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Training Log Archive: Bash

In the 31 days ending Jul 31, 2020:

activity # timemileskm+m
  Mountain Biking15 15:29:32 114.1(7.4/h) 183.63(11.9/h) 2312
  Paddling9 7:44:59 23.76(3.1/h) 38.24(4.9/h) 51
  Running8 6:03:58 25.37(14:21) 40.82(8:55) 685
  Road Biking6 5:00:00 46.11(9.2/h) 74.2(14.8/h)
  Strength & Mobility5 3:46:00
  Trekking2 3:28:06 9.57(21:45) 15.4(13:31) 319
  Total45 41:32:35 218.91 352.3 3367

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Friday Jul 31, 2020 #

12 PM

Paddling 40:02 [2] 3.89 km (5.8 kph)

4 PM

Paddling 2:07 [2] 0.03 km (0.9 kph)

Wednesday Jul 29, 2020 #

Note

'Bent and I are excited to announce the impending arrival of Treehugger ABC 2.0!

As country bumpkins, we've loved having a modern townhouse in Collingwood with natural gas, town water, good cell signal, a pool and a short drive to everything, including several friends' houses. It's been completely different from our life in Caledon - an urban getaway with different outdoor adventures nearby.

But it hasn't been ideal to wrangle two big dogs and their poop bags 3-4 times a day in a compact subdivision, and we can't fence in a dog run. The pandemic was the tipping point for us. TH ABC was supposed to give us more opportunities to spend time with friends but we'll need a back yard for that for the next year and maybe longer.

So as of Sept. 15, this will be TH ABC 2.0. There was an O map made of the property (and surrounding area) before the house was built. Do any orienteers recognize this snippet showing our lot?











Tuesday Jul 28, 2020 #

10 AM

Trekking (Trail & Road) 1:25:00 [1] 6.68 km (12:43 / km) +48m 12:17 / km
shoes: Salomon S-Lab Wings 8

Coach LD and I set out from her house for a lovely, distanced hike through the local park onto the Humber Trail. It was nice to catch up! On the way back, we detoured to downtown Bolton to get ice cream so I could count this for the Cool Runnings badge in the Summer Scavenger Hunt. Mmm, banana fudge ice cream. :) Coach LD sent me home with even better treats made with local berries and currants - yum!









5 PM

Road Biking (Trainer) 1:00:00 [2] 14.6 km (14.6 kph)

Purr de France
Stages 20 and 21 - the Finish Line!

My head is still feeling OK so I allowed myself to pedal just a little harder for the final two stages of Le Purr de France. Still kept the heart rate down though.

I'd hoped to do almost all my riding for PdF in Palgrave Forest so it was a drag being stuck on the trainer for the past week. But a concussion would be a bigger drag. For the first two weeks of Le Purr, it was fun to be "forced" to find time for a bike ride on most days, often right after my morning coffee. It became a chore when I had to switch to riding the trainer but c'est la vie. I listened to podcasts.

After crossing the "finish line", I celebrated by awarding myself the nice cycling cap that the organizer sent us all. We posted photos and chatted daily in a Facebook group so it felt like being part of an event. I'd do this again.



The spectators went wild.



Monday Jul 27, 2020 #

11 PM

Road Biking (Trainer) 45:00 [2] 9.8 km (13.1 kph)

Purr de France, Stage 19

Easy, late night trainer ride after an eventful day.

Sunday Jul 26, 2020 #

Note

It looks like public health officials may need to be more specific.

5 PM

Road Biking (Trainer) 1:00:00 [2] 13.4 km (13.4 kph)

Purr de France
Stage 18 (a day late, still catching up)

Another easy session on the trainer, breathing through my nose and keeping my heart rate down. We have another heat warning but I'd still rather be out in the woods! So far, so good with the noggin. I've heard from people who didn't experience obvious symptoms for a few weeks or months though.

Saturday Jul 25, 2020 #

Note

Well, we're sure impressed with those great photos of Comet Neowise on social media. It took us a long time to see it with binoculars. Here's what it looked like.

