Creston Valley

I thought I would take a break from cycling and do a bit of rock climbing.  Here is a view of the Creston Valley from the Purcell Mountains. 

Overheating

It seems amazing to me, that I am so high up in the mountains and yet I am still overheating.  The thing is that on a traditional bike I use my balance and weight a lot to pedal up steep inclines, which seems to take quite a bit less energy than a recumbent.  Though this could also be because of my technique, which I should definitely work on.  While on a recumbent, the position of the body certainly doesn't favor the use of balance and body weight to help get up those difficult climbs, it's all legs.  Consequently, I often find myself overheating. This little oasis was a welcome sight when I was headed toward Nelson.  It was a great place to wade in and cool down, not to mention to refill my water bottle.

Mountain Streams

The Kootenays are amazing!  There are so many beautiful mountain streams and rivers.  They are everywhere.  There is no need to go to a special park, or pay rediculous fees to experience nature.

Elevation 1310m

Today's ride was grueling! A 700 metre rise in elevation in approximately 50km. I certainly did not break any speed records today, it took me over 3 hours to make the climb.

Lakes of BC

The lakes of BC are beautiful, and crystal clear.

In The Mountains of BC

New Scenery

I have moved my training to the mountains of BC, and will be posting some gorgeous pictures of the mountains.

Country Roads

One thing about riding down country roads, there is always lots of beautiful scenery.

Guess What!

I was going through the storage shed and found that I still had a box of books hidden in the corner.  The box is nearly full of "Bint" books, a youth novel which I wrote a couple of years ago to raise funds for an awareness campaign.  So if anyone has missed the opportunity to buy one of these books the first time around, just drop me a line and I will get one sent off to you ASAP.

PJ has put a link to the book on the upper right side of the blog under the title Books for Sale, so take a look and order one today.  Remember, all proceeds go to Charity.

Once again, I would like to thank Custom Printers Ltd. in Yorkton, Saskatchewan for their generous sponsorship of this project.  If you find yourself in Yorkton, be sure to stop in and thank them for all their support!

Get Bent!

As my readers are no doubt aware, I love my catrike! It has saved me a great deal of physical discomfort, and produced much stronger leg muscles. But there is a downside to my beloved trike, it is too wide for some situations. There are times when I find myself having to negotiate heavy traffic in the city, and riding around parked vehicles is tricky enough without sticking an extra two feet out into traffic. Many cities these days at least make a minimal effort to provide bike routes and shared lanes, but not all drivers share this point of view, and consequently cycling through urban areas can often times be quite dangerous.  So I have decided to take a different approach. This is a picture of my brand new, used, recumbent 2 wheeled bike.

Rain and Snow

I haven't posted in a week or so, and it is tormentuously clear why! We have had rain and snow for about 4 days, and so my cycling has been curtailed. I am "patiently" waiting for the snow to melt off the roads once again!

P.S. I wonder if "tormentuously" is a word?? :)

New Shoes

Normally, I prefer regular equipment, nothing too fancy, but in less than a week these shoes have proven to be an invaluable asset.

Traveling South

This time I thought I would be clever and start my ride near Hudson Bay and ride south toward Preeceville. Little did I know that the highway rose more than 60 metres by the middle of the Porcupine Provincial Forest. Will and I pedaled the first 35.6 km into the forest for a steady climb of 61 metres. It was a grueling ride for me on the recumbent, but Will found it quite leisurely. That is one downside to a three wheeled recumbent, there is no way to use body weight to keep the momentum. It's all muscle, and that muscle is going to need a few days to recover.

52km Ride!

Wow are my legs wobbly.
I pedalled from Preeceville to Porcupine Provincial Forest

A Picture of my Catrike

I do not remember if I have posted a picture of my Catrike yet, so here it is.



Of course it looks a bit different now that I have added saddle bags and a pack to it.

New Equipment and Muscle Cramps

Yesterday (Thursday) I rode 20km, and today I made 27km, so there is some improvement. With all the hilly terrain I had to push myself fairly hard and by the end of the ride I couldn't seem to stop my hamstrings and feet from cramping. So I will be taking the weekend off, then hopefully get back to training on Monday.

I have some fun news too! I upgraded my equipment and this year am riding a Catrike so I shouldn't be getting so saddle sore, which is a great comfort. I have made many custom modifications to the trike and will be posting pictures soon.

Another great piece of equipment that I just got on Wednesday is a pair of cycling shoes with cleats to fit my pedals. So far they work great. Which is probably why my hams were cramping. That muscle is just not used to so much pulling. But it certainly makes my pedaling much more efficient. I am totally looking forward to cycling this summer.

I wonder how far I can go??

Spring Training

Finally, we have had enough warm weather to melt most of the snow off the shoulders, and spring Training can begin.
It was a little chilly today, with heavy winds, but I still managed 10km.
A good first ride.