Sadie is a 4x4

I rushed home from work this evening to mow the lawn and get in a ride with Sadie. Imagine my dismay when the sky opened up and poured down rain when I had only completed one half of the front lawn! I put away the mower and briefly considered riding in the pouring rain but visions of chaffing danced in my head.

Heading inside, I was met at the door by Sadie, insisting that she is a would love to ride in the rain. I reminded her that when it rains, the roads are slick and the trails become mud. Sadie insisted that she is a 4x4 and can handle it. "Uh huh", I said and offered a compromise - if it stops raining, we'll go for a ride. Sadie took a turn around the living room, her spokey dokes clanging while I headed off to finish the dishes.

An hour later, the rain had stopped and I geared up as Sadie zoomed about the house in anticipation of our ride.We headed for the trails that run through the neighborhoods between King & Calahoo as I knew that sticking to the paved paths over the shale trails would be difficult for Sadie. With a downpour like we had just received, who knew what condition the packed dirt would be in. Sadie zipped along, humming to be out riding in the cool, damp evening while I began to wonder if I was dressed warmly enough and as it started to sprinkle again, should I have worn my rain jacket.

Eager to explore some new terrain, I took a turn into the neighborhood close by The Secret Park. I'd never ridden here but the streets were wide and empty of traffic, just begging to be traveled. After 3km of new roads, I suggested to Sadie that we head to Jubilee park and get the hill out of the way early. She agreed and 3km later, we were rolling through the park and into the Greenbury neighborhood. Still under construction, the freshly paved roads are perfect for riding. And then it happened...

With a squeal of delight, Sadie rolled off of the sidewalk on a tight turn and into a muddy patch. "I'm a 4x4!", she shouted, making it one wheel revolution before sinking her front tire 3 inches deep in the sticky mud. I dismounted and hauled her out, her front tire & brakes now slathered in mud. The below doesn't do it justice as it was taken after returning home but you get the idea.

I groaned and shook my head. "Sadie, what on earth were you thinking?". She giggled, happily throwing gobs of mud from her tires and puddle jumping. "I'm washable", she laughed and off we went again, mud flying and Sadie rolling through every puddle she could find.

20 km later, we ended up at the front door - a shower for both Sadie and myself in order.

La Tour - A Success!

La Tour De Spruce took place on Sunday, May 25th in Spruce Grove, Alberta and was a HUGE success simply because a fabulous time was had by all!

But where did it all begin? Wanting to bring more attention to my participation in The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer, I started the "I'll Do (Almost) Anything for a Donation" campaign and La Tour was born on social media - Twitter & Facebook & Meetup - and out of a challenge between 2 cities - Spruce Grove & Stony Plain. You can read the first part of that story here.When I posted the story to Twitter, Spruce Grove Mayor Stu Houston was not to be outdone by Stony Plain's Mayor William Choy. He responded with this:  

Stuart Houston May 5

@nh_kayak_girl Tammy Like to challenge you Special guide tour - Spruce Groves Heritage trail system with The Mayor will donate to your ride.

"Well!", I thought, "You're on!"  It took about a week to pin down a date and time but by May 10th, we had sorted it out. May 25th, Noon - 2pm - a guided bike tour of the trails of Spruce Grove, friends welcome. Here is where the Social Media came in. I Tweet, I Facebook, I Meetup, I Linkin, I Google+ and I decided to use all of the tools at my disposal in an attempt to make this the biggest event that I could, in 2 weeks time. There was a Facebook Event , Several Meetup Group Events like

Hike n Bike Edmonton, Tweets too numerous to count, Blog Posts, invites out to local bike clubs (Devon Cruisers), shops (Shift Happens & Mud Sweat & Gears), & groups (Edmonton Bicycle Commuters), and word of mouth (no link for that, eh?).  And the results?

~25 riders from Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Devon, & Edmonton! Here is our story:

It was a dark and stormy morning, the clouds threatening rain as I drove to park The Dingo at the Tri-Leisure Center. There was little wind but the sky couldn't make up its mind on whether to rain or not. (Note: I may have taken a bit of dramatic license with the stormy part, it was mostly just overcast and spitting down a very tiny bit of rain occasionally.)