3 PM

Road Biking (Trainer) 1:00:00 [1] 12.0 km (12.0 kph)

Purr de France

Playing catch-up with Stages 16 and 17 combined - although not the way I'd hoped because of my head injury. I haven't had any obvious concussion symptoms after 2.5 days. Let's hope it stays that way.

I did a very easy spin on the trainer instead of mountain biking in perfect conditions in Palgrave Forest. We're almost at the Champs Elysées so I'll see if I can catch up to the other riders, who did Stage 18 today. But I have to do it without raising my heart rate.

Friday Jul 24, 2020 #

9 AM

Paddling (SUP) 57:35 intensity: (20:00 @1) + (37:35 @2) 3.6 km (3.8 kph) +8m

SUP FamJam at the C3 Quarry with 'Bent, BazingaDog and AdventureDog. B-Dog tipped 'Bent into the shallow water near the start but after that, we all managed to stay upright. The dogs sometimes got too energetic if we paddled close together but they showed minimal interest in other SUP paddlers and their dogs. Luckily, no triathletes were swimming today. B-Dog gets very annoyed by that.



As of the time I'm posting this, I'm 41+ hours post-injury and still haven't had any obvious concussion symptoms. I got smacked in the temple, which isn't generally recommended. It can take a while for symptoms to show up so I'll need to remember when this happened.

Thursday Jul 23, 2020 #

5 AM

Running (Trail) 53:55 [3] 6.51 km (8:17 / km) +138m 7:29 / km
shoes: Salomon Speedcross 4 - Navy

I am not a morning person so I was dreading the Sunrise Run badge in the CMTR Summer Scavenger Hunt. It was OK, actually, and AdventureDog loved it. I'd imagined a horribly early alarm but as it turned out, 'Bent and I both had pandemic sleep issues last night so we had our morning coffee at 4 a.m. Running at sunrise wasn't my plan but it turned out to be a breeze.

Although... I'm posting this a day late because the wet trails soaked my socks so I slipped on our kitchen tiles, smacked hard into a door frame, and now I'm on concussion watch. 34 hours and no obvious symptoms other than the shrinking goose egg. :( Many thanks to Goose, Coach LD and Mrs. Gally for their helpful concussion advice. I won't be drinking alcohol or lingering online over the next week, and there will be no intensity, i.e. running, mountain biking or boot camp. Ugh.








Wednesday Jul 22, 2020 #

7 AM

Running (Trail) 54:24 [2] 4.54 km (12:00 / km) +138m 10:24 / km
shoes: Salomon S-Lab Wings 8

'Bent and I ran, hiked and bushwhacked while sneaking around to check out an interesting house for sale. In the process, I earned the New Trail badge in the Summer Scavenger Hunt.

9 AM

Running (Trail) 15:32 [2] 1.16 km (13:25 / km) +9m 12:56 / km
shoes: Salomon XA Pro Grey

More new trail.
5 PM

Strength & Mobility 57:00 intensity: (10:00 @2) + (17:00 @3) + (20:00 @4) + (10:00 @5)

Mrs. Gally's Zoom boot camp. She really took it out on our triceps today.
9 PM

Note

It looked like rain all day but it never came. Until 'Bent decided to run home from work at 9 p.m., that is.





Tuesday Jul 21, 2020 #

9 AM

Paddling (SUP) 45:00 intensity: (25:00 @1) + (20:00 @2) 3.0 km (4.0 kph)

Today I bravely chose BazingaDog for the SUP & Pup session at the C3 Quarry. AdventureDog was a rock star last week and I knew this would be different but I wasn't sure how, exactly. I wore a PFD since I expected to be violently thrown from the board, and I kept B-Dog's leash on, coiled on the board in case I needed to make a quick grab for it during the violent throw. The quarry is beside Hwy 10 so it would be bad if B-Dog escaped.



He wasn't interested in wading at the beach. In fact, he was decidedly anti-wading, braking hard at the water's edge. But we'd practised climbing onto the SUP on the beach so I finally coaxed him to climb aboard in the water. As an 85 lb pooch, any change in his position required me to re-balance instantly. I started on my knees and stood up when he lay down.





