Tempus Fugit

Latin (tem-pu̇s-ˈfü-git): Time Flies

Month: August 2012

  • Tires & Mechanicals

    A while back the original tires on my road bike were starting to look a little worn, so I replaced them with a nice looking set of Michelin Pro 3 with a red sidewall that matched the bike paint job nicely. Then I started to notice I was getting more flats, a lot more flats. For a while I chalked it up to just the luck of the ride. Then one ride at the lake I flatted 3 time in under 70km and had to call for a pickup as I’d gone through all my spare tubes! Time to try something different. 

    After some research I settled on trying a Continental 4000S as the new rear tire. Amazingly enough, 6 long rides later, including 4 in the Kenora area where there is lots of sharp granite piece on the road shoulders, not to mention numerous other road debris hazards, and 14km on some serious gravel, all without a single flat!

    So I’m convinced that the Continental is the tire for me an I’ll be ordering another for the front right away.

  • Darn you Strava

    Once upon a time going for a ride was a simple thing, relaxing, no stress. You could ride easy, go hard, or anything in between.

    And then there was Strava.

    Strava has an iPhone app that allows you to track your ride and then upload it to their web site. It also has the concept of “segments” which allows you to compare yourself to anyone who rides the same route as you did. Each segment has a Leaderboard which shows your stats in comparison to other riders who have ridding the same strech of road. You can even get notified when your friends do a ride and when somebody beats your time and steals you KOM (King of the Mountain) status! If you’re at all competitive, like most guys, this is quite annoying, at least it is to me and the first thing that comes to mind is how can I get that 1st place back and beat the other riders time.

    So much for relaxing rides. Now when I ride I’m thinking about “Is this a segment?”, “Who is the leader?”, “How much harder do I need to ride to get a (PR) Personal Record, move up the Leader Board, or reclaim the KOM?”

    On vacation this year I’ve been doing most of my riding in the Kenora area. There is another rider in the area using Strava, and he is killing me! Stole all my KOMs, beats all my times by MINUTES! I find my self trying to close the gap or get some records back, but so far I just can’t do it. I’ve subsequently learned that he is a Cat 3 racer, and of course much younger that me, so I’m trying to console my self with these overriding factors. Even so, I’m still trying to close the gap.

    Yesterday, I intentionally turned of Strava for a good portion of my ride. I actually took the time to look around and enjoy the scenery, which is quite fantastic in the Lake of the Woods area, instead of focusing on the power meter, time, and speed. That part of the ride was much more relaxing and a mix of solid efforts with perhaps somewhat long recovery periods.

    All in all I’m hooked on Strava and I’m sure that most rides I’ll use it. It can keep you motivated and turn an average ride into more of a killer workout. Besides, it’s always fun to steak somebody else’s KOM!

  • One thing leads to another

    IMG 0652

    I’ve been geocaching for a few years, but lately it’s taken a bit of a back seat unless I’ve got lots of time, or I’m out at the lake. Since we’re out at the lake on vacation for a couple of weeks, I assembled a bit of a list of geocaches that you need a boat to access. This generally makes for a nice adventure out on the lake.  This cache, Swimming With Karma – Hay Island, is near our cottage and I thought I’d give it a go. It had an extra appeal in that it mentioned The Thor Occurrence, a gold mine, or an “occurrence” of gold on the lake.

    After finding the cache, I headed over to Pipestone Peninsula to visit “Thor”

    Some info on The Thor Occurance

    Location: Pipestone Peninsula, Manross Township: NTS 52E/9SW Lat. 49’37’02” (49.6171 0 ) Long. 94″21’57” (94.3659 0 )

    Access; Mining location S135 is on the southern part of Pipestone Peninsula, 4 km east-southeast of Pipestone Point. It is accessible by boat from Kenora or from Sioux Narrows.

    Geology: The uppermost part of the Bigstone Bay tholeiitic sequence in the vicinity of Witch Bay consists of south-facing basalt interlayered with peridotite and gabbro sills. The periodotite and gabbro are closely related, with the gabbro apparently forming the upper part of a differentiated sill, similar to that described by Davies (1978) at Shoal Lake. Overlying the tholeiitic sequence are calc-alkaline dacitic and rhyolitic volcanics, mainly tuff breccia and lapilli tuff.

    After wandering around the site I came across a trail that was a little over grown but marked with orange tape flags. Curiosity struck and of course I needed to follow the trail to see where it went. After several kilometres, the trail was getting better and better. As I rounded a corner, the trail is now totally clear and it is apparent that somebody has sprayed the trail with defoliant. My conclusion is that there are a few cottages on the island and somebody has created a quad trail that goes al over the island. I had originally thought that the trail would loop back to where I started, but not so. I pop out to the shore line and realize that I’m a long way from my boat and not heading ay closer. Thanks to the GPS I re-work my route a bit and get back to the boat without retracing my 5-6km hike.

    Back at the mine site, I do a little more exploring on discover several excavations and this automotive frame pictured here. It was hard to tell is it was a car or a truck as there was virtually noting left, no motor, no door panels, just the front fenders and the frame.

    On the way back, I stop at a nearby beach to cool off with a swim and then boat back home. All in all a good adventure.

  • The ways of the demon rum

    It starts of innocently enough.

    Demon Rum

    A fruity cocktail on some exotic southern vacation. You can’t even tell what’s in the drink, but it tastes so good, and one leads to another. Most likely it’s made with white rum, and that seems good enough at the time.

    But time passes, and the demon has set it’s hooks. White rum is no longer enough and you start looking for something else. Amber rum is calling, and you respond. Fruity stuff is out and you try a number of concoctions but then you see the light and move on to the real drink, Rum & Coke. Not diet coke, not “the new” coke, not coke zero, but the real thing, full strength original Coca-Cola, and life is good… for a while. 

    And then the demon calls to you again, and you slip over to the dark side, the true rum, dark, deep, and mysteriously delicious. Coke is decreasing and the demon rum is increasing. Soon you’re drinking it “neat” and it’s better that any single malt. But still, Coke is a good companion and the preferred mix for the serious rum drinker.

    Arrrr Matey,  that’s the way of the demon rum

    Demon rum