Author: gfox (old content)

Trick Stats

Great ride yesterday. There were a few good hills to test the legs too. We headed out to the Metchosin area through Esquimalt Lagoon. The hill out of the lagoon was the big test for me. I started off too strong on the hill, forgetting how long it was. By the top my heart rate had spiked and my vision was starting to narrow. Yikes. Thankfully I made it to the top.

The only mistake I made on the ride was not starting to eat soon enough. I realized 1:20 into the ride I hadn’t eaten a thing. I choked by a gel to get some quick calories into me, then started in on a Cliff bar. That did the trick and I got myself back on my nutritional track, and didn’t bonk.

I even managed to lead the three of us for a while. That felt good to do my part in the ride. I’m still learning the rules to riding in a group, and now that my fitness is picking up, I can start doing my duty at the front.


View Tour de Victoria, March 26, 2011 in a larger map

Total Distance: 73.69 km (45.8 mi)
Total Time: 3:26:50
Moving Time: 3:06:24
Average Speed: 21.38 km/h (13.3 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 23.72 km/h (14.7 mi/h)
Max Speed: 55.92 km/h (34.7 mi/h)
Min Elevation: -20 m (-66 ft)
Max Elevation: 63 m (208 ft)
Elevation Gain: 673 m (2208 ft)
Max Grade: 14 %
Min Grade: -9 %

So, the stats above don’t lie. 73+ KMs averaging over 23 KM/H. Pretty happy with that.

Earthquake Interesting

In the past few months there have been a couple earthquakes that have made headlines around the world. The first was in Christchurch, New Zealand, the other in Japan.

The Japan quake has hit home for Sue and I. We have an earthquake kit, but neither of us feel like it is enough. We went through it again, updating the kids clothes, and taking stock of what we have. It’s ok, but needs more food and water supplies. I’ve also gotten the kit necessary to secure the hot water tank to the wall, and now that I have the appropriate drill, will get to that this weekend.

Since the Japanese quake, I’ve done more reading than normal on earthquake preparedness. Thankfully Victoria doesn’t have much of a Tsunami threat.

I’ve been on one emergency preparedness seminar already, and learned a lot of interesting things. A few days ago our daycare provider who is also on the Esquimalt town council sent out a powerpoint presentation about the Neighbourhood Emergency Preparedness Program.

It is a series of three courses over 5 sessions. There is a preparedness seminar, a disaster first-aid course, then a light urban search and rescue course. All three courses sound very interesting, and even if it weren’t for the recent quakes, I likely would have wanted to sign up for them.

As if I wasn’t busy enough already. Two young kids, training for the Tour de Victoria, working, looking for a new job, and now disaster training. 🙂 Sometimes it feels good to be busy.

Opted Often

Nice ride tonight. I had originally planned to come home, change quickly, then head out for an hour on the road. When I arrived home there were some complications, and I had forgotten to pick up a couple of the ingredients for dinner.

Instead I opted for a trainer ride after a light dinner. Another good workout. I did a 4 minute warm up, 1 hour ride, then a few minutes of cool down.

While spinning I can zone out pretty nicely and just think about stuff. The downside is that when I am not paying attention, my effort wanes as well, and I find myself not working as hard as I should be. Tonight was no different, but I was trying to be more cognizant of what my body was actually doing.

One of the thoughts I had was that the prep I am doing for the Tour de Victoria ride is having an awesome side-effect. My drive to ride has certainly increased. I find myself thinking about riding more often. I just want to ride again. The last few years have seen my riding diminish a little, but now I want to start riding regularly again. It’s good for me, and when I hit the trails, I can take Heart too.

Pool Days

Tuesday night is swim night. I at a light dinner and after Amy was in bed headed out for the pool.

The lanes were pretty clear tonight, making a much nicer experience for me. My first leg of swimming I went non-stop for 300m. I took a quick break, then jumped back in for another 300m. I finished off with 200m where I was swimming as hard as I could. I know I could have swam more tonight, but I wanted to end on a high note.

I’m definitely feeling stronger and healthier these days. For the entire ride on the weekend I felt strong and had some gas in the legs. Tonight I could have kept going. I’m really looking forward to the Tour de Victoria.

Plan Drained

Fantastic ride today. Sue and I were able to knock off three birds with two stones today. We had a lot to do, but I figured out a plan to get the all done in the shortest amount of time.

I wanted a long ride, Heart needed a walk badly, and we needed groceries. My plan? Ride my mountain bike to the dump, and Sue will drop the dog off. While Heart and I hit the trails, Sue and the kids go grocery shopping. When they are done, they come pick up Heart, and I ride home. Nice!

The plan actually worked too. I got in my three hour ride, Heart got her walk, and we got the groceries we needed.

My route:

View Tour de Victoria, March 19, 2011 in a larger map

The stats:
Total Distance: 41.22 km (25.6 mi)
Total Time: 3:38:05
Moving Time: 2:51:42
Average Speed: 11.34 km/h (7.0 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 14.41 km/h (9.0 mi/h)
Max Speed: 50.40 km/h (31.3 mi/h)
Min Elevation: -12 m (-40 ft)
Max Elevation: 261 m (855 ft)
Elevation Gain: 479 m (1573 ft)
Max Grade: 10 %
Min Grade: -7 %
Recorded: Sat Mar 19 14:26:00 PDT 2011
Activity type: mountain biking, cycling

So I rode a little over 40 km, and as you can see by the map, my phone lost the GPS signal a few times; perhaps my distance is a little higher. My average speed is pretty low since I took a few breaks while waiting for Sue to drop off Heart, and after we met up again.