AdventureDog was relaxed on the SUP - like a king being paddled around by his slave. By contrast, BazingaDog remained alert - sniffing the air, listening to noises, watching for squirrels. He was fairly calm in open water away from the main activity at the beach - even when we met other SUPs with dogs. But if I paddled near the beach where some of the other dogs were splashing around after their SUP rides, it got really exciting - *too* exciting.



It all fell apart when a couple of triathletes started swimming. B-Dog was convinced they were wild animals that needed close observation. He leapt to his feet. I had to sit down in a puddle with legs hanging off either side of the board to keep us from tipping. In that state, it was almost impossible to get back to the beach at the end of the class. I could barely paddle and kept waiting for the inevitable dunking. I finally got him to sit for the last couple of minutes so I could make a dash for it. Surprisingly, my hair stayed dry.



Eventually, I should receive some nice photos that will make it appear like it was all a breeze. And I shall post them on social media and pretend it was so. ;)
[Update: New photos arrived shortly after I wrote this so I've added them.]

Oh, BazingaDog. (Eye roll.)

3 PM

Mountain Biking (Single Track) 44:14 [3] 8.42 km (11.4 kph) +184m


Purr de France, Stage 15
Hilly Stage

Today's stage was supposed to be rolling hills with Level 4 effort on the uphills. I tried to do that on various Palgrave Forest hills. I finished with the new Covid Crusher trail in our back yard although I couldn't figure out the markings for 'Bent's latest revisions so I'm sure I did it incorrectly. Rest day for PdF tomorrow!

Monday Jul 20, 2020 #

4 PM

Mountain Biking (Single Track) 40:41 [3] 9.31 km (13.7 kph) +129m


Le Purr de France, Stage 14
Palgrave Forest

Today was supposed to be an easy ride but after I spotted another mountain biker one switchback behind, I couldn't resist "racing" until he caught me. (And then left me in his dust.)

I found Crash and her dogs in the woods and stopped for a good chat with a real live human being. So nice!



Sunday Jul 19, 2020 #

5 PM

Road Biking (Trainer) 30:00 [2] 9.4 km (18.8 kph)

Purr de France, Stage 11 (doing this after Stages 12 and 13)

This was supposed to include a 6-minute breakaway but I completely forgot while I watched a video on the trainer. But I kept up a slightly uncomfortable pace after a tiring week, so that has to count for something.

We'd hoped to paddle with the Doughtys but we could see this storm coming on the radar.



'Bent and I were both low on energy today so it was mostly a day off, which wasn't the worst thing.

Saturday Jul 18, 2020 #

9 AM

Mountain Biking (Trail & Road) 45:53 [2] 14.81 km (19.4 kph) +32m

Purr de France, Stage 13 (a day early - I need to do Stage 11 tomorrow.)

This was supposed to be an easy, rolling ride. The Georgian Trail is easy but it doesn't roll so I turned into the George Christie trail network for a bit of real trail riding and one decent climb. Beautiful morning but it was already getting hot.

2 PM

Paddling (SUP) 1:46:37 [2] 8.2 km (4.6 kph) +44m

Beaver River SUP paddle with Tarno and Jackie. We started at Access Point #2 near Epping, which was jammed with cars. We headed upstream to the 4 km marker. I've only ever paddled this section downstream and I've never noticed the kilometre markers heading upstream from this access point. It is a great section for paddle training - not many obstructions.

Well, except for the log that I hit while 'Bent was taking my photo. He had his camera out for exactly one minute of the entire paddle so it's amazing that we have a record of The Incident.

Blissfully unaware - posing for photo.



Boom!



Splash!















Friday Jul 17, 2020 #

3 PM

Mountain Biking (Trail) 1:10:00 [3] 20.09 km (17.2 kph) +44m

Purr de France, Stage 12 (a day early)
Long, easy, flat to slightly rolling stage

There's no place like Collingwood for a flat bike ride! 'Bent and I did a counterclockwise tour of the town on the bike trail network. It was fun! The trails weren't that busy. We stopped by Dee and Bill's house for a short chat. We rode past the harbour. It was a perfect way to get hungry for a yummy take-out dinner.









