Finance Ponderings...

Since the Sea To Sea kicks off this weekend in Seattle, it seemed a good idea to come back and revisit the issue of finances. Even though I am not joining the tour until Mid-August, I still feel that "it's really beginning" excitement.

Back in November/December of '07, when I first started down the road of fundraising, I set the goal of having my funding in place by the end of March. It seemed like a good idea at the time! I wanted to get the funding out of the way as soon as possible, so that I could then just focus on the physical training when the spring arrived.

Well, here we are in June, and the financial aspect of the ride is still ongoing.

This has been an education, of course, in so many ways. I have to keep reminding myself that this isn't about me and my fun biking trip. I've said it before: the cause is the key. I've had to humble myself a bit and admit that my earlier goal was kind of naive. I now realize that I had best be prepared to talk about this cause, and yes, fundraise, all the way through to the end of the tour.

(as an aside, all riders who are going from sea to sea were asked to raise $10,000. All riders who were going to ride just one segment of the tour were asked to raise $4,000.)

This grand project has been an education in the challenges of fundraising as well. This was all new to me, as I'm sure it was to the other riders. I really didn't think it would be as hard as it has been. And it has been hard.

So, where do we stand?

Back in the fall, 8 local riders, mostly based out of our church, formed a group and covenanted to fundraise together. And some of us, were very good at it. As a group, our goal was $50,000 to cover the commitments of each of the 8 riders. To date, we're are at about $52-53,000 which is amazing news. Praise God!

Still, not all of us have achieved our personal goals. The group may have hit the goal, but individually, most of us would still like to achieve our own individual goals. Call it a bit of pride, or competitiveness, or a DIY attitude, or just plain determination to see things through to the end.

I have raised just over $3100 toward my own goal of $4000. It would be nice to cover that before I start the tour in Mid-August... seven short weeks from now. We'll see.

Blessings,
...art

Pondering Gear Again

First, let me suggest that you go and read the June 17-21 editions of the Frazz comic (direct link here to the first one)


Now...

Pondering Gear Again

Back in the fall I first pondered gear. This was my Kona Dew Deluxe as it stood back then.

Since then I've put on almost 1500km, and I should put on at least that much again before I set out to join Sea-to-Sea in late August. I have to admit that there are still times that I wish for another bike. (This one is a 60cm frame and I'd really like to try out a 62/63cm frame for the longer top tube.) However as long as I'm unemployed, that just is not an option. In the meantime I try, sometimes not very well, to practice contentment, as the Apostle Paul encouraged us. The bike does work, and let's face it, even on another bike I probably still would get a sore butt and tingly hands during a long ride.

Here is the bike as of this morning:

Since October I have made these changes:

1. Added another bottle cage, so I now have two. That should be enough, as there will be SAG wagons along the route with refills
2. Replaced the rear tire and rear rim thanks to the blowout two weeks ago. So yeah, the two don't match. (It's the same rim, but the newer model now has a "racing stripe" on it. Ditto the tire.) I try not to be vain about my bike. Gayle keeps telling me to get kevlar tires for the tour. We'll see if I replace these tires before August or not. I am only going for two weeks after all.
   
3. Replaced the cage pedals with clipless Wellgo SPD (WPD-823) pedals. I like these quite a lot. And sorry Heather F, but I have not yet fallen. I just don't seem to have any issues with getting my feet out of the pedals.
4. Bought myself a nice MEC rackpack for the back rack. It's smaller than the pannier that I used to ride with, but hopefully this is a bit more aerodynamic, and I do like how it is easy to find things in this long/shallow "trunk", rather than the deep/cavernous pannier. I like it a lot.
   
5. Replaced the lousy seat with a thickly padded split seat (Bontrager Sport LUX CRZ). I still get a sore butt after 10-20km. That's what breaks are for, I guess. This is where someone will tell me to get a Brooks B17, but I doubt I will.
6. Replaced the hand grips with tear-dropped shaped grips (Lambert Select)
7. Replaced the handlebar with one with another 1 to 1-1/2" of rise in them. This is harder to judge. I think it works well.
8. I haven't gotten rid of it yet, but the kickstand is on it's way out.

And that is where things stand.

Happy Weekend!

Good Cyclist / Bad Cyclist

Yesterday morning I went out on a 51km ride.

Just a few km from home, I'm biking down Wonderland Rd, which has a dedicated bike path alongside it. I'm biking south on the path. Coming north are a younger (Late high school? Early college?) woman and man cyclist. I met the woman first, who was riding helmetless.

Behind her came a young man, also helmetless. He was wobbling all over the bike path... because in one hand he had his cell phone out and his thumb was punching numbers and ALL his attention was directed down onto the cellphone.

I actually had to yell "Heads Up!" at him to prevent him crashing into me.

Dear Lord, I pray that we on the sea-to-sea will always bike safely, be aware, and be courteous to those around us.

