Ian Finishes His First Real Century Ride

So yesterday (Sunday the 16th of Aug) I rode my first real century ride. A proper 100 miles in one day event. Well in Canada of course that is 160KM's. I have ridden many metric centuries in the past which are 100KM's, but never the traditional style.

Anyway this was the Middleton Century Ride, in Middleton, Nova Scotia. They were celebrating their 100 years as a town. And what a great event. Rest/food stops each 25K for the first 100K then a brief water stop at the 130K mark before a final ride back to the beginning.

I rode originally with 2 friends from my riding team, the Spinachers. Mike and Fred decided to sign up for the metric century as the time needed to complete the whole ride was going to be too much. So at the 100K mark I waved goodbye and moved on solo for the next 30K. At the final water stop I met up with Dave who I had spoken with a few times in other legs of the ride and rode off with him. Then a large group of moderately fast riders came up, we joined in and off we went. A minor crash later and we managed to finish with a riding time of 6:08:35.

My final computer readings were for 164.31 KM at an average of 26.7 KM/H.

Most important is that today, though tired, I am not at all sore or stiff.

Ian discovers......

So I am not always fast when it comes to web apps and useful tools. I am also not always the first to jump on the its so cool bandwagon. But often I do get there. Anyway I just picked up 3 useful things lately.

1. Chrome Web Browser from Google. Why another web browser? Well I use a lot of Google products (search, mail, calendar, blog, photos....) and this browser runs them all very well. Also it is super fast compared to the latest offering from Firefox. And I can move the tabs around on the top of the browser to reorganize things. Sure it is a bare bones look, the style just isn't there yet. But I suspect it will be soon. And I hope they get some sort of add blocking app for it as well. For that reason Firefox will stay on my computer.

2. Twitter. Okay so I do Facebook already, I don't own a smart phone (nor do I make many cell phone calls) and do people really care if I just went for a swim (see my 4th Twitter post). Well maybe I don't need Twitter, but if is growing in popularity, it is free, and I thought I should grab my user name of choice prior to it going away. And while I was at it I might as well have a few posts added for good looks. Will I keep up the Twittering (or Tweeting)? Maybe, but as they say, if a tree falls in the forest....

3. stuffwhitepeoplelike.com Yeah I know. Everyone else already knows about this site. Well I did too but just never went there. Finally did. Good for a chuckle. I do like satire (see: The Onion)and this site is full of it. But mostly I like reading some of the comments on this blog, as so many people don't seem to understand satire at all and take this a a truth giving site. Oh my.......

Second Running Race of the Season - Success

Well I did the Bedford 5K in support of Cancer Research this past weekend. The day was overcast and a little foggy. But the course was fast and I impressed myself with a personal best of 19:06. I managed 7th place out of 225 people. My previous best 5 K was from a duathlon segment in which I managed 23 minutes. I must say that my running is coming a long way and I look forward to seeing how far I can take it. My main goal is still the duathlons and cycling, but running sure is a fun addition to my sports repertoire.

My wife also ran in the same race and she managed a personal best as well. She knocked 3 minutes off of her 5K time from the Bluenose Marathon event and came in at 32 minutes. A great result.

Third Duathlon of the Season Completed

Well, my Duathlon season is almost over. With only 4 events to do (or is it Du?) I knew it would come and go quickly. But this last event was pretty nice. The turn out for the Du was small, only about 14 people or so in total but that was to be expected as the Triathlons are in swing now and that is where people seem to want to turn their attention. I guess Du's just aren't as sexy.

Anyway, I was happy with my result. 5th overall and first in my age class with a time of 1:15. The distances were 3.5K/20K/5K. It was a great test for me with running being so new. These short distances can be killer as the regulars can sprint these much better than I can. But I managed to keep as close as possoble on the first run and then went all out on the bike, which was great.

I have lots of room for improvement, but the final event isn't until Octobre, so that is fine. I have my new Aerobars on order and look forward to really getting my bike setup for these short distance sprints.

Next weekend I have a 5K running race in support of Lung Cancer Research and my wife will be joining me. I look forward to it.

Sun is Shining, Better Get Out and Train

Well the second Duathlon was completed last week. I was happy with my performance overall but I seriously need to train and get faster if I want to compete for top honours in the future. I think I have to really work on my running if I want to have a shot at moving up. So I look outside today and see the sun shining and I know that I have to get a good training run in prior to next weekends Duathlon in Greenwood.

My friend Mike Milloy has decided to give a duathlon a try and is popping over this afternoon for a tarining session. I think he will do really well next weekend. But first we have to show him the fun of jumping off your bike at high speed and grabbing your running shoes and taking off on foot.

My ultimate goal this year is still to succeed in the October duathlon in Riverport, NS. that was my first race last year and I know what I need to do well there. A top 3 age group finish will let me know I am on my way to succuss in the future. The race will have over 100 competitors and will be fast. But I will be ready for it.

Well take care!

2009 Cyclesmith Duathlon

 

Well the first Duathlon is over. What an event. The weather was great (warm, cool breeze, sun shinning), the turn out was great (over a hundred people in the overall standings), and the volunteers and course workers were super helpful.

I pushed through the first run, getting a personal best on a 5 KM run, then flew through the cycling section of the course (34KM), finishing with a cramped filled 6KM run at the end (I pushed through the cramps early and finished strong).

I didn't manage to beat 2 hours like I hoped to, but I got close with 2 hours 3 minutes. I ended 42 overall, 11/20 for my age group. Not a bad start. My cycling, oddly, was the part that let me down the most. I could only manage 30.7 KM/H over the course. I really need to get training on the bike more I guess, though my running is still not as great as it could be either (but getting better all the time).

Anyway, next event is this weekend. Hopefully I have enough recovery time, though this event is shorter which means I will be able to push even harder for a good result.

Ian Does a Little Gardening

So I decided to plants a new little garden on the property. This one is beside the back deck. Its main purpose was to house a clematis plant which will hopefully cover the new trellis we installed on the deck last year. But since I was planting in this spot anyway, I thought I might take the time to make a proper garden in the space. So I built a nice wooden raised bed (or Victory Garden). This allowed me to add lots of great fresh soil for the plants to grow in. And since this is an area we don't look at much I thought I could plant some useful plants here which would serve us well over the summer months. To this end I added broccoli, thyme, dill and chives. No the experiment begins. Will these plants like this spot? Will they grow nice and big. If not, then next year I will try other plants. I suppose I could look at potentially something like a berry bush or rhubarb in this spot. Who knows.

Oh and the stain is of course incomplete at this point. The weather held up just long enough to put that much stain on the wood. Soon, I hope to at least get this whole side done, and all the spots where the clematis vine will grow.