Hung like a horse

There were a couple of "incidents" during todays ride with Keith and Leaha. And with that, I had ample material to choose a blog entry title from. But more on that later...

House projects are still in full effect and we are knocking stuff off our list day-by-day. But that miserable microwave project just won't go away. The latest with it is the ducting installed by the builder was shitty at best and now I am have to fix that before we can use the exhaust fan. Normally it shouldn't be that tough but they cut the hole to the outside of the house in an awkward position so none of the standard ducting pieces you can buy at Rona will fit. I had to run out and buy some sheet metal scissors last night for sheet metal arts and craft today. I'll be sure and let you all know how it turns out.

Training-wise, I got some good workouts in this weekend. Friday was an interval session followed by a recovery swim afterwards. Saturday was a day-off as I felt completely shelled. Sunday was a famulous day! Started with a long swim in the morning before I drove down to meet both Keith and Leaha at Keith's place. Our plan was to ride the 70.3 course.

The ride was terrific...Leaha crushed her previous 90km time record from Muskoka the previous year. Keith is a beast on the downhills and flats. Both have really benefited from some good old fashion hard work over the winter.

During one of the descents I was starting to pick up speed...somewhere around 55+ km/h when all of a sudden a piece of metal smacked directly in the face! One of my CO2 cartridges came loose from behind my saddle...then bounced off something...presumably my back tire...flew forward in front of my bike...flew up under and over my handle bars...and with the momentum struck me in the face. LOL...one of the most bizzarest things ever! What is even weirder was that about 20 minutes prior I had checked to ensure both my cartridges were screwed tightly into their holder on the back of my saddle cage.

Shortly after the CO2 mishap the three of us were riding along a couple of fields with some horses near the fence by the side of road. I can't remember who it was...but one of my riding mates mentioned about a house off to the side of the road looking especially nice. I look to my right and the first thing I catch a glimpse of is a one the horses. This stud of a horse gave a new meaning to the phrase which is the title to this blog post. I almost shouted out to Keith, who was nearest me,

"Dude! Look at the size of that thing...that is ridiculous!!!".

But then I caught myself and realized that it probably wouldn't be cool to point something like that out...at least right away...but it would make for a funny anecdote in my blog post. LOL.

Back to the Calgary 70.3 course...my thoughts:

- If the wind is blowing from the west, as it does normally, this bike course has the potential to be super fast in parts. There are sections on this course where you can effortlessly pedal yourself between 40km/h - 50km/h.

- As Keith mentioned, the pavement is rough in sections. There are a few spots where it is really bad and I found myself riding the centre lane to avoid potholes. There is the potential for a lot of flats on this course. I found some of the potholes difficult to see until you were almost atop of them. They were not big enough to see a dark spot in the ground ahead...but large enough of a hole to cause a pinch flat in the blink of an eye if you ran over them.

- Make sure you bike bottles are secure in their cages, cages are tighten, gels are taped securely, etc. With the rough pavement there is a fair amount of vibrating.

- There is the potential for some vicious crosswinds in sections like we experienced yesterday. This is actually a good thing for those of your aspiring to race in Kona some day!

*** Overall this course is absolutely breath-taking, especially during the first half when you are cycling in the foothills. I found myself in awe from time-to-time.

Some pics from our adventures...