Much later, I was stopped at the 25km mark on a back country road, just having a granola bar and a stretch. I pulled out my map to check on where I was going to turn back. Along came a woman on a road bike (wearing a helmet) and asking to make sure I was okay, and not lost. She even was starting to unclip as she slowed down. I reassured her that I was just stopping for a break, and she pressed on. In hindsight I wish she had stopped so we could have chatted.

Dear Lord, may we always be as polite, helpful, and solicitous of our fellow riders.

Amen, and Amen.

The Route Through London.

Hello!
Today's blog posting is primarily aimed at my fellow Sea-to-Sea riders. The route through London, Ontario, follows the river valley multi-use path. I'm quite familiar with this path, but lately I've been looking at it with new eyes, now that I know that it is going to be used by the Sea To Sea tour. I have to say, that I think there are a few confusing places on this path, and areas that really do not have great signage.

So, today I started at the SW edge of London, and biked the entire river valley path from one end to the other, and took several photos along the way. I present this here for the cyclists to have a look at. Hopefully when you get to London, this will now look a little bit more familiar.

(Alternatively, you could just make sure you ride into London with one of the locals. There are over 9 riders from the London area on the tour!)

The Sea To Sea Route through London

We will enter London along Byron Baseline Rd, a nice mostly-downhill ride along a secondary city road. Then a left turn onto North St, and another steeper coast downhill brings you to the main gates of Springbank Park.



Enter the main gates and pass not one, not two, but THREE streets heading off to the right. Just head toward the river and turn right onto the bike path when there is no where else to go -- the THIRD right, by the way. (The "wrong way" sign is for cars, not cyclists!)



You are now on the Thames Valley Parkway -- a Multi-Use pathway.

Watch out for pedestrians, joggers, strollers, people with strollers, public works trucks, and most of all... Geese. The Canada Geese yield to no one. There are long smooth stretches, and sections that have blind corners and sharp turns. There are sections where roots have produced bumps in the path, and other areas where it is pretty narrow. But there are NO CARS! Still, I wouldn't recommend racing along it too quickly.

As I mentioned previous, I find that it is not tremendously well signed. A few times you might find puzzling forks in the path.


I think that in almost all instances what will work is this: If in doubt, stick close to the river, and keep heading east.

After a while you will come to your first of many paths under a bridge, such as this.



The river path moves from Springbank park to Greenway park as it heads toward downtown. After Greenway park the path makes an abrupt left turn and tunnels under a rail line



Now, don't panic here, as the path appears to end and dumps you onto a city street. There is a 2 block break in the path due to an older neighbourhood bordering the river which must predate the path. Just do like I suggested and stick close to the river (keep turning left) Oh, and follow the nice signs! (This is one spot where there are good signs.)


and you'll be back on the path in two blocks. The path starts again right by the London Children's museum. If you really want to take a break and explore, feel free.

Just a little bit more and you will be passing the HMCS Prevost on the right, which is a Navy installation.


And on the opposite side is your first bridge to cross. This is a bike/pedestrian bridge)


This bridge dumps you out at the Fork of the Thames. So named because the river Thames forks here. (Surprise!) The North Thames continues north but DO NOT FOLLOW IT! The main Thames continues East, which is our direction. The river valley multi-use path goes in both directions.

This park is right on the SW corner of downtown. There is a play park, and a spray pad about 50 meters North, if you need to cool down. (and even better: public restrooms). A short detour north would bring you to First Christian Reformed Church. If you need some work done, there are also 3 or more bike stores within 2-3km of this park.

But let us press on. We need to turn RIGHT to follow the river east, but to do so, you follow a cloverleaf in the path which first goes LEFT ...


... and then proceeds under the bridge and on along the river.

Hang on, I think an aerial shot from google maps would be a help here:

There, I hope that clears things up.

Less than 100 meters down the path, the path goes under a train trestle bridge. The bridge or the trains must shed a lot of dirt, because it is always dirty here. The city has gone so far as to build a roof over the path, but the path is still always partly covered in dirt. SLOW DOWN.


And the path continues along the river. There are several more bridges that we go under, and at times the path is narrow and winding.


There is one place where the path stops and crosses the street.


The path also crosses the river twice - it first switches to the south side of the river, and then crosses back to the north. In both situations you first hit a sort of cloverleaf, and then merge with the sidewalk to cross the bridge, before continuing onward on the other side of the river.



There are still a few more km of winding path ahead, but there is only one more little trick to watch out for. Near the end of the path, but not quite, the path appears to abruptly stop at a road. If you turn right, you see an old bridge. DO NOT TAKE THE BRIDGE.


Rather, you jog right about 5-10 meters and the path continues.


Here is an aerial shot from google maps.


And that is about all. The path comes to an end beside a "off leash dog park". If you cycle up the hill you'll be at Hamilton Rd.

Turn right, cycle a few kilometers and then left on Braesyde to end the day at the London District Christian Secondary School.

-----

Things to keep in mind:
You can view the route for this day online at mapmyride


Also the satellite photo on maps.google.ca was recently updated and is very high resolution, so you can also go there to scrutinize the path through the river valley.

