It’s a WRAP… and I do love a good tailwind!!!

Those last. 28. Kilometres… it’s laughable really. But there we are.

The humidity left today and the skies were beautifully clear. You know, that day when you can feel autumn’s first breath. They make great cycling days.

I decided to leave a little early and ride into Rodney and as far down to the provincial highway as possible before Rick would pick me up.

And miracle of wonderful miracles…the wind was coming from the north. Which meant …TAILWIND!!! And it was a good one!

I made it into Rodeny, 10km away, in about 23 minutes… it was FUN!!

The final 20km were in the park. The usual round and through -and find as much tailwind as possible!!!

And so… done ☑️ and done ✅

We stopped for dinner at Joe’s, a restaurant on the water. A celebratory root beer 🍺! And a monster salad because everything else was gluten-full!

And missed the ice cream 🍨 closing time. 😜

This evening I’m watching the Paralympics… which are absolutely amazing.

Thanks for following along.

Thank you for your support and donations.

This year we raised >$3000

Over the 4 years, we’ve raised >$11000!

And…504 km this year… LOL 😂 Passed my goal!!!

Tomorrow is a rest day.

Giving myself a Mulligan!

Well..another day in any case.

It was muggy for much of the day and energy levels weren’t a match.

We went to the park and I figured I could enjoy the trees and roll out the last few. Body had other ideas. Listen to the body!!!

Cooler weather’s coming in…and it’ll be a perfect day for riding. One more park ride, too, before I take off for some business and family travel.

The bike fix is working… and I can tell that it needs some more care! All in good time!

Tomorrow for the win!

My LBS (local bike shop) is amazing

Huge kudos to ToWheels in London.

I took my grindy crunchy clunky bike in to the shop today.

ToWheels is the oldest bike shop in London. It started out in a little hole in the wall just outside downtown near the railway tracks. For years now it’s been on the main street of the city.

It’s family-owned, now in the second generation, female-owned and run…which, especially for women, makes a huge difference. (Cycling can be a rather misogynistic world… and when you’re a senior woman, it can be disheartening. I’ve never had an issue at ToWheels. )

Anyway…too the bike in, described the problem and they said they’d take a look, let me know…and I could pick it up next Tuesday or Wednesday.

Argh!!! 🤣

I said, oh! I just have 69 km left in the Great Cycle Challenge!! Well…I’ll figure it out.

I came up with several options.

1. Restart my Zwift subscription for a month…and pound out the kms inside

2. Take the old bike that’s on the trainer issue for Zwift off, put the back wheel on, and see how road worthy it is… and cross fingers.

3. My personal trainer offered me her road bike to use

4. Just let it go.

While I was in the recovery room, To Wheels called.

“Sharon, we have your bike ready for you. It’ll need to have a good turn up later, but we wanted you to finish the challenge. “

🤩🥳

Yup… they do some basic fixes done and tested it out, so it was rideable. Not perfect but…

Now…I didn’t expect this at all… but with these guys…it’s not surprising. It’s how these guys roll.

So…49 km left tomorrow. Easy peasy!

A chicken of the woods-and edible mushroom is the photo

Good timing, bike!

Bike needs some TLC. I think I inadvertently squeezed the brakes when the wheels weren’t moving. One doesn’t do that with hydraulic brakes. And they can’t be repaired like rim brakes can. They need to be seen by a pro! That tomorrow’s jobbie.

There has been some rubbing of metal against metal as well.. and that’s never good.

Bottom line…the final 69 km will get done this weekend… and so it goes. The weather will be fine and my bike will be humming.

Rounding the Bend

Three days.

69 km to ride

Heat in the forecast, but not as bad as it’s been and no rain.

Personal trainings are helping nicely. Even the stupid abdominal work. Bleah!!!!

Wandering Wheels, my GCC team, FINALLY got together. All 4 of us. In one place! With a photographer friend to boot! We did a very quick ride through the parking lot last night, during our Kiwanis /Rodney Scoop final Toonie Tuesday and car show.

(Note about photo: I tried the one of the team, but the format here chops off our heads… no comment!)

Henry and Eva managed to get back the 8km to West Lorne just in time for the *huge mess in red coming at us* storm.

Susanne’s “support vehicle”, her partner, was there. And Rick and I are both in Kiwanis so we were working as long as we could.

It having been the end of the second cleanse day, my energy levels were depleted! I’d ridden down to Rodney, the 10km, but asked Rick to put the bike rack on for the ride back. Wasn’t fancying an uphill humid ride at 8pm… turns out the weather had things to say anyway and we got back in time. Ish.

Donations for these kids are still wandering in, for which I’m very grateful. Our team is the fundraising leader in the county, which is great but also…there’s a whole city that could get involved. But ..there we go.

Alrighty…three more days. It feels like it’s dragging on../ but when I think about it it’s simply my expectation that is an unrealistic comparison to my first couple of years. Riding less, but in better shape. That’s a win.

