Training Log Archive: 'Bent

Hot day- avoided any cougars.

RTN Esprit with Bash, 3Pin and Lo-Tox.
Hmm, maps hadn't arrived on time...

This one turned out to be a surprisingly short course.
We started on a night bike leg, mostly ATV trail, with 3-pin doing nav.
We were with Numse after a while when he went right and we went left along with much of the pack. Turns out that Numse was right, but it took us an hour to get back on track. We were surprised to find that we were in 5th at the TA, even with our error.
Next a trek, with a fair bit of road. We missed our proposed route by a bit, but some good relocation by Bash and we were back on track. A 3km bushwhack and we hit the road to the bike drop, but somewhere in there we lost almost an hour to teams behind us.
A short ride to the dreaded Tomcats. First portage was hideous as expected, with my neck in total spasm and zero vision.
The paddle went quite well, actually. Tomcats are fine in rapids.
Bash and I were slightly faster than 3-pin and Lo-tox on the flats, but 3-pin can really nail a good line and is faster in current.
I rigged my "yoke" for the next portage and it was 75% better.
We saw a team behind us and tried to put the hammer down, but Bash and I kindly indicated a rock by getting hung up on it, as Running Free caught us. They were unranked tho, as they had a bad bike leg.
60km paddle took us 6hrs, less than we thought. We saw Hunger ahead, and met them on the zipline, but even with a fast paceline to the finish we were 6th by 13 minutes.
A fun race with a good team, but somehow it felt more like a SAC long course.
Good on Beowulf/Outback, finishing 2nd behind Explore Mtn Hardwear.
Numse was 3rd, Tiny and Nosnohj 4th.

Raid The North -main event for the summer season.

I was going to watch the TDF while working out and finalizing packing for RTN, but my hand looks like a baseball glove so no workout.

C • Swelling 5

An uneventful ride to work with Bulletdog and full AR pack+ .

A challenging evening after a frustrating day at work on the hiring front. (Anybody know a good dental assistant who wants to work in Palgrave?) On my ride home, my rear derailleur suddenly dove into my spokes and wrapped up the chain, bending the frame at the hanger. I got a bit molested by mosquitos while I tried to sort it out, but couldn't re-align it and ended up jog-trotting the bike all the way home. At least I could coast the downhills.

At home I was able to re-align the derailleur hanger thanks to my handy Park DHA Tool, but the XTR rear derailleur had a broken B-screw mount which was the reason it died. I was all ready to drive to Brampton for an emergency pre-RTN purcha$$ (which would take the whole evening too), but discovered that my old XT derailleur has the same B-screw mount which I managed to transplant and all seems well.

Next up, I decided Mick sounds like he really knows how to live, and tried to emulate him. I was BBQing some nice Crash salmon when I got stung hard in the hand, causing me to accidentally fling a ziploc full of nice spuds across the driveway under the Bashmobile and run into the house. Some hornets had built a nest under the BBQ.
This one hurt so much that I didn't notice at least one other good one on my back. I finished cooking dinner in a bug jacket and rain boots, but got awfully itchy in there, which I thought was from the earlier mosquito bites. Turns out I had a pretty good allergic reaction, with dozens of very itchy hives all over my body, and not feeling all that good. (Been stung plenty of times in past with no reaction.) Right now I'm pretty well sedated with Benadryl, and looks like I won't need the Epi-pen or ER visit.
The valiant Bash suited up in armour and dispatched the beasties.

C • Yikes! 3

Easy commute with my full RTN pack + laptop+ lots of other stuff to confirm how it sits on the 'bent.

Workout #2 while watching the first stage in the Pyrenees.

A nice spin around Albion with Bash. Trying to climb like The Chicken.

IronQueen was visiting from Thailand, so I only had time after for a quick run.
Legs felt very fast and Bulletdog didn't bolt ahead so I suspect this was at a good race pace, thanks to all that hiking at altitude with a pack.

K/O's Link Workout while watching TDF.

Nice hilly road/trail ride with Bash, and a zip to work and back.
I removed some time where we found 3 10-11 year old boys who were lost and escorted them back to Duffy's entrance to Albion Hills.

When I went to take Bulletdog for her pre-ride dunk in the pond, which I had just topped up, a skunk staggered out of a hole beside the pond where it must have gotten flooded. Luckily the well behaved pooch didn't take off after it, but it did cut my ride a bit short.

We rode Salty Steven backwards, then to the Humber for a dog-swim.

Note- Cold's no fun- sniffing and sneezing.

Good ride home. May be sick but the bike legs seem pretty good.

Workout #1 while watching TDF this morning. First workout in weeks- I'm going to be sore!

I got my rebuilt shock back yesterday (Internal air spring damaged) and tried it out today, commuting via Palgrave West/ Lookout Hill and then over to Red Dog in Palgrave East.

Bah- coming down with a cold, from the sneezer behind us on the plane.
No wonder I was so bagged yesterday night.

C • Sickless 9

Run home from work with bulletdog. The run felt good. I had intentions of working out at home but felt totally bagged from the jetlag by 8PM.

Nice tour of Graz Austria with our friend Neil. Bash wasn't too keen on some of the city biking and took a header on some streetcar tracks, but otherwise a great tour- Cathedrals, castles, coffee, markets...
Just wish my neck didn't hurt so much riding a wedgie bike. If we come back to do a multi-day tour of one of the huge bike trails here I'll need to rent-a-'bent.

Nice ride along the Inn river valley to Innsbruck. They have a 350km bike trail, with hotels and restaurants along the way as well as huge castles and snow-capped mountains!!

Hike down from Pian de Fontana. The storm hit big time overnight, but didn't rain on us during the day. Good thing we missed it while exposed on the pass yesterday. A descent of 1445 M, but on an easy road through a canyon-like valley the likes of which I've never seen. These mountains are so spectacular! The whole trip was very worthwhile.
That's it for the long hike- See Bash's log for all the details.

Today was supposed to be shorter, from San Sebastien to a small hut but the forecast was nasty for tomorrow so we went over a high pass and did 2 day's worth. It wasn't too bad and we missed the bad weather- another gorgeous hike. No lunch espresso due to festivities at the hut- over 100 people.

Longer day today with a totally clear view of La Civetta towering unbelievably above us, and the valley so steep below it would be implausible in a Lord of teh Rings scene. My neck hurts from gawking up! One of the most spectacular hikes ever!

Hike up to Col Dai for the most spectacular espresso ever, over the top and on to the amazing Rifugio Tissi, perched on top of a 1300M cliff, under La Civetta over 1000M above.

Hike back up from Passo Giau across a high alpine meadow and then down to Staulanza. Some spectacular views of Mt. Pelmo, also some cloud and hail.

Short hike form Cinquetorri to Cortina

Hike up to Laguazoi. Lunch at the top with no view in thick clouds, then down through WW1 tunnels for over a km all the way to the valley. Amazing!- see Bash's log.

Hike from Fodara Vedla down an incredibly twisty road to Perdu, up to Fannes then hid out from a storm before climbing up to Scottoni hut in the pouring rain.

Dolomites Alta Via 1:
See Bash's log.
High climb, but leisurely pace with photo stops.
Ended up at Fodara Vedla- great room with a shower and good meal in the middle of the mountains.