[Time deducted for photography and map checks.]

After dinner, we had a great back yard visit with these people, whoever they are. ;)





They have a nice back yard view!

Thursday Jul 16, 2020 #

Note

Elm Tree Dental Clinic staff working the daily 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. shift. (Who sleeps well in a pandemic?)

9 AM

Mountain Biking (Trail) 41:39 [3] 10.05 km (14.5 kph) +109m

Purr de France, Stage 10
Flat Stage

Around Palgrave East - a lot of overlap with yesterday's Attack stage but without the attacks.

2 PM

Running (Trail) 1:12:23 [3] 7.28 km (9:57 / km) +113m 9:14 / km
shoes: Salomon Speedcross 4 - Navy

Coast Mountain Trail Running Summer Scavenger Hunt
Trail Scavenger Hunt badge

The weather wasn't looking great but I figured the Trail Scavenger Hunt would be a perfect thing to do in light rain. We were given a long list of items with point values. We could earn a maximum of 65 points but more points were available. Some items were out of reach: Mountain goat, Moose, Snow, etc. But there were plenty of things I *might* see - like a spider web or a butterfly.



Cristina did some of the high pointers like submerging herself in water up to her neck and juggling three items found in the forest for at least 5 seconds. I'm not sure I can juggle but on this morning's bike ride, I checked out the Humber River to see if it would be suitable to submerge myself in. It looked OK but I figured I would only do it if I needed the points.

This was a run/hike because of detours like pushing through long grass to a pond to see a frog. And of course I took some photos! I got lucky and managed to collect the maximum 65 points within the first 1.5 km but I couldn't remember the minimum run time so I figured I'd better stay out for an hour. I ended up with 111 points and I know where I could have found a few more items if I'd needed them.













We got extra points if we found a yellow gate. The RD is Gary Robbins. If you don't know why he put it on the list, Google will explain.



Unbelievably, after the huge influx of out-of-towners during the pandemic, one of the items I couldn't find was "Mountain Biker". I even ran over to Crash's house, which is currently acting as an aid station for a 700 km mountain bike event. She wasn't home and there were no visitors. I suppose I could have taken a selfie.

For a long time I couldn't find any butterflies, then suddenly I started seeing Monarch butterflies everywhere. They're emerging! Beautiful.

There were a few things that weren't on the list but it was cool to find them.





This was fun! There is also a City Scavenger Hunt, which I'm nervous about since I don't know any cities very well, and I never run in them. I haven't looked at the list yet to see what I'll need to find.

Wednesday Jul 15, 2020 #

3 PM

Mountain Biking (Trail) 34:25 [3] 8.69 km (15.1 kph) +91m

Purr de France, Day 9

Today we were supposed to include some all-out attacks in our ride. I didn't see any other bikers in Palgrave East so this required some imagination. It inspired me to go faster at other times too, so I guess it's a good training drill.

I found the new piece of trail 'Bent has been talking about. It needs to be ridden in but it's going to be a fun addition to the network.
5 PM

Strength & Mobility 57:00 intensity: (7:00 @1) + (10:00 @2) + (25:00 @4) + (15:00 @5)

Zoom Boot Camp with Mrs. Gally.

Tuesday Jul 14, 2020 #

9 AM

Paddling (SUP) 52:25 [1] 3.38 km (3.9 kph)

AdventureDog and I went to our first SUP & Pup session at the C3 Quarry. Caron Shepley is offering these sessions through the summer and donating the fees to the Upper Credit Humane Society.

AdventureDog had never been on a SUP but he is an experienced canoeist, which proved as helpful as I'd hoped it would. As soon as I waded into the water, he jumped onto the SUP. He's used to a wobbly watercraft so that didn't faze him. He sat upright and looked around for the first 15 minutes then he relaxed, lay down and enjoyed the smells for the rest of our paddle. Most dogs handled it pretty well but in my admittedly biased opinion, A-Dog was really a pro. Some dogs refused to sit. One dog insisted on lying on his owner's lap. One dog (with a veterinarian owner) refused to leave the knee-deep water at the beach. About half the humans sat or kneeled on their board to avoid a sploosh. I only saw one dog-human pair go for a swim.

