Training Log Archive: Bash

Shorter paddle on Lake Muskoka today. There were more boats out there, so we got to test our boats in waves. Not so bad for me on the surf ski, but 'Bent found it challenging in the open water kayak.

Hiked the 3K loop of the Hardy Lake Trails with Dad, 'Bent, ThunderDog and BulletDog. Incredible autumn scenery! Logged @ 50%

'Bent and I were up at my bro's cottage in Muskoka for the weekend, so we took our tippy boats out for another paddle. I spent 3/4 of the time on the surf ski, which nobody has managed to tip yet - surprisingly. I gave the open water kayak another try and managed to stay upright. I think I'd need to try it in warmer weather if I was going to learn to love it. It's one of those things where you need to push beyond your limits so that you learn where your limits are - but I really don't want to go swimming again at this time of year!

Feeling much improved today, but still not recovered. For the past few weeks, I've been way too busy with an average of 5-6 hrs of sleep per night. Amongst other things, I had four writing deadlines close together, including a 3000-word article for Breathe Magazine on the Coast Raid. It was fun to relive our amazing experience on the Lower North Shore! I'm told it will be in stores within the next couple of weeks.

'Bent has borrowed some cool boats for the weekend, so we made plans to meet Goose at Albion Hills for some paddling. Between hurting my knee at Storm The Ten, getting bogged down in work, then getting sick, my training has been pathetic for the past couple of weeks, so I decided to make this into a multi-sport workout. The first step was riding my bike to Albion Hills and doing some single track while Goose and 'Bent paddled the two boats.

'Bent is testing out speedier boats, so he's borrowed a surf ski and an open water racing kayak, which is a little less tippy than a K1 - but could stand to be even less tippy than that! Neither of these boats is much wider than me! We all did well on the surf ski, although we couldn't imagine using it in 16' waves in Hawaii, which is what people sometimes use these things for. It is the faster boat of the two. Angus got it up to 14.7 kph, according to the GPS.

Angus was the first to dump the open water boat, but luckily for him, he did it in the beach area where he could stand up to get back in. Silly me, I dumped it at the far end of the lake beneath the mountain bike lookout point, which was bad for a few reasons: (a) deeper water, (b) Keith S. happened to be at the lookout and watched the whole thing, and (c) Goose was disappointed that he was deprived of the fun of watching me try to get back in.

And oh, how I tried! I was wearing my paddling suit, so even though the water was October-cold, I figured I'd give it a chance. I tried sliding gingerly on my stomach along the boat from the stern end - and then from the bow end when that didn't work. I got sooooo close. Finally, I had to swim it to shore. Amazing how long that took in a paddling suit, shoes and PFD while pushing a boat, and I didn't even have to worry about the paddle because 'Bent was watching it. I wouldn't want to dump that boat in a race. Unlike the surf ski, it fills up with water, which is an extra element to deal with. This is the boat I thought I'd prefer, but I'll need to test it some more this weekend.

Not traditional swim training, but it was very, very intense!

I put my bike into 'Bent's van and ran home from Albion Hills. I ran into Keith S. and chatted, then ran into VO2Max and chatted some more (chatting not logged - I already had 4 different activities today!) Then I realized that the sun had already set, and I had no light. That speeded me up! Every rock or stump was a potential black bear, but the only scary thing was when a black pick-up truck flew past at 100 kph on Duffy's Lane, then when I came over the next rise, the truck had turned around and parked on my side of the road, and the two guys were getting out and walking to the road side of the vehicle. But they just smoked and watched me run by, and I suspect that a little drinking was next on the schedule. I was doing mental calculations on the relative distance to Crash's house vs. VO2Max's house in case they turned out to be psychos!

Knee only felt so-so after 2.5 weeks of rest. :-(

My Phatty and Leanimal wedding report with photos is now posted.

http://www.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_920/pe...

Rode my rebuilt Gary Fisher Sugar (cracked frame replaced on warranty after 6 years) to my dentist appointment and back - it's going to be a nice alternate bike! My knee felt great, so I hope it still feels great when I go back to riding my new Specialized Epic. Nice to see VO2Max in the other dental chair. It'll be easier to talk tomorrow at dinner with Goose and Coach LD when - presumably - our mouths won't be full of dental instruments.

I hear that a black bear was spotted less than a kilometer from our house. Apparently our fight against urban sprawl into Caledon has been more successful than we ever dreamed!