May 29/30 - a room and a ride

Well, the days couldn't have been more different ... not unexpected. (Do I have the right number of negatives in that sentence ?).

Friday -- do ceiling in bedroom; Saturday -- ride 300k; both successful.

The work went really quickly on Friday thanks to doing a ceiling in a rectangular room and not having to think. Not having to think ? What do I mean by that ? Well, I already knew how to mount the lights and the furnace and dehumidifier vents, there were no unusual drop-throughs to worry about (like the smoke detector), so it went very quickly. Up with the grid ... but before putting the crossers, slide tiles under duct-work; do wall edges; tiles in for lights; tiles in for vents; whole tiles in place; cut tiles on the edges ... phew ... I was even finished early.

Saturday was a much longer day. It started at 1am when I got up, got really underway when I left here at 2am; picked up steam when I arrived in Alliston at 5am; and got rolling at 6am as we started to ride.

At first I rode with Paul and Pierre, 10 miles or so, with another fellow whose name I never caught and a girl. Paul was really pushing it and the fellow and the girl were dropped. I hung on for a while ... could have followed (should have followed ?) but dropped back too. A few miles before the first Control that fellow was catching up to me -- which made me realize that I'd been dawdling. We stopped at the Tim Hortons Control and rolled on. Just as we were getting underway Paul and Pierre rolled in -- seems that they'd missed a turn and gotten some bonus miles. Another pair were leaving at the same time -- Glen and Alan, whose names I learned later, so the four of us set out together.

Glen and Allan were taking turns pulling -- fine by me -- and the other fellow (really should have asked his name) followed me. He dropped off at some point, the pace was much too high for him. It was windy so if you lost the wheel ahead of you by more than 10-15 feet you had to work the wind yourself. I semi-drafted, in that area of some benefit but not right on Allan's wheel. Perhaps without doing any pulling I felt guilty ? No, I just don't like drafting closely behind people whose riding style I've never experienced. They were both pretty good though.

While they pushed reasonably hard while riding, Glen and Allan liked their rest stops. We pulled into one, I got some sort of bun and they were both waiting ... ?? -- Chili and Toast was on order. Ok, we're out to enjoy, not race. Chili would do me in though ! Next stop -- a Tim Hortons -- soup etc. Hmmm.

Before going any further, let me tell you about the ride itself. I started out cool and I wore leg warmers etc. but graduated to long sleeve jersey without any other cold weather gear later in the day. I carried my high vis raincoat in my pack ... which came in handy at the end of the day.

The ride circled Lake Simcoe -- Alliston, Barrie, Orilia, the Kawarthas, Sutton, Keswick, (I'm missing a few small towns), back to Alliston. I'd never been through the Kawarthas before ... looks like Ontario ... surprise, surprise. The trees had leaves; it was partly cloudy; great day for a ride ... until the thunderstorm that is ... more later.

I did some pulling along the way too. When I was pulling Glen would hang on my wheel and Allan behind him. I'd go along for a while and then would discover that the'd dropped back -- Allan would lose Glen's wheel and he would drop back with him. It got progressively worse, i.e. that Allan couldn't hold on (or I was not pulling consistently) so I gave up pulling. The longer a pace line the harder it is to hold onto last position, and if you're tired it's a lot worse.

So ... at the last Control, Glen said to me -- "when we hit those hills and you fly up them, just keep going" ... and after cycling through the Holland Marsh we did hit a hill. Without pushing very hard I got to the top far ahead of them and just kept going. It was about 20 miles from the end at that point -- which turned out to be 10 miles of watching the storm in front of me, 5 slow miles in the storm and then 5 miles in the sun. As a few drops started to hit the ground I stopped and donned my raincoat, put other stuff in a ziploc.

The skies opened. The wind blew. No, that's an understatement -- the wind whirled around me, branches were everywhere, I was blown all over the road, the rain pounded down, pelted me, the lightning flashed and the thunder boomed. At one point I thought -- will a tornado just pick me up ? I tried clicking my shoes together but they were locked in the biking cleats ... there was no going back to Kansas at this point. There was nowhere to take shelter ... other than under a tree ... nope, not doing that ! When the lightning stopped, then I came to a strip mall where I could have pulled in, but at that point I would have just froze and the danger was over.

The sun came out; the ride was over; it was 8pm; I changed in the Tim Hortons and got underway. I stopped at the DQ in Alliston and got a cone; stopped at the Subway on Dunlop St. in Barrie and got a sub; stopped at Parry Sound and had a 1 hour crash power-nap; got home at 12:30; was in bed by 1:30. More than 24 hours had passed, but then again, I did have that power nap.

Glen and Allan are both strong riders, but Glen the stronger of the two. At one point, before I left their company, Glen said -- I don't even like cycling -- and Allan said -- you liked it this morning. It was all in jest of course; they'll be back next Saturday for the 400. So will I, although the predicted weather -- cool and wet -- has me wondering.

My official ride time will be 14 hours. Without those lingering rest stops, it could have been faster. Had I gotten in before the thunderstorm, it would have been faster. Without drafting behind Glen and Allan, it would have been slower ... perhaps. When I left them, they dropped way back. I mean way back. They may have found somewhere to take shelter. I was chugging along, feeling pretty good; Allan was dragging and I was going to be no help to him.

Glen has signed up for the Granite Anvil 1200 in August, so I'll be seeing more of him. He needs a knee replacement operation -- ??? yes, that's coming up soon, and then he expects to be back on the bike. He showed no signs of being in pain -- but then neither did Floyd Landis, before taking some time off (mandatory since he had a drug suspension) and getting his knee done and now he's back in top form and un-suspended.

So those were the days. I woke up at 6:30 today, the time that I usually leave for Mass. I fully expect to sleep in today. I'll leave in a few minutes -- no HD stop before Mass today. I may or may not stop at HD on the way out. I'll do a quick inventory check downstairs in a minute -- just need to ensure that I have enough to keep me going for tomorrow because Tuesday I'm off to Toronto again.

It's cold out there -- 0C at this point, according to the internet but actually a little warmer here close to the lake.

Onward ...