I *might* take BazingaDog next week if I'm in the mood for adventure.




5 PM

Mountain Biking (Trail) 30:45 [3] 7.11 km (13.9 kph) +123m

Purr de France, Stage 8

Today we were supposed to grind up a few hills in a larger gear so I did some low cadence climbs in Palgrave West.



Busy today - waiting in line to buy produce (sigh) and applying to the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program and the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program. Just another typical day in Covid Land.

Monday Jul 13, 2020 #

Note


'Bent came home with N95 face. :(

5 PM

Road Biking (Trainer) 45:00 [3] 15.0 km (20.0 kph)


Purr de France, Stage 7

Today was a rest day for most participants but I took Saturday off because the trails were so wet. The joke was on me!



So I had to ride on the trainer anyway. At least that let me catch up on some Youtubing.

I haven't used the TacX Flow trainer regularly in several years, and it's obviously mad at me. It refused to calibrate. I think it's telling the truth about Cadence and Time but the Wattage, Speed and Distance numbers don't seem right. Either that or I've become a pathetic weakling. So I'm just guessing on the distance.

Sunday Jul 12, 2020 #

11 AM

Mountain Biking 2:45:00 [3] 24.1 km (8.8 kph) +322m

After all the rain yesterday, I caught up on Stage 6 of Le Purr de France with a 2.5 hour ride with 'Bent on the Dufferin Forest trails. We rarely ride there so we relied on Trailforks for navigation, which usually works perfectly. Today, not so much! It's not often that I have to download my GPS track when I get home to find out where I went. I used my phone's compass to find our way back to the parking lot. The silver lining is that we rode farther, even when we were hit by a short burst of heavy rain. (This is the Trailforks map - not our track!)



The gypsy moth caterpillars have defoliated a lot of trees so it was bright on the forest trails. It felt more like early spring than mid-summer. It's the same on some trails here in Palgrave - weird. Also, we had to be careful not to inhale moths! But otherwise, it was fun.









[Time includes lots of navigation stops. Fixed data to add section where watch was turned off.]

Saturday Jul 11, 2020 #

1 PM

Running (Trail) 1:02:30 [3] 7.92 km (7:53 / km) +162m 7:10 / km
shoes: Salomon Speedcross 4 - Navy

It was a perfect day to earn the Summer Scavenger Hunt "What Weather?" badge in Palgrave West. Honestly, I would much rather run in heavy rain than in sunshine with a 40C humidex. But the rules said we had to run in the rain unless we live in a desert. It was wonderful. :)







Running in glasses didn't work so well, lol.





Drowned rat.



Friday Jul 10, 2020 #

11 AM

Mountain Biking (Trail) 46:56 [3] 10.05 km (12.8 kph) +115m

Purr de France, Day 5
Flat Stage

Sooo hot - but at least I finally got more than 7 hours of sleep. Since the pandemic started, I've had a hard time falling asleep until the wee hours. Everyone else in our house likes to get up early so I've had a lot of short nights in recent months.

I rode in Palgrave East and West. Wildflowers are blooming everywhere and the F&M Raspberry Patch is at its peak so I had to take a break there.





When I got back to our property, I rode 'Bent's Covid Crusher single track. He really needs to make a video to show it off properly but here are a few photos.






5 PM

Strength & Mobility 25:00 [3]

Upper body strength - a mix of TRX, dumbbells and Nautilus machine.

6 PM

Note

I collected and destroyed a bunch of gypsy moth pupae and caterpillars this afternoon but it was only a tiny drop in a huge bucket. I hope something happens to prevent them from returning next year in these quantities. Otherwise, a lot of trees will be lost - especially oaks, but they'll eat pretty much anything. It's already too late to collect pupae around our oaks. The stupid moths are out. But the females don't fly and they can be squished. We'll be looking for eggs all summer. #Hobbies

Thursday Jul 9, 2020 #

9 AM

Mountain Biking 36:42 [3] 6.64 km (10.9 kph) +153m

Purr de France, Day 4
Mountain Stage

To get some variety in my mountain stages, I stayed in Palgrave West and did repeats on Raspberry Hill. On the way back, I did repeats of raspberry picking. Soooooo hot and humid.

