Training Log Archive: Bash

Huge congratulations to BugsinTeeth for successfully completing the 125 km Canadian Death Race this weekend!

For the first time in the event's 15-year history, a woman won the solo race overall. Alissa St. Laurent finished in 13 hrs 53 min, a mere 90 minutes ahead of the guy who came 2nd. (!!!)

Fun holiday weekend excursion to Hardwood Hills with Goose and 'Bent. Trails were quiet in the morning. The only riders to pass me were... Goose and 'Bent. I passed one family whose young boys were repeating a difficult section they had already completed successfully. Otherwise, it felt like I had the trails to myself.

I started with the Serious trail and switched onto Gnarly, an advanced trail. I finished it but it turns out I'm not as gnarly as I used to be - not that the trail is the same as it was. Rather than bump-bump-bumping and dabbing my way around another advanced trail, my second loop was the full Serious trail, which is medium to advanced difficulty and focuses more on sweet flow vs. sweet obstacles. Call me a wimp (go ahead! I deserve it!) but I really enjoyed the feeling of continuous swooping up, down and around over manageable roots and rocks without narrow bridges, rock gardens or big drop-offs.

Our final loop was the Fun trail, also medium difficulty. This time the boys kept the pace down and we rode together. Well, 'Bent was already keeping the pace down because his legs were tired but Goose could have ridden all day.

Fun!! And it was followed by some good burritos and an iced Starbucks latte too. I used the bike computer distance.

Nice social ride with Mr. and Mrs. Veinbuster. We parked at Spirit Tree Cidery and headed for the rail trail. Turns out it's currently closed at Creditview due to construction so we had to go west to Terra Cotta, which made for a shorter ride. Mrs. V. is just getting back to biking after foot surgery so we tried to avoid hills and situations where she would have to unclip. We were only marginally successful in that department since even the flat areas of Caledon have hills!

Lunch at Spirit Tree was really good and we brought home some yummy treats to help make our holiday weekend feel extra festive. :)

Time to get back to this stuff more seriously. It's not too hard to make myself sweat this week.

Now, off to Toronto to see Elton John - or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

I've added my race report for the Eiger Ultra Trail for anyone interested. It's ridiculously long but includes lots of photos so you can skim past the text if you'd prefer!
http://ar.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_920/per...

Headed out before the worst UV, heat and air pollution of the day but it was still a hot, humid run. Mild headache this morning but feeling much better than yesterday.

'Bent warned me that he'd wakened all the FDFs in Palgrave Forest so I went west to Centreville Creek Road, deep into the heart of Wild Boar Country. This used to be a Bruce Side Trail - and before that, the main Bruce Trail - but now it's been taken over by the Oak Ridges Trail Association. Kudos to them for mowing down enough vegetation that it doesn't feel like an overgrown jungle in *too* many places. The FDFs were relatively kind to me. Perhaps it was my blinding speed compared to 'Bent or maybe I just don't smell as good.

Nice evening paddle at the C3 quarry.

SUP yoga class - fun group!

Deer, coyotes and wild turkeys abound in our area. There have been local sightings of bears or cougars but that is less common. This year we have wild boars. Apparently, according to police, one of the latest sightings was along our road!
http://barrie.ctvnews.ca/opp-receive-more-wild-boa...

Thanks to jet lag, I was wide awake at the coolest time of day. Sure wish I could make myself do this every day! Nice ride around Palgrave Forest. I felt strong - maybe it's the extra oxygen at 300 m elevation.

The vegetation is lush and spills over the trail in places. I'll remember calf sleeves next time. It's also horse poo season, which means no bike water bottle. (I try to miss the stuff but if I don't, it flies up and contaminates the mouthpiece.)

On a happier note, it is the last part of raspberry season so I made a few very delicious stops. Great to be home.

Wildlife sighting: One muskrat walking down the middle of the road. Really bad choice on its part but at least there is very little traffic on Duffy's Lane.

Bike computer distance.