I unpacked my bike, geared up, and rode over to the meeting point for La Tour De Spruce - the south end of Superstore's parking lot in Spruce Grove. As I had been unable to sleep, sit still, or contain myself, I arrived just before 11:30am. Imagine my surprise when I found this waiting in the parking lot! Shift Happens & The Devon Cruisers where already here! They had tweeted their intent on coming but I had no idea how many they were bringing. What a fantastic surprise!

As I wandered here and there, taking pictures and shaking hands, more riders began to appear. We had riders coming in from Edmonton, including Amir who RODE HIS BIKE from Edmonton to Spruce Grove, riders from Stony Plain, including Lynn who rode The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer last year, riders from Spruce Grove, Devon, & even as far as Sherwood Park! The Mayor - Stu Houston - arrive & we had introductions (Are you REALLY the Mayor?! - one cyclist exclaimed, obviously unaware of just how much our Mayor loves his city and how he'll do nearly anything to show it off to the world - as well he should!). After a quick overview of why we were all coming together and riding, a group photo was had & we were off!

With planned stops every 4 km, we started the trail as we had mapped it - heading east on McLeod and north into the woods behind Canadian tire. We set a leisurely pace, allowing for conversation and enjoyment of our surroundings. We had mountain bikers, road bikers, race bikers, cruisers, and casual riders in our group. We even had 3 young folks (not that we aren't all young but these 3 ladies are under 18). Within the first 2 km, we had our first flat tire of the day. Out came the pump but it was determined to be a leak at the stem. And so we lost a rider with a promise to meet up with us again at 2pm.

The shale trails were in peak packed condition for all types of bikes and the weather was beautiful. Overcast with a touch of sun peeping out now and again. There were flowers along the marshy areas of the trail and the trees were in full bud. We soon arrived at the trails that lead behind Central Park and the back side of the Agrena where The Spruce Grove Life & Leisure Expo was in full swing. Doubling back the way we had come, through the forest but taking the paved trails this time, we headed for the bike tunnel & the "broken trail" with the new wooden bridge. This section of trail is under construction but will soon be complete and leads to a sidewalk into the Jesperdale neighborhood.

Taking to the streets, we headed for the Calahoo Road Roundabout (traffic circle) and into the Longview neighborhood. One of the amazing things about the Spruce Grove Heritage Trail System is that it winds through the woods, along main roads, and through residential neighborhoods and parks.  You can always get there from here, as the saying should go in this case. We next rode through Fairway Park, across Grove Drive - continuing straight on the trail through a tiny green park and took a right toward "The Secret Park". If you want to know where this beautiful hidden gem is, email me.

We left The Secret Park and headed east along the trail, crossing Century Road to the Greystone neighborhood and turned left to Grove Drive, took a right on Grove and followed the trail into Jubilee Park where the Mayor had a cooler of Gatorade waiting for us (stashed safely in his truck)! A break here was much appreciated by all as we were to experience the only real hill climb of the ride when we left Jubilee Park and headed west, back up Grove Drive.

We experienced one more small bike issue on the way up the hill - a mountain bike that decided to stick its gears and refused to do anything but be walked. Silly bike, does it not know how much fun a hill is to ride? :)  Crisis averted when the gears began to cooperate again and we rode west towards the Jennifer Heil and our final destination - The Tri-Leisure center for a prize draw, a slow-mo bike race in the parking lot (Pepper won!), and popsicles.

Our route this day took us 23.26 which is about the length of each "leg" between pit-stops during The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer. The whole ride is 220 km and pits are every 20 - 30km. Every one of our La Tour De Spruce riders should be very proud of themselves for their completion of this journey!

If you would like to ride La Tour De Spruce route, you can follow the map below or email me  & I would be happy to take you on a tour of the amazing resource available in Spruce Grove - the Spruce Grove Heritage Trail. We can duplicate La Tour De Spruce or I can create a more or less challenging ride for you.

Special thanks out to:

Mayor Stu Houston - Twitter & Facebook  - for leading La Tour De Spruce & for procuring 2 all-inclusive passes for West Edmonton Mall for the prize draw!