I did a short out-and back to Thinker's Hill. It has that name because our 77-year-old neighbour's father used to walk up there to sit on the bench and watch the world go by.



Back at our place, I was thrilled to see new leaves on some of our trees that were devastated by gypsy moth caterpillars. This is the change in 72 hours. The caterpillars finished defoliating these pyramidal oaks then moved on to other trees.





Now many of the caterpillars have moved to the pupa stage. I'm going to find and destroy as many as I can!
2 PM

Paddling (SUP) 25:00 [1] 2.24 km (5.4 kph)

My neighbour came with me to SUP yoga a few times two years ago. She was intrigued enough to buy an inflatable SUP but never took it out of the box. She asked if I would go paddling with her in our other neighbour's small pond but I suggested Island Lake. Considering that she'd never inflated the SUP, and all the various pieces were still wrapped in plastic, things went pretty smoothly.



It wasn't a workout but she was so excited and appreciative that I was really glad we went. She has lived within 15 minutes of Island Lake for most of her adult life but this was her first visit. Now she's been bitten by the bug and is keen to go regularly.



Logged @50%.

3 PM

Note

Someone wasn't pleased to be left at home.

Wednesday Jul 8, 2020 #

8 AM

Mountain Biking (Trail) 35:34 intensity: (20:00 @2) + (15:34 @3) 8.51 km (14.4 kph) +89m

Purr de France, Day 3
Flat Stage

With hills around us like this one in our front yard (which Raid The Rib racers might recognize), there is no "flat" way to leave our house.





But I tried to spin more and take it easier. I avoided steep hills where I could and followed more double track through Palgrave East. In the end, this Flat Stage was only 15 meters less elevation gain than the Day 1 Hilly Stage. But in virtual races, it's all in the way you imagine it.

5 PM

Strength & Mobility 30:00 intensity: (25:00 @3) + (5:00 @5)

Today's Purr de France stage included a leg and glute strength workout that looked good so I gave it a shot.
6 PM

Note

I was on a roll for a super healthy day when I got the urge to make chocolate cheesecake. Oh well.



11 PM

Running (Trail) 31:30 [3] 3.75 km (8:24 / km) +65m 7:44 / km
shoes: Salomon Speedcross 4 - Navy

This Summer Scavenger Hunt activity was fun - now that it's over - but it was out of my comfort zone! The Night Owl badge involves running for 30+ minutes and crossing the midnight hour during the run.

I was planning to ask 'Bent to join me some time but I got brave tonight and decided to just run around our 10 acres. It seemed like a great idea until I went on the Covid Crusher (formerly the Pandemic Gumby Trail) on our south hill. The dogs at the farm next door saw my light and started barking in a wild chorus like they were heading in for the kill. I know they can escape their fenced property, and they're not always friendly so that added some spice to the experience.

It was wonderful. I love running trails at night - breathing cool air, smelling the damp vegetation and looking at the stars. For some weird reason, I don't get nervous when I'm racing alone in a dark forest but unfortunately, I'm too chicken to do regular trail runs at night. Unless I have to do it for a virtual running event, of course!





Tuesday Jul 7, 2020 #

9 AM

Mountain Biking (Trail) 38:53 [3] 8.24 km (12.7 kph) +188m

Purr de France, Day 2

Today was a Mountain Stage, which required considerable imagination in the Palgrave Forest but that's part of the fun of a virtual event. I rode over to Palgrave East and did two back-and-forth repeats of the Roller Coaster trail.

This was at the bottom of a BIG mountain.



The vegetation was completely different at the top. The air was thinner too. The glacier is just beyond the edge of my photo.



The alpine views were magnificent.



Some of the descents were treacherous but luckily, I'd had a long breakaway so I wasn't doing them in a peleton.



I turned around to give Jan Ullrich "The Look".



I saw some mountain wildlife.



There was a mountain top finish at our accommodation.

