We had a pretty good turnout for today’s ride with a total of 7 people showing up. The weather couldn’t be any better with everybody thoroughly enjoying the morning ride. The group included a few men from the Cloverdale Baptist Church men’s group organized by Peter. Congratulations to Peter as not only is this his first bike ride since his surgery, but his first real bike ride in 4 years. He did very well and is also looking forward to joining on future rides.
I took my Hero GoPro video camera along for the ride and in the next couple of days should have the movie edited and posted to You Tube and on the Valley VeloRiders web site so others can get a view of what this ride is like which might entice others to join in on the fun. Everyone indicated they enjoyed themselves and would be back.
Unfortunately my Garmin did it’s thing again and even though I noticed it right away and powered it back up, it seems to have lost the data for 80% of the ride. It’s a good thing I also used my Blackberry to track the ride which I have embedded below. Of course this includes more than data than the ride itself since I cycled to and from the start of the ride as well.
Workout Details – SportyPal.
My friend and co-worker Peter, and I went for a walk today around the campus while I tested a Blackberry GPS exercise tracking application. My Garmin Edge 305 is acting kind of funky lately powering down mid ride and scrambling data so it looks like I will have to send it in for repair. As a result I need something else to use in the meantime. Since my shiny new BB Bold 9700 has GPS, it seemed like a logical substitute….
What you see below is the embedded data for this BlackBerry application (get the BlackBerry version here) called SportyPal which uses the BB’s builtin GPS to track exercise data and upload it to the SportyPal web site. There is also an iPhone version called SportyPal Bike available through the iTunes app store. While it does not include heart rate or cadence sensor data, it will works pretty good for tracking a number of other parameters and supports many forms of exercise. Peter has an iPhone and since he has decided to join the Saturday weekly group ride that I organize, I suggested he use the iMapMyRide application to track the ride tomorrow. The weather is looking good for tomorrow so we are looking forward to the ride and are hoping for a good turnout.
I had intended a longer ride this evening and though I left from work I classified this as a recreational ride. This is because I had planned it to be more of an evening ride around the local area rather than just a commute home. As such I traveled light with only my rack pack, leaving the panniers at the office.
I ended up riding a shorter distance than originally planned due to the heat (31 Celsius) and the extended portion would have been in the full sun. The route I ended up taking was in and out of the sun with lots of trees along both sides of the road for most of the way providing lots of areas of shade. I did start to feel the effects of the heat with the added issue of time between meals so I stopped and ate a protein bar I had packed in case. This made quite a positive difference for the rest of the ride. Strangely I thought I was taking it much easier than yesterdays ride which is reflected in my average heart rate, but my average speed was only 0.2 kmh slower. Maybe the lack of the panniers made a difference.
Anyway it was a great ride and it sure was hot. I’m not complaining as it is a welcome change from the *winter* weather we were having all spring long.
TWU – Forest Knolls – Fort Langley – Derby Reach by rjedge1954 at Garmin Connect – Details.
This weekend has me pretty busy with an advanced cycling training course called CAN-BIKE 2 . The sessions are on Friday evening, all day Saturday and Sunday. CAN-BIKE is a program designed by the Canadian Cycling Association as a series of courses on all aspects of cycling safely and enjoyably on the road. CAN-BIKE 2 is an advanced course in defensive cycling for commuters and recreational cyclists who already ride in traffic. I am enrolled in this course to further my own cycling education as well as for the purpose of providing cycling safety instruction to other cyclists through the various VACC cycling education programs. CAN-BIKE 2 is a prerequisite to be able to teach cycling safety through the various VACC educational programs as well as several of the CAN-BIKE courses. Today involved some traffic and cycling theory as a continuation from last night. We then went to a local school ground to perform and practice a series of cycling skills. After lunch we went on the road to put the theory we learned into action on some of the more challenging Vancouver Streets. Tomorrow will include a written test along with a road test.