Mud Sweat & Gears - Twitter & Facebook - for donating a Bronze Bike Tune up & a Water Bottle for the prize draw!

Devon Cruisers Club - Facebook - for bringing out your beautiful bikes (Bamboo & Nora!) & the amazing folks who ride them (Mark, Kelly, Jocelyn, Holly, Jeff (and I am a bad bad person for not remembering everyones' names)! I'll see you on Wednesday night at 7pm for the next Themed Cruise!

Shift Happens Bike Repair (and now selling bikes!) - Facebook - for coming out to ride (Judy & Pepper) and for transporting the Devon Cruisers' bikes! Can't wait to see your shop when I come out to Bike Town!

NOW! Radio Trucksicle - Twitter - for supplying post-ride popsicles with @Sassy_Cassey  & @NOWCourtneyPop!

Hike n Bike Edmonton - Meetup - for providing Colleen, Evi, Keith, & Amir!

The Boxing Club - Website - for sending Bobbi, John, & Taylor to ride with us! 

Please remember to donate to The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer as I'll be riding 10x the length of La Tour De Spruce in August and need all the help I can get!

Picture album here: NOTE: Some photos were taken by Devon Cruiser Club members, I've tried to mark them and welcome an email with names so I can give proper credit.

Pre-La Tour De Spruce Ride

I met with Spruce Grove Mayor, Stu Houston for a trail mapping ride of the route for Sunday's ride. This would be my first meeting with the Mayor as we'd managed all of the planning on Twitter & Facebook so far. Social media at its best! Stu recommended meeting at Second Cup in Spruce Grove which is right in front of the parking lot where we are meeting on Sunday to start La Tour De Spruce.

I arrived promptly at 3:55 pm, ready to go but Stu had a surprise in mind. He suggested we step inside Second Cup to check out the route he had mapped out and to sample a London Fog. I've never had one but let me tell you that I will be having more! What is a London Fog, you ask? Well, it looks like the below and as far as I can tell it is an Earl Gray tea (Hello Captain Picard!) with plenty of steamed milk and a bit of sweetness - aka: heaven!

We got out the map and had a look. The Mayor had done his homework! The route he had selected traverses many of the areas where I have ridden but there was quite a bit that I had not seen before. Most of my rides are random, go where the Megrims take me. I've never actually looked closely at a Spruce Grove Trail Map. I cannot believe the many trails that I have missed! Here is what we discussed riding tonight & for La Tour De Spruce:

In agreement that this looked like a fantastic route to scope out, the Mayor & I grabbed our bikes and set off!

We rode out of the Superstore parking lot and onto McLeod Ave (that bottom left section of the map above. We headed right on McLeod for a short distance and then took a left into the forest. This area I was familiar with until we reached the 1km mark and veered off to the right along the "shale" trails. These beautiful orange/red trails are a wonderful color contrast to the green grass that grows along the trail and are hard packed enough for a street bike. They offer a wonderful nature ride through the forest.

And that is all the teaser that you get before Sunday's ride! I'll leave it at: It was a fantastic ride that will be tweaked just a bit from the above/below maps - an easy 20-25 km over 2 hours with a visit by the NOW! Radio Trucksicle for Popsicles at the end! If you want info on attending: click here.

Sunday May 25th

Superstore Parking lot - Spruce Grove

110 Jennifer Heil Way

11:45 am meet time - 12:00 pm start time

Ride: La Tour De Spruce

20-25 km at an easy pace - suitable for kids

POPSICLES!! 

We will be met by the NOW! Radio Trucksicle after the ride for free popsicles

Ride & Update

The ride: Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer

Distance: 220 km over 2 days

Location: Calgary, AB to Okotoks, AB and back again! 

The Goal: $25,000

Raised to date: $1,210

Days left for fundrasing: 93

KM's ridden outside to date:  105 (65.1 miles)

Why I rode last year: Why I Ride Blog Post

Why I ride this year: 

I ride for those who have been touched by cancer. 

For those who survived, for those who did not, for those who are still fighting, 

and for those who love them. 

I ride for me as well. 

I ride to be a part of something bigger than myself. 

I ride to make a difference.