I was surpised that it only took me a little over 45 minute to get from my place to the start of the trails at the dump. Heart and I then spent about an hour and 15 minutes on the trails. The ride home took about 54 minutes, but I took a much different route back. For the ride home I pushed hard and kept my bike in the big ring almost the entire way.

By the time I got home I was sweaty, muddy, drained, and very, very happy. I really enjoyed this ride.

Jerky Sleeping

One of my many fond memories of Yoshi are of him sleeping. I loved listening to him sleep at night. His loud, long deep sighs would often bring a smile to my face. His snoring would make me laugh, and his jerky, running movements while asleep would crack me up.

Occasionally he would sleep with his eyes open which was always creeeepy. Specially when his eyeballs would start moving about.

We would often find Yoshi sleeping on his back, legs in the air. At first I thought it was pretty weird, then I came to think of it as quirky. For a while we let him sleep on the futon in the guest room (we had special Yoshi sheets on it). When it was set up as a couch, he would stretch out, then flip his legs up against the back of the futon and go to sleep. He would also sleep on his back on his dog bed. His jowls would lift up and his eyelids would droop.

When he first started doing this he was still intact. That was the only thing about him sleeping that way I didn’t like 🙂

This sleeping pattern was a trait in him that I loved. It’s coming up on a year when Yoshi passed away. I think of him a lot still, but the past couple weeks I have really been thinking about him. I miss him still.

Overhead Wobbly

The training continues. There was a slight change to my schedule this week. I normally swim Tuesday nights, but I was late getting to the pool, and when I arrived there was only one lane open, and that lane was very busy. Instead I swam Wednesday after work.

I got in a quick 600m swim. It was odd swimming that time of day. It was actually darker in the water than when I swim at night. The sun was streaming in the windows and the overhead lights weren’t on. My swim was pretty good, but I was fighting a stitch the entire time. If I had pushed any harder I would have felt pretty bad. Also on one turnaround I messed up on my breathing and ended up swallowing a huge mouthful of water. That didn’t sit well with me and made my tummy upset for quite a while.

Tonight was a ride night for me. As soon as I got home from work I set up the bike on the trainer and had a good, hard spin there. A couple minutes warmup, nearly 50 minute ride, then another couple minutes of cool down. Wobbly legs afterward too.

Elk Air

Sunday I took the kids and Heart out to Elk Lake for a walk. Heart needed some exercise really badly and this seemed like a great way for her to get some. It turned out to be a great walk. The kids and I had a lot of fun, Heart ran around lots and played with some other dogs, and I got some fresh air. We walked over 3kms too. Elliot walked the entire way, and Amy walked most of the way (I carried her for three short stints).


Shower Hill

Wow, that shower felt great today. I certainly earned it. I did a training ride for the Tour de Victoria. I wanted to get a longer ride in, and so I headed out with a couple buddies that do a lot more riding than I.

Here is the route:


View Tour de Victoria, March 3, 2011 in a larger map

Awesome ride though. The weather held off nicely and I felt strong until I was a couple kms from the house. I probably should have dove into my second Cliff Bar while I was still riding. Things I need to learn. Oh and the only time I didn’t feel so great when when I left the house a little late and sprinted over to a buddies house on a full tummy of eggs and toast. When I stopped moving my tummy complained a little.

I broke off from T at Willis Point Road. He was heading up and over into the Highlands and I didn’t think I could make it. I was also running short on time. Instead I climbed up the hill on Willis Point Rd, then turned around and made my way home.

From the stats below you can see that I did pretty good. I got some good distance in, and a decent avg speed. I’d like to bump up the avg speed, but that will come as I train more.

Total Distance: 63.62 km (39.5 mi)
Total Time: 2:56:09
Moving Time: 2:39:13
Average Speed: 21.67 km/h (13.5 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 23.98 km/h (14.9 mi/h)
Max Speed: 59.40 km/h (36.9 mi/h)
Min Elevation: -13 m (-44 ft)
Max Elevation: 86 m (282 ft)
Elevation Gain: 631 m (2072 ft)
Max Grade: 7 %
Min Grade: -8 %
Recorded: Sat Mar 12 08:14:33 PST 2011
Activity type: cycling

Proud Record

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, then you know that I donate blood on a regular basis. It’s something I started a while ago, and hope to continue for a long time.

Today I went again and did my regular donation. I stuck with my left arm like always. I’ve never tried my right arm, and this is probably the closest thing I have to a superstition. My left has always worked, so why mess with a good thing right?

There was one special thing about today though. This was my 50th donation. I’m quite proud of that. One thing I had been wondering about is when did I start donating. On my way out today I decided to ask the question. One of the staff looked into it for me.

Back when I was in university (in 95) I donated at a mobile clinic. The next donation was November 2000. From there I started donating every couple months. That is a pretty good track record I think.

49 donations in 9 years and 5 months. Doing the math and I get a donation every 2.3 months. Considering I can only donate every 2 months, that is something else I am very proud of.

I hope that someday I can pass this along to my kids.