I like risky buisiness

The goal is simple, go as fast as you can.

Pace yourself, heading out at a pace you know you can sustain.  Finish strong.  Finish fast.

Head out fast, knowing you can run this fast.  Finish fast.  Finish with nothing left.

In the first example the risk is that you head out too slowly.  Could you have gone faster today?

In the second example the risk is that you head out to fast.  Could you have gone faster today?

Do you really know how fast you can go today?

The game you choose to play is up to you.  It's your game.  Play it the way that suits your personality.  Either way it's risky business.

Rest well.

Rose Coloured Lenses

Siberian Tigers hunt in the rain, sleet, & snow.  Candy melts.  What's your disposition?

Some considerations for thriving through the winter on this beautiful Island in the Pacific:

Rose coloured lenses.  They protect your eyes from dirt and all kinds of things found in the wake of logging trucks along West Coast road. Rose colour is of particular importance.  As they say, "Change the way you see the world and the world itself changes."

Double Bootie.  Strengthening the glutes is what it's all about this time of year, but consider your toes.  Double bootie; one for the wind, one for the wet.

Tuck your gloves into your jacket.  Think plumbing on this one.  Water runs downhill and gloves seem to be waterproof in both directions.

Drink ginger tea.  Before, during, and after, always ginger tea.

Start with 3 bottles.  2 on the frame, & one hot water bottle in your back jersey pocket.  Please drink them and fill up along the way.

Give your bike love.  Use that goopy green lube on the chain.  It's way more likely to stick around hour after hour in the rain.

Fenders.  As uncool as they look, good ones will change your life.

Microwave your gloves 1/2 way.  Your hands will thank you.  That being said, the next person to heat up a coffee at the Shell station may be a little curious.

Swimming and riding in the rain are pretty much akin, once you're in it's all the same.

Rest well.

Head West!

I asked my bro "Where are we driving today?" 

"Head West!" He replied.

"Why west?"

"We go for adventure."

Thank you for another great day.

Rest Well

Sagittal Slice. Longitudinal Dice.

Just like that there's a new way to slice onions.

The number of flat tires repaired must be somewhat comparable to the number of onions diced in the past 10 years.  Neither task is more or less enjoyable.  They're both just part of the fun.  Both create an opportunity for excitement to come.  What roads lie ahead, and how might they smell?

It probably took well over 200 onions before the current method arrived.  Ends - off.  Down the longitudinal - 1/2 ed.  Knife under skin.  Peeled.  Sagittal slice.  Longitudinal Dice.  Done.

Tricks of the trade.

Jalapeno's rear wheel method.  Lowest gear.  Brake undone.  Quick release loosened.  Wheel off.  Shrapnel search.  Tire off to side.  Tube out.  Shrapnel search & removal.  Breath of air in new tube.  New tube in.  Tire on - lever points high.  Pump.  Assemble.  Spin.  Pedal.

What happens when that pesky valve stem bunches the tube creating a bulge in the tire right by the stem?  Tire, please fit in the grooves!

Release some air.  Push the stem in towards the tire.  In place.  Pump.  Pedal.

New trick of the trade learned today.

Rest well.

Back to the Bike and Kitchen Therapy.

One of my favourite aspects of riding is the alone time, the alone thinking time.  Thoughts roll in up the stretch and tumble out on the descent.  Some roll in fast, quickly sailing past, only to resurface on the next climb.  Others roll in, find fertile ground, and grow.

Today the consideration was once again, "Where does feeling good come from?"  Fast forward about 20miles along the rockiest of Rocky Pt. Road and a connection dawned.  

More time chopping, combining, and creating = more shared life with each carrot.

Time spent with the carrot before the meal leads to an appreciation of that carrot.  What are the subtleties of the carrot and how do they change as you chop, combine, & create?

New Years resolution #467:  Spend more time with each carrot.

New Years resolution #468:  Create fertile ground for healthy carrots to grow.

Rest Well.

Spirit Bay

Feeling good is a good thing.  It sounds obvious, but depending on your vantage point, it can be mind blowing.  Feeling good is good.  It is.

Reflection.  Observation.  What do we see looking back?  What do we see looking forward?  What can we see right now?

What feels good?  What brings us that true good feeling?  Where does it come from?  How was it created?

A simple "hello" wave.  A gesture.  An understood smile.  A common good feeling.

It was un prompted and occurred at about 35 miles an hour somewhere past East Sooke.  Thank you for the wave.  Thank you for the good feeling.

Rest well.

Why?

It is a question we have all asked time and time again.  We ask ourSelf, our friends, our family, our coach.  We ask anyone who may be listening.

Sometimes we may be given an answer.

Before every practice, Swim Master Neil Harvey would always ask, "Any questions other than why?"  Why would be a welcome question after practice, but by that time we usually knew the answer.

Why this part of the set?  Why this for warm up?  Why that rest interval there?  Why this rest interval here?  These are easy why's.

Then there are deeper why's.  Why am I here?  I'm here to train.  I'm training to race.  I'm racing to win.  But is that enough?  Is there more to racing than winning?

Perhaps.

Why else am I racing?  Why else am I training?

***

Racing can be a source of Anxiety.  It can be a source of Fear, Doubt, Pressure, and Confinement.

Racing can also be a source of Peace.  It can be a source of Courage, Beauty, Bliss, and Beyond.

Deep within a race is a special place.  It is a place we find our Self.  It is a place of ultimate Freedom.  Within this place we have absolute Freedom to control the pace. We understand the race.  This is a place where dreams come true.

Racing and training are pathways to Freedom.

Freedom is Why.

Rest well.