Milestone

Last Sunday I hit a milestone, my odometer went over 7000 kilometers (on a recumbent).

I started on this journey in August 2002. I couldn't even ride 1 kilometer without being totally winded then. Last summer I did 165 km in 1 day easy. Am I proud of this accomplishment? ... no; satisfied? ... Yes! My life has altered dramatically since I first saw a real 'bent at Bentley Cycle that August. No longer a couch potato drooling his life away in front of a TV, I spend alot of my time cycling and doing stuff related to cycling. My holidays are filled with kilometers cycled instead of watching a campfire all day. I have seen beautiful vistas, met people from all over N.A. and slept in a horse tack barn. I even started a bike club so I could ride with others like minded; in doing so has touched alot of people in my area.

Here is alist of some of the rides I've done:

Ms Tour ... Completed ... June 05, 06 ,07, 08,
EBTC Tour de Alberta ... Completed ... July 06, 08 4:45 rt

David Thompson Hi-way Sask Crossing To Thompson Resort ... Completed ... Aug 07, 08
Leduc to Hastings lake ... Completed ... July 07. May 08
Calmar to Thorsby ... Completed ... Juy 06, July 07, Aprl 08
Calmar to Wizard Lake ... Completed ... July 06, 07

Calmar to Devon Short way return ... Completed ... Aug 06

Oregon Bent Retreat ... Completed ... Aug 06

Westside Kelowna Crystal Mtn ski hill road to Lake ... Completed ... Aug 06
KVR Railway Kelowna to Naramata ... Completed ... Aug 06
Kootenai Valley Sandon to Castlegar ... Completed ... July 07 10 day Tour
North Side Of Bow Pass To Sask Crossing ... Completed ... 07
Edmonton River Valley ... Completed ... Sept 07

Bow Valley Park Way ... Completed ... Oct 07 Upper half
Calmar to Devon Long way return ... Completed ... Jun 08

Hiawatha trail , Montana ... Completed ... July 08

TOT Cour d’lene 08 Centennial trail Plummer to Mullan ... Completed ... July 08
10 day Trip 1st standard century 100miles -165km
Bike 4 Bibles - Drayton Valley to Rocky Mtn house & Back ... Completed ... July 08 -215 k Pigeon Lake Loop ... Completed ... Aug 08

Devon trails ... Completed ... Aug 08

Calmar to Devon s24o... Completed ... Aug 08

This year I hope to surpass the 10,000 km mark. Am I a super cyclist? ... no just a fellow trying to lose 100lbs; live longer, life fuller and touch a few peoples lives in a small way. Stay tuned for lot more kilometers to come - God Willing

Larry

Happy New Year

I hope you have a good year of riding, adventure, oppurtunities to meet new people and make a couple of new friends!

I wanted to roll out my year starting with a brisk ride around my small town. So I bundled up, got out the GPS (for mileage) and hopped on my 'bent for quick ride. Well, as the ride progressed I felt great; warm, dispite the -19c temps and N.E. wind (5km) and the road was surprisingly good. I soon realised that the rural gravel roads were hard packed and made for great cycling. So I headed down a couple of roads that I never would ride in the summer and looped around the north part of town on very quiet country, scenic byways.

I learned a couple of things while riding in the winter. When I stop or slow down, my glasses fog up. If I didn't go fast enough for a cold breeze to keep them clear, I was quickly blinded. Ever try wiping iced up glasses with big heavy gloves on? When I took the gloves off and wiped the glasses, they would stay moist. So I quickly tried to put them back on and attempted to get up enough speed so they would not fog up! Had to do this a couple of times before I got it. Guess I had on the right stuff! My body was pumping out alot of warmth and moisture.

The other thing was in the winter gravel roads can get packed enough to make local rides a bit of an adventure!
Orginally I went out for a token 2-3 km ride;
I ended up doing 8.5 km.
Woo Hoo!
Not bad for riding a 'bent with 1.25" smooth tires!

I hope to do a bit better riding this next year.
I made some goals today and I want to ride 20% more this year; increasing commutes, days riidden, centuries and tours. So drop by and see how I am doing. Hopefully I'll do some more reviews and stuff too.

Take Care,
Larry