And so, with a beautiful sky overhead, I set out for a ride last evening. As Sadie (my bike) has been in the shop for her annual tune up, I was fortunate to have the use of a friend's bike. Having ridden no other bike for the past year or 5, I was excited to try out a different bike. I'd had Sadie's tires replaced with street slicks last summer and this bike had knobby tires. Would it feel different to ride? I'd also been using clip in pedals for some time now and these were clip less. Would I notice a difference? Was there really a truth to the superiority of clip-ins? Let's find out! I added air to the tires, threw on my sneakers (runners), and headed out.

I'll fondly refer to the borrowed bike as "the Beast". I hopped on and off we went. The first thing I noticed was the seat adjustment quick release lever was sticking out at just the perfect location to whack me in the leg on every revolution. Easy enough to fix: hop off, adjust the seat, adjust the tightness, crank that quick release in tight and off we go again! I often find myself adjusting Sadie's seat during rides so no big deal. Now on to gear shifts...  The Beast has handlebar gear shifts that twist forward and back. Sadie has gear shifts that consist of 2 switches on each handlebar, one for up and one for down. A quick press of the switch and her gears change. I've never used a twist shift and wondered if there was some trick to it, other than simply twisting forward or back. I felt like I was throttling a motorcycle (couldn't resist throwing in a couple of VROOOM VROOOOM's while shifting). I'm still not sure I had it right and every "click" of the shifter had me wondering if I was breaking something. More practice needed!

Hmmmm, where to ride? Not knowing the bike well, I chose to stick around the neighborhood. I started slow, out to the trail and up Century, heading towards Ghiry's favorite wiggly trail. Somethign wasn't right. The bike felt like it was riding over a series of ruts (speed bumps!), bump, bump, bump. Hmmmm, odd, maybe the sidewalk is much rougher than I thought and the knobby tires brings it out. I decided to forgo the sidewalk for the back ally roads for a flatter ride. Bump, bump, bump, it continued. Now I'm off and checking out the bike. Are the wheels tight? Is the brake catching on one of the tires? What on earth? I found that both the front and back tires on The Beast are "flat", not in pressure but in shape. Oddest thing I've ever seen. They are on the rim, they are inflated, and they are flat! I decided to cut short the ride and headed home after only 4km and a bruised bum. Okay, I might be exaggerating the bruised bum. :D

As soon as I walked in the door, Ghiry was waiting to tell me that a walk is better than a ride any day - mainly because he can go too - and that we should go. I neglected to start the tracking app for him but we did a 1.5 hour loop along the Spruce Grove trails that wind through the forest and down to Grove Drive. An hour and a half well spent and one tuckered pup later, we were home for the evening.

NOTE: Sadie is now back and ready to ride. Stay tuned and in the meantime, donate to keep me on track with my fundraising efforts!

40 Already!

It was a glorious day for a ride last night! Can you find MFT on this map? I'll give you a hint: read Sunday's post. ;)

Leaving the house at 5:45, I headed out with the intention of riding 30-40 km and I knew that along with riding MFT, I'd like to ride the wiggly sidewalk that is Ghiry's favorite. The map above does not do the wiggly sidewalk justice as it is the straight looking line on the right hand side of the map. Here is a better picture of it:

After the wiggly sidewalk, I headed down McLeod, through Central Park and into the forest (Spruce Grove Heritage Trail). The Map My Ride app quickly informed me that I had reached the 5 km mark. Whoo Hoo! I was on my way! As I rode, I noticed that everyone was out walking, biking, running, roller blading, etc. I can only assume that everyone in Spruce Grove has spring fever and were curing it by taking in the beautiful weather. As the trail is designed to support all forms of activity, it was a bit tricky maneuvering the walk ways and I was glad to have my bike bell to warn people as I approached from behind.

Make a donation to The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer

Where to next? After exiting MFT onto Grove Drive, I decided to ride West to the Catholic School and then loop back down, through a few neighborhoods, and East all the way to Jubilee park. I thought of my Squishter as I watched a group of men playing Disc Golf in the park. Perhaps Wildwood Disc Golf Course should make a trip up to visit and play on the Jubilee course. All in the name of cultural exchange, of course! I decided to take pass on the housing development due to mud on the roads (road that Sunday, thank you) and head down through Spruce Ridge and across Century Road to Longview and on to Calahoo. I squiggled here and there before hitting MFT again for the last leg of my trip. Having reached 35 km, I figured I had 5 more in me and rode around randomly until I hit 40 km.

