about when he would say "you know turn seven..."
And speaking of motorcycles, miracles of miracles! I actually got out on my loaner bike this weekend. It's a 1997 GS500 (looks something like this) and it is a great little starter bike. Hopefully by summer's end I'll be out on my bike a 1985 Kawasaki Eliminator ZL900. It's a big burly sucker and I'd much rather get comfortable on the road on a little fart first.
Anyway, although I am excited about the 220 or so km I put on the little bike this weekend, I am more excited for my daughter who got to ride with us on my husband's 954. We surprised her by picking her up from school on Friday and she was a little showoff to her friends getting on the bike. I mean how many 6 year old girls get picked up by their mommies and daddies from school on motorcycles in Canada? Not to mention how many 6 year old girls have 3 motorcycles of their own? Yowsers. So we went and picked up my husband's cheque, went out to dinner and picked up a movie and headed home. Lina reveled in it, noticing people pointing her out on the back of the bike. It's not something you see everyday here. I just thought it was cool that this could be something we did as a family, I thought it would be much later, when she was older. Hubby just thought it was cool that she liked the acceleration the best and took her on a few corners quite fast. Well, I supposed maybe she could be the world's first Canadian and woman to win the MotoGP some day.
posted by ria at Monday, May 09, 2005
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