Heat Warning! Get out get it done get home.

It’s a cleanse day… and I figured an easy 20km on flat pavement wouldn’t be too much. We went out to dinner last night. And there’s now a second place I can eat…and they do FANTASTIC Thai, Vietnamese and Cambodian food. Went with pad Thai, so my body has some glycogen stored!

Drove into Rodney this time and just puddled across along the bike lane to West Lorne and back. It was fresh and misty and the sun was behind clouds so…yay!

This may be a rondeau evening as well. Another light ride if I’ve done my stretching …

🎶 99 more kms to go, 99 more kms🎶

That’s it. Just 99. I wanted to get the total under 100 by weekend’s end.

Yesterday was a perfect riding day again. I took the bike into West Lorne and just stayed on pavement. I got 3-5 or more km/hr faster on pavement than on gravel. And I was on a mission.

There are bike lanes on several main roads and not much traffic on others. I did a ooop to Rodeny and Westcott then back around to West Lorne, and part of the way to Dutton. My body felt as though it could go further… but I let well enough alone!

We did another Rondeau trip and …poor! Under 100km.

A sobering email reminded me(as if I needed reminding) that kids cancer is …crushing.

In the first 22 days of the challenge, more than 100 families had heard the news their kid had cancer. And 25 had died.

Ouch.

Onwards.

Listening to John Williams on a podcast ❤️

Today was the first early morning I’ve been able to get out early ish. We’ve got a cool few moments passing through, as the weather is won’t to do at this time of August. And the rain has left.

The winds have turned north for a few days, so. I head out into the wind. Easy in the morning the headwind is pretty light.

Discovered I wasn’t up to a lot of hills or rough gravel today so…paved road it was. Strategy…go into the wind as long as I could and head back avoiding headwind ! Which meant, basically, turning around per way and heading back.

The crops are full and green. Traffic was light. And I was listening to John Williams’ first podcast! He was on Smartless with Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes. I loved the way he spoke about the spirituality of the music of Close Encounters, about how he plays around with some themes until it feels done…if you’re a John Williams fan, highly recommend this!

Felt so good to get out it the morning for ONCE this summer.

Debating about where to ride come Thursday. I have the day. Go into London for the first time this year? Try a tried and true trail like parts of the Guelph to Goderich tail trail or the Paris to Brantford? Maybe head to Stratford and St Mary’s….

In any case, NOT around the neighborhood…

Now..to work out the muscles…

Halfway through!

It’s been a very fast summer… and a wet month! I’ve hit nearly 50% of my distance goal and 113% of the fundraising goal. Thank you!!! We’re doing great!

This has certainly been a different year… and there’s a little fight in my now and then about how many kms I’m doing. 500 seems like …well, not much. However…that darn weight training thing!!!

And it’s working well. Combined with the power of Isagenix products, I’m getting even stronger. And, since I’m better with an accountability partner when it comes to doing the exercises I don’t like… 😜, those two mornings are week are foundational.

Outlook for this week…

Aiming for about 150 km. Which means doing some solid rides today, tomorrow and Thursday to begin. The weather this week is set to be perfect for good long rides; highs of 25-27 and Sun with some clouds… I mean. Really.

Thanks for the support …it means a lot.

67.2% Match from The Garron Family

The Garron family, a huge Sick Kids supporter, put up 1.3 million dollars 💵 in matching donations for yesterday’s Match Day.

1.9+ million came in!!!

The family’s donation was spread evenly across the donations, making every donation from Aug 14 67.2% higher.

For you guys…$658 was added thanks to you.

Wohooo!

And thank you to everyone who has supported this event. Many have done so for all four years I’ve been involved! I love knowing I’m be got people at my back!

This means that I’ve surpassed my fundraising goal!

I was aiming for $2500 (my usual) and were now at $2705.

Now to finish up the kilometres.

Heading to St Mary’s today for a ride and appointment. Kinda wish there were ☁️ tho! I’ll be riding in heat. Not my face anymore! But … there we go! I’ve got lots of water and Hydrate. And snacks. A day riding isn’t a bad thing!

Many thanks to all of you.

I appreciate the support and your generosity for these kids.

Big hug 🤗

Grateful

Yesterday was a “go to the park” day. It was one of those days when I didn’t feel really up to it and it would have been easy to stay home.

But I know this story…

Once you get in and do the thing, you feel better.

So…ride anyway. And let it be “just” a ride. Not a drive or a push or a scramble to meet any numbers.

Two things happened that might not have otherwise, say, had I driven to go faster.

1. As I emerged from the woods, The Farmer 🧑‍🌾 and his friend were crossing on the road. Random.

2. As I emerged from the end of the woods I saw this bike packing set up and recognized a friend.

Kerry Jane and I “met” on FB in a women’s gravel group. We then met IRL at a slow ride in London. And then have continued to follow each other.

I got her into the GCC last year and this year she’s being more intentional about it and she’s riding 500 on with her dog Dax and bike packing along the way.