Darn Bike, Goes Boom!

When you live on the NW side of a city, a largish city that is, then a SE wind is a pain in the neck for a cyclist. I can either go West or NW, like I usually do, and then have to fight the wind on the way home (ugh), or if I want to go SE then I have to cross the city to do so. (ugh again.)

Still, the wind is usually not too bad in the morning, so I headed a bit west in the river valley, then south past Hwy 402, and then East for a while, before heading North towards the center of the city -- though on quieter roads, and getting off onto the River valley bike trail as soon as possible. (Here is a map, for future reference, I may ride it again some time.)

But at the 36km mark, "disaster" struck.

I was zooming along the bike path, and there was a sudden small bump and a hiss. I was certain that my back wheel had picked up a leaf, which was now stuck under the mudguard and rubbing. I've had that happen several times before. But when I looked down a moment later the rear tire was flat.

Fortunately, I was right at a park (Fork of the Thames, if you want to know), and so I walked my bike up to a park bench to set about changing the tube. I was dreading this, as I've got very tall rims on my Kona, and I find them very tough for removing the tires. It's always a struggle.

But when I examined the tire I first found a small 1/4" long slit/cut in the tread. And next I found this:
Yes that is a HOLE in my rim, right under that spoke. Here, have a closer look:



And then I found more damage:


So... did I hit something? Maybe, but there is no hard evidence - no nail or thorn did I find. Or maybe the rims just failed. It doesn't really matter. I dropped the bike off at my local trusted shop and he's going to work his magic on it... It was time for a tuneup anyway. I recently put new handlebars on, with a bit more rise to them, so I need new cables as well.

So, it looks like no riding for me this weekend.

[Later Edit: (much later) The title of this post refers to an obscure story I came across years ago about a Gorilla that had been taught some sign language. After an earthquake, the gorilla reacted by communicating ""Darn darn floor bad bite." And for some reason it sprang to mind when I sat down to write this.]

Things I Learned Today...

Today I learned that yes, I actually can hear my cellphone ringing on a bike ride, even when it is behind me packed in my rackpack. 

I was about 25-30km into a "quick" two hour/40km morning ride when Gayle called.  She wanted me to join her and Pieter on a ride out to Grand Bend and back...  Grand Bend is about 70km from my house, so 140km round trip.  

There were several calls back and forth and the upshot was that I finished my ride home (44.75km) and took a one hour break while waiting for Pieter and Gayle to get themselves organized and call me.  No, we were not going to Grand Bend, as that was too far...  I didn't think I was ready to make the jump to a 180km day!

Instead we decided to run out to Ailsa Craig and back --- more or less this ride, but not starting from the church.  The wind was west-ish and supposed to come around to the North-west, which would perfectly suit this ride.

And so around 10-10:30 the 3 of us set off.  It was a gorgeous day - clear blue skies with some puffy clouds here and there, temps in the low 20s and heading towards a high of 27c in London, a mild west wind, and beautiful countryside.

First time I've ever started a ride with an already-sore backside... :-)  Today I Learned that you can start a (lengthy) bike ride while already a bit tired, and still work through it and do well. 

From my house, Ailsa Craig is about 30-40km, so I knew that I was getting myself in for another century ride.  That's okay, as I do need to work myself up to that.  The route is a nice back country road, all paved roads, and mostly quiet.  I love a ride through the country when we can cycle side-by-side and talk and enjoy the day together.

In total I rode 44km plus 76km, so 120km for the day.  Today I Learned that a century ride can be a lot more pleasant than it was on that ride back-n-forth to Exeter.  I was actually feeling not too much pain when we passsed the century mark.

Today was also my first really lengthy ride with my new clipless pedals.  And Today I Learned that my shins can really, really, hurt...  I knew I would need to develop new muscles with these new pedals, but maybe I should have done an 80km day or two before jumping to 120.  A mild ache started in my left leg around the 80-85km mark, and got gradually worse.   Fortunately it was only one of my legs that was hurting, as my other leg gave me the most of the oomph those last 15km home.  The sore leg was okay as long as I kept gently pedaling.  The stopping and going was worse.  Still, when I dismounted in the garage at home, my leg told me, very loudly, that it was not at all pleased with me.  I rested with it on ice for a half hour and then took two ibuprofen...  and the rest of the evening was much better.  Today I Learned that aggressive treatment of a minor injury like this can dramatically shrink the recover time.

Oh yeah, and once again the weatherman was not to be trusted as the wind mostly stayed in the west, maybe WNW, so the ride home wasn't quite as easy as it should have been.

I think that is about all.  The final Today I Learned segment is that deciding to write a blog with cutesy theme like this Today I Learned bit, can be hard to write and sometimes reads weird.  Oh well, next time I'll think of something else...

blessings

...art

PS:   Today I learned that sunscreen really should be re-applied after a few hours, and that I need to be a bit more careful how I lay it on my calves to get full coverage...  oops