To get there in the morning I drove with the bike on the van’s bike rack to the King George Skytrain station to commute in with my bike via Skytrain and then cycle a few blocks to the VACC office. Since it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon and we finished today’s session a little early I decided to cycle back to New Westminster via the Central Valley Greenway. then catch Skytrain back to Surrey to drive home from there. Below is the ride data and map for the trip from Quebec street to Columbia Station. I was a beautiful ride after a pretty long day and the warm sunshine was a welcome sight after a pretty dismal spring so far.
Central Valley Greenway by rjedge1954 at Garmin Connect – Details.
In spite of the great weather I was the only one to show up for this week’s ride. While the day started partly cloudy it quickly cleared up and turned into a beautiful sunny day. Lot’s of other cyclists were out on the road and trail taking advantage of the rare mild and sunny spring day. Since I was riding alone and I am also on vacation, I felt that I didn’t have to keep to any schedule so I took my time and stopped a few times to enjoy the scenery. I also decided to ride my upright bike today partly for a change and partly due to a need to make some adjustments to the brakes on the recumbent trike. Since I was working a little late last night on some local cycling advocacy issues I didn’t get the time to have a look at the trike last night.
It turned out to be a great ride and there were lots of friendly people along the way, particularly along the Fort to Fort Trail. I was also able to help out a young family out for a family bike ride along the Fort to Fort Trail but were a little unsure of the trail location at the Derby Reach campground. They were looking for the trail head and looked a little lost and unsure of themselves so I guided them in the right direction. I’m sure it turned out to be an enjoyable ride for all of them. I never tire of helping out other cyclists and seeing entire families out for a bike ride in wonderful surroundings is always a special joy.
Well I enjoyed myself and had a great day cycling around Fort Langley and Derby Reach. Below is the map of the ride, which shows a little weird because my Garmin cycling computer stopped recording the ride from Derby Reach Park until I got to Fort Langley.
Valley VeloRiders Weekly group ride by rjedge1954 at Garmin Connect – Details.
This post was originally going to just describe the bike ride today which was very enjoyable in spite of it being a little cool with a threat of rain, but a seemingly insignificant event happened on the way home that had me thinking about a few things some of which had been on my mind lately. It’s funny how this can happen when you are focussed on something else unrelated. In this case I was driving home from Fort Langley after the bike ride. Now normally I would ride my bike to the start and then home again after the ride but I had a few other things to do and a limited time to get them done. So on this occasion I loaded up my Trek bike and drove to the Fort Cyclery bike shop, then I rode the bike from Fort Langley to Derby Reach and back via the Fort to Fort Trail and loaded it back up to drive home. My route home was a bit different as I decided to go west on 96th to stop at Tim Horton’s at Thunderbird Centre for a coffee before doing the other errands. As I approached 216th Street I had to come to a stop as did traffic in the other direction for a mother duck and her brood of 8 tiny ducklings who decided to cross the road. Yes it was very cute as mom proudly paraded her fearless brood in single file across the road. Mom looked full of confidence and did not rush across the road in spite of the potential danger. This appeared to translate to a very fearless single file group of ducklings following behind. As I said these tiny little ducklings did not panic as they had complete faith in their mother and trusted that she would get them safely across the road within site of motor vehicles a thousand times their size bearing down on them. Because they were calm it took a few minutes to accomplish their goal and both directions of traffic stopped and waited patiently until they were safely out of the way.
Now it is amazing sometimes in that short pause the things that can flood through your thoughts. First the example of faith of these ducklings in their mother in the face of great danger. A lesson for us I think in that we can become mired down in the anxieties and fears of life and allow it to shape our attitudes and reactions instead of relying on our faith in God. For me this was a valuable lesson as I realized what had occurred in this past week to me on a number of fronts. First, due to circumstances at work this week and in particular yesterday where I was faced with situations both at work and at home that made for a very stressful day. The circumstances at home are not important but were enough to cause extra stress as it had prevented me from getting into the office to work on a serious problem with our email system. It didn’t end up interfering with getting the problem resolved, but it added extra stress that I could have done without. As it turned out I was able to get done what needed to be done, just a little out of my comfort zone. After the incident with the ducklings, I realized that I should have had a little more faith that my Lord and Saviour was with me the whole time to provide me with all that I needed to resolve the problems and get through the day.
