Thursday, May 31, 2007
Road Bike Giroux
Put on some more kms this evening with Pat & Jason - good to escape on two wheels as always! Around 40kms with a little extra riding around town. Not much of a wind but was with wind the last leg so were able to keep it almost at 40kms/hr for quite a few kms. Bugs are out - not used to getting hit in the face with them - thank goodness for sunglasses! Hope to get out and do a good mtn bike ride this weekend! I should also note that I just crossed the 300km mark on my road bike and the 100km mark with my mtn bike - not bad but I pale in comparison to some of the die hard MIT roadies in the area who are already at 900kms+. That's okay - for newbie I think I'm doing good especially consider that since May 12 I've been a little less free to escape!
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7 comments:
Riding on the road when the trails are in prime shape? Blasphemy! You've gone to the dark side!
Hey - it wasn't my idea - I was up for some mtn biking but my riding buddies wanted to get a road ride in before they did the Red Rock Cyclathon - I had to work all day Saturday but Sunday I'm off to the Whiteshell for a little riding on Canadian Shield - haven't seen any bike posts on your site lately eh?
The social thing is always a challenge for me -- it's obviously more fun to ride with a friend, but it's difficult to find the right people who want to do the same things you do at the same times. And if your friends are going out on the road...riding by yourself off-road doesn't sound as tempting. That said, I always go off-road if I have the choice, and I've found that I'd rather ride by myself than with a larger group (on- or off-road). Best-case scenario for me is one good riding buddy of similar riding interests and speed preferences.
I guess I haven't posted about riding since May Long when Angelo came out for a couple of epic rides. Since then it's been hot and I've been doing my usual trails near home -- not really blog-worthy, as I've taken some mockery from friends over the years: "yeah, yeah, we KNOW you like biking...enough already."
Yeah - i've been basically focusing exploreplay as a personal journal of keeping track of my rides/kms. It clearly isn't as deep or philosophical as I once intended...but hey it's about exploring play and these two sports seem to be occupying most of my playing outdoors.
I will say that I've usually been more of a lone gun with riding as well but it has been cool to connect with a few more guys through riding - there's a camaraderie there that actually pushes a guy somewhat.
Pat & I obviously go way back and we know each other's riding style well...and it takes a little more motivation to do the 20-25 minute drive to where we ride - you have the luxury of going out your back door from the sounds of things.
I've done a few road rides on my own but basically I'm not motivated enough to push myself without others. Totally different with mountain biking - I'm the big pusher then...
I like the riding journal concept -- I'd enjoy looking back over the years to see what my riding life looked like...but don't think I should start any more blogs!
20 minutes of driving isn't bad at all, but I know how it makes it just that bit more difficult to get going. We've got a couple of nice riding areas that are about that distance. Adding 40 minutes of driving to an hour-long ride usually means a round trip of at least two hours with loading/unloading, and I don't have two or three "free" hours as often as I'd like to anymore.
The luxury of the backdoor rides here isn't in the quality of the ride...it's just that I can more easily squeeze them into the week without sacrificing too much time with the family or other obligations.
I could see how the comraderie could make the road riding more tolerable for me, but I've never been good with groups. I definitely don't have the mental toughness required to push myself on the road -- there just isn't enough payoff for me. On the mountain bike, you push yourself on the climbs because there's that accomplishment (and beauty) of reaching the top AND you know you'll get the great descent. I still need some of that adrenaline for motivation.
Hey I'm with ya with the adrenaline fix with mtn biking but I have to admit there is one on the road as well - as a group you can really move fast - 40 kms/hr in a pack of 15 is pretty thrilling as well!
When I used to do more ww kayaking - it was always cool to meet up with other paddlers - you were instantly connected because well - we're a rare breed and engaging danger somehow bonds people.
Climbing is the same thing - once you've trusted another person with your life - there is a connection that stays with you. Hmmm - maybe there is a post worthy of posting somewhere in this comment? What does danger do to relationships?
If you posted on the danger/relationship theme you would definitely want to explore the military/army buddy bond . . .
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