Latin (tem-pu̇s-ˈfü-git): Time Flies
The video below has my Strava highlights from 2021 consisting of mainly cycling with some hiking and rowing thrown in.
Not too bad considering some of my other activities the 2021 that kept my activity on the bike a little lower that normal ?. I’m mainly on the trainer in the winter and still doing some outside riding with the FROG group as well. However, I’m already looking forward to riding around Winnipeg & Kenora in just a jersey and shorts. ?♂️.
This weekend, August 28-29, is the 14th annual Princess Margaret Cancer Research Foundation’s Ride to Conquer Cancer and it will be my first.
I became aware of this ride while I was in Toronto at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (PMH) receiving CAR-T treatment for lymphoma. Today, thanks to this cutting edge treatment, I’m cancer free. Every time I was in the PMH elevator I’d see this picture on the door and as an avid cyclist, I knew this was for me.
So I signed up for the ride and did some fundraising.
Thank-you to all who supported me on the ride and this cause. Together we raised $2,696.10 and the ride in total raised an amazing $9,910,000 for life-saving cancer research.
Being optimistic and liking to set a challenging goal for myself I announced that I’d ride 100 miles or 160 km, the classic cyclist century ride. So, several months ago I started a formal training plan riding indoors or outdoors three times a week following a Trainerroad plan. For a couple of months this worked quite well and I stuck with the plan. Then, somewhere along the line the plan fell off the rails. I was still riding a fair bit but it was more sporadic and solo and group outdoor rides replaced the formal training efforts.
Over the last while I put in some 70, 80 and 100km rides but no 160km rides. All the over 70km rides turned out to be pretty challenging so I was not so sure about the 160km goal.
In sharing this goal with Shirley and my doctors they were supportive about the ride but cautious about my distance goal. It was suggested that something shorter might be appropriate or at least splitting the ride over two days.
As the weekend rolled around I was still undecided about the distance and was really going to approach it by “feel”. We found ourselves at the lake on the August weekend and some of the family was out as well. I really wanted to spend maximum time with the family so I skipped the two group rides that I could have hooked up with on Saturday and Sunday. As it turned out the family had to leave early on Sunday afternoon, so it was time to ride!
Normally at the lake I ride right from the cottage. However, there has been quite a bit of fresh gravel road work done recently which is really unpleasant to ride on so Shirley gave me a lift to the Fire Hall at the start of Storm Bay road so I could launch right onto the paved highway. I’m underway at about 1:30pm.
Given the wind direction I opted to ride basically south on Hwy 71. I’d take 17A from the Fire Hall for a few kms and then turn south onto Hwy 71. As I’m riding I still hadn’t committed myself to a distance. After about 1/2 hr I’m thinking 50km out and 50km back for a respectable metric century. Not the originally conceived 160km but still a respectable goal.
As I approached the 50km mark there was a sign on the side of the road, “Souix Narrows – 16km”. Hmmm, I’ve never ridden to Souix Narrows on the bike and it’s just 16km more than I was planning or really 32km more than planned but what the heck. A new goal was in place and I wanted that picture of me at the iconic Souix Narrow bridge.
Being in Winnipeg means that almost all my riding is on the flat prairies. This is not the case when riding at the lake in Northwestern Ontario. There are a lot of hills. As I’m working my way to Souix Narrows I start reflecting on just how many hills there are and that I’ll need to do them all again in the reverse direction.
Finally, after what seems like a very long time, I arrive in Souix Narrows and stop for the “bridge shot”.
Once in town I take a break for mid-ride refuelling and eat my bagel & cream cheese with a very hungry fish looking on.
After the snack it’s back on the road. Things seem to fly by for the first while and then around the 70-80km mark things are seemingly a lot harder. I’m getting tired and the solo boredom is setting in but as a friend often says spin, spin, spin. The weather is a mix of sun and cloud with a little more cloud than I’d like including a few brief rain showers. One was hard enough to get me to stop and put the phone in a baggie. Mentally in my mind I’m ticking off the major markers, Luther Village then Rushing River, then 17 & 71 intersection, then Reddens, then The Fire Hall where Shirley will be waiting to drive me back to the cottage. I’m very thankful I don’t have to do the hills on our Branch Road #3 which has one that is a short but steep 9-10% grade.
Like all good rides it really didn’t happen unless you’ve recorded it on Strava. Due to a bit of bad planning on my part the bike computer ran out of battery at 43km so the ride got recorded in two parts.
Total distance of 124.9 km in 5 hrs and 10 min moving and 5 hrs and 38 min elapsed time. All in all a good day and I’m satisfied with the effort.