5 PM

Running (Trail) 30:41 [3] 3.6 km (8:31 / km) +61m 7:51 / km
shoes: Salomon S-Lab Wings 8

Another steamy day! I did a short Hidden Challenge that I'd unlocked in the Summer Scavenger Hunt - the Ass Backwards badge. It only requires 20 minutes of running but the challenge is to go 500 meters backwards. They suggested walking but mentioned that the backward 1 mile record is 5:54! Apparently, there are Youtube videos with tips but I just went for it.

It felt like a light backward jog but my GPS watch says otherwise - a hiking pace at best. I'd scoped out a route on open, grassy parts of our property where I'd be able to follow handrails without looking over my shoulder all the time. It goes without saying that I wouldn't want to run backwards into a tree - especially now, when the tree would drop stinging caterpillars and their poop on my head.

I know some people do backward running as a drill, and I can understand why. My quads really felt it.

Monday Jul 6, 2020 #

Strength & Mobility 57:00 intensity: (10:00 @2) + (10:00 @3) + (17:00 @4) + (20:00 @5)

Mrs. Gally's Zoom Boot Camp with Browner, Alisha and Lynn.
10 AM

Mountain Biking (Trail) 32:22 [3] 7.1 km (13.2 kph) +99m

Le Purr de France virtual race, Stage 1
(The name comes from the organizer, Crazy Cat Adventures.)

I think the PdF rides reflect the 2020 Tour de France schedule. Today was a "hilly" stage which, as Tour fans know, is different from a mountain stage. And let's face it, Palgrave Forest is very different from France. We've been advised to use our imaginations.

I signed up for the lowest Category so on most days, I only have a minimum ride time of 30 minutes. The idea is to be consistent and build a good habit - not to ride until I get saddle sores. After all, I'm also doing a virtual running race!

There are suggested workouts each day but the only "hard" rule is to ride for the prescribed length of time. As a mountain biker, it's hard for me to do things like "10 minutes of Zone 2" on the trails so I won't worry about that too much. We are allowed to exchange the workouts for two different days if that fits better into our schedule

The main goal (other than helping to support a race director) is to raise money for Bikes without Borders, a charity based in the Greater Toronto Area that "uses bikes and bike-related solutions to empower individuals in marginalized communities through mobility". Currently, their focus is on outfitting refugees and low-income families living in underserved Toronto communities with refurbished bicycles through The Great Bike Recycle.

I'm currently the top fundraiser in the event after donating to myself when I entered. This is actually kind of sad so now I feel some obligation to seek other donations to help them pass their goal. If this cause interests you, they offer a Canadian charitable receipt and my fundraising page is here.

Oh, right - the ride!

Yesterday was my longest ride of the year so I just did a short meander through Palgrave this morning. We're in the middle of a heat wave with no end in sight. On the way back, I stopped in our neighbour's meadow for some cooldown raspberries. I think this will become a regular thing. :)

Sunday Jul 5, 2020 #

11 AM

Mountain Biking (Single Track) 2:29:46 [3] 22.26 km (8.9 kph) +397m

'Bent and I biked at the Kolapore Wilderness Trails, which never disappoint. The forest is spectacular. Some trail sections are a bit too rocky for me but there is plenty of beautiful riding. In 2.5 hours on the trail, I think we met 4 other riders (not counting the parking lot) and one rock climber hiking to Metcalfe Rock. It was awesome.
















Saturday Jul 4, 2020 #

9 AM

Running (Trail & Road) 43:03 [3] 6.07 km (7:06 / km)
shoes: Salomon Speedcross Pro - Blue

'Bent went to run at Pretty River with Tarno and Milla. It's the first run either of us has done with a friend since mid-March. As the only dentist in a small town, 'Bent can't even get the sniffles right now so they were cautious.

I was going to catch a ride there and run on my own but when 'Bent left at 7:30 am, I was still in bed with coffee. Mmm, coffee.

That changed today's Scavenger Hunt plan to the New Street challenge. I figured that should be easy in Collingwood but since the Scavenger Hunt is run/hike, I wanted to choose a street that I'd never even walked on.



