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
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.
I am wondering how I can improve my swimming technique. Either I keep swimming more, or maybe I think about taking lessons. Something to consider. I am constantly wondering if my form is off.
My swim consisted of a 200m warmup, 2 X 100m swims (it was supposed to be 200m without stopping), then a 400m stint with tiny breaks to allow a much faster swimmer to pass.
The sad part of the evening was that the hot tub was closed.
The game started off like any other game. I grabbed seat, and decided to try and play smart for the night. A couple hands in, and I was dealt a nice hand. I bet strong on it, and got one person to play with me. I had my Q high straight (I think it was) and was feeling pretty confident. We got down to the river and I bet large, and was called. I showed feeling confident in my hand. I had beaten him, but not with the hand I thought. I actually had a fairly high flush.
From that point I was up pretty high and started playing tight. I kept getting hands like A4, A5, K4.
I won a few more pots here and there, but nothing big.
I lost a big chunk to Erin in one hand when I called what I thought was a bluff. The non bluff took the wind out of my sails. I floundered for a bit, seething on the inside. It probably wasn’t a smart call and i paid for it. I had tried to count my outs and ensure I wasn’t being stupid, but in the end I was.
My final hand of the night I was dealing and found I had pocket 7’s. When my turn to bet came around, I bet into them and lots of players exited the hand. Erin stayed in to play. We saw the flop and it didn’t look scary. When Erin bet, I shoved all in. Erin thought for a while before calling. When he called, I said aloud that I was going to need some help, to which Erin replied maybe no. We both showed. My 7’s were up against Erin’s pocket 8’s. Nice. I didn’t hit, so I was out. I only used one buyin, and I was playing against better players than I, so i felt good about that.
I need to get more practice though before we head to Vegas. I might have to set up another game here in Victoria, and I might even start playing online.
Then my friend Erin pointed out that Jeff Martin was playing in Vancouver Friday night. Plans were made, and somehow I managed to get downtown and met up with Erin in front of the club. We got in and grabbed a seat to wait for the show to begin.
The show started off with a bang. The band opened with the title track (The Ground Cries Out) from the new CD. Sounded great. On the second song I started to notice that Jeff Martin’s voice sounded different than the album that was just released days earlier.
Another song later he announced his voice was a little under the weather. That explained what I was noticing.
They played quite a few songs from the new disc, and it was fantastic to hear them live.
They also played Cathartik (I think?), a Tea Party song, and they segue’d into a Nine Inch Nails song.
Sure enough though, after mentioning his voice, it started to go downhill quickly. A few more songs and his voice was done. He couldn’t even sing any more. He spoke his way through one soft song, and they took a quick break. He had something to drink, and tried to resume. You could see the frustration in his face, and he apologized a few times.
At one point he said fuck it, and started belting out the next few songs forcing them to happen. I can’t imagine how that would have felt. During one pause between songs he said very nicely “Could someone please bring me a Jack Daniels on the rocks”.
At the end of their set, they exited the stage, and the club brought up the house music. Pretty evident there would be no encore. I was hoping they would come back out and just play some of their songs without singing, or even just get out there and jam. Alas it wasn’t to be. We waited a few minutes, then grabbed our jackets and left. Outside we could see the band in an anteroom talking and looking rather upset. There were a few of us watching, and just as Erin and I were about to go, someone poked their head out and said something that sounded like “he’s coming back out”.
We went back inside, but the guitar tech was packing everything up, and the house music was still on. We waited a couple minutes in case, but in the end we did not hear any encore.
The show we did see was good though. Jeff Martin is an amazing guitar played, and I could watch him for days on end. Magical really.
Overall I enjoyed the concert, but I left disappointed. I felt bad for Jeff since it really looked like he was upset. I don’t know if he would have had it in him to keep playing and not sing. He was supposed to play the next night in Duncan, but I am guessing that didn’t happen. His tour schedule was pretty aggressive, with him playing every day or two. Hopefully he can recover quickly and not have to cancel too many stops.
The swim tonight was good. I got off to a good start, but I pushed too hard before warming up. By the end of my first 200m, I was too winded, and needed to take a significant break to catch my breath. When I got going again, I managed to get in another 500m without stopping. The trick here was to not push too hard, and to concentrate on breathing and on my form. Nearing the end I did push it a little though. The swim felt good. It was also really, really nice that I had the lane to myself for most of my swim. I really enjoy swimming and not having to look out for other people.
After my swim I had a short soak in the hot tub, then it was off to the shower and then home.
As I passed La Belle Patate I couldn’t help but notice their 2 for 1 Poutine Tuesday sign. It was hard to resist.
Then as I was walking through the park I couldn’t help but think about the cougar sightings int eh area the last few days. Rather spooky walking through a brush lined path that is pitch black, knowing that a cougar is in the area. Obviously I made it home fine though.S
5 years ago my life changed in such a dramatic and amazing way. Today, 5 years ago, my son was born.
He seems so old now, and for some reason, I feel different as a parent. Parenting a 5 year old seems like a big change from parenting a 3 year old or 4 year old. I know that only a day has gone by, but still. It is different to me.
Quite a few months ago I bought from Sport Check, a long sleeve shirt made by Columbia. I liked the shirt, it fit well, and was very comfortable. The first time it was washed, it went through in cold water and was hung to dry. I didn’t want it to shrink, yet that is exactly what happened. The sleeves shrunk several inches, and the chest area shrunk too. I could not wear the shirt at all any more.
I thought I might as well contact their warranty department and see if there was anything they could do for me. I was told to send the shirt in with a description of what was wrong. They would take a look at it and make a determination if this was warranty worthy.
I took a chance and sent the shirt in. The shirt had originally cost me $30 and the shipping was an additional $12. I didn’t hear anything from Columbia for a while, and was just about to follow up with them when a package arrived. They sent me a brand new shirt. Sure it was a different color, but it fit well.
I commend Columbia on replacing the shirt, but it would have been great to get a heads up that a new shirt was coming my way. For them to keep me in the dark is a little strange, especially since my communications with them had all been via email.
Hopefully this new $42 shirt will last longer than the first one.
Sadly this didn’t happen. The snow melted a little, but there is still too much ice on the roads to safely ride. Instead I jumped on the trainer in the basement and went for a spin that way.
It’s been too long since I was on a bike. It hurt a little making my legs spin in circles for so long. I sure put on a sweat. It felt good. I did a 5 minute warmup and a 45 minute ride. In that ride I did a few standing stints, a few hard sitting sprints, some rest periods, and the rest I cruised along at a pretty good clip.