A second thought that entered into my mind had to do with road safety, and in particular cycling safety. This had been on my mind quite a bit of late as I was in a quandary about following through with my goal of registering for an upcoming CAN-BIKE 2 cycling safety training course. This course includes a certification that would allow me to teach cycling safety to others and is something I had been wanting to do for some time. Part of the reason for my concern about safety is news regarding recent cycling accidents throughout North America with motor vehicles. Sadly several of these resulted in the deaths of the cyclists due to injuries suffered. The duck crossing incident today brought this to my mind because I was suddenly reminded of several people who have commented on my trike being low and difficult to see. Sometimes motorists have even slowed down an commented on this which always puts a smile on my face as it is not immediately obvious to them they they could see me just fine. Other experiences with riding my two types of bikes have only confirmed that I am plenty visible on the trike. One reason I say this was because in spite of how tiny these ducklings were, as motorists on that part of the road, we all saw them fine and maybe this gets to the crux of the issue. Maybe the reason motorists don’t see cyclists (and other road users) is not because they aren’t visible enough, but more due to the fact that motorists may be speeding excessively or not paying proper attention to what is going on around them. Driving a multi-ton vehicle requires focus and your full attention and that was definitely the case today for motorists in both directions. On a road that many know few motorists drive the 50 km/h speed limit (often 70-80 km/h or more), we were all driving the speed limit and therefore our duck family was more easily seen in spite of their size. As a result we were all able to stop safely to allow them to cross unharmed. Now there is little I can do to educate fellow motorists but I realized I can contribute toward road safety by helping to educate fellow cyclists, so I have decided today to register for the CAN-BIKE 2 course to work toward that goal.
I close today by saying thanks to my Lord for that family of ducks that gave me a few minutes to think about some more important issues of life. It was divine appointment for sure.
Fort Langley – Derby Reach Loop 5-22-2010 by rjedge1954 at Garmin Connect – Details.
It was a fantastic day for a bike ride as evidenced by the many cyclists on the road. This was our weekly Valley VeloRiders group ride and we there is still a small turnout but is is early yet and the weather up until today has been less than ideal for the recreational cyclist. I was joined on today’s ride by Landa Terblanche and we had a great ride from Fort Cyclery in Fort Langley through Bedford Landing and then to Derby Reach and back via the Fort to Fort Trail. The morning warmed up quickly and it felt great to be back on the bike for a longer ride after a couple of weeks off the bike.
In the last couple of weeks I had made another major change in my diet for a number of reasons and since I was still attempting to gain my cycling fitness back, I had decided to take at least a week off cycling to give my body a chance to adapt fully to the new diet. It turned out to be a good idea as my body went into a bit of a detox mode which also affected my energy levels. Cycling during that period would have had a negative impact. This week my energy levels not only returned but surpassed previous levels so this week I got back on the bike after adding a couple of components to the bike with the intent of improving my hill climbing.
After installing the new components this week, I have already experience a positive difference, particularly on hills. The changes involved replacing the existing road triple crank (30/39/50 165mm crank arms) with a more mountain bike geared (23/33/44 ) triple crank with 152mm crank arms and Q-Rotor rings. I purchased the Truvativ triple crank from Mark Stonich of BikeSmith Designs. He does excellent work and provides excellent service. The new components allow me to spin up hills at a higher RPM which is much easier on the knees and easier to climb steeper hills. Once I have put in a few kilometers with the new crank I will post a review but I have seen a positive difference after just two rides. It should now mean there will be very few hills I won’t be able to climb. I won’t be that fast, but that isn’t the point. This will enable me to involve more hills in my ridea which will help to build my fitness especially in preparation for tis year’s BC Lung Trek for Life and Breath ride which has quite a few hills particular once we get to Cultus Lake.