I think I'll take Tuesday off from riding to celebrate Earth Day with a photo hike at Chickakoo.

Easter Weekend Rides

Happy Easter weekend and happy spring!

After what has felt like an unending winter, spring is finally here and with it, OUTSIDE bike rides!! :D

2 Rides were completed this weekend and these are their stories:

Ride 1 - the very first, before any others, never happened before today in 2014 - outside ride!

I was ready, the snow had finally melted, the sun was shining (of course the birds were singing) and the bike was chomping at the bit to get out of the house. Not sure of the weather - the weather widget was showing a cool 38 F -  I geared up with my workout shorts, long yoga pants, hiking socks, long sleeved thumb-hole shirt, sweatshirt, winter hat & gloves. Before I set off, I shed the hat & gloves as the sun was shining and it felt warmer than the weather widget had lead me to believe.

I didn't have a route in mind, I figured I'd just ride here and there until I got tired and then go home. I hit the road (or sidewalk as the case my be) and began to head towards the Spruce Grove Heritage Trail where it runs behind Grove Drive between Century and King Streets. I quickly decided to follow the trail west and then North across Grove and into the park. A quick loop around the park and I knew I needed to head to my favorite section of trail that winds through the woods between Grove, McLeod, Jennifer Heil, and Calahoo. Now if only I could remember exactly where the entrance was!

 

 You can see it took me a bit to get there, riding first north, then west and south, and then making a mis-turn and heading east before doubling back and finding my trail! In case there is any question, it is the wiggly trail at the west end of this map from Grove Drive up to where it turns east. THAT is my favorite section of trail. :D I rode for approx 45 minutes before realizing I was going to be late to Easter dinner. So, after a short 12.15 km, I was done. The bike bug has bit and I was already planning on a ride for Easter Sunday. 

Ride 2 - the ride that follows ride 1 but immediate precedes ride 3 & happened on Easter Sunday.

 The sky was looking a bit ominous as I walked the bike out of the house. It was colder today than yesterday as well. I used this as an excuse to wear my never before worn Nike Arm Warmers. Like the leg warmers of the 80's but made out of Nike dry-top material and WAAAAAAY cooler (also black rather than funky colors & not knit). See?

With a warning from Dug to "watch out for loose gravel", I was off! I knew I'd ride my favorite stretch of trail again today but I was also planning to visit the Jubilee Park area of Spruce Grove. When I last rode it in the fall, the housing development that was under construction offered smooth riding surfaces and interesting construction in progress. I wondered how it may have changed. I headed north and then east to find out. Arriving at Jubilee Park, I turned into the housing development at the end of the road. The first thing I noticed... MUD. Construction is alive and well with large vehicles dragging mud all over the roads. Time to kick it into 4x4 and go mudding! Oh, wait, I put skinny slick tires on my bike last summer. Drat! I took it slow and easy along the roads and pathways until I was safely back in Jubilee Park. 

Next I decided to head west to the end of the road. As a side note, I have recently listened to Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane and now every time I say "the end of", I can't help but think my story so much more epic than it really is. ;)

The day was warming up and I was enjoying the sun though the wind was doing its very best to encourage me to try harder. Coming from the north west, it made heading north or west fairly difficult. Reaching "the end", I turned around and headed east on Grove again, stopping to photograph a couple of Easter colored houses (pink & purple) under construction. I suppose I'd have a better time if I stopped taking so many pictures. Reaching Jennifer Heil, I turned south along the Grove Heritage Trail, planning to ride up McLeod and then head north into the woods, picking up my favorite trail (henceforth to be known as MFT) at the top and riding south to Grove and then turning around to ride back up MFT. Pretty sneaky, eh? Getting in 2 passes on MFT! 