There are may days when I go to bed and I’m thanking God for his goodness and faithfulness in my life that I thank Him for cycling. I often pull into the garage and look at the bikes on the rack and think “Who knew that at my age I’d have 5 bicycles and ride indoors and outdoors all year round, including several years of daily year-round computing to work.”
Especially with what’s going on these days I’m so thankful that I’m able to ride the bike, able to take on a challenge like the Tour of Sufferlandri, able to ride outside with my friends Dave & Rene and out at the lake with the Kenora crew. Thankful that I still have the will, desire and physical capability to do these things and I think do them fairly well given the circumstances.
But this is not about me, it’s about giving God the glory that He enables me to live and do these things.
Psalm 115:1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness.
Currently 202 and hoping to build it back up more by May 2021 for the outdoor riding season. I was a little younger then and the body hadn’t been through so much but, time for a comeback.
Well, 2020 wasn’t exactly a banner year on the bike. Things were looking good in January & February as I was on a training plan with some pretty lofty goals and then the journey continued.
I did get back on the road in late summer with some easier and shorter rides as I recovered. Into the late fall I was feeling good on the bike and starting to handle some longer and faster rides. A big surprise was a late season road ride for 103km on Dec 9, 2020.
I’m still riding year round and typically outside on Wednesdays in the winter with some diehard buddies on fat bikes in the snow and cold.
For the rest of the winter season it’s indoors on the trainer, typically with Zwift doing a workout, or a group ride, or the occasional race.
I was doing a workout on Zwift and to pass the time I typically listen to a podcast or audio book and keep an eye on the workout on the TV and the Companion app on the iPhone.
One of the Companion app features is to be able to message nearby riders. This is typically used on group rides and races. Everyone in a while I’ll have a look at what folks are saying. Today, I got a bit of a surprise!
I hope the kid is OK, I didn’t see any more messages. BTW the (DIRT) after the guys name is the name of a Zwift club and it stands for Dads Indoors Riding Trainers.
I read some things about goal setting a while ago that goals should be like a Lighthouse, something to guide you, to help you make course corrections and not as a destination. One analogy was if you had a goal to “run a marathon” that might be considered a “destination”. Once you achieve it you’ve “arrived”. Verses “get healthy” more of a Lighthouse goal, that may well involve running a marathon, but would allow for other options to achieve the goal and for “course corrections”.
It seems like a “course correction” is in order these days.
Earlier in the year I set a goal when I was feeling awesome and the world was more normal. Maybe not a pure Lighthouse goal, but something I really wanted to try to do and something I thought was within my reach to achieve. It was about my cycling. 2018 was not a good year for my cycling but 2019 was pretty good. And, over the 2019/2020 I was training indoors quite regularly and doing the Wednesday FROG ride outside through the winter, regardless of the tempertures.
I was using a combination of Zwift and then some Sufferfest for an additional challenge. Then I discovered Xert (Canadian eh!) and started getting serious with a formal training plan to reach my goal.
So, what was the goal? “To ride with the FOG “B” group by April 15, 2020, full distance (~95km) and not get dropped on the 206 hills”. That last part was the challenge, “not get dropped”. Once upon a time I could do it, and I wanted it back. With this in mind, I set my Xert training plan to get there:
Here is the setup for being ready by April 15 for the first potential group ride, which is totally not happening this year. Fairly aggressive training for me anyway.
And the modified goals thanks to Covid-19 and my current health challenges. A more relaxed training plan that I’m hoping to maintain. More course corrections may be required.
Basically this is a switch from “peak” training to “maintenance” and planning for some good relaxed group rides late in the season, in town and hopefully around the Kenora area.
Wishing all my ride buddies all the best during these challenging times. Ride On, and be safe.
Out of the blue, and quite unexpectedly I received an award this morning at the FOG AGM (Fast Old Guys cycling club Anual General Meeting)
The award is for “Focused On Goals, in recognition of outstanding accomplishments in road cycling”.
The club recognized my cycling in 2018 as I went through cancer and chemotherapy, mainly with pretty steady Wednesday rides with the retired FOG group (FROGs). I only did a couple of the Saturday group rides in 2018 as the ride distance and pace was a little much given the circumstances and wanting to spend more time at the lake on weekends with family and friends.
It was quite an honour to receive the award and I was quite touched and moved by the clubs thoughts towards me during this period.
Also, as a result, one of the other riders connected with me to share his very recent journey with prostate cancer. We were able to share thoughts and feelings about he impact on our lives. Again, a very special privilege.