All in all it has been a really good week and the new diet plan has been work really well for me, but more about that in another post.
Fort Langley – Derby Reach Loop – 5-08-2010 by rjedge1954 at Garmin Connect – Details.
Since today was predicted to be a sunny day and I had been feeling pretty good lately so I decided yesterday that after a couple of bike commutes under my belt this week I was ready to get back into longer weekend recreational bike rides. I thought that I had recovered sufficiently to be able to do this ride even though my surgeon had not given me the official go ahead. It would also be my first ride in our Valley VeloRiders weekly group ride since the rides were started in early March. I have been anxious to take part in these rides particularly since I had organized them. I thought I should be able to do this 20km ride today as long as I didn’t push myself because the route is relatively flat with a few rolling hills, but nothing long and steep. One of the reasons I starting riding on my bike commutes first instead of our group ride since my bike commutes are only 5 km each way and they would be a good way to prepare for these longer rides. I remembred that I also needed to take into account the distance to and from the start of the ride at the Fort Langley Cyclery which would turn a 20 km ride into a 30-35 km ride but I was planning to take a lunch break in Fort Langley after arriving back at the bike shop.
I initially arrived at the bike shop from home at about 9:20 in the morning and waited for any others to arrive. It was a beautiful morning and still a little chilly at 4 C but nobody else showed up to join the ride. I decided this could be a good thing as I was still not sure about my fitness level and would not want to hold anyone else up if I encountered difficulty. This turned out to be just what happened as I arrived at Derby Reach about 17 km into the ride and felt that I would not be able to continue back to the bike shop and then home. I felt quite fatigued and my shoulder was beginning to become quite painful so I decide to double back home. Even still going directly home from here was another 9 km so I had a 20 minute rest stop and nourishment break. After a little refreshment and rest I rode home but still had to make a couple of short stops after a couple of short hills because my energy level again quickly began to diminish.
After arriving home and looking at my ride data it was very apparent that I still have a long ways to go which left me somewhat discouraged. As always my lovely wife Debbie was there to yet again to bring me back to reality with the fact that it has only been 6 weeks since the surgery and consoled me to not be so hard on myself. I do have a couple of upcoming long rides to prepare for but they are in July (143 km Canada Day Populaire) and September (200 km BC Lung Trek for Life and Breath) so there is still plenty of time to get ready for them. Unfortunately I missed the 100 km Pacific Populaire this year on April 4 which I had originally planned to ride as well. I guess I was just surprised after today’s ride that I had lost so much in 6 weeks.
Fort Langley – Derby Reach Loop – 4-10-2010 by rjedge1954 at Garmin Connect – Details.
While I am not going to blog about every commute, today’s was important being my first day back on the bike in just over 2 months. My shoulder surgery recovery has been slower than I had hoped and there is still a ways to go, but things are now improving more quickly so today was very important to me. As most who know me can attest cycling is very important to me. It is important for exercise as well as being an important stress management tool and something I derive a great deal of enjoyment from.
As far as the ride home goes, it was slower and much more of an effort than the morning ride into work being as most of the ride is uphill. Still I felt pretty good upon arriving home with just a little bit of soreness in my legs. This I also expected until I get some miles behind me to get my recumbent legs back. I discovered when I first started riding a recumbent trike that very different muscles are used than on an upright bike and at that time my legs were a lot more sore for the first 2 weeks. I don’t expect it to take that long this time judging by the low level of soreness after today’s ride home and how quickly it disappeared.
It is very apparent though that I lost a lot of fitness during my 2 months off the bike as other many forms of exercise were also unavailable to me. Only walking was an option which did not give me the required level of exercise and even that had to be curtailed for a few weeks after the surgery due to the post surgery pain. Even now, typing for extended periods of time can become very painful and as a IT Systems Administrator at work, this means that I am not yet at 100% of my capabilities there either and still need to take breaks from time to time to relieve the pain and then get back to typing. I expect that from this point it will take at least another month until I am full recovered.
Commute Home from Work by rjedge1954 at Garmin Connect – Details.
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