I found, however that the tail end of the trail was closed to traffic and so I detoured around through the neighborhoods until I reached the top (south) end of MFT. It is difficult to describe MFT. The weather today was warm but MFT is sheltered by a canopy of pines. Sunlight only filters in through small openings between branches. The air is far cooler on MFT than anywhere else I rode today. It was like riding into a walk in refrigerator, I could almost see my breath as I rode. There is still snow on the ground in several places that the sunlight hasn't reached but because much snow has melted and there was rain last night, the trail smells of fresh earth, pine and balsm, and old rotting wood. It like riding into another world. That is the best I can do, you'll have to come out and ride it yourself to truly experience it. For a small fee, I'm happy to give you a tour! :D

Alas, 1.5 hours and 25.21 km later, I was ready to call it a day and headed home. 

Now, let's not forget why I am riding: to get ready for a 220 km, 2-day bike ride in August. Won't you join me on this adventure by donating to sponsor me? 

In the USA(if you can't use the below link): Crowdrise Fundraiser

In Canada (and everywhere else): Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer

Thanks and see you on the roads!

Session 2 - Week 7

Week 7 of Session 2 now completed! My schedule was as follows:

Sunday May 19th - If you read last week's post, you know that I rode 45 miles (75 km) on Saturday, May 18th. Today was the first day that I have done back to back long rides. I rode for another 45 miles to bring my 2 day total to 90 miles (150 km). Started off at 7am waiting to meet up with a local bike club. By 7:30 myself and another rider came to the conclusion that there had been a bit of a communications snafu and the ride was not going to happen. So, home I headed to hit the streets myself. By 8am I was peddling off towards Jubilee Park and the Spring Grove neighborhood for a warm up and then hills. Spring Grove is set up so that streets run North/South on a hill so it was good practice for hills. Down the hill, up the hill, repeat. :D And then I was off exploring new areas. Click the link above to read about Sunday's ride. 

Monday May 20th - A day of rest. After my weekend of riding, I was happy to have a Monday holiday. I spent 2 hours digging the weeds out of my "flower garden" and then another hour planting new flowers. By the end of the day, I was pretty tired and still recovering from the weekend of riding.

Tuesday May 21st - TRX Suspension training. This class was a bit different from our normal format in that we were doing counted reps instead of timed sets. A very, very, very hard class. You can read about it here. Legs were the target of the day...

Wednesday May 22nd -An evening of rest! Sore from Tuesday night's class (for the first time in a long time) and happy to relax.

Thursday May 23rd - TRX Suspension training - And more leg work!

Friday May 24th - An evening out with work and early to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Saturday May 25th -NO OPTIONS Butt & Gutt!! Circuit based session with 7 stations, 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest, nearly every station weighted and no rest for the single leg/side stations. It was brutal! Read about it here.

Tomorrow morning I meet up with Herb of Bulls-Eye Bike Shop to ride from 7am to 12pm. Wish me luck and many miles!

9-T!

While this shot doesn't exactly do the hill justice, you get some idea of the distance and steepness that I had just traveled. If you follow the road all the way back to the upper left of the photo, that is where I had just ridden from. And.... where I had to ride back to. Lucky me! :D Yes, I do mean that itty bitty, tiny crack in what appears to be the treeline... yeah, there.

Today was my second day in a row of riding 45 miles to bring the weekend total to 90 miles (150 km). As you can see from the map below, I took a very different route, north out of Spruce Grove on Century, ending up waaaaaaaaay up at the top of a giant hill. Yes, I rode the entire thing, without stopping AND... I didn't die! :D (happy dance!)

I'm a bit surprised that I am not more tired but it is still early in the day (3:30 MST) and I'm sure by this evening I'll be ready to fall right over. Maybe it was the alternative protein, aka: bugs I swallowed on the ride.. hmmmm.

Today was slightly overcast and I had a nice cool breeze for most of the ride so I didn't add to the sunburn that I managed to get yesterday. :) Oh, and I have a funny white stripe where I wear my ID band on my wrist. And bikers tan, I am developing bikers tan. What is up with that? Geesh!

45

Today was the first day of a 2 day training ride plan. I had planned to be up by 5am, riding from 6-9am, aiming for 30 miles before my 10am Butt & Gutt session. My body had other plans for me. Being a bit tired, I slept until 7 and hit the road at 8am, riding until I met up with the Butt & Gutt class at 10. I logged 20 miles in those 2 hours (Map on the right).

