Is This A Logo??

Is This A Logo??

Saturday 3 December 2011

November ReCap and Other Stuff

Well November is now history, and it looks like December has winter trying to get a foothold on the weather picture.  The first two weeks of November were great!  Like mild September weather.



Managed to get plenty of riding in, from Hardwood, Albion, Kelso, Dundas, and of course our local Waterdown trails.  Rode mostly with NewfieSteve, EnglishJim, then also with the Bicycleworks gang.  Managed to get 5 rides a week in in this first two weeks.  The last couple of weeks in November were a different story.

Work schedules for the last two weeks made finding riding time and riding partners somewhat more challenging, so had me doing more solo riding.  And the weather took a cold, wet turn.  Unfortunately, our local Waterdown trails get very challenging when it is wet.  The steep, frequent climbs, abundance of roots and leaves, mixed with the mud turn a good ride into an opportunity to hike your bike or take a spill.  FriendlyGord took a nasty spill on a BicycleWorks Wednesday night ride on a slick rooty downhill (after seeing him at the LCBO though, he has recovered nicely).  During the wet periods try to ride some of the trails that tend to handle this weather better (Dundas, Puslinch, Oakville 16mile Creek); or resort to riding on the road.  Sad to say, even has to hit the trainer a handful of times.  The trainer is damn effective, but I have the attention span of a gnat and find the experience of the trainer excruciatingly boring.  I need to force myself to stay on the thing just for 45 minutes at a time, so I try to make it intense as possible during that time.

Managed to hit the weights a couple of times each week to maintain tone, and strengthen core muscles; and hockey once a week. 

Managed to stick to the diet well in November...well enough to keep more fat demons from finding their way to my abdomen anyways; and to maintain muscle mass, and keep the energy levels up.

Challenges are coming in December though.  The weather is turning, (put two new Specialized Captains tires on my bike this week to provide better traction than I had with the Fast Tracks).  The holidays are coming and my LCW (Loving Caring Wife) is wanting to bring out the Christmas cookies and treats.  Unfortunately I am an extremist...and weak.  If a tin of cookies come out I will eat the whole flippin' thing, so I try to avoid looking at, touching, smelling...  The same is true with the Cap'n Morgan Spiced, 40Creek, and Glenlivet that tends to find its way out of the liquor cabinet with great frequency this time of year (OK, I am even weaker at avoiding these).  Plus, I am headed to my home province of Saskatchewan (taking my 21 year old son with me) for 10 days to touch base with family, which I am lucky enough to have an abundance of, and re-connect with old friends...which will bring a whole host of nutritional challenges, and little opportunity to exercise or ride.

Anyways its 8 am on a Saturday morning, and NewfieSteve and EnglishJim will soon be here to go riding at Dundas...so I am off.