Tempus Fugit

FOG Riders
Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo

My Stats

Today’s ride was a little longer that typical due to taking the Cooks Creek route option. The weather was very fine with temperatures in the mid-20s and a clear sky for the ride as you can see from the picture that I took during the ride. The photo was a little tricky, but now I have my own photo’s of the group.

It was a very large group today and at times quite unruly with people riding 4 across, some cutting into the line, and a near bump on River Road, but nothing compared to what happened at the end.

We’re just coming up Henderson Hwy approaching the Legion, just a few minutes from finishing the ride, and two riders go down right in front of me. I manage to brake without getting rear-ended and put off onto the grassy shoulder and avoid getting tangled up in the crash. Wow, do these things happen fast!

From what the riders involved said, the first rider to go down had his front wheel bumped by the rider in front of him as he moved over a bit. This started a nasty wobble for the first rider to go down that he couldn’t recover from, and the second person was just unable to get out of the way. It may be a little harsh, but this was a self-inflicted crash, as the first rider to go down must have been overlapping wheels with the rider ahead. I’ve been cautioned on this before and now I’m quite careful to avoid overlapping for just this reason. Perhaps in a race, or the Tour de France the pro’s will ride in this position, but on a group ride of amatures, it’s a receipe for trouble. Well, both riders seemed physically OK, but bike damage my be another story. Being that close to a crash gave me a new respect for the issues of riding in a group in a tight formation.

Water Control Valve
Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo

For some reason opening the cottage this year seems to be taking longer that ever. Traditionally, May long weekend and it’s all done. Here we are on June 24th and the boat has yet to be flipped over and put in the water.

Perhaps, the fact that I’m sitting around and enjoying my 2nd, soon to be 3rd cup of coffee that is impeding progress. With the cottage now entering it’s 26th year, every year seems to bring a new little challenge to the start up process. This year, it was the “blue thing” over there. It’s a part of the washing machine that as I write is shaking the cottage on the spin cycle. Hmmmm, that foundation really needs to be checked out. But hey, it’s been like this since day 1.

Back to the “blue thing”. After getting the water on and hooking everything up, I thought I was done, but not so. On one trip into the workshop I noticed that the carpet was wet, never a good sign. It seems that one of the hoses was leaking. The first attempt was to tighten the hose. Didn’t work. Second try was to replace the hose as it seemed to be coming from the hose fitting at the “blue thing”. wrong again. OK, now on much closer inspection, the “blue thing” had a very small crack in the thread fitting for the cold water.

After a brief internet search and an email to a local parts show, we had our replacement part for a whooping $29.95. Not a bad deal to restore a washing machine that is as old as the cottage. Installation was relatively easy, but I’ve been advised this morning that I may have not connected the hot water correctly, as we’re getting a cold water wash when it should be hot but, it’s not leaking any more. Perhaps after another coffee…

FOG Riders
Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo

My Stats

Today’s ride was a little longer that typical due to taking the Cooks Creek route option. The weather was very fine with temperatures in the mid-20s and a clear sky for the ride as you can see from the picture that I took during the ride. The photo was a little tricky, but now I have my own photo’s of the group.

It was a very large group today and at times quite unruly with people riding 4 across, some cutting into the line, and a near bump on River Road, but nothing compared to what happened at the end.

We’re just coming up Henderson Hwy approaching the Legion, just a few minutes from finishing the ride, and two riders go down right in front of me. I manage to brake without getting rear-ended and put off onto the grassy shoulder and avoid getting tangled up in the crash. Wow, do these things happen fast!

From what the riders involved said, the first rider to go down had his front wheel bumped by the rider in front of him as he moved over a bit. This started a nasty wobble for the first rider to go down that he couldn’t recover from, and the second person was just unable to get out of the way. It may be a little harsh, but this was a self-inflicted crash, as the first rider to go down must have been overlapping wheels with the rider ahead. I’ve been cautioned on this before and now I’m quite careful to avoid overlapping for just this reason. Perhaps in a race, or the Tour de France the pro’s will ride in this position, but on a group ride of amatures, it’s a receipe for trouble. Well, both riders seemed physically OK, but bike damage my be another story. Being that close to a crash gave me a new respect for the issues of riding in a group in a tight formation.

Seen a better day
Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo

Yesterday I took this photo of my cycling computer. It’s seen a few kilometers, 10,570 to be exact. It’s been on the Rockhopper since the bike was new except for a short time when I tried out a different computer.

Today, on the ride to work it fell off on the street, so I think I’ll need to replace it.

My Stats

The day started off clear and sunny at 7am, but by the time I was picking up the Starbucks at 8:30 on the way to the ride it had clouded over with a nice flat layer of grey. Not particularly threatening but keeping the temperature down at 14°C. The normal 9am sharp start time was delayed by a few minutes as on of the guys repaired a flat. This turned out to be the only mechanical difficulty of the ride as approximately 25 rides headed out.

A couple of route changes from the standard ride took place. Due to a race on a section of River Road, we went up Henderson Hwy and cut over the bridge to Lockport and resumed the normal route, until we hit Birds Hill Park. Once in the Park one of the ride leaders proposed cutting over to Garvin Rd via a path and the road that goes between Elmhurst and Pine Ridge golf courses. There was much objection about going thru this path. Many felt that it would be too muddy and heaped much durision on the person proposing the route change. We did it anyway. These roadies are a little too pristine. The path was a perfectly good single track and any mountain bike rider would think nothing of it. Sure there was a little mud, but nothing of concern even to a road bike.

Overall, the ride was quite relaxed by FOG ride standards, and there was just one group for the entire ride. The typical speed was kept under 35km and the only hard haul was up 206 where of course all the boys had to hammer up the hill to the Park entrance, into the wind of course. I think it was this relaxed because the racers were busy elsewhere.

By this time the clouds were darker and signs of rain were all around us, but we escaped getting caught in any serious rain. However, on the way home, minutes after getting back to the starting point, there was a heavy downpour that temporarily flooded the streets. I appreciated not getting soaked out on the ride! As always, a good ride and with the more relaxed pace, I’m not feeling totally wasted!

Snowbirds over Kenora
Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo
Photo by: Scott (s2photo)

I had a great weekend at the lake with Eric & Scott, just us guys. We had some good food, lots of R&R, some kayaking, some fireworks, more R&R (sleeping) and a quick look at the Snowbirds on the way home.