As I participated in the B&G session, all I could hear in the back of my mind was my mom: "You can't do BOTH bike riding and B&G, Silly Girl. You should just do one or the other." How right she was! B&G consisted of hill running and major leg work today, focusing on the thighs. And my poor thighs were already tired!

However, feeling that I still had something left in me to wrap up the planned 30 total miles for the day, I headed home after B&G for a pit stop, whipped up a smoothie (and downed it), and headed back to the streets (Map on the left). 2 hours, 11 minutes later, I had completed 25 miles and called it a day. And what a beautiful day it was! As tired as I am right now, I enjoyed every last second of sunshine, wind, scenery, exploring new neighborhoods, and kicking my butt! :D

I've planned to meet up with Bulls-eye Bike Club at 7am tomorrow for a 5 hour, many mile ride. See you after!

Session 2 - Week 6

Week 6 of Session 2 now completed! My schedule was as follows:

Sunday May 12th - Rest, sleep, fluids, & good nutrition. Happy Mothers' Day to all the Mothers out there. My son called to wish me a happy day and to plan our visit in July when I head for home. :D

Monday May 13th - A day of rest.

Tuesday May 14th - TRX Suspension training. Plenty of leg work in this session. It has been immensely helpful in getting me ready for the Ride. This evening's class was 40 seconds work with 10 second breaks. Mixing it up and making ourselves WORK! Do a set of tricep presses and then, take a step back and make it harder.

Wednesday May 15th -An evening hike at Chickakoo Lake! 1 hour of hiking the Advanced/Intermediate trails with Miss Ashley "Crunchy Frogs", Ghiry, and Zoie! It was a beautiful evening and the trail was challenging. :D

Thursday May 16th - TRX Suspension training - Tabata style! 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest, 8 sets of each exercise, repeat!

Friday May 17th - An evening off!

Saturday May 18th - A BIG, HUGE, GIGANTIC ride! :D Started the day off at 8am with a 2 hour, 20 mile ride followed by an hour of Butt & Gutt, and topped off with another 2+ hour, 25 mile ride. 45 miles on the day and scheduled to ride again in the AM for my first back to back long ride days.. wish me luck!

Session 2 - Week 4

Week 4 of Session 2 now completed! My schedule was as follows:

Sunday April 28th - First BIG outside ride. The weather was overcast and cool but tolerable with gloves, hat under the helmet and 3 layers - top and bottom. I felt great after finishing 40 miles of street riding. The goal from here is to add time/mileage each Sunday as well as start getting in a couple of Saturday/Sunday ride weekends. Read about the BIG ride here. 

Monday April 29th - A day of rest and a trip to the bike store for some nutritional supplements... only to find that the store was closed. :(

Tuesday April 30th - TRX Suspension training. A Game of Cards! This game included Pushups, Balance Lunges, Suspended Crunches (or sit ups), and Jump Squats along with Burpies and Front Planks. We made it through the deck in no time and started round 2... Triceps and Biceps! 

Wednesday May 1st -An evening off.

Thursday May 2nd - TRX Suspension training - Tabata format - 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest, repeat each exercise for 8 sets - Jump Squats, Push ups (ugh! there they are again! - personal goal right now is to be able to complete 20 REAL pushups - I'm at 10), Alternating Balance Lunges with a hop, Front Planks, Suspended Crunches/Sit Ups, Bicycle Crunches (legs suspended), and I'm certain there were 2 more exercises but my old lady brain can't recall them right now. :D

Friday May 3rd - Spent 2 hours helping to set up the boxing ring for The Boxing Club's 4th annual Al Harris Memorial Fundraiser on Saturday May 4th.

