Such a nice sunny warm fall day I was motivated to put a little power to the pedals. Not bad for a 30 year old steel mountain bike with loaded panniers, not to mention the (ahem) age of the rider.
Author: garry.c.stewart
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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.
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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!
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One thing leads to another
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.
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Spending time with Parker
I spend some time talking with Parker over the weekend. I didn’t think I was that boring but he seems to have slept through most of it except for the odd response here and there. Still a good time and I enjoy his company.
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Rode with Hincapie
On the weekend club ride, we had a couple of “special” guests.
The other special guests were the Woodcock Race team that joined up with us at Lockport. The FOG fast group went off with them to Selkirk, and then from Selkirk to “The Big Bridge” Tim & Don pulled the train at 46-48km/h and most of us just hung on for the ride, it was a good time. Then, after the sprint to the top of the bridge, the Woodcock team went on a head as we stopped to re-group. The ride boss was pushing for some extra mileage and the group was willing, so it was off to Cooks Creek and then a stop at the beach in Birds Hill Park for water. With riding from home to the Legion and all the way back to the house it racked up 145 km for the day.
Good preparation for the Muddy Waters 100 (160km) coming up on August 12, 2012. This year the route is a little different with the start from Kildonan Park. The 1st loop is out to Lockport and back via Henderson and Highway 202, and then ti’s the standard FOG route, including Cooks Creek and 1 1/2 laps of Birds Hill Park to round out the 100 mile course.
Habitat for Humanity is sponsoring the ride and it’s a fund raising event. If you’d like to support them, and me, a tax-deductible donation can be made here, or by using the form in the sidebar.
If I reach or exceed my goal, I’ll get a cool cycling jersey to add to my collection as a small perk for me, so thanks for your generosity towards this worthy cause.Actually, I didn’t ride with “The” George Hincapie, but it made for a catchy title.
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Scott’s Birthday Bash at the Winnipeg Trap and Skeet Club.
Scott’s Birthday Bash at the Winnipeg Trap and Skeet Club., a set on Flickr.
I’ve posted a few photos over at my Flickr site of the guys shooting up clay targets.
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Smoke on the Water
Portable gas water pump being fired up. Some big excitement at the lake this afternoon, the neighbour’s boat house across the road from us caught fire!
Chopping a hole in the deck. I walked down to the end of our driveway and noticed a girl standing at the end of our neighbour’s driveway, and didn’t think anything of it until a fire truck roared up the road, and she waved them into the driveway. With in minutes there was also a helicopter overhead checking out the situation and an OPP cruiser pulled in right after the fire trucks.
It turns out that she was canoeing in the bay and noticed some “unusual” smoke by the boat house and paddled over for a closer look. The place was on fire and they went next door to another neighbour and called the fire department. The volunteer fire department arrived in 15 minutes, by then the boat house owner had their own fire hoses in play battling the fire. For most of the afternoon the firemen poured water on the structure and investigated all the walls and between the floors. The top floor was filled with thick smoke. Thankfully, nobody was injured and the fire didn’t spread to the forest or other buildings.
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Unusual EKG Results
Something strange happened while I was being monitored this afternoon. Apparently, I flat lined! That red line across the bottom is my heart beats per minute, and I’m pretty sure a flat line in not a good thing.
Actually, it’s not an EKG, but a recording of my Spin Class workout with my new Powertap power meter. Apparently, the heart rate signal just dropped off half way through the session. Trust me, it was beating plenty fast.
The whole power meter thing has me taking my cycling sessions a lot more seriously and I’m reading more about how to train with power and the importance of structured interval training. Hopefully, when the group rides start up again this year, I’ll be a lot stronger rider right of the top of the season.
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IBM to Launch IBM Docs with a Collaborative Service Similar to Google Apps
IBM to Launch IBM Docs with a Collaborative Service Similar to Google Apps | ServicesANGLE
IBM is set to launch IBM Docs as part a collaborative service similar to Google Apps that it is calling the IBM SmartCloud for Social Business. As part of the effort, IBM is placing its LotusLive services under the SmartCloud name, which now encompasses IBM’s “smarter commerce,” brand, analytics and industry specific solutions such as its Smarter Cities efforts.