To be sure about that, I ran over to Forest Drive and ran to the dead ends of Craigleith Court and Georgian Court. For good measure, I also ran into the little driveway stub for a proposed subdivision that I'd been reading about this morning in their re-zoning application.



I found an access to the Georgian Trail and ran back that way. I practised for the Cheerleader badge by saying "Good morning" to everyone. About two thirds responded and the others looked at me like I'd asked for their wallet. Shrug.

This let me sneak ahead of Cristina on the Scavenger Hunt leaderboard by 11 points but she has so many bonus points that it's tough to compete. I have my fingers crossed that I might be awarded bonus points for the photo challenge. :)

As a winter lover, this makes me cringe. Humidex in the 40s! :((



Friday Jul 3, 2020 #

Note

I've signed up for another virtual race - the Purr de France, which supports the Bikes Without Borders charity and Eric D'Arcy, the 5 Peaks race director. He volunteers as a Freedom Driver for rescue animals so I like to support him.

The event schedule mirrors the Tour de France - 21 stages over 23 days. There are 5 different levels. I signed up for Category E, the lowest level. This means that in each 7-day period, I've committed to 5 rides of 30 mins, 1 ride of 45 mins and 1 ride of 60 mins. In the highest category, it would be 5 rides of 90 mins, 1 ride of 2 hrs and 1 ride of 3 hrs. There are optional suggested workouts for each day along the lines of Le Tour - "mountain", hilly, flat, time trial, etc.
https://raceroster.com/events/2020/31931/the-purr-...

I chose the lowest level because it would be a good habit to get on my bike regularly, and I wanted a minimum daily commitment that should be achievable, even on a busy day. Since I'm not a road rider, I'll need to ride indoors when the trails are muddy, and I can last 30 minutes on a trainer without going stir crazy.

One fun thing about virtual races is that you can do more than one at a time. So between this and the Summer Scavenger Hunt, maybe I'll burn off a few of my Pandemic Pounds in July.
12 PM

Mountain Biking (Trail) 1:56:42 [3] 18.25 km (9.4 kph) +237m

'Bent and I biked from 3rd Line into Three Stage for some fun, rocky single track. Then we had a terrific ride through Castle Glen to 12th Sideroad past Lake of the Clouds. We'd made an appointment to see a house there this weekend, and this ride was so much fun that it pretty much sealed the deal for us. Then we learned that the house sold yesterday so it's back to Realtor.ca for us. (There is a crazy story here that I'll be able to share at some point.)







Thursday Jul 2, 2020 #

9 AM

Paddling (Kayak) 1:08:43 [3] 7.51 km (6.6 kph)

'Bent and I lent our canoe to Tarno and MIlla so we could all paddle around the Collingwood Harbour area. We used our kayaks. It was a nice way to start a hot day, and it got downright adventurous when we went outside the breakwater for a little while - especially for the canoeists!





We have some questions about this cottager.



2 PM

Trekking (Trail) 2:03:06 [2] 8.72 km (14:07 / km) +271m 12:13 / km
shoes: Salomon Speedcross Pro - Blue

'Bent, AdventureDog and I joined Tarno and Koko for a brisk, distanced hike around Pretty River Valley Provincial Park on a super hot day. Since we weren't going to be running, this seemed like the perfect day to do the Snappy Happy challenge - 45+ minutes while trying to take some nice photos. It was great to catch up with Tarno - lots of news on both sides.



















We found ways to cool down.









Oh, and I unlocked my first Hidden Challenge. It’s going be short but difficult!

Wednesday Jul 1, 2020 #

4 PM

Paddling (Kayak) 1:07:30 [3] 6.39 km (5.7 kph)

'Bent and I went for an easy Canada Day paddle on Georgian Bay from Long Point to Northwinds Beach at Craigleith - a stretch of shoreline between Collingwood and Blue Mountain. We hadn't paddled there before and it was interesting to see all the nice cottages and the people playing in the water. There weren't many people out on jetskis but I was reminded of how much I dislike them. As with most G. Bay paddles, this route is best on a calm day. The breeze was coming up on our way back but we had excellent conditions.

Happy Canada Day!















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