Saturday May 4th - 2 hours of heavy duty spring cleaning before an hour of BUTT & GUTT! This session was a doozy! The format today was Cardio, Abs, Glutes. 30 seconds of cardio followed by 10 seconds rest, 30 seconds of Ab work, 10 seconds rest, wrapped up with 30 seconds of Butt work and repeat. There were approx 8 combo sets each repeated 2 times. Very fast paced and sweat inducing. A kick butt class for sure! 1 more hour of heavy duty spring cleaning (think scrubbing tile floors on your hands and knees) and then off to the 4th Annual Al Harris Memorial Fundraiser. My very first boxing event! Look for a separate post on this event with a video or 2! :) Home again at 11pm.

Time for some fluids, rest, and turkey soup (I've come down with a cold or something) See you all next week!

The Giant 4-OH!

I'll be the first to admit that when I woke up this morning, I wasn't in the mood for a mega ride (well, that isn't exactly true, more like I wasn't in the mood to motivate myself for a mega ride). You know the feeling, we all get it, that it would be so much easier to stay in bed, hang around and watch movies, take a day off, anything but get our butts out of the house and DO something.

But, I'll be the first to let you  know that I AM GLAD I DID IT! I am glad that I made myself eat breakfast, made myself mix up a delicious Camelbak of nutrients (Dripping sarcasm there, folks!), made myself put on 3 layers. Yes, count them, 3 - It's still cold here in Alberta! - Complete with hat under the helmet & gloves for my poor little cold hands... Glad that I kept going. Glad that after 2 hours when I needed a pit stop I was strong enough to make myself go back out for another hour. And then another. Yup, ended up riding for 4.5 hours today - 40 miles - ON THE STREET, against the wind, and uphill both ways! Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration but it was difficult. And when it was all over, I was able to say: I did it! And not only did I do it, but I felt good after I was done and even came to the conclusion that I might even be able to ride 50 Miles, 60 Miles, or even 65 (that is the daily requirement on the Enbridge Ride to Conquor Cancer - 2 days, 125 miles total) and all because I DID IT!

Now my question to you is: Since I did it, won't you get out there and sponsor me so that all of this hard work will not be in vain? Click here and when the new page loads, click the big green button to sponsor my ride. I'm only $925 away from being able to ride June 22nd & 23rd. Every little bit helps and I appreciate every dollar donated.

First Outside Ride

Last night was my first outside ride of the season as part of my training for the Enbridge Ride to Conquor Cancer. 

Date: April 17, 2013
Days until The Ride: 66
Temperature: 41F (5C)
Funds Still Needed to Ride: $1,360 (hint, sponsor me! Click the big green button, you know you wanna!)


I left the house just after 5:30pm to explore the Spruce Grove Heritage Trail. This trail is a wide paved walkway that winds around neighborhoods and through Ghiry's favorite forest in the City of Spruce Grove. As the snow has finally receded from 98% of the trail, it makes a good training ground with it's winding paths and various levels of incline. I should note that I'm using the Nike Running App to track distance and let's just say that because I ride here, there, and wherever the Megrims take me, my route map looks pretty funny! I may have to make it a goal to come up with the weirdest looking maps possible just to amuse myself.

As you can see, I got in 12.44 miles (20 KM) last night. Overall it was terrific to be outside but I continue to struggle with the nutritional aspect of endurance training. I added some extra carbs in the form of Spelt Pasta to my mid-day meal and brought along electrolytes in my water but by mile 12, I was spent. Perhaps more pasta is in order...

Stay tuned for the next ride, most likely on Saturday before and after the regularly scheduled Butt & Gutt class! See you there!

Be Epic!

I have an epic goal:

To raise $5,000 before I ride 200 KM (125 miles) in 2 days as part of the Enbridge Ride to Conquor Cancer - June 22 & 23rd, 2013. 

All proceeds benefit Alberta Cancer Research

Where it all started

Why I am riding

My Training Programs:
TRX
B&G
Spin
Hiking

MY CHALLENGE TO YOU! - Be Epic! I can't do this without you. Will you help me to reach my goal?

Zombie Fog

I'm not sure who named it or why but apparently when the scenery looks like this in the morning, it is called: Zombie Fog.

I haven't actually seen any zombies come out of it but I am going to be keeping my eyes peeled. I'm not partial to zombies and I have the distinct feeling that zombies don't ride bikes very well so if I were to become a zombie, I hope it isn't until after The Ride in June.

Sponsor me now before I become a zombie!