I knew she was in the general area…

But… because I was “just” riding… we got to chat live again.

Pretty cool.

Today is Match Day in the GCC; all donations will be matched up to 1.3 million $ by a very generous family. Depending on how much comes in today, donations may be double… but if there’s a surge as there was last year… it’ll be pro-rated.

I’ve been so appreciative of the support to date. I know there are a lot of great causes out there. To choose this one…thank you.

Tomorrow will be another ride. Stay tuned for where.

And then…gosh darn rain for a few days.

Hoping it’ll hold off to late Friday or into Saturday… the other members of my team and I are hoping to meet and do a little ride from West Lorne to Rodney on Friday night. 🤞🏼

Week One in the Books

This week is shaping up to be a great cycling week, so I’m going to see how far I can push. It looks like rain is on the way in some form next week…sooo…

It feels like I’m getting the legs back again. Yesterday was 60km and today I did 33… that amount to bring my week one total to 150 km.

I rode a chunk of the CASO trail in Chatham Kent. It’s a rail trail that has been groomed well and laid down with what I call “rail trail gravel” which is shaved stones is the best way I can describe it. Easy to ride with a road or hybrid bike-or gravel or MTB. The county has pretty much completed the full trail, so I’ll give that one a shot.

I turned around in Ridgetown, which is a decent distance away and a really lovely town. Ice cream, snacks, restaurant… and, a few places to sit!

Today, after raking grass clippings and putting them on the garden, we drove to Rondeau and I got the last 33 done. The park was pretty empty. The roads even more so.

My fun trip was a couple of times down the Harrison trail at a clip… pushing to get 20km done in under an hour. Close…1:45 over.

Tonight the Perseus meteors are happening and I’m thinking of staying up to see them. The skies are clear. For now.

Tomorrow should be a cleanse day, which means not a huge amount of heavy exercise, but I’m putting that off because the weather’s so nice… so aiming for a couple of short rides as breaks.

A Month of Sundays

That’s August. The dog (or cat) days of summer. The days of intense storms and eerily windless evenings. Crickets 🦗 . Mosquitoes 🦟. Afternoon naps. Well that’s anytime.

The seesaw is real… I want to ride. I need to rest. I want to ride. It’s too hot. I want to ride. I need a nap. I want to ride. I don’t want to do laundry. Again.

Yeah… behind the scenes.

Every ride means some kind of laundry action afterwards. For those who might not know, one does not wear anything under one’s shorts. I wear what’s called a chamois… padded Lycra compression shorts. They make things comfy.

And I only have one pair. They can be pricey. I’m adding things one at a time. Maybe this year, a decent pair of MTB shoes.

As for the shorts. And the jerseys… they just need to be washed. And cared for nicely.

I mix up some Isagenix BCAAs in a water bottle. They help build muscle as I go. I drink Isagenix’s Nitro beforehand which helps lungs and heart work better as I ride.

On longer rides…over and hour or more than 20 or so km, I take food. More than I think I need. Dates. Dried apricots. Dried mangoes. Toast and jam. And it’s all so counterintuitive… sugar! So … Jelly Bellys are my go-to sugar snack.

From all my reading and zoom calls and so on over the years… and from the current “not your grandmother’s training” library… a lot has changed. More carbs than we thought. More often. And more rest dagnabbit!!!

Which is why I’m not likely hitting 2000 on this month. That and the whole personal training twice a week thing.

Anyway.

And after… an IsaLeanPro shake and definitely some Repair. This is a small miracle drink as far as I’m concerned. Turmeric, astaxanthin, black pepper and tart cherry and some collagen. Helps muscle repair and reduces stiffness. It’s amazing. Also adding some Joint Repair with q-actin, which works better than glucosamine and chondroitin.

I put my legs up to help with circulation. I rest. If it’s really sweaty… a shower is definitely on the menu.

And I feel good.

And sleep well. Cats on my chest notwithstanding. Ready to ride another day and sending love out to the kids and families we’re all riding for.

Here. We. Go.

Cycling in the evenings right now is the best option. That or really early in the morning… but fuelling ahead of time for that isn’t easy.

Rondeau is about 45 min from home. The Farmer likes it there where there’s a 2.2 km patch of pavement where only bikes and pedestrians are allowed.

It’s tree lined and wide. He and his friend John ride together and have learned that they are allowed to stop for a few minutes’ rest along the way if they wish.

I prefer the Harrison Trail which is in the woods. With misquotes so I don’t stop. But it’s not paved. It’s more single track and open enough not to be concerned about ticks landing on me.

Depending on time we stop at the store for ice cream after the ride. 🍨 Today we left earlier so we stopped in Rodney for a pre-ride ice cream.

Potato potahto

I’m curious to see how I manage the rides this year… with my twice a week personal training in the city. The most important thing is to do recovery work. Which is not my fave. Also important is the pre ride warm up. Also not my fave.

Speaking of which…

